September 30, 2013: What a week it has been!

What a week it has been! I'm going to do another day by day like I did in the MTC. It just helps me form my thoughts better.  (We have removed the full names of the investigators to ensure their privacy).

 

TUESDAY:

Well, Tuesday was kind of hard. We went over to G's and the first thing she did was give us the Book of Mormon back. Her mother found her reading it again and was upset with her. The mother thinks that it's not being fair to the Catholic religion because that's what she's a part of and not fair to ours (Which we don't really understand) because she says that if G's heart isn't fully in it then she's just wasting our time. We tried to explain to her that G can't know everything all at once and that change comes through time and faith and she agreed. But her mother won't hear it and we can't talk to her since she leaves at 6am for work and doesn't get back till 11pm.....

 

We said a prayer with G and I pleaded with the Lord for help and to guide her in her decision as to what to do. When I looked up she was crying and looked so desperate like she had no idea what to do. Her light has been growing stronger each week and Elder Galvez and I really love her, but she has to make her decision. We're going back over today to see how she's doing

 

WEDNESDAY:
Elder Galvez and all of our district had to help translate at Parent/ Teacher Conferences for 6 hours. Elder Chilcote (who I met in the MTC) and I don't know enough Spanish to help, so they sent us out together to my appointments and to do some contacting. On the way over we were both really nervous because we've only had 4 weeks in the mission. When we got there we said a prayer and asked the Lord for help if we worked with faith. We taught 2 lessons, met a new family of investigators, talked to 9 other people and placed two Books of Mormon. Elder Chilcote says it was his most productive day in the mission so far. Not bad for two rookies!!!   Then we went and ate at a family in the Branch, Familia C. I love them but I don't know how Nick (Holmquist) can do that--understanding Argentinians. They're so hard to understand and I always feel so stupid after the dinners since I didn't understand anything they said....

 

THURSDAY:

We had a team-up with Hermano Solis from Mexico and a member of our branch.  He came with us to some of our appointments. However, the two we had scheduled fell through. I was feeling so bad that he came with us for nothing and also because both of the appointments were really promising. We had one more to go to and I was feeling pretty desperate. On the drive over I said a prayer and asked the Lord for a chance to teach and for him to prepare someone for us to bring to the waters of baptism. I promised him that if we would work our hardest to find them, he would help us find them.  We went to the door, knocked, and it opened!! I hadn't met this investigator before but she is a little woman the height of Madison. She invited us in. Her name is S. We taught her Lehi's vision and she was very interested. Hermano Solis is an amazing teacher.

 

FRIDAY:

Friday was a great day. We had the oportunity to teach a new family named Familia S de Guatemala. (That means "Of Guatemala"). We went in just expecting that they hadn't read and that we would just have a normal conversation and invite them to read more. When we asked the husband, he said that he'd read the whole chapter we had asked him to read, (3 Nephi 11) and then he told us what the chapter was about. We were shocked. No one has ever done that before!!!!  Elder Galvez and I looked at each other and asked if we could start with a prayer. That was the best lesson ever. Familia S is amazing. It's an unmarried couple with two girls one 10 and the other a 1.  They asked us questions the whole time about what we were teaching and when we finished we asked if anything was unclear. They immediately began to ask about prophets and they listened intently. They said they would keep reading and that they would like to feed us when we come back over on Tuesday.

 

Then we went to Fiesta de Naciones. This is party of nations. It was a huge party put on by all the branches around.  All the different members from all the different South American nations serve food, dance and play music from their countries. I loved it so much!!!! To see how we're all different, having different cultures, beliefs, food, smells, but that we are all united as God's children is so amazing to me.

 

SATURDAY:

We helped a Familia C move out of their apartment. They're a great family. We then taught our other investigators that we're working really hard on. They are the Familia M. It is two sisters each with a daughter and they are so great. Their babysitter is a memeber and she has the best testimony.  They accepted the invitation to be baptized later in October.

 

We then got invited to attend a Pentecostal church by one of our investigators. That was...... interesting. They sang a song for 40 mintues and "Poderoso Dios" about 76 times. This means "Powerful God". The pastor sat next to me and said "Hello, I bless you" to which I responded, "Hey! That's... so nice of you to do. I really appreciate that."

 

SUNDAY:

We had fast and testimony meeting. Familia M and the guy who invited us to the Pentecostal church came. I had the chance to bear my testimony. I was super nervous about my Spanish so I wrote down my testimony. But when I got up there I just pushed it aside and felt the spirit so strongly. Next week is general conference so we really hope Familia M comes and listens to the prophet.

 

 

Sincerely,

Elder Rodabough, the second