Double the Fun!

Hola a todos,

I am going to try to recap last week a little better than before and then I will get into this week.

Last week we went to a lesson with our Elders Quorum President, President Romero.

We talked about faith and he encouraged them to set a date to get married and they agreed to.

On Wednesday we went to Mama Avilas referral named Betty. She has been through some hard times and wants peace in her life so we shared a bit of the Plan of Salvation. She seems super solid. Then went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders so one of them could interview Nancy and Shirley for their baptism.

While in Ambato with Elder Cloward, I met two of their recent converts. One was an old man who forgot a lot of the things he had been taught so we went over the Restoration again. The other was a family who said that the people in our church don't know how to preach the word of God and lack faith and ganas, and on and on. It was a little frustrating trying to teach them our church is the way it is. They wanted a preacher shouting at them but we explained the spirit doesn't work that way. It is a quiet still, small voice, and that is the voice we should be listening for, not just the words of the person speaking. They still didn't like that answer so we told them to read the Book of Mormon to gain a stronger testimony so I hope they can! After that lesson we went to one of their investigators who Elder Cloward was planning on dropping. We got in the house and shared a scripture. After wards I felt like I should challenge them to get married and be baptized and set a date. They accepted and I was so happy! The spirit was so strong.

On Thursday we had district meeting and that is where our exchanges ended. When we got back to Latacunga we stopped by Nancy and Shirley to see who they wanted to baptize and make sure they were ready. Shirley picked Elder Dorsey to baptize her and Nancy changed her mind to have Reuben (a member that came with us to lessons instead of me). She had picked me the last time we went over.

Friday we took Mama Avila to a lesson with Betty and she invited her to come to church. We couldn't really have a lesson with her because her boss was there. That night we had a Father's Day party and the ward asked us to do some sort of skit so ours was making fun of gringo and latino companionships. Of course me and Elder Dorsey were the gringos and had to act stupid. The ward loved it but we are still getting made fun of to this day haha.

Saturday started off good with an amazing dinner with Mama Avila. Super rico! Then went to another town called Salcedo to teach a lesson. She gave us choclo that later we gave to Mama Avila and picked up Elder Dorsey's suit she was fixing for him. We went home and got dressed for the baptism and started filling the font at 6 and finished at 7:30. Everything was ready and we were just waiting for Shirley and Nancy to show up. Long story short, only Shirley showed up so she was baptized and then confirmed on Sunday.

Sunday found a daughter and her mom who seemed super cool so can't wait to go teach them. Also a random past investigator showed up to church so we are going to try to teach her. Also had a noche de hogar with Paulo and his wife which was super fun. They made good food.

Monday, pday, we played a lot of soccer so I was so sore this week.

This past week, Tuesday we contacted some people while at Mama Avilas which was awesome. Then this guy on the street stopped us as we were walking to a cita and asked what we do. We told him we would come back later and teach him more. When we came back he was super receptive and he read the book of Mormon right there in front of us. He could be a real solid investigator. Then we went to our cita with Betty and while we were talking we found out she had talked to her friend from her church who told her we were false and had false prophets and our book was false and stuff like that. We told her that no man, us or her friend, can tell her the truth and it stand as truth for her. The only real way to know is to ask God so we asked her to read the Book of Mormon and pray and ask God if it is correct and if this is His church. She said she felt really confused and unsure about it all but we really hope she does it.

Afterward we met up with Ruben and went with him to visit Nancy. She still doesn't have her kids and so she feels like she can't be happy and not have them so she doesn't want to be baptized until she gets them. Super stressful day full of up and downs. I've come to realize that I really do love these people and when things come in their way from progressing it makes we really sad for them. Satan is real and working very hard against us, but because we are on the Lord's side we will win!

Wednesday we taught William again. The guy we ran into on Tuesday morning. He had like 10 questions for us just from reading the intro to the Book of Mormon. We were able to answer all of them and he said he would continue reading. We taught him the Restoration and he was super receptive. After that we went to lunch with Obispo, but he lives in Belesario which is like 20 minutes away in bus. After lunch we did some studies and bought Bonais which is frozen yogurt and then headed to a cita with Dario and Patricia to teach them about faith and baptism. Then after went to English class. On our way home Mama Avila bought us papi pollo, super rico!

Thursday we had District meeting and celebrated the fourth of July. We had lunch with Mama Avila and then took the long bus ride to Quito where we got on another bus to take us further into central Quito where we took another bus. We went to Chilis with the secretaries and while we were there some borrachas from the states came and talked to us. Two were behind me so I didn't see them but from what the other elders say, they were all staring at me so that whole night they were calling me the lady slayer and stuff like that.

Celebrating the 4th

The next morning was verifications or trainer follow up. We had french toast in the morning and Papa Johns pizza for lunch. Then afterward we took the long travel back home. We got back around 6 and began to contact. These last two days kind of dragged because of our travels but we managed to pickup one person and contact a few others along the way.

Saturday we had a few lessons and they went ok. One fell through and it just wasn't the most successful day. Sunday William came to church but no one else showed up. Later in the day we had noche de hogar in Mama Avilas casa and it was pretty good.

Pday Adventures - Hiking Cotopaxi Volcano

Les quiero mucho, cuídense!

Elder Tolman