Monday, February 22, 2016

Semana 11 - Email

Buenos días!

Martes 2/16
We visited some people, one of which is a member named Lucy. She's a single mother with two sons that have psychological struggles, but she is so strong even though she deals with so much. We went over planning to organize a couple of her rooms and she was feeling really stressed and achy and down. After some time of talking to her, she decided to instead dress us up in some of her beautiful traditional clothing and we took pictures together and she danced for us. Later that evening we stopped by again and she was in MUCH better spirits and I was so glad to be able to see what a real difference our visit had made for her. Later she told the elders how much she appreciated us coming over and bringing a happy spirit to her. Service comes in different forms.

Miércoles 2/17 
(I could write my whole email on this day and Saturday)
Today was an adventure. We fasted for a baptismal date for Victor, and our fast seemed to bless us in other unexpected ways. In the middle of our morning studies we got a visit from the carpet cleaning person, and he had so much to say about religion and what we were doing as missionaries. We were really kind with him, and told him some of our beliefs that could comfort him in his existential concerns. Then he dumped the gross dirty carpet water into one of our sinks and a toilet, and the toilet for some reason got clogged and overflowed my companion's bathroom with the dirty water. He apologized all over the place and cleaned it up for us. He noted how calm and nice we were and said that the worst thing about us missionaries is that you never get to see them again. We lightly said he could go to church and see them all the time and he laughed. It was an interesting and unexpected lesson. In the evening we went to Margarita's with the Portuguese elders so that they could move furniture that she bought and we could translate. We got two new investigators (the people she bought furniture from), and I listened to a lot of Portuguese and learned a few things. I felt more comfortable with Spanish by the end of the night also.

Jueves 2/18
Victor accepted fasting with us about being baptized on March 23rd!

Viernes 2/19
In the morning we had a fantastic district meeting and I went on exchanges for the first time with Sister Cruz, an STL for our zone. She is from Brazil, so her first language is Portuguese and she learned English on the mission, and can speak a lot of Spanish. This is her last transfer, so she has about 20 days left on her mission. In the evening we contacted someone named Ava Molina, had a nice little lesson with her, and she became a new investigator!

Sabado 2/20
I wrote about 3 pages in my journal about this day. So much happened, but the most important thing is that Omari accepted to be baptized. We were just going to share a little message, but Hermana Parke said that during the closing prayer she felt that we needed to teach lesson 3 and extend a baptismal date to Omari right there. She looked at me after the prayer and lightly kicked me under the table and turned to Omari telling her (in english) that we love her and we, as missionaries have a purpose in visiting and teaching her and her dad. She kicked me again and I knew that meant she wanted me to teach lesson 3 by explaining our purpose and extending a baptismal date. We hadn't yet discussed a date, so my trainer was really putting a lot of trust in me. In about 2 minutes I was able to teach and extend her the invitation to be baptized on March 19th. She accepted! Later Hermana said that she was relieved because that was the same date she had in mind and was grateful we followed the spirit.

Domingo 2/21
Omari was able to come to church!

Hoy 2/22
We're reading out loud as much as we can out of el Libro de Mormón en Spanish during our p-day that we don't spend emailing or getting milk.

This week I feel like I'm truly pushing forward with the work and I am very excited about everything in store for this area in the next few months!

--
Con Amor,
Hermana Rubio

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