May 28, 2012

Mine Family!

      Hola, There is so much that me and my companion do during the week that I will only be able to write about the Progressing Investigators and their/my trials. Starting Monday after Pday ended we went to Joel and Leticia´s house. Joel was just about to go to the hospital becuase Lucas had gotten worse. We offered to tag along and give him a blessing. And the brownie points keep building.
      Tuesday the Zone Leaders called and said that nobody was going to baptize this week in all of Asuncion, so they asked us to do a special fast and gave us permision to Baptize anybody that has come to church at least once (If they are repentant and will continue faithfully). So we started our fast and went to give a new baptismal date to Jose Carlos for this Saturday. He accepted, so we taught him the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. The only other person we taught that day was a guy who had Dengue.
     Wednesday it rained. Bleh!

     Thursday we went with the District Leader to go to Jose Carlos´ Interview... He wasn´t there. How embarassing/frustrating and his phone is broken so we couldn´t call him. We decided to pass by later to set up another interview appointment and we wanted him to get to know the Jovenes better, so we tried to get him to Seminary at the church. We were walking to his house and on the way there we found him and his friend Manolo carrying the gas (for their stove) to get it refilled. We carried it for them so it would be faster. After they got back with the gas Jose`s mom made him go buy bread from the supermarket, so we didn´t get them to church before seminary ended. But we decided to at least teach him tithing in the church before he left.
     The happenings of the rest of the night would make for a very long story, but to make a long story shorter... After the lesson Jose said that his friend, Manolo, wants to get baptized this Saturday. We told him that he has to wait until he has a testimony about the Book of Mormon (Besides that he doesn´t live in our area and it would be hard to get permission from his parents). Jose was very upset and he didn´t want to get baptized without his shadow. We wanted him to get baptized and then get the priesthood after his birthday in June to Baptize Manolo, but he didn´t want to. He decided that he wanted to wait util they could get baptized together. I´m not sure that Manolo even wants to get baptized or if Jose is just pushing him.

     Friday was very upsetting. We went to Jose`s to teach Manolo, so that they could both get baptized by the 9th of June. They weren´t there, but then the mom called us over and said that she wasn´t going to let Jose get baptized anymore. Another Long Story Short... Jose didn´t understand tithing and when he explained it to his mom she understood less. Now she thinks that we are trying to take their money. We will resolve this all in due time, but for now this really killed my "animo".

     Saturday is when we started seeing the Miracles of the fast. First we taught Adilson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited him to get baptized. He said that he was going to visit his parents and wouldn´t be back till the end of June, but he would pray for the answer. He has always understood, but he lacked faith, but now that he says he is going to pray and ask to see what he should do, That´s progress.
     Later we found Joel and Leticia. They are all back in their house. Yay! Lucas still needs some studies done, but he doesn`t have to go back to the hospital. Their two year old daughter Xiomara stopped being shy and played with me. We talked about Miracles and Faith from Ether 12. We invited them to church and they said they would come.

     Sunday we went to Joel and Leticia´s house at 8:30am to pick them up and go to church. They had just woken up, so the mom had to get ready. It took forever, but we made it for the last 15 minutes of Sacrament Meeting. They were going to go to the hospital at 10, but then they decided to stay for the Gospel Principles Class. They were going to go at 11, but then they decided to stay for the Priesthood/Relief Society as well. It was great. They all loved it. Even Shy little Xiomara made friends in Primary. Joel said that he want to come every sunday (More often if it were possible).
     After that we ate asado with Pdte Texeira (Stake President) and a bunch of other rich people. Rich people are boring and lame. Sorry to say it. Maybe it´s just rich Latins. I´m always hearing about Members moving to the United States (Especifically Utah) and I always wonder "What happened to building the Kingdom where you lived? Utah doesn´t need any more members!"
     Later we taught Joel and Leticia about the Plan of Salvation (because in church we found out that they had lost Lucas´ Twin Brother). I think they felt the spirit and that is the most important thing, but I don´t think they understood much. 
     Lastly we taught a Sergio´s (Member) girlfriend, Claudia (Investigator). Everything went well until the very end when we asked her to say the prayer. She didn´t want to, so I guess when my companion insisted she got so embarassed, nervous, and/or emotional (Who knows what was the cause) that she started to cry! I hope she still will want to talk to us after that experience. I found it very strange myself. I didn´t know what to think.

Anyways I got the Package today finally. Tell the ward thanks for the candy. I´ll try to use all the stuff you gave me, but nobody here reads English.

Love,
Elder Zachary James Singson