Page 7 of His Elder

"Sister Rodríguez was eighty years old and lonely. She would've talked to anyone."

Elder Price's face flushed. "So we should've just ignored her? Not offered her the gospel because she was lonely?"

"We should've offered her actual human connection instead of a sales pitch."

"It's not a sales pitch!"

"It absolutely is! 'We have a message that will bring you happiness. Can we come back and share it with you?' That's textbook cold-calling!"

"It's testifying of truth!"

"It's reciting a script!"

A door opened down the hall. A man stuck his head out, glared at us, and said something sharp in Catalan that definitely meantshut the hell up.

"Sorry," I called. "Disculpe."

The door slammed.

Elder Price grabbed his shoulder bag. "Lunch. Now."

We ate bocadillos from a corner shop in silence, sitting on a bench in a small park. Elder Price chewed mechanically, eyes fixed on the middle distance. I watched pigeons fight over a dropped pastry.

"Do you even want to be here, Elder?"

His voice was quiet. Controlled. But underneath—fury.

I looked at him. "What?"

"I asked if you even want to be here. On a mission. In Spain. Because from where I'm sitting, it seems like you'd rather be literally anywhere else."

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Physically. But you're not present. You're not trying. You're just... going through the motions and criticizing everyone who actually cares."

"I care."

"About what? Sketching? Being cynical? Tearing down every effort I make to actually do the work we're called to do?"

Heat flared in my chest. "You want to know what I care about, Elder Price? I care about not lying to people. Not manipulating them with emotional pressure tactics. Not baptizing families when half of them don't even believe."

"The Morenos—"

"Are a perfect example! You're going to push Sofia into baptism because Dalton told you to, even though her father doesn't support it, and in six months they'll be inactive because there's no foundation. But hey, you'll get your number, right? Another baptism to report."

Elder Price stood up so fast he nearly knocked over his water bottle. "You think that's what this is about? Numbers? You think I'm out here every day, knocking doors, teaching lessons, because I want to impress President Dalton?"

"Aren't you?"

"I'm here because I believe in this! Because I know—Iknow—that the gospel can change lives, heal families, bring people to Christ. I've seen it happen!"

"You've seen people join a church."

"I've seen miracles!"

"You've seen what you wanted to see!"

We faced each other across the park bench, both breathing hard.