9 June 2014

This was a very interesting week.

On Monday night, we had a new experience. Chicken feet! Yes they are edible, but they aren't quite like anything I'd ever eaten before. But in my personal opinion, they are better than pig feet. At least the sister who cooked them did a better job.

Tuesday we had  our district meeting in La Paz. To go home, we have to change buses in the Lima. While we were waiting for our second bus, we met a man named Abner. We started talking, and then we sat down at a nearby table. In the end, we talked to him about the gospel for almost an hour. In the end, he thanked us and said that what we had shared had been like a fountain of water in the desert. He is probably a little prone to exaggerate, but it was nice to know we had been in the right place at the right time. (While we were waiting, I also tried aloe vera juice--something I had never tried before, but really quite tasty. I think it was essentially grape juice with aloe vera pulp.)

Thursday we had a miracle when we were finally able to have a lesson with Dasayli and her husband, two inactive members. At the end of last transfer, we volunteered to help Dasayli stack the bags of flour in her pulperia and then we shared a short scripture. This time, it was easier to get in the door. I think that what we did last time, combined with the luck that it was a quiet day in the pulperia helped. Once we got in the house, Hna Hill spotted an opportunity to serve--we washed dished, swept, and organized a little. In the meantime, the husband came home. And we were able to share a short lesson with both of them.

Friday and Saturday, we were accompanied by Hna Valentina, an 81-year-old lady who is a missionary to the core. We had taken her Friday because she wanted to introduce us to one of her friends, and from there she wanted  to keep teaching with us! Saturday, we took her to look for one of her cousins. When the appointment fell through, she accompanied us to another couple of  short appointments and contacts. She even started talking to people she didn't know, introducing herself, the church, and then us as missionaries. Hna Hill put it succinctly when she said that Hna Valentina makes us looks bad. After all, we are the one who are supposed to open our mouths with everyone.

Sunday, it was a struggle to find the people we wanted to teach, but it was still a day with some really good experiences. The first was Hna Teresa. As we were walking down the street, I felt like we should talk to a couple sitting outside their house. The man, Wilfredo, was someone we had talked to before, but we had never met the wife, Teresa. We shared a little about ourselves and then about the Restoration. Surprisingly, the thing that really caught their attention was tithing. They asked us if our church had to pay tithing. We said that tithing was a commandment, but it was personal rather than public. Further it was 10 percent, and 10 percent of zero is zero. That really caught their attention. I think they had a bad experience where someone called them out publically for being behind on paying tithing. Sharing that point caught their attention and softened their hearts. They accepted a pamphlet. As the wife began to leaf through, she commented that she hadn't realized we believed in the Holy Ghost and that was the reason why she hadn't previously accepted the missionaries. As we left, Teresa was already reading with interest.

From there we headed off to do some contacting. We passed a house where an hermana was busy washing a pile of dishes in her pila. We offered to help and were thereby able to get to know her and her cousin. We shared a short message and we're going back Tuesday. The cousin, Kate, hasn't been going to any church. As we testified of the Book of Mormon, I think something got her attention, and I hope she'll continue to learn and that she will follow through on the invitation to pray about what we taught.

It was nice this week to see the way the Lord helped us find people who needed to hear more about the gospel. I know that the things we were able to accomplish this week weren't any credit to our personal abilities. I just know that because we gave it all we had the Lord strengthened our weaknesses. (Ether 12:27)

Love,

Hermana Davis