First of all, I can't believe it's almost October.
There were lots of fun things that happened this month. With Independence day and all the little Catholic parades for their saints, and now, day of the dead and Halloween is coming up. I haven't heard too much about those holidays, but I'm sure I will soon!
This week I didn't feel too much like a missionary because it seemed like everyday we had errands to run for sick missionaries. My mission daughter (Hermana Pinguelo) got stuck in the hospital for a couple days because her companion got Dengue. You get it from mosquitos, and I guess it can be really serious if you don't get it taken care of. We went to the hospital twice to leave clothes and let their phone charge. They were fun little trips despite missing out on teaching time! The other sisters in our ward also got sick with the flu, so they've been house bound, and we've had to help them a little bit too. Seems like everyone has gotten sick lately!
With the time we had to teach, we actually found some pretty awesome people. We found a newlywed couple at the start of this week who are really great. The wife is from Colorado and is here learning/teaching Spanish. She was a missionary for the catholic church which I thought was pretty cool because there aren't many of those (missionaries) that I've seen. I think I forget that Americans can be Catholics too, haha! She married a guy who's from here and they both have lots of really great questions about what we believe. I'm hoping by the next lesson we can get them to accept an invitation to be baptized!
Its been fun with the conference coming up and inviting everyone to it. The less actives we've invited seem especially excited. Last night I was on exchanges with one of the sister training leaders and we were with Shirley, who's been a member for 14 years, but inactive for awhile. She's been slowing getting more involved though and when we told her about conference and how awesome it would be, she got way excited. She's never been, she said and has several things she's been praying about lately, so we told her to bring her questions to conference.
This week we went to the Womens' Conference. We brought Conchi with us, who we've taught several times and I think she really liked it. I love having conferences like that to show investigators because they're always so perfect! There really is something for everyone, no matter how much you know about the church. I hope everyone listens and takes advantage of such a special opportunity!
Love, Hermana Harper
Monday, September 29, 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
Brisas - Week 19
Hola,
Well, another week in mission life!
One highlight, on Saturday we had a stake activity called "A day in the mission." All the young men, young women and missionaries met at the stake center at 7am and we had breakfast and a couple little "MTC" classes. Around 11am the president and his assistants came and talked about the hard parts of a mission and told everyone how they could get ready right now to face all those challenges. It’s funny that really the hardest things for missionaries after the initial shock of getting here is just being tired, hungry (mostly the elders), and being outside in the sun all day. They really emphasized exercise with all the youth and said how that really prepares you before and during your mission.
The president also talked about addictions to things like TV or your phone and how you have to find a different outlet than that, because you won't have it on the mission! He also talked about addictions to porn and masturbation, which is always uncomfortable for everyone a little, but he had really good things to say about it. I think a lot of times no one wants to talk about it because its awkard, but its really a serious thing and a powerful tool Satan uses. Its crazy how many people face those problems too! One thing the president said it that a porn addiction, if left untreated, eventually turns into criminal activity in later phases of the addiction. He also said that masturbation addictions often lead to homosexuality. It was also interesting because he said that these addictions affect our capacity to love others, especially a spouse. Usually, the worse the addiction, the less ability you have to sincerely love others. When you understand the plan of salvation and the importance of marriage, having your ability to love diminished not only ruins a marriage, but consequently, exaltation! Satan is just so smart when he gets us hooked with addictions. The president also explained that we need to be careful of all kinds of addictions. He explained an addiction to be anything that the body selfishly wants, but that the spirit knows isn't good. Whenever our body starts to control our spirt, we should be careful! Before coming to the earth, we probably had no idea what having a body would be like, but now we're here and we have to really learn to let our spirits be our guides, not our bodies.
After that message from the president, all of us got together as a ward and between the missionaries and RMs in the ward, all the kids got split up with a list of names of people to visit. They were mostly less actives and recent converts. Since my companion still doesn't feel completely sure of the language and area yet, her and I stayed together and were given 3 girls. I showed my companion where to go once we got back to our area and sent her with one of the girls to go all by themselves. I think my companion learned a lot that day haha! It turned out to be a really fun activity though. I loved seeing how excited the girls got. We lucked out right at the beginning when the 5 of us were still together, because we found a new investigator that genuinely seemed interested in what we had to say. We gave her a Book of Mormon and went through the restoration really fast and she seemed excited to see what the Book of Mormon had to say. After the activity, we had a testimony meeting and all of the kids had really great experiences it seemed like.
