Monday, March 31, 2014
I was not born to play soccer..............March 31, 2014
Hey
guys! I hope everyone had a good week! This week was kind of a weird
one...mostly because not a whole lot happened. But every week still has
something.
So
first of all: Teresita. She is the aunt of Adan Aquino. I don't know if
anybody's been paying attention, but la familia Aquino are total bosses about
giving out references. Evidence: the 3 baptisms we have had in our branch in
the past two weeks (Leandro, Angela and Brian) were references from them. I N C
R E D I B L E.
Anyway,
we went with them one day to her apartment so that we could meet her with them.
The poor woman has been through SO much. She came to church last Sunday
(holla!), and afterwards told us even more about stuff she's been through. But
she has a real desire to be baptized. We gave her a tour of the church and
promised her the blessings of the Gospel, and how her life really can and will
improve when she accepts it into her life. That's when she said "so when
is the next baptism?" She's ready. She just talks a loooooooooooot, so we
take the lessons more slowly with her. Plus, we want to make sure she
understands that baptism isn't a magic pill that will fix everything. But the
desire is there, and that's what's important. So we'll see how it goes!
Satan has
been working hard on some of the menos activos this week. For example, Daniel
Alvarez is a really good singer, and some band here in Uruguay offered him a
spot. But the thing is, he would almost never be able to go to church, and he
would be traveling a ton. Elehem called us really worried because they got in a
fight because of it. He is so close to receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood and
they are so close to being sealed as a family! So please pray for them, and
especially for Daniel that he can get his head on straight before I knock him
into the next week.....haha, broma. Sort of.
Also
pray for Veronica, Mary, and Marita....they are all going through some really
hard things individually and could use some prayers.
On
Saturday, we had a "Super Activity" combined with the branches in El
Real y El General. It was the first activity of this size that the branch has
ever done, and it was a huge success! It was mostly geared towards youth. It
started with hot dogs for lunch as people came. The point of the activity was
to find new people to teach, so as people came in they had to
"register": put their name, address, and phone number if they had
one. Then they could go play soccer, then basketball, then volleyball, then
ping pong. Except nobody wanted to stop playing soccer (shocker, we're in South
America) so we played that almost the whole time. I of course played....and the
good news is i played better than I was expecting to, but the bad news is that
that is still awful. Haha it was fun though. Maybe in a year I'll come home
playing semi-well. :) The funny part though was that everybody was making fun
of me (only Gringa playing soccer...duh)....until we played volleyball. Then I
showed them.
So
there were two cute little 10-year-old boys who were there the whole day. One
was the son of an investigator of the Elders, and the other was his friend,
Alex. Alex was on my soccer team the whole day (even when he was team captain,
he chose me to play on his team.....and didn't choose me last! Haha miracle).
Well that night after the activity, my comp and I were walking in the
street, and there's this woman sitting in front of her house drinking mate, and
she asks us "hey, are you guys from the church over there?" So we say
yes, and it turns out she is Alex's mom! She thanked us for the activity and
said that Alex came home super happy and excited, having had a lot of fun. She
said there just isn't a place around that does activities like that. Her name
is Karina, and besides Alex she has two other kids, a girl who's 11 and another
boy who's 14. Her husband travels a lot for business, so she's alone a lot. We
of course talked to her a little bit about the church, and she said she had
talked to Elders in the street before but hadn't ever seen Sister Missionaries
before. Well, here we are! She was SUPER receptive and said we could come back
any day after 5:30, because she wants her kids to meet us and that's when
they're home from school. So we're going today. Woooo miracles!
I was
studying this week a question in Preach My Gospel, that says "why should
we seek divine light?" One of the references it gave was in Doctrine and
Covenants 11, which says:
11 For, behold, it is I that speak; behold, I am the alight which shineth in darkness, and by my bpower I give these words unto thee.
12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your atrust in thatbSpirit which cleadeth to do dgood—yea, to do ejustly, to walkfhumbly, to gjudge righteously; and this is my Spirit.
13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my
Spirit, which shall aenlighten your bmind, which shall fill your soul with cjoy;
So,
why should we seek divine light?
Because
it is only by seeking the divine light (by study of the scriptures), that we
can receive His power, according to v. 11. We can seek that light through
diligent study, and, like verse 12 says, trust in that Light (in Jesus Christ.)
That trust will lead us to be able to do all the things that verse 12 promises:
do good, do justly, walk humbly, and judge righteously.
But my
favorite is verse 13. Our minds will be enlightened and our souls filled
with joy. And why will our souls be filled with joy? Because our minds
will be enlightened to the giving of a greater knowledge of God's love for us,
and the words necessary in the moment to share the Gospel with someone else.
Those two things are life's greatest joys!
So
basically, READ YOUR SCRIPTURES. Because they're awesome!
Funny
story for the week:
So on
Tuesday, they cut our water in our apartment (haha such a blast.) The people in
the mission who pay paid a little late, so the water got cut for a day. So I
asked the Figares (senior missionaries) if the next day we could shower at
their house (they live right across the street from us.) So Hermana Figares
goes "of course, and then we'll send you home with some pitchers of
water." But ALL of us heard "of course, and then we'll send you home
with some pictures of water." So we all start laughing but she
just looks at us like "what?" Then I realize what she ACTUALLY meant
to say, and I explain to her what we all thought, and she just starts laughing
and then goes "I wish I was that witty!" ....also don't worry guys,
we showered in their house the next morning and then that afternoon the water
was back on.
Hahaha,
there's always a funny story to be told.
Sorry
this was kind of a scattered email, I'll do better next week!
But
for now,
I love
you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana
Dolan
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
before and after the dunking! Brian and Angela Baptism March 2014 Colonia, Uruguay
Don't
mind the pink hat that Brian stole off the head of a 12 year old girl who
attended the baptism.
So this picture is funny on it's on, but the best part is that Hermana Paris and I had no idea the Elders had decided to provide us with this beautiful photobomb. Also, we're drinking this most beautifully delicious Apple soda called Fagar. Mmmmmm. (aka the only reason why I survive without Dr. Pepper)
settle in folks, it's dunking time!.................March 25, 2014
COLONIA!
Haha,
shocker.
No but
really, we were both so surprised. Why? Because we are BOTH going to
stay.
It
really was a surprise because it is SUPER rare for companions to stay together
more than two changes; especially sisters. But, President Smith told us that
since we get along great and are having success, he wasn't ready to split us
up. So Hermana Zumeta and I are staying together for a third change! No crazy
twist surprise changes folks, haha sorry.
But
anyway, now let's get to the important stuff!
Wednesday
was awesome! We had set up an appointment with a former investigator and
invited a member named Julio to come with us. But (shocker) the appointment
fell through. So as we're trying to go through our minds to decide where to go
instead, Julio goes "let's talk to those women at that bus stop." So
we go over and start talking to them. Questions start about the church and
everything, and then Julio tells them where the church is. Then they both go
"we've always wanted to look inside that church but it's always been
locked! It's so beautiful!" So we invite them to go with us right then and
they say "HECK yeah!" Okay so not exactly like that.....haha they
were two old ladies. But we gave them a tour of the church while talking ABOUT
the church, and invited them to find out more. One, Silva, was more receptive
than the other, because the other was SUPER Catholic and couldn't understand
why we don't worship Mary and Joseph. But we set up an appointment with Silva
this week. Yay for Julio Porley!
That
same day, we had the Family Home Evening with Veronica and her friend Carolina,
the one who was at Vero's house the week before and seemed interested. Well
slowly people kind of just started inviting themselves.....Elder and Hermana
Figares.....Mary....the Elders....so we knew we couldn't teach lesson 1,
especially because Carolina had told us she didn't want it to be anything
heavy. So we decided to share a Mormon Message, and while thinking about which
one, we decided on "Forgiveness lifted my burden," the one about
Chris Williams, the man whose wife and two kids were killed by a teenage drunk
driver. It talks a lot about the Atonement and Forgiveness. We didn't think it
would be TOO heavy.....but turns out Carolina was in tears the entire time.
After watching it, she told us she has somebody who really hurt her, but it's
just not easy. We talked to her about the strength the Savior can bring to her.
Veronica commented and said "I've always been a believer that everything
happens for a reason, but especially today. I don't know what it was that made
the Hermanas decide to show this video and talk about this topic, but it was
exactly what my friend needed to hear." The Spirit as SO strong, and it is
so cool to be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to bring a message
that someone needs to their heart.
