Querida Famila y Amigos,
I feel like a lot of what I talk about in my letters is who was at church and who wasn't. And maybe that is because Sunday is what is fresh on my mind but it also just because church is SO important. Before my mission my life pretty much revolved around my weekend activities. And well, that basically hasn't changed. My life still revolves around the weekend because Saturday is baptism day and Sunday is the Sabbath. Much of our efforts throughout the week basically focus on those indicators.
I feel like a lot of what I talk about in my letters is who was at church and who wasn't. And maybe that is because Sunday is what is fresh on my mind but it also just because church is SO important. Before my mission my life pretty much revolved around my weekend activities. And well, that basically hasn't changed. My life still revolves around the weekend because Saturday is baptism day and Sunday is the Sabbath. Much of our efforts throughout the week basically focus on those indicators.
Last week was a miracle for getting investigators to attend church. This week wasn't quite as successful, but it was still very good. We had two investigators attend. One is a very old man that we literally carried to the chapel. Good thing I'm insanely buff. (Joke.) His name is Jonny. I think he will get baptized - as long as he doesn't die before ..... seriously.
We also had a less active come to church. We were really happy to see him because he is the first less active that we have gotten to come to church. There are SO many less actives here. Our area has about 50 on record. I don't know what there are more of in our area: crazy, starving dogs or less active families. I've been trying to calculate this but I just can't figure it out. I think there are an infinite number of both. We have gone into so many homes and kindly made the family and helped them find their Book of Mormon. We usually find it on some obscure bookshelf or somewhere. Then we dust it off and begin teaching. The thing is, dusting off an unread Book of Mormon is easy, it's dusting off an unnurtured testimony that is...well incredibly tough.
Which brings me back to my first point: church attendance is SO important. The first three commandments we teach are pray, read the Book of Mormon and go to church. These three things grow testimonies and provide access to personal revelation. If an investigators does these three things they become a progressing investigator. But each Sunday that even a solid investigator doesn't go to church we don't count them as a progressing investigator for that entire week. It just makes me think about all the times before my mission I thought I had a good enough reason to not be a progressing investigator to God. So sad. :(
This week we started teaching a new family: Rodrigo and Miriam Zepeda. This is how they were found: Rodrigo has a friend that has (now I don't know how this is possible but...) been to every religious service because he finds them interesting. Rodrigo asked him one day which church he should belong to and the friend told him to become a Mormon because our services are the best. I think this family is really prepared for the gospel. I'm excited to hopefully get to continue the story of their conversion in the coming weeks. Woop woop!
So I've talked about her a little bit but Paulina is just the coolest. She is fifteen, has a testimony, wants to be baptized, buttt....her mom won't let her. Her mom has been softening little by little but she is still oh so stubborn. She bought a dress a couple of weeks ago and then last week went to church. We were ECSTATIC. She has come a long ways. And this week we asked her again for permission for Paulina to be baptized. She said no. For a lot of reasons that are all just really bad reasons. For example: going to church is one of the only things that she can leverage against her daughter. Cell phone privileges revoked doesn't work, groundings don't work, but her baptism and church attendance do so she doesn't want to give that away. It's a real bummer. We hope that her heart will soon be softened.
Funny story though (her mom is a Jehovah's Witness so that is why I thought of this) there are a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses here. I didn't really know they existed but there are tons. And there was a day this week that every single person but one that I contacted was a feisty Jehovah's Witness. Now, I don't like fighting with them in part because I'm Amity and don't see the point but also because I don't think I know enough Spanish or Bible to hold my own in an argument. But my companion loves it. And is good at it. Every time after she's like ?I didn't mean to, they just provoked me? It's hilarious.
Even though we sometimes get people that like to fight with us, and people yell at us sometimes it really is a wonderful, wonderful thing to be a missionary. Two Elders in my ward are going home this next transfer (Sunday...ahhh!) and I just think that is so sad. I'm so glad I have about 16 more months!! There is no place I'd rather be than here in the killer heat of Puerto Vallarta.
¡Te amo hasta la luna y mas alla!
Hermana Wood
