Sunday, November 23, 2014

November 17, 2014

Thank Goodness for Skirts with Pockets
well this week went by way too fast that I honestly dont remember anything that happened! Was it not just monday? 
After pday ended last week we went to La loma to do an activity with all the kids there. we made name badges and we were planning on going around to teach other people there. we handed out pass along cards and pamplets for them to give out to there parents and friends. it didnt go quite as we had planned, and I realized one of my weaknesses is I dont have patience especially when there is a million kids haha it was tough and I had to repent afterwards. Its hard to maintain a bunch of kids especially with the language barrior! haha but it was a good learning experience for sure. 
Tuesday we had zone conference and the zone leader called on me to give a talk in front of everyone without any notice! um talk about scary! but I was able to do it and I was suprised at how much I was able to teach...well obviously it wasnt me it was the spirit! 
Wednesday we had a hilarious experience! So we always eat lunch at a members house every wednesday and usually she makes really good food! we were so hungry and so excited to eat. We get to her house and she made something called Culpi, which I dont know how to explain it other than its kind of like meatloaf with cheese. We both looked at each other and wanted to die. And the worst part was she put 2 HUGE pieces on both of our plates! I didnt know what to do! haha luckily she had salad so my companion and i were eating as much salad as possible and everytime we looked at each other we started to laugh because neither of us were eating the culpi. This member never stops talking! she doesnt eat with us she just sits there and talks and talks and talks. so we were both trying to figure out what we could do. I noticed my companion was spooning hers into a bowl under the table and then put half a lemon on top to cover it. I didnt know what to do. I was literally to the point where I was thinking I would just put it in my backpack and deal with the mess later. Then the member was like "eat!" haha so I remembered I was wearing a skirt with pockets! saved my life! I grabbed a paper towel and wrapped it up and put it in my skirt! When we left I pulled it out of my pocket and asked my companion if she wanted some and we couldnt stop laughing! Now I am grateful for skirts with pockets! 
So our mission president told us that from now on we have to focus on priesthood, finding and reactivating. So this week everytime we see a man or a group of guys we say "sacerdocio!" (priesthood) haha I think its kind of funny that now we are told to look for and teach only men. Is it bad that I only look at men for their potential to hold the priesthood? absolutely not! haha so we are going to find priesthood because without it this area will never grow! So saturday we went to a members house to eat and this member has 9 kids...and 8 of them were there with their families! it was packed! we ate empenadas and it was a good time. The funniest part was my companion and I were both counting how many priesthood holder we could have..we counted 8 that are either not members or not active! 8 sacerdocio in one room!!!
I asked them if they were going to go to church the next day and they all said yes (everyone always says yes! and never comes!) So I took the initiative to ask if we could teach something and I found a scripture in the bible where Jesus is using a parabol. There are 2 sons and the father asks them to do something and the first son says he doesnt want to but then repents and does it. The second one says he will do it and doesnt. Then jesus asks which one is better? and he says the first one. So I used this scripture to be direct with them. One of them told me he promised he would come...as he was drinking and smoking. I told him he owed me 10 pesos if he didnt come. Well the next day I honestly didnt think he would come...but we got out of relief society and he was there! I was in shock and he said "Im the first son" haha it was funny. So anyways we are working on priesthood which is a huge challenge because the men here are really hard headed but we are going to do it!
I also had my first experience with a drunk. it was both sad and hilarious. It was the middle of the day and we were walking to an appointment and a man on a motorcycle was pulled of the the side of the road and he called out to us and we went over to him (because its priesthood of course!) and he asked us to preach to him because he wanted to change his life. He started crying and saying how he didnt want to go home to his wife and son because he was drunk. It was really sad. We tried to teach him but it was kind of hard because he obviously wasnt in the right mindset. I told him we had to leave and he started crying and saying he wanted us to teach him. we asked him if he would even remember what we taught him and he said no.  haha We finally got away and we were walking and all the sudden he pulls up on his motorcycle! we told him he needed to rest and not drive while he was drunk. but obviously he didnt listen to us and off he went. The sad part is there isnt police here so there was nothing we could do except pray. So that was an adventure.
Oh also we had quite the experience saturday night. We always teach a book of mormon class for the members and no one showed up except the branch president and his wife. so we were teaching them and we were teaching about pride and all the sudden they started FIGHTING! like yelling at each other in the church! it was crazy. my companion and I literally had no words. the spirit was gone and we just sat there. It was a disaster. there are alot of problems in their marriage and its carried into the church and its really sad. So right now my companion and I really dont know what to do. We literally have to run the church here its quite stressful! we have so many responsibilities but its really opened my eyes and helped me rise up to become better...or at least work on becoming better. 
Well that was some of my adventures for the week. My favorite thing to do is read from the scriptures and learn! I have learned so much from the bible and the book of mormon in the 3 months Ive been here and I love it! I love finding answers to questions that our investigators have or to realize that prophets in the scriptures experienced similar things that we experience as missionaries! I know that this gospel is true and no one can convince me otherwise!!!
I hope all is well back at home and you are enjoying this wonderful time of year! Know that I think about and pray for you daily!

con mucho amor,
hermana stewart 
 

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