Hello, family!
Monday. Today after P day was the first time in the mission where nobody accepted us. We had three appointments that all fell through and after that we just contacted and just got rejected and rejected again. But yeah, what can you do?!
Tuesday. Today we started the day of doing a Mornita. As the District Leader, you are supposed to do one with every companionship that is in your District and you basically just see how they are doing and talk to them about their plans and goals. We had one with Elder Beckstead (Arizona) and Elder Chable (Mexico). It was awesome to be able to talk to them about some things. After, we had a District Council and we talked about what we can do better to find some more investigators. I'm getting more used to giving the Council now. After, I did Divisions with Elder Chable. He came with me to Cayambe and we had a pretty solid day. We started the day off contacting and were able to find one guy. After, we had a lesson with Vivianna and her partner. They came over to the chapel and talked with us and the Branch President. It was such a good lesson. Vivianna was telling us that she doesn't want to live with him for right now, but she wants to help him by being a good friend and being a good mom. Elvis (the partner) wants to be back with her so bad, but she just doesn't want to. It was kind of sad. But he wants so bad to change. At the end, we asked him to say a prayer and it was his first one ever. He just started balling-- the Spirit was so strong. After, we went up to Fam Cabezes and talked to them about their desires from listening to us and they just weren't ready. Adamari told us that she thinks that the Catholic Church is true, and honestly, it sucked so bad. It's hard to hear that they think another church is true especially if you know they could have done more to know. But you just got to know that you did your part and that there's nothing else you could do...
Wednesday. Today we had another lesson with the missionary from the other church. The last time that we went, he kind of destroyed us. We didn't know what to say, but this time we were prepared. He just did not want to accept the Book of Mormon. He just thinks that the Bible is all and that we don't need more words of God. We just kept on talking about how we need the Book of Mormon, and we didn't know how to respond... Haha it was so awesome. After, we went to a Branch Council and we had to force the Branch to start helping us a little more in the mission work. It was perfect. We had about an hour and half conversation about what we are going to do now. We set up some Family Nights with some members and also a couple activities in the next couple weeks. To end the day, we went to the house of Mishell and talked to her about missionary work and how she can be a missionary here, and she told us that she is thinking about serving a mission. So yeah, that was pretty cool haha.
Thursday. Today we did another Division and this time Elder Reatagui (Peru) came here to Cayambe with me. We had a pretty solid day. We found this guy and he was telling us that he wants to hear about the Book of Mormon, but he still loves being with women and drinking coffee haha. It was so weird. After, we were able to stop by a family that we haven't visited in a while. They told us that they are moving to Canada. She went off about how horrible Ecuador is and that how its on the same path as Venezuela. Haha I don't think it's that bad, but she told us that she wants to try and get baptized before she leaves for Canada. After, we went up to a family that we have been teaching little by little, and we had a really good lesson about the Plan of Salvation. They were really interested, so we invited them to be baptized and they accepted the date. They told us that they are a little scared because everyone in their family is Catholic, but we shared some good scriptures to help them feel a little better about being baptized. It was awesome that we were able to put some more people on with a date.
