Sept 23, 2013
Companion: Hermana Adama
Location: Ingavi- downtown Cochabamba
A MACHETE makes a great MANUAL WEED WACKER and other things I learned this week!
Hola Familia y Amigos,
Yep, Mom, change is good sometimes. Haha This week has been really awesome and I have learned a ton from Hermana Adama. She is such a loving person and has taught me a lot about how I can be a more loving companion. She has a ton of patience for me with my Spanish, so that's good too. I am also helping her a lot with English so that's been fun. She is learning I Am A Child of God in English, so we sing that together whenever we can ;)
Earlier this week we had an awesome conference with Elder Calderón of the Seventy who actually spoke to us in the CCM too. I learned a lot about how we can be better missionaries in our lessons by how we speak and the feelings that we bring into the lesson. It can make a HUGE difference when you are just speaking vs. when you speak from the heart. Also the way we react to broken commitments is HUGE. We need to always make sure that the investigators know how important it is to read and to pray to know about the truth of this gospel. We can talk and talk and talk to investigators about the gospel, but it's not until they pray that they are going to gain a testimony of this gospel. Also when we are teaching a new investigator we were told to not leave until the investigator prayed to end or begin the lesson. With most of our investigators it's not too hard, but some are pretty darn hard to get to pray.
We visited one of our investigators, Nemesia, earlier this week and we worked for like ten minutes just trying to help her with saying a prayer. Finally my companion ended up whispering in her ear what to say. Even though she couldn't do it alone, it was actually very tender to hear her pray to her Father in Heaven through humility. A moment I shall never forget.
We got two new investigators this past week, Jose and Cristian. Jose is 14 and Cristian is 12. They came to church too! They had never been to church in their lives, so it was really cool to see them come for the very first time. We also set a baptismal date for them and they are very willing to listen and learn what we have to say. Our ward plays soccer every Thursday night and so they are going to start going and playing with them. This has proven to be a great way to get investigators involved in the church! In fact, that was our bate when we first contacted them, I asked them what they liked to do and if they liked to play soccer. Then BINGO, they were interested ;)
Sarah and Samuel, who I have mentioned before and who we have been teaching...are set to be baptized this Saturday or Sunday and so we are praying that things work out how they should! Please pray for them!!
Thursday night we had intercambio (companion exchange) and I went with Hermana Torres. Her zone is Jerusalen, so that was fun getting to know another part of Cochabamba. Her area has an awesome view of the Cochabamba so I'll send pics. :) Hermana Torres is awesome and also taught me a lot. A member, Nicol, who I think is 12, accompanied us and she is so cute and has such a strong testimony. She was all ready with her scriptures and pamphlets! We visited and taught a little boy who I believe is 10 and LOVES the church. The only problem is that his dad doesn't want him to get baptized. So they are working really patiently with him. It was so cute and a real lesson to me because we got there and he pulled out his Book of Mormon from his backpack and it was marked to the brim. He also finished 1 Nephi! So that was so awesome to see his dedication to this gospel as a young investigator.
We started teaching a young boy, Anderson who is 8 and he is just the most innocent kid. We have stopped by and talked to him a tiny bit, just because we have been teaching his sister Carla and so we ended up having a lesson about faith with him this past week and we are going to try talking to his mom so we can bring him to church. We could use extra prayers for that too! ;) It is amazing to me, how the Lord prepares even his young- also how much an 8 year old can understand.
The work is hastening on! We are going to be working really hard this week to get some more progressing investigators and really help our investigators gain a strong testimony of this gospel so we can get them to come to church.
Whenever I have a hard time here in the mission and whenever we are having a hard time really helping our investigators, I always have to remind myself of Isaiah 41:10, 13. God is here and he is helping us. We just need to know that things will go on and people will change in the Lords time and the Lords way. We just need to let him take our hands and guide us where we need to go and teach with patience and understanding. This gospel is so powerful and we can take advantage of that power through strengthening our testimonies to share with others. The Book of Mormon is such a powerful book and we are so lucky to have it in our grasp. Take advantage of it! ;)
Michone and Mom, THANK YOU so much for all the photos!! Hahaha I died when I saw the picture of Halli's hair after she cut it.. Haha she follows after me! And at the same age! She just knew that her hair would look more cute short just like I knew when I decided to do the same thing. ;) good job Nichole! It looks so cute!
Still no package yet but I'm hoping your prediction is right mom! Haha Love you! Take care everyone and know that I love you all!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Hermana Forsey CLICK HERE to see more pics from this week!