Holy cow this week was nuts. It was so great, but I am so dang
tired now. Let me tell ya, it’s been quite
the time here in Santo Tome. Let’s just say
I’d be down for a nap right about now. BUT!
We keepin’ on ‘
on. Right. So, about the week. Let’s seeeeeeeeee....
Tuesday. In the morning, we had a lesson with the one and
only Jonathan out in Las Vegas. This time, we
were able to talk to him about the story of the Brother of Jared. He was super
interested in that, so we read a little bit of the story with him and we
explained to him all of the stuff that was happening and who people were and
what some words meant. In the end, we were
able to teach him a little more about faith and then help him understand a
little bit more of that. After him, we
visited a few more people in Las Vegas, but not too much to report. After lunch
with a member family and the siesta, we went
to a few other people too. Truly, not too much happened up until our cita with
the FML Penno. They are the coolest. Have I said that yet? But yeah. We went there and had a super good
time with them. We helped them make some empanadas and we then afterwards
planned all of the baptism and then answered a few questions. So, they decided who they wanted to be baptized by and who
would speak and say prayers and all the good stuff. And, as my reputation has
come to be, I ate a whole lot of food. But it’s not my fault. The empanadas
were freaking amazing!
Wednesday
In the morning, we had a lesson with Mari in the church. It
was a pretty good lesson. We were able to review all of the commandments with
her. So Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity, Diezmos, and Sabbath Day. She had
already learned or heard about all of that, so it wasn’t
anything too new to her. She didn’t have any problems with any of it either,
except for tea. She drinks a lot of tea. It was funny because she asked
"Why can’t I drink tea?" And I said to her "Because God doesn’t
want you to!" After that, she didn’t ask "why" again, she only
said it would be hard to change. But, we assured her that she could do it and
that we were there to help her. So yeah, then we went through the questions for
her baptismal interview and she did pretty well! Then we gave her the questions
to practice and a little bit of reading to do, and that was that. After that,
not too much happened, but it was a good time still. Then lunch with some
members and after the siesta, we went back out and got some work done. First
was a cita in Las Vegas with the lady that calls us Spies and her family. We
had given her a pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation and she and her kids had
"Studied" looking for some things to ask us to try and stump us or
make us confused. We said "Bring it" and so the questions began. But
really, all of the questions that they asked we answered super easily. I love
that about being a missionary. It super easy to teach people and ask questions
because the Church and the Gospel itself is super simple really and it all
makes sense. So really, I don’t have to try and think of super deep and
profound doctrine to answer questions, but I only have to answer super simply
and teach basic principles. It’s so fun! After that, we went to the house of
our Ward Mission Leader and we talk to him and shared with him the plans that
we had made with the FML Penno for their baptismal service so he could know and
then contact the members and people who had been chosen to give talks or
prayers and also to contact the Presidents of the groups and organizations of
the Ward so they could attend the baptism and give the Welcomes for the FML
Penno. It was a good time. And afterwards, we went to visit another member
family to see how they were doing. Like always, visiting members is fun because
we get to know them better, and a lot of times, I get to mess around with some
of the kids and have fun joking around with them. So yeah, it was a good
time.
Thursday.
Well. It was a pretty cool day on Thursday too. Not too bad.
In the morning, we had a choque de fuerza in the area of the other Elders. It
was alright. We honestly didn’t contact too many people. It takes forever to
get out to their area by foot, so we didn’t have too much time to work. But, we
were able to visit a few people that we had contacted already from choque de
fuerzas before. But, we also contacted one chick that was super cool! She
seemed to be super interested and accepted a Book of Mormon and everything! It
was super cool. Now we can only hope that the Elders are able to find her while
she’s home and teach and baptized the woman. We also were able to pass by a
members house and pick up the clothes for the FML Penno and their baptisms.
Then, lunch and the Siesta, and back out to work we went. Not too much
happened. Oh wait, actually, on the way back to the pench from lunch, I got a
random nose bleed which was super not fun, and afterward, my head started
killing me. So, I took a fat nap to help feel better, but sadly, I wasn’t
feeling too hot until about 6 o’clock or so. But, we went to the church
building after that for a kind of meeting thing with the FML. Basically, Ari and
Fran were going to have some piano classes from Elder Delgado while Elder
Grandon and I talked to Jose and Noe. But, they ended up dropping off the kids
and left. So we didn’t really know what to do. So we ended up talking to a few
members and stayed there until the piano class was all done. It was fun, but
not too much to talk about. After the class, when Jose and Noe came to pick the
kids up, we made sure that they were still feeling good and ready for their
baptisms the next day. It was a nice time to chat with them real quickly and
help them feel comfortable and ready. But yeah, that’s about it for that day.
Not too exciting.
Friday.
Ohhhhhhh boy it sure was a crazy day Friday. So, we woke up
in the morning and Elder Grandon and Elder Cortes were feeling flipping dead.
Elder Grandon was super bad with a crazy cold and flu mix, team attack. So,
Elder Delgado and I left with each other and hit up a few people. In the
morning, we went to the church and had another lesson with Mari, but this time
we were privileged enough to be accompanied by HNA Maciel. It was a pretty dang
good lesson. We made sure to review the questions for her interview the
following day and we were happy to see that Mari had practiced a lot and knew
all that she needed to know! It was great. Then we read together in Alma 36 and
learned more about Repentance. I love that chapter so much!! It’s so great!
Mari really liked it too. I was super happy to see that she understands that
repentance is not something to be taken lightly. She also shared with us that
she felt that she had repented of her past mistakes. It was fantastic to hear!
