Alright. Now for my week. Well it was probably one of
my saddest. So first of all, with the district meeting we had Wednesday
morning, we had the pleasure to have President Souza there. A bit of stage
fright for me because I directed the meeting and gave half of the training but
it was alright. It was even harder when I found out that the reason President
Souza was there was to talk with Sister Bailey about her family. Apparently,
her Mom got cancer when she started her mission and this next week it is kinda
planned for her to die. I felt terrible. This Sister just got over Dengue (a
virus from mosquitoes) and here comes the second punch, her mom is about to
die. I wanted to cry. I wanted to help but I didn’t know how. I decided to fast
to clear up this confusion in my head, and for her.
Then here comes the big news. After a long hard good
day of work on Friday night we get home and find out that President is coming
over. I thought maybe it was to check out how the situation is with 4 Elders in
a very small house, and to do a cleaning check. As we all were climbing the stairs,
he grabbed my companion. I didn’t notice and when I saw that Pres. and my Comp
weren’t there I went to go down but Sister Souza stopped me and told me that his
Dad died......
Wow. Ouch. It was tough news. I started to cry and
pray for my companion. It was even tougher to hear him coming into the room
bawling. I began to cry as well. I gave him a big "Father’s Hug” him
crying in my arms. But that was all that I could do. He went into his room to
call his bishop and his mom and to talk with them. I personally have never had
to deal with a sudden sad death like this with those so close to me. President
told me that this would be one of the great lessons I will learn here on the
mission. How to deal with deaths in my life and in the lives of those around
me. It was real sad. President left, and Elder Medrado opened up his journal
and started writing. I just stayed there by his side all night until 2 o’clock
as he wrote out his emotions. He used that temple handkerchief you gave me (that
was a whole lot better than the toilet paper he was using)
This death, in my opinion shows a bit of the tender
mercies God has in our lives, and I tried to help Elder Medrado with this point
of view. You only will pass through the death of your Father once in your life,
and God has really made it sweet. For a bit of time, his Dad has had heart problems
and he almost died 3 years ago. During this time Elder Medrado didn’t get along
with his Dad very well and didn’t go visit his Dad in the hospital after one
attack. His cousin called and told him that he had actually died, and this was
a bitter moment for him, that he ended his relationship with his Dad like this.
But of course his Mom called and told him it was a lie, but in this moment it
really opened his eyes. For in the 3 years since, the relationship between him
and his Dad got a whole lot better and they left on a good note.
It is incredible though how God prepared him for this
moment. There have been various things that have happened to give him a cushion
for all this. Being a missionary, you never will be alone, you always have
someone at your side. All your friends are "Representatives of Jesus
Christ" and he is surrounded by them and their service, and there isn’t a
time in our lives that we are so close to our Savior. Another special thing, a
couple weeks ago, he woke up on P-day and felt inspired to write his dad
personally. That day I didn’t want to go to the post office because it didn’t
fit into the schedule, but I felt that we should go anyways. His dad got to see
that. Also, Mom. You felt "inspired" to write Elder Medrado instead
of me and express your love to him. That was very nice and perfect timing.
Sister Bailey is passing the same time and has help. There were many things in
our studies together this last week that helped us prepare for this, including
my study on Honor. And yesterday Elder Medrado received his Patriarchal
Blessing. And also yesterday, he bore his testimony to me that he knows that I
was prepared to be "His Father" here on the mission to pass this
moment in his life with him.
I really saw the truth of the last words that Brother
Eaton told to me before I left for the mission. "That sometimes the people
that need our service the most on our missions can be our companions." I
know God arranged this to be in his life and in my life. I am super grateful to
be here for my wonderful companion and to really learn how to comfort when they
really need it. My comp needs your prayers, and so do I so that I can continue
to serve him and help him stay strong. I am super surprised to see how strong
he has been since then. In the last few days he has been surprisingly strong,
and hasn’t had a problem yet. I know he still has that burden but I know what
Jesus said. "Blessed are those that mourn, for they will be comforted."
Well there goes my time but I am doing fine. Don’t
worry about me. Elder Medrado really liked the quote I shared with him Sunday,
that "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going
to get.” Maybe it may be a surprise, and maybe it may not be the flavor you
wanted. But it’s chocolate, so you gotta appreciate it. Really this came to
truth here, and is true for the mission. I know God is painting a masterpiece
in those that serve me. I trust Him. He trusts me.
Love,
-Elder Zachary Cetraro
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