The One Where We Challenged Everyone for July

             

  We decided to have a youth activity for our p-day activity! So we brought the waffle iron and some games and it was so fun! Ignacia is an 18 year old recent convert and is our new best friend. She has little gestures that remind me so much of Hailey Mann! Oh my, I love it. The activity was so fun and some youth came and they bonded, so success! After, we went with Ignacia to her grandma’s house because she invited us to lunch! Then we finished up our p-day and headed to work.

                We had a lesson with Theresa and Eduardo. It’s a little hard to teach them because they don’t really listen. They talk so much. They kind of see us as just friends or psychologists… But because of them, we met Christian and today we met his 19 year old daughter and her boyfriend who are really interested! Christian wasn’t there today but we called him to ask if he read the part of the Book of Mormon we left him and he said yes! Then we asked if he prayed to know if this was true and he said, “Yes, I prayed.” And we asked if he received an answer yet. He said, “Yeah, I have it all crystal clear. When are you going to come again? I want to tell you about it. And I have a friend that I want you to meet. He needs this too.” OH MY me and Hermana Soales did a happy dance in the middle of the street!

                In Peumo we taught the Maulen family about the role of parenthood and eternal families. Recently they have been feeling a little sad and tired of working so hard as a family especially when the results are almost too small to see. But as we read in Mosiah 4 about what the Lord says about parenthood, they remembered the eternal rewards for the little actions they are doing and got a little more energy and excitement to keep moving forward.

                Our zone leaders challenged us to treat it like our last day in the mission. What would we do, how would we spend our time? Everyone always says to treat every day like your last, but this time it was a challenge for our whole zone and our zl’s were going to verify and follow-up on how it went. So we planned our day and spent all of our “free time” talking to EVERYONE!

                We also came up with a calendar for the whole month of July to give to the members, less actives, and investigators to challenge everyone to read the Book of Mormon and pray as a family every day in July! We customized suggested scriptures according to the family and then presented this in a lesson based on 2 Nephi 31:20. So far, everyone we have invited has accepted the challenge and are excited to start coloring in the days. We put the kids in charge of coloring in and not missing a single day so they can motivate their parents to read. We also hung up the calendar on fridges, doors, by TV’s, and other frequently passed places. We are way excited to see the blessings these families are finally going to receive as they are in the Book of Mormon as a family every day.

                We went to Peumo and taught Fiamma! Oh my she is so prepared to receive the gospel and the gospel got to her at the perfect time. She recently watched her mom suffer and die from cancer. She was looking for a way to relieve the pain and one day the Elders waited by her house and coughed on accident and she thought they were knocking on her door and so she answered and felt the need to let them in. She listened to them and felt the Spirit really strong and agreed to be baptized. Then a few days ago, she found out that she has cancer. We were all in shock. She said, “I still don’t believe it 100%, but last night, I was weeping and I couldn’t sleep. Then I remembered you guys so I knelt down and prayed. When I finished my prayer, I laid down and felt peace and was able to fall asleep.” Fiamma is so special.

                Sunday was a great Sabbath day! Our less active, Janet, and her boyfriend, Octavio, came to church! He and their son are new investigators this week! He loved church and said he is planning on coming every week!

                Then during 2^nd hour, last minute they asked me to teach the youth, so we watched a Mormon message and had a great discussion about repentance. We talked about how repentance is actually a happy, joyful process. How it is changing our hearts and turning to the Lord and accepting the Savior more fully in our lives. It’s about deciding to be humble and giving up what we want or what we think is best. Because there is pride in every sin. But repentance is free for all of us to use. It is a process that may not be easy or quick, but it’s not complicated. And the joy of the gospel is in knowing that we can change.