What is with this family and guns? How many have you guys bought since I left? Even so, I´m very excited for the deer hunt when I get back. Apparently I´m expected to cook desserts here every once in a while in lunch with members. Some recipies would be much appreciated.
I liked the thought on the Spirit. It´s so true how simple it is. If it´s something that makes you feel the "fruit of the Spirit," or a good thing, do it. So long as you´re living worthy of the influence, it probably is of the spirit. One thing I liked from Zone training is when the ZL said "It´s like driving a car. You can´t turn in the correct direction until you push the gas." Or something like that. He said it in Spanish.
So today is the beginning of Carnival. Technically it doesn´t end until tomorrow. Really, it lasts the week. I don´t really get it. It´s a holiday where they celebrate mother earth and baptizing the devil... Really it´s just an excuse to skip work and get drunk. And throw flour and water balloons at unsuspecting gringos. Fortunately, we´ve made our travels in such a way that we avoid most the danger zones, and the few people that have attempted have terrible aim.
Exchanges were fun! We ate shishkabobs. Something I never would have expected here. Also, I met a real golden investigator! She was so awesome! She talked about how she really felt the feelings of the spirit in the church, how everything makes sense, how she decided not to move so she could get baptized here, and how she´s so sad that her family doesn´t want to listen. It was a really cool lesson. I was just sad that it wasn´t my investigator.
We also had a cool experience of teaching a transvestite. Just a testimony to me that I need to remember not to judge - everyone is a child of God and needs the chance to hear the gospel. Even if you´re not sure whether to refer to them as a man or a woman.
Another interesting experience - We went to contact a reference. A little kid answered the door. When we asked for the reference the little kid started crying and said, "Ella se fue al cielo." Or in English, she went to heaven. We were a little confused. With our next appointment with the person that gave us the reference, we asked what she was like. She told us that the reference was super sick the last time she saw her. We left it at that...
Last non-spiritual fun interesting fact. In addition to being an awesome teacher and service-full companion, Elder Sant makes a mean cobbler! This week we ate peach and piña colada cobbler!
Well, this week was a little harder. No one seems to understand why they need to go to church. We have one great investigator, but she unfortunately has a bad leg. This week we had a lesson with her, where she explained back to us why we need both the Book of Mormon and the Bible. It was really cool! If it weren´t for her silly family, she´d already be baptized. I´m so glad I´ve got a super awesome family. It´d be so hard to live this gospel without your support.
We also had a cool experience with a recent convert. We´d been trying all day to have an investigator lesson, but they all seemed to be off carnivaling. We stopped by a recent convert and she let us in! She also happened to have a friend there, who we were able to teach. I love it when less actives talk about their baptism and stuff and realize that they´re missing out on the spirit they felt. We taught a lesson on Baptism and Confirmation and the Spirit there was awesome. After we left, Elder Sant told me that of the 3 or 4 times he´d tried to go by, they´d never been allowed in. He blamed my eyes. Sometimes, being a blue eyed blonde gringo can have some major benefits.
One last experience. As we were walking away from a fallen appointment, we ran into a less active member. I was kinda excited to actually be able to talk to someone, but then he started talking about how it was all a bunch of crap and the only thing you really need is faith in Christ. He was a really outgoing nice guy, but someone had brainwashed him bad. There was a really nasty spirit there. We extracted ourselves from that situation and visited another less active. He wasn´t nearly as outgoing or well groomed, but the spirit there was so different. He talked about his baptism and how he felt the help of the Lord in his life. It was just interesting to me to compare the two - both less active, one less personable than the other, but how much more I´d prefer to be with the second, and how much better his chances were of returning to activity. I´m glad there´s people out there that really do understand how great this gospel is.
Well, I think that´s it. Love you all so much!
Landon.
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