I laughed because one kid got up and said he thought missionary work was just all fun, food, and teaching people who wanted to be baptized. He got out into "the mission" though and said it was just hot and not that many people wanted to listen. That's how it is a lot of days! Its funny, because you really just don't know what its like until you're out here!
On Sunday, at church, it was pretty sad because all week we thought we were getting switched back to our normal church building (they've been remodeling and we've been going to a church a lot farther away), but Saturday night we found out that the church wasn't getting switched back. Between that, and investigators not being there when people went by to pick them up (we had no investigators at church) it was a frustrating day :( That's a really frustrating part about being a missionary...coordinating so many peoples schedules and making all these plans, only to have something change and ruin everything. I guess its life though.
Con Amor, Hermana Harper
Well, another week in mission life!
One highlight, on Saturday we had a stake activity called "A day in the mission." All the young men, young women and missionaries met at the stake center at 7am and we had breakfast and a couple little "MTC" classes. Around 11am the president and his assistants came and talked about the hard parts of a mission and told everyone how they could get ready right now to face all those challenges. It’s funny that really the hardest things for missionaries after the initial shock of getting here is just being tired, hungry (mostly the elders), and being outside in the sun all day. They really emphasized exercise with all the youth and said how that really prepares you before and during your mission.
The president also talked about addictions to things like TV or your phone and how you have to find a different outlet than that, because you won't have it on the mission! He also talked about addictions to porn and masturbation, which is always uncomfortable for everyone a little, but he had really good things to say about it. I think a lot of times no one wants to talk about it because its awkard, but its really a serious thing and a powerful tool Satan uses. Its crazy how many people face those problems too! One thing the president said it that a porn addiction, if left untreated, eventually turns into criminal activity in later phases of the addiction. He also said that masturbation addictions often lead to homosexuality. It was also interesting because he said that these addictions affect our capacity to love others, especially a spouse. Usually, the worse the addiction, the less ability you have to sincerely love others. When you understand the plan of salvation and the importance of marriage, having your ability to love diminished not only ruins a marriage, but consequently, exaltation! Satan is just so smart when he gets us hooked with addictions. The president also explained that we need to be careful of all kinds of addictions. He explained an addiction to be anything that the body selfishly wants, but that the spirit knows isn't good. Whenever our body starts to control our spirt, we should be careful! Before coming to the earth, we probably had no idea what having a body would be like, but now we're here and we have to really learn to let our spirits be our guides, not our bodies.
After that message from the president, all of us got together as a ward and between the missionaries and RMs in the ward, all the kids got split up with a list of names of people to visit. They were mostly less actives and recent converts. Since my companion still doesn't feel completely sure of the language and area yet, her and I stayed together and were given 3 girls. I showed my companion where to go once we got back to our area and sent her with one of the girls to go all by themselves. I think my companion learned a lot that day haha! It turned out to be a really fun activity though. I loved seeing how excited the girls got. We lucked out right at the beginning when the 5 of us were still together, because we found a new investigator that genuinely seemed interested in what we had to say. We gave her a Book of Mormon and went through the restoration really fast and she seemed excited to see what the Book of Mormon had to say. After the activity, we had a testimony meeting and all of the kids had really great experiences it seemed like.
I laughed because one kid got up and said he thought missionary work was just all fun, food, and teaching people who wanted to be baptized. He got out into "the mission" though and said it was just hot and not that many people wanted to listen. That's how it is a lot of days! Its funny, because you really just don't know what its like until you're out here!
On Sunday, at church, it was pretty sad because all week we thought we were getting switched back to our normal church building (they've been remodeling and we've been going to a church a lot farther away), but Saturday night we found out that the church wasn't getting switched back. Between that, and investigators not being there when people went by to pick them up (we had no investigators at church) it was a frustrating day :( That's a really frustrating part about being a missionary...coordinating so many peoples schedules and making all these plans, only to have something change and ruin everything. I guess its life though.
Con Amor, Hermana Harper
Monday, September 15, 2014
Brisas - Week 18
This week was a crazy week!
