December 5, 2022 THE HOPEFULLY NOT SO BORING ADVENTURES OF ELDER WILLIAMSON CHAPTER VII

¡hOlA!... wellll first things first, i shouldn't have said anything about not getting sick in my last email, cuz that very night, there wasss.. an iNcIdEnT... basically it started with us (me and my comp) walking around once Pday was over, going to talk to some of our contacts and whatever (i'm never really sure what we're doing or where we're going, i just follow my comp around like i'm a duck or something) when it started raining.. now it rains at least a few times a week here, but depending on the severity, we can usually get away with just walking around with our umbrellas and continuing our missionarying adventures.. this rain started to get a little worse tho, and soon there were giant drops rapidly flying sideways.. i ofc having no idea of the plan here, just accept my fate of being wet, and try to enjoy it, when i realize we are coming up to the house of the elders quorum president, who we visit quite often because his family is probably the most active in the ward, and they have 3 boys who we like to talk to, and play basketball with sometimes.. anyways we are let into the house, drenched all the way up to our chests, and we sit down to wait out the storm... the storm ended up lasting a couple of hours, so we were there talking with the family, the boys were showing us videos we probably aren't allowed to watch, the mom (being very nice and somehow not annoyed (visibly at least) that we are over there so often) made us some food, and we were having a good time... annnnd ofc we aren't allowed to have tOo good of a time, so i obtained a sudden headache.. the headache turned into a migraine, and was soon joined by nausea, and continued to steadily grow worse over time.. so anyways i'm laying on the tile floor kinda rocking back and forth in pain (you know, as you do), and the mom is giving me pills, and food, and water, and for some reason nothing seems to be working, but after 2ishHh hours i thiNk? the rain had stopped, and i decided i would try to go home, and try to sleep it off.. hOwever, the elders quorum president already had a different plan in motion... so anyways i kinda slowly get to my feet, stumble to the door, and then my comp says, "the bishop is gonna take us to the hospital".. which seemed a bit weird to me, but apparently i looked pretty bad, cuz they thought i needed to go to the ER.. so we get in the bishops car, and he's a bit of a hot head, so ig he was mad at us because he had to be there or something idk, i was pretty out of it at this point, buttt we get to the hospital, and i'm led to one of those sketch hospital beds, like with the curtains around it, and if you look to the right or left, you can see all the other patients suffering.. dying.. you know, the typical stuff.. and at this point i feel just sOo weird, i'm in the first week of my mission, and i'm in some janky ER in a third world country just because i have a migraine and a little bit of nausea... so ofc i'm laying on the bed laughing my head off, which is actually helping the pain a bit, and my comp is looking at me like i'm insane.. the nurse comes over and does the finger clip thingy, and then the arm squeezer thingy, and then asks what the problem is, and she says some things in spanish that i'm sure is "yup, it's too late, he has 3 minutes to live" but i look to my comp just to be sure, and he says something like "they're going give you something for you head, and something for your stomach" so i'm thinking "oh great more pills, thAt'll help... and then.. he just goes.. "they're in your butt".. now idk if that makes any sense typed out, but it definitely didn't make sense at 10 pm in a dominican hospital bed with a throbbing headache.. so i just kinda look at him with the same blank stare that i give him when anyone says anything to me in spanish, and i need him to translate.. but then he just says it again "they're in your butt" and he's now failing to keep a straight face as he just points to the nurse who is now holding 2 needles... so i didn't know that was a real thing, i thought that was just in really old cartoons where the terrifying doctor comes in, and the parents have to hold down the kid, and pull down his pants and then BAM! trauma for life.. buttt apparently in some forgoten corners of the earth where they still use black magic and such, this is still going on.. i don't really think you need details other than that i walked in with a headache and the possibility of vomit, and left with nothing but a limp... nowww obviously that story is a littttttle exaggerated, but it's all basically true.. at no point did i actually think was going to die, but that adds a bit of entertainment i think... so anyways thAt started the week off well, and then on tuesday we had zone council, we had pizza, i got to see Elder Vancott, annnd a couple people heard the story of my adventures in the hospital.. my comp loves telling that story to investigators, and members, annnd pretty much whoever will listen.. one of the days the president and wife came to our house to do interviews, which was uneventful... a dog tried to bite me the other day, but it was a members dog, so i don't think it's rabid.. hard to tell tho.. we got to go to a kids baptism, not one that we were teaching, just someone in the ward.. there's been a lot of rain this week, and i started using a poncho instead of an umbrella cuz it seems to work a little better, and every time i pull it out my comp just goes "BAG TIME".. and then all the people just look at me weird.. we finally went to the store to get me a new bag, and they had the coolest stuff there.. i bought a very nice looking leather bag, and a pair of gucci sunglasses for under $10 in USD.. i'm pretty sure it's all fake, but that makes it sO much better.. they also had some other weird things that i thought were hilarious.. for fast sunday we start the fast after lunch on saturday, and don't eat till lunch on sunday.. on saturday night we played basketball.. that was really fun without water.. but what was even better, was walking the 15 min to church on an empty stomach with no water.. by the time we got there my feet were dragging and i felt like i could have just layed down and slept for the rest of my mission.. and then in sacrament i mayyy have done that jussst a bit.. and then the walk home felt like those movies where someone gets stranded for some reason in the desert and they have to walk super far and start taking off clothes, and then slowly run out of water, and then they eventually calapse and get saved at the last second by some guy and his camel... anyways, once we got home my DL made 2 boxes of spaghetti with like 37 pounds of meat and sauce just for the 4 of us... anddd then we all took food coma naps and tried not to throw up.. annnnyways, this has been super long, so sorry about that, buttt this is basically just my journal at this point.. i'm definitely learning the language, it's slow, bUttt it's fast enough to where i see improvement every day, annnd that's definitely the gift of tongues, cuz most of what i learned from 2 years of spanish class, was how to beat every level of happy wheels in every way possible.. the CCM, my teachers there, and the elderes and hermanas in my district helped so much more than i realized until i got here, and people are surprised at how fast i'm learning.. buttt i'm just basically rambling at this point, sooo that's pretttty much it.. have a great week! love you guys! and remember, "you are the mam!" alma 7:14-16 Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism. And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.