2-21-22
¡Comimos Bastante Comida!🥙🌮
This week we ate SO much. We ate lunch and dinner with somebody everyday. We don’t know if our stomachs can take it, but we are grateful. I have been waking up still feeling full most mornings.
Last Monday was super fun! We got together at a district and ate at this member's house. They fed us these giant hot dogs, chocolate cake, and lots of other things. After that, we had originally planned to go mini golfing but it was closed. So we went bowling instead!! I actually got over 100 and a couple of strikes. We visited a lot of closed doors later. It was funny because the people wouldn’t answer, they would just talk through the door. The last door opened and it was an American guy. He let us in and told us his life story. Then asked us why we were still there. Hna. Williamson and Stewart weren’t too happy.
On Tuesday we had DCM. The elders drove to the wrong city 35 minutes away. It was hilarious. We video called with them until they got there. For lunch, we bought a giant pizza. It cost $30!! It was really good though. Half was garlic butter, chicken, and spinach. The other half was chipotle ranch, chicken, and bacon. Afterwards, we went and surprised Pedro with a visit. His face was priceless! He made us some fried platano with sugar on top. Then we went and visited Pat and Roy. We were very bold with them and taught them the restoration. It is really odd because I have an easier time being bold in Spanish than I do in English. They didn’t bash us this time. We left them with the invitation to read the Book of Mormon. We aren’t going back because they aren’t ready. Right after, we had pretty much the same lesson with Justin and Hannah. They didn’t bash us as much this time. Hopefully they will be more open in the future. For dinner, we went over to the Lynch’s house. They are super nice and rich. You would never know it about the money. They fed us American food!! We had ribs, baked potatoes, carrotes/broccoli, bread, and dessert. It was super good!! I ate way too much (a theme for this week). The elders gave the thought. They drew person and wrote good things we do in it like: read the scriptures, pray, church, serve, and more etc. Then they took a red pen and wrote bad things and sins we commit. They talked about how the atonement cleanses us. They took a lighter and heated up the parts with red. It didn’t burn the paper, but the red ink disappeared. There was still faint writing if you looked close. We will sin in our lives but if we repent the Atonement of Jesus Christ can cleanse us. We will still remember the things that we did, but we will have no guilt or stain on us. We rushed to the church and taught English class. I taught the super advanced one with two students Rafael and Elisandro. After class, we had a conversation/lesson with Roberto. He is having a hard time accepting one of the things that we taught him. Please pray for him that he can recieve his answer about it.
On Wednesday, we went and practiced again for our musical number. Then we went out to lunch with the elders. We invited Aurelio to come too! He is just the sweetest thing ever. He is so kind and humble. He bought us food and pan dulce. I got a chalupa and tostada. We taught him about the law of chastity and he said he would keep it! After that most of our lessons canceled or people didn’t answer the door. We did meet a really nice guy on the street who wants to learn more. Then we went and visited this one house. The mom doesn’t really like us (the Hermanas from a little while ago). We got there and this guy said we could go in. We went in and met this other guy named Cody (the lady’s nephew). He is awesome! He is from the Canan Islands and has been here for three weeks. Our day lined up perfectly for how we met him. He wants to come to church with us and become closer to God. Through him we will be able to repare the relationship with his Aunt. For dinner, we went out to eat with the Freemans. They took us to this Japanese Hibachi restaurant. It was cool watching the guy cooking it in front of us. He all of a sudden picked up this bottle and tells Hna. Stewart to open her mouth. Then he starts spraying it in her mouth. Then in Hna. Williamson’s and mine. It was unexpected and it splashed all over me. I’m pretty sure that it was pink lemonade. Bro. Freeman’s wife has Alzheimers, so it is reminding me a lot of Bro. Bright in my last area. He is doing pretty good, and helps her out so much. He showed us this video clip called “Why can’t Mormons give flowers?” from this show called Cheers. You should look it up because it was pretty funny. After that, we went over and saw Ezequiel, Andres, and David. David disappeared and came back with his friend Sergio. We sang all together and then read the Book of Mormon. Ezequiel then pulls out dinner for us… our second dinner. He fed us soup. The other day I told him I liked Sopes and he thought I said Sopa. We are very greatful it was soup because sopes are a lot more filling. He told us that he really appreciates our friendship with him and enjoys our visits.
On Thursday, we went over to Pedro’s house for lunch. He made us tacos. They were delicious. He also gave us chocolate. Our lesson was all over the place, but now we know what he needs to be taught. Then we stopped by this part member family house. They didn’t let us in but obviously could hear their dog barking at us. Then a lady came up and they opened the door, so they invited us in. They are super nice, and the son Mauricio is just adorable. Afterwards, we had a lesson with Belkis and Katherin. We taught them about baptism and they are going to prepare to be baptized on April 5th!! We are so excited for them! Then we sang to another lady and we are going back to teach her. For dinner, we went to the Durrant’s house. They fed us take out from Jim-N-Rick’s BBQ. It was really good. I haven’t had it since last year in Charleston. Their daughter’s friend London is getting taught by the elders. She has to wait a year to get baptized, but I can’t wait until it happens. Then we taught English Class. Belkis and her family came to it! As we were driving home we had a great lesson with this guy named Eduardo. He is friends with Efrain and he really wants to come to church.
We went out for lunch with Margaret on Friday. We went to Panera and I got a pizza. This lady knows how to tell good stories. She had us on the edge of our seats as she told us some things that happened in her life. I could listen to her tell stories all the time. It is cute becuase she memorizes the reference of the scriptures that missionaries share with her. Then she writes them in her journal. After that, we had a phone call lesson with Alejandro. He introduced us to his friend Juan and now we are going to teach both of them. They really want to come to church. Then we called Aurelio and taught him about tithing and fasting. He said he would pray about it. (He told Hna. Stewart on Sunday that he is okay with it!) Right after that, we called Cody. It is so fun to hear him talk. He speaks English pretty good. His accent is like British, Jamaican, and sometimes Irish all mixed together. He has been through a lot of hard things in his life. But he doesn’t want to give up. After that, we planned for our upcoming week. For a late dinner, we went out with Rafael. I got a mini chimichanga and sope. It was really good. We saw the elders there with Roberto so that was a surprise. Rafael is just thriving in the gospel. To end the night, we called the other Alejandro that we are teaching. He wants to come to church too!
On Saturday, we went out to lunch with some people that came to visit Hna. Stewart from Columbia. They are from Honduras, so we went to a Honduranian restaurant. I finally had Baleadas for the first time. It is a tortilla folded in half filled with eggs, beans, crema, avocados, and meat. It was super good. I can’t wait to try one that is homemade. Later, as we were visiting some people we thought that we saw an alligator… it was fake. It looked so real from far away. At another house this dog came to us while Hna. Stewart was tromping out in the woods. We were asking it to do things in English but it wasn’t listening, so we started speaking Spanish. It listened right away. We found out that the owners speak English, but we still think that the dog is bilingual. For dinner, we went and ate with the Clives. They are a super awesome family. Brother Clive is in our branch presidency. He served his mission in Argentina and is from Washington. They fed us tostadas that were delicious. We showed the kids the impossible fold and they loved it (Too hard to explain in words.) After that, we went and visited Efrain. He is reading a little of the Book of Mormon! He is also inviting all of his friends to come to church. It is so cute. He gave Hna. Williamson a necklace the other day and me a ring. He told me that he has one more thing to get for Hna. Stewart. We are reteaching him everything and helping him come back. Then we sang to this lady and we are going back to teach her.
