"This Week" May 22 (to Mom)

Hi Mom!

I know! It's very surreal! It sounds like you have a lot of crazy weeks like that. 

My week went by really fast as well. We went to Caldas da Rainha to do a baptismal interview for a young cape verdian guy, and it was crazy - the sisters there wanted us to come because they couldn't figure out why he didn't want to be baptized. He accepts everything and keeps the commandments, but he just didn't want to be baptized yet. So Elder Carrelo and I prepared to teach him and after like an hour and a half, he FINALLY, after him giving prayer asking God when he should be baptized, said that he had some doubts about the law of chastity. So now we know what's up and the sisters can help him with his questions. It was a great experience to work with the Spirit to help the investigator open up and help us help him progress. 

We also had a Zone Conference this week and President Amorim talked about the parable of the talents in the Sermon on the Mount. It was awesome! He compared the three different results of the servants to the three kingdoms of glory, and applied it to us as missionaries, saying we could all double our 5 talents (because we are blessed with the most as members of the church and as missionaries) through God and He will even add on the 11th when we really do our part. It was a cool comparison!

 Oh I also went to the doctor on Saturday. I don't want this to be gross, so I'll try and be really simple. It's not a big deal, just annoying. Around January or February I bruised my tailbone REALLY bad; like, I had to sleep with one pillow under my thighs and another under my back to keep the pressure off because I couldn't sleep with the pain! But bruises on the tailbone take a long time to heal and you can't really do anything about it, which I already knew, so I waited it out and it got better. But then, two or three weeks ago, when I did sit ups or lied on hard ground or other things that put pressure on the tailbone area, I would feel my lower back and it would be wet! Like, super weird. And it happened every day. So I went to the doctor and he basically told me that there's an ingrown hair or some other dumb debris in the tailbone area, and it keeps getting infected, and the only way to permanently fix it is to get it surgically removed. Like a little baby surgery, but still. Really dumb. Well, we'll see what happens I guess!

Yeah that's about it haha! Love you mom!

Love, Elder Valentine!

On Mon, May 22, 2017 at 12:55 PM, Linda Valentine <lindacmemail@gmail.com> wrote:

 I can't believe it's your last transfer! It's very surreal! And bittersweet, and all that. I guess that's why you're on early today…? 

 This week went by super fast! And it was very busy. But I didn't take very many pictures, sorry. 

 But here's a quick recap: Wendy Ethan had his choir concert. He hasn't really liked choir this year, I'm not really sure why. I think it just must be the teacher. But they sing some really fun songs and he looked like he was having fun. I had a choir concert also this week. I had rehearsal on Wednesday and then the concert was on Thursday. We sang a Requiem  by John Rutter  that was one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever heard. And then we saying six or seven other really awesome songs.  The concert was in Salt Lake City at Libby Gardner concert hall at the U of U campus. We went to the Pie Pizzeria after the concert ended at 9:30 PM. The thing that kept me so busy is that I tended Ryleigh all week while Amanda was out of town.  It's crazy how much work it is to take care of a little toddler 24/7!😂

 Saturday I went to a stake women's conference  and the guest speaker was a man named Chad Hymus.  He is a paraplegic-  he was crushed by a 2000 pound bale of hay when he was 27. He's about my age now. But he goes around and towards the whole world doing motivational speaking. He is a member of the church, and he is super amazing. He was really uplifting. The thing that meant the most to me, was he said "Nothing you do is really about you. Everything you do affects someone else in some way."  Of course we all know that, but somehow we forget. It made me want to serve more, and make sure to be kind to everyone always.  I wish I had time to go into more detail, but I don't. Maybe I'll tell you more next week. 

 Dad has worked so hard in the yard this weekend! It looks really good. Her garden is all planted, all the grasses in, the trampoline pit is done, it's just beautiful! And we finally have nice weather. It has been very cold rainy spring.  We have a robins nest in our rosebush and there are little baby birds in it. It's so cute! You can hear them chirping every time the mama bird brings them a warm. Ethan is pretty excited about it so I took him to the store and bought a birdfeeder so that they would have more to eat. 

 Well, I'm going to hurry and send this in case you have to go now before I get done.  I love you tons! And I am excited for your last transfer! Make the most of it! You're the best. 

Love, Mom