So this week was good I guess. This letter isn't going to be in order very well, it's just going to be a random string of experiences =). So the investigator that I found with my coin. We called her to set up another appointment with her and she told us that her and her husband have their own way of worshiping and nobody is going to change them.....stupid coin lol. So that was the end of that investigator.
We are also continuously getting new references, so we don't contact much. This week we got 2 references. One is a family in Quinche (about 30 min away). They went to church in the coast a few times and really liked it and they want to go to church here too. The other is a brother of a member of our branch. He already has 1 assistance and he's interested in the church. Both sound like good references =). We also found a new less active member that we can teach. It's a 19 year old girl that was baptized in June. She's nice, has a 3 year old daughter.....She wants to go to church, but she has school on sundays sometimes and it's hard for her to go. We taught her the blessings of keeping our covenants and blessings of the gospel. A good lesson.
We got 4 lessons set up with people that we contacted in Pifo. One of them is an atheist. He had talked to the missionaries before but they didn't teach him a full lesson and he accepted to have us come over and teach him a lesson. We'll see how that goes. One of the other contacts is a friendly old guy and his wife. They're both catholic (of course), but they agreed to have us come back after we taught them the restoration. Hopefully they'll progress.
Now for our existing investigators. Fam. Zambrano. We taught the mom last night and we found out she has almost no clue about what the Book of Mormon is or where it came from and that she can't understand it when she reads. This was frustrating because we explained it to her twice before. So we explained it again in great detail. Every time we go over and teach her she says that she wants to feel prepared and that she wants to be sure of her decision. So with explaining the Book of Mormon I hope we helped her feel more prepared to gain a testimony of the church. But she also told us that she wants to be baptized into the church that she's been attending.....crud lol. She wants to be baptized into that church basically that's what she's used to. She always says how much faith she has and that she prays all the time. But I don't think she has as much faith as she says she does. If she had a lot of faith she would be able to understand the Book of Mormon, have a desire to change churches if that's what God said etc. So if she doesn't progress after the next 2 lessons we're going to have to drop her =(. Hopefully that doesn't happen.
Fam Oña. We didn't really have an opportunity to teach them this week. We had invited them to church but they didn't show for some reason. We'll keep working with them. I hope we don't have to drop them too.....Luckily we always have references that are usually pretty good. So even if we have to drop them we have a backup plan =)
Ecuadorians don't celebrate Halloween. They have day of the dead november 2nd. It's a day where they remember their ancestors by visiting cemetaries and making what they call Wuawuas de pan, or bread babies. They also make colada morada, which is like a thick berry juice with chunks of pineapple and other fruit. It has some other things in it too and it's served hot. Good stuff.
Last night we had a family home evening at a members house. Before the lesson we were talking to the family and just hanging out. Then Veni (the guy who wants to marry Katarina) tried to hoola hoop. When he did it he didn't move his hips at all. Instead he spread his legs out and when he tried to get the hoola hoop he had his arms above his head and waved them around like a mad man lol. So funny to watch. We couldn't stop laughing. We tried to explain to him how to do it, but he just kept doing the same thing. Next he tried doing the hoola hoop around his neck. I can't explain exactly how he looked, but his arms were in a position that made him look mentally retarded, and his face looked like he was suffering. We couldn't stop laughing. lol Later, after the lesson, we made wuawuas. Normally they're supposed to look like people. We all made nice looking wuawuas and other things like flowers and turtles. And then there were Veni's creations.....His wuawuas looked horrible lol. I called them abominations. One looked like it had +30 birth defects lol. Again, we couldn't stop laughing. Oh Veni......=)
Another few random things. Elder Salazar and I were walking up the street (one of the most busy streets) and we saw a guy sitting on a the edge of a curb. He stood up and pulled up his pants and underneath was a fresh poop lol. He just pooped on the sidewalk......I guess he's a hobo because we saw him sleeping on the sidewalk later lol. Going along with that, some people here have no shame. If the men want to go to the bathroom that won't hesitate to go on the nearest wall or pillar in public.....some people....
So the pictures, one is of me holding a wuawua that I made at a members house and the other is the master sword that I made one day. Yup, pretty cool.
(the following paragraph was taken from dad's letter)
Hope you are doing well? So tell me, what have you learned since being a missionary? More specifically, what has happened to strengthen your testimony? Do you think your testimony is strong enough to attend the U of U? :o) Not that you would attend that university but the question should make you think about your testimony more seriously. Please share with me/family, in detail, something that, if there has been something, has really affected your testimony.
Now to answer your questions dad. What has happened that has strengthened my testimony? Uh...lots of things lol. I get the opportunity to read the scriptures for an hour every morning and I have learned a lot during my studies. I have learned more about the Book of Mormon and the Bible. I also regularly find scriptures that we can use with our investigators. Very cool. I've also had moments where I've been able to express myself in spanish very well with almost no hesitation. A testament that the gift of tongues is working. Also finding really prepared investigators like Fanny. She was so prepared to recieve the gospel and it's amazing to see that people who have been the same religion their whole life can change relatively easy. Another testament that this Gospel is true and that there are people that are very prepared to recieve it. I can't really think of anything else specific to share, but my testimony has grown because all day every day we are teaching the gospel and I learn through preparing to teach them and when I teach them. I hope that answers your question. And yes. I could totally attend U of U with my testimony =)
Now there are a few things that I wanted to ask for for Christmas =). Salt and vinegar chips.....aww......Lord of the Rings soundtrack, candy, and my spiritual gifts thing that I mentioned to dad earlier. Not much but that's really all that I can think of right now lol. I'll let you know if I can think of anything else =). By the way thanks for sending the pictures and the video. It's amazing that Brielle can actually talk a little bit now. And has Hunter gotten his call yet? When he gets it let me know the day that he gets it. I can check my email but I can't reply during the week. I need to know! Also if you want you can put that list of scriptures on the blog. That way people that look at the blog can have access to it.
That's all for now,
Elder Black
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