So fun to see these great people from my other areas
This week went by really fast. Manual Becerra is a lot different than
CaraBanchel. I went from the ghetto to one of the more fancy areas in
the mission. The work here is a lot slower than B9 but we're going to
change that. :)
So first highlight of the week, our elders bake! They made us cookies
with peanut butter m&ms. Me and Hermana Barkle died. We just about
cried they're so cute!
So there is this gate we have to enter to get to our apartment/town
house thing.. And it's always unlocked, so getting in is never a
problem. But one day we went to leave after lunch and the gate decided
to lock on us. So we were locked in the outside our building for a
solid 20 minutes trying to break open the gate. The worst was there
were a couple homeless people across the street just staring at us the
whole time. Finally we decide that our physical force (as strong as we
both think we are) probably won't get us out of the gate, so we decide
to try all the keys we have with us, and the very last one easily
opens the gate. Hermana Barkle is the Australian version of me, we are
both disasters.
Also, I have never done so much bible bashing in my life! In this area
the main people who want to talk to us just want to bible bash.. I
actually love it, it's way fun just seeing the looks on their faces
when you prove to them that they really have no back up of the points
they try to make. But bible bashing is also extremely ineffective. The
spirit is not there. The gospel isn't meant to be proven or debated,
it's meant to be felt. It's amazing how we can all interpret the same
verse of scripture in a million different ways, and for me that's
another testimony of why God speaks to us through his prophets. They
are inspired, and we should heed to every council they give to us. In
missionary work and in life we have commandments and rules, and
sometimes they may not always seem crystal clear, but one thing I've
learned is that the spirit always will warn you in what you should and
shouldn't be doing. If you have to wonder if something is right or
acceptable, just don't do it. If you question whether an impression
comes from God, act on it. The gospel isn't science, it's learning to
be guided blindly by faith. Spanish is not the most important language
I've learned and am learning on the mission, the language of the
spirit is of far more importance.
Speaking of acting on faith, we have this amigo from Peru that we are
teaching.. He draws my every last bit of patience. He knows everything
is true, so we were like no problem, let's just set him for a baptism
date! Ugh this guy just wants a lightning bolt answer.. We ask him to
be baptized, and he was like "I don't even see the point, I always
come to church" (which is true, he is a dry member). So I pulled out
my bible (more bible bashing madre Mia) to Mathew 3 when Jesus asks
John the Baptist to baptize him, and I told him that if Christ the
only perfect person in the world, our savior, our redeemer, the head
of our church and all the Christian world still was baptized to
complete all justice and obey the father; how great is the need for us
(being un-perfect human beings) to be baptized. He couldn't say
anything to that. In the end he still did not commit to baptism, but
he did recommit to really studying the Book of Mormon to find a more
solid answer. We'll see what happens..
Conference was obviously another big highlight! A lot of the people we
are teaching were able to come, and feel of the spirit there. We
watched it in pavones (the stake center by the temple). I loved all of
it, me and my companion both lost it during elder Hollands talk on
mothers. I also loved the talk by elder Lawrence on spiritual
progression. Everyone from my last area came to pavones to watch it
too, so it was so nice seeing all of them. I saw a few of the families
we were able to re-activate, and also some of the people I was
teaching there. Even some of the members from alcobendas showed up! It
was just the best. I love the mission and all the relationships and
close friendships you build.
Lastly, the biggest miracle we saw of the week. On Sunday morning we
left for pavones (one hour away) because our friend Edward we are
teaching (from Nicaragua) wanted to go to the priesthood session. So
we were going to help him get there and feel comfortable and then wait
outside. Well he didn't show up, so we were a little frustrated
because we couldn't get a lot of real work done, since we were so far
from our area. So we went to this room in the stake center to make
some calls and this Spanish girl was sitting there. She was from Spain
in a church, so we were like she has to be a member, but we start
talking to her and she's not! She was just sitting waiting for her
aunt, who is a member. So we get talking to her a little about the
church, and we built a really strong friendship right off the bat.
When she had to go, we finally asked her where she lived, and she
lives in our area!!! We are so happy! She is looking forward to
meeting with us again to learn more. It was the best miracle. She
introduced us to her aunt, and her aunt (who's the member) became really
emotional and thanked us. She told us that she knew that God would
find a way for the missionaries to teach her.
Thanks for all the emails. Os quiero y que tengan una bonita semana.
