What's happenin' amigos?
So, I'm going to try my very hardest to keep this email shorter than the Bible... but nobody's perfect, right?
JK I will, I promise.
So allow me to tell you about a wonderful gentleman named Crazy Joe, or Loco Jose, if you prefer.
We met him on Thanksgiving Day, a day when average missionaries visit members or stay in.
We are not average missionaries. So we decided we were going to knock doors. Crazy, I know.
It was about midday when we came across the apartments where Crazy Joe lived. We had parked the car and begun walking towards the building when I spotted a man sitting in an old truck, doing absolutely nothing. I walked up to him and said, "Hey! How's it going? Do you have a second real fast?" He looked at me and cracked a smile, "Well, I haven't been doing anything all day, I'm retired and I've got all the time in the world!" We laughed and I told him about who we are and asked if he would like to hear a message about God. He jumped out of the truck and waved us over. "Come right on in!" he yelled. He introduced himself as Crazy Joe, and we shook hands with an old lady sitting in a chair, who introduced herself as Tip. We began to talk to them about the Gospel, but were quickly pushed off track when Crazy Joe started speaking. When he spoke, he walked around the room, waving his hands in the air, practically yelling as he did so. He told us all sorts of stuff about how much he knew about the bible and how much he had learned in prison. Usually, we would have tried to either get the conversation back on the Gospel or try to get out the door, but today was thanksgiving, and we had all the time in the world. Crazy Joe told us about his life, while making less-than-Christlike comments to Tip. Turns out Tip's sister and his brother were married... so that makes them siblings-in-law?? Anyway, he told us all about the Chicano movement of the 60's. Something I had personally never learned about. Sounded pretty interesting at most, but now I know more than I did before, right? At one point, he pulled out some poetry he wrote behind bars. It was... interesting to say the least. He then decided he would like to pray with us. We held hands in a circle and he gave a very passionate prayer of thanks to God for sending us to him so he could teach us the ways of the Lord. After what seemed like ages, we finally left, knowing more about things we didn't never thought we needed to know more about.
We run into a lot of very interesting people out here in the city. So many people we run into are in circumstances so humble it makes me wish I had something to give them. Last night, we ate with a family that had just enough to make two meals for us. It was so hard to eat and know that they wouldn't be having much that night. It inspires me to see that Humility and the true Christlike character of so many of the people we meet. These experiences inspire me to be a better person and to not take for granted anything I have. That being said, I am so thankful for all of you and the support that I receive from you all. I am so truly blessed to have the privilege to wear the name of our Savior, Redeemer, Messiah, and Lord on my shirt every day. I know that he lives, and I know that he wants nothing more than for each of us to return to him and experience true joy. I know he is present in our everyday lives. I love the work, I love the people, I love the language. I hope you all have an incredible week and an incredible holiday season.
Con amor,
--Elder Davis
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