Yesterday was awesome! We went to church and sang. It went really well. One of the speakers couldn’t speak, so we were asked to bear our testimony. I have a hard time bearing my testimony in English so Spanish is harder. I was given the things that I needed to say. Then we sang again but all in Spanish. Hna. Stewart played for the elders and us. It went well even though we didn’t practice. Roberto, Donovan, Alejandro, Efrain, Elisandro, Cristian, and Jose Manuel all came. Afterwards, we went and sang to some people. One of the guys we visited teased me and called me Hermana Lyer instead of Hermana Lott. It was pretty funny.Then we went to Pedro’s house. He gave us some dried Mango and we proceeded to teach him about the Great Apostasy. We used cupstoration to do that. You build a tower out of cups. The bottom four represent a prophet, 12 apostles, the priesthood, and revelation. Then you build a tower/pyramid. We explained that when all the apostles were killed we lost the priesthood power was taken from the earth. Then we knocked over the tower and he was shocked. He was not expecting us to knock it over. We told him that the church fell without it’s foundation. But God loves us so he will call another prophet. We had dinner with this hilarious couple, Bob and Bev. They are in their 80s and you would never know it. They live right along the beach in an aparment complex. They fed us lasagna with spaghetti noodles, salad, and ice cream. We got to hear their whole life story. They joined the church in Hawaii. It changed their life and they are so much happier now. It is harder to live the gospel but it brings so much more blessings. We sang “I Believe in Christ” with them and the spirit was so strong. After that, we went over to Jonas’s house. We taught him about service. Right as we were about to leave, he looked at me and told me that I am too tall and that he doesn’t like it. Then he wanted to compare with me. We are pretty much the same. I told him I wear high heels at home and he was shocked thinking about me being even taller.
Two things that have really stood out to me this past week is one the power of music. We sing a lot out here. When we meet people, we ask them if we can sing a song. There is a difference in the person after we sing it. Singing hymns brings the spirit. It openes doors and hearts. A lot of people are letting us in because we sang to them. The second thing is leaving something behind. As missionaries we ask people to leave a lot of things behind. I told one of the people we are teaching that I would go without chocolate for a week plus if he would stop doing something. He told me that he was going to do it, but that I didn’t have to. I decided that I wanted to do it anyway. The first day I broke it. I ate that chocolate cake on Monday and then some robin eggs. As I was eating the eggs I realized it, and my heart dropped. I told myself that I would start over again. People have offered me so much chocolate this week. I have watched my companions eat it. I have wanted to eat it so bad at times, and others not so much. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to leave an acutal addiction behind. Living the gospel requires a lot, but it is worth it. The things that we give up seem so big, but in the perspective of eternal life it is so little. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can give us the strength to overcome the things that are holding us back in this life. (Phillipians 4:13)
Have a fantastic week!
Last Monday was fun. We didn't do too much. We went to the mall and ate some free cookies. It was nice to have a slow day. For dinner, we went to the Ayala's house and the elders came too. They fed us red mole with chicken, rice and beans. It was really good. I am just waiting for someone to make green mole. Hermana Ayala talked about her son who is on his mission. For dessert they gave us pan dulce and hot chocolate. I drank milk instead. I heard Elder Forsberg ask if the bread was filling, so I asked him if he was full. He looked at me very confused. Apparently he asked if the bread had filling, not if it was filling😂. They will not let me live that one down. Elder Navarrete was telling a story and in it he left lloviendo… he meant to say crying (llorando).
On Tuesday it was interesting because we didn't have DCM. We went out for breakfast with Pedro. It was his birthday!! I got French toast with fruit. It was super good and filling. Then right after, we went and had lunch with Astrid. We were still full and had to eat another giant plate full of food. It was really good, but we were stuffed. I shared a scripture with her and she told me that another missionary shared that with her a couple years ago. She said it was just what she needed then and what she needed now. After that, we went and had a lesson with Cody. We taught him about God. He was super surprised to hear that God has a body of flesh and bones that is perfect. We started teaching him about prophets when he asked us where we go after this life. We switched course and taught him a very simple version of the plan of salvation. We called Aurelio and he told us that he isn’t sure about baptism. That was really hard, but we are going to have the faith that everything will work out. We raced to where he worked and left him a note and some chocolate. We doorbell ditched without a doorbell. We arrived just on time for dinner with the Lynch family. They fed us chicken, bread, funeral potatoes, and vegetables. It was delicious! Always a good change from what we normally eat. Then we went and taught english class.
