January 7, 2008

Dear the Irvines:

I am blessed to be in this mission, but I have to admit I am blessed to have a great family like you! And I really don't need more long sleeves, I feel that the cold is going to go away soon and this coat you send me is the best! And the gloves! It's so warm...it's great!

It's strange because the work is progressing and the work is going well, better than expected sometimes, but my companion is ET'd. Yup, emergency transfer due to uncontrolled gossip and false accusations against him. I never realized how damaging a small little thing can be, but it's going to set back the work a bit, and we might lose a few investigators as a result of this fiasco. Let me tell the story from my point of view.

Friday night, we always eat dinner with this (previously) wonderful family, the Dubon's. We're trying to teach the non-member father. So we ate dinner, played around, joked around, the usual, and had a good spiritual thought and went on our way. Then came Sunday. The mother came and told us that we said some bad and innapropriate words to the children on Friday, and then another sister came and told us that same thing. The word is mendiga, which is apparently not a good word in Mexico. The thing is, Neira is from Peru and never heard of the word before, and neither had I. Then, the youngest son apparently said that Neira dropped the F-bomb, false because it's not how he speaks. So what happened was that the kids and the mother ended up telling the other sister, and then it got to the first counselor (who hates us anyways because we found him flirting with a younger member of the ward and he got reprimanded by the stake presidency) who then told bishop who then called mission president. It was like the game 'telephone', where the rumor goes from one to another, getting changed along the way, and eventually it is completely wrong from what was really said before. Frustrating, because I know Neira didn't say either thing, and he knows, and most of all, God knows. So the first counselor, Hno. Portillo, was looking out to get us from the start, and used this and made it a big deal. Just a few little words, just a little joke from the kids to get attention, and it lead to a district leader being ET'd. It's been building up, the tension between us and the bishopric, and the first counselor and the bishop used it to ET my comp, when we did nothing wrong. The thing is, the kids never even told us what we said, and we haven't even talked to them at all. All hearsay, and we get split. Poor Elder Hansen has to come up here now from Burbank to replace Neira as DL. And I have to take care of the area. All because of some ignorant and childish 12 and 10 year old that wanted to get attention and start a fuss. We couldn't even defend our name, and the sad thing is that Neira gets moved just when the work was turning the corner, so to speak. Now I get burdened with taking care of an area, trying to work with the bishopric that ousted my comp, and build up the kingdom of God. It's just too much at one time, and it only took 1 day to go from all is well, to an ET. If the Lord loses an investigator, those poor kids will be to blame, as well as the leaders. At least we have a voice in the bishopric, Hno. Umana, who wanted to talk it out but was overruled by the other two. Something might happen here, something bad. Since the bishop went straight to mission president, he bypassed the local rule to first call the stake president to figure things out, so the stake president can go and even things out. So the bishop broke the rule and I hope he gets booted or something because he isn't doing much to help us anyways. Hno. Umana says that he wishes he could be useful since all they do is plan and do nothing with the plans, he asked the stake presidency to be released from the bishopric so he could be useful elsewhere. So, it is utter confusion and chaos here, at least for me. It didn't help that we learned this right before we went to bed last night, and I couldn't sleep very well because I'm a bit mad at the bishopric and the Dubon's, and since I am in charge of taking care of the area halfway through a transfer. This is utterly ridiculous! I can't believe these members! They're stopping the work of the Lord for some little discrepancy. I can't believe it. I called mission president and he said that he trusted us, he just wanted to move Neira out because he didn't want anything else to happen to him and to the missionaries. It's only because Neira pushed the bishop to fulfill his responsibilities, and he didn't like getting pushed a little. How can I trust the bishopric? Two of the three went behind our backs, didn't give us the chance to explain what happened (or what didn't happen), and now we're split up. This is incredulous! I'm running out of words to describe it! Just to say, I was very angry and upset last night, especially since this has eternal repercussions. This could offend the non-member father and result in not listening to the missionaries. Oh well, condemnation on their heads for lying. See you, never.

So that's the low-down on the ET. Very frustrating, but I know it's just a learning experience for the both of us. I feel bad for Neira because he's innocent, and he got ET'd before because he let his guard down. It just upsets our plans for the work. Oh well, the work goes on. But I am just angry at people, and I find it hard to trust anyone. It doesn't help that the bishop talked to the ward about not making gossip, but then he goes the opposite way and believes what some little kids say about what we said without asking our side of the story. For me, there is no forgiveness that is going to come from me, because he's messing with the Lord's servants and with His work.

But other than that, the work is going well. We got to celebrate New Year's in our apartment, and we got to watch movies! Happy Feet (it's really funny in Spanish), Ratatouille (really good movie), Meet the Robinson's (super confusing, but good message), and part of the Pacifier. So it was relaxing.

A lot of people went to Mexico for the holidays, so we tried to find as many people as we could and did a relatively good job. We have many progressing investigators, and I think we have 7 baptisms this transfer including a wedding (which I also have to organize since the Relief Society President said she won't help). It's going to be a hectic end to a busy transfer! I really feel sorry for Hansen to come into a situation like this! But, the Jaimes are ready to get baptized, as are the Cardenas (we have to get them married first) and Lesley (daughter of a member). I'm so excited, but bummed that this had to happen. What a damper on our week!

I am going to miss Elder Neira, because we complement each other well, we work hard, and get things done. Hansen is 1.5 transfers away from going home, so it's going to be a change. Please, pray for me to have enough motivation to continue this transfer, because I want to give up and move to another place. I'm sick and tired of gossip. I'm sick and tired of the lame bishopric. I'm sick and tired of being punished for being obedient. I'm sick and tired of it.

The work is going up, but this could really bring it down...I hope not. Wish us luck, as I adjust to a gringo comp and take control of things. Sorry it's not very uplifting, but I'm depressed about this entire fiasco. Maybe next week things will look up. I hope so. I just don't have the energy to write any more, I'm just tired.

I love you all, and it's great to hear all is well.

Love,
Elder Irvine