2 for you but 3 for me!

Hey guys. Well, I am officially an “advansado”! (“Advansado” means you have been in the CCM for 4 weeks) I am seriously so excited to get out of the CCM, but at the same time I am kind of nervous. I am ready to make relationships with real people and have it be the real deal. This week was nothing too special. The only thing we did out of the ordinary was that we went proselyting—for my second time. Normally, the second time you go proselyting, you go with a Latino to be totally immersed in the language and then the third time you go, you take a “principiante” (new missionary) and have the role as the senior companion because they haven’t gone yet. Well, guess who got paired with a “principiante”? Yup, me. When this happened I was like, “okay whatever”. But when we were planning what we were going to do for that day, I got called over, for a second, by one of the head honchos. He asked me (in front of everyone) on a scale from 1 to 10 how well I understood Spanish. I said around a 7. Then my teacher jumped in out of nowhere and says, “No, he is an 8. The guy does great!” and then they gave me ANOTHER “principiante” to take with me. I am seriously forever to be stuck in a trio.

I have come up with a theory about my situation. Conspiracy? When it comes to preplanned things, my name seems to always be in conjunction with trios. I have come to the conclusion that there was one kid who was supposed to go to Huancayo with us but never showed. He was supposed to be my companion—I hope he is okay. There is no reason for me to be in a trio. Teaching went well though. I definitely felt the spirit a lot more this time; probably because I had to do a lot more of the talking. Lucky me! Then I found out that it was our last time proselyting before we head out into the field—because the third time we are supposed to go, it is going to be General Conference.

I still haven’t been feeling the best. I am having a hard time breathing. It feels like there is stuff in my lungs. I cough nonstop. Oh well. That was definitely the highlight of this week. I love you guys so much!!! Happy Birthday Dane!!!!!! I am so sorry that I am not there buddy. I hope it’s absolutely amazing. Please keep all the missionaries in your prayers. We need them. I miss you guys so much. I can’t wait to write you all again next week! Love you!

Elder Durante