Week 12 - Colmena - President Wallis Was Shot

August 18, 2025

Week 12 - Colmena - President Wallis Was Shot - August 18, 2025

What's up everyone

What a week

I'm going to start out with the title. If you didn't know, my mission president got shot early Saturday morning during a robbery in his home. The shot hit below his sternum but did not hit any major organs. He is doing okay, or at least as okay as you can be after being shot. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me. More on this in a minute. The mission work is still going strong!

Okay so let's get into the week.

Tuesday

We went to our food appointment. The food was super good but they just kept telling us to have more, so we'd eat more... and more... and more. We ate so much that we went straight over to the church, which was right next door, where I threw everything up. After I threw up I just laid on some chairs in the hallway for a couple minutes and then went to go find my comp. I found him dead asleep up on the stand in the chapel. Then we went and taught a lesson like we weren't both still in pain from eating too much.

At the church after I threw up

Wednesday

Elder Stoddard woke up sick, so we didn't do much. We went to our food appointment and the lesson after it and that was it. The lesson after was interesting. We invited an investigator over to the church to show him around, but he got to the church and was super drunk. Fun times. Then we just went home and Elder Stoddard fell asleep. It was only like 7:00. I learned how boring it is being a missionary without a comp to talk to. I actually think I stared at a wall for an hour.

Thursday

Stoddard was still sick but decided we were just going to go get some work done. We had a few good lessons. Our last one of the day was with a member, her dad and her investigator boyfriend. It was such a fire lesson! Her boyfriend was super interested and asking a ton of good questions. Afterwards they gave us some cake, and then sent us home with the whole half that was left!

Friday

We had interviews with President Wallis. It took most of the day. It was good to talk to him and I'm so glad I had that opportunity. We also cleaned our house like crazy that night for the up coming transfers.

Saturday

We woke up and went downstairs to plan our day. I'm sitting in my chair just trying to wake up enough to do anything. Stoddard suddenly yells "LOOK AT THE MISSION CHAT". I don't even know what to expect, I can't even really think yet. I open the chat and see a message from Sister Wallis, our president's wife.

I started reading "...president needs your prayers" .

"Oh no", I thought, "I just saw him yesterday. What could have happened".

I continued reading, "We had an intruder enter our home and President was shot"

I don't even know how to think or feel. I had just seen him perfectly fine the day before and now he's in the hospital with a bullet hole in his chest.

It took us a minute to do anything that morning because we both just sat in silence trying to figure out what to even think. Lots of prayers were said that day for President. The whole mission started a fast for him. We found out later in the day that he was stable and was going to be ok. (Insert from Mom, Sister Wallis said in a message, "We see miracles in all of this. We have been hugely blessed by God and His angels."). He was released from the hospital today (Monday the 18th) and they have been moved to a new house.

This is the message the moms saw. Sister Wallis sent a text to her family, her brother posted it on his Facebook page, one of his friends posted it to a Facebook prayer page, one of the mission moms saw it on the prayer page and reposted it to the mission Facebook page.

Sunday

Elder Stoddard finished packing his bags. It's weird to see someone getting ready to leave. I have so much left ahead of me I can't even think about leaving right now. Church was good, but if I'm honest, Sundays are so draining. Two straight hours of using all my energy to understand what's going on and then trying to teach lessons is so hard. Then we went home for Elder Stoddard's My Plan lesson. While he did that I started prepping our final dinner. This was probably the best food I've had here. Steak, potatoes, and some peach cobbler! Oh how I've missed steak and potatoes!