Week #20 - Cajamarca
Another crazy week here in Cajamarca!!
The heavens decided to open and not only rain, but pour out blessings this week! Tuesday got off to a rough start. We only had two appointments, one with Maria Tanta and another with Catia and Maria, in the morning, and all afternoon our appointments fell through. We walked all day long knocking on doors when finally, at around 8:30pm, the time came to knock on Silvia's door, a woman Hna Mariño and her other companion had contacted previously but whom they had trouble visiting since she was always busy. She's a counselor and she helps troubled teens who suffer from addictions, or who are struggling with difficult family situations. She told us that she didn't understand how she could help these people, and yet, she couldn't help her own daughter who's very rebellious and gets involved in things she shouldn't. She grew up Catholic but told us with so much sincerity that there are many questions that the Catholic church hasn't answered for her, and that she's not happy. She told us her testimony is very hard and sad, and she wants to find the truth in her life. She said she would go to our church this Sunday, without even asking her to join us. In that moment as I sat in front of this golden investigator, I couldn't help but feel a little inadequate. This woman was so desperate to find the truth, which I've grown up with my whole life. We shared a message in the Book of Mormon about the Atonement, and gave a brief overview of the Restoration because we didn't have much time. After the appointment, Hna Mariño and I cried because God had truly blessed us with someone whom he had prepared, someone who was so willing to listen to us. It's moments like this in the mission that remind us that all we are doing to find these people, even if it takes hours and hours, or weeks and weeks, is worth it because when we find them, we are reminded of who we are, and of the power that comes with our calling and with this message.
The heavens decided to open and not only rain, but pour out blessings this week! Tuesday got off to a rough start. We only had two appointments, one with Maria Tanta and another with Catia and Maria, in the morning, and all afternoon our appointments fell through. We walked all day long knocking on doors when finally, at around 8:30pm, the time came to knock on Silvia's door, a woman Hna Mariño and her other companion had contacted previously but whom they had trouble visiting since she was always busy. She's a counselor and she helps troubled teens who suffer from addictions, or who are struggling with difficult family situations. She told us that she didn't understand how she could help these people, and yet, she couldn't help her own daughter who's very rebellious and gets involved in things she shouldn't. She grew up Catholic but told us with so much sincerity that there are many questions that the Catholic church hasn't answered for her, and that she's not happy. She told us her testimony is very hard and sad, and she wants to find the truth in her life. She said she would go to our church this Sunday, without even asking her to join us. In that moment as I sat in front of this golden investigator, I couldn't help but feel a little inadequate. This woman was so desperate to find the truth, which I've grown up with my whole life. We shared a message in the Book of Mormon about the Atonement, and gave a brief overview of the Restoration because we didn't have much time. After the appointment, Hna Mariño and I cried because God had truly blessed us with someone whom he had prepared, someone who was so willing to listen to us. It's moments like this in the mission that remind us that all we are doing to find these people, even if it takes hours and hours, or weeks and weeks, is worth it because when we find them, we are reminded of who we are, and of the power that comes with our calling and with this message.
This Sunday, Diana who we just met this past week, attended all three hours of church and was welcomed by all the young women. It was so great to see the ward working hard to help our investigators feel welcomed. It's so critical that we use the ward in as many ways as possible to help our investigators in the conversion process.
After church, was well....an experience. Every Saturday and Sunday we eat lunch with the members, and this time we had to eat with the family Delacruz who live pretty much 20 minutes away on a giant hill. We had to travel in this van with the Elders, along with about 50 other people. The van picks up whoever needs a ride to go to certain places, and I literally have no idea how we fit as many people as we did.... literally that was a miracle. We were jam packed in this thing and it smelled awful! Elder Page had to sit next to this man, who only spoke Quechua, and was glaring at Elder Page, trying to talk to him the whole time. It was hilarious. When we got off, we had to hike about a mile up this giant hill to get to their house. And of course because it had rained the night before, it was a muddy mess! Hna Mariño and I struggled up the hill in our dresses and shoes. When we finally reached the house, I was nicely greeted by some chicken skin hanging from a line that hit me right in the head because I´m so tall compared to the people here. I pretty much had a nice dry chicken skin treatment through my hair - it was awesome! Right before we headed back down the hill, it started to pour and we heard thunder and lightning. We tried to run down the hill as fast as we could before it REALLY strarted to pour, but we were too late, and it the end we were soaking wet. Only in the mission!
I hope you all have a wonderful week. This week, I was thinking a lot about how much I've learned on the mission and how far I've come with everything - the language, my knowledge of the scriptures, etc. Yet, it's still easy to become a little discouarged or to feel like we are so far from our goals. I've always loved this scripture in 3 Nefi 12:48: ¨Por tanto, quisiera que fueseis perfectos así como yo, o como vuestro Padre que está en los cielos es perfecto¨ Christ never said ¨I would that ye should be perfect today, or tomorrow, but that eventually, we might be made perfect. We are all striving to find happiness here on Earth, and our happiness can be found through Christ's Atonement, and grace. As long as we are doing all we can, and striving to do our part, Christ's grace is always sufficient for us to reach our potential on earth. We each have so much to offer our brothers and sisters, because God has blessed us with specific abilities and gifts so that we could experience the joy of blessing others just as He blesses us. Seek out these gifts and develop new ones because I know God wants to give us as many opportunities as possible while we are here, learning and growing.
Les amo muchísimo!!
--
Hermana Doney
Comments
Post a Comment