We started this week by getting dropped by our two most promising families that we were teaching. Both of them dropped us because the husband didn't want the family to get baptized. lame. And then we finished our week with transfer news where we found out that Sis T and I will be together another transfer, BUT our area is getting split. The elders are getting our investigators who are getting baptized this month, all of the less actives we were working with, and all of our potentials. SO we are basically starting from scratch. We have the south half our area still but there hasn't been much work done down there. Heavenly Father knows that there are people who are ready down there, so he's forcing us to hit the pavement with this big change!
It was kind of hard to lose all of the work we've done. We are excited for the elders because they are going to have a few people to baptize who we have taught, but it's kind of sad to not be able to finish our work. And the English elders are baptizing a family we taught because SUPRISE they actually want to go to the English ward! Haha.... All in all, Heavenly Father has a plan. And people are getting baptized! That's the goal! We might not get to be there but in the long run it doesn't matter even a little bit.
SO for an update on the investigators we get to keep!
-G is a Jehova's Witness but is really interested in our church. We taught him the first lesson at the church about a half hour before a 17 year old kid was getting baptized. G felt the spirit in the lesson and committed to be baptized...but wait...in THREE YEARS! I guess that is the tradition in his religion....so we will have to work with what we got. After we went to the baptism with him. He liked it but was a little offended that the kid being baptized had only seen the missionaries for two weeks before his baptism. I guess I never realized how awesome it is that people can be baptized basically as soon as they want. A lot of people believe baptism is the end goal, but really it is just the first step! It's the beginning of our journey to become more like God!
-D has been seeing the missionaries for over three years! He's awesome, but he lives with his fiance and baby. He has to get married before he gets baptized...so that has been his obstacle all of this time. Last week when we saw him his whole life was falling apart. His job, his relationship, his finances, he started smoking for the first time...literally everything. Then we got a call a few days later that his baby was in the hospital with something that could be fatal! So scary. We sent the second councilor in our ward to go give him and his family blessings at the hospital. Daniel called us the next day and said they got discharged because the baby was healed! We went over to his house and from the moment we walked in there was a completley different feeling. D told us that he told God that if his baby is healed, he would be baptized. Him and his fiance had been fighting lately under the stress so we talked with them about their marriage doubts and all kinds of stuff....by the time we left they had told each other how much they loved each other and committed to get married and baptized this December!!! So excited for them!
-C is one of my favorite people ever. He is so sassy and he calls me hot donna from that 70's show. HAH. We are sadly losing him to the elders because of the split..but it will probably be good in the long run. We had had a hard time getting ahold of him this week so we were wondering if he was taking us seriously. Finally on friday we were walking out of a training about how to better invite people to be baptized. As we walked out we saw C walking down the street! We literally ran. We finally caught up to him, asked him if he wants to be baptized, and he said yes!!! He was smiling ear to ear! Ah such a great moment.
Update on Hermana Borja:
We had dinner with her last night and she told us her story. When she was young her father left her, her mother, and her little siblings. They came to El Paso from Mexico to try and escape the poverty. She ended quitting school at age 12, going back to Mexico and working in a factory to help her mom make ends meet. Her biggest priority was finding shoes for all the kids to wear so they could go to school. She quit the factory and started cleaning houses which paid a little better. They went back to El Paso where her siblings finished school and she continued working. She has been working full time since she was 12 and knows that it is because of Heavenly Father that she has had a job to put food on the table and shoes on feet. We were so humbled that she fed us, knowing she didn't have much to offer. Her story was a really great reminder that we have so much to be thankful for! She is one of the most grateful people I have ever met, and she shows that gratitude by getting up at 3 am to read, praying, paying her tithing, and serving the missionaries. Wow, I wouldn't be suprised if I talk about this woman every week for the rest of my mission. Her testimony has changed me!
Other things that happened:
-I gave my first sacrament meeting talk in Spanish
-Found a lot of less actives who we are excited to work with
-Ate a whole jalepeno and almost died hehe
We are excited to get the new elders here and get started with our area in the South. Sometimes the Lord has to cut us down before we can be built back up. As frustrating as it is to feel like we are always prepping people for other missionaries, we know that the Lord has a plan. More than anything he wants us to be humble and willing to do what ever he asks.
Anyway, sorry this e-mail is kind of lame. It really is all over the place.... I'm sending pics from the past three weeks to make up for it.
LOVE YOU!!!
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