1.25.15

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(: