This week was insane. To quote an hermana from my zone, "everything crazy always happens at the exact same time." That is completely true.
Sunday was my first official day as zone leader and I was excited to start serving the missionaries in my zone. Elder Tall and I taught the Priesthood lesson about Recognizing the Spirit and it went super well. One of the other elders actually asked me if I had had teaching experience before the mission cause he thought it was very well done. Shout out to my bishopric for calling me to be a Sunday School Teacher before I left, it gave me some great experience. Brad Wilcox was our devotional speaker on Sunday and he talked about the 12 Tribes of Israel; it was super interesting. I'm going to include a little volleyball story right now, but it is not a part of the Volleyball Chronicles of Elder Spangler. On Monday, I was playing volleyball and was playing middle on the front line. I went up to hit the ball and my district leader, Elder Smith, went up to block me and came down really hard on his ankle. We rushed him over to the medical room and the next day we found out he had torn ligaments on both sides of his ankle and had a hairline fracture. It shouldn't prolong his stay at the MTC, but it does make it more difficult for him to move around. On the same day, a bunch of missionaries who were supposed to go to Bolivia came back to the MTC cause their plane broke before they took off, so we got a couple missionaries back and we had to figure out how to set up companionships and what to do with their schedule and stuff. And another thing on Monday, one of the missionaries in our zone was struggling with mental and physical health issues so he was about to be sent back home but he figured it out so we didn't have to worry about that anymore. But yeah, all those things happened on my first full day as zone leader and it was pretty crazy, but the Lord definitely helped Elder Tall and I work everything out.
We got 15 new missionaries in our zone this week. They're all really good missionaries and I'm excited to get to know all of them better. Elder Tall and I and the Sister training Leaders met with them on Wednesday just to get to know them and stuff, and also to talk to them about some rules and different things in our zone. Elder Tall and I wore our Ecuadorian ties cause everyone always compliments them, and sure enough, someone asked about our ties and I got to tell them all about my super cool brother in law who gave them to me.
Why I called myself an old man; First, I woke up the other day and my back hurt cause I slept weird and I thought, "Oh no, I'm turning into my dad." But I'm fine now, so don't worry about me getting back problems. Secondly, I was talking to some of the new missionaries the other day and they asked how old I was, so I told them I was 18. Three of these new elders are 19 and one is 20, but they all thought I was older than them. I was really surprised cause first off, I look like I'm still 16, and all these guys look like full grown men. They said I had "an old soul" which was funny to me cause I remember thinking all the missionaries who were in my zone before felt so much older and more mature than me, but they actually weren't. It was kind of a testament to me that although I may feel like I haven't changed a ton, other people notice it, which is a good thing because I don't want to be the same person I was went I left, I want to be better.
Okay, NOW it's time for the Volleyball Chronicles of Elder Spangler. This addition is actually going to be applicable so make sure and read it. Last Saturday, after I had already sent out my email, I had exercise time and of course I played volleyball. I had the best spike I have ever had, it was amazing. I timed my jump perfectly and hit it so hard into the back corner, everyone was so amazed by it, including myself. Saturday was definitely my most successful day as an MTC volleyball player. Monday was also a really good day (besides when Elder Smith broke himself) and I was just feeling really good about myself. Then the Lord decided to humble me. Tuesday and Wednesday were they worst I have ever played, like I was disgraceful. I couldn't set, I whiffed so many spikes and my passes were horrible. I don't know if it was really the Lord humbling me or if I was just really bad, but the experience taught me a lot. If I ever am in the field thinking that "I know what I'm doing, I'm really good at this," then the Lord won't bless me and I won't be a successful missionary, no matter how hard I try or how bad I want it. It was a good lesson for me to learn in volleyball and not in real missionary work. Thursday was a great day for my volleyball. I stopped thinking I was super good and because of that, I set the ball so so well. While playing I totally thought "YES, I'm turning into my dad" (He was a Varsity setter in high school). I got so many assists, it was amazing. There was this one elder who spiked it super well and I probably got 30 assists with him alone. But yeah, great life lesson to learn and I'm thankful for everything else I've learned from volleyball hahaha.
Well, I think that's everything for this week. I could include so so much more but it's already a really long email so I'll spare all of you. I'll try to send some pictures, I need to get them from everyone who has taken them on their phones and cameras first. It's hard to find time to take pictures, but I'll do better for all of you, especially my mom.
Love and miss all of you!!
Elder Spangler
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