So this last week was my first week with Hermana Ramirez! She has a completely different teaching/general-missionary-work style than Hermana Gonzalez, so I got thrown through a loop for a while, especially because I was teaching all new people that already know Hermana Ramirez. The consolation was that I wasn't physically lost because I'm still in Loma Linda. Because there are three pairs of missionaries in this ward, I just switched what pair I was in, but this means I changed all the people I visit. We have a family that we are teaching, and if I could favorite investigators it would be this family. It's two twin teenage girls, named Rubi and Perla, and their dad, José. The dad and mom are separated, and the only reason they aren't divorced is because it costs too much for them to pay. They are pretty poor, but they are happy and healthy. José's story is crazy, but it's so cool to see how God saved him, even when he felt like he was too far out of God's reach. His story gives me hope for a lot of people. The lessons with them are so cool, because they all know the Bible REALLY well and they find connections with the things we teach to a ton of stories in the Bible. Also José tells us in detail what he read in the Book of Mormon and how it applies to his life in the beginning of every lesson. José and Rubi already have a baptismal date coming up, but Perla is more rebellious, and still won't make a commitment for a specific day.
We are also teaching the uncle of the husband of my convert Ana, Angel. He's old, like 70 something, but in the contact with Hermana Palmer and Hermana Ramirez, he said that he likes parties and this week he was wearing a gold chain with a golden machine gun on it. He's such a... unique old man. He already has a testimony and everything, but he couldn't stop smoking and drinking. So this week we pulled out a trick that one of the elders told us to do to help him stop smoking. We took the tabacco inside two cigarettes and a glass of water, mixed them together and let it sit for about 20 minutes. It looked so gross. The water was brown; it looked worse than the water in the river in downtown Jacksonville. We had him drink a little bit of it, because the taste is so bad that everytime he will put a cigarette in his mouth, he'll taste this awfulness. I didn't like doing it, but it worked! He says that he gets grossed out everytime he wants to smoke. He was sweating really bad after drinking a tiny bit. We were praying so hard that he would be ok, because we never did this trick with anyone before. Everything worked out though; that was a relief.
This week also had some big happenings for Hermana Palmer and Hermana Gonzalez. Victor went to church! Victor! Who was so, oh so close, to getting baptized! Also he isn't wearing his lip ring anymore; the hole has actually closed up! I was so happy to see him; though I'm not going to lie, I a little disappointed that I won't be teaching him again. I prayed so much that I would still be in Loma Linda when Victor got baptized. I hope that will happen. Also GAEL, KEVIN, AND CRISTIAN GOT BAPTIZED!!!! I might have cried in their baptism because I was so happy. We were singing Soy un Hijo de Dios, I'm a Child of God, and the last part says "Guíenme; enséñenme la senda a seguir para que algún día yo con Él pueda vivir." or literally translated in English, "guide me, teach me the path to follow so that one day I can live with Him." When we were singing this part, it just hit me that they are going to do exactly this, they are going to live with their Heavenly Father again. I know that techincally they aren't my converts because this last week I was changed, but they are so my converts too. I love this kids so much! Cristian chose me to give a talk in the baptism on Christ's atonement, so I got to participate in someway in the baptism. I'm so happy that I could see it!
I love my mission! I love the people here! I know that this literally is the work of salvation, and that God is in charge of this work. I testify that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live today, and that they are anxiously engaged in the details of our lives. When we do what is right, they are rejoicing. When we stumble and fall, the first thing they are going to do is the thing that will help us the most.
I love y'all!
Hermana Stevenson
We are also teaching the uncle of the husband of my convert Ana, Angel. He's old, like 70 something, but in the contact with Hermana Palmer and Hermana Ramirez, he said that he likes parties and this week he was wearing a gold chain with a golden machine gun on it. He's such a... unique old man. He already has a testimony and everything, but he couldn't stop smoking and drinking. So this week we pulled out a trick that one of the elders told us to do to help him stop smoking. We took the tabacco inside two cigarettes and a glass of water, mixed them together and let it sit for about 20 minutes. It looked so gross. The water was brown; it looked worse than the water in the river in downtown Jacksonville. We had him drink a little bit of it, because the taste is so bad that everytime he will put a cigarette in his mouth, he'll taste this awfulness. I didn't like doing it, but it worked! He says that he gets grossed out everytime he wants to smoke. He was sweating really bad after drinking a tiny bit. We were praying so hard that he would be ok, because we never did this trick with anyone before. Everything worked out though; that was a relief.
This week also had some big happenings for Hermana Palmer and Hermana Gonzalez. Victor went to church! Victor! Who was so, oh so close, to getting baptized! Also he isn't wearing his lip ring anymore; the hole has actually closed up! I was so happy to see him; though I'm not going to lie, I a little disappointed that I won't be teaching him again. I prayed so much that I would still be in Loma Linda when Victor got baptized. I hope that will happen. Also GAEL, KEVIN, AND CRISTIAN GOT BAPTIZED!!!! I might have cried in their baptism because I was so happy. We were singing Soy un Hijo de Dios, I'm a Child of God, and the last part says "Guíenme; enséñenme la senda a seguir para que algún día yo con Él pueda vivir." or literally translated in English, "guide me, teach me the path to follow so that one day I can live with Him." When we were singing this part, it just hit me that they are going to do exactly this, they are going to live with their Heavenly Father again. I know that techincally they aren't my converts because this last week I was changed, but they are so my converts too. I love this kids so much! Cristian chose me to give a talk in the baptism on Christ's atonement, so I got to participate in someway in the baptism. I'm so happy that I could see it!
I love my mission! I love the people here! I know that this literally is the work of salvation, and that God is in charge of this work. I testify that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live today, and that they are anxiously engaged in the details of our lives. When we do what is right, they are rejoicing. When we stumble and fall, the first thing they are going to do is the thing that will help us the most.
I love y'all!
Hermana Stevenson