And
then, after Mary and the Figares left, I don't even remember what it was we
were talking about, but Carolina starts laughing. And you guys, her laugh is
the BEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD. Hahaha it's like a cartoon! We died laughing,
but then what made it better, was that I don't know how many of you have heard
my laugh when I laugh so hard I can't breathe, but basically nothing comes out
but a squeal. So then everyone starts laughing at my laugh. Well my laugh makes
Carolina laugh harder, and then her laugh made me laugh harder, and then we all
just laughed until we were literally crying. It went on for like 20 minutes. I
don't think I've ever laughed that hard. So great.
I love
the mission.
Pray
for Carolina that we can help her progress! Por fas.
Okay
so anyway, best part!
We had
a BAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSMMMM.
They
finally got D U N K E D.
Brian
and Angela got baptized! It was so wonderful. They were both so happy! P.S.
Angela has a huge fear of water....that was fun. Haha but she got through it
like a champ and they were both confirmed official members of the church on
Sunday! It was also awesome because they had asked Elder Gomez, the one who
started teaching them with his companion when they were living in General, to
baptize. Elder Gomez had had 3 changes without any real progressing
investigators because El General (pronounced like an H") is a hard area,
and finally he got to see the fruits of his labors. Little Elder Gomita was so
excited!
You
guys, I really cannot describe to you the miracle that they are. When we met
them, Brian very adamantly said he did NOT believe in God. He didn't have any
faith. Nothing. He told us that the first two or three times. But we knew
better, so we pushed. With time, his answers turned to an "I don't
know," until they became a "yes." Both he and Angela are racing
on reading the Book of Mormon now. They've already got like a gazillion friends
within the branch, because they're awesome, and in a year, they'll be able to
become an eternal family. I love them. Angela is so sweet and humble, and Brian
just teases me relentlessly. Watching their progression has been amazing.
MIRACLES ARE REAL!
I am
so grateful that the Lord touches the hearts of His children, so that they can
have a change of heart, and, like Brian and Angela, take their first step to
His Eternal Presence.
Always
remember, no matter what your circumstances may be or what dreams you think you
can't achieve or who you think you can't become, with the Lord, EVERYTHING is
possible. I knew it before, but I didn't truly know it until i came out here.
And for that, I can't even explain my gratitude!
I love
Colonia and I am so glad I get to stay here with Zumetita.
I love
you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana
Dolan
Friday, March 21, 2014
I'm gonna marry Uruguay..................March 17, 1014
Hey,
hey, hey my friends! I hope everybody is swell! Thank you so much for the
emails and support and prayers! I have the coolest bunch of turds for
friends....but seriously.
So I'm
going to try to not take ten years to write this email. So if it's a little
shorter than normal....that's why.
But,
what a great week!
Mostly
because I am just a little tiny bit in LOVE with Colonia.
So
Wednesday, we needed to start teaching the commandments to Brian and Angela so
they'd be good for their baptismal interview. Angela ended up not being able to
come (we had the lesson in the church), but Brian did. We had already planned
for Daniel and Elehem to be there, so they showed up to. And you guys....Elehem
and Daniel are the BOMB. D I G G I T Y. We sit down, and they of course
start asking Brian those get to know you questions. And then we said we would
wait on talking about the commandments until they were both there....so Daniel
I guys just takes that as his cue to just sit, and tell Brian how it is. Tell
him his conversion story. Tell him about the trials that they went through
after getting baptized, but mostly talking about how those trials were 100%
worth it and now they're preparing to be an eternal family. Daniel is the
best....and also, I wish there were someone from back home here who could agree
with me on how stinkin' much like my brother is. It gets more and more apparent
every day. It freaks me out, but in a good way. Maybe that's one reason why I
love him so much. Sweetest part....he says to Brian "those Hermanas
sitting right there are angels. Did you know that? They are angels, or that's
what we consider them to be. Literally angels." STOP WHAT I CAN'T EVEN.
But
anyway, I think it really helped Brian a lot, and it was good to be able to get
to know them because now they can be friends at church. :)
We
also had lunch with familia Alvarez last week, and my finger nail polish was
starting to chip away, right? So Daniel walks up to me with a super concerned
look on his face, and I'm wondering what the heck is wrong, and he pretends
like he's about to cry, and he goes "Hermana....it pains me to see your
nails like that, so if you want some more nail polish, I'll give you mine."
hahahahaha. So many things he says, I just go "are you sure you're not my
brother?" loooove them.