We set up a solid hour for the interview for the following day. Then, we had
lunch with a member family and then after the siesta went back out to work yet
again. This time, I hadn’t set up any citas for the afternoon, so we went
around to a few people, just to talk to them for a little bit. We went by
Fabian and invited him to an activity that we were doing for Saturday morning,
and also to the baptisms. And we also visited a few other contacts and other
people, but nothing really happened. Then, we went to the church and had an
English Class with Dante. He is actually progressing a lot. His accent sure is
thick, but he can understand just about all that I say, if I say it slow
enough. He is also excited to finally get to read the Book of Mormon, because
for a really long time, about 2 or 3 weeks, he was super sick and wasn’t able
to do anything, especially really "really small words" as he puts it,
or in other words, read the Book of Mormon. After that, we went to visit an
investigator of the other Elders named Jasmin. She is a girl of 10 years and is
planning on being baptized the same day as Mari. She has been coming to church
and is having fun with the other girls her age and getting to learn new things.
In the lesson, we reviewed some of the things about baptism and explained to
her that when we are baptized, we make "promises" with God and Jesus,
and they make their "promises" with us. It was a fun and good lesson
and time to get to know her a little bit better before I did her interview for
her baptism the next day. But yeah. It was a pretty crazy day and I was super
dang tired by the end of it.
Saturday.
Holy cow. It was an amazing day on Saturday. Oh my good
golly. In the morning, we woke up and Elder Grandon was just as dead as the day
before. It was pretty bad. He was super congested and couldn’t go a few minutes
without blowing a nasty bit of gook out of his nose. So, we stayed in the pench
for most o the morning and let him get some good power sleeping in. Then, when
he woke up again, I gave him a few good ole Yankee medicine pills to help pep
him up. Not too much, but just enough to give him a nice buzz. And then we went
to the church and participated in very little of the activity that we had
planned. It was meant to be a big tournament of ping pong with a bunch of
members and less actives and investigadores from the two wards, but not too
many people ended up coming. But, we were still able to play a bit of ping pong
and had a good time. Then, when everyone left, Elder Grandon and I stayed in
the church during the Siesta to fill the baptismal font. After that, Mari came
for her interview with Elder Christensen, the ZL so we got to see Elder Loveridge
too, and Jasmin came for her interview with yours truly. Jasmin did really well
and passed her interview!! And the same for Mari. After that, we got all
changed for the Baptisms and then got a bunch of pictures taken with all of the
FML Penno. Gosh dang they are so cool. The baptismal service went really good
too! I was able to baptize Jose, Elder Grandon baptized Noe, Elder Cortes
baptized Ari, and Elder Delgado to Pancho. So, we were all dressed in white and
we all had the chance to spend some time in the nice and cold water! After the
actual baptisms, we were all super surprised when Bishop stood and asked Jose
and Noe to came to the pulpit and share a few of their thoughts and feelings.
It was great to listen to their words and the Spirit that they had felt as they
were baptized. I loved to see that they had actually recognized all of the
Spirit that was so abundant there. I love to hear their words and see how the
Spirit was making them feel. After all of the program, we had a small little
snack and chat time and the members were all able to greet and congratulate the
family. It was amazing. Then, we said goodbye to all of them, packed up the
stuff, and headed to HNA Amelia’s to wish her a Happy Birthday. Sadly, we
weren’t able to stay for too long because Elder Grandon was still dying, so we
spent a little bit of time with her, and then went back to the pench and ended
the night there. Let’s just say that by the end of the day, I was all worn out
and ready for a little bit of rest. But no need to say, it was a truly amazing
experience to participate in their baptisms and share such a wonderful time
with them. What great memories.
Sunday.
Well holy dang. Sunday sure was something. In the morning,
we obviously went to church and had our classes and everything. It was a good
set of lessons that we had this week. First was on Forgiveness and how we
should try our hardest to forgive others, but just as important, to learn how
to ask forgiveness from others. Then we had a lesson on Talents and how we all
have them and how we can learn to develop and practice those talents that we
have. Then, in Sacrament Meeting, we were able to do the confirmations of all
of the FML Penno. The Spirit was so strong during that meeting. I was happy to
be able to be the voice of the confirmation and blessing for Noe. You could
really tell and see the difference in their eyes as they felt for the first
time the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I know that they are going to always
remember this day and cherish it forever. I can’t wait to write my feelings of
gratitude and happiness that I have felt this week in my journal. I will admit,
it was super nuts and a little crazy to get everything set up, but we were able
to, in the end, help the FML Penno have a good experience. After lunch, we took
the opportunity to try and nip this sickness thing in the bud. So we stayed in
the pench for yet another afternoon, but luckily, Elder Grandon started to feel
better. Slowly but surely.
But yeah. That was the week. I’d like to take the time now
to thank everyone that reads these crazy stupid long emails, especially you
Adrian! It really means a lot. I know they aren’t always the most amazing
things to share, but you can bet your money that I’m willing to share them with
you all.
I would just like to take this opportunity to leave you all
with my testimony. I really do know that this church is true, and I will go to
say that it is the only true church in all of the world. I know of this because
I have felt the Spirit and each and every time that I kneel in prayer, asking
my Heavenly Father if these things are true, I always feel the warmth and love
of the Holy Ghost. I now take this time to invite each of you to do the same. I
promise you all that you will come to know for yourselves if these things are
true of not that by so doing, you will be blessed with peace of mind and hope
for the future. I love this church and the missionary work that I am doing here
in Argentina and wouldn’t trade this time for anything in the world. And I
leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Until next time!
Chau
Elder Haley
Lunch with Hermana Vina
Ian and I
Familia Penno
All ready for the baptism
Yep, I helped make those beautiful empanadas! Food for Amelia's birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment