This is my 11th p-day! That means that I only have 2 weeks left of being trained. I might get a new companion then, or I might not, but either way I don’t feel qualified to graduate my training yet haha. My Spanish has improved so much and I learn something every day, but there is still so far to go. Every time I start to feel like I’m getting the hang of it, I get humbled by talking to somebody and not being to understand a single word. But its improving poco y poco.
Saturday we ate lunch with a member of this bishopric, Hermano Romero. He’s funny, he is a huge fan of this soccer team from Buenos Aires called Boca Juniors and every time we go to his house he’s wearing a full soccer uniform. Anyway, he asked me to give a talk the next day. In Spanish of course. I don’t mind giving a talk at all, I would just like more than half a days notice! The only time I had to prepare it was from 9:30 – 11:30 that night. It was stressful but I got it done. However in church the next day the talks they had before mine went way way over time and the meeting ended before I could give mine. Oh well, at least I have it prepared for the next time they ask me to give a talk on half a days notice.
We only had 1 “investigator” come to church this week. We call him an investigator but he really isn’t, he’s a member. He’s hermana rivaderas son ( the one with the parrot ) and we call him an investigator because he didn’t even know he was a member of the Church haha. He was baptized 4 years ago he said but he hadn’t gone back since. We are going to check the membership records to see if he’s actually a member, because he knew absolutely nothing about the church before we met him. Either the missionaries who baptized him were super trucho and didn’t teach him at all, or he was baptized into a different church and he’s just confused. Me and my companion love teaching him just because of all the funny crazy stuff he says. For example, he thought we believed that Joseph Smith was God and that we believed in reincarnation haha. He also said that he thinks the name of the missionary who baptized him was José smith (that’s what they call Joseph smith in Spanish). But he’s very interested in either being baptized or reactivating, once we figure it all out. We were nervous that maybe he would be put off by the length of the meeting. Sacrament meeting went way over time, and two families (which is like half the congregation) got up and left after an hour. I was starting to get mad because they needed to be setting the Example for the visitors, but I’m sure they had somewhere important to go. However after the meeting finally ended we talked to him and he was like “there’s no more?” he didn’t want to go home haha.
A couple sad things happened in the ward this week. There is this nice old lady who we eat with every Friday. She cooks very well, and she has an inactive son who is a chef. But this past week her son took her car and a bunch of her money and drove to Chile without her permission, got in a car crash, broke his leg and destroyed the car. So now the lady is here with no car, no money and her son is stuck in Chile with a broken leg in the hospital with no way to get back. Also, her sons college was supposed to start this next week. She was understandably upset, and we just wanted to help. So I read this scripture, which applies really well to missionaries but I thought it could help here maybe.
Alma 27: Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.
But she somehow took it the wrong way and got kinda angry. She said she wasn’t sad, she was mad and that she’s never going to forgive her son. And then my comp tried to talk to her about the importance of forgiveness but it was just bad all around. I feel bad, we just wanted to help, I don’t know what else we could do.
I know at least for me that scripture helps me feel better. Our investigators randomly drop us some times, and we are rejected every single day. Just like every single other missionary, teacher, or prophet in history .
28 And now behold, we have come, and been forth amongst them; and we have been patient in our sufferings, and we have suffered every privation; yea, we have traveled from house to house, relying upon the mercies of the world—not upon the mercies of the world alone but upon the mercies of God.
When we rely on God, with patience comes success.
12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things;
This is how I feel. I make so many mistakes, with the language and everything and I often feel very weak, but I do love to testify, or “boast of my God” because I know the messages we are sharing are true.
We did something fun this p-day. We went up way up in the mountains, and it was a total desert up there with tons of cacti and stuff. There was a ton of cool rock formations and also a lot of dinosaurs all over the place. I got sunburned, but it was fun!
Adios,
Love,
Elder Christensen
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