14 July 2014

Dear Family, Grandparents, and whoever else is reading this letter, :)

I love the pictures! I looks like you had a good trip. One of the youth in the ward, was here in the same internet as us, and he liked seeing all the pictures of church history sites. He is also pilas for reading English, so he took a stab at reading the letter from Grandma and Grandpa. He was doing a really good job both on pronouncing and translating. (Pilas--adjective meaning skilled, capable, competent--often with a sense of someone who is takes initiative and gets things done.)

On Wednesday evening, we spent a little time with Cindy--one of the members in our area, who returned from a mission a year and a half ago. She served the last part of her mission in Belize, speaking English, but we almost always just use Spanish, except when she wants to practice. She is studying to be a dentist (she's in the practicas right now, which I think is a little like a residency). Hna Hill played a little bit of dress up. :)

On Saturday we discovered a new part of our area.  We did a little contacting and met Hna Transito Paz. She invited us in, and even invited us to lunch. (Wow!) We invited her to church, no pressure, didn't even ask whether she would come.

Saturday night we played soccer with the Young Women, and we brought two sisters we are teaching, Dariela and Julisa. It was a lot of fun, even though I am lousy at soccer! Hna Hill did manage to make a goal though! 

Sunday morning we went to church. As Sacrament meeting was ending, one of the sisters asked me to cover her Relief Society class. She said she hadn't been able to prepare it during the week. I think part of why she couldn't wing it had to do with not having her glasses. But it's still just hilarious for me to think about how the members see missionaries. I think they think we are super human and can teach great classes without preparation. So during Gospel Essentials class, I started looking over the lesson. 

And then....miracle! Hna Transito came into the class, with her husband and granddaughter. Wow! All we did was invited and she came to church on her own! Albeit halfway through the meeting schedule, but wow! She explained afterward that she had told her husband that she was going to go to church. He said it was late. She said that she was going to go anyway, and he tagged along. This sister is, by the way, a cousin of several ward members, so they were surprised and happy to see hna Transito at church!  

Thus with this miraculous interruption in Sunday school, I stopped preparing my lesson in any way and started focusing on my visitors. In Relief Society, I truly winged the lesson...a first for me. But I think it went quite well. I think the Spirit helped me think up examples as I went along with the lesson (fitting since the lesson was on the gift of the Holy Ghost, manual chapter 14). I talked about how the Spirit is like a watch. If we don't have a watch, we can ask someone the time (which helps, but doesn't stay current, like the Power of  the Holy Ghost). But if we want to own a watch (Gift of the Holy Ghost), we have to pay (faith, repentance, baptism, laying on of hands). And then we have to choose to use it (endure to the end). It was a little hard to manage a room full of talkative Relief Society women, but at least Hna Transito liked the lesson. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you all very much! 

Sister Davis