Another week has gone by. I cannot believe that transfers are coming up again. This is the last week before transfers, and so I´m in a little spot. I don´t want to change. I love my companion, I love the people here, and I've still got a lot of work to do here. However, I realized last week how much time I have in this area, and I would like to get to know more of the city. It would be perfect if I could bring my companion and all the people here to another place in the city.
Anyway, I´m getting ahead of myself. It´s not my decision. It´s the Lord´s. It´s out of my hands, and all I can do is live in the here and now, and do the things that are in my hands, and leave the other things in the hands of the Lord. He knows what I need to do, and whatever that may be, I better do the best I can to do it.
This week could have gone better in many respects. We didn't have any of the 6 baptisms we had as a goal follow through yesterday. (Coincidentally, we now have 6 people with a date for next Sunday....I hope everything goes through) First of all, the family Orea Zavaleta was unable to get baptized this week, because they still have people in their house Reciting Prayers and all that stuff in respect of the death in their family, and they didn´t feel very comfortable leaving so many people in their house for about four and half hours(during all the services and then their baptismal service). However, they seem to be coping well with everything. I was able to talk to Uriel a little bit while my companion and I took a short walk with the two of them Saturday night. I does seem a little hurt, but he continues strong, and he still has a lot of desires to get baptized. So they told us that this next week they will be baptized.
Two other people were Carolina Ábrego and her daughter Fernanda. Carolina is the sister of Bety that has been in teaching almost as long as her sister, but didn´t seem to be going anywhere. They just liked having us around. When we committed them to be baptized last week, they looked at us like "Is that what you wanted this entire time?" So they weren´t certain. That is, until Bety got baptized last Sunday, Fernanda, upon hearing of her experience(they weren´t able to go to church that sunday) suddenly got lit up with desires to get baptized, Carolina was a little less sure, but she was also bolstered by the example of her sister. As much as hearing of the baptism of Bety bolstered their desires, going to the Visitor´s Center by the Temple multiplied about fifty times. We went Friday with Irene, Marisela, and the two of them (Mari Tere was going to come with her son, but they had commitments). Irene and Marisela enjoyed themselves a great deal, but had to leave after a couple hours due to problems with the little girls they brought along(their granddaughters.) Meanwhile, Carolina and Fernanda seemed aloof in respect of time, especially when they were looking at all the temples, and when they listened to a few short messages from President Monson. That night after everything, Carolina finally opened up and begged us to put her baptism for the next Sunday, and not for yesterday, because she wasn´t sure she could convince her husband. We told her to pray about it and to make her decision. Before we left, Fernanda whispered that she would convince Carolina to be baptized that Sunday. So both of them now have the desire, the only thing that impeded them was the fact that her husband was away in a trip for work until well after the services on Sunday, and she never got to talk to him. However, I don´t have doubts that they will get baptized.
The final two people is an elderly couple, whose nephew recently was baptized and confirmed in the ward in Santa Fe(it´s a Colonia in Mexico City, kind of like Plateros, Mixcoac, Tacubaya, or Puerta Grande). They only problem is they haven´t ever come to the ward in Plateros, but have gone to the ward in Santa Fe two or three times already. That said, I think that if they do go to Plateros this Sunday, that will be able to baptize them after the services. Both of them really wanted to get baptized this week, but had already agreed to go to the ward in Santa Fe, to watch their nephew bless the sacrament for the first time. The only thing I´m concerned about is that the Elders in Santa Fe(who are in our Zone), are going to try to steal them and baptize them there. But I don´t think it would make much sense, because the Elders were the ones that gave them to us as a referral, but who knows what could happen!
Anyway, so this week could have gone better, but I´ve got high hopes for this next week!
Thank you so much for the prayers and support!
Cariños,
Elder Blackham
Showing posts with label Mari-Tere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mari-Tere. Show all posts
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Weekly Letter: June 15-21
So, another week in Mexico. Wow! They really pass by! What really weirded me out was realizing that we have changes again in a week! Our President Fuentes leaves with this change, and we´re going to welcome President Villareal. I´m sorry to see Presidente Fuentes leave, but I´m also excited to see what this new president will bring to this mission. I´m also concerned about the changes because I don´t want to be changed, I want to stay, it looks like I probably will stay where I am....with the new mission president, he won´t make many changes unless they´re necessary(like someone who´s leaving or coming into the mission), but who knows! I will know for sure this Monday, I really hope that I get to stay in Plateros, we´re just barely starting to enjoy the fruits of labors of these two changes. It looks like Irene is only going to be the start of our investigators that are going to take a baptism.
Speaking of Irene, she´s still going strong. Her brother lives in Orange County, CA, close to the Newport Beach Temple. He was already baptized and is really strong in the gospel When we ate with her this last Sunday, he called her, and talked to each of us individually. He thanked both of us for helping his sister take a baptism. We also took her and Bety Ábrego to Visitor´s Center by the Mexico City Temple. Both of them really enjoyed the experience. Irene is already talking about going again to buy more stuff from the Distribution Center.
Her daughter really really wants to hear the message....which is one of the biggest miracles I´ve ever seen. I´ve never seen someone change like this. She wanted to come with us to the Visitor´s Center, but couldn´t because she already had family commitments. But we´re planning another trip in the coming weeks. She has to work slowly so that her husband doesn´t cut her off. He is Cristiano(I have no idea what that means other than another type of sect of Christian), and he doesn´t want her to change religions. We don´t know exactly to do, but we´re going to work little by little until her husband will allow the missionaries to visit them in their house in Puerta Grande(the neighboring area), but right now we´re just teaching her in the house of her mother, Irene.
The family Orea Zavaleta. Due to a misunderstanding between them, we weren´t able to visit them as much as we wanted to. He was a little more than annoyed with her, and wanted to put the blame on the church. We did visit him alone on Thursday, and he was really polite, he looked for opportunities to avoid listening to us, but when he actually sat down and listened to our message, he was really attentive and still wanted to be baptized. Also his grandmother´s health is improving dramatically. She actually sat in on our message, she told us she wanted to be baptized too, but wanted to learn more about our Church first. We were going to have Family night with them and the ward mission leader, but we weren´t able to pass by. I think he´s afraid of the members of the ward, but we´re working with Jorge Montes, his long-time friend who is a member of this ward, to set-up a family night with them this week. I just hope that we can work with them little by little until they can both be baptized. Unfortunately due to this difficulty, we may have to postpone their baptisms, but if all goes as previously planned, they will be baptized this Sunday with Bety Ábrego and Rebeca Sánchez.
Rebeca is the daughter of an eternal investigator. Her mother wants to get baptized but has something against this ward...and the bishop. She loves listening to us and always says she will get baptized in Mixcoac or in Las Aguilas, but in Plateros no. We´ve already taught her about the doctrine about why she needs to attend the ward that she lives in, that the bishop in Mixcoac, even though is a bishop called of God, doesn´t have the right to receive revelation for her and her family. However, she doesn´t seem to be progressing. We hope that her daughter Rebeca(who already has made friends in Plateros and wants to be baptized there) will be a help for her, and also be a stepping stone for Graciela(the mother) and Mauricio(the son of Graciela) to also take this step.
Jesús Islas also is turning out to be quite the golden investigator. He has told us that his life has visibly improved upon starting to listen to us. At first, when we started teaching him, he was uncomfortable praying, but right now his prayers our powerful. It really is something specially to hear an investigator thanking God for the missionaries. He really is feasting on the introduction and the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. At first he was a little concerned about it because it wasn´t the Bible. He told us that he felt it was good, but felt that without the Bible, something was missing. We explained that the Book of Mormon was merely another testament of Jesus Christ a complement to the Bible, not a substitute. He seemed to understand really well, and I think it resolved his concerns.
We were going to plan on having the Assistants bring their van to Plateros this Saturday or Sunday, so that Jesús, los Orea Zavalet, Graciela and her children, and Marí-Tere(the daughter of Irene) could go to the Visitors Center. But with the Changes this Tuesday, the Assistants are going to be busy, especially since one of them goes home this Monday. So, hopefully we will be able to do it, if not this week, in the weeks to come. All of them really want to make the trip, it´s just a matter of transportation. We can´t pay for the bus fare for all of them(and we don´t want them to pay for themselves), and we can´t all fit in the Hno. Zepeda´s SUV like we did this other time. But the Assistants aren´t going to be able to do it, I don´t think, so it looks like we´re going to have to wait....but I´m way excited!
I haven´t come even close to doing justice to this week, but everything has its time, and this time is almost done! Thank you, like always for your prayers and support. I hope that you all will receive the blessings that the Lord has in store for you by living His gospel!
Con amor,
Elder Thomas Blackham
Speaking of Irene, she´s still going strong. Her brother lives in Orange County, CA, close to the Newport Beach Temple. He was already baptized and is really strong in the gospel When we ate with her this last Sunday, he called her, and talked to each of us individually. He thanked both of us for helping his sister take a baptism. We also took her and Bety Ábrego to Visitor´s Center by the Mexico City Temple. Both of them really enjoyed the experience. Irene is already talking about going again to buy more stuff from the Distribution Center.
Her daughter really really wants to hear the message....which is one of the biggest miracles I´ve ever seen. I´ve never seen someone change like this. She wanted to come with us to the Visitor´s Center, but couldn´t because she already had family commitments. But we´re planning another trip in the coming weeks. She has to work slowly so that her husband doesn´t cut her off. He is Cristiano(I have no idea what that means other than another type of sect of Christian), and he doesn´t want her to change religions. We don´t know exactly to do, but we´re going to work little by little until her husband will allow the missionaries to visit them in their house in Puerta Grande(the neighboring area), but right now we´re just teaching her in the house of her mother, Irene.
The family Orea Zavaleta. Due to a misunderstanding between them, we weren´t able to visit them as much as we wanted to. He was a little more than annoyed with her, and wanted to put the blame on the church. We did visit him alone on Thursday, and he was really polite, he looked for opportunities to avoid listening to us, but when he actually sat down and listened to our message, he was really attentive and still wanted to be baptized. Also his grandmother´s health is improving dramatically. She actually sat in on our message, she told us she wanted to be baptized too, but wanted to learn more about our Church first. We were going to have Family night with them and the ward mission leader, but we weren´t able to pass by. I think he´s afraid of the members of the ward, but we´re working with Jorge Montes, his long-time friend who is a member of this ward, to set-up a family night with them this week. I just hope that we can work with them little by little until they can both be baptized. Unfortunately due to this difficulty, we may have to postpone their baptisms, but if all goes as previously planned, they will be baptized this Sunday with Bety Ábrego and Rebeca Sánchez.
Rebeca is the daughter of an eternal investigator. Her mother wants to get baptized but has something against this ward...and the bishop. She loves listening to us and always says she will get baptized in Mixcoac or in Las Aguilas, but in Plateros no. We´ve already taught her about the doctrine about why she needs to attend the ward that she lives in, that the bishop in Mixcoac, even though is a bishop called of God, doesn´t have the right to receive revelation for her and her family. However, she doesn´t seem to be progressing. We hope that her daughter Rebeca(who already has made friends in Plateros and wants to be baptized there) will be a help for her, and also be a stepping stone for Graciela(the mother) and Mauricio(the son of Graciela) to also take this step.
Jesús Islas also is turning out to be quite the golden investigator. He has told us that his life has visibly improved upon starting to listen to us. At first, when we started teaching him, he was uncomfortable praying, but right now his prayers our powerful. It really is something specially to hear an investigator thanking God for the missionaries. He really is feasting on the introduction and the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. At first he was a little concerned about it because it wasn´t the Bible. He told us that he felt it was good, but felt that without the Bible, something was missing. We explained that the Book of Mormon was merely another testament of Jesus Christ a complement to the Bible, not a substitute. He seemed to understand really well, and I think it resolved his concerns.
We were going to plan on having the Assistants bring their van to Plateros this Saturday or Sunday, so that Jesús, los Orea Zavalet, Graciela and her children, and Marí-Tere(the daughter of Irene) could go to the Visitors Center. But with the Changes this Tuesday, the Assistants are going to be busy, especially since one of them goes home this Monday. So, hopefully we will be able to do it, if not this week, in the weeks to come. All of them really want to make the trip, it´s just a matter of transportation. We can´t pay for the bus fare for all of them(and we don´t want them to pay for themselves), and we can´t all fit in the Hno. Zepeda´s SUV like we did this other time. But the Assistants aren´t going to be able to do it, I don´t think, so it looks like we´re going to have to wait....but I´m way excited!
I haven´t come even close to doing justice to this week, but everything has its time, and this time is almost done! Thank you, like always for your prayers and support. I hope that you all will receive the blessings that the Lord has in store for you by living His gospel!
Con amor,
Elder Thomas Blackham
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