Elder D
Subject: Ummmmmm this is NOT at all what I expected...
Hello family!
Well as you can guess it is Monday, so it is the day that you hear from me! I have some news that is exciting and sad. I am getting transferred to Corvallis, OR to whitewash (when two missionaries are transferred and two new missionaries are transferred to an area) train. What that means is I am going to be training a new missionary in an area I know nothing about. I have no idea what the people will need help with. So I am going to be relying on the Area Books and the ward to try and find people who ready to hear this message and pray every moment thanking Father in Heaven for all I have and been given. So it is weighing heavy on my mind right now. I am not sure how I am going to train my new companion. It really is kinda of scary. I am going to be in a ward that I really know nothing about and an area that I am just as clueless about. It is humbling to know that both my companion and zone leaders feel that I am read for such a monumental task. so it seems that all my efforts may have far greater reaching work than I have thought they could have. The Spirit has testified that this area is going to do well and the work that has been done will assist in our progress.
My week, well as always it has been about finding people. In addition, this week was Zone Conference and President MacDonald's final zone conference. It was uber spiritual and sad :( to say goodbye. I have mixed feelings on this whole fact that I am leaving this place and getting a new mission president. But know I am good and I love you guys! I hope all is well! :)
Elder Christian James Delis
(Mom Note: Below is an email we received Sunday night from the mission leader of the Eugene 5th Ward.)
Mr. & Mrs. Delis,
I am the Ward Mission Leader of the Eugene 5th Ward (one of the two wards) where your son is currently serving.
Please note, that we have noticed how much he has grown as a disciple of the Lord these last few months. We surely will miss him as he leaves us to head to a new area.
He has a sweet spirit, and I really enjoyed his great work ethic. The members and non-members that he has influenced in our Ward and boundary only have good things to say about him.
Thank you for raising him and sending him our way.
Kind Regards,
Eugene 5th Ward Mission Leader
(Yes, my heart is melting!!)
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Hermana Kate Delis
Subject: BAHHH! CHRISTIAN IS TRAINING!!!!
YAY BUBBA NUBBA!!!! Haha, jokes about the name, of course. I meant ELDER Bubba Nubba. :) Haha, in all seriousness--that is awesome. Christian, I have no doubts that you are going to be wonderful for this new elder coming to Oregon. Companionships are so very inspired. You are awesome, Christian. Ah! And the letter at the bottom of Mom's email--Christian (she is talking about the one above). I actually just hung up a picture of you and me before we both left and I look at it every morning. It gives me so much strength to know you are out there serving, Christian. I love that we get to serve together. Thanks for your love for the people and your hard work. You do so well Christian--you really really shine. I am so lucky to have such awesome brothers. Thank you for your example.
Anyway, the work is going great. One day I will have so many stories to tell you about this branch, ha, but for now I will let you know that it is going under some renovations and there is not a lot of stability. So we decided that we will be the stability that they need. So we have AWESOME plans. It was a really special experience making up our plans for this transfer. Ah, it was so important to me. I love this people so much. And family, it is going to be so good. SO good. Mark my words--"It's gonna be big" (Haha...Hercules quote. :) ). This transfer is the transfer of John 14:14--look it up. :) That promise is real, and I encourage you to apply it to your own life. One of our investigators is right now--ELENO! He is getting baptized on Saturday. Naturally, his world is falling apart right now--it's so awful to watch. But he is so faithful, and he knows that the "Dios le escucha" (God listens to him). He is 62 years old, skinniest little man ever and has literally JUST family and ONLY joy. We call him "Eleno: la lleno de gozo" (Eleno: the full of joy). :) We've been teaching him for 4 weeks--he's read LdM...all of it, ha. But this week we had two SUPER difficult lessons with him--he was just all over the place. And in lessons I catch the feeling more than I catch the words. He was so flustered, and worried, and unsure. This night though, more than any other time on my mission so far, I felt the Lord telling me exactly what to say to Eleno. As soon as I started to speak, the room just hushed. And it was not me talking. Nuestro Parde Celestial nos concoce--our Father in Heaven knows us. He knows Eleno. When things like that are happening, you don't realize what a big deal they are--you just have to act and say what you're being prompted to say. At the time it just seems like you're just obeying, just doing what is right. It was one of those lessons where we just came out exhausted. I knew we did what we needed to, said what we needed to. But you just come out and you think "Did that really just happen? Did that really happen like it was supposed to?" Things just go crazy out here, guys, ha. You hear stories about how great the missionaires were for this family or this person and you create a picture in your head of how those missionaries must have been, or how those lessons must have gone. I tell you it is different than you think it is. The phones are ringing, I'm tired, my companion is carrying the whole lesson because I can't understand half of it, kids are running around, the investigator looks confused, someone knocks on the door, the pizza comes, you name it--it happens! It's not always quiet, focused, smooth, or overwhelmingly spiritual. But it is the Lord's work. So then I wonder: what about in a home? Sounds similar, right? Nothing goes according to the way we think our plans for the day, week, year should look or sound. But when we are living the way we are supposed to, miracles happen. The Lord sees us, and He knows us. Miracles are so much closer to us than I ever really noticed. I honestly don't believe I see even a hundreth of them. But I trust with all that I am that they are there and they are real. This church is Christ's church. I know that. I am so far from a perfect teacher, obviously far from even moderate Spanish, ha, and I always want to be more obedient. But His work will always move forward. I am so grateful to be apart of that work right now and for forever. Ah. It is so happy, fam.
Okay, I have really got to go. BAH! Love you love you lots. :)
Hna Delis
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