Well this week has been absolutely amazing. It will have to be short. Because it´s the last p-day and so we have to get everything prepped for next week. But it was a good week. Alejandro got confirmed on Sunday. And he is just so happier right now. He has started joking around with everyone. Part of that might be because we invited him to come to a family home evening activity with the branch this saturday and we played this game where we put flour in a cup and then take away the cup so there is this pile of flour, put a coin on top and essentially play jenga. Cutting off a slice of flour at a time. And the person that makes the coin fall, has to pick it up out of the flour with their mouth. Sick nasty. And Alejandro lost. Welcome to church activities!! We´re crazy. But yeah, so we call him Sunday morning because si o si he has to be on church on time. And it´s 5 minutes before church starts and he´s all "oh yeah, don´t worry about it. We´re going to be there in like an hour and a half.....no just kidding, but in like 10 minutes." I nearly had a heart attack. You do not show up to your confirmation an hour and a half late. Don´t you...meh, I´m an axious wreck before sacrament meeting trying to get all the investigators there on time. But he showed up. was confirmed. Good times.
Actually, what was better then this is that the Elders in Chacra had a baptism saturday, and it was at the same time as a members baptism. But the fun part was that the family of this member were from a different religion. Evangelical to be exact. Which is fine, they are good people, but after every talk, after the baptism, they started clapping! Hermana Erickson and I were like "NOOOOOO!!!!" in our heads obviously. Because we had brought Marina and Victoria to the baptism. So, afterwards we had to explain to them. Well, normally we don´t clap during our baptism, we like to have a reverent atmosphere. Luckily Hermana Marina understood. She did look a bit confused during the baptism when they all started clapping. Oh well. The life of a missionary. There´s always something to make it more exciting.
But we did have some really good experiences this week. Mostly with menos Activos. and one active member. We were walking with Hermana Marcos to a cita and she was telling us how she and her husband were talking about how they had to step up their game as members. O sea, they were active, they have very strong testimonies, he´s in the branch presidency, but they aren´t doing some of the small things that the prophet has told us to do. Like scripture study as a family, family home evenings, reading in the mornings. And she was talking about how it is hard, because he works from 4 until midnight, at his job, so he is hardly ever home, and when he is she just wants to spend time with him (valid, they are still in love, that´s good). And then she turns to us and says "but that´s just an excuse, right? It doesn´t matter, we know that we aren´t doing what we should and it doesn´t matter if it´s hard. It´s a commandment from God, not a suggestion. Right?" And mostly what caught me off guard about that was that she was looking to us as missionaries for verification. We had a good discussion about it, about why God has asked us to do these things and the importance of obedience. But it caught me off guard that this very active amazing member was looking to me for questions. Probably because I have so many of the same questions. Okay, not right now as a full time serving missionary. But Often I´m searching for answers, looking for verification as to what God wants me to do. And it was weird to recognize that I was the current authority on the subject. But I can with full purpose of heart testifty that it is true. It doesn´t really matter how busy our lives our. This isn´t Pirates of the Caribbean. They aren´t guidelines. They are commandments. And while we might not understand them. We need to live them. It is a bold face lie to say we don´t have time. God gave you life. Give him 5 minutes. Better, make Him the priority, and He will give you the time you need. I think we forget that sometimes. Our life is hectic, but God can help us de-hectify our lives.
I love english. I just made that word up. I probably broke like 17 grammer rules doing it, but you understand. Also, I´m working on being more bold. Can you tell? I´m also working on being bold and tactful. Sometimes I do good. Other times I don´t. Either way, I try to do it with love. My heart is in the right place even if my foot is in my mouth.
The other good experience we had this week was with the Family Roldan. The kids are semi-active. They all go to seminary, General COnference, but don´t go to church on sunday, because their parents don´t. And their parents don´t most of the time because they work, but sometimes they don´t work and they don´t go to church. And we were talking to them about the need to be good examples and to help their children understand the importance of going to church, and the need to reconcile themselves with God. And they were talking to us, pleading really, for us to look just a little bit a head to how they will be. Because they know the church is true, and live all the commandments minus go to church. And as they were talking, all I could really think about is that we really understood, and we were looking to the future. We knew that they had the potential and the strength to change their lives and live fully the gospel. That´s why we were there in their house. Because we knew that they can make these changes, and we know that God knows it. That´s why He sent us to their house. But that doesn´t mean that we can put off the day of change. God is helping us to change now, to be what we want to be in the future. And we were sitting there trying to help them, and testifying that the process of change needs to start now. I don´t think I´m saying this very well. The point is. We told this family that we were there to help them become who they wanted to be. We weren´t condemning them, we were helping. Because sometimes the first step is the hardest. But God always helps those who are willing to accept it. aka - he sends missionionaries/visiting teachers/bishops/home teachers/leaders/friends. Just don´t let your pride get in the way of accepting divine help from a physical hand. We pray, we plead for help and guidance, and then when God sends it in the form of a leader we push it away. It shouldn´t be that way. And now this family understands it a little better.
Anyways, that´s all the time I have for today. But Keep being good. Read your scriptures say your prayers. And tell me good fun stories. I´ll see you (family) this Sunday. SKYPE!!! Happy Mother´s Day.
Hermana Reed
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