2-20-17

This week was rough! And slow. Not a lot happened.

On Thursday and Sunday we had all except one of our appointments cancel, so we had all day to walk around and find new investigators, or visit members of the ward. Well, no one wanted to listen, not even one person, and every house we tried, no one was home. So that was difficult, we were extremely tired and had zero success. 

However, we extended 2 more baptismal dates this week! Our progressing investigators are: Hugo, Kate, Adrian, Delia, Elizabeth and Maria del Socorro.

-Maria is an old single lady, with about 60 years. She has a super strong faith in Christ, she literally started crying when we asked the question: "Do you have a belief in Christ?". So we know she loves the Lord. She investigated the Jehovahs Witnesses, and other various Christian churches, but never really stuck to them. We hope that she can feel the spirit and know that this Church is the right church to be in. 

-Elizabeth accepted her baptismal date with ease, she has a lot of questions but they arent of doubt, theyre from interest. 

-Hugo was at church, and he called us last night asking if we could visit him. He is experiencing the change of heart that we strive to take place in our investigators, so we are so excited for him! 

-Delia is just waiting for her school to end! 

-Adrian and Kate missed church this week, so we have to reschedule their baptism. We hope they will be able to attend church next week and be baptized!! 

The work is tough here, especially with our tiny ward. We have so many less actives and barely any active. But we think that will change soon because a couple just moved into our ward 3 weeks ago, the Castros. Theyre both exmissionaries, both young, and recently married. They know how to work as missionaries and how to utilize the ward much better than I do. And Gustavo (the husband) was called as our Ward Mission Leader! We hope he can help the ward. We really really hope so! 

This week I tried an Orange Tamale. Dang. It was so good! I also had a Dulce Tamale, which was also amazing. Its my favorite food here! Im going to try a strawberry and pinapple tamale this week, I hope! 

I gave another talk in Sacrament meeting, and Ive been noticing that Im almost fluent! I havent realized my progress until a few days ago a member of our ward complimented me on how fast I learned! I dont realize im progressing because I teach a lot of drunks and people with hard accents so I cant understand them. But in normal conversation I can already fully communicate with people. Its not me, its the Gift of Tongues. I promise. 

This week we ate at a members restaurant for lunch, called the 400 Plumas Cafe. I had my first Frappe (without Coffee, dont worry) and I went to heaven right there in the tiny Cafe. Its like a Cafe Zupas but with Mexican food. The Hna that owns the joint said we can come by any time we like and she will give us food! Im so ready to take her up on that offer. 

We met some extremely crazy teenage girls this week. There is a cooking school across the street from a less active members house, and the students are always on Lunch break from 1 to 2. They always hang out outside the building. A few of them think Im cute, and I didnt think much about it until they almost died trying to say Hi to me! The street is a 4 lane road, and the cars dont go slow here. When they saw us coming, they literally ran in the street, with oncoming traffic to get to the other side of the road to say hi. Cars slammed on their brakes, and their friends were screaming because we all honestly thought they would get hit by a car. Luckily they didnt, but we arent returning to that street from 1-2 cause if they are willing to run in traffic to say hi, well, its self explanatory. 

Im still getting along with my companion, we have a really good time together now that we can communicate haha! I teach as much as I can in the lessons now, and he helps me by filling in the rest. I dont hate him, so thats a really good thing. He has taught me a lot about being a missionary and hes pretty cool. 

Im working, Im learning, Im always tired, but its the work of the Lord, so its all worth it!

Other cool/interesting things this week:

-I taught a Buddhist

-2 Kings 2:23-24

-We had 44 people attend church

-I was catcalled by women multiple times

-I got a torta (sandwich) for free with some peach soda

-This week wasnt very exciting so I dont have anything more

My spiritual experience this week was one of a kind, something I will never forget. Ever.

We found our investigator Carlos Jugos drunk out of his mind last Monday, and it was the saddest thing Ive ever seen. He was crying, so embarassed, and he wanted to change. We told him we would walk around our area until we found him and help him every day. So we did. On Wednesday night, we looked for him, and couldnt find him. We said a prayer, couldnt find him. We asked the other drunks on the streets, they couldnt find him. We were really worried about him and couldnt figure out what to do. So i started praying. I prayed so long and so hard. I asked and asked and begged that we could find him. When I opened my eyes, he was in front of me. Literally in front of me. Of all the places in the entire city, he was in front of me. It was an amazing answer to my prayer and I will never forget how much God can help me in times of need. 

God can and will answer our Prayers!!