To start off the week, my companion woke up Tuesday morning feeling sick. We both we're hoping she could just suffer through it, but by lunchtime that day it was too much, she said. Since we ate with the other Hermanas at their house that day, Hermana Huff went and layed down and I called the mission president's wife. She told us we needed to go to Centro and get her "credencial" card (not sure if that is the same in English) since she was still new and didn't have it, and then we needed to go to Alta Brisas, to the hospital there. That ended up taking our whole day just about! Luckily the first taxi we found took us to all those places and didn't charge us as much as he could have. The taxi driver had his wife and little boy in the car too, for the ride, so we got to talk to them and tell them
about the church and everything- so that was good!
At the hospial, Star Medica, they told us Hermana Huff had a fever and they gave her a shot (in the bum!) and 2 boxes of medication. To this day, she says it still hurts where they gave her the shot. Poor thing! :(
The next day she still wasn't feeling good, so I arranged for her to stay with a member all day. Luckily, the sister training leader (Hermana Ludlam, my trainer) asked to come out with us that day and while sister Huff was with the member, I went out with Hermana Ludlam and we had a pretty good day. Hermana Huff told me that the member was super cute with her and was always at her side, taking her temperature, making sure she stayed cool, giving her things to eat. I think they both had a lot of fun, haha.
So that was the first half of the week.
Something kinda scary happened Friday night! People always tell us to be careful here, but I've honestly NEVER seen anything or been anywhere where I've ever felt like we could be in danger. Friday though, we got out of a lesson at 9:10 pm (have to be home by 9:30) and we went to wait for the bus that would take us by our house. For where we were, we had to wait for a bus in a part that's just outside of where the houses and everything are. One one side there are houses and the other side is just a field. I guess it could be a little creepy, but usually the bus always comes fast so its fine. So Friday, we were waiting and when 9:30 pm rolled around, our bus still hadn't come. I started feeling stressed out because we had to be home and I didn't want to pay for a taxi, because we'd used up most of our money with the hospital visit and everything. This 17 year old kid came and started taking to us, and I knew him from a couple weeks ago because we had contacted him in the street with his mom. This truck passed by and stopped right in front of us and just stayed there for like a whole minute. That whole time I was asking the kid if he knew the guy and why was he there. He kept telling me to "calm down" and that it would be fine. Finally, this mysterious guy in the truck gets out and offers us a ride, but I told him that we were fine and just waiting for the bus and that we had rules about accepting rides. He kept insisting on letting him help us and was trying to be super nice, but at the same time he was super creepy. He got me a little stressed out because he said the busses don't always come by this late and that he'd just take us where we needed to go. I told him though that if the bus didn't come, we'd just take a taxi, but he just kept insisting on letting him help us and to not worry about the rules. I wasn't being very assertive, so the kid that was with us totally stood up and kept asking the guy to please leave. As soon at the stranger left, this kid told us that he knows guys like that and that we have to be really careful. I guess there's lots of men like him that take young girls and do really awful things here. I was super glad we happened to run into that kid and that he helped us out, because that late at night without people around, who knows what could have happened! Pretty sure someone was looking out for us ;)
Monday (15th) and Tuesday (16th) are Mexico's independence days, so we've had a lot of fun with that! On Sunday there was this rodeo we passed on our way to a lesson, so we checked it out really quick and got some fun pictures! Monday we went with some friends (some members, some not) to a Mayan Museum. For a museum, it was pretty cool! One of the people we went with used to work there, so he got us in for free (otherwise for foreigners its over a 100$, rip off!). It was fun because he acted like our guide the whole way through. The outside of the museum is shaped like a giant tree because the Mayans believe the tree symbolizes the 3 stages of life - the Underworld, Terrenal life, and the Heavens. Honestly I didn't understand all of it, haha. I learned lots about all the gods the Mayans believe in and how Yucatan used to be underwater, so that's why there are tons of water caverns and springs everywhere.
One thing that really put a dent in this week is that our baptism scheduled for this Saturday fell through. We went to visit our cute grandpa, Victor, for the last lesson before his baptismal interview and his son came out and told us how we're pressuring his dad and how his parents don't want us to come anymore, but are too shy to say anything. He wouldn't even let us talk, he just demanded us to leave or said he'd call the police. I asked like 6 times to just let his dad, who was sitting right there, to confirm things and we'd leave, but the son wouldn't let us and Victor never spoke up. I was REALLY sad after because since I arrived in this area we've been teaching Victor. I felt super let down, because we've come SO far with him. Literally everything was arranged for the baptism, but I don't know what to do now because the son threatened to call the police if we, or any members, come back. As we were leaving that lesson, I couldn't hold back the tears! It felt like we were finally seeing miracles, but now things just weren't working out.
