To celebrate my 1 year mark, I decided to wash my snuggie...FYI I haven't
washed it in a year. Let's just say the water was browner than normal in the
washing machine. Hahahahaha
This week was...I'll be honest, a little hard. But good. It's always that
way. What am I talking about.
On Monday night we were told that we would be heading to Cuernavaca for the
follow up training for the new missionaries on Tuesday at 4. So we didn't really
do much on Tuesday. We left after the food and made it to Cuernavaca at about
6pm. It was so fun to see everyone. We slept that night in the offices and the
next day we had the training in the mission home. I love going to trainings with
President and Sister Kusch. I always leave feeling a renewed desire to be a
better missionary. It was also awesome because Hna. Kusch cooked for us and we
ate lots of yummy food. They even had cookies from Costco! I almost cried. We
were there pretty much the whole day and left that night to head back to Iguala.
We had a good time and got back home ready to start working hard.
But then we had two days that were just rough. The area that I am in is
rather humble. The people don't have a lot of money or education so it's a
little difficult. A lot of people think that the people who are poor are more
susceptible to accepting the gospel, which may be true, but a lot of times, they
just want free hand outs. We went to visit this investigator that we met a few
weeks ago. We had been meeting in the house of a member but on Thursday, she
took us to her house (well, it's the house of her son). I am not even sure you
could call it a house. It looked like a trash dumb. Her grandkids were there and
were completely dirty. It was the saddest thing. Even more sad that I felt like
I couldn't really help this lady. She started talking bad about a member of the
church that she knows who is a faithful member of our ward which irritated me.
We ended up asking her what she expected from our visits and she asked us if we
could give her money. We explained that the church has a program to help us
become self-reliant and that she could go to these classes to help develop
talents or find a job, but that we couldn't just give her money. I just felt
hopeless in this moment. I know that the gospel could change this woman's life,
but not in the way she is thinking.
Then we headed to another cita and the man just can't seem to accept the
Book of Mormon. I testified that this was the true church and he asked a
question that stuck with me. 'If this is the true church, why doesn't everyone
go?' I thought in my head, 'I ask myself that all the time!' We explained about
agency and how we are able to choose and also how satan works hard to distract
us from what is good. But honestly, after we left, I thought...BUT SERIOUSLY!
Why doesn'´t everyone come to this church. It is seriously the best thing in the
world. It changes lives. If people only would actually listen to what we are
saying!!!!!
I was a little frustrated and on Friday, it all came flooding out. It
literally felt like EVERYONE was rejected us. No one wanted to listen or they
would listen and then tell us that they didn't want anything. That's fine. But
there was this one lady that literally looked at me and said 'I don't like
listening to people like you.' I told her 'Just remember, you are a daughter of
God and He loves you' and we walked away. As I walked away, I just started
crying. I haven't cried in a while, but I couldn't help it. I was so mad and sad
and frustrated and exhuasted. I cried all the way up this really big hill. We
went to visit a family and I thought...if they aren't home, I am going home and
not leaving the house the rest of the week! (obviously that isn't true, but that
is what I was thinking). But the family was there, I calmed down and remembered
that we have to pass through times like these in order to appreciate the sweet
times.
This probably sounds like a super depressing email. And it is because it
was a hard week, but it was good because my companion and I realized that
something we need to work on is helping the members gain personal conversions of
the gospel. This ward is famous in the mission for baptizing a ton, but in the
end, there isn't much retention. We feel like we need to reactivate families who
have fallen away and really work with the members and I know that we will see
miracles.
One of the biggest miracles we saw this week was that of the Familia
Bringas. David is our investigator...he is 11 years old. His mom and grandma are
active but his grandpa stopped going to church about 2 years ago because he was
offended by some of the members. He reminds me SO MUCH of Pop...the way he
looks, his facial expressions,his stubborness (hehe), his big heart, his wisdom.
He is so nice to us and always treats us with so much respect but he just
doesn't want to go to church (this part doesn't remind me of Pop...haha).
Anyway, we talked to him because we would like him to baptize his grandson. He
hasn't committed any sin, he just stopped going. We told him that he could do it
but he would have to go to chuch and talk to the bishop. I told him that he
reminded me so much of my pop and that he would be a great leader in the church,
but he just needs to be a little more humble and not worry about the others
because his personal salvation doesn't depend of them. IN the end, he promised
us that he would go to church...and guess what? HE CAME! I wanted to cried. His
daughter, Hna. Bringas (she is an angel) actually did cry. She was so happy and
shocked that he came. He talked to the bishop and all was good. We are going to
work really hard with him because we want him and his wife to go to the temple
and be sealed!
They are going to remodel the church building where we attend and so we
have to go to another one, where my old ward meets. I was able to see a bunch of
members yesterday, and it was so fun to see them. they all were so excited to
see me and told me that my spanish has improved a ton! woo hoo!
Yesterday, we had a special fireside with President and Sister Kusch here
in Iguala. It was really good. They talked about missionary work, of course, and
it was really great. I felt pumped to get out and work another week.
Although this week was hard, it was also really good. The Lord answered
many prayers and we were able to grow as missionaries. I know that there will
ALWAYS be days and weeks like these, but I also know that the Lord is pleased
when we keep on working. When we keeping going even when we want to give up. I
know that my companion and I can do so much good here and we are giving it our
all. Keep praying for us...it is certainly appreciated!
I love you all so much. Can you believe that in 6 months I will be
home?!?!?! I sure can't. I feel like I still have an eternity left. haha. But I
am excited and grateful for the time I have left!
I love you all. The church is true...don't forget that.
Love,
Hermana Durham
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