Week 22

                        
 Familia Y Amigas!

We just ate burgers, and I`m talkin`real-deal american CHEESEBURGERS! And coke. Ahhh how it warmed my soul. Yeah…you can tell how much I was looking forward to P-day today. And last week we had a blast in Salaverry, hiked to this suuuper windy place then played american football on the beach-it was so nice to just unwind for a few hours. 

 

Things are going well in Monserrate and becoming a Little more familiar. Just still miss my El Bosque peeps..its just hard cause we make appts with people, yet there not there when we come or are too busy. Kinda flaky

…So we just teach people when they have time for us!

Some of our investigators are:

Maria Rosado. Already knows TONS about the gospel, her dad was a member and not very many people from the ward came to his funeral and for this reason-she doesn´t want to get baptized and become a member—because she thinks no one will come to her funeral either. Haha kinda a random reason, but I guess those are the things you think about when you live alone and don´t have too much social interaction. She´s a seamstress and has 2 cats. Members don´t realize how important they are to others, they have an incredible ability to make a huge difference in other´s lives!!!

Adrian. 15. Kinda reminds me of Jose Luis. Accepted his baptismal date, but ever since-its been SUPER hard to catch him at his house cause of his work schedule. Spirit´s always really strong in the lessons that we are able to have with him, but its just frustrating going over and him never being there….

Michelle. 15. Completely ready for baptism, have almost taught her all of the lessons, but dad won´t let her get baptized until her next birthday in March…patience. She´s really nice and is enjoying going to YW´s!

Eduardo and Avelino. Found them from a reference card from other missionaries. Eduardo is 11 and Avelino is his 80 year old grandmother. Both really awesome. For general conference, we could only go to the sessions if we had investigators and thankfully Eduardo came to ALL 4 sessions with us. So thankful!!!!

Maria Mendoza. Recently met her husband, so trying to teach them together. Has 2 kids, hasn´t been able to come to church yet. Her daughter Maria knows Eduardo from school, small world in Monserrate. }

Javier. Oh man. Javier. Such a precious old man who we found while contacting one night on our way to an appt. Thankfully, we were able to get a member to accompany us cause Javier lives alone. He has parkinson´s and you can tell he´s really lonely, breaks my heart. So nice to us, showed us some pictures of the catholic orphanage he grew up in and started to cry cause his dad passed away last year and its been really hard on him. Even served us these little galletas with Carmel stuff after our lesson. Love him so much, but not sure if he´ll progress…

General Conference. Holy cow, how much I appreciated conference!!!! It was kinda funny/stressful picking up people for it, then figuring out how to fit all of us in the taxi to the chapel. I watched both morning sessions in English and both afternoon sessions in Spanish, so my notes are kinda funky…really answered some of the questions I´ve had and gave me some much-needed strength and encouragement! Plus revelation for investigators and what they´ve been struggling with to understand about the gospel. What a highlight to the week!! And the ensign comes out soon, that I can really in-depth study in personal study!! Ahhh how nice it was to hear the prophet´s voice, and in ENGLISH too!! Oh how beautiful. I tried to scan the faces for Hunter and ClarkJ

Trying to just be as diligent and consistent as possible. In the morning and after lunch, I have all this energy and a strong work ethic to seek out all these tarjetas de referencia. But after dinner, it’s a struggle to stay awake. Haha didn´t know it was possible to be THIS tired at 8pm. Our daily planning used to go until 10:20 every night, but lately its getting better. Starting to get a feel for the area and where/with whom we can be most effective. I just try to push myself everyday, always know what street we´re on and know where everyone lives. Especially if I have to lead this area next transfer, I want to at least have a foundation of the area and how to work best with the leaders in the ward.

There´s so much more I want to say, so much that I wouldn´t even know how to put into words and if I was faster at typing or had more time, maybe I could. But for now, this will just have to doJ

Random funnies for the week: random lady on the Street told me to use a banana peel for all the lovely mosquito bites I have….haha haven`t tried that one yet. I should just wear tights so people stop asking…Nueva Barazza had a lot of mosquito's and they couldn`t stay away! That wonderful moment when contacting a reference turns into a MUCH needed bathroom spot. Haha always a highlight of the day: figuring out when/where you can find a somewhat decent restroom. Classy. 

Wearin´ out my shoes, knees, and hear everyday,

Hna. Boody