(Week 89) Guided by the Lord
Hey everyone! I hope you're all well!
On Tuesday we had a lesson with hermana Elizabeth. She's a referece from a member, and she's progressing very well. We taught the restoration and we hope she can come to church soon. After the lesson we went looking for a store to buy markers and pens. We ran into a woman named Liliana and set up a lesson for Friday. In the afternoon we had a lesson with hermano James. We taught him repentance and he promised to come to church on Sunday! We also decided to visit a member to ask him to help us out with teaching his family, who aren't members. It turned into a very long lesson of us trying to prove that Jesus Christ is Jehovah. It's really sad actually that we had to teach a member about that, and the saddest part is that he didn't want to believe us. We left him with the invitation to go to the temple when it reopens in a month and to pay attention to General' Conference. It's so weird that the only real bible bashes I've had here in the mission have been with members and other missionaries. But it's important as members of the Church that we don't live in ignorance and we understand the doctrine we teach.
On Wednesday we had district council that went a little too long. After lunch we visited hermana Carmen, a recent convert with cataracts in her eyes so she can't see very well. Afterwards we got a taxi down to the area of the hermanas and talked with the taxi driver. The hemanas had passed us a reference of an hermano that they were teaching because he was "a little agressive." A member had invited him to church and he came but he has a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon and is a little agressive in that he doesn't really let us talk. He has lots of questions but doesn't want to hear the answers. He asked us for physical scientific evidence of the Book of Mormon. We can list off all the evidences, but we decided to go for the faith route instead to not start an argument. I shared John 20:29 with him, which is when Jesus tells Thomas that those who don't see but believe are even more blessed. He came up with some lame excuses. Later we visited hermana Veronica and hermano Kike. Hermana Veronica is going through a tough time right now. We showed our sympathy and by the spirit we comforted her. Hermano Kike afterward told us that earlier that day Veronica had asked him a little bit about baptism, so we know she's being prepared and she will be baptized pretty soon. That night we had another lesson with hermano Jhonathan, Kiara, and Estefano. We taught the first half of the Plan of Salvation and man they are understanding very well. They have great questions.
On Thursday we had weekly planning. We did it in the chapel so we could multitask and keep organizing the ward member list while we did it. We then went to have a tarde hogar with a member and his family, but when we arrived he was the only one home so we had to reschedule. We walked away and while we walked we passed by a woman. As we passed her both Elder Agostinelli and I felt that we needed to talk to her. We turned around but we saw thay she was already turned around to and asked us who we were. We got to know her a little bit and shared a quick message. Her name's Gabriela and she had lots of great questions and she said yes when we invited her to church! The next lesson we had with her was during intercambios so I didn't teach her that day, but Elder Agostinelli told me that she read all the pamphlet we gave her and prayed and even said that she had told him that recently she had been praying to God asking for guidance and the truth to come to her. And then we showed up! Oh it's amazing knowing that the Lord is preparing people and will always guide us to those in need! That night we taught hermano Valentino the first half of the Plan of Salvation. We did it mostly using the animated videos from the Old Testament so he could understand. To finish the day we had a quick lesson about the sacrament with hermano Samir and hermano Mathias, two recent converts.
On Friday we had an early lesson with hermana Liliana. She had been taught by the missionaries before and remembered a lot so we'll seewhat we can do to help her! After that we had our small zoom call with the APs and Presidente and this one felt really good. We talked about some important things and what we're doing to help the zone. It feels so good to be trusted. After that we started an exchange with Vista Alegre, and this time I went there with Elder Chorrez. Their pension is Ferucho's the guy who caters the food for the mission conferences and we had some great lomo saltado for lunch. During the exchange we had lots of lessons with recent converts and had some great discussions between us. For dinner we had some huge burgers.
On Saturday we woke up early at 5:30 to get ready for a huge multistake service project. We were told to gather at our respective stake centers at 7 and then go to Huanchaco to clean it. We got there at 7 but there wasn't anyone. That's when we learned that pretty much no one from our entire stake was going to go except for the missionaries -_-. So we went over alone. We got there and nobody else was there, but man I felt nostalgic just being there in Huanchaco. Eventually people began to show up. We got to say hi to a bunch of missionaries and I got to see Jair from Huanchaco! (The pensionista's son) I also saw some members from Pueblo Libre, but no one that I was close with. I also saw a few people from other wards that I knew, including hermano Isaac from Jordan. The sevice project finally started at 9:30 when it was supposed to start at 8, but I'm not going to complain. We picked up garbage and organized some sticks. We were assigned to clean up Huanchaquito specifically but never got there because it's pretty far away. We took a photo at the end. We went back on a bus (oooh the memories!) and then I went with Elder Chorrez back to his area to eat lunch and gather my things and then we finished the exchange. That night we had another noche de hogar with hermana Patricia and her kids. We taught a small lesson about the second half of the Plan of Salvation.
On Sunday we woke up, confirmed church attendances, and had pancakes for breakfast. At church we saw hermano James with his father! It turns out, James' dad is a member but James never knew his dad was part of the church! This was James' first time in the chapel too, but the members really welcomed him. Hermana Gabriela came and made some new friends with the YSA. Hermana Patricia came with hermano Jhonathan, Kiara, and Estefano as well. Hermana Mirian also came for a moment as well. After lunch we had a bunch of contacts and taughr hno Mikloc, a deacon who's really the only active member in his family. His grandpa is the man who doesn't believe Jesus is Jehovah. He had some questions and we were able to answer them. That family needs a lot of help. We contacted with a man named Ciceron, (like the latin philosopher), and had a lesson with him. He has lots of questions, but if he can accept the truth he'll progress well. That night we had the mission zoom and all was well.
For pday we went to breakfast and for some reason the hermanas of Chan Chan were already there so that was a little awkward. But it was fun talking with the. We had a little district picnic with pancakes and fruit. Sadly the Elders from California couldn't come because Elder Geisler got sick, again. Pobrecito.
We had a pretty awesome week! I know the Lord is guiding us and I've seen countless miracles here in Chan Chan. He's guided us to be in the right places atthe right times so we can be the answer to the prayers of His children. Elder Agostinelli is a great companion and I'm looking forward to this last week of the transfer. Have an amazing week!
Elder Jensen
1/4/6/7/9. Huanchaco servicio
2. Taxi!
3. With hno. Paco de Central
5. Hno Jair!
8. Last pday when we visited the Catholic Church
10. Mission Coordination Meeting
11. Picnic pday
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