Hola Mama! I’m doing really good! As for things with my new companion they are going really good. Oh guess what? Fernanda has a friend who works with computers and he was able to recover the pictures that I somehow deleted last Saturday! And other than yesterday, the rest of the week was good – more on that later.
Tuesday was a really good day. We went to visit the Hernandez Velazquez family and Fernanda, Andrea and Luna so Elder Aguilar could say goodbye. We finally got to the office, switched companions and Elder Zapata and I came back to Villa del Carbón. Our taxista was super awesome and bought us an ice cream that a guy was selling in the street. After we got to the casa and dropped off luggage, we didn’t have any members to eat with so we went and ate with the Hernandez family and talked with them for a bit so they could get to know Elder Zapata and he could get to know them as well. We also passed by date un roll to introduce Elder Zapata to them. He is very good at getting to know people quickly and what their interests are. He knows how to ask inspired questions and then listens to the response carefully to know how to respond instead of just jumping in and cutting them off to say what he thinks is best or just trying to teach a lesson. With Fernanda, Andrea and Luna he talked to them to know their needs and what is impeding them from coming to church, and then helped them resolve those things so they could hopefully attend church. I learned a lot my first half day with him.
Wednesday was interesting. We had a district meeting and on our way back to our area, just outside of Villa, there was a blockade of police trucks. They diverted the bus to the side, stopped it, then one officer came on and asked for all the males to get off the bus with our bags so they could check to see if anyone had any weapons or guns. That was the first time that ever happened and honestly, I was a little nervous but everything turned out okay. After they were done searching, we continued on our way. We ate with the Hernandez Velazquez family and had a long talk with them. They are super, super good and have a lot of charity and love. We explained a little on deeper doctrines and that they need to continue learning about the gospel and teaching of Jesus Christ. It was an awesome talk.
Thursday we ate lunch with the branch president and his wife. After the meal we talked to them about the list of things that the members can do with the new converts. It was a good talk we had about working together to help the branch grow and become stronger and find more people to bring to the church as well. The branch president is looking to us to help the less-active and inactive members a lot. We try to help a little bit but our main responsibility and goal is to find, teach, and baptize new members. We are doing what we can to help though because the branch really needs help. We also had a lesson with a newer investigator. It was a really great lesson and I was able to learn myself with how Elder Zapata explained some things. I have a lot to learn still…. I just need to keep studying.
Friday we went to visit Doris and had a really great lesson! At the end we invited her to be baptized on August 25th and explained that that day is our goal for now and if she wants we can move the date back if she doesn’t feel ready by then. She is scared because that is a big change in her life and is worried what her family and other people will think. We explained that we are here to help guide and help her on this path so she can feel ready and overcome the obstacles along the way and also invited her to pray about the lesson and to know if she should be baptized on August 25th. She didn’t accept the date but she did accept the invitation to pray about it, which is still good.
Saturday during companionship study we came up with a new way to contact people. Well it was my comps idea. We took a shoe box and taped it shut and then cut a hole in one of the ends big enough for someone to reach in with their hand. We put pamphlets and cards inside and we take this box and ask people to reach in and pull out a pamphlet, and whatever they pull out is what we talk with them about. We didn’t get a chance to try it out yet but I am excited to. We went to visit Victor a bit later in the afternoon to see how he is doing. He said he is doing really great, he feels calm and happy. This man is one of the most amazing people that I know. He has always kept the commitments we gave him and is doing his best to live the commandments and do what is necessary to improve his life and become closer with God.
Sunday we had a Branch Conference and the Stake President, his counselors and other members from the stake were there. There were more or less 65 people in church today. The first hour of Sacrament was normal. Vianey had to give her second talk as a member and she did a really good job again! The second and third hour was a combined meeting to talk about what the branch needs to do to get members to come to church, to help the missionaries find new investigators and contacts and what the members need to do to help with the construction of an actual church building. It was a really great meeting. After the meeting we had a big lunch with everyone who was there. While we were eating lunch we got a call from one of the zone leaders telling us that we need to drop the Hernandez Velazquez family for now. He didn’t give us any reasons why. We are really confused because they are the only progressing investigators we have. We don’t know how long that will last but we’re praying for help in knowing what we should do now.
Also yesterday we went to visit Victor in his restaurant and he gave us free tacos! One taco he gave had the meat called tripa in it, which is intestines..... I was super hesitant to try it because of my time studying anatomy I’ve seen intestines of cadavers. I tried it though and it was actually not too bad, not my preference but really not bad. Anyway, I have to go now. I love you so much! I hope you have a great week!
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