Guys. This week was a good one. ha.
After I left your cyber presence on Monday evening, we made the rounds to pick up some members and some investigators to do a Family Home evening at Ani's house. They all told us that they were busy at the moment, but they'd meet up with us at Ani's house a little bit later... We had told them all about it in advance, but I guess they forgot. ha. Anyway. We went to Ani's and helped her with her English homework while we waited for everyone to come. Then it rained... So we kissed our hopes of seeing any guests goodbye, and had Family Night all by ourselves. haha. Dominicans REALLY don't like the rain. It's was a bummer that they didn't show, but it meant more hot chocolate and bread for us! :)
Tuesday we had a Zone Meeting. I was in charge of the spiritual thought, and decided to use an article from last month's Liahona about making our personal prayers more meaningful. I tied it into the famous, day-long prayer that Enos offered and talked about how we as missionaries should make an effort to make our prayers the MOST meaningful they've ever been; people's salvation is counting on them!
After the update on the new stuff from the ZLs, and some lunch, we headed out on an intercambio with the other two Elders in our district. I went with Elder De La Cruz (Dominican) to their side of the area, and Elder Meroño stayed on our side with Elder Bonilla (Honduran). It was really great! Elder De La Cruz has a way with people, and I think it helps that he comes from the same background as them. It was cool to watch him interact with his investigators, and learn some new ways to help my own! Intercambios are always good. They allow for a new perspective on the work, and often act as a breath of fresh air (sometimes being with the same person 24/7 gets a little stuffy, ha).
While Elder De La Cruz and I were walking to an appointment we had a lady stop us in the street and introduce herself as Dorka, from San Geronimo. I guess she and her family moved here a few months ago and have been searching for the chapel in our area. They've been taking a 30 minute güa güa ride every Sunday morning to attend their old ward back in San Geronimo! Talk about devotion! But, thanks to some good timing on the Lord's part, we were able to sit down with her and her cousin (that was getting ready to be baptized right before they moved) and get things back on track to keep meeting with the missionaries, and to find the chapel MUCH closer to them! Tender Mercy!
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| Lots and Lots of agua. :) 7/10/13 |
Wednesday was LONG... Due to Hurricane Chantal we were told to stay in our house ALL day... I don't really know why they called it a hurricane, cuz there wasn't a whole lot of damage done... ha. We were kinda hoping for some service opportunities, ya know? Anyway. It ended up just being LOTS AND LOTS of rain with some hard core thunder claps (like set-off-car-alarms hard core). We felt like caged animals a little bit... But obviously we used our time wisely and studied like mad. I found The Miracle of Forgiveness in Spanish that another Elder left behind. I got over half of that read, along with the ENTIRE July Liahona and some other miscellaneous articles. Solid. I love being a missionary.
On Thursday we were let out of the house to take in some much needed vitamin D. ha. In the afternoon we visited with a new lady that we played hit and miss with for a few weeks, but Elder Meroño and Elder Bonilla finally found her in her house on Tuesday during our intercambio. When we went back on Thursday she had read and taken notes on the whole Plan of Salvation pamphlet, AND finished the "additional study" at the back! SO AWESOME! We're always happy with investigators if they make the effort to read two or three pages... But to finish it ALL in two days, AND have questions ready for us is just unheard of! We spent like 45 minutes answering her questions and using the scriptures to help her understand the Plan of Happiness that the Lord has provided for us. :) We're going back to see her again tomorrow. We didn't have a Book of Mormon with us, so I left her with my copy so she can do the "additional study" from there as well. :) I'll let you know if she comes through.
Later on that evening we met with Yojansen and went in depth on the scripture from 2 Nephi 2: 22-23 that says that without Misery we wouldn't know Joy. He's a smart kid. And he's got a solid Christian background. We explained the Fall the best we could, and then emphasised the need to pray. If he wants to know if it's true or not, he needs to talk to God about it. He promised he would, and we left it at that. :)
Friday was a little slow, because of the unexpected storm lock down we didn't have much planned. We visited with the people we failed because of the storm and then went over to Ani's house. As of late we haven't seen much progression from her. She still comes to church with us every week, but she hasn't been applying the gospel in her life and she's STILL living with her boyfriend. So we had a talk about the need to make some changes in her life and set an "ultimatum" baptismal date with her for the end of next month. If she doesn't make some changes before then, we're gonna have to let her go... :( But I have faith that she'll do what she needs to do. She knows what's right, and she has a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ. We'll just keep praying for her.
Saturday was decent. :) We found a couple of new investigators that look promising. One is an x-Jehovah's Witness, and the other one is an "in house" Christian. I'll let you know if they progress.
Later on, while we were walking between appointments, we ran into Elvis and Desereé, who were buying some paint for their apartment. Apparently the owner of their apartment building moved out of the BIGGER apartment across the hall from theirs, and seeing that Desereé's got a bun in the oven, they decided to make the move. ha. Here's the cool part: While we were planing the night before, we were looking for a member to visit to ask for references. We decided we'd pass by... ELVIS AND DESEREÉ! So we already had a time block marked out in our schedule to go help them move, even though we didn't even know they were moving!!! God is good! I love being a missionary! It's basically like being one of Santa's Elves, 'cept better! And I don't have to live in the North Pole! :)
Yesterday was AWESOME! We had a great time in church, and a SUPER missionary afternoon! We're currently working on getting our members more involved with the missionary work in our ward, and it's finally coming around! Hermana Maira came out with us in the afternoon to visit with Sandra. We revisited Family History work with her, and then talked about Temples and Eternal Families. :) Hermana Maira bore a powerful testimony of the Spirit and peace felt in the House of the Lord. It was great! Members really do make the difference! It's one thing for our investigators to hear our testimonies, but for some reason, the testimony of a member (a NORMAL person that lives close by) is SO much more powerful!
On top of that, we took the Bishop and his WHOLE family with us to visit the Montero Family. :) It was good for them to get to know each other in a less formal situation, and also, we were able to discuss the Temple Marriage goal and get the bishop onboard! :)
With faith, prayers, and lots of work I'm sure we can keep strengthening our ward, and helping them catch the missionary fire! This area has SO much potential, and the members are all SO strong! They just have to get out there and share what they have! We all do!! We are so blessed to have the knowledge that we do! It's selfish to keep it to ourselves! Go talk to someone about it!!!
After we sent the Bishop and his family on their way, we finished off our evening with a visit at Santos and his family's house. :) It was really good. :) I shared Helaman 16:17-20 and talked about how EVERY dispensation has had to "walk by faith" and "believe in things they couldn't see." We aren't the first Chosen People that are required to live by faith without murmuring. Some will say "this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass, but not among us, but in a land which is far distant, a land which we know not; therefore they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness with our own eyes that they are true." But really, it's all part of the test. I know that seeing isn't everything when it comes to believing. The trick is to believe, and act on that belief, and THEN God will illuminate our path, and it will all make sense. We just need to take that first step! Keep on believing!!!
Today was relaxed. :) We super cleaned our apartment. Ha. I think I'm turning into my mother... My happiness depends on the cleanliness of my house. lol. There is a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders when our apartment is finally clean on Monday mornings.
Now I'm back to where I left you all a short week ago. I hope you all know how much I love you! Keep on keepin on!
Love,
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