Monday, August 24, 2015

Thankfully It´s Not the Tower of Babel

Email written: 8/24/15

Already another P-day. Time here is so weird. It´s an eternity but at the same time it only feels like a day. 

Last P-day we went up the tower that´s near our area. It´s only open on weekends and special days, and Monday was one of those days. It´s pretty tall and supposedly you can see as far as the coast, but it was kind of cloudy so we couldn't see that far. We still got some cool views. 




This week seems to be the week that it starts to turn around. First of all the weather all week was really really nice. It was a nice change from the rain. 

 I gave my 1st blessing in Spanish. I was nervous because 1. I have only given one other blessing and 2. This was going to be in Spanish. But in the end I did it and he thanked me for it and he did get better so I felt good. 

We also did divisions this week. I was scared because I don´t know the area very well (The monoblocks are very confusing so give me a break) and the Elder I was going to be with is not very well like and has had problems with everyone his whole mission (He goes home in 2 weeks). But I decided I was going to make the best. We didn't talk much, mainly because my Spanish is not at full length fun conversation yet. But we stopped by Hermano Montaño to drop off our jackets and some other stuff and then Elder Sorrano decided to talk to the lady who was about to buy stuff from the stand. Turns out that she has a lot of member friends and has heard a little bit about the church and she asked us why the missionaries never have been to her house. So we have a cita with her today so we´ll see where that goes. Then later when we were looking for a reference we went down a floor and knocked on a door. It was an older woman. She told us that she knows who we are and what we represent. Then she told us what a coincidence it is that just a few minutes after she found out her brother died, we knocked on her door (I don't think it was a coincidence). We started to introduce the Plan of Salvation but she was a little emotional and distracted. She is so ready to hear the gospel, we just have to get in to her house and she kept telling us that we can come back at a better time. By the end of the day it turned out to be pretty good, and I only got turned around once. And Elder Sorrano and I got along really well and he didn't have any attitude problems or anything. 

On Saturday we set up a stand in the Fair. We had so many cards, pamphlets, and copies of the Book of Mormon to give out. In those 3 hours we talked to over 300 people and gave nearly everything we had. We only got about 40 addresses, but that´s still a ton of potential. For me, what I learned was just to smile and start talking to people because you have to talk to everyone, you can´t look at someone and judge if they are going to listen to you or not. It was a really good event.

Later on Saturday we visited a less active/part member family. Most of the family got baptized last year except for one of the kids Ezekiel. But when we talked to him on Saturday, he asked us if he could be baptized. We taught him a little bit and he´s going to get baptized next Sunday and we are really trying to get his older brother to do the baptism. But then on Sunday morning Ezekiel didn't want to go because he had a toothache. We kept trying to tell him the blessings of Church and then we told him we´d give him an hour to get ready. 30 minutes later we went back with a member and guess who opened the door all dressed and ready to go... Ezekiel! Then we got to spend first hour in Primary singing and it was so fun. By the end of sacrament meeting he said he really liked church and his tooth felt better, so he´s ready to be baptized next week. 

Finally the coolest thing happened as a result of the fair. Yesterday we decided to visit the one monoblock reference we got from the fair (the other 6 elders work in the Villas and houses around the blocks and the fair was in the Villa). We couldn't find it at first and we almost gave up but then we talked to someone and he showed us where it was. This lady opened the door and we asked her what she liked about the fair and she said when she talked to the Elders she felt peace and happiness. When we heard that, it was so awesome because that means she has been prepared and the fair was worth it. We taught her the restoration and then she accepted the invitation to be baptized on September 13. She kept telling us what she was feeling during the lesson and it was the Holy Ghost testifying. It was just such an awesomely wonderful lesson and I really think she can progress and be baptized.    -Elder Steele

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