Hunucma - Week 6

Mileybi's Baptism

Hola!

Last night we got our changes- and it turns out we didn't have any! Sister Lugo and I will be staying together in Hunucma until I DIE. Hahaha. I'm glad nothing got switched up because so far we've been working well together.

This week they've been pushing us to ask the members for references. The goal is talk to at least 18 people either as a street contact or while we're with members and ask who they know that we could visit. So far we've been doing pretty good with the goal, even though it's a little hard sometimes when we're running from house to house.

We found a guy this week named Pedro.  He’s really amazing. We were knocking (more like yelling- that's what they do here) at the door of a less active, but she wasn't home. Pedro was passing on his tricycle and told us she wasn't home, and we took advantage of the moment and asked if he wanted to listen to a message about Jesus. Usually people say, "Sure, but not right now." but he told us "yes" and headed for the sidewalk so we could talk for a second. We sat on the curb with him to get to know him briefly and write his address down. I honestly didn't think much of it because I could smell alcohol on his breath, but he confessed he really wanted to listen and said we could come visit him the next day at 6pm, and he'd be waiting. I gave him a word of wisdom pamphlet and told him not to drink before the appointment with us, and he promised he wouldn’t drink (like many drunk people here tell us!). We went the next day, but got a little lost finding his house, so we started talking to a bunch of his neighbors, but no one knew him. At like 6:40 he showed up on his bike because he said he saw us and he showed us where his house was. I felt bad because he had 3 chairs set out on his porch and said he'd been waiting since 6:00 and hadn't drank any alcohol!!! We started with the lesson and asked why it was that he wanted to listen to us and he said he wants to change his life and do things right. He got all teary when he told us about his wife and how she passed away 10 years ago and how he really misses her. He has 3 boys that are 19, 20 and 22, so he must of have been the one to raise them without his wife. He accepted everything we taught him and accepted a baptismal date! The next day (Saturday) he said we could come again at 5 and we went, but he left us a note asking for our forgiveness, because he had to go to work. His little note touched my heart because NO one does that for us. They always just leave as they please and have some excuse for us the next time they see us. Pedro's note was so sweet because his spelling is like an elementary kid's level and he put so much care into tying strings on either side of the paper so it wouldn't fly away. The next day (Sunday) we passed by to see if he could still come to church with us and the poor thing had barely gotten off work from working all night, but agreed to come even though he was super tired.

Friday- we had Mileybi's baptism! It was at 12pm, so not that many people were able to show up.

Mileybi's Baptism

Everything went really well. On Sunday she got up and bore her testimony and opened up a lot more than I’ve ever seen her. She said that a year ago she didn't believe much in God and couldn't understand why her family prayed to all these different dolls pretty much. She said as missionaries started coming, and when she started to get to know the members, she started praying and has felt like the weak person she saw herself as before was starting to be stronger. Really, she was probably ready to be baptized sooner, but the missionaries before chatted more than taught, and never got to that point with her. It was cool because she wants her family to get baptized one day and says that little by little they'll get there. She brought a sister though who seems really sweet and interested!

One funny thing I wanted to share was Wednesday when we went to Sisal. We visited the less-active family that lives on the coast and we just talked with the grandma and her daughter's 3 little boys. At the end of the lesson, the son (uncle of the 3 boys) came out to talk to us. He'd been drinking and his mom explained to us that his wife left him like 2 weeks ago with his baby boy. He came to talk to us though and tried to swoon my companion! First, he brought us coconut drinks and sat down and quoted the Nefi scriputure mastery "I will go and do..." and grabbed my companion's hand and said he couldn't go back to church because things had happened but he needed us to shed our light to his family because they needed it. Then he randomly left, came back in, and wanted to leave us a blessing because he said he had received the priesthood of Aaron and of Melchizedek. But he just did it with words- he didn't touch us haha. Then he left again and as we were leaving, one of the little boys gave us a piece of styrofoam from him that he had written his number on. THEN, as we were walking out of the house through their jewelry stand he saw us looking at some of the rings and earrings and grabbed one of each and gave them to Sister Lugo and told her he never wanted her to forget him. Hahaha! He tried to give them to her in exchange for a kiss, but luckily she pulled away. I was laughing so hard the whole time, but I don't think my companion enjoyed it so much!

Well, that's a little bit of what happened this week. Everything has been going really well, especially with our extra efforts to be diligent. Hunucma still hasn`t ceased to amaze me!

With love, Hermana Harper

Sisal Beach

Jewelry store owned by one of the less active members

Sisal Beach

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Party