Hey folks! How`s it going? I hope all of you are doing well, thank you all so so much for all of your support. Emails and letters help more than you know, and I always feel your prayers. So thank you. I have the best family and friends around!
Okay so this week was both uneventful and SO eventful! Let`s start....
Tuesday: P Day. Elder Espinoziiita left for Artigas :( The four of us had a blast last change and really changed a lot of things here in Colonia. BUT, that`s the thing of the mish that I love to hate and hate to love! That night, Hermana Zumeta and I had a noche de hogar (family home evening) with la familia Aduezo. They`re a family from Venezuela who have lived here for about 7 years. They have a 15 year old named Ariana, and then it`s the husband Carlos and the wife Angel. They`ve been taught by the missionaries for awhile so they`ve already had all the lessons, but my comp and I both got the feeling that they needed to hear something on the Atonement and forgiveness. So, we showed them the Mormon Message about Chris Williams. He`s the man whose wife and two kids were killed in a car accident in Utah by a drunk teenager a few years ago. He talks all about the love of the Savior and how when he chose to forgive the teenager (who is now one of his good friends), he was only acting through him. Carlos said it answered a lot of questions he had about forgiveness and we think Angel may have lost a child before or something, because she started talking about how hard it is to not be angry and hurt when you lose a child and while she said so she started to cry. La familia Aduezo is awesome. Carlos is even reading the Book of Mormon on his own, and when we went he went to show us how to use the footnotes. Haha. I`m excited about them and I really want to help them progress.
So Wednesday......one of those days of walking....walking....and more walking. Haha no one was home! But we had a lot of awesome contacts. And even on days like that, I usually come home happy because I come home feeling like I gave it my all and walked and walked and walked even with a monster blister on my foot (but really, it was huge. I had to operate...pics to come.)
Thursday! We had an awesome awesome AWESOME zone meeting. And our Zone Leaders talked about how to go into someone`s house and deal with the universal problem of Uruguay which is..... Uruguayos love to talk. Like, LOVE. To talk. So our ZL Elder Marin pretended to be such an Uruguayo while two others in our zone tried to approach the situation as best they could. It was the funniest thing of my whole life because Elder Marin fit every single Uruguayo stereotype into the sketch. For instance (and this will possibly only make sense to those who conocen este peis, but still): He got offended by a joke an Elder said
When one Elder said he was from Colombia, he started talking about the drugs in Colombia
He talked for five minutes about how hot it is
He kept offering them water
He kept offering them pizza, and when they said no got offended that they didn`t like his wife`s cooking
Offered them his little kid`s toys
Haha you guys, Uruguayos are a R I O T. I love them. But anywho other than zone meeting, another day of walking, walking, walking and not finding anybody.
Friday we had another lesson with Maria and Miguel. We talked about Alma 7 and related it to the whole purpose of Christ`s Atonement, and how we have to act on the faith we have by making covenants with God. Maria is SO close. I could see it in her eyes...but then she still said no. And when she said no, I looked at Miguel, and you guys, his head dropped and the look on his face broke my heart. I wanted to cry. This man has so much love for his wife and for the Gospel and has so much faith. They are the sweetest human beings ever and they teach me so much. Maria is a afraid of something, or maybe someone. But we just don`t want to give up because she is so perfect!
Also, on Thursday finally came the Senior missionaries that will be the new Branch President! They are Elder and Hermana Figares. He is actually from Uruguay which is going to help a TON. And she doesn`t speak a lick of Spanish...haha but she is super sweet! And between me and her husband, it`s been fun playing translator whenever the Elders come over. Do you know what else this means? Two things: more lessons with members (aka them), and clothes that can be dried in a dryer! It`s been months without one of those babies! But Elder Figares has a lot of experience in leadership and he is going to help continue to change things here in Colonia Centro. We are so lucky to have him!
Saturday we met with Brian and Angela. They used to live in the Elders area over in General, but they just recently moved. Brian is the cousin of the husband of Flia Aquino (the family from the area General that had us over for New Year`s and that always feeds us lunch), they`re 25, and they had been taught a couple times by the Elders before they moved. We met them, and they are AWESOME! Angela is reading and praying and so excited about the Gospel! Brian not as much, but the Elders told us they didn`t make as much of an effort with him as they should have. So we`ll focus on them both. Angela is so sweet and Brian is SUPER sassy. Haha they are great. Every time we meet with them a member of Familia Aquino is going to come with us. I am really excited about them!
GUADALUPE FINALLY CAME HOME! Longest two weeks of my life without seeing her, but we finally saw her on Sunday! I was really nervous about what would happen without seeing her for two weeks, but she is just as excited as ever to be baptized. She said she was really sad because she forgot her Book of Mormon in the craze of packing, and the only thing that made it in her suitcase was the phamplet on the Plan of Salvation. So she just read that over and over. Guys, she is incredible! I love her so much. March cannot come soon enough to watch my special special friend from Heaven get baptized.
Sunday, we had 59 PEOPLE AT CHURCH! We managed to break our own record! President Smith was there that day to sustain President Figares. One family that is inactive because they both work, Family Alvarez, managed to get work off that day. We have been working with them along with the Elders because they want nothing more than to get sealed. They were both there! And, guess what? the husband, Daniel, passed the sacrament! I was so excited and proud of him! And guess what else? Miguel, who was only semi active when we got here, is now the second counselor in the branch presidency! He was beaming. And, guess what? MARIA WAS THERE. And she was bawling through every testimony. Guys, she feels it! She knows it`s true! Please pray for her.
The Elders also now have to teenage boys who will get baptized the same day as Guadalupe! Centro will now see more baptisms in one day than they will have seen in THREE YEARS! Gahh, I am so excited. Everyone told me Centro was like the worst area ever before I got here. Pssssh, I`m on Cloud 9! Proof that with the Lord, everything is possible. THINGS ARE HAPPENING IN COLONIA CENTRO AND I AM SO BLESSED TO BE HERE TO SEE IT!
Also, on Sunday....so they announce that Hermana Figares is going to bear her testimony and her husband will translate. But then she leans over to me and tells me she wants me to do it. Why? Who knows. But I was T E R R I F I E D. I immediately prayed as hard as I could for the gift of tongues. And, I got through it! I only needed to turn to President Smith one time to ask what a word is, but other than that, it was so surprisingly easy! It`s amazing how the Lord opens the mouth of His servants and loosens our tongues.
So there was my week! No clue if it made sense, but just know it was great and I am SO happy here! I love Colonia, I love Uruguay, I love the mission, I love the Gospel, and I love the Lord!
I love you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan
Yeah same thing.....
Okay now before you start thinking I`ve turned into Elder Calhoun from the best two years, bear with me!
No comments:
Post a Comment