Roller Coasters & "We're Not in Kansas Anymore"

The following e-mail was received yesterday:

Well, I got through the first week  of training. Not gonna lie--it is kinda tiring. My new comp is Elder Clemens. He is from Kansas. He´s a pretty cool kid. He already has a good base of Portuguese down. The tiring part of training is that I have to do everything--from finding people, to teaching, to asking [for] food at the supermarket...haha. But surely he will come along and learn. 

It´s been interesting to see someone start on the the mission that isn't yourself. This place is completely different than where he is from. (Well, you´re "not in Kansas anymore"...haha.) Reminds me of my first days here--getting used to the sun, teaching, all that stuff. 

This week was a little difficult. We are trying to find more people to teach. Many things fell through too, and yesterday we had a big downer. A person that we have been teaching for a while said he didn't want anything anymore. Of course I knew why...I asked him if he prayed to know if these things were true, and he said no. I told him he won´t know until he asks, but he just refused and said it wasn't his time. I left feeling very angry and sad. He has no idea what he is giving up. All he had to do is ask God if these things are true--something so simple...but [he refused] to do it. It´s his choice though. Sad, but there is nothing I can do about it. He had his chance. 

Luckily though, later that night we had a great lesson with a member's mom (who is not a member). She was a bit difficult, but we were able to have a debate about things and got her to accept a baptismal date. Now she just has to have a response from God.

A mission is a roller coaster of emotions. It can go from very sad to happy in a matter of hours...or sometimes weeks. All just experiences though. Hope all is well.

--Elder Castagno