Hola, hola!
We had some really special moments this week. On Sunday, Hna. Duarte and I were so happy to see that Alexander, who was baptized recently, gave the opening prayer in sacrament meeting. He began to pray for his mom, who is passing through difficulties. After the prayer the Bishop said, “He is one of our newest members and he is worried about his mom. This isn’t just his preoccupation. This is ours as well.” So sweet. He will have his priesthood interview this Wednesday and receive the priesthood on Sunday.
This Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting. I pray every time that no one says anything doctrinally incorrect, or extremely offensive to our investigators. I was so happy and relieved with the testimonies that people gave. I think that everyone felt much more unified and felt the Spirit. It was powerful and so good. It was also 1 hour and 45 minutes, so we didn’t have Sunday School. So many youth bore their testimonies, too, which impressed our investigators. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16) and our investigators Liliana and Neida were impressed that there were people who still taught and lived the law of chastity, in a society full of pornography, soap operas, music with double meaning, etc.
We are teaching Cristian, who is so cool. He is a 27 year old Seventh-day Adventist that got in trouble with his church. The leaders had their fancy laptops while the church didn’t have light, fans, or brooms So, they didn’t pay their tithing to the church. Instead, they created their own fund for their congregation by pooling their tithing together to buy lights, fans, and brooms. They also bought huge sacks of rice and beans and went to remote villages where the people didn’t have anything. After distributing the food they taught the gospel (note: Christ used the same strategy by feeding the multitudes with bread and fishes and teaching His gospel). For his rebellion, they punished him. We love to teach him, because he asks such good questions and we get to use the scriptures to teach the doctrine with him. And, he reads! I love it!
Cristian told us a story that illustrates what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. He was with his family on the way to church one Saturday when he noticed an older man who was struggling to push his cart of coal up a hill. Cristian stopped to help, but his family said, “Let’s go. The meeting’s about to start. We’re going to be late.” His family went ahead but Cristian stayed behind to help. He took off his shoes and helped the man with his cart. He had to go home and change afterwards and then go to the meeting. Cristian said, “I felt really good and felt like I did the right thing.” It made me remember the phrase, “What you do speaks so loudly that I can’t hear what you say.”
I had a similar story this past week. We noticed this man that had his cart laden with wood (about 12 feet long). He, too, was at the bottom of the hill. We stopped and offered to help. Usually, the people say, “No, no. It’s okay” so I was surprised and delighted when this man accepted our help. Hna. Duarte offered to ride in the cart with our bags (ha ha) while we push the cart up the hill. I was tempted to sing many a Primary song about pushing handcarts, but I refrained. A gringa in tall shoes pulling a cart full of wood already attracts enough attention, I don’t need to sing pioneer songs! The man and Hna. Duarte pushed and I pulled the cart. Phew! Talk about a workout! I was grateful—Hna. Duarte and I always look for ways to help others. I love service!
Oh, Hna. Duarte and I are jogging 3 times a week, which also is a rare sight to see in our Peruvian city. We have more energy during the day, which is happiness.
Blessings!
