Transfer 1, semana 3
Holy Cow! We're already halfway through the transfer!
So much happened this week that I couldn't possibly tell you guys everything without this email being like 10 paragraphs. So we'll hit the highlights. We had two baptisms this week, as well as several times when we were in the right place at the right time.
The first baptism was on Monday with our friend Anthony. I talked a little bit about that in my last email. When we had a new member lesson with him, he told us that he felt different and we told him that it's the companionship of the Holy Ghost. The second baptism was for Nani. She was originally supposed to be baptized today (Tuesday April 11) but due to scheduling conflicts, we had to bump it up. She was baptized on Saturday and was so excited! She and her brother made spam musubi as a snack for after and, while they weren't made to my preference, I ate like five of them. Both Anthony and Nani have seen such big changes in their lives and it's wonderful to see the power of the gospel working in them.
On Saturday before the baptism, we had a ward Easter party. We set up a few tables in the Relief Society room that represented the days of the week leading up to Easter (which I just barely learned is also called Resurrection Sunday, don't know how I didn't know that) and there was an Easter egg hunt, a piñata, and of course FOOD. It was so nice to see so many people gather together to celebrate Christ's Resurrection. We had several people we are teaching come, too. Lacey and her kids came, and our friend David came just after it had ended which we were super sad about. David is an interesting fella. He's met with missionaries for quite a while, he believes in the Book of Mormon, he believes in having a modern prophet, he believes all of the truths of our gospel and church. Except for one. He doesn't think that baptism is necessary for him! Ugh it's heartbreaking. He even came to Nani's baptism and still doesn't think he needs it. I know that everyone has their agency (freedom of choice) but it's hard to watch someone who is so close to the truth refuse it.
Saturday night after the baptism, we were out trying to invite some of our friends to church (with little success unfortunately). Just as we were driving away, Hermana Messick said that she felt like we should knock some houses down the street. We were in a neighborhood with a lot of townhouses, so we picked a row and got to knocking. None of them answered and just as we were walking away, a couple pulled up on a motorcycle and the man called out to us, "Sisters! Wait a minute, I have a question for you, " which honestly is a little scary when it's 8 o'clock at night. But despite my skepticism, we went inside and they told us that they were members, albeit not super active. They asked us to say a prayer for their house since they had moved in not too long ago. As we sat there visiting, we learned that the man, James, is learning Spanish! We told them that we are in fact the Spanish missionaries (and of course asked if they knew if any of their neighbors spoke Spanish) and offered him a Spanish Book of Mormon. One of the best ways for people to learn another language is to read the Book of Mormon side by side in their native language and their new language. He accepted and we also invited him to come to the Spanish ward sometime. He then offered to us that if ever we needed anything they would be happy to help us out.
Yesterday was a very roller-coaster type day. Lots of ups and downs. Hermana Beard was away doing exchanges, so it was only me and Hma Messick. In the morning, we found two people who seemed interested in our message. Then in the early afternoon, we got scolded by a woman for parking in front of her house, and immediately after got scolded again through a Ring Doorbell for soliciting. Those two events one right after the other really put a damper on our day. But then in the evening we had two awesome things happen. The first was that we were able to get in contact with someone who we hadn't seen in a while, since before I got here even. We taught him something quick but powerful (*cough* 3 Nephi 11 *cough*) and scheduled a return appointment. We have high hopes for him.
Then after dinner we had another amazing experience, there's a family that we've been trying to teach but the dad is super busy and the mom isn't always available to meet with us. We've seen them several times, and have taught the daughter before but yesterday was the first time we've taught the parents. We taught them about the Restoration of the Church. Our dynamic changed a little bit because Hma Beard wasn't there, but I was able to rely on the Gift of Tongues and help teach more of the lesson than I thought I would have. Hma Messick said it was the best Spanish she's heard from me! The Spirit was super strong as we were teaching and the mom looked very interested and attentive. It was a beautiful lesson after an otherwise bad day.
Well, this email is officially way longer than I meant it to be (remember how in the first paragraph I said something about 10 paragraphs? Yeah...) but I will leave you with this funny spiritual thought. There is a family in the spanish ward whose house we go over to quite a lot. They have all sorts of beads to make bracelets with and I have made many bracelets since I've been here. I made some that have the scripture references to my favorite scriptures. Well I made one that was supposed to be 3 Nephi 5:13, "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." HOWEVER, I swapped some of the numbers and instead it reads 3 Nephi 3:15, "Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers." Oops. Soo... repentance is good, that's what Christ died for after all. To give us the chance to repent and become clean, take advantage of His sacrifice and ask forgiveness. And if you see missionaries out and about, be nice to them. Kindly tell them if you're not interested; if you feel inclined, offer them some water or a trip to the bathroom.
Whelp, thanks for sticking with me throughout this anthology of an email. If you've made it this far, know that I love you, and that God loves you. If you have any questions about things in my email, I can answer them but it might not be until my next Pday that I respond.
I love you all! I hope you have a good week.
Hermana Soh
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My companions and I in the car
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