Lunes, 24 Agosto 2015
Today definitely wasn't a day of rest. haha Right after studies at 10 am, we went to Violeta's house to try on my dress that she is making for me. Then we went to the Tottus and bought some things, and then off to internet to write home. I had tears come to my eyes to hear about Matt Palmer's homecoming. It sounded so special. He is a special son of God who changed not only my life, but MANY others.
After internet, we ate lunch. (pizza and a cherry cheