It was a really
slow week as far as teaching people. That's always rough. But those lessons we
did have with people went really well!
We had one very
interesting experience... On Monday our ward mission leader called us and told
us he had set us up a dinner for the following night with one of his coworkers.
He would also be there. Then he called later, on the day of the dinner, and
told us he wasn't going to be able to make it, but that we should still go and
she would be expecting us. We showed up at this lady's house at 6:00 for
dinner, and talked with her and her two sons. It was a good pleasant time. She
had prepared appetizers for us! So we sat down and talked as we ate them. Then
she told us to make ourselves comfortable because dinner would be an hour and
twenty minutes... I was wondering if she meant we would be DONE in eighty
minutes, or if we would start eating in eighty minutes. But our ward mission
leader had been trying to get us together with this lady for months, so we
wanted to be cordial.
While we
waited, she told us that one of her neighbors who is a member of the Church
would also be joining us as soon as she got off work. I had met this member
once, and although she's less-active she's cool, and I was glad she'd be there
for the dinner. So we threw the frisbee with her sons and waited. Finally the
member got home from work and dinner was ready. She had made chicken and dumpling
soup, which was really good. But something super weird happened. When we sat
down to eat, this lady was completely drunk. I have no clue when it happened.
She had been perfectly fine for the hour and a half that we had been there up
until that point, but now she was out of it, clearly drunk. She kept talking
about random things, and tried really hard to communicate with Elder Ramirez in
Spanish, sometimes French. My favorite quote was: "Mi casa, yousa
casa." She remembered dessert after we had all finished, and we all got
root-beer floats. Then she asked us to share something spiritual with her sons.
We both bore simple testimony of some gospel principles, and then she said,
"We forgot the floats!" We kindly reminded her that we were all currently
eating our root-beer floats. She had us hold hands in prayer twice at kind of
random times, which is fine. Then, she said, "I'm going to pack you a
lunch." And as she walked into the kitchen she exclaimed, "The
dessert! We forgot!" No. We didn't. So she gave us some leftovers and a
bunch of fruit and tried to give us a whole bunch of other stuff, but we
insisted she had given us enough. Luckily, the less-active member was there and
was sober, so it wasn't as weird as it might have been. We just told our ward mission
leader that it went well.
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| My Picture Wall |
Aaanyway, as
far as teaching the gospel goes... We had a great zone meeting on Thursday in
Denver. We talked about a lot of skills and different things, including the
mission's new initiative to have all of the missionaries sing before each
lesson (as appropriate).So Elder Ramirez and I have been doing that, and it's
been awesome! One Song was to an old lady who is less-active, and she just
loved it. Another was to a member after dinner. We sang "I Know that My
Redeemer Lives" in Spanish, and when we finished, he said, "I'm also
glad to know he lives." Lastly, we sang "Come Unto Jesus" before
a lesson on Repentance to one of our investigators named Monica. It really
brought the Spirit into the room, and He stayed for the whole lesson. It was
awesome. I don't think the lesson could have gone any better, all thanks to the
Spirit.
That was about
it as far as teaching this week. We've had the struggle of actually meeting
with the people we've set on date for baptism (there are five of them). It's
been really tough. Most of our people are in Leadville, and we can't see them
or even try to see them as often as we would like because it's so far away. The
Lord will provide!
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| Elder Ramirez' cool Silver Duct Tape Book of Mormon! |
Wasn't General
Conference amazing?!? I loved it so much. I really can't wait to start studying
the talks more in-depth. As they were being delivered, I didn't take any notes.
I normally like to, but I decided this time to just hear every word, feel the
Spirit, and then study the talks again diligently and take notes then. I hope
you got to watch all of the sessions! Unless I'm crazy, I noticed a huge
emphasis on marriage and family, especially on Saturday (which, in my opinion,
are the sessions that are more for the Church than for everyone else in the
world). Study those talks again! There is nothing more important in this life
than having a strong eternal family, and honoring eternal covenants. That's
actually what it's all about!
I love you all
and hope you had a fantastic Easter weekend! The Church is true, and I love and
sustain our living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I know that Jesus Christ was
resurrected, and I know He lives!
Sincerely,
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| Unleavened bread for passover--Not good. |
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| Unleavened bread as pizza crust--pretty good! |
“In
this work there must be commitment. There must be devotion. We are engaged in a
great eternal struggle that concerns the very souls of the sons and daughters
of God. We are not losing. We are winning. We will continue to win if we will
be faithful and true. We can do it. We must do it. We will do it. There is
nothing the Lord has asked of us that in faith we cannot accomplish.”
~Gordon
B. Hinckley
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