Yep, the cold has officially arrived! It came in fast and without much warning. Today is actually pretty nice, but this week was C O L D. And my favorite part about Uruguay (not really) is that the houses (okay, OUR house) is colder than it is outside. Getting up in the morning is now a great act of will power. And don`t even get me started about showering.
So, this week was pretty dang dandy!
At the beginning of the week, we went out with a girl named Florencia, who`s 14 and got baptized by the Elders back in March. Going out with us is like her favorite thing to do now! So while we`re out with her, a lesson falls through. We had heard her comment before about a friend of hers who lives nearby and is named Bruno. So we ask her if she`d like to go see him, and she says "absolutely!" So we go to Bruno`s house, and his older sister Camila (who is 18) was also there, and really surprised us by sitting down and listening to the listen, which was just talking about our purpose. And they both had a LOT of interest! And guys, F L O R E N C I A. That girl is incredible. She had no fear in bearing her testimony and saying "What`s special about this Gospel is that with it, the Lord will make us a clean again so we can live with Him." So cute. And then after the closing prayer, Camila says "I have a question: my grandma who lives here just recently lost one of her kids, my uncle, and she`s having a really hard time. can you guys help her?" Why yes, yes we can! Or, the Gospel can. And then immediately, before we could even respond, Florencia pulls out her Book of Mormon and says "2 Nephi 9." And reads a verse, and then says "but can we come back and talk to your grandma about it, too?" Guys, she ALREADY is a missionary! I so wouldn`t have A. had that scripture knowledge or B. that courage when I was 14. She is incredible. So we are going to be working a lot with Bruno and Camila, and hopefully her grandma too! Because of crazy schedules we couldn`t get back to them this week, but we for sure will.
On Thursday, we did D I V I S I O N S. In the morning, I went out with Hermana Olson. She is the one I lived with in Rivera, so it was a lot of fun to go out with her when I actually knew Spanish and could help her with the lessons haha. What`s cool is she told me that this woman we had visited when we did divisions with her in her area in Rivera who before was completely inactive, is no active and quit smoking and talks about me sometimes. And her granddaughter who was there when we had taught the lesson (which we taught on the Book of Mormon) got baptized, and talks about the Book of Mormon that I gave her that she reads from which has my testimony written inside. It was a sweet tender mercy, because sometimes I had worried if I had done anything in Rivera. So it was so great to hear that!
So with Hermana Olson, we went to Maria, who is actually Florencia`s mom. She is really incredible and goes to church and reads the Book of Mormon, but her problem is smoking. We taught the first part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and focused on the page that has the picture of Christ raising Jairus`s daughter from the dead. We focused on how the little girl is looking ONLY at Christ, and she was able to leave her bed and rise. We told Maria she can do the same. She has a really sincere desire to change her life, and the Spirit was so strong. We gave her the invitation for baptism for the 14th, and at first she said she didn`t know if she could be ready for something like that because she has so many burdens. So we invited her to pray in that moment and ask. And her prayer was incredible, and she cried, and we cried, and the Lord confirmed that date for her! So we will work with her to make sure she can make it to the 14th of June. Pray for her, please!
In the afternoon I went out with Hermana Petien from Nicaragua. LOOOOVE HER. Pretty much all of our lessons fell through, so we did a lot of contacting and had a lot of fun in the streets. Overall, it was a great day of divisions. Hermana Olson and Petien both go home in July, so they have a lot of experience and I learned a lot from them, and had a lot of fun too. :)
On Friday, we had planned to do an activity with the Tree of Life in the ward that I did in seminary in high school. Now, let me tell you guys something I have noticed about Elders: they are very smooth about their way of asking Hermanas for favors. Example: we are in the same ward as the zone leaders, and one other companionship of Elders. And so the ZL`s told us to worry about making the tree, and they would take care of the rest. But at last minute they had to go do a baptismal interview, and it was 7:15 and they hadn`t left the other ward building yet (the activity was supposed to start at 7 and we hadn`t set up yet.) So they call and Elder Bulloch says "so, have you guys started setting up?" and I say "well we got the tree, but we don`t really know what you guys had planned for the rest." And he goes "well...we didn`t really have anything planned exactly yet. BUT Hermana, you just do what you had done in high school. I mean....just use your hermananess (he used that word), and your awesome creativity because you`re just great and you`ll do it better than we could anyway and it`ll be awesome." SMOOTH Elder, very smooth with the compliments. That my friends, is why missions prepare one for marriage.
So anyway, we led a rope through the church, starting from one room and ending with this "tree of life." We took one family at a time, blindfolded them, and told them they had to follow the rope to make it to the tree. If they let go, there were obstacles and a good chance they would get lost. They started with the other pair of Elders, who read some scriptures from the beginning of the story. Then when they got upstairs, the zl`S told them "come here! you`re safe! And we have treats for you!" And some people let go, and they taught about temptation and the Great and Spacious building. Then they came back downstairs, and my comp and I read the last scriptures that talked about those who held on the whole time and endured to the end.
It was incredible! With this one family, the little girl Nicole kept letting go of her dad`s hand. And we saw him reaching out for her and going "Nicole!" and then we`d put her hand back in his, but then she`d let go again. And it went like that, until finally they all made it to the tree. Afterwards, the dad was crying when he took of the blindfold! And he said he had never looked at the story that way, and could feel how much it would hurt to not have a family member make it to eternal life. With Maria, it was perfect too. Florencia had already gone through, but her mom was the last one and we asked her to go with her. When they got to me and my comp, we said "who has made the necessary covenants with the Lord? All of you?" And Florencia said "no, just me." and we said "you have to make those covenants to be able to eat of the fruit of the tree." And Maria started crying, and we told Florencia "Do you want your mom to be able to go with you, and will you go alone?" And she said "I want my mom with me." So we said "you go in front. Take your mom`s hand, be the example. Lead her to the tree." And told Maria "Maria, do you want to be with your daughter?" And of course she said yes and we said "take her hand, follow her example. You can eat of the fruit with her if you follow her example." It was INCREDIBLE! At the end, everybody got a white piece of paper in the fruit of an apple to write their testimony, and we put it on the tree. It was amazing, and gave everybody I think a whole new perspective. We finished it off with tortas fritas and bon bons, so that they had some sort of "fruit" to actually be able to eat.
It gave me a whole new perspective, too! And I want so badly to be able to have EVERYBODY be able to hold on and make it to the tree.
So anyway, all in all, this week was fantastic. With a lot of cold, and I feel like Christmas should be soon because of it, but that`s okay. All worth it :)
ONE MORE THING. Funny/mean story for the week:
So like I said, I love Hermana Petien, and I was excited to live with her for these next two changes until she dies. But we had heard that President Smith had come to Artigas last night, so when we come home we ask the other hermanas if they know why. And they say that because Hermana Petien is still sick (she was really sick a few changes ago), she has to go back to Montevideo to be closer to the doctors. And I was so sad, and so sad for Petien too! And her comp was crying and everything. I thought at first "nah, they`re playing a prank on me like I always do to them." But then they seemed serious, so I thought "I need to be sensitive for in case this isn`t a joke." So then I believed them, and said a long, good prayer last night for Hermana Petien, and was all sad thinking she was leaving and going back to Montevideo TODAY. So then, this morning, Hermana Petien says "hey, Hermana Dolan, will you write in my notebook? But wait, can we go into your room, I have something to tell you." So we go into my room, she gets this seriously look on her face, and then says "nah it`s a joke, I`m not leaving!" And walks away! It was JOKE! And guess what else? ALL THE OTHER HERMANAS KNEW. So there you have it kids, I live with a bunch of scummy liars. Haha nah it was a good one, good payback. I was proud. And glad Hna Petien isn`t leaving. Even if she`s a scummy liar.
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! I love you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan
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