Friday,
we had planned to go to Veronica's house to help her daughter, Jasmine (10)
make some things for school and also talk to Veronica. We got there, and
Veronica had a friend over but obviously let us in anyway. We sat down at the
table, and just started to do our thing helping Jas out and everything. We
found out Veronica's friends name is Carolina (please do not say it like we say
it in the states....haha.) We didn't pressure her or attack her or try to go
into a lesson. Instead, she slowly started to ask us questions about the
mission. She's 22, and so funny! When we would tell her some of the rules of
the mission, she would throw her hands in the air and go "me muero, me
muero!" Which means "I'm dying, I'm dying!" haha. But then,
those questions led to questions about why we are serving. Which just so
happens to be my favorite question to answer! Because it always leads to questions
about the church and the Gospel, which she in fact did ask. And this was the
coolest part....somehow, the subject got to the work we do for the dead in the
temples. We let Veronica explain it to her. And when she explained it to her,
and how the work we do gives people who have already passed on a chance for
eternal life....Carolina starts C R Y I N G. And then we explain some people
who have gotten baptized whose spouses are dead, and how they now have the
opportunity to still be an eternal family....and she starts crying again! And
then when we finished saying the prayer before leaving....she starts crying
again! She is awesome. she's a really strong personality, but at the same time
somebody who's really sensitive. She is engaged (holla) and we're going to have
a family home evening with her and Veronica this Wednesday. She is awesome and
I really hope we can make something happen!
Saturday
was Angela's birthday, so we ate asado at the Aquino's house, and that
afternoon we first taught tithing. Phew and let me explain something about
that. Brian and Angela are actually married, which doesn't happen often in
Uruguay that two young people living together are already married, they don't
drink, and they don't smoke....that is literally a needle in a haystack in
Uruguay haha. But because of that, we just KNEW that tithing would be their
challenge. We practiced all week and prayed harder than ever that they would
recognize the blessings of tithing and accept. But guess what? It was just as
easy as every other lesson has been with them! Haha. THey are so fun to teach,
because they just drink everything up that you teach them. They have a desire
to learn more, and they just look at you while you're teaching with that desire
in their eyes.
Afterwards,
what Angela didn't know was that all of the younger couples (which is like...4
haha. But still.) in the branch, and us missionaries and a few of the other
younger people, had a surprise party waiting for her! It was a perfect way for
them to get to know more people in the branch. I'm not worried about them one
bit!
They
literally are a miracle. Especially Brian. I am amazed every time I think about
the fact that the first two lessons we had with them, Brian very adamantly and
very stubbornly told us "no" when we asked him if he had faith or
believed in God. And to go from that, to him doing most of the talking in the
lessons, to even while we've been teaching the commandments have him say
"yeah, a commandment is something God gives us because He loves us and
wants us to live with Him again." All that in only a few weeks! It's
amazing how the Spirit and the Book of Mormon can really change people and
soften hearts.
Funny
story of the week (technically it's from last week): So it was Veronica's
birthday. So like the nice people we are, my companion and I buy her a gift.
Right? Right. So nice of us. We buy her this really pretty necklace. So cute.
Right? Right. Here's what happens:
my
favorite part about the mission: watching not only how investigators, but also
members who had fallen away, progress. One of our less actives, Marita, went
from NEVER going to church, to last week needing our help to help her prepare
her lesson in Relief Society. Not only is it so special to watch them progress,
but to see them get excited at their own progression. To watch their lives
change, and change again, if needed, through this Gospel and through repentance
and through starting to understand the Atonement. Kind of like only in the
mission, have I truly started to come to understand the Atonement.
I
truly love the people here. I can't even believe how much love I feel from my
Father in Heaven, that He loves me enough to have sent me to these wonderful
people. More so that they could teach me than the other way around. Changes are
next week, and we have no idea what will happen. Someone please say a prayer
for me that I get to stay here at least one more change! I'm not ready to leave
yet. My heart breaks at the thought.
Time
is going way to fast. Colonia is beautiful. Uruguay is beautiful. The people
are beautiful. God is good.
I love
you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan
Monday, March 10, 2014
I now know the meaning of "endure to the end...." March 10, 2014
KIDDOS.