Wednesday was a pretty special day. We had a Mission Conference! Elder Idgukitus (totally can’t spell his last name) came to speak to us. He is from Brazil, but speaks pretty good English. He is hilarious, but is just so powerful. We received great instruction from him, his wife, President Monson, and Sister Monson. We need to love God more than anything else. If we love him we will obey Him and keep his commandments. We should have no desire except the eternal welfare of our souls and all others. Elder Idgukitus showed us different ways to find more people to teach. I took a ton of notes. Then we went on exchanges!! I stayed in our area and Hna. Bennion & Roth came to join me. We went and visited this part member family. The mom was making this HOT salsa. We were all coughing because the air was spicy. After that we visited Fani and her family. We were totally caught off guard when she told us her 10 yr. old son wants to get baptized. We did a really cool object lesson. We dented a can with our finger. Hard to explain… I have a video but it is too big to send. As we were leaving she said she had food for us. We didn’t have time to stay so she gave us a pizza to go. Then we wanted to go visit Aurelio. He told us that he wanted to push his baptism back. We called and he was in the same area! He was visiting and riding his bike around. We drove over and met him at the dock. It was gorgeous! The sun was setting, and we ate the pizza while we talked to him. We promised him that God would give him his answer. On the way to dinner we called Cristian. There wasn't great signal so we rescheduled. There were trees in Greenville too, but it didn't affect our calls. These trees down here are weird. We had dinner with Sergio and his twin brother Lee. We had tacos per usual. We celebrated their birthday! We had ward coordination and right after that visited Ezequiel. Then we had a call with Alan and afterwards with Alejandro and Juan. Of course one of them wasn't wearing a shirt. I don't get why people don't wear shirts. If you are answering the door or a video call why aren't you dressed?🤦♀️
We went and taught Maria Thursday morning about the commandments. Later we had a lesson with Cody and we met his mom Kimberly. She is so nice and sweet. I absolutely love her. We were able to talk about Jesus Christ and the things that we can do to follow him. Kim invited us to come visit her at work. She works on the Marine base in the store. Which worked out awesome because we were going to the base the next day. After that, we saw Belkis and her family. They are so adorable. We taught them about the plan of salvation. Then we were able to meet Tami. She has been taught for a while. We asked her if she had a Book of Mormon. She has five!! She loves reading it. We are excited to teach her and see how that goes. For dinner, we were able to eat at home!! Kind of nice to lay on the floor and eat some snacks. Before English class we had a lesson with Cristian. He has a lot of questions and wants to learn. After English class was over we drove out to meet the STLs. Then we gave Hna. Stewart to them and we got Sister Bailey. On the way home, we called Rafael and Aurelio. Aurelio didn't answer so we talked with Rafael about the priesthood. He loves it so much!!
On Friday, we spent a lot of the day at a Marine Graduation. We got invited by Elder and Sister Reynolds. So we went with Sister Bailey while Hna. Stewart was in Columbia. It was super cool! Six of the Marines graduating were members of the branch in Beaufort. It started at 9 and ended at around 11am. The sun was on us and it was hot. I thought I was going to sunburn my back and shoulder. Now I have a funky looking tan line on just the right side of my back. As we watched the Marines as they marched it was cool because they were in sync. When it was over we had a reception for them and we ate cupcakes. For lunch, we at at the officers club. I got green Thai curry. It was delicious. It also had bambou in it. Now I have had cactus and bambou! We went and saw some sights and then stopped by the exchange. It is a store on base. We went and visit Kim. She was really excited to see us. Sister Bailey and I bought matching shirts that say “Semper Fideles” or in Spanish “Siempre Fieles” which translates to always faithful. After that, we went and had a lesson with Monica. Then we had dinner with the Bejars. They fed us fancy homemade chicken nuggets and soup. They must really like us because they keep asking us to come back. Right after that we went and visited Carlos. They were about to start drinking in the backyard. We talked and shared a scripture. They said we could come back the next day. As I turned around I felt a crunch underneath my shoe and something wet touch my leg. I look down and this beer can is erupting all over me. I got on the bottom of my dress, my leg, and in my shoe. Then I hear the guys say, “Tocó el diablo." I touched the devil. Needless to say I smelled like beer, was wet the rest of the night, and my foot hurt. We joked about how I broke the Word of Wisdom through absorbtion. We went and got Hna. Stewart and drove to Aurelio’s house. Before we went in, we called a guy named Marcelo. He is really nice and wants to find the truth. It was really good that we went and visited Aurelio because he told us that he was going to smoke. We told him that we hadn’t planned on visiting him. A guy from English class named Juan was there too. It was hilarious. He was there remodeling Aurelio’s bathroom. We were able to teach both of them. It was a great way to end our day.
