Week 94

Hey everyone! Here are some highlights of this past week:

- We had met a cool guy named Luis and we set up a follow-up lesson for a couple of days in the future. We honestly were not expecting the lesson to go through cause they didn't confirm if they were home, but we knocked and boy were they ready for us. Luis ended up being a less active member, but his wife, Adriana, was the one who was being prepared for us. She mentioned not having a pleasant religious background growing up, and currently wasn't part of a church, although she was now looking to join one. And that's when we dropped in 😏

- We got some awards for having the cleanest car and the cleanest apartment in the Zone 😎

- We hadn't had contact with our friend Hilda for the past few weeks and we were about to stop teaching her... until we saw some police outside her door. Apparently, she was going through some difficult marriage challenges, one thing leads to the next and her husband now has a restraining order. She sent us a text saying, "Now I'm ready to study with you." Yessir.

- At the end of an epic lesson, our friend, Jaime, said a prayer and asked for us to find some really pretty girlfriends after the mission................... Now if I've learned one thing on the mission............. it's that God hears all prayers............. I just hope He decides to answer that one 👀

- Imagine having no time in your area because you're too busy with so many baptismal interviews from your district. Well, that dream became a reality for our district leader, who spent his whole night going from interview to interview......... but he doesn't have a car so we had to chauffeur him our whole night as well.

Miracle:

Our friends, Axel and Alicia Morales, got baptized this past Saturday!!! And their baptismal service was probably my favorite one that I've ever been a part of! We combined the baptism with the two baptisms that the Hermanas misioneras had as well, and as such, the ward supported and participated a bunch, which definitely lowered the stress aspect on our part. We performed a special musical number, the baptisms went smoothly, and a bunch of members bore their testimonies and helped the baptismal candidates feel welcome to the ward family. Many tears were shed. I'm super grateful to be able to participate in the Lord's work. My testimony of the fact that He's at the head of this work grows every day.

I love being a missionary.

Elder Terry

Fotos:

1) Axel and Alicia Morales got baptized!!!

2) All 4 baptisms between us and the Hermanas misioneras

3) Made some pupusas for our district activity

4) When you haven't watched TV for almost 2 years

5) The literal key to success 🔑

6) I think it was a safe bet that nobody lives here anymore

7) When a cat follows you into your apartment, sometimes you just have to let it enjoy the free hospitality

Week 92 & 93

Hey all of you lovely children of God! These past weeks were awesome!

Miracle:

Our miracle of the week was that three of our friends, Amanda, Jhon, and Alexis, got baptized!!! We are super excited for them and for their decision to let God prevail! However, I wish I could say that their baptism ran smoothly...

So our ward decided to take the baptismal services into their own hands this time (which we were okay with of course) by making the programs and inviting people and everything. The day of the baptism, we asked our ward mission leader if he needed help filling up the baptismal font beforehand, and he was like, "Nahhhh I got it." We showed up 30 minutes early to help our amigos with the baptismal clothing, but right when we showed up, our ward mission leader showed up...... to start filling up the font..... which takes an hour and a half to fill up...... so yeah we had to stall a bit. 

6:00pm hits and all of the members show up, but the water isn't even a foot deep yet. We played some music and took pictures, and while we were taking pictures, the fire alarm went off.... for like 10 minutes. Apparently the Tongan ward was doing a trunk-or-treat the same night, and they were using the kitchen and accidently burnt something. So there we are, trying to feel the Spirit, with a fire alarm blaring off, and the water is still rising poco a poco in the font. We finally started the service an hour late, and it actually went pretty well considering the previous chaos. I was able to personally baptize Amanda. It was awesome.

"You and the ward mission leader should do everything you can to ensure that the baptismal service is organized, inspiring, and memorable." (Preach My Gospel, ch. 12) Oh... it was memorable all right.

Epic mission story:

So we were heading through our apartment complex back to our car because it was about to hit 9pm, when we spot a guy named Francisco chilling by his car, blasting reggaeton, cigarette in hand, beer on the trunk bed, you know, the usual. We walk up to him and strike up a conversation. He was partly drunk - not too drunk to not make out a word that he was saying, but just drunk enough that his conversation was all over the place aaaand.... he was willing to do anything we told him to do 😉

So I straight up tell him that he shouldn't be drinking or smoking, and he was like, "I know, I knowww." I ask him, "What would you do if God was standing right he-," and before I could finish the question, he takes the cigarette in his hand and tosses it into the street. 👀 He passed the first test. I took it one step further and ask, "What about that beer on your truck?" He goes, "Oh this? I haven't even opened it yet." I glanced around and spotted a dumpster not 100 feet away on the other side of the street. "Bet you won't toss that beer can into that dumpster." He goes, "Well if I throw it from here it's gonna explode!" "Bruh obviously. Just walk to the dumpster and throw it in there." "Aight, bet." So he walks across the street (almost gets hit by a car) and tosses the beer can into the dumpster from 20 feet away, making a beautiful clanging dumpster sound as it hits the bottom. Elder Barnes and I just looked at each other, jaws open, surprised that he actually did it. He walks back towards us and we high-fived each other. We could literally hear hosts of angels cheering above. Francisco is a stud.

So my mission is starting to come to a close, and it's crazy looking back to see how quick this has flown by, and how far I've come. I've set a bunch of goals and standards to make sure I work hard til the end of my mission. I really hope that when I get home, people recognize how much I have changed because I've gone through so much work and so many trials to grow into who I am today. My favorite experiences that I've had recently have been just being in a lesson or in a missionary meeting, and having an out-of-body experience of everything going quiet and I just see these people the same way that God sees them. It's the best.

I love being a missionary.

Elder Terry

Fotos:

1) Alexis' and Jhon's baptism!! They are so awesome! (Amanda still hasn't sent us the picture of her baptism)

2) Bowling with the district (and with the 4 other districts that showed up at the same time)

3) We got kidnapped in the back of a white van during a service project (not really jaja)

4) Durags at Zone Council

5) Exchange with Elder Park

6) Found the whack-est speed limit

7) Got a package from home with some awesome socks in it!

8) How people who are 6' look at people who are 5'11"