Such a
good week, guys! Let's just get right to it! I'll try to be as quick as I can
because there's a lot to say.....
Okay
so for starters, we went to ChiChi again, and the poor old lady just gets so
confused. We've tried explaining prayer to her 3 trillion times but she still
tries to give one of her Catholic prayers.But she is so cute and always gives
us a Bon a Bon (delicious chocolate candy) right before we leave. We'll keep
going and we'll just have to be reaaaaaally slow with her.
We
also went to this lady named Elsa. Elsa was a contact we had made the week
before, and we finally managed to catch her at home. The poor woman lost her
husband 3 years ago and she just kept talking about how sad she still was. None
of her daughters come to see her, and one of them even lives next door but
doesn't talk to her. She just kept talking about this "sadness"
inside of her. We read Alma 40 with her and talked about the purpose God has
for each of us. By the end, she had said "I love you girls. You are the
first ones who have been able to help me, and I think you can see this sadness
I hold in my heart. I want you to keep coming back." People like that are
just so prepared! We only got to go once to her last week because after that we
had......(drum roll please)
ZONE
CONFERENCE. Normally, zone conference is just within the zone in one of the
churches. But President Smith has decided that it's important for us to be able
to receive revelation from the temple, so now every zone conference we go to
MONTEVIDEO to be able to go to the TEMPLE! Holla! I hadn't been to the temple
since my first day here. I was so homesick for the temple, moreso than I've
ever been for home (no offense guys haha.) We got to Montevideo on Thursday
night and slept over, and I couldn't even sleep I was so darn excited! Which is
how the temple should be. I hope you peeps at home take advantage of living ten
minutes from like 5 temples haha, because I miss it so much! I already want to
go back.
In
Zone Conference, our focus was ALL about the Plan of Salvation.. We learned a
better way to teach it, and President Smith went more in depth to some
scriptures before we went to the temple so that we would be able to understand
things better when we were inside. I learned so much! Like for instance: Eve.
President talked about how the belief is that Eve was tricked by Satan, but
it's more like this: Eve was given two commandments: multiply and replenish the
earth, and not eat from the tree. But they could only keep one commandment at a
time. So what did Eve do? She chose the greater commandment, to multiply and
replenish the earth. It hurt her to do so, but she did it. Then President goes
"how awesome is Eve?!" Yeah, I agree. Eve is pretty rad.
I LOVE
THE TEMPLE. i don't think I can say it enough.
Haha
okay so funny story. The way we learned the new way to teach the lesson was
that the Assistants would teach a part of it to a fake investigator, then we
would stop and talk about what was good about it, then we would practice it
amongst ourselves for a few minutes, then President would call a companionship
up to practice it in front of somebody. (my comp and I had to do it...yikes.
but we survived :)) So anywho, Elder Toledo from Chile and his "son"
(greenie) Elder McKinlay, aka the funniest human on earth, get called up. Elder
McKinlay says a couple sentences, but then Elder Toledo does most of the
talking. But THEN he looks at Elder McKinlay to talk. Elder McKinlay gets about
three words in, then stops and goes "okay, yeah I have no idea what I'm
doing." we DIED. I have never seen President laugh so hard! Haha so
great.
I also
said goodbye to Hermana Smith (President Smith's daughter that's my age :() She
is going back to school and then at the end of the year she'll be leaving on a
mission too, so it'll be a good while before I see her. I LOVE HERMANA SMITH. I
mean...Audrey haha. It was fun though because for a few minutes we hung out in
the mission home before getting on the bus to say goodbye. I loved chillin'
with the Pres and his fam. And all of his kids are crack ups in the way they
talk to their dad. His 16 year old son Jerry was like "MAN LOOK AT THE
CAMERA, POP" when he was talking a picture of the zone. Haha. Too
good.
Speaking
of, if you go to the page "President and Hermana Smith" on Facebook,
that's the mission page. They post a bunch of stuff on there, like that zone
picture! But anyway, zone conference as always was amazing, and as always I
LOVE President Smith. he is amazing and so is his wife. They really are my
parents here in the mission (and they're a lot like my parents too), and I love
them! Zone Conference and the temple were just exactly what i needed.
We
talked to this lady named Graciela in a bakery the other day. She asked us what
church we were from, then said she wants us to come talk to her because she
thanks we may have the answers that she's tried to ask God as to why she is
suffering. Holy prepared! That was Saturday. We'll go to her today.
