Well this week was an absolutely crazy and busy week! I am exhausted! But in a very good way! I am just gonna tell you day by day what went on!
Tuesday
We went to San Vicente... it is a super far ways away from the rest of our sector and there is literally a house every other mile... we walked a ton!!!! But we had a feeling we should keep contacting. Finally we came to a house and the person said Come in! we were super surprised because we had been rejected by every one else in the past 2 hours. So we walked in and there was an older lady that had a broken arm and was a little sick and apologized for not being able to walk out and recieve us. Anyway we talked to her for a bout 45 minutes and we had an awesome lesson! She lives with a lot of her family in a giant parcela (it is a piece of land iwth about 5 houses.. usually the kids don't leave home when they grow up.. they just add another house.) And she said that the rest of her family is probably interested in our message too! How cool!
Also awesome lesson with Berta. I don't know if you remember when I talked about Berta, the older woman that has cancer. Well we are still working with her becuase she is progressing, surely but slowly! Anyway we went this week to teach her a lesson and when we got to the house she was really grumpy and said she couldn't recieve us. I asked her what was going on because that was wierd for us because even when she is super sick she always lets us in! We got to talking for a little bit and then she told me "I never thought that I would ask why me.. but I am asking this right now. Why me? Why am I suffering why is everything bad happening to me? I feel abandoned by God. He doesn't love me. He has left me solo." We told her that that is not what is going on and asked if we could come inside to help her. She let us in and we talked a little bit about her divine nature.. How she is a child of God and he is letting her have all her trials so that she can become stronger. It is crazy how many trials she really has... Her son died in the earthquake in 2010, she has cancer and can't eat anything, her daughter was just diagnosed with leukemia, she has to take care of her granddaughters, her husband is sick but still has to go to work for 11 hours each day and recently had a problem so he can't drive the car anymore, and soooo many more trials. We couldn't ever possibly explain to her the reason why she has each trial, but we testified to her of God's love for her and we asked if we could read a talk with her. We were inspired to bring "Nobody was with Him" by Elder Holland, and it was for a good reason! The first paragraph says "This is for those that feel abandoned and alone." Exactly how she felt. We were supposed to take turns reading the paragraphs, but she read the whole talk.. and would stop after every other sentence and just pause in silence. She would then weep and continue on reading. I can honestly say I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life, and reading the talk with her actually taught me also! I felt my testimony of the atonement grow and I felt the love that Heavenly Father and the Savior have for each one of us. It made me feel kind of dumb that I complain about my few and very little tribulations that I have day to day.. to think that someone that has as much trials as Berta keeps on going and keeps her faith in Christ. It was a beautiful experience and it really made me feel like my time here is definately worth it. I am so grateful for this opportunity to strengthen my testimony and to see others develope one of their own. Also Berta told us that she told her family that she was going to join our church, and they all pretty much said that she was not welcome to family events any more because they were all centered on a catholic belief. She told us that she quoted the scripture from the bible that says Leave mom and dad and cleave unto God, or something like that, and that she is ready to follow Christ and to join this church. We didn't get a date set, but I am sure that she is closer than ever to being baptized. I know that if it is not her time to be baptized with us she for sure will be baptized with other missionaries. I think Satan knows what power she will have when she joins the church, so he is doing everything possible to hold her back. Cool experience.
Also we taught Guido. He is a super cute old man that lives alone and he has a learning disability so we have to teach him like a child.. He actually has read from the book of mormon each night though! We just have to assign him one verse at a time and he works really hard to try and understand that verse. He said he believes the church is true because every time we talk to him he feels peace. He is progressing reaaaallllllyyyy slowly, but not because he isn't trying.. just because it is hard for him to understand everything. I will keep you posted on him :)
Wednesday:
Nothing special. Lots of lessons. lots of contacting. lots of walking.
Thursday:
We went to the church for a ward council meeting and a guy walked in and asked us if there was a priest present. We told him no but asked what he needed. He said that he was really scared and felt really bad because there was a voodoo witch lady that tried to cast a spell on him and he felt like he needed help from a priest. I tried asking him what happened and how he felt, but my companion cut in and started to talk a lot... like usual and pretty much said "Oh its okay.., its just to scare you.. you are fine." There was a return missionary there too and he said the same thing.. then the guy walked out. I got frustrated and i kind of yelled at my companion and the return missionary.. Okay I didn't yell but I talked to them in my frustrated voice and I said "YOU JUST LET A MISSIONARY OPPORTUNITY WALK OUT THE DOOR." They both looked at me and immediately went and brought him back into the church.. Then Hermana Tax and I gave him a card that has Christ knocking on a door and the order of prayer on the back. We talked about how he can develop spiritual protection from those kinds of things and how if he prays he can feel peaceful again, and all the bad feelings can go away. We went into the chapel and kneeled down and asked him to offer a prayer. He offered the prayer and then told us "Wow. I feel really peaceful right now. " We got his address and he actually called us the next day to thank us for what happened. Goes to show that we can be missionaries in every moment. we just need to recognize when we have those opporutnities.
Friday
We had divisions. I went to apoquindo.. it is the super rich part of Santiago.. It is beautiful and reminds me of California! Seriousl yit is just like california.. I will send pics :)
Saturday
Divisions too. We taught a guy that just graduated from the University with a degree in Baptist Ministry.. like he is literally a baptist preacher. He has been reading the book of mormon searching for errors.. he is in alma 30 something and still hasn't found one. Sweet.
Also we went and sang Christmas songs to an old people home as relief society. it was an awesome experience because we were able to talk to all the sweet little old ladies and we really felt the spirit. I love going and doing that kind of thing.. makes me super happy! Reminds me of the Christmas' I always have had at home :)
And that is it!!!
My challenge to you guys this Christmas season is to pray about someone with whom you can share a book of Mormon as a family! I know that someones name will come to your mind! What a better gift to give the savior!
Love you guys with alllllssss offf my heart!
Hugs and kisses! and Christmas wishes! :) ha ha how cheasy.
Hermana Hailey Bailey Sommerfeld
No comments:
Post a Comment