Well, this week was pretty darn awesome. We worked super hard
and as always, God does His part after we do ours.
Well, martes/Tuesday we had meetings, and they went super, super
good. We had like a council with the whole zone, and then we shared a few
things on how we can become better missionaries, and it went super good. After
lunch, we had a super good visit with Julieta (the daughter of Doña Filomena).
We taught about the Book of Mormon, and she seemed super excited to read. Later
we went out to Tiquipaya (another area in the zone). We went to a lady named
Hilaria. She only understands and speaks Quechua. So, I taught her in Quechua.
She really wants to get baptized, but she wants to learn a bit more before she
gets baptized. It was super fun talking with her. I didn’t think I’d speak much
Quechua in Cochabamba, but there is still a bit. That was awesome.
Miércoles/Wednesday we had a pretty awesome day. We went with
the zone to an old missionary house and cleaned it all out. In the afternoon we
had a bunch of citas/appointments that actually went good!! First we visited
with Iker. He is 9 years old, and his parents are inactive. We had a really
good visit with them and talked about Iker getting baptized. Then we had a good
cita with Aurora, a less active member. It’s been a while since she’s come to church,
and so her daughter and grandson aren’t members. Later we visited with Alexis
and Evelin. Alexis is a member, and last week they were trying to fix their
relationship. Well, when we visited this week, only Alexis was there and he
began telling us how things weren’t going to work out and such. It was pretty
sad. He is only 25 yrs old but has 3 kids under 7 and doesn’t really have a
good job and doesn’t want to make it work, because ”she’s the problem” he said.
Sad. Later we had a super good visit with a past contact, named Brisma. She
told us she is Catholic and didn’t seem too interested but let us in and then
once we started teaching about prophets and such she got super interested and
was asking tons of questions. She’s pretty awesome. We had correlation that
night, and I love how awesome the ward is here and how active and involved they
are in the mission work.
Jueves/Thursday we had some super awesome contacts in the
morning. In the afternoon we visited with Evelin (of Alexis). She says she
really wants to help the kids, but the relationship is over she says; “he is
the problem” she said. Hmmmm. We really want to help them be happy, and I’ve
seen families that are centered on Christ are always happier. It just takes
work and sacrifices on both sides. We had several good visits that day, but the
most interesting one was a non-member family who has a daughter on a mission in
Mexico (the daughter is member), but the rest aren’t. Supposedly, the mom and
daughter didn’t really get along too good so, the mom has decided to never
write or talk to her daughter while she’s on her mission. It was super sad. It
made me think how grateful I am for my awesome family that writes me and cares
about me. God is good. The family was super open to hear and learn about what
their daughter and sister is doing and teaching about. It was an awesome
lesson. Later we had a good lesson with Alieta about the Book of Mormon and its
importance. Then we had intercambios/exchanges. I went out with Elder Cabral
(from Brazil) to his area, and his comp Elder Beck (who is brand new) stayed
with Elder Norton.
So Viernes/Friday I was with Elder Cabral. He is a super good
missionary, just pretty young and still learning. But he is a really good guy
and really trying to become a better missionary. It was a fun day, and we saw a
lot of blessings from God.
Sábado/Saturday we had a pretty good day. We had a good visit
with Doña Maria. We taught about how there’s only one true church of God and
how prophets are a key part in His church. It’s amazing to me how much people
say they believe in the Bible and follow God and all, but then they really don’t
understand much.
Domingo/Sunday was pretty awesome. We had a bunch of our investigators
come to church. That’s always the best feeling. After church, we had a pretty
good afternoon. We actually found a bunch of contacts that we had found early.
It was awesome. We had an awesome visit with Melisa and Jhonathan. They are
working on their marriage papers and planning to be baptized pretty soon (like
within the next 2 weeks!!!). They are awesome. Later we had an AMAZING visit
with Veronica. She has been an investigator for quite a while and suddenly, in
our cita, we were teaching about the gospel and baptism and she just goes, “I
want to be baptized. I’m ready now.” WOOOO!!!! We were soooo happy and excited.
So hopefully it will go through, and we´ll have a baptism this weekend. God is
good!!
This week was sooo awesome. I found it incredible how many
people don’t believe that God still uses prophets or that they are actually
really important. I’m sooo excited to listen to General Conference this coming
weekend. I know Russell Nelson is called of God to be His speaker and prophet
here on the earth.
Les amo!!
Elder Sorensen