We
decided we have to drop Guadalupe this week....she started to avoid us and even
hide from us. I know she'll get baptized someday though, so it's okay. It just
isn't their time.
Saturday
night the Elders had a baptism of this total stud named Leandro! Finally, a
baptism in Centro! It was so great. And, Brian and Angela came! We could tell
they really felt something. We (the 4 missionaries) played ping pong with Brian
afterwards and I totally kicked their trash....haha sike. Did you know latinos
are almost as good at ping pong as they are at soccer? I need to practice.
So
SUNDAY. First of all, the average sacrament attendance at the beginning of the
year was in the twenties. Now, we have worked so hard and it has gotten up to
consistently being in the 45 and up range and sometimes more! Some real
miracles. This branch has come such a long way since we got here.
But
the BEST PART of Sunday was that Brian and Angela came again! We asked to do a
lesson in the church afterwards, and taught The Gospel of Jesus Christ. And
guess what? We gave them baptismal invitation. And guess what? THEY ACCEPTED.
March 22, homeslices are gettin' dunked! Please pray for them! It was a really
powerful lesson, and even though he tried to hide it, Brian cried a little bit.
He went from saying he didn't believe when we met him, to accepting fecha.
Miracles! I am so blessed to be a missionary! Please pray for him!
Haha
okay so now for the meaning of my subject line...we go to this member in her
branch named Ilda last week. She is this cute little old lady, with a few
missing screws if ya know what I mean haha. But anyway, this day is HOT. Like,
super hot. But we get there, and she says "queridas! (dears), I have cafe
de malta for you!" It's like this coffee type stuff that isn't really
coffee that members are allowed to drink. But it is nasty.....and super hot. I
had to put pretty much a bag of sugar to get through it all. So I'm halfway
through my first glass and I'm just thinking "endure, endure...."
because I'm about to have heart attack from heat. Then I finally finish,
but she says "do you want some more?" And I had to say yes....so I
got an even bigger glass of this hotter than satan's spit nasty coffee stuff.
We came out afterwards and i told hermana zumeta "i finally understand the
meaning of endure to the end." So there you have it.
Okay
so that's all, folks! Not much deep spiritual insights. I had a bunch, like
always, but there's just no time to share them. Just know that I LOVE it here
and I love being a missionary! I love my President, I love fellow missionaries
(the ones in my zone are a hoot), and I love my Savior! And I really love this
work!
And.....I
love you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana
Dolan
Saturday, March 8, 2014
one third down, two thirds to go! March 3, 2014
Hey, friends!
So first of all, guess what? I hit my six month mark on Friday. Six. Months. Where did that time go? It freaks me out. What's even weirder is that Elder Trucolo keeps telling me he thinks I'm going to train after this change, and he goes "just think Hermana, once you finish training your daughter, it'll be June." Whaaat? Time is going so fast, and sometimes slow at the same time. But still, mostly fast. I'm getting so oooooooooold. In the mission.... Oh and also, no worries you guys because uh, I'm not going to train.
Well I can't say this was the best week of my life, but the Lord always rewards the bad days in a week with miracles. There are miracles everywhere.
So remember Chichi, the cute spunky little old lady we contacted last week? Well, we went to her house this week. On Wednesday she let us in and said she would listen because she thinks it's good to hear about other religions, but said up front "I'm Catholic and I don't plan on ever changing." We got to know her and found out she wasn't ever married, has no grandkids, all of her siblings and close family members are dead. She just has one nephew who lives on the other side of the country. She is really alone, but told us "God helps me through it." And she is still spunky and with this cute smile always on her face. We gave a brief message about the love of God and then asked if we could come back. On Saturday we taught the Restoration, and at one point it was so sad because we asked her a question and she said "I'm sorry dear, can you ask it again? The thing is I've had a lot of things happen to me in my life and they all just barely filled my head." Poor lady. :( But then we continued and really focused on prayer and how this Gospel helps us overcome our trials. Then at the end, she goes "You know what? I believe you girls. You speak purely and you're far from home and I don't think you would tell a lie."
Ummm, GOD LIVES.
