Hello erybuddy!!!
First things first, I prefer to go
straight to Salt Lake and have my entire family there waiting for me. Scotland
would be fun and all, but there's no way I'm ending this mission early. I was
thinking about it for summer semester but I know that the Lord will bless me
100 times more if I serve Him to the end. Take a bunch of pictures though and
send them to me when you go.
1) I loved your email and shared a
bit with Pres Smith.
2) We left with a young man named
Mateo this week for the first time. We visited Kevin (Investigator that'll be
getting baptized the 7th) and then this girl named Lucia. Lucia is a recent
convert who basically got baptized with a bunch of other little kids who had a
crush on the missionaries. She's a good girl and has no problem with going to
church but her grandma won't let her go. Her Grandma sends her off to her other
grandparents’ house on Sunday. Her reasoning is awful. Lucia's mom doesn't work
on Sunday but likes using that day to spend time with her new boyfriend (which
she has a new one every month). She doesn't wash the kids, clean clothes, cook,
or take any responsibility. Instead, she makes Lucia do everything. To stick it
to Lucia's mom, Ana (the grandma of Lucia, mother of Lucia's mother...just so
you know) sends Lucia off to her other grandparents’ house... INSTEAD OF
SENDING HER TO CHURCH! Ana was trying to explain the irrationality of her logic
and Mateo was just looking at her like, “Is this woman serious?” We explained 10 times that all she had to do
was put her faith in Christ and go to church and obey His commandments and
literally, ALL of her problems will be solved. And she was like, “faith won't
feed these kids. I have to raise them all alone! I didn't have my husband with
me, couldn't raise my kids without the help of my mother and my dad was never
there for me and gracias a Dios (they take the Lord's name in vain SO much more
here by the way) I'm still here raising these children.” Mateo was like, “INCORRECT!”
She continued with her foolishness, “If I go to church, who's going to watch
these misbehaved kids? Their parents aren't responsible!” All three of us replied
at the same time, “TAKE THEM TO CHURCH!!! That's what church is for! They learn
to behave and not be stuck in a tiny house listening to their mom get used all
day, while grandma swears at them for being rotten kids!” We explained again and again but she was
convinced in her thinking, “Are you kidding me? You guys try to take a family
of 6 to a place and expect them to behave appropriately!” I said, “My family is a family of 6 and we
went to church EVERY single Sunday without problems.” As the discussion ended
we left and the woman said that she'd let Lucia go to church (she sent her to
her grandparents’ house again by the way). But Mateo left there and was like...
“Wow. I thought that my family had problems. This gospel is SO true. It's
amazing how true it is and how awful it is to not live it.” He thanked us for taking him out to do visits
and then the next day in church, his dad said that it changed his life and that
he couldn't stop talking about the experience!
3) I have a good story about Marta
De Souza. I'll have to tell it when I get home but I'm writing it down just so
I'll have another place to remind me about it.
4) The work in the ward is going so
well!!! Our leaders our total studs now! They go visit people with us all the
time and we're seeing huge results in the sacrament meeting. At the beginning
of this year we stared off with 58 people with a year base of 76. Last Sunday, we had 102 and this Sunday, 111
with two solid investigators that will be getting baptized next week! Things
are going so well. Well I wrote a bunch and it's crazy how fast time flies by.
I love you all!!! Send more pictures!
On the left sitting down we have Hno Perez (Elder's Quorum
Pres.) who's amazing. He got in a crash on his motorcycle 4 months ago and
snapped his femur and other parts of his leg and has left with us ever since
I've been here...even when he had his crutches. Top left is Hno Piriz (First Counselor
in the Elder's Quorum) Father of 12 kids! Top right is Daniel, our investigator
that's getting baptized the 7th and is Hno Piriz'z brother. In the middle, Hno
Juan Carlos. Big teddy bear(:
