Elder Wilfredo Garcia

I think it's been quite a while since I've written about one of my favorite missionaries (his cousin Adril being the other favorite!).

Wilfredo's birthday is this week, so if anyone feels so inclined, he'd love to hear from you!  His email address is:   wilfredo.garcia.llaza@myldsmail.net.  His P-day is Monday so write to him as soon you finish reading this!.

The first picture is when he first arrived at the mission home in Ecuador (he went to the MTC in Columbia).  The picture below is getting ready to fly to Ecuador.

My mom tells me all the time that you never stop worrying about your kids. I thought I would stop worrying about this kid once he was actually on his mission because actually getting him on his mission was such a struggle that took several miracles.  But the first several weeks were heart wrenching for me.

For those of you who know sweet Wilfredo, you know how painfully shy he is. I still remember meeting him for the very first time. Most of the kids at the Sunflower Orphanage were so open and loving - they would hug you and you were instant friends. While the rest of the kids were dancing with us gringos, Wilfredo could barely make eye contact. But this kid, with his big brown eyes climbed into my heart and has camped there ever since.

The first few emails he talked about how hard it was and for me, those memories of the first few weeks of my mission flooded back to me. The schedule, the sore feet, adjusting to NEVER being alone, etc. Wilfredo was experiencing all of that plus he was really struggling with talking to people and knowing what to say. Around the 3rd or 4th week, he didn't write to me. And then he didn't write the following week. I started to panic. But after 3 weeks, he emailed me and told me he was doing better and he didn't want to write because he wasn't happy.

But take a look at this kid now...like my mom said, I will never stop worrying about this boy, but he's turned the corner. Not to say he won't have hard time ahead, but his emails are now about things that he needs (DVD's to help teach his investigators, church music to listen to) to do the work he left to do. 
 

So again, may I ask you to write to this young man?  Use Google Translator (that's what I do).  Even if you don't know him.  You can say you are a friend of Natalie's - tell him he's doing a good thing and that you will pray for him.

Because if anyone in this world deserves your prayers, Wilfredo certainly does.