Brisas - Week 22

Buenas Tardes!

Well, this week wasn't too bad! Lots of little things happened that I wanted to mention.

The first thing is...we have a BAPTISM on Saturday! I can hardly believe it! Its been a fight for months, literally, but finally the moment has come. I think I've mentioned him before, but his name is Leonardo and his family is all less active. Hermana Pinguelo and I had started teaching him right when we first got here and his family wasn't really ever supportive (well, they say they want to be but they don't actually do anything). However, a super faithful couple in the ward moved in with them because they're selling their house.  They've been a huge help.  Last week when we visited him, we confirmed about the date he had agreed to and he said he was ready.  So, we stuck a sticky note with his name and baptismal date on the fridge so everyone would be sure to remember. The next time we visited him, right as we were about to leave, the mom walked in and was like, "I have a question for you two. Who gave Leo that baptismal date?" She seemed annoyed, so neither Hermana Huff or I said anything back right away, but I was glad we didn't because Leonardo stepped up and said, "ME!" I was super proud because I think a lot of Leonardo's family thinks we've been pressuring him into it, but we really haven't. I'm really excited though because even though it's not the ideal baptism I was hoping for,  with Leo's family all getting reactivated too, it’s a step in the right direction for his family.

Other things this week:
We have an investigator named Gabriel who thinks us and him are literally BFFs. We run into him on the street a lot, but still haven't taught him because he's in the process of moving.  He's given us nicknames since we're so tight with him and in his phone I'm "Beauty Harper." The best though is Hermana Huff's. Hahaha, he calls her "Doofy." We met with him a couple of days ago in our area and he brought a friend and introduced Hermana Huff to him as his friend he likes to call Doofy. Haha. This same guy also called me Elder Harper once. Super funny guy.

Another thing this week is that I dumped out a drunk man's bottle of beer. He is a less active that we taught at the start of the week and he told us he was ready to change his life around. I was so convinced by his desire to change that I asked if he wanted to meet with the Bishop, and he told me yes, so I scheduled an appointment  with him right then and there. We felt so accomplished walking out of that lesson, but unfortunately two days later we found him riding his bike with his huge bottle of beer almost completely empty. When we him, we are like "what are you doing???" I asked him if I could dump out his beer for him, and he handed it to me, so I did.  Afterwards though, he was completely astonished and kept saying "You just dumped out my beer.   No one has ever done that before." He said it so much, that I got a little nervous that he was actually super mad and wanted to smack me or something.  I was like, remember you told me I could! And then I gave him a lecture on needing to be an example for his daughters and that he wouldn't find lasting happiness in getting drunk all the time. Haha. When I was talking to him I felt like I was getting mad at Devin or Jace for a min. The big sister came out!!! 

We visited our little golden family and just the mom and daughters were there. The mom has been super shy with praying in front of us for a long time, but she agreed to pray for the closing prayer. That was a super cool thing because its taken her weeks. They still aren't coming to church because little things that keep coming up every week, but this week we're really counting on it! Plus, our normal chapel is fiiiinally ready. No more hassles trying to get all our investigators to the other side of Merida it feels like (haha it’s really not that far).

This week we also had interviews with the Mission President. They're always not a big deal though. Basically I get in there and he tells me what a good missionary I am and to eat more because I look too skinny. And that's about it. I wanted his help about what to do with some difficult investigators we have, so we role played and I acted as the investigator, but I didn't learn much that I don't already do. I think its just the people honestly. Some are ready and want it, some are just too content and don't feel the need to change anything.

I guess that's a pretty decent summary of this week. I thought I broke my toe a couple days ago, but I'm pretty sure I'm fine. Haha. I pretty much fell out of my hammock...I was getting out and I hit my toe, oddly enough. It was super purple and couldn't walk that good for like a day, but now it doesn't hurt. This is only like my second time having something like that happen, so not too bad for 10 months I'd say!

¡Pues...amo a todos ustedes! Espero que estén bien! By!
Hermana Harper