Hola hola!! This week was pretty awesome
and full of little miracles. God is good, all the time.
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| At Incachaca |
Ok so, martes/Tuesday we had a pretty
interesting day. We had meetings in the morning, which went pretty good. After
meetings we had lunch, and then we went to work. We had a pretty good visit
with this lady named Doña Filomena; she is a super humble lady who works as a
maid, housekeeper lady for some pretty rich people. She is awesome though and
really wants to learn more about God. Later we went and looked for a few people,
and we talked with Nelson, the husband of Salomé. Salomé is a super awesome
investigator who really wants to get baptized. However, Nelson had heard some
silly things that like “Mormon” means “door to hell” and told us that we are
worshipping the devil. We tried to help him see the silliness in what he was
saying, but he told us we need to study more because we have no idea what we
are doing. So that was pretty disappointing. We tried visiting a few other
people, but everybody was rejecting us and we really started getting a little
upset. We then visited this one guy that we call ´the Quechua guy´ because he
literally only speaks Quechua. He is like 60ish but just always super happy and
full of energy. When he saw us at his door, he started yelling “Hermanos
Hermanos!!” and then a bunch of stuff in Quechua like “I’m so happy to see you
guys” and like “God is the best and loves us.” Hahaha. He was just like yelling
and super excited. We talked with him for a little bit and then before we left
he yelled “THREE SHOUTS FOR GOD” and then jumped and yelled “HALLELUJAH!!”
three times. Man, Quichuan guy is sooo awesome. He totally boosted our spirits
and our courage to keep working and moving forward, in spite of all the things
that happened. GOD IS GOOD, and He always takes care of those who do His will.
I know that. So after that, the day was pretty awesome. God blessed us to
actually find several super cool people. We did a few things of service for
random people (which I love doing, just helping somebody and then talking a
little about God with them). God is always good to lead us to places where
people need help. We also had a super good visit with Santiago and Kimberly.
Santiago has been a member for like 2 yrs, and Kimberly has been member her
whole life. They have several really good questions and really needed a visit.
God is good.
Miércoles/Wednesday we had to go to
tramites pretty early in the morning. After over a year in Bolivia... I’m
finally legal and have all my papers figured out and got my Bolivian ID. Hahaha.
It took so long because I wasn’t in Cochabamba, and I had to sign a bunch of
stuff. After that we had interviews with President. That always goes super
good. President Montoya is super awesome. I really respect and look up to him.
After interviews we had to go to the offices and do a few zone things. After
lunch we went to work. We passed by Nely and Victoria and found another girl
named Mary Elena. They are super awesome and really want to learn more about
God and are actually reading the Book of Mormon!! Then we had to do a few more
zone things with housing and such. Afterwards we tried to find a few people but
with no success. And then we had correlation meeting with our ward mission
leader. The ward here is super awesome. They are very involved and willing to
help with the missionary work and visit and help our investigators. They are
awesome.
Jueves/Thursday we had a few citas/appointments
in the morning, but they fell through. After lunch we were super busy. We had
an awesome visit with Doña Filomena and her daughter Julieta. Later, this guy
came up and contacted us. Yeah, he contacted us and told us he is member but
super inactive but just got back with his wife and wants to make his life right
again. Dang. God is good. Then, we went with an investigator family to the
temple and just walked around outside. WOW!!! Just walking around with them and
then sitting outside and sharing our testimonies with them... wow the Spirit
was soooo strong. We just sat there in silence with the whole family for like 5
minutes and the feeling of love and peace that filled me was absolutely
amazing. I know the temple is the house of the Lord and one of the most sacred
places on the earth. It had been a very long time since I’d even visited the
temple and without even going inside, I felt the Spirit incredibly strong. I
love the temple. The investigator family really loved it too, and they are now
super excited to get baptized and one day be sealed in the temple. They are
Jhonathan and Melisa and then the parents and siblings of Melisa. They are so
awesome. After the temple visit, we went down with the sister missionaries in
Tiquipaya to visit one of their investigators that only speaks Quechua. She is
super awesome and really wants to get baptized, but her husband and oldest son
seem to be a little against the church and kind of treat her like a little girl
that knows nothing. She is very sweet though, and we are going to be visiting
her for a while (since she only speaks Quechua, and I kind of speak Quechua, haha).
That night we started intercambios/exchanges with the assistants to the
President. I went with Elder Behotas and Elder Ortolano and my comp stayed with
Elder Wamsley. (There’s 3 assistants right now because Elder Behotas and
Wamsley are both going home this cambio/transfer, and they are training Elder
Ortolano). So I was with them all day viernes/Friday. It was a pretty good day
and they are pretty good missionaries. I learned several good things from them,
and it was a fun day.
Sábado/Saturday I was back with Elder
Norton in our area. We had service early in the morning helping a lady cut down
a tree, with a machete. Sweet. The early afternoon was pretty tough; we were a
little tired of being constantly rejected and people just pushing us off like
the gospel we are trying to share isn’t really that important. We were a little
frustrated but after looking for a few people, we finally had a pretty good
cita/appointment with this youth named Grevi. That went pretty good. Then, we
found the guy that contacted us jueves/Thursday. His name is Alexis. He is a member,
but his wife Evelyn isn’t. Supposedly, jueves when he found us, he and her had
just gotten back together that morning and had spent the whole day talking
about things and making everything right. And then he left and BOOM, we were
walking by and he talked to us. WOW!!! God is soooo good. They want to have a
happy good family. (They have 3 little boys: 7, 5 and 4 years.) They want to
repent and go to church and eventually be sealed in the temple. They are sooo
awesome, and it’s truly a miracle we passed their house that day and they found
us. Later sábado, we had a really awesome cita with Alieta. She is a super,
super awesome investigator. But she still doesn’t feel ready or willing to be
baptized. However she loves learning, and we always have a super awesome discussion.
Domingo/Sunday was awesome. Alieta came
to church. She is sooo awesome. Also, Evelyn came with the 3 boys. Alexis had
just got a new job and had to work. Jhonathan and Melisa came to church and are
progressing great. Also, God blessed us with 2 other investigators who came to
church. Both who came with other members. Sweetness. In the afternoon we had
several awesome citas. Viernes/Friday my comp contacted some super awesome people,
and domingo/Sunday we went back and they let us in and really wanted to hear
the message we teach. WOW!! We taught this young couple named Alvaro and
Adríana. They are super smart and were really interested. We shared the Book of
Mormon with them, and they are super excited to read it and learn more. YAAY!!!!
Later we had a pretty good cita with Veronica Perez. She is super good but doesn’t
seem to see the purpose of things. We talked a lot but come to find out she doesn’t
really understand the purpose of a church and neither the purpose of life. And
then she had to go, so I guess we will be helping her learn more this week.
This past week was sooo awesome. It was
crazy to see how each time we were having a bad day and getting a little
frustrated, God sent us somebody or something to help us see He is happy with
us. It was an awesome week full of miracles. I know we are here doing the Lord’s
will, and He is “going forth with his servants in the vineyard.” I love being a
missionary. Cochabamba is pretty awesome. The weather here is absolutely
amazing. SOOO PERFECT; I love it. Our zone is pretty awesome.
Today we went to this place called
Incachaca, and we had a barbecue there. It’s this place with lots of
waterfalls, bridges, and jungle all around. It was sweet. I’ll send some
pictures.
Les amo!!
Elder Sorensen
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| At Incachaca |