So the Noche de Hogar that I talked about last week with the Hernandez family was really amazing. From it we have three really good investigators. Sandra has a testimony. She is solid. She wants to be baptized. Her novio, Jesus has always been dragging along in the past I hear but we are moving forward with him. Last night we taught them and he drove us to another appointment. That appt. fell through and so I had time to just talk with Jesus while Elder Trappett talked to one of our investigators acrossed the street. I talked to him about how before my mission, I was a totally different person. I was a normal person with problems and I tried to find happiness in all sorts of different ways. The only way that actually worked was through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I shared how through the savior, everything was changed and I don't have to fight for happiness anymore, I can just be happy. I told him As missionaries, we feel just like he does: like a normal person in normal clothes, with problems, doubts, struggles. The difference is that we have found an amazing truth that changes lives and we want to share it with every person on earth.
It was so cool because this was outside at night and people really open up sometimes when it is dark and you can just talk about life. We had a really good heart to heart. I was so excited when he asked "so how do you change your life?" I talked about how it is poco a poco, everyday we have to take steps to follow Christ and eventually he will change us. I left him with a little post it note that said "Que voy a hacer, esta noche para cambiar mi vida?" It was really amazing because we cut past all the crap and we talked real feelings and I think he is really going to strive to change. I am going to be teaching them tonight with one of the priests in the ward for exchanges.
Also, Marisol and Enrique, who are the aunt and uncle kindof, of Sandra, are also progressing. We also met them at that family home evening and from that have taught them a few times. Marisol has a baptismal date for the 5th and we are really excited to get this whole Hernandez family rolling.
However, things with Miguel are not so great. We were teaching him the other day and he had always been pretty quite before and we had taught him almost all of the lessons and he said he agreed with it all but the other day his doubt came out. He does not believe that there was any apostasy, he believes that there are just different ways of preaching the saviors gospel. We have taught two more times since then focusing entirely upon this but he doesn't even listen. He just blabs endlessly about how all the words of God are good. We are really struggling to get him to understand. His baptismal date will probably have to be put off.
I have to go. I have a whole bunch of other investigators to talk about but now time to do it.
Love,
Elder Bernard
Nov. 18, 2009
This last friday we had the opportunity to go to our ward thanksgiving dinner which was really loud (lots of loud spanish music and a baile despues) but it was really cool because alot of our investigators came. I don't know if I have to talked to you much about Marco and Annabella but they were having horrible relationship problems and were just about to split up but we asked Marco for a ride to the activity because Elder Trappetts bike was broken and so he was planning on taking us and dropping us off at the church but somehow we talked them into coming to the activity which was really good for them. I think just getting out of the house so they could stop fighting helped them a ton and we found out later that when they got home they spent the evening reading The Book of Mormon together. They also came to church and I was so excited to sit with them. I have taken them on as my little pet family. Elder Trappett lets me handle all the phone calls and everything with them and it is really cool because I have a really strong relationship with them. Honestly, I am obessessed with this family. I live to to hear that they read, or that they will be coming to an activity. When the week is hard, I push through just to get to teach them. I am so excited to teach them again tonight.
Other than that, I don't have a lot to say. I love this gospel. Everytime I read the Book of Mormon, I know that it is true. I wish I could spend all day reading it, but I want my investigators to know how it true it is also. I love my mission
Oh yeah, so much for trying to be skinny. When we eat with investigators or members we eat so much food and it is so delicious but so bad for you... and there is no way to get out of it either. I hope I am not super porkie by the time I get home but we will see.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Nov. 4, 2009
So anyway, People asked a lot of diet questions. I eat a lot of Mexican food which is delicious and is nothing like taco bell. Except Posole and Menudo are disgusting!!! I was at a members house a couple sundays back and they gave me a huge bowl of posole which is a nasty soup with lots of homany and grease in it. I could not finish it and i didn't want to offend but my stomach couldn't handle it and I was sweating because I was so nervous about seeming rude but I was about to chunder.
However, usually at my apartment I eat lots of authentic tamales that the members give us, and then my companion and I eat beans and tortillas for every meal. Everyone said that all i would eat here is beans and rice. The funny thing is, that is kinda true for the beans part but only because my companion and I choose to eat beans for every single meal. Still haven't had rice. I almost cannot stand a meal with out tortillas now, but these aren't Utah white boy tortillas.
I love the hispanic culture. It is so much better than conservative white culture. We had a big party at the park last saturday afternoon and everybody from the ward comes and they invite all their friends, it is a way bigger turn out then we ever had in Utah, and everyone brings tons of food and we play futbol all day. I hated soccer before my mission, now it is my favorite sport for sure. It is so cool because everybody plays. We had forty year old women and men playing futbol with missionaries, children and really good players alike. It was so cool. It's like everybody joins in and even the kids are amazing. I loved it. it makes me sad that I will ever be return to boring utah wards at some point in my life.
So I don't know if I talked about Reuben before. He was a chicano, hispanic but can't speak spanish. We found him a few weeks ago and he was so willing to accept everything we said and be baptized. However, he had a ton of problems with drugs and stuff but he was willing to do anything to get off of them. We taught him a few times but then we turned him over to the english elders because that is what we have to do.
Anyway, they couldn't get a hold of him for a while cuz he went out of town but we saw him last thursday and so we asked if we could stop by six PM saturday and see how he was doing. We stopped by that night but he wasn't there.
So we got a call from the english elders on monday and they said they stopped by and his dad told him that he died of a drug overdose. I was so sad because he was so ready to accept the gospel
Anyway we taught a plan of Salvation lesson to a part member family for family home evening on monday and at the end I felt like I should share this experience. I could hardly express myself in spanish because i was so emotional, and I was bawling my eyes out but the spirit ws really strong and I testified of how he will have the opportunity in the spirit world to accept the message. It was really cool because after I shared this it just ended up being a huge testimony meeting and their daughter, who is not a member and just had a child out of wedlock, shared her testimony and said she wants to be baptized and so did her husband and they had non member relatives over who we got return appointments with and half the people were in tears as we listened to beautiful testimonies. It was a total miracle and I know that it will lead to some baptisms.
I have to go. Miguel finally came to church and is on the path to baptism. We have another couple: Marco and Annabella that are close too.
Bye
However, usually at my apartment I eat lots of authentic tamales that the members give us, and then my companion and I eat beans and tortillas for every meal. Everyone said that all i would eat here is beans and rice. The funny thing is, that is kinda true for the beans part but only because my companion and I choose to eat beans for every single meal. Still haven't had rice. I almost cannot stand a meal with out tortillas now, but these aren't Utah white boy tortillas.
I love the hispanic culture. It is so much better than conservative white culture. We had a big party at the park last saturday afternoon and everybody from the ward comes and they invite all their friends, it is a way bigger turn out then we ever had in Utah, and everyone brings tons of food and we play futbol all day. I hated soccer before my mission, now it is my favorite sport for sure. It is so cool because everybody plays. We had forty year old women and men playing futbol with missionaries, children and really good players alike. It was so cool. It's like everybody joins in and even the kids are amazing. I loved it. it makes me sad that I will ever be return to boring utah wards at some point in my life.
So I don't know if I talked about Reuben before. He was a chicano, hispanic but can't speak spanish. We found him a few weeks ago and he was so willing to accept everything we said and be baptized. However, he had a ton of problems with drugs and stuff but he was willing to do anything to get off of them. We taught him a few times but then we turned him over to the english elders because that is what we have to do.
Anyway, they couldn't get a hold of him for a while cuz he went out of town but we saw him last thursday and so we asked if we could stop by six PM saturday and see how he was doing. We stopped by that night but he wasn't there.
So we got a call from the english elders on monday and they said they stopped by and his dad told him that he died of a drug overdose. I was so sad because he was so ready to accept the gospel
Anyway we taught a plan of Salvation lesson to a part member family for family home evening on monday and at the end I felt like I should share this experience. I could hardly express myself in spanish because i was so emotional, and I was bawling my eyes out but the spirit ws really strong and I testified of how he will have the opportunity in the spirit world to accept the message. It was really cool because after I shared this it just ended up being a huge testimony meeting and their daughter, who is not a member and just had a child out of wedlock, shared her testimony and said she wants to be baptized and so did her husband and they had non member relatives over who we got return appointments with and half the people were in tears as we listened to beautiful testimonies. It was a total miracle and I know that it will lead to some baptisms.
I have to go. Miguel finally came to church and is on the path to baptism. We have another couple: Marco and Annabella that are close too.
Bye
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