Week #21 - Cajamarca

Well, friends, this week was the first time I´ve ever eaten cow heart, and it was actually pretty good. Maybe it was the spices and the oil haha, but Anticucho isn´t super scary...(sorry mom you may be getting nauseous at this point).

Today we have intercambios with the Hermana Leaders, so I don´t have a ton of time to write. We are heading to Pacasmayo, which is 5 hours away from Cajamarca. It´s always super stressful and exhausting to have intercambios here in Cajamarca, because it's so isolated from the rest of the mission.

This past Monday, we had an awesome lesson with Rei (super cool name because it´s my sister´s) , who has a girlfriend who is a member. We extended an invitation to be batpized, but something super random happened during the lesson. As I was teaching, holding the pamphlet, I looked down at my hand and realized it was full of blood! I looked in the sleeve of my jacket, and realized my wrist was bleeding... I whispered to James, a member who was accompanying us, that I was bleeding and we stood outside and he helped clean me up. Turned out that a bug, most likely a mosquito had bitten me, and from this teeny tiny bite, I was bleeding a ton. It was the weirdest thing. We called the nurse to make sure I would be okay and if I needed meds just in case, but all is well. I think Satan knew Rei was super prepared to receive the gospel and he tried to throw a curveball to add any distraction possible during the lesson!

This week, many of our investigators were interested in attending sacrament meeting, and told us they would come. In the end, we only had 2, which was disappointing, because attending church has a huge impact on helping them build their testimonies and finding answers. This week, we really need to contact more members to help us pick our investigators up, and also read the Book of Mormon with them. One of our baptismal dates fell through, but we gained another. John Taco has not been attending church like he normally does, and has been cancelling our appointments with him and we aren´t sure why. He has received practically all the lessons, and he has sisters who are members who don´t live here in Cajamarca. The YSA Priesthood holders have visited him here and there and they try to stay in contact with him via text and calls. We aren´t sure what to do other than pray and have faith that he´ll keep building his faith and testimony and eventually get baptized! I´m still a little stressed with knowing where everyone lives. I don´t like to feel like I´m relying on my companion a ton, because I know I won´t have her forever! I´ve written down every street and tried to note the investigators and members that live in each street to help me remember. I know I need to be faithful and rely on the Spirit when Hermana Mariño leaves, but this aspect has stressed me out a little. We are going to strive to work even harder this week, and really strive to work with the ward to help build up the church, and prepare people to be baptized.

 

Love you all, and thank you so much for your support and emails. It means the world to me. 

-- 

Hermana Doney