But lets start the week with Monday. On Monday we had our activity of our district. It was super fun. A while ago Hermana Robinson and I had an idea to make like these cookie caburey. Here they make this chipa but on a stick like a smore. Chipa is like this bread thing that is super good. So Hermana Robinson and I were gonna do it with cookie dough and ice cream but sadly we never had the chance. So for our district activity we played ping pong and did that. It was a lot of fun. We played other little games like we all had a side on the ping pong table and then we could only use our breath to move the ball. It was super funny peoples faces. It was a good day.
Tuesday we had intercambios again. I went to Caacupe. Lets just say Caacupe is the capital of where all the Catholics in Paraguay live. So as a missionary from a different religion it can sometimes be a little difficult. But we had a great day. We were able to find new people who were super sweet and great. Also the Hermana had a baptism on Saturday so when I was there I got to go visit the little girl who was gonna be baptized.
We had quite the adventure though on Wednesday. Because Wednesday morning she was gonna have her interview to see if she could be baptized. But she lives super super far away in the middle of no where. So we went in the morning to get her before we switched companions back. So I had my bag with all my stuff in it and we waited and finally found a colectivo and was waiting outside on the main street for Esequela and her mom. But it was raining super super hard. So we were worried they weren't gonna come because they lives super far away. But we waited and we decided to go and start walking to their house which is about in hour. We started walking in the rain and we met up with them. They were soaking wet. I was glad I had my duffle with me because I took out all my other clothes and gave it to them because it was dry. We waited for the colectivo and after an hour it came and we could make the walk to the church. We finally got there and she could have her interview. It was great.
But we were also planning our own baptism so on Wednesday night Ariel was gonna have his interview. We were waiting at the church with the elders and waiting and waiting. We called him but he didn't answer, his phone was off. We waited for an hour and a half almost but he never came. So that was upsetting. But the next day we tried calling him again and his phone was still off so we went to his work. (Just a clingy missionary over here no worried) and we talked to him. We told him he couldn't be baptized without his interview. He understood and said he would come Thursday night. So we cleaned the baptismal font and once again was waiting for him with the elders. It was super sweet because the elders brought us lomitos which is an Arabic taco pretty much. But way better. So we sat and ate and waited. At 9 Ariel showed up and we had his interview. It was super great. The elder told me he cried during his prayer and that it was a very spiritual moment.
Thursday we had conferencia de Zona. It was super great. Everyone came to Oviedo so we didn't have to get up early and travel. We learned about how we can find people more effectively and how we can spread the gospel better. Key just be their friend. Be nice and serve just like Cristo did when he was on the earth. For the conference they asked me to give my testimony and to give an example of how to contact. They also asked me to translate for la Hermana Hansen. It was lots of fun. After the conferencia we had our interviews with Presidente and it was fun because we were last because we had the keys to the church and so we got to talk to la Hermana Hansen the whole time. She is so great. I got to translate for her has new people came in and were talking to her. She told me I was the assistant to the presidents wife jaja.
So then we had our entrevistas. It has been so long since I've had ann entrevista. It was super great. After we had our baptism with Ariel. HOWEVER, no one showed up!! Ariel couldn't come because he left work early Thursday so he could come to his interview. And we knew that was a possibility. But no one else in la rama came. Not the people we asked to give talks. Not the person we asked to baptize Ariel. Not even our leader misional. I was, not going to lie, a little frustrated. Everyone always wants the missionaries to have baptisms. All the members here always ask us why we aren't finding people, but when we do they don't do anything. So Friday night when I got home I was disappointed but as I said my prayer that night I felt a calmness.
Saturday we woke up and worked really really hard. We were praying a lot that we could have our baptism and that we could make up for the time we had lost on Friday. We had a lot of lessons and walked probably our whole area. We had lots of spiritual lessons and great lessons. We got close to the time of our baptism and Ariel's phone was off so we were worried. We ran to our house to change and all of a sudden we got a call. It was Ariel. I answered with half panic half excitement. I didn't know if he was gonna tell us he couldn't come or if he was on his way. I asked him if he was gonna make it. He said he was waiting in front of the church jaja. It was so awesome! We ran to the church and the elders were there. It was really great, but no one else was. So we called a few members and luckily 3 showed up. So we had a small service and heard a testimony and had the baptism. The water was cold but it was super great. Saturday as I walked home I was so happy for Ariel.
On Sunday though I had another panic. Ariel's phone otra vez was off and we couldn't call him and he wasn't at church. We waited and prayed. But right before sacrament we got a hold of him and he said he was 5 minutes away. He came to the church and told us that he had some problems in the morning but now he is okay and ready to receive the spirit. After the confirmation he had the biggest smile on his face and he just looked so happy. It was so amazing. I know that he has a testimony and knows the church is true because if not he would have stopped talking to us a loooonnngg time ago because I am definitely a clingy and annoying missionary jaja. I called him so much and we went to his work but when he left the water and after he received the spirit he just glowed. He was so happy. I am so grateful to be a missionary. And sunday when we were working we were walking past a house and I saw a lady sitting outside, a little old Paraguaya. I felt the need to talk to her. We started talking and asked if we could offer a prayer to bless her and her house. She let us in and I started to pray. I felt the need to ask for health and tell her she was going to be okay, she was being watched over. After the prayer she was crying and told us she has been sick for months and cant walk and her head always hurts and all these problems she has. It was one of those moments that you see in the church films where they are crying and kissing the hands or feet of Cristo. I knelt down next to her and hugged her as she cried. The spirit was so strong.
--
To Heaven and Back!
Hermana Davis
No comments:
Post a Comment