Tuesday, April 29, 2014

April 28, 2014



Hello! 

So, if last week´s email was boring, I´m thinking that this one will make up for it. I´ll start with the bad news. Basically we got robbed. Again. Here´s the story:

So we were helping out a member move some stuff from the bishop´s house to her house at the end of the day, around 9. We loaded everything up and then rode in the car over to the member´s house. We got there and unloaded everything just fine but when we left we couldn´t find our backpacks. Turns out my companion forgot that we aren´t in the middle of nowhere Colorado anymore and he left both of our backpacks sitting on the side of the road unattended while we carried the stuff inside. Of course they were gone when we came out. So I lost my scriptures that I´ve used my whole mission, my camera and all the photos from this area and . . . my passport. Yeah. . . It kinda sucks. Don´t freak out about the passport or anything, we´re going to the embassy right after this to see what we can do and we should be able to get things sorted out. I´m not the first one to have this happen, I´m sure. I do feel pretty bad about the camera though. I know it was a gift from you guys and it was super nice (I really loved it honestly) and I feel bad for losing it. It just sucks, I´ve taken good care of my stuff for 2 years and then through really no fault of my own, it´s all gone. 

But, as with everything in life, I´ve learned from it. First of all, it´s all just stuff and in the end we lose it all anyway. Second, I was upset for awhile the day after, I´ll admit. While we were searching for the police station to file a report, I was thinking about how nice it would be to be home and not have to be responsible for someone else, just me. Then suddenly I realized that was dumb. My biggest goal is have my own family, to be a father, and I know for sure that my kids will do a lot stupider things than that. When my kid totals my car at 16 I´ll remember this and what I´ve learned from it. I´ll be spending the rest of my life being responsible for someone in some way. (Is it weird that my mind thinks like that?) Finally, the worst thing for me was losing my scriptures. They were full of notes and marks from 2 years of district meetings and studies. It´s like a journal of all I learned from my mission. But then I realized that if I´d really learned it would show in my character. And that at that moment it wasn´t. So I stopped my companion and made him cry right there in the middle of the street (in a good way). I apologized for being upset with him, and he said he was sorry too and why was it always him that does stupid stuff. I realized he´d just been beating himself up about it. I was able to explain to him all the things that I´ve just explained to you and help him feel better. Poor kid. sigh.

So that was my exciting story from the week. Sorry, I know that´s not the kind of thing you want to hear about. Everything should turn out fine with the passport (Meaning I should be able to come home. I told Sister Jackson that if not that was fine by me, as long as they can release me and I can just spend some time touring Spain. She laughed but said that was definitely not going to happen). I´ll let you know if I need anything from you guys to help in getting a new one. We´ll see. So the plan for today is to go to the embassy and to go shopping for some kind of bag to carry our stuff in (once we get new stuff). I think I´m going to be rocking the shoulder bag. I get more and more European every day :) I want to wait until I get home to get a new backpack for school so I get a nice one that will last me.

In other news Alex and his family came to church on Sunday! Yay! It was super cool to see the whole family there. But Alex did say that he had to force the kids to come and one of the teachers later commented that they weren´t super into it. Alex said that it´s a big change for them. They are used to having Sunday to rest. Heck, at 13 I wouldn´t want to go to some boring meetings at 9:30 in the morning either. I´m hoping that as they get to know the other kids their age they will be more excited about coming. For now Alex says that his plan is to come every other week so that they can adapt little by little. He doesn´t want them to go rebel on him. We´ll keep pushing them to come, but it looks like they are a long term project for us. But almost certainly they will get there. I think Alex is already convinced that the church is true. He is always so excited about it, I don´t know why else he would put so much effort into getting his family to be involved as well. He is amazing.

Also cool from Sunday was that Patricia gave her first talk ever in sacrament meeting! She did so good! On Saturday we went over so that she could practice on us. She was super nervous, but she did so good! What´s more, she had it all memorized. She didn´t use notes or anything! Her testimony actually blew me away. Patricia is pretty timid and quiet so she doesn´t say everything that she feels. So when she gave her testimony it really opened my eyes to how much she really has learned and how strong her testimony really is. She said some stuff that I would not expect a convert of 2 months to say. It was awesome! I love her, she is so great! So that was a really great experience to see her overcome her fear and have success in that. Plus on Saturday after giving us her talk we all cooked hamburgers together and had a great time cooking and eating. :D

That´s about all the news for this week. I feel like last week we hit bottom and this week things have been working slowly upward. So this week should be even better. 

I did receive my Easter package, thank you so much! That was really nice, I wasn´t expecting it. Heck, I can barely remember what month it is. But thank you for thinking of me. Thanks for keeping me up to date. I definitely want to hear Erin´s talk, I´m sure it was super good! I´ve noticed some changes in her as well, I´m not sure I´m going to recognize her when I get back! Honestly, I´m so impressed with how Sarah and Erin have grown and progressed in the time I´ve been away. I can tell that they have just blossomed in their talents and abilities and most important in their testimonies. They amazing me, truthfully. I have the best family ever :D

On that note it´s time to go. Remember that I love you all so much! Be safe, be good, be happy. Thanks for everything. Know that I feel you guys and your love close to me. Until next week.

Love,
Elder Cousins

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