Tuesday - So to start this day, Elder Hope made some boss crepes for us, and they were so amazing. Threw some Nutella on there, and oh baby..... (Mouth Watered) So Elder Hope and I worked really hard this day with all our less active families. We were in Palave, and we started by teaching both of our less active families a small message. One family, The Richard Family, wanted to teach us a lesson. That was cool. So they taught us in Matthew 7. Can I just say that is an amazing chapter. I suggest reading it. So anyways, good lessons with them. Then we went over to Hmo. Reyes. He expressed how he can't work at all due to his leg being way bad, and that he is waiting on God for his blessings, so we talked with him about that. Then his wife came and listened, who is a less active member, and she asked us for a blessing for the sick because she can't move her hand. So we talked more about that with her and told her next time she will be able to receive that. Then we went down to our new investigator, Roberto, who is only 13. Turns out his mom is a less active member too. So we taught the both of them about the Plan of Salvation, and we continue to give them lessons. We finished the night with Morena and her family, who we are still waiting to get her papers so she can be baptized. Hopefully they will come soon!!!
Wednesday - So we worked in Hato Nuevo, and boy oh boy was it fun. We started by teaching Nicauri, who has now completely finished every lesson we have for her. She said that she wants to start paying Fast Offerings and Tithing BEFORE she gets baptized. That is something I need to learn from her. My whole life I sat there saying, why me, 10%? That is a little too much. Maybe I will pay this a little bit later. Well guess what, it is a commandment from God to pay it. And here is Nicauri, who makes absolutely nothing, telling me she wants to give every cent she can to a church she isn't even a member of yet. That shows faith right there. I need to become more like her. Well after her house, she took us to her sister, Mariana, to start lessons with her, which I think is awesome. She is learning, but her first question for us was, "What are the rules of your church?" Kind of a strange one to start off with, but that is okay. We taught her how they aren't rules, but commandments, and that we'll explain them throughout the lessons. We taught the Lara Family! The dad has been reading the Book of Mormon and believes in it 100% which is amazing. He has been praying a lot. Then after that, we tried to go to Ernesto and Suhenne, but they both weren't there, so we went to The Castro's, and they gave us TONS of bananas, and oh boy, they were delicious. Then we went to the church to go to a doctrine class. Well a less active member was there, but it wasn't someone we were teaching. It was from the other two missionaries. He was nice at first, but as the class started, we soon found out he was an evangelist like way bad. Started screaming at us that we need to repent. That was great. Then a member started bible bashing with him and the whole class was lost. The spirit left so fast, and I just felt horrible. It was the first time my entire mission I have felt the spirit leave my presence, and I just felt terrible. That was rough to get through, but we treated the man with respect regardless.
Thursday - So we had a meeting in the morning with our Ward Mission Leader. We had to shower and eat there too because we lost water again in the house this morning, and we aren't able to shower or clean our dishes. So that was fun. Then we left to Palave again. This time, hardly anyone was there, but we did manage to teach Hmo. Reyes, like always. His wife wasn't there, so we couldn't give her her blessing. But he says he is slowly getting better which is good! And we also taught a recent convert. Tatiana. She is awesome! She just needs to keep coming to church. Well this night we taught Roberto again, about prayer and how to pray. It was a great lesson. Then we asked if he'd like to come with us to the church to this little meeting we do every Thursday, with a little message, and then games. He said yes, so we went to the church, and the theme was prayer. It was way strange but amazing. The Lord really is preparing his sons and daughters, and is guiding us to do what we need to do in order to help them. That was a testimony builder for me. I asked Roberto what he thought, and he told me, "I definitely understand the importance of prayer now."
Friday - HARD DAY. We were in Hato Nuevo, and we got fired by EVERYONE. Literally, the only person who was home was Mariana, so we taught her her second lesson. She says she likes the message. So that was good. So me and Elder Hope went contacting for about 2 hours, then we stopped by a members house. He has been growing the hottest pepper on earth in his yard, the Ghost Pepper. Smaller than a dime. I told him I wanted to try it. Ya I got an awesome video of me bursting into tears. It was the hottest thing ever. I literally thought I was Mario, and could shoot fire balls out of my body. Nuts. But ya, the rest of this day we just worked with members.
Saturday - Well Elder Hope and I made some really good beef strogonaff (YA BABY) for lunch. Ya, that was amazing. I think I died. It was fantastic. Best part? It wasn't rice. Hahah So we got to work with a member today, Hmo. Castro! It was boss. We started off by going to the Family Lara's house. Sadly the dad was not there, but his kids were so we taught them. It was nice to have Hmo. Castro there because he has gone through this experience of being an investigator, and he could relate to them. So that was good. Then he took us to Palave, which is about a 45 minute to an hour walk, in 5 minutes with his car, which was nice. We talked to Hmo. Reyes again. He is one of the less active members that Elder Hope and I reactivated, so we like talking to him. His leg has been acting up again, but he was good. We tried teaching more people in Palave but they weren't there. So we went home and we went to a members house to finish the day.
Sunday - Well church was great! Nicauri and her sister Mariana were at church which was awesome, and the mom of Roberto who is a less active was there too, so that was good. Just goes to show all it takes is someone to offer the invitation! Well after that, there was a huge carnival going on in our area to celebrate the day Christopher Columbus found this place. Well it was way cool, but right on the main street. Elder Hope and I couldn't cross the street, which sucked, and everyone was drunk. So we just went to Dorka's house, a member, and had to stay there all day. But there were a lot of members there, so we were able to talk to them.
Monday - We had a zone activity and all we did was made up a skit. Then I went home and slept and that is all that happened today!!!
We are going to the temple on Wednesday this week, which I am so excited about! First time I have had to pull out my long sleeve shirt since the CCM. So that will be way amazing! Well sorry this was long, but it was an amazing week!
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| Carnival |
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| People in the Carnival parade. |
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| A Dung Beetle |
