Zarahemla Week 23

Making pizza with our investigator Maria

Another great week in Zarahemla, and we're doing amazing, especially since the weather has started to warm up!

Last P-day we had planned to pass by a couple people during the night, but then Hermano Farfan (our ward mission leader) called and asked if we were going to come to eat dinner. Apparently, they had planned to feed us, but no one told us! Luckily, we weren't too far, so we were able to go over at the last minute. They are from Venezuela, so they cooked us some traditional food that was really good. I love getting surprise dinners!

Wednesday was pretty chill, as we didn't have many things planned. Were able to eat lunch with Derlyn and Delmis, who are from Honduras and were baptized about a year ago. They are super kind, and the food was great as expected. Then we went to the area near the Jean Talon metro station, where there are TONS of Latinos. Did some street contacting and knocking around there for a couple of hours, and then stopped by an investigator named Maria who owns a pizza place in that area. We were going to teach her and another potential investigator at her shop, but he didn't show up. But it was still good, because she let us make our own pizza! It was super fun! Went to pass by a couple of other people after that, and ran into a Haitian guy who invited us it to teach a lesson. It was super weird, as always, to teach in French, but it went really well and he was super excited to learn more! It's so cool to see little miracles like that all the time.

Elder Landetta slipped, and thus owes me a donut (a rule in the mission)

Thursday was really busy, which of course is always good! We had district meeting in the morning, which was great, then left right away to visit Hermano Sanchez. He opened up and shared a few struggles he has had in his life, and it was very humbling. It's been such a cool experience having people trust you so much in the mission; it’s really an amazing experience to have people open up to you like that. After him, we stopped by a local public library to do some studies since we didn't have time to go home. We then headed over to the familia Cosme for dinner. When we showed up, they had told us that they had invited two non-member friends who they wanted us to meet. It was really awesome for them to invite them, but we were stressed about what to teach! It all worked out though, and now they are new investigators! Members are so important in helping missionaries with sharing the gospel; small acts like inviting your friends to a dinner with the missionaries can really help open them up to hearing the gospel! It was so awesome! After the familia Cosme, we headed over to the brother of Hermano Mendoza (the one we always visit in the hospital) who is also a member but has been less active for a while. We ate some classic food from Venezuela with him, and were able to share a little message. It was really awesome!

Friday was pretty chill; we were able to do weekly planning which took up a large portion of the day. But we were able to get in contact with an old investigator that I haven't seen in a long time and teach them which was great, and also found a couple of new people to teach. We also have been passing by this one house where less active members live for the past few weeks now, and we decided to pass by that night for the last time. This time though, they opened the door, and invited us in! We were able to teach a little thought, and they were so thankful that we were thinking about them! It was such a miracle, since they said that usually they are never home on Friday nights, but something had fallen through so the whole family was home. It was so cool! Especially since we said that it would be the last time trying to get in contact with them! They should be coming back—It looks like they just needed a little push!

Saturday was also pretty busy, even though a lot of our appointments fell through. We just kept getting other things to do and it all worked out perfectly! We left pretty early to visit Guillermo again. We had a great lesson with him talking about a few of the commandments, and he is so committed to be baptized! He will be baptized soon, and I hope I'll be able to see it! He's such a cool guy! Later on in the day, we were able to have a lesson with Jesus, which was great since he has been so busy these past couple of weeks. We were able to talk with him about a lot of things that he had doubts of. He has been coming to church almost every week, and has been progressing fairly fast now. It's so great to see him changing! His wife, Yeni, has lost interest in learning more for the time being, but she is still super awesome and nice to us. They invited us to eat with them after the lesson, and we had a couple appointments fall through, so we did. It was super good! They made something called pastelitos, which were SO good. They're actually pretty simple, kind of similar to an empenada, but fried. They were SOO good. We then had a little meeting with the other missionaries in the ward and our ward mission leader, and talked about ways the members can help in the work. It was an awesome day!

Sunday was also very busy. We weren't able to go home basically all day long! We went to church, and I had an amazing time. I've been trying so hard just to let go of my stress and enjoy the meetings, and it really has improved my expériences. After church we taught Guillermo again, trying to help him get prepared with baptism. He should be ready within the next couple of weeks! We then left with a different Guillermo, a member who returned from his mission a couple of months ago to visit Hermano Mendoza in the Hospital and give him the Sacrament. It was awesome, and Guillermo loved feeling like a missionary again. We then passed by Eddy, who is doing awesome. He finally is reading (listening) to the Book of Mormon! I don't know why we didn't tell him you could do that earlier! I hope this is a breakthrough with him! We then went home and ate some food that members had given us at church. It was a really great Sunday!

Monday was not as busy; we didn't have much planned. It was fairly warm outside (relatively), so we went to the Jean Talon metro area to do some street contacting. We got a lot of potential investigators! It really is like South America over there (besides the cold)! Passed by a few former investigators, had a baptismal interview with one of the Sister teams' investigators, and got a few contacts. It was a pretty chill day!

This next week will probably be my last week in Zarahemla! I know I said that at the end of last transfer and was wrong, and although I hope I'm wrong again, I know I'll be excited for the next transfer nonetheless! I will find out next Saturday!

Hope you are all doing well, I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!