Sorry I didn't write yesterday. We were in Quito all day yesterday and didn't get back until 9:00 last night. We had a training meeting with an area seventy, Elder Waddell. So since yesterday we had the meeting all day today is our P-day.
First off, we got about a bazillion references this week. We got 5 new investigators this week purely through references. We didn't even have to knock one door. That's effeciency. =). So the first investigator was Ulpiano Saltos. He's the brother of the second counselor in the Branch Presidency. He went to church last week and this week as well. We taught him last tuesday about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was very receptive and everything we said made sense to him. When we invited him to be baptized he said,"Claro", which means clearly or obviously. He said that it didn't matter how soon the baptism was if it was the will of the Lord. Wow lol. A good investigator. He'll be baptized on the 24th of November.
Next reference was Fanny Guical. She had been to church once before and liked it and had recieved a priesthood blessing once. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We asked her to pray to know if the things we said were true and to pray to know if the church was true. She said,"I already know that the church is true". We were a little confused. She said that she had already been baptized into the church....okay now we're really confused. We asked her what the name of the church that she was baptized into was called. She said it was called Jesus Christ Is Your Creator. We guessed that when she heard the name, The Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she got it confused with the other church. We explained to her that they were different and that she wasn't baptized into the church that we were teaching her about. She said that she would go to church this week, but sadly she didn't make it for some reason. =( We'll keep working with her.
Reference/investigator that we happened to find. We taught Adriana (the 19 year old less active) this saturday and when we got to her house she had a friend over. A perfect opportunity for a a missionary to teach someone, because they would feel like a jerk if they left because they didn't want to hear us lol. So she stayed to hear the lesson. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. She was pretty knowledgable. Most people here say that they believe in the Bible and they are Catholic and will stay Catholic. These people don't know anything lol. But Sarah, the friend, actually knew what she was talking about. She said that she wanted to know if the Book of Mormon was true and would pray to know. She and Adriana said that they would go to church this week with us. We told them that we would pick them up to go to church. They didn't go either =(. Adriana had something that she had to to in Quito with her mom. Lame. We'll get them next time for sure >=D.
Next 2 references. This week was Branch Conference. It has been exactly a year since the Branch was formed. When it started there were 28 members. Now there are 80ish members and they're about to become a ward. The Stake Presidency was there and everything, so it was a big deal. Members brought family or friends that aren't members of the church to the meeting. One family, Fam Guanga (the mom is the sister of hra. Zambrano), brought a few teenage family members to church. We set up an appointment to meet with them that night. So we taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ (seems like we teach that a lot =)) and invited them to baptism. Again after we asked them and were trying to give them time to think one of their cousins started talking saying,"This is an important decision. Think, think, think! Say something!". This is really a killer when people do this. One of them was really thinking and he needed time to think and have the spirit work on him. Talking during that time doesn't help lol. The 2 of them said that they didn't really know right now, that they needed more time to think. We think that they can really progress, we just need to keep teaching them.
So, Fam Zambrano. We taught them on thursday I think and she still hadn't done her reading assignment. She said that she was really busy at work and that when she got back home she was to tired to read. I was about to machette her and tell her that she's praying to know the will of God and what is the right path for her. I was this close to telling her that God is giving her the answer, The Book of Mormon, and she isn't listening to the answer. That she has the key to knowing what God wants her to do, the salvation of her sould in her hands and she's not reading it because she's tired..... That and other things. I was going to really hand it to her. She said that saturday was her day to read the Book of Mormon because that's when she didn't have work. So I decided to spare her soul lol. Saturday came around and we brought the Ward Mission Leader, Angel Lara, to help us out. A very long story short, she said that she still hadn't read the Book of Mormon. What is really a killer is that she reads the Bible a ton, but won't read the Book of Mormon for 5 minutes. So after she told us that she hadn't read, we asked her why she didn't read. She said it's because she hasn't really heard of the prophets in the Book of Mormon and isn't familiar with them and doesn't like reading it. We had told her a million times why she hadn't heard of them before and we told her again. I told her,"If I don't know the prophets in the Bible, should I still read the Bible?" A hesitant yes. "And if you don't know the prophets in the Book of Mormon should you still read it?" No answer. "Yes, you should read the scriptues because it is a commandment and it is the word of God, not because you know the prophets". Basically we machettied her with love. We told her that our visits to her wouldn't be productive if she wasn't doing her part. That we are her friends and we're here to help her, but we're not going to teach her anymore. She took it fine and understood. She said that she knows what church she wants to be baptized into, and it's not the Evangelic Church (the church that was helping her son learn and the church that she wanted to get baptized into earlier), but she didn't specify which church it was. We're assuming that it's this church. She also said some other things that made us think that. During the month that we were teaching her she didn't progress much. Right when we dropped her she finally seemed to progress a little. But we're both positive that she'll be baptized within 2 months =). Hopefully I'll still be here to see that happen. By the way we taught her that night for 2 hours. Long lesson lol. But if that's what it took it's fine with me.
We also finally got a hold of an investigator that we haven't met in 2 months. It was my first time meeting her. Her name is Ismenia Flores. She is very good. She had just had a baby and since that she's been really sick. So when we went over she was in bed. She had been sick for a couple of weeks and could barely even move because of the pain. We asked if she would like a priesthood blessing and she said yes. We asked if there was anything we could do for her and she said that after not having the missionaries over for 2 months she wanted us to teach her because she wanted to be closer to God. She said that's the only thing she needed. Of course we agreed to teach her and we set up an appointment for the next day. We went back over the next day and she wasn't home....crud lol. We left and decided to come back later in the day to see if she was home. Still nothing. We were about to leave and we saw her walking up the road carrying groceries and doing just fine. The day before she could barely move and now she's walking around like she's back to normal. Priesthood Powerrrrrr!!!!! Pretty cool to see. =). Unfortunately she didn't have time for us to teach her but she said that she would be at church on sunday. She was sounded like she really wanted to go, but she didn't.....I don't know what's wrong with people that they can't ever go to church.....lol
So that was my week. Now I have some completely irrelevant things to say. Our apartment gets down to 58 degrees in the morning. Yup, it's cold. I also heard that flipping Obama won.....lame. I ate a piece of chocolate that had hazelnuts in it and nothing happened =) (I used to be allergic to them). Hunter got his call to Costa Rica!!! I guess it's kind of cool....I mean, it's not Ecuador or anything. =). And I'm glad that everyone liked my scripture list. By the end of my mission it will probably be 50% bigger. =) And also, Elder Salazar and I are making what we call a "Progressing Missionary Form". It's pretty epic. I'll try and send it in my next email =). Here's a few pictures. This is the branch now. About 15 of them are from the Stake, and the rest are members. The other 2 pictures are more pictures of Yaruquì from our house. Well....that's all I can think of to say for now. Try and have fun without me =)
Elder Black
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