Well, how was this week? Good question, I'm not sure. It was good, you'll never guess, but, yes...it had some up's and down's. Haha. So, what often happens after we find a billion and a half new investigators, is that we drop about a half a billion of them. But, so it is! It's funny, going through the mission, and realizing that what other missionaries say is true, that you just keep doing the same thing, with different people. It's the circle of life! Find people, drop some, teach some, baptize some. But, within that cycle you find the miracles and the people whose lives really have changed!
The elders in our area had a baptism this past week. They had a family get baptized! And it was such a great baptism. La Familia Mollinedo from Guatemala. The lady gave up smoking cold turkey like a month before her baptism and hasn't gone back since, and they're just miracles. They also have a family getting baptized this coming week (hopefully), which is also a huge miracle. They're basically like already members, but the dad was on probation, so they got first presidency permission for him to get baptized. So, hopefully this coming week they'll get baptized, along with a lady that we're gonna (hopefully) baptize this week!
So yes, we hopefully have a baptism this week! But, there was a little bit of a downer yesterday, so it's a little up in the air, but it could still happen. So, it is Mari Vidrio! I don't know if I mentioned her last week. She was an investigator about a year ago, and had a baptismal date last November. LIke the day before her baptismal interview, her boyfriend got caught crossing the border w/ 11 people, and got 11 years in prison because they put the blame on him for everyone else. So, it was this huge tragedy that messed everything up, and she spiraled into this depression, started smoking again, etc. We saw her on and off since then, never really taught her though. So about 2 weeks ago we found her by a miracle, and then last Sunday she came to church! So this past week, we were having a lesson with her. We had invited her to be baptized before that, but she said that she wanted to get her apartment situation settled. So, this past week in the lesson, Sister Noble was like "Do you want to set a date to be baptized?" because she was reading, praying, everything. And she was like "Yeah, well that family is getting baptized on the 4th, why can't I get baptized then with them?" and we were like "No problemo!" She was worried though, because (a) she didn't have a skirt, and (b) she might not have food to bring for refreshments afterwards. Haha bless her heart. So we quickly reassured her, and set up her baptismal interview for this past Saturday!
So, this past Saturday, we had the baptism of the Mollinedo family in the morning. It was so happy. Afterwards, the mom was just like "I can't even describe how happy I feel, I feel so undeserving, and all I want is just for my brothers and sisters and parents to all feel what I'm feeling!" That is the sign of the Atonement! So, right after the baptism, Mari had her interview. And she passed! So, that was awesome, and she was all set to get baptized this coming Saturday. Unfortunately, she didn't show up to church on Sunday! We went to her place 3 different times on Sunday and couldn't find her. She apparently was rushing all over the place trying to get money for her landlord. She's been out of work for over a month, and hasn't been able to pay her rent. Anywho, so, technically she can still get baptized, because she's been to church over 3 times, but we're a little bit nervous. It makes us nervous that she didn't show up, and we're just worried the temporal things might get in the way. But hopefully it will all go through!
What else...Saturday was also a great day because we did service after the baptism/interview, and then we had an awesome lesson with a MEMBER REFERRAL! So, I've made a pretty concerted effort for most of my mission to ask for referrals from everyone...I could be better about always asking from members, but I try to ask from everyone we meet on the street. And I feel like I'm starting to see blessings from it! We got so many referrals this week. This lady in our ward, Leti Garcia, called us up and said she had a friend who wanted to meet with us! She was in the elder's area, but we got permission to teach her from our mission president, b/c her novio wouldn't want elders over. So, we went there on Saturday afternoon, and she is SO great! Her name's Dulce, she's 17 yrs old, still finishing high school, but lives w/ her novio (we'll work on that haha...) and has a little baby girl. During the whole lesson she just talked about how she wanted to learn, to find a church that she felt was right, all of that. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she told us she was going to write out all of her questions and highlight it. It was SO nice, being there, with a member who already knows her, and going to her house because SHE wanted us there. That is the best feeling, and you don't always feel it as a missionary...yes, normally people let you in their house, but you can tell it's often grudgingly or awkwardly. So it was so nice for her to be like "Yeah! I want to learn! Tell me about your church!" and the member being right there by her side. So, there are some road blocks, but I think she'll definitely get baptized.
Queee mas...oh, also on Saturday night, there was [another] huge storm! I sent pics of the carne asada we had with the Mollinedos right in the middle of it. It was so much fun, they're such a happy family. It's funny, every Saturday since Sister Noble has gotten to this area, we have a huge storm. Never really on other days, only on Saturdays. But I love it...I love stomping around in the rain, with lightning all over the place. Everyone looks at us like we're crazy, but it's nice to get some inclement weather going on here.
What else...well, Sister Noble and I are doing pretty well. We have a lot of fun together, she's really funny. So, I will say, that I'm having a lot of fun, but I'm stretching myself while I'm at it. And again I'm continuing to get insights into my personality...I neverrrr thought I was uptight or judgmental or a perfectionist before my mission, but now I'm seeing how I'm trying to purge that from my personality while out here, while still maintaining my same standards and all that. It is tough, but I know that that is one of the main lessons I'm meant to learn while out here. Anyways, I hope that doesn't sound super negative or anything or sound like I'm complaining, because I'm not. But it's just been one of the bigger lessons I've had to learn this transfer. Sister Noble really is awesome, I know that I'm learning a lot from her, and in the meantime we're having a lot of fun. I'm glad that we have different companions to teach us different lessons.
Also, the pictures are from a zone activity we had this morning! Which was AWESOME. It was a scavenger hunt that led us all over the area around the temple, it was soo much fun. So, don't worry, I'm having fun too :) Okay I love you all! Have a great week! Sister Fors
No comments:
Post a Comment