Brisas - Week 31

IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!

This transfer is starting to feel like Christmas because we finally got all moved into our new house, and we set up the paper tree mom sent and have presents under the "tree" haha. It took two days to get everything moved over, but the members we awesome to help us out. We also discovered how to hang our stockings and wrote "MERRY CHRISTMAS" above it. A lot of the houses have put up Christmas lights and its super cute because they don't have much. Usually its just a little string of lights and that's all.  It's been fun this transfer because the other half of the ward I'm getting to know really well and it's way more humble. Sometimes I feel like we're camping when we walk into some of the houses because its literally just plain cement walls and it feels the same as when we're outside.

This coming week we have lots of fun activities planned to take advantage of Christmas coming up. When we left district meeting today, my companion and I and another set of elders and sisters all got on the same bus, so we decided to sing and hand out cards that advertise "Él es la dádiva" (He is the gift) video and ask who wanted to hear more. Its surprising how many people don't really understand the true meaning of Christmas. A lot of people don't like Christmas because they say its just an excuse to get drunk or have parties. Its been fun to tell people why Jesus Christ is important and can actually make a difference in their lives if they let him.

This week has gone really good because my companion and I are both on the same page with things. Its fun because we both feel like we have a new area, but at the same time not, too. And we both know all the members and they all know us! We met out new Zone today and except for 4 elders, everyone is American. I'm not sure how the other zones are, but it feels like the Americans are taking over! Haha

One miracle this week is that the guy Hermana Suarez and I were teaching, Jose (the 20 year old that's sick with a heart  problem), we started teaching again, and he's ready to get baptized! For a good week or so before, he had completely lost faith and decided he would just wait to get better and then maybe starting listening to us again, so we had decided not to teach him anymore. It turned out that (I didn't know this until after we'd already gone back to check on him) all by himself he had gone to a members house asking for us. When we went back he said he realized he needed to have faith if he really wanted to start getting better because he knew that was the only thing that would actually help him. We have been teaching him again and he made it to church Sunday, so his baptism is set! :) We're going to combine his with 2 others in the zone, so there should be LOTS of people. The morning of his baptism all the missionaries in the zone and a bunch of ward members are going to a pueblo to help out the elders there. We're going to contact and hand out lots of pamphlets and liahonas and stuff like that. So that will probably be really fun! And then we'll all be back just in time for the baptism.

In gospel principles class, I saw how much Jose has really blossomed. Our ward mission leader talked about obedience and it was a REALLY good class. It turned into a conversation about faith and that we're obedient because we have faith that God will bless us. Jose joined in a lot and said how its sometimes hard because friends sometimes says things to discourage you, but that if you don't have faith in Jesus Christ, you don't have anything. Jose mentioned how Christ suffered a lot, but he pushed forward, and if he did, we can too. During the week when we went to visit Jose, he showed us that he was making a frame for the picture of Jesus that we had given him. It touched my heart because he'd kept his picture of Jesus in his Book of Mormon with his other pamphlets and every time we'd tell him to take it out and put it in his room, but he'd always forget. That night he decided to frame it and put it in his room. We've been pushing him to look for a job or help his dad with his carpentry because he does NOTHING.  He thinks he's too sick and its not good for him. He's starting to take a hold of his life and it makes me happy! Another thing that was kinda funny, was that he showed up to church with his little gangster outfit on and earring in, but when he walked in I think he felt a little funny and asked if he should take his earring out, so we told him yes. In the gospel principles class he mentioned that part of the change he was making, he realized needed to be external too. He said he loved to dress gangster for the music he listens too, but was willing to sacrifice it. That make me so happy that he decided it all on his own. My companion and I died laughing because our ward mission leader said he was exactly the same before he got baptized. Down to an eye brow ring and everything! I never would have thought he was that type of person before, but I liked that he explained that when you choose to really follow Christ, you lose interest in things that you may have liked before, and that's really true.

If any of you haven't seen the video, "He is the gift," go and watch it! And share it with everyone. And after you watch it, think of how you can choose to really follow Jesus Christ and accept the gift he's given you. Think of what you're lacking, and do something different to repent and change for the better. Remember that choosing to follow Christ will ALWAYS be the easier path in the end, and is the only way to be truly happy. Don't forget the simple stuff like studying the scriptures and praying and fasting.

Until next week, Hermana Harper