Hello Family!
How are all of you doing? I am so happy that Levi was born without any problems. It is so comforting to hear it! It is a little crazy to think that he will be a year old when I get to see him. I am so excited for Cambria and Ron this week! You guys have a great wedding without me!
This week has to be one of the craziest out here on the mission. So much has happened, I don't even know where to start! First, we had changes on Wednesday. I was changed. Elder Rodriguez is training. Yup, he is training. I am here in Santa Librada in San Miguelito as a Zone Leader with Elder Gomez. He was my District Leader when I entered the mission. It is crazy to think that the elder I went on divisions with is now my companion! I am so happy! He is the fastest speaker I have ever heard. It is going to help my Spanish so much! The area is really nice. It is a rich area. It has all streets and nice houses. We are fed really well here and I love it. The ward is really struggling and we are here to fix that up. We have some investigators, but we will keep working more. The zone is struggling a lot. Almost every single companionship is training, and everybody has less than a year, other than the 3 District Leaders and my companion. I have a year but everyone has less time than I do. There are 20 missionaries. We live in a house of 6 missionaries. It is really nice because we can teach more by example in this kind of a situation and set it by being obedient.
Okay - Conference was great, but it was a little different. I was able to watch it in English on Saturday but it is hard to concentrate with very immature elders around you talking or joking the whole time, but it's alright, I will just try and wait patiently for the Liahona. I was able to see some people from my first area. Oh how great it was to see them! This area is just a zone over from Acalde Diaz, and 2 zones over from Arraijan. It isn't that far away from my former areas.
Then it happened. I woke up at about 1 am Sunday morning thinking I was gonna die. I went to the bathroom waiting for something to happen but nothing did, and my body just felt like it was suffering. I hurried to my companion and woke him and asked for a blessing. He came to as I got a chair in the other room and handed him the oil. I knew something was wrong. He then gave me a blessing. I remember the words. It was about a minute or so long but felt like longer. As he was closing the blessing, I started to hyperventilate. It was intense. Then as he said amen, I booked it for the bathroom but didn't make it there in time. I found myself on the floor throwing up over and over again right in the middle of the apartment. It must have sounded like some horrible choking because all of the other elders woke up. After finishing, I ran and took a shower and helped them clean it all up. I felt much better and we went back to sleep. About an hour later I woke up and booked it again for the bathroom. I barely made it in time. That happened about 5 times throughout the night and I didn't sleep well at all that morning.
We ended up missing Music and the Spoken Word which I was pretty bumbed out about. We decided to take a taxi because I wouldn't be able to stand the walk to the church. As we sat to wait for a taxi I remember it was 6 minutes to. I remember looking around. I said a small prayer, just that a taxi would pass so that we could get to the Conference on time to hear the Prophet's voice and feel of the Spirit there. About 5 seconds later a taxi passed by. He took us and didn't charge us - he was a member. I remember the feelings of tenderness of knowing how merciful our Father is to us even in the most pitiful of circumstances.
We got there and heard some scoffing from the members because we got there late and it looked like I had slept in or something because of my condition. God gave me a situation to increase my patience and humility. We then watched a little of the conference. We didn't get halfway through Elder Nelson's talk when I had to leave. We went into another room and sat there. The Bishop came too. I called the mission doctors and they told me what to do. Before this the Bishop had tried to give me some medicine to take, but I distinctly remember that President had told us to not take anything from the members, only to take what the mission doctors told us. The Bishop and other members took it really seriously and said that I should go to the hospital. They got really mad when the doctors only told me to do a couple of things and to rest, yet I followed the directions of the doctors from the mission.
We then went home. I sadly missed the last session of Conference. I slept from 1:30 to 8 pm. I felt so much better. I then slept from 11 pm to 6:30 am and have felt good today. I have learned many lessons from this experience: obedience brings blessings, God answers prayers and loves us so much, and of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I can't explain to you these things in detail over email, yet I am so touched by the Atonement and life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is Him whom we serve. He loved all of us so much that he suffered everything for us.
The words of Doctrine and Covenants Section 19 came to mind while suffering this sickness, while also remembering the experience with the sunburn and vaccinations before the mission. How could I even afford to not have Christ be my advocate before the Father? If I can barely bear my afflictions here and they are the smallest of afflictions, how could I ever gamble my eternal welfare? What would I ever do without my God, or my Savior? These and many other questions have penetrated my heart. I know that Christ is the only way to salvation. God invites us, and His arm is always extended toward us, to come unto Him and partake of His mercy through His Son, Jesus Christ. I know They live and that They love us. I hope that this small experience may strengthen you this week. I have much more to say, yet I believe that I will be able to tell you in more detail when I see you again.
God is taking care of me out here. Keep praying for me please. I feel your love and your prayers for me. Thank you for everything. :) Have the best wedding ever Cambie and Ronnie. Give Levi a big kiss for me. I miss you family. Take care this week and keep reading the scriptures.
Love, Elder Bitter
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