sorry for the lack of pictures, elder maccarthy left his camera at home! and apparently the pictures would have been pretty gnarly...
3 months in mexico anniversary is tomorrow!!! go eat some tacos in my honor everybodyy!!
so i gotta say there is something surreal and almost dream like about riding your bike home in the right in the middle of a lightning and rain storm...its just rad and makes you feel all cool. this past week we had rain and lightning just about every other night, the past monday night we had a gnarly rain storm...luckily it came in the night though so i didnt have to ride my bike in it haha. im still waiting for the rain to come though so we can get over with this blistering death heat haha its starting to get old and im ready for the water!!
also this past saturday was quite an eventful day, one of the most eventful of my mission probably. to start it off i was doing divisions with elder roden the zone leader this day because he had to do a baptismal interview for us. and well elder roden is a pretty good sized kid and well we ran into some problems with him and the bikes haha first he busted the chain and so i had to do a road side repair on some janky mexican back road having to goal all came and using rocks and random nails i found to fix the bike chain haha and then after that he broke the pedal off the bike hahha and ya we though it was funny because everything that could go wrong did but when we called elder briz to tell about all that had happened he got all mad and ruined the mood. oh and also i got my hands destroyed by a dog. i decided to not include pictures of what happened to my hands 1. because i left my camera cord at home and 2. because its gross. so heres the story. we were at the investigators house and elder roden was in one of the back rooms doing the baptismal interview and i was in the front living area visiting with the family. and then what happens is this stray dog comes in the house and the family starts trying to shoo it away and it starts attacking and biting everyone! i kicked it once and it bit my shoe and then kicked it again and it went under the table only to come back out and then it bit the leg of the youngest son whos 3 and he starts crying and the mom is yelling at the other little kids to run up stairs to get away from the dog and so then i feeling like mister come to save the day missionary go and kick the dog pick up the little kid who it bit and put it on the table and then i dont know what i was thinking but it went to bite the mom and so i grabbed it to try and take it outside and as soon as i grab it it immediately snatches back and just starts going to on my hands and at first it bit me and from the shock and bite i dropped it and then i picked it up again and threw it out the fron door after it had bitten and chewed up my hands a little bit more.
it was pretty gnarly and everyone was like what the heck just happened...especially elder roden who came out of the room after hearing all the commotion going on out front. my left hand took most of the damage and im probably gonna have some pretty cool scars from it to show you all when i get home. dont worry though mom, the mom of the family took care of me and cleaned up the wounds for me. we called president jesperson to see what we should do and he told us to keep an eye out on the dog for the next couple days because seeing as how its a random dog that has no home owner and just roams the streets its possible that it could have rabies but other than that i just have to take ibuprofen and wait for the wounds the heal. and i use the word wounds because its not like just little scratches and superficial cuts its like i got my hand chewed on by a dog status haha. it was definitely an experience to remember and well i guess thats what happens when you decide to be mister nice guy missionary, you get jacked up!
after the episode we returned to the interview and well all in all it was worth the pain because i was able to baptize the kid later on that day! the baptismal service was way fun too because when we asked the boy what he wanted to do for hsi baptism he said he wanted to do a water balloon fight haha so after the baptismal service we all went outside and had this huge water balloon fight that turned into fill the buckets up with water and drench the missionaries fight haha luckily it was like 500 degrees outside so it wasnt all that bad haha. oh and also this past week somebody broke into the chapel and stole all the piping, pipes and faucets from the bathrooms in the church. elder roden and i showed up saturday afternoon to start preparing the baptismal font and when we walked into the chapel and turned the corner we came across the surprise of the whole church being flooded because the people who stole all the piping off course didnt take the time to close the water valves so water was just everywhere and also they destroyed all the countertops and really just made a mess, it was sad. so elder roden and i ran and turned off the main water valve and then called the bishop to tell him what happened cleaned up a little bit and then hopped in a taxi and went to his building to do the baptism.
it actually worked out kind of perfect because elder briz and elder leon (companion of elder roden) were there doing an activity for all the investigators that they had and they invited them to attend the baptismal service and so we had like 30 people at the baptismal service and it was way awesome! after all the ups and downs of the day and even though everything that could go wrong did we still were able to baptize this young boy and thats what really counts. just goes to show you that the adversary does all he can and throws every curveball he has and uses all the tools and options he has to delay the work of the Lord, but all in all in the end he has no power and will not and can not stop the work of the Lord. at the end of the day it was really a testimony builder in this aspect that i just mentioned. we had just about everything go wrong and hit every road block for this baptism. first off because the kid was supposed to be baptized 2 saturdays ago with his sister but wasnt quite ready and then this whole past week that we had been visiting with him he had been telling us he doesnt want to be baptized anymore until friday afternoon we got a call from his mom and she told us that he had something to tell us and he said he wanted to be baptized! so we were like sweet!
what a miracle and then the adversary threw a couple obstacles to try and stop this boy from being baptized but in the end the Lord will always win. and its the same way with all the things in life. in all situations satan is going to throw everything he has our way and do everything in his power to destroy us, make us fall, and ultimately make us miserable like himself. but we have the Lord on our side and as long as were doing our part to stay on the straight and narrow path the Lord will protect us from his attacks and see to it that we have the extra strength and extra power to overcome the adversary and come out victorious in all our endeavors. so dont get down when things dont seem like there gonna work out. part of this life is seeing and experiencing trials. its something thats not gonna change and that we will have all our lives. but in the end no matter how bad things seem at the start or how rough the path really is...the land of promise is always there at the end for us and we will one day receive all that the Father has and be blessed for our faithfullness and steadfastness during this life. the trial of life is to live. and with the strength and support from the Lord we will make it through this time of trial and return to live with our families and heavenly parents once again. and oh how great will be that day. family, friends, brothers and sisters...this life is hard, youre not the only one that has it hard at times. but i can testify that we will overcome and make it through every single trial we have. just have faith and patience and it all will work out just fine. thats what ive been doing and its been working pretty good so far and so i know itll work for you too. stay strong in the faith and remember hold to the rod, and itll take us back home. have a great week everybody and i pray that you all are doing just fine and dandy back home. i love you all and wish the best for you.
much love from mexico,
Elder Maccarthy
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