Week of March 17

Monday was a laid back p-day. I got up, showered and studied just like any other day. Before lunch we played soccer and cleaned the house a little as well. Then we went to eat at a food court at a metro station called Intermodel. They have several fast food chains including KFC, Doggi’s, and Pedro  Juan y Diego. Doggi’s primarily sells hot dogs, but burgers as well, and Pedro Juan y Diego is similar to McDonald’s or Burger King, neither of which are found in this food court. We chose to eat at Pedro Juan y Diego this time around which is different than the normal choice of KFC. They really like KFC here which surprises me in a way because I thought they always eat chicken at home just because it’s cheap and not so much because it’s their favorite thing to eat. 

A couple weeks ago I saw an elder from my old zone who gave us a reference – a girl who wanted to be baptized. He had been teaching her for a while but she lives in our area. Unfortunately he never gave us her name or address. Four days later we contacted a family that was interested in our message. Today we found out one of the daughters was the reference. We had contacted a golden reference without a name or address. As we rarely contact (we have many people to teach already) it was a true miracle to find this family. The girl initially said her mom didn’t want to participate and we were a little disheartened because baptizing children without their parents leads to inactivity in the majority of cases. We talked and found that the mother is actually an inactive member. By the end of the conversation we had committed the mother to begin reading the Book of Mormon with her family. She also said she would bring the family to church on Sunday. The change was incredible.

We also worked with a less active member this week. She is receptive and always lets us in, She has a young family with three kids but she is living with her boyfriend which is extremely common here. It’s not because marriage is expensive, it’s just part of the culture. People say they don’t need to sign a paper to love each other. She also works on Sunday during church and has some doubts about doctrines, but she is receptive and we are always able to discuss the lessons over once [light evening meal].

We had a special training this week on emergency preparedness because of the recent earthquake. We were each given a 72-hour kit and we also got flu shots. I saw my old companion who is now an assistant to the president and he told me a couple of our old investigators are progressing well and will likely be baptized. I also got a letter from home that had been sent in December.

We used one of the Mormon Messages called “Choose This Day” with one of our investigators this week. The Mormon Messages are a great teaching tool. The title of this video explains the message – choose today, don’t procrastinate. They got the idea and I hope they follow through with the desires they expressed to change. In the end they invited us back and asked us to teach about tithing. It’s rare for that to happen, to be asked to teach a specific doctrine and especially tithing.

On Thursday we passed by the crazy man who chases us with his dog and mumbles about his dog biting all the while making weird, horse-like noises between broken sentences. He’s harmless . The first time we met him he asked for money or rather demanded. I tried to give him a pamphlet but he didn’t accept it. He has hated us ever since.

Saturday it was very hot. I’m pretty sick of summer weather. I had summer at home and a very little taste of fall and then more summer here. Winter and the rain will both be very welcome.

On Sunday we had five less active members in church. Most notable was a family we have been teaching for a while but only the daughters have come to church. The father has always had a testimony but didn’t want to come without his wife. 

With the three lessons we taught on Sunday we met our goal for the week. We taught 21 lessons, the most I have ever had and the most my companion has had that he can remember. If nothing else we are working hard!