Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Dogs, Cats, and great big Rats


This week was… well let’s be honest. It was a bit rough. The field is a lot different than the CCM. For one there aren´t as many rules or people watching over you so you can basically do what you want. Thankfully the CCM teaches discipline so we don´t just go crazy here.

It’s a little lonely because I can´t talk to very many people including my companion. We have prayer and companion study every day. The language is getting better. Hopefully soon I will be able to just rattle off sentences with no problem.

My very first zone is Punchana. We cover all of Mi Peru and Versalles. Versalles is the river overflow. All of the houses are on stilts and it stinks. You know all the commercials that say “Save the Amazon, dispose of you trash properly” and then it will show the dirty river? Yeah, it’s the people’s trash. Don’t worry, I don´t think your trash is going to make it all the way down here and clog up the streets. It’s pretty stinky is some places.

All the streets here are washed out. Also there are a ton of stray cats and dogs. The reproduce freely and I have gained a new respect for people who spay and neuter their pets. Most of the animals eat pretty well because of all the trash. Only the old, new, sick and pregnant dogs don´t get food. The cats don´t get much food either. They have to fight the rats. The rats here are just as big as the cats so the cats usually lose the fights. Most of the animals have mites or mange so we don´t touch them at all.

The lessons are going great. We have several families that we are teaching and that are progressing. A lot of the people here are not married because it’s so expensive. We usually plan around that when we first contact a family. 

We met a new family just Wednesday; Delkar and Karine. They have 2 little girls. They accepted a baptism date the very first lesson. It’s really cool to see the people progress here. Delkar already has a testimony of our message because he prayed in the very first lesson. He wants to get baptized and knows that marriage is a commandment. Karin also wants to get baptized but she doesn´t see the point of marriage. We shared The Family A Proclamation to the World with them. Hopefully they will agree to get married. They came to church yesterday too, fast and testimony meeting. Delkar shared in gospel principles class that he had a testimony. It was amazing. He was truly prepared by the Lord. Delkar and Karine always ask the perfect questions. I am able to explain very simply the answer and then Hna Orellana will go more in depth.

We have another family Yessina and John. They have a little boy named ChiChi. They are getting married on the 26th, and Yessina is getting baptized that night. John was an inactive member of the church but has started coming with Yessina and ChiChi.

Another family is Dalia and Alonzo…also not married. They aren’t progressing because they never come to church. I can see that Dalia loves the church and wants to get baptized but Alonzo doesn’t really want anything to do with it.

Most of the families we teach are very, very poor. They live in raised huts in the overflow. We were asked to pray by a family that their house wouldn’t flood. These people are not rich, but they are rich in spirit. This place is amazing.

I found a lot of comfort in Jacob 5 this week. Verses 65-75 helped me the most when I was feeling discouraged.

Remember every member a missionary- I love you guys so much

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