Monday, June 24, 2013

The University

We had 3 baptisms on my birthday.  One of these was the daughter of the family that I thought would never fully commit. We had spent a lot of time with them and it was so great to see her in white. The other two were from the new area. We showed up by a reference and taught for 15 minutes then needed to leave.  We asked when we could return, they said "well tomorrow." Ha -  baptized 3 weeks later. Talk about being ready.  Here is a problem, the zipper on the baptism onezey doesn’t work, so we have resulted to stapling and other such methods. 

 
I haven’t been sick at all. I’ve been completely healthy - so give Tagge my thanks for the tonsils.


I think I Gained 10 pounds this week. The people here found out it were my birthday and I was showered with ice cream and cake for three days.  Today was the end of my time training with Elder Poblete.   We would spend three hours on 2 days of the week in an adjacent area that has been closed for a year because there was some trouble there in the past. We weren’t allowed to walk to the houses but rather drove with a member.  I am now reopening that area. It is called the University. My companion is Elder Nicolas; a native that is finishing off his mission with me.  I am actually pretty excited for this new area.  4 of our 5 baptisms have been in this area, and we have a pile of references that we didn’t have time previously to visit.  Also our old house was quite an adventure.  We didn’t have water for three days last week and that would happen every other week. The bathroom reeked.  But we found solutions and sources of water to accomplish what was needed. And I did learn quite a bit about piping.  Also it was on the top floor of an apartment which was quite hot after a day of Torreon sun.  Our new house has air conditioning and a great water system.    

I have a ton of pictures from the last couple of weeks but my camera was taken out of my backpack in the move.  The bishop helped us for several hours move.  That man is a saint to us.  On my birthday and one other day this week his family invited us over, then whipped out a big cake and other food. They sang me happy birthday in Spanish then tried in English, then a whole compilation of other Mexican songs and traditions.  The other day he took us to lunch to get some delicious tacos on the side of the street. I talked to him about business for twenty minutes while we ate and it made me miss my dad.  He is going to try to sell his old business and start up a chain of restaurants’.  He has a "help" that knows how to cook like no one else.  So the bishop is going to have Mike the help teach those in the ward without work how to cook then place them as chefs.  The bishop has two sons on the mission now.  One was very rebellious.  The bishop had enough when the son was 18 and sent him to a farm to reform him.  The son was beat up a lot there by other delinquents, but came back different.       

Thanks so much for the packages. That it really makes the week.   Thanks to Chari for her package.   I got to give the zone leaders some treats for helping me move, and it was fun to see elder Tec, a tiny little native whose eyes get wide with anticipation when he sees sugar (or really any other food), smile with a mouthful.  Really he downs it. ha

 

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Impossible is Nothing




"You can do it Brucy"  - Matilda  (so classic)

This week we talked to a Hermana for a little about why she was inactive. She said we just felt so much pressure. She repeated that a few times, so we asked "pressure to do what?" She said

"we don’t have time, and they want us to spend time we don’t have reading the bible and stuff and going to church. We don’t have time." (they had the television on). So we responded that the books and church are for us to grow and be better. The pressure is out of love and knowledge of the happiness it gives us. She repeated "we don’t have time." So I said: "You don’t have time for God?" She wasn't budging.

When people try to get rid of us, the line they use the most is "I am another religion." It turns out most don’t really go to church and they prefer churches that are more hands off so that they can really do whatever they want. I really like this distinction where we are expected to give it all to become so much more.


Elder ´Poblete likes to quote Elder Holland’s: "salvation is not a cheap expĂ©rience" in English with Elder Holland’s emphasis. He also likes to say: "impossible is nothing" which is a Nike quote.   This week he accidently mixed them and said: "Salvation is Nothing!"   haha then said wait, no. . .   ha I was dying. It’s such a good time to be comps with the Hispanics - especially this guy. 

When people give me a photo to look at of their family here or at home, I usually look at it for a few seconds then say something nice. The people here are much kinder than that. When I give them a picture of my family they stare intently at it for 3-5 minutes then ask in depth questions and memorize the names. (I try not to crack up during their study). It’s incredible. I have some work to do on that front.

There are tons of birds here. What a couch potato the telephone wire has made out of those birds. Do you think that they are receiving some of the messages that are passing through the wire?  Maybe birds are gossipy and totally in on all the juicy info.  Just a thought.

We were driving one day in the other area with a member and I looked out the window and a tiger was 3-4 feet from me. It was in a cage. The circus was apparently in town. I still almost had a heart attack.

I got to go but love you all.

 

Speen