That same day, we had a SUPER awesome lesson with Brian and Angela. They're the couple where the husband has a hard time believing in God. But the thing is, when we went last week he told us a straight up "no", that he doesn't believe or have faith. But then he actually read Ether 12 which we had left for him, and Angela had read 2 Nephi 31. So we kind of ended up talking about a lot of things. We talked about repentence and how baptism is the first step (because of what Angela read), and we said that any guilt that they could be feeling, they can be free of through the love and Atonement of the Savior. and then we talked about faith (because of Brian.) This time, when we asked him if he has faith, he goes "I don't know...maybe." So it's gone from a no, to a maybe in a week! But he's reading the Book of Mormon, so obviously he does. And then, I asked him "Do you know how you can find that faith?" He was looking away when I said that, but then he looks at me and goes "...how?" And I held up his Book of Mormon and said "todo lo que quiera en la vida, puede encontrar en este libro." "Everything that you want in life, you can find in this Book." Cool enough, just that morning I had actually finished the Book of Mormon for my second time in the mish. I don't think I ever had a sure testimony of the Book of Mormon like I have gained here on the mission. It really is everything. As I testified of it, I could see the change in his eyes. We gave them the "soft" baptismal invitation (which sounds better in Spanish but basically is something like "If the Lord answers your prayers and you feel this message is true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?") Angela said YESSSSSS. And Brian said he would think about it. HE WOULD THINK ABOUT IT. That is huge. Going from not believing in God to thinking about baptism. Aaaaand they c a m e to c h u r c h.
M I R A C L E S.
Haha okay so story time. So on Friday, like always, we had our weekly appointment/dinner with Maria and Miguel. We figured it would be really great to have the testimony of Elder Figares and his wife, so we invited them. But then his wife (the most gringa of all gringas in this world haha) says she's not going to go. So, okay, we'll just go with Elder. But then it's 7:20 and we call him and he's just barely on his way to another appointment with the Elders, but then he leaves them and comes to us. So we get to Miguel and Maria's. And let me just add, Hermana Zumeta and I had planned a SUPER boss lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We're going all day imagining Maria crying and the Spirit being so strong. But then, what happened?
....old people happened. hahaha.
Because we get to their house, and they say they've already made dinner for six because they had planned on Sister Figares. And Maria's daughter is in town and trying to call another country and Miguel and Maria don't know how to work their telephone, so I help them. So Elder calls Sister and says "I'll come get you." So it's like, 8:20 now when they finally come back. And then, those four blessed old grandparents of mine need to go outside to look at the garden. (also keep in mind that I am translating for SIster Figares with Maria.) So we're there for like, another fifteen or twenty minutes. So then, Hermana Zumeta and I decide it's not the right time for the lesson and we just share a scripture about faith. And then the four oldies start sharing the "back when I was a kid" stories that old people love to tell haha, and at this point it is 9:15 and we know that, like always, they have dinner waiting for us. So we tell them, but Elder Figares goes "Nahhh, you're fine." Haha, um, coo'? So then we eat the always delicious meal, but eat it in 2.5 seconds and get home late at 9:45. So long story short, that lesson didn't work out. Hahaha. But there's always next week. Maybe that isn't even a funny story to anybody but me, I just can't help but laugh at big, planned lessons that turn into disasters. It's like a tragically funny story every time.
Also, I forgot to tell this, but a few weeks ago when we brought Elder Figares to meet Miguel and Maria, at the door Elder Figares makes the joke "do you know these two chicas?" And Miguel goes "ellas son mis nietas!" Which means "they're my granddaughters!" If that doesn't just tug on you're heart strings, I don't know what will.
Also, let me just share the undying love I have for the Alvarez family. They are so close to getting to the temple! Daniel got the okay to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood! He just has to wait for the District President to interview him. But he was so excited! Also, fun fact: he is a chubbier version of my brother. And he's even a policeman. I showed him a picture and he was amazed. Haha I love him. And Franco is my little buddy. He knows my name know, and while he was running around the chapel yesterday, he caught sight of me and went "Hermana Nonan!" And climbed over everybody in the row to get to me. I love him. My biggest wish is to be able to be here when that beautiful family becomes beautiful and eternal.
So there you have it, folks! I love the Book of Mormon, and I so much love my Savior. I love my family here in Uruguay, and my family and friends back home! ARe you sharing the Gospel? Are you praying? Are you reading? Good. I hope you're all doing just swell.
I love you, I love you, I love you!
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