Elder Zachary Gehring: Mi primer hijo

Dear my family.

I am doing great. And I'm scared a little bit. I'm a dad. Yup, I have a son. His name is Elder Garcia.

The big news this week is that when Elder Beltran went home, I got a new calling within the mission. I am a trainer and I'm training a new missionary. He, today, has 4 days in the mission field. And to be honest, I'm scared to death because I realized that I hardly know anything! I realized with these few days with my new companion that I have so much to learn. But at the same time, I'm so pumped. I couldn't be more excited to be a trainer. It was my goal after my 12 weeks of training and I did it! I have my first son in the mission and I hope its not my last.

Elder Garcia is on fire. He's so excited to work, to learn, and to bring souls to Christ. He's from Ecuador and I can't hardly understand anything he says. He mumbles so much and Its killing me. But its good practice because I'm learning to listen really really well! Also I didn't realize before how hard it is to teach another missionary. He learns very differently than I do and I have to teach and explain everything several times... Its frustrating and He often is mad a me for not telling him something and well bottom line is that we have a lot to work on, but I'm not too worried. The Lord is on our side and we are going to work hard for the next 12 weeks together.

Now the other news that isn't as exciting. During the last couple days with Elder Beltran, I got really really sick. I couldn't eat, I had no energy, I was throwing up everything I ate and drank and I was miserable. I didn't want to go to the clinic the mission has but finally Elder Beltran pretty much forced me to go. I made an appointment in the hospital Foionini. We went (about a 45 min ride in micro) and sat in a waiting room for about an hour and then went in to see the doctor. He asked me like 2 questions, listened to my breathing, tapped my stomach and diagnosed me with a stomach and intestinal infection. I wasn't very happy to hear that but then he told me to hold still and the next thing I knew, I had an IV and they were pumping in a ton of clear fluid. Two large amounts of medicine for pain and infection, followed by a blood sample. And the weirdest thing for me was that it was all in spanish. It was my first time in the real world (apart from missionary work) to hear everything in spanish. Maybe it was just weird because it was all new vocabulary and words I didn't know but it was cool because I could understand and respond to it all. He told me to only eat comida blanca for the next 3 or 4 days which was not fun. Crackers, water, and carrots, and bread really doesn't give you very much energy and I was hungry for several days. Its all better now though! Don't worry mom, I'm alive and eating normal food now!

Also we met 2 families in the end of this week. One of them se llama Familia Campo Flores. This was one of the most precious lessons I've ever taught. I was super bummed one night while we were walking because almost all of our citas weren't home and I decided to talk to this family. Mostly because there was a little boy who had a shirt in english and I helped him translate it. We talked with them and they were so nice and so loving. They invited us in and it turns out they love church. They used to go to one church but not anymore and then they went to another and they didn't like it and then we showed up. What a miracle. We talked and talked with them about so many things and some how music was brought up. Then the dad got super excited and ran off to get his guitar. Then, with about 8 or 9 kids sitting around him, he sang to them. I have never seen so much love expressed through a song. These children lit up. Their faces glowed with joy and they, every one, slowly started to join him in singing. In the end, they were all singing, and I was crying. I was pretty embarrassed. I was crying like a little baby in front of this family. They laughed at me, but its all okay because we shared a short message and committed every single one to baptism. We are so excited to work with them and they were so thankful for our visit. A miracle indeed.

I'm learning so much here every day. Especially now with a new missionary as mi primer hijo, I have so much that I need to learn and I am excited to grow closer to my savior during these next few weeks. I love you all. I miss you all, and I love the missionary work here. Hurrah for Israel!

Con amor,

Elder Gehring