With some of our other investigators, we've had a lot of let downs and sometimes it just feels like too much. One good thing though is that Hermana Huff and I are starting a new transfer, and hopefully with all the changes, we can change how we've done things. We've talked, and we're really going to try and be even more obedient so that we can have the right to more blessings. Or maybe just have more peace of mind because we did all we could. I know that even though things are hard, everything is in God's hands and that he will always take care of his children.
Love,
Hermana Harper
To start off the week, my companion woke up Tuesday morning feeling sick. We both we're hoping she could just suffer through it, but by lunchtime that day it was too much, she said. Since we ate with the other Hermanas at their house that day, Hermana Huff went and layed down and I called the mission president's wife. She told us we needed to go to Centro and get her "credencial" card (not sure if that is the same in English) since she was still new and didn't have it, and then we needed to go to Alta Brisas, to the hospital there. That ended up taking our whole day just about! Luckily the first taxi we found took us to all those places and didn't charge us as much as he could have. The taxi driver had his wife and little boy in the car too, for the ride, so we got to talk to them and tell them
about the church and everything- so that was good!
At the hospial, Star Medica, they told us Hermana Huff had a fever and they gave her a shot (in the bum!) and 2 boxes of medication. To this day, she says it still hurts where they gave her the shot. Poor thing! :(
The next day she still wasn't feeling good, so I arranged for her to stay with a member all day. Luckily, the sister training leader (Hermana Ludlam, my trainer) asked to come out with us that day and while sister Huff was with the member, I went out with Hermana Ludlam and we had a pretty good day. Hermana Huff told me that the member was super cute with her and was always at her side, taking her temperature, making sure she stayed cool, giving her things to eat. I think they both had a lot of fun, haha.
So that was the first half of the week.
Something kinda scary happened Friday night! People always tell us to be careful here, but I've honestly NEVER seen anything or been anywhere where I've ever felt like we could be in danger. Friday though, we got out of a lesson at 9:10 pm (have to be home by 9:30) and we went to wait for the bus that would take us by our house. For where we were, we had to wait for a bus in a part that's just outside of where the houses and everything are. One one side there are houses and the other side is just a field. I guess it could be a little creepy, but usually the bus always comes fast so its fine. So Friday, we were waiting and when 9:30 pm rolled around, our bus still hadn't come. I started feeling stressed out because we had to be home and I didn't want to pay for a taxi, because we'd used up most of our money with the hospital visit and everything. This 17 year old kid came and started taking to us, and I knew him from a couple weeks ago because we had contacted him in the street with his mom. This truck passed by and stopped right in front of us and just stayed there for like a whole minute. That whole time I was asking the kid if he knew the guy and why was he there. He kept telling me to "calm down" and that it would be fine. Finally, this mysterious guy in the truck gets out and offers us a ride, but I told him that we were fine and just waiting for the bus and that we had rules about accepting rides. He kept insisting on letting him help us and was trying to be super nice, but at the same time he was super creepy. He got me a little stressed out because he said the busses don't always come by this late and that he'd just take us where we needed to go. I told him though that if the bus didn't come, we'd just take a taxi, but he just kept insisting on letting him help us and to not worry about the rules. I wasn't being very assertive, so the kid that was with us totally stood up and kept asking the guy to please leave. As soon at the stranger left, this kid told us that he knows guys like that and that we have to be really careful. I guess there's lots of men like him that take young girls and do really awful things here. I was super glad we happened to run into that kid and that he helped us out, because that late at night without people around, who knows what could have happened! Pretty sure someone was looking out for us ;)
Monday (15th) and Tuesday (16th) are Mexico's independence days, so we've had a lot of fun with that! On Sunday there was this rodeo we passed on our way to a lesson, so we checked it out really quick and got some fun pictures! Monday we went with some friends (some members, some not) to a Mayan Museum. For a museum, it was pretty cool! One of the people we went with used to work there, so he got us in for free (otherwise for foreigners its over a 100$, rip off!). It was fun because he acted like our guide the whole way through. The outside of the museum is shaped like a giant tree because the Mayans believe the tree symbolizes the 3 stages of life - the Underworld, Terrenal life, and the Heavens. Honestly I didn't understand all of it, haha. I learned lots about all the gods the Mayans believe in and how Yucatan used to be underwater, so that's why there are tons of water caverns and springs everywhere.
