Miracles Are For Real

6:07 AM
Que tal? So I am sending you this because we are going to hike the volcano right now and the zls said that we could get on and send a quick message to the fam to let them know we will be writing them later. So I will be back on later today but I have no idea what time. This week was incredible. In all aspects of the word. Health problems, companion problems, and other missionary life struggles. Probably one of the most difficult weeks in my life for sure. I love you all. I will send many more details later but I am doing well. I had a disease called Chikengunya. Look it up. jajaja. Tell Benson and Wilson that I miss them and love them like no other and just wish I had like five minutes to spend with them! They are so cool. I want to be more like them! jaja. Okay I will write the big email later. I have a lot to say about this week! Like I said, it was incredible.
Love you all,
Elder Ostler

The hike today

Hola Familia!!! This week ranks up with most likely the hardest week of my life. It was quite something. Last pday when we got back I cleaned my floors. Even after I mopped them they still looked pretty gross so I mopped them again! They still looked gross. I don’t even know how to describe our mop. It looks like dreadlocks made out of an absorbent material that has no handle. It is hard to mop and clean our house because we have no supplies so there are some old pants that are just sitting in my apartment which I took and cut up to make rags out of and to clean with. I was only able to clean the floors last Monday.

On Tuesday night I noticed some weird rash developing on my arm but at first I thought that it was just a bunch of small little bug bites. On Wednesday when we were out in the road teaching and having lessons I noticed that my body developed the symptoms of a fever and I felt exhausted. I immediately started to pray for strength and health and took some Advil and drank a lot of water the rest of the day and thankfully I had the strength to continue in the labor of missionary work. The rash kept worsening and that night it was really bad.

We had a meeting with the ward mission leader and with Elder Hallman and his comp Elder Andrade. When Elder Hallman saw my face he asked me, are you okay? I said no and then asked for a blessing. I was dying. Lots of pain and no energy. But I knew that God was helping me and strengthening me. I could feel it. It was really cool. I was trying to be so faithful to the hope of Christ and His power to heal me. I knew that He had healed so many others through His power and mercy, why not me?

I needed help because I was really sick and not feeling well. Elder Hallman gave me a blessing and the power of the priesthood was so strong in that room with us missionaries and the ward mission leader. He blessed me with strength to rise the next morning and also a quick recovery as this would be a hard trial along with all the things I would face and have to face.

The next morning I arose with strength. I went to San Salvador for immigration and visa stuff. I was able to see only a few of my ccm buddies that were in my district and other close elders that weren't. Our group from the ccm is so tight. It is so great. I saw Elder H! He’s legit. That afternoon my body was destroyed. We got back to our area and started working at 3 o’clock. I felt awful. Achy body. Killing joints. It hurt to walk, my head was pounding and my body I could feel burning from a fever, but I was scared to tell my comp because...I will explain it later in the email.

In San Salvador by the statue, San Salvador del mundo

We worked for two hours and I was so miserable. I eventually told my comp I needed to go and rest and call the nurse. I did and took my temp when we got home. 104 degree temperature. That is so high. The walk home was sooooo painful and slow but my companion just walked right on ahead of me in the street not really even recognizing how bad of condition I was in. He was easily like 15 yards to 20 yards ahead of me on the street as we walked home. I was dying. The entire way home I prayed. I didn’t want to think bad of my companion, and I wanted to have the strength. That was such a hard walk home on the streets of San Antonio.

We got back and I took a cold shower which was sooo nice. My body was inflamed and burning up. I drank water and tried to eat a cracker and laid in my bed listening to conference talks until sleep came over me. It was rough. It is hard to sleep with a 104 degree fever and achy bones. They call this disease dolor de cuerpo. Translation is pain of body. And it was painfully.

The next day was Friday and I felt wayyy better from my sickness, but my comp came down with something and we couldn't go out to work really in the afternoon because he slept. So I washed his clothes and did a clean sweep on the kitchen that day while we were stuck in the house. I took the microwave, hot plate, toaster and table out of our kitchen, mopped scrubbed and cleaned like an Ostler knows best. It was awesome. There were a lot of spiders under the table. I moved the fridge and mopped underneath it too. The table when I scrubbed it you could tell a difference between what I had cleaned, which was white and what I hadn't which was a more brown tone. It was great!

Cleaning on Friday

Saturday was normal and Sunday as well. Teaching and preaching, but now I am going to explain a little regarding my companion. I really didn’t do that much last week and it is tough. I will try to explain this very clearly. First off, he is a son of God just like me and came on a mission and deserves the best. I am trying to love him and serve him but that proves to be a hard task at times. I feel as though that he doesn't even realize I am there.

We are on the street and finish a contact and . . . . . . . 

So I have lived with missionaries and know how missionaries function and what they do and what missionary work is supposed to be like because of my studly siblings, and because of this I see that there needs to be communication and support and teaching within a successful companionship. However. . . . . it is not that he is doing anything disobedient wise just that we stay at lessons for 2 hours and he only bible bashes our potential investigator about Christ’s resurrection and what the real sabbath day is or why the bible has been translated so many times.

All of Elder P's lessons are the same. A rote presentation. He doesn't let me talk and I am sacred to even then! If I don’t teach the way that he teaches then when I finish teaching, my companion will recover and teach the exact same points and doctrines I just taught so my teaching is not my own.

I want to teach so the people are excited and feel the spirit and want to learn more and teach to the specific needs of the investigators. It is hard. I find myself not want to teach because I know my comp will just reteach what I teach. This doesn't happen in every lesson but in most. . . . . 

So I am dealing everyday and trying to love him. I am trying in prayer and service to really be able to loose myself in the work.

We taught himnos in English on Sunday to the ward members that showed up that night. It was cool! I play the piano too, but not in sacrament, I am going to ask the bishop about it. Anyways I must leave now. It is tough but with faith miracles happen. God is real and he loves us all. Let us be strong and seguir adelante. Miracles are real. 
I love you all! 

Elder Ostler