Thaaaaats riiiiiiight :) I call that progress.
Fun Chile fact! At Lider, which is Wal Mart, they have a special area in the parking lot designated for taxis, and they are there for the people who walked to Lider and cannot walk home with all their groceries. Because everyone walks and few have vehicles. Crazy different stuff! I must be in Chile!
So this week. IT ROCKED.
I will start with the two great stories about two of our investigators (We have TEN!). The first is about Estephania. She is a 15 year old girl from Haiti who moved here with her family three years ago and learned Spanish solely from experience, no studying. So she speaks slowly, unlike everyone else who speaks SUPER fast, so you know what that means...I CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE IS SAYING! And it is a beautiful thing because that means that I can say things BACK, and even though my Spanish is low and imperfect, she understands it! Its great!
So her dad was a street contact of the elders, and we knocked on their door, he wasn't home but she was, and invited us in to talk to her. We gave her the first lesson, and at the end invited her to read the B.O.M., pray about it, and if she receives an answer of its truth, to be baptized. And she said YES. Whoa. Talk about golden investigator! We haven't gotten to the point of setting up an actual date, but taught her the Plan of Salvation and she is planning on coming to church with us this next Sunday. I was so giddy and excited as we walked away from the first lesson, I was literally dancing in the street.
The second story is about Doris, our investigator who said that she didn't want to be crucified. We have been trying to figure out a way to teach her the restoration so that she would remember it and feel the spirit; the regular way was not working out with her. We had the idea to share a movie with her about the first vision, and at first she was just as distracted as ever, and I was starting to lose hope, that after FOUR times trying to teach her, that it just wouldn't work.
But then, it got to the part in the movie (the spirit is literally tangible for me as I type this) when Joseph is walking into the grove, and Joseph Smith's first prayer is playing quietly in the background, and he kneels down and offers up the desires of his heart, and then when God and Christ appear, I look at Doris, and she is silently crying. In that moment, the spirit was so strong. Everyone was feeling it, it was beautiful. I nearly shed a tear at my absolute joy in my testimony of the Restoration. That is literally where my testimony started! With a film on the restoration! And here I am in Chile helping this daughter of God gain a testimony of it as well. Once the movie was over, we invited her to pray about being baptized. But she already knew that it was what she wanted.
She has a date set for a baptism on December first.
I repeat.
Investigator with a baptismal date.
:) yay :)
Now! This week was HALLOWEEN! Hna Ortiz and I sang Thriller intermittently throughout the day. I sang the high notes, naturally ;) Dulces o travesura instead of Trick or Treat, but it's basically the same as in the U.S. Remember that one year when Marcy and I were sister missionaries for Halloween? And dad made us name tags on photoshop so that we wouldn't have to use our dads elder plaques? My dad. He is a gem. But yeah, it made me smile as I walked down the street with the monsters and princesses as a real like missionary, just as I had dressed up to be when I was 8 or 9. Speaking of Marcy...I GOT TWO LETTERS FROM MARCY THIS WEEK!!! Oh Marcy, you delight me so. You are such a peach. Thank you for sacrificing sketchbook paper and paycheck money on stamps to write me. It made me so giddy!
So this last Monday, Hna Ortiz and I went on an adventure to the CCM! She has a problem with her back and the doctor needed to look at it. So I got to act as translator, since the doctor doesn't speak Spanish very well. Halfway through, he asked me how much time I had in the field, and I told him 3 weeks. He told me my Spanish was very good for 3 weeks, the fact that I could translate for a doctor appointment meant I was doing well. Yay :) Also, we got to stop in at the distribution center to get some essentials, and I got an English hymnal for 1mil, or $2. It is now my new favorite thing to study! It is marked up like scriptures! I LOVE THE HYMNS! I do have a question...what is the definition of fetter? It is in a few hymns, and is not defined in the bible dictionary, which is the only English dictionary I have. HA. Please and thank you :)
Also this week, I made Peruvian food with my comp for a family we are working with. The mom is a member, but her husband and two kids are not. We thought about trying to teach them the lessons, but decided that it would be better to be friends before trying to talk about the gospel. So we made them a delicious meal (which yes, I did help with! Who would have thought, right? Peruvian food!), shared a little thought, and this week are going to help paint their house. Not all of missionary work is teaching lessons and baptizing people ya know!
Funny story. We were at a lunch appointment at a member's house with the other 4 Elders in our ward, who we work with a lot so we are all pretty good pals after this one month. The members were poking fun at us greenies about being young, since both the Elder greenies are 18. I said that I am 20, but I was trying to be funny and contribute to the joke, since I could actually understand it (ha), and they all started laughing, which, ya know, is good. Then E. Baumman imitates me: "Yo tengo viente añoooooos!" I kid you not, it was exactly the same as the "I'm almost ninteeeeeeeeen" moment with Shyla. I. Was. Dying. Beautiful moments, really.
This week, I want to bear my testimony; I know that after the difficult moments come the amazing, heart lifting moments. I had a tough 10 minutes after lunch this Sunday. The frustration of not understanding and difficulty of communication got to me, and a few tears were shed. I told Hna Ortiz that I felt like a bad comp, like a waste of space in Chile (which, when you think about it, the fact that I could say THAT in Spanish should have turned my mood around, but none the less, this is how the story went). She comforted me, and suggested we go visit a member we know is in need of comfort. Really, all i wanted to do was go back home. BUT, I am a missionary, and missionaries work, and they keep going, even after crying in the street!
So we went and visited this sister, and Hna Ortiz prompted me to give the scripture and spiritual thought. So I shared Mosiah 24:14-15, and shared a story about how it helped me in the CCM. This seems small, but it was a scripture and story that I had never shared in Spanish, I was going totally off of what I was feeling that this dear sister needed the most. And I was able to do it all in Spanish.
Then, this morning, we had personal study together as a zone, something we do every pday. We all share something about our reading after the hour of study, and again, I shared it completely in Spanish, and a scripture I had never shared before. I know! These are small things! But with these small things, I am given strength to keep going, to keep trying, to keep doing my best to be a good missionary. Because I am HERE, right now in Chile, and I am Hermana Harkins, and I have a testimony that I have just gotta share with everyone! I know that after the bad comes the good, comes the testimony builders. I know this church is TRUE! I love you all, stay Bold, till next week!
Hermana Harkins
No comments:
Post a Comment