Friday. Wow this day haha. Such a wild day. We started the day going off going to a house of a pastor. To explain, this guy is very old and pretty weird haha. He doesn't live with anyone, but he says that he has a boyfriend (God) haha. We got to his house and he told us that he is trying to become a prophet, so he told us that what he does sometimes, he goes to a river and bathes himself haha. He told us that last week he was bathing himself in the river and God's face appeared in front of him and was talking to him. After, he said that the devil came to tempt him so what he had to do is run out of the river and grab the Bible to be protected hahaha. After, he was telling us that he can read dreams and when I heard that, I to took advantage of this situation. So I asked if he could help me and he says of course... So I had to make up in my head some dreams. The first one I made up was that I was with my girlfriend in a park and we were playing, and he stopped me and asked me if their was flowers, and I said yes. He told me that it means that she loves me. After, I told him that we went onto a boat on the lake. He told me that the lake means that she was crying for me and the reasons we were on a boat is because she wants to travel to me haha. After I said, "Then why did she break up with me after?" He said, "It's because she actually wants you more than ever right now." HAHA. After, I told him that something really strange happened at the end of the dream... That after she broke up with me, 2000 babies started falling from the sky hahaha. He told me it's because God was sending my girlfriend and I angels to get us back together. AHAH This dude is so weird. But don't worry, these dreams are not real. The next dream I told him was that I was Superman in a giant city saving people, but I told him that I was only saving women and children. He stopped me again and said what color of skin did the women have. I responded and said, "50% white, 25% brown, 25% black." He said, "Oh no, the black and brown women were trying to take away your power, they are demons" HAHAHA I asked him, "What about the White?" He replied, "Oh yeah, those are angels." I asked him after, "Wait. Why was I like Superman in this dream?" He told me that its because "You have a lot of power in God and that you will become a prophet." Haha Elder Ton and I just started laughing, but he was dead serious. After, I told him at the end of the dream, it turned into a nightmare because 1000 pigs, cows, and chickens came and started eating me. He was shocked and said, "Those chickens were sent from God (angles) and the cows and pigs were (devils) trying to stop me from becoming a prophet." Haha After all of this, we had a great lesson with him about the Book of Mormon haha. After the lesson, we were walking to another appointment. This dude was walking and selling ice Cream and asked us, "What do you offer?" and we told him that we're missionaries and a little about the Book of Mormon. He then told us that his apartment was really close and he wanted us to come. All of a sudden, I got a really bad feeling about it. I asked him if we we're going to share something about God... and he said that we really wouldn't be talking too much... We asked him what we were going to talk about and he said to us, "Well I'm GAY" HAHAHAHHA What the heck?! You can just put the things together and see that he didn't actually want to listen to a message from us. So Elder Ton and I honestly just ran away. It was so scary. We found out later this day that this guy is an awful person, but I don't need to write the things that he does haha. After this experience we went to the chapel to have a lesson with Elvis, the boyfriend of Vivianna and we talked to him about the restoration of the gospel and he told us that he was happy to know that there is a prophet that is living. He told us that he was so grateful to be able to hear that he can change his life and become a better person. We invited him to be baptized and he was kind of scared, but we told him how we were here to help him and that really this is going to be the decision to change his life. So he accepted! It was such a solid lesson. That was basically the end of the crazy day hahaha.
Saturday. Honestly, today nothing special happened. We found one girl in the morning that couldn't really understand my Spanish haha, but she wants to learn more about the Book of Mormon, so that's good. Sometimes it's still a little bit frustrating because I feel like I have improved so much in Spanish and some people just can't understand me haha, but it just takes time. After we went from door to door and looked for everyone so that we could invite them to an activity that we had in the Branch. They watched "Coco" and talked about family history, but we were not able to watch the movie. It was kind of frustrating because we had investigators that I wanted to sit by and talk to. But to end this day, we were walking to our house and some dude, mad at the world, was standing on his balcony and decided that it would be a good idea to throw a bag of about 10 potatoes at me. It drilled me directly in the chest. It hurt so bad haha. But what can you do...
Sunday. Today also was not really anything special. Vivianna and Elvis came to church for the first hour and then they just left out of no where with out saying anything and she hasn't answered her phone so I'm a little scared for that. After we went to a lesson with Danny and Veronica and we read the chapter of Enos and after Danny asked about 100 questions for us. He is so excited for general conference so that he can listen to a prophet and apostales. After we just went to Fam Trujillo and talked to them and they're still doing awesome. But other than that that was pretty much our day.
Monday. Today we went to the waterfalls of Carihaco. It was straight jungle. It was so beautiful.
Book of Mormon. I've been reading all of the wars in Alma, and I read the part about how Helaman is preparing the 2000 stripling warriors to battle. In chapter 53:20-21, it is describing what kind of young men these 2000 warriors were. It says, "20: And they were all YOUNG MEN, and they were exceedingly VALIANT for COURAGE, and also for STRENGTH and ACTIVITY; but behold, this was not all- -they were men who were TRUE at ALL TIMES in WHATSOEVER thing they were entrusted. 21: Yea, they were men of TRUTH and SOBERNESS, for they had been TAUGHT to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him." Later in chapter 56:47, it says, "Yea, they had been TAUGHT by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." And again in chapter 57:26 "Because of their exceeding faith in that which they have been TAUGHT to believe." These verses show me that the real reason that the Stripling Warriors were so amazing is because they had been taught by their Parents. It shows me the importance of really teaching your kids to keep the commandments of God. I'm so blessed to have the best parents in the world to teach me to believe and be faithful.
Photos of the waterfalls today.
Love,
Elder Copeland
No comments:
Post a Comment