Bus from Madero

 

So, this past week we went to Madero, which is about two and a half to 3 hours by bus to be with the other district in the zone.  The DL there is from the Navajo reservation. We got out of the meeting at 1:20, ran to where the bus stop was and found out that the bus had passed by five minutes earlier.  It is hard to know when to be there because there isn’t a station and there is no one to ask. It is just a dusty corner and it is a different bus from the one that had dropped us off. We waited for the next bus which came at 5:00 p.m. This was great because I had my Spanish workbook - so I got some great studying. One thing I learned this week is that they don’t capitalize the pronoun when it represents the Savior as in English.    

The bus dropped us off at the stop about an hour from Parras.  We entered the small bus station so my comp could go to the bathroom.  It was dark outside. I sat down and started to read and after several minutes I see this bus come hurling into the small town; he pumped his brake (not even close to a complete stop) and kept zooming on in the direction of Parras. My comp and I look at each other with confusion. I went to the woman behind the desk and asked "what was that?" She responded (never taking her eyes off the soap opera she was watching): "that was your bus." Ha what! Are you kidding me? She said, "it didn’t see anyone waiting so it continued."  That is because we are inside the station! 

Well, it was the last bus. So I was about to call a member and ask for a ride. But, out of nowhere I see my comp take off running towards the road going to Parras.  I took off in pursuit - laughing about my comp who was sprinting up this road. I thought he had gone crazy and was trying to run there. Then a small truck came whizzing down the road. My comp signals for a ride and they yelled to us to hop in. We crammed in the back with two other hitchhikers. It happened so fast.   I couldn’t stop chuckling. What a great guy is my comp. There was no hesitation - he just sprinted for some random vehicle. Ha I’m still dying.

A man asked me this week if I knew what day was the seventh day of the week?  I said “Saturday.”  He said, “Then why do you have your Sabbath on the first day of the week.”  Wow, excellent question. At first I thought, "oh no, I have no idea". I have always known that the Jews have their on Sabbath on Saturday and I have wondered why? He said that the pope had created the Calendar and he had seen a documentary on TV about this. Here was my answer: "it is less important what particular day we treat as the Sabbath and so much more about what we do on that day.  God gives us commandments for us to be happy through righteousness. He knows that it is necessary for us to take a day off and focus on the spiritual elements of life. The Sabbath day helps to support and elevate families and societies." I knew that this was the right answer and it got him thinking and he left it alone.   I did some research later and found that it was changed at the time of Acts. This was to mark the day that Christ rose from the dead. There is a great section on this in the Bible Dictionary.  I love teaching people that have studied.  Their questions make studying the next day very interesting.

A member in our ward has a woodshop and we passed by and found that he had a non-member assistant. He is twenty and has a girlfriend and a child. We spoke with him about repentance and baptism.  He is very humble and wants to have a secure life for his family. He is catholic, but as we talked about Christ’s baptism he said. "I wasn’t baptized like that." He accepted a baptism date afterwards.  

 

I wish I could write more and send more pics. But, I have to take off. I didn’t even get close to half of what I planned to write. This week was filled with stories and very memorable lessons; one of the best weeks of my missions.  

 

These little munchkins ask for food every time we pass by. We normally buy rolls or cookies for them. Their mom doesn’t mind if we buy her something too. =)  

 

This is the birthday party for our Hermana friend.  She is pint sized, super blunt, and incredibly generous; even in the very humbling circumstances in which she lives.  

A member is a baker with his brother. They both are very gentle and are very pleasant to be around. They gave us a bag of bread; but walking back to the house a pair of 30 year old women and a group of small children asked us for bread. So we didn’t have any when we got back to the house.