One thing that really put a dent in this week is that our baptism scheduled for this Saturday fell through. We went to visit our cute grandpa, Victor, for the last lesson before his baptismal interview and his son came out and told us how we're pressuring his dad and how his parents don't want us to come anymore, but are too shy to say anything. He wouldn't even let us talk, he just demanded us to leave or said he'd call the police. I asked like 6 times to just let his dad, who was sitting right there, to confirm things and we'd leave, but the son wouldn't let us and Victor never spoke up. I was REALLY sad after because since I arrived in this area we've been teaching Victor. I felt super let down, because we've come SO far with him. Literally everything was arranged for the baptism, but I don't know what to do now because the son threatened to call the police if we, or any members, come back. As we were leaving that lesson, I couldn't hold back the tears! It felt like we were finally seeing miracles, but now things just weren't working out.
With some of our other investigators, we've had a lot of let downs and sometimes it just feels like too much. One good thing though is that Hermana Huff and I are starting a new transfer, and hopefully with all the changes, we can change how we've done things. We've talked, and we're really going to try and be even more obedient so that we can have the right to more blessings. Or maybe just have more peace of mind because we did all we could. I know that even though things are hard, everything is in God's hands and that he will always take care of his children.
Love,
Hermana Harper
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| Playground by our house |
Monday, September 8, 2014
Brisas - Week 17
Buenas Tardes!This week turned out to be pretty good! We went back to this one mother and her son and taught them the second time and they actually had read the pamphlet (folleto) we left and liked that. When we explained what the Book of Mormon was, the son told us he had been searching for something like that and was super excited to start reading it.
On Sunday we taught a lady we had contacted the week before and she was really interested because she wants more peace and unity within her family. She said how everyone is just on the phone and does their own thing all the time and that a lot of extended family members have really strong personalities. She doesn't have much religious background, so we started talking about prophets and Joseph Smith and how the prophets help guide us to be happier and have happier families. We didn't get a chance to talk much about baptism, but the next visit we told them we would.
Saturday night I got really excited for Sunday, because we did everything we could to arrange having 7 investigators at church, minium. Everything ended up working out, except for the member who went to pick up our family and couldn't find the house :( We still haven't talked to them, but I was super bummed our plans getting them to church didn't work out. On Saturday night we stopped by and they are seriously the greatest. I already feel like we've known them forever. It’s cute because I usually end up talking to the parents and the two little girls are all over my companion. Me and Herman Huff laugh because the girls treat her like their little pet. Since Herman Huff still doesn't know a ton of Spanish, I think they think she's kinda dumb and they try and teach her about everything. Haha like they were teaching her what a phone is and they reminded her not to eat the seed of the peaches they gave us. Its super funny. On Saturday when we stopped by they showed us their birds and said we could each have one, but that they'll take care of them until we go home. So who knows, I may be bringing a cute little Mexico bird home!
One funny thing we did today, with the little bit of extra time we had, was visit Roberto's mom who is HILARIOUS. She's super old and doesn't have any teeth, but she's so sassy! Today we went so she could teach us Mayan, but it didn't really work out. We'd ask her how to say a word, and she'd end up telling us a whole phrase of something that had to do with the word. It reminded me how I felt when I first started learning Spanish...one big headache. She was so funny though because she told us the funniest things, that to her, were important. Things like how to order a tortilla and to add extra tomato. And how to say "no it’s a lie!" And also how to say someone is a handsome guy or lady. Hopefully I come home with a video or two of her because she makes me laugh so hard.
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| Rita - She is teaching us Mayan |
On a spiritual note, I was reading in this month's Liahona and it had a lot of good stuff! It talked a lot about learning, and I actually thought that was kind of cool. It said how we shouldn't ever be scared to push our selves to learn something new because everything you learn can benefit you. It also said the more things you're interested in, the more interesting of a person you are! I was thinking of that and how all the time I think,"ugh, I don't want to waste time learning that." But really, as sons and daughters of God, if we really want to become like him, we have to keep learning! In the Liahona it said to read something informative and wholesome everyday, and I thought that's a really good idea. Just to be a better person all around. Another part of that is enjoying the learning process I think. So many times we're just waiting to get to the end of something, but then you miss the journey. That's something I really want to focus on here. Even during the tough days seem like they'll never end, there can be something special about.
Until next week.
Love,
Herman Harper
Monday, September 1, 2014
Brisas - Week 16
¡Buenas Noches!
This week, fortunately ended on a good note. Had it not, you probably would have heard how discouraged I've been...but still trying to stay positive. This whole week has been full of disappointments.
Our investigator, Victor, is just not progressing, even though we're doing everything we can to figure him out and help him understand and accept everything. On one level, he's sometimes difficult to understand and to get the responses you're looking for. The other is that he just doesn't seem to be understanding like we thought. We had a super awesome member couple come with us to visit him on Thursday and it helped us a ton. The husband is an RM, so he turned into our 3rd missionary, which was nice! We were talking about the holy ghost and how he can receive answers through the holy ghost. But Victor just wasn't getting it. What we have to do now is just leave him for a while and see if some space helps. Victor kept saying that he felt really pressured, which isn't what we want!
Our other investigator, Roberto, also doesn’t seem to be progressing like he should. We had a lot of faith he'd remember things better with time, but the trauma his brain received from trying to commit suicide is just too much. Also, he isn't very willing to stop smoking right now which is a problem.
At church, we did FINALLY have Leonardo there. He's the 14 year old in the less active family. Last week, he would have come too, just that we had a mis-communication with our members. We thought a member would pass by, and remind him, but they forgot. Luckily the same problem didn't get repeated this week!
Something that I didn't mention last week that I meant to, was about Leonardo´s sister, Shirley. She's about the only one in the family that we are starting to have luck with getting reactivated. Anyway, she told us how she had been praying a lot for things to change in her life. I talked to her about needing to DO something too, instead of just praying. She completely understood that prayer requires a compliment and she prayed I guess for a sign that the church was true and that she should go back to church again. Well, last week she was super excited to tell us that God answerd her prayer and gave her a sign. Shirley and her husband and daughter had barely moved out and in their new house, and 4 book of mormons appeared on her front porch. That was one of my highlights of last week, to hear her success story of prayer. Unfortunately though, she won't be attending the ward here. But at least she's on the right track!
The really exciting thing of THIS week, was last night. So last week at district meeting, the Elders challenged us to fast every week for our areas and we decided to do it, because honestly, we were getting desperate. We made the plan to do it Sat/Sun, and all that week before our fast wasn't so great. On Friday, I was at the point where I felt like our area just needed to be closed or something because it felt like nooo one wanted to listen. In a way its really true too. We have a ton of old people where we are, they say they’ve lived their lives and aren't interested in a new religion. Their world is all family and traditions that they are familiar with.
I remember praying for a piece of evidence that God was still there and loved us. I didn't even specify it to finding a golden investigator because honestly my faith was shaking a bit. That night though there was this HUGE rainbow and we were looking at it, and there was this lady outside her house looking at it too, and she started asking us questions about things she had wondered about God. She told us she'd like for us to visit her and her daughter and for us to call her Monday (today) to set up a time. For me, that was my little evidence that God still loves us.
On Sunday we ended our fast, we went to contact someone we met on the street who seemed average interested. We got there and the husband was there this time and was super happy to have us visiting him and his family. He told us his house was our house and how he met elders 10 years ago and really liked everything, but wasn't married at the time so couldn't get baptized. He basically told us he'd like for his family to be mormons and would love for us to visit and teach everyone. His family is definitely one of the golden ones! He told us how he loves his family so much and wants them to be an eternal family. He's learned about the plan of salvation and has tried to teach his kids the best he knows. At the end they kept giving us all their food too! We ate these little tacos, ice cream and peaches. They were so sweet to us.
After that lesson the first thing my companion said to me was, "Our fast got answered!" And its true. That experience really strengthened my testimony of fasting :)
Oh, one random non-spiritual thing is...this month is Mexico's independence month. The actual day is the 16th, I'm pretty sure, but all month they celebrate. Hopefully I'll get to see more of their traditions these next few weeks!
Adiooooss,
Hermana Harper
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Also, this week, Hilary got to see our neighbor Aracely Hallam (in white). Sister Hallam was in Cancun on business and decided to make the 3 hours bus ride to see her college friend. Her friend is in Hilary's Stake so it was easy to track Hilary down. They found her at the internet cafe on Monday writing her letters home!!! Sister Hallam was Hilary's YW leader. Thank you Sister Hallam for this great picture and for giving our missionary hugs!!!
This week, fortunately ended on a good note. Had it not, you probably would have heard how discouraged I've been...but still trying to stay positive. This whole week has been full of disappointments.
Our investigator, Victor, is just not progressing, even though we're doing everything we can to figure him out and help him understand and accept everything. On one level, he's sometimes difficult to understand and to get the responses you're looking for. The other is that he just doesn't seem to be understanding like we thought. We had a super awesome member couple come with us to visit him on Thursday and it helped us a ton. The husband is an RM, so he turned into our 3rd missionary, which was nice! We were talking about the holy ghost and how he can receive answers through the holy ghost. But Victor just wasn't getting it. What we have to do now is just leave him for a while and see if some space helps. Victor kept saying that he felt really pressured, which isn't what we want!
Our other investigator, Roberto, also doesn’t seem to be progressing like he should. We had a lot of faith he'd remember things better with time, but the trauma his brain received from trying to commit suicide is just too much. Also, he isn't very willing to stop smoking right now which is a problem.
At church, we did FINALLY have Leonardo there. He's the 14 year old in the less active family. Last week, he would have come too, just that we had a mis-communication with our members. We thought a member would pass by, and remind him, but they forgot. Luckily the same problem didn't get repeated this week!
Something that I didn't mention last week that I meant to, was about Leonardo´s sister, Shirley. She's about the only one in the family that we are starting to have luck with getting reactivated. Anyway, she told us how she had been praying a lot for things to change in her life. I talked to her about needing to DO something too, instead of just praying. She completely understood that prayer requires a compliment and she prayed I guess for a sign that the church was true and that she should go back to church again. Well, last week she was super excited to tell us that God answerd her prayer and gave her a sign. Shirley and her husband and daughter had barely moved out and in their new house, and 4 book of mormons appeared on her front porch. That was one of my highlights of last week, to hear her success story of prayer. Unfortunately though, she won't be attending the ward here. But at least she's on the right track!
The really exciting thing of THIS week, was last night. So last week at district meeting, the Elders challenged us to fast every week for our areas and we decided to do it, because honestly, we were getting desperate. We made the plan to do it Sat/Sun, and all that week before our fast wasn't so great. On Friday, I was at the point where I felt like our area just needed to be closed or something because it felt like nooo one wanted to listen. In a way its really true too. We have a ton of old people where we are, they say they’ve lived their lives and aren't interested in a new religion. Their world is all family and traditions that they are familiar with.
I remember praying for a piece of evidence that God was still there and loved us. I didn't even specify it to finding a golden investigator because honestly my faith was shaking a bit. That night though there was this HUGE rainbow and we were looking at it, and there was this lady outside her house looking at it too, and she started asking us questions about things she had wondered about God. She told us she'd like for us to visit her and her daughter and for us to call her Monday (today) to set up a time. For me, that was my little evidence that God still loves us.
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| "The" Rainbow |
On Sunday we ended our fast, we went to contact someone we met on the street who seemed average interested. We got there and the husband was there this time and was super happy to have us visiting him and his family. He told us his house was our house and how he met elders 10 years ago and really liked everything, but wasn't married at the time so couldn't get baptized. He basically told us he'd like for his family to be mormons and would love for us to visit and teach everyone. His family is definitely one of the golden ones! He told us how he loves his family so much and wants them to be an eternal family. He's learned about the plan of salvation and has tried to teach his kids the best he knows. At the end they kept giving us all their food too! We ate these little tacos, ice cream and peaches. They were so sweet to us.
After that lesson the first thing my companion said to me was, "Our fast got answered!" And its true. That experience really strengthened my testimony of fasting :)
Oh, one random non-spiritual thing is...this month is Mexico's independence month. The actual day is the 16th, I'm pretty sure, but all month they celebrate. Hopefully I'll get to see more of their traditions these next few weeks!
Adiooooss,
Hermana Harper
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| Me and My 2 Trainees!!! |
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