Week 99: Renacimiento Espiritual
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week!
On Tuesday we had exchanges with Los Cedros 1. I went to Los Cedros with Elder Espinoza. The bishop asked us to visit a recent convert and give her a blessing of comfort. There was a little confusion with the timing and communication so the lady was a little upset with us. I told Elder Espinoza and the member we were with that were just going to apologize without trying to defend ourselves, even though we had many reasons to do so. It worked and she quickly forgave us. She had a strong dip in her depression that morning so we gave her a blessing and then I used my sympathy for people with depression to talk with her. We watched Elder Holland's talk, "Like a Broken Vessel," together. I think the spirit definitely helped us there. That night we had a lesson with a lady named Erika and we taught her the restoration. That night during dinner I talked with the pensionista and her family as if they'd been my pension for a long time. They love to talk and even got teary-eyed when they learned that I'll be going home soon.
On Wednesday we finished the exchange and went to district council. Hermana Jovana made a special lunch for me of pork with potatos! It was delicioso. My ward mission leadership from Pueblo Libre, hermano Anthony, also remembered that Wednesday was my birthday so we brought me a cake with his family! That afternoon we visited hermana Mariana and reviewed the restoration and the Book of Mormon again with her. We talked about 3 Nephi 11 and the Priesthood authority to baptize and act in God's name. She's pretty interested and is trying to understand more! She wanted to learn a lot so we left her with a lot of commitments. Then when we went to visit Jose for some reason Andrea told us that it would be better to have the lesson inside their house, which is something we're never done before. So we went up the stairs and to my surprise they had made me a cake! I was actually speechless because I was not expecting that. We taught them about temples and then had a small party! It was really nice and I'm so lucky to be able to know and serve them. After that we went home. I knew I was probably going to have to eat another cake. I had already eaten so much! But of course we get to the pensión and there's the whole family with hermana Patricia, Jhonatan, Kiara, Estefano, and hermana Marily! They had a setup of dessert and a large cake. We took photos and they sang to me. I took a bite of the cake with my eyes locked on Elder Salas. Last year his father, Elder Lumbre, shoved my face in two cakes and I wanted to make sure he didn't inherit that trait from him.. But it was so fun and I'm so thankfu that I have been privileged to serve here in Chan Chan and get to know these amazing families. That night I almost died with how much food I ate!
On Thursday we had a rehearsal for our special musical number we're going to sing for the multizone conference with Elder Becerra next week. We're singing "Venid, Adoremos," which is "O Come, All Ye Faithful". I'm playing the piano and we got the singing to más o menos fter about 2 hours. Not much you can do We planned the hour and flyer for Jose's baptism and had weekly planning. We went over the baptismal interview questions with hermano Jose and he answered them quite well. We filled out his baptismal form and then went with him and Andrea to a YSA noche hogar where we gave the message. There were quite a few investigators and recent converts there so it turned out well. We played some pretty fun game too.
On Friday we had our meeting with the APs and then had an exchange with Buenos Aires 1. I stayed in Chan Chan with Elder Combata. He told me that my área looked identical to Aeropuerto in Cajamarca, so I guess I ain't missing much. We had a lesson about the restoration with our new friend Iris and then shared the same with Alejandro. After that we did some u fruitful finding and had a good talk with each other about what we're learned in our missions. We did contact with one lady, Pamela, who seems like she could progress well. We had a brief contact with Jose and Andrea and made sure everything would be ok for his interview that night. I started to have a little bit of stomach pain, probably from the cake, but we went to the chapel to give yet another message for an activity, this time for the young Men. Hermano Jhonatan was there, so he's being befriended. I practiced my talent a little bit for the small talent show we're going to have as a zone in the mission home next week. We learned that night the Jose passed his interview! At first Jose didn't want many people to come to his baptism but after the YSA activity everyone knew about it and wanted to come.
On Saturday we picked up the keys from hermana Marily. We then finished the exchange and went to California to find some baptismal clothes. We went to the chapel to fill up the font and clean the rooms we'd be using. After lunch we finished preparing, started our fast, and went to the chapel. The water had gone down a little bit so we had to fill it up again. Jose arrived with his family and lots of members also came. If I'm going to be honest, it was probably one of the best baptisms I've seen out here. Jose did it perfectly and it was actually kind of like the videos where people get baptized and come out of the water smiling. He came up without tripping and had a big smile on his face! I felt real joy after that. Andrea's testimony was very strong like always and I loved Jose's words when he bore his testimony. He said, "...if there's anyone here who's not baptized, get baptized!" It was beautiful. After dropping our stuff off we had a lesson with Mariana. She said she didn't understand 2 Nefi 31 very well. We helped her understand it and she actually has a very dounf understanding of what baptism actually is. We taught her a little about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we both felt that we should invite her to baptism. We put her on date for the 30th of December. She said she felt that it might be a little soon, but she accepted it and will exercise faith to achieve it! She's already come to church twice and is learning well! #elegido I know I won't be here for her baptism, but I know she'll be ready for that day. We passed by hermana Mirian and Angel and they finally let us in! This past week has been hard for then but the situation seems to be improving. They promised to come to church and we reprogrammed Mirian's date for the 9th. We had a small noche de hogar with hermana Patricia and her kids that night.
On Sunday we went to pick up Jose and we went together to the chapel. He got confirmed! It was so beautiful. To be honest, he's changed an incredible amount and I think understanding what baptism really is, a spiritual rebirth, helped him change. I'm so lucky to be able to see this miracle. We also saw James, Mirian, Mariana, Walter, and Elena come! After church we spent some time talking with members and getting Jose's baptismal form filled out. We broke our fast and had so much to do in the apartment as ZLs it was crazy. We had to plan our training for the new missionaries, have a ministudy with Los Cedros 1, plan, follow up with the companionships, send invites to watch the Christmas Devotional, etc. Eventually we finally did leave the house and picked up Salvador Ángulo, a recently returned missionary to go to Walter and Elena. Sadly the lesson fell through but they promised to come to the activity on Friday. We talked with Salvador a bit about his mission. Afterwards we did some contacts without much luck. Then we contacted a man named Jeanpierre in his house and he seems pretty interested! I hope he can progress. We did our laundry and then hd dinner while we watched the Christmas Devotional. It was awesome, and I especially loved President Nelson's invitation to restudy the teachings of the Savior and the Atonement. I'm going to take that challenge. We had a small meeting with the mission after.
Today for pday we had compras. I also went to Huanchaco to say goodbye to few people! I wish I could've said bye to more, but I did what time allowed. I visited hermano Jair and hermana Angela and then I went to visit Nina!
That's all for me! Wow, I only will be sending 1 or 2 more emails, that's pretty crazy! I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Elder Jensen
1-4. Bautismo de Jose
5. Ensayo como zona
6,8. Cumpleaños en la pensión
7. Cumpleaños con Andrea y Jose
9. Nomnomnom
10. Hermana Angela!
11. Hermana Nina
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