We found the Road to El Dorado :)
We had a miracle this week! Well, actually, we had many, but the first one happened on Monday. Instead of texting to confirm our appointment with Nalleli, we felt prompted to call her. Her voice was shaky, and she told us that on Sunday, she discovered that her husband was cheating on her. She asked us to pray for her, which we did, over the phone. The next day, at our appointment with her, she hugged me for a minute or so. She began to cry - as soon as we sat down and before the opening prayer, she told us, "Ya quiero bautizarme." (I want to be baptized.) We were surprised, but testified that her decision would bless her life and the lives of her 3 kids. It was a miracle! She's getting baptized on the 20th of May.
Our investigators, Sergio and Irma Granados (no relation to sea-soup Hermana Granados) are AWESOME!! They both came to church last week and sat by Martha Jaidar, a super awesome member, and this week, Irma had to work, but Sergio still came! An RM in our ward named Cesar Rios introduced himself, exchanged numbers, and asked to come to their next lesson tomorrow at 6! When members asked Sergio, "Are you coming next week?" He replied, "Con mucho gusto!" (With pleasure!) They're excited to be baptized on May 13.
Fernanda Aldana Castro, our 15 year-old investigator, went to mutual and loved it! We gave her a baptismal calendar and have a regularly scheduled appointment at the church after mutual. We discovered she drinks green tea when we taught her the word of wisdom; when we followed up with her the next lesson, she proudly told us that when she went to Juarez, a common weekend activity down here in El Paso, her dad bought her some of her favorite green tea... AND SHE DIDN'T DRINK IT!! :) She's so awesome - we're happy for her! She's also getting baptized on the 13th.
We received a training during district council on how to teach in spite of distractions, such as children or music. I had a neat experience where I applied the training: some members were kind enough to take us out to lunch. There was live music - a talented musician was taking requests, but didn't know any religious songs. We were trying to direct the conversation to gospel topics, but it was hard to hear. As the musician sang "How sweet it is to be loved by you," I nearly shouted to Hermana and Hermano Martinez, "This song is for you two! (What?) Because you love each other! (Speak up!) You know who else loves you? Jesus! Jesus Christ loves you! Here's a scripture..." :) I'm really grateful for district council, because it prepares you for these situations.
I've been having some challenges with my companion, but I was too ashamed to talk to anyone about it. Sister Olson is truly an inspired STL - during Language Study, I began pouring out my heart to her in Spanish. She's an English missionary, so she had no idea what I was saying, but she listened intently and nodded a lot. :) It felt good to talk it out, and as I talked, I realized all I lacked in my relationship with my companion was good communication. Our comp inventory is usually a little rushed, since it's at the end of weekly planning, so the day after my poor sister training leader listened to my woes in Spanish, I was better able to talk to my own companion. God chooses His leaders wisely!
Seminary is still just as fun as ever - this week, we talked about James 3. Surprisingly very applicable! I really enjoyed reading it and loved the input from the class.
At district council, 5 out of the 6 sisters in our district wore the same dress in different colors. :) It was fun to match!
Valeria and Nefi finally got married! We left after the ceremony, but the next day after church we spent about 45 minutes helping them clean up the mess - and what a mess it was! There was a TON of beer. Don't worry, though - Valeria and Nefi don't drink, just their non-member family and friends.
We shared the story of Esther with a member who's struggling with her nearly-abusive husband. They're living apart, but he bothers her nearly every day. It was a bit awkward because he was there at dinner with us, but we were very bold: "Sometimes, we are like Esther. We must stand up for ourselves, and for what's right!" We looked right in her eyes. "Other times, we can be like Haman- full of pride and hate." Like her husband. We pray for her every morning and night, as we do with a lot of people.
That's all for this week! Tune in next time for more miracles!
Love, love, love,
Hermana Smurthwaite
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