Hermana Staker
CaraBanchel. I went from the ghetto to one of the more fancy areas in
the mission. The work here is a lot slower than B9 but we're going to
change that. :)
So first highlight of the week, our elders bake! They made us cookies
with peanut butter m&ms. Me and Hermana Barkle died. We just about
cried they're so cute!
So there is this gate we have to enter to get to our apartment/town
house thing.. And it's always unlocked, so getting in is never a
problem. But one day we went to leave after lunch and the gate decided
to lock on us. So we were locked in the outside our building for a
solid 20 minutes trying to break open the gate. The worst was there
were a couple homeless people across the street just staring at us the
whole time. Finally we decide that our physical force (as strong as we
both think we are) probably won't get us out of the gate, so we decide
to try all the keys we have with us, and the very last one easily
opens the gate. Hermana Barkle is the Australian version of me, we are
both disasters.
Also, I have never done so much bible bashing in my life! In this area
the main people who want to talk to us just want to bible bash.. I
actually love it, it's way fun just seeing the looks on their faces
when you prove to them that they really have no back up of the points
they try to make. But bible bashing is also extremely ineffective. The
spirit is not there. The gospel isn't meant to be proven or debated,
it's meant to be felt. It's amazing how we can all interpret the same
verse of scripture in a million different ways, and for me that's
another testimony of why God speaks to us through his prophets. They
are inspired, and we should heed to every council they give to us. In
missionary work and in life we have commandments and rules, and
sometimes they may not always seem crystal clear, but one thing I've
learned is that the spirit always will warn you in what you should and
shouldn't be doing. If you have to wonder if something is right or
acceptable, just don't do it. If you question whether an impression
comes from God, act on it. The gospel isn't science, it's learning to
be guided blindly by faith. Spanish is not the most important language
I've learned and am learning on the mission, the language of the
spirit is of far more importance.
Speaking of acting on faith, we have this amigo from Peru that we are
teaching.. He draws my every last bit of patience. He knows everything
is true, so we were like no problem, let's just set him for a baptism
date! Ugh this guy just wants a lightning bolt answer.. We ask him to
be baptized, and he was like "I don't even see the point, I always
come to church" (which is true, he is a dry member). So I pulled out
my bible (more bible bashing madre Mia) to Mathew 3 when Jesus asks
John the Baptist to baptize him, and I told him that if Christ the
only perfect person in the world, our savior, our redeemer, the head
of our church and all the Christian world still was baptized to
complete all justice and obey the father; how great is the need for us
(being un-perfect human beings) to be baptized. He couldn't say
anything to that. In the end he still did not commit to baptism, but
he did recommit to really studying the Book of Mormon to find a more
solid answer. We'll see what happens..
Conference was obviously another big highlight! A lot of the people we
are teaching were able to come, and feel of the spirit there. We
watched it in pavones (the stake center by the temple). I loved all of
it, me and my companion both lost it during elder Hollands talk on
mothers. I also loved the talk by elder Lawrence on spiritual
progression. Everyone from my last area came to pavones to watch it
too, so it was so nice seeing all of them. I saw a few of the families
we were able to re-activate, and also some of the people I was
teaching there. Even some of the members from alcobendas showed up! It
was just the best. I love the mission and all the relationships and
close friendships you build.
Lastly, the biggest miracle we saw of the week. On Sunday morning we
left for pavones (one hour away) because our friend Edward we are
teaching (from Nicaragua) wanted to go to the priesthood session. So
we were going to help him get there and feel comfortable and then wait
outside. Well he didn't show up, so we were a little frustrated
because we couldn't get a lot of real work done, since we were so far
from our area. So we went to this room in the stake center to make
some calls and this Spanish girl was sitting there. She was from Spain
in a church, so we were like she has to be a member, but we start
talking to her and she's not! She was just sitting waiting for her
aunt, who is a member. So we get talking to her a little about the
church, and we built a really strong friendship right off the bat.
When she had to go, we finally asked her where she lived, and she
lives in our area!!! We are so happy! She is looking forward to
meeting with us again to learn more. It was the best miracle. She
introduced us to her aunt, and her aunt (who's the member) became really
emotional and thanked us. She told us that she knew that God would
find a way for the missionaries to teach her.
Thanks for all the emails. Os quiero y que tengan una bonita semana.
Hermana Staker