Saturday morning we had a call with Miguel Velazquez and then we planned for our week. We went out for lunch with Rafael and got tacos. This taco place is really good. While we were eating he made a joke and said, "Cincuenta -> sin cuenta no puede contarlo (you can't count it)." Rafael is the best. He is so excited to get the priesthood and help others. Whenever I see him it makes my day. After that, we went and visited Cody. They were about to have a party so we rescheduled. Then we met this lady named Janice. She is hilarious! After that, we had a long but really good lesson with Carlos and Ignacio. They started asking us some dumb questions to throw us off, but changed to actual questions. They were so surprised that it talks about apostasies and the restoration in the Bible. We able to get some understanding across. The rest of the night our lessons started falling through or the people weren’t home. We met a member who hasn't been in a while she was very nice. To end the night, we called German. Hna. Williamson and Stewart think that he is the most adorable thing ever.
Yesterday was absolutely crazy. We went to choir practice and then sacrament meeting. Straight after we went to the Spanish relief society meeting. Sadly the lesson was more of a war. The ladies just had hurt feelings and you could feel it. That makes me so sad. I hope that they will be able to forgive, heal, and forget. The talk we read was called Trust Again by Elder Gong. It said, "He asks us to keep the light on for each other, to be more forgiving and less judgmental of ourselves and each other." I like that it says be less judgmental of ourselves. The second great commandment is, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." How can we love one another if we don't even love ourselves? I am working on this and trying to change my mindset from being too critical of myself to wanting to change but being kind to myself. It is going to be a process that I can't do alone. Learning to love ourselves requires help from our Heavenly Father. He knows who we truly are and He can help us see it. Here is the link to the talk and you should all read it! https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2021/10/51gong?lang=eng
 | Notes. See Luke 15:20.. For example, I know and admire individuals who work honorably for years to repay heavy business debts left to them by others. Trust is an essential element of human capital in society and contributes to economic, social, and political prosperity and well-being (see, for example, Francis Fukuyama, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity [1995], 3–59). www.churchofjesuschrist.org |
Sacrament meeting was after and it went really well! Sergio, Efrain, Eduardo, Roberto, and Aurelio came (German and two of his friends just went to the class before). Rafael gave his talk even though he thought it was next week. He did really well. He talked about the will of the Lord. The last talk was Sister Clive. She talked about how we need to have faith, persevere, and have patience. She talked about a study that was done with children and marshmallows. It was to see how long they could wait before eating it. They put it on a plate in front of them. Aurelio said that it would be chocolate for me😂. Later we went and visited Efrain and Eduardo! We taught them about baptism and the plan of salvation. We invited Eduardo to be baptized and he said he would pray about it. Then we ate pizza with them. Apparently Efrain called Jorge in Charleston to help them order pizza. After that we made our trek up into Ridgeland. We were lost for 30+ minutes trying to find this house. Hna. Williamson was driving and we went down this sketchy road in the forest. She didn’t want to drive anymore, so we switched without getting out of the car. I almost got us stuck in the mud, I turned the car around, and drove us back. A man started to come up to the car and Hna. Stewart screamed. She grabbed my arm and we all screamed. I revved the car and sped away from him. Finally, google maps worked and we found the house. They are super nice. They told us some stories that didn’t help with the mood. We are going to help fix some things that were caused in the past. Then we went to go find another house. We get there and I am grabbing my purse and Hna. Williamson’s to go up to the porch. All of a sudden, I hear this growling. A pitbull comes out of the dark scaring the crap out of me. I kept Hna. Williamson’s purse out in front of me. She told me she had a dog whistle in it, so I was scrambling to find it without getting attacked. I also forgot to say it was raining and we were in the middle of nowhere. I found it and blew hard right as the door opened. The lady let us in and I about died. We set up a better time and left as a girl held the dogs back. Yesterday was a good day, just not a good night. I was soooo glad when we got home and for the feeling of safety.
Well, I love you all!! Have a great week!
 | President Nelson teaches about repentance and invites priesthood holders to repent so they can exercise priesthood power more fully. www.churchofjesuschrist.org |
