Wow, what a crazy week. Seriously. It feels as if Christmas was like 2 weeks ago... It was so fun to talk to you all! I missed you guys so much. Skype is heaven-sent...
So despite Christmas being this week we had a ton going on. I don't even know where to begin...
Manuel came to church yesterday!! he cried, the spirit was felt, it was AWESOME.
Remember the lady that cut our hair?? Well she is the sister to one of our investigators that blew us off like 2 weeks ago. This week we decided to go back (after a hearing a life-changing talk about being a "challenging and testifying missionary"... more about that some other time...) and GUESS WHAT?!?! Well, she still didn't want us. BUT her daughter was there and she did! Turns out that she grew up with a ton of LDS friends and had a boss that has been inviting her to church for the longest time and she finally felt like it was her time to find out what was going... and then we show up. SUPER COOL. She had questions about the Book of Mormon and that she "heard that Christ came to the Americas... that makes sense, is it true"... well let us show you! it was awesome. p.s. if you haven't noticed, everyone is related out here.. one way or another...
Our second cool experience happened at a dinner. We have dinner with the members of the English wards every night except Sundays (when we eat with members from the Branch). We had dinner at one particular family's house this week, they have an awesome story. So sister Homer is a convert to the church of about 14 years--she grew up in a COMPLTELY anti home. Like when they would drive by the temple the mom would tell them to shut their eyes or they would go blind... yeah.... But she eventually grew up and received the missionaries (for like 2 years) and married an LDS guy. They have a wonderful family with 1 RM and 1 on a mission. Well, 3 years ago her oldest put on facebook that he got his mission call and his grandma (the anti-lady) saw it and FLIPPED. for 11 years she didn't know that they were members and now she won't even talk to them. In the past 3 years she hasn't even called to say hello... so sad. Well sister Homer has a sister named Mandy, she is the only one out of 6 that still talks to her. They are like best friends--it's way cute. Well, sister Homer invited Mandy over for dinner--at the same time as us! She didn't tell her until like 5 minutes before we came over... She was so nervous but as she was able to see us in a different environment (not to mention we told her she could relax because she lived out of our area--out of our MISSION-- any ways so we couldn't teach her). You know how goofy I can be, after a while of making her laugh and seeing that we were completely normal she began to open up and ask some questions. apparently that was the first time in her whole life she had met with missionaries. It was so amazing to see how much the Lord trusts us with these people. He prepares them and puts them in our path... After we shared a message that night we could see the wheels turning in her head--she may not accept this year, but I know we touched her heart. I love this work.
So one last thing... I found a cool scripture this week as we were teaching about baptism. We have an investigator that wont commit because they "don't know it all yet...". REally?? come on... So I was studying for them and I found the scripture in 2 Ne 32:5... ".. if ye will enter in by the way (baptism) and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things that ye should do." INTERESTING!!! The way we learn is by the Holy Ghost, it is the one that teaches and makes manifest the things that are true...
[GIANT SIDENOTE: The talk that we read talks about how we are here to call people to repentance. When we do not extend baptismal commitments or ask people to keep other commitments we are not inviting them to repent. As we are bold (but not overbearing) and make it clear to investigators why were are there... the spirit will bear witness to them that we are truly called of God. As we ask and commit, whether they say yes or no, they will receive witness that what we teach is true. (idk if that made sense but just trust me)]
...you don't need to know everything before you are baptized, you just need to know you love God, our Savior, and are willing to do ANYTHING for them...
Man, I love this whole mission thing. It's pretty cool :)
Love you all, have a wonderful New years. Make sure and set good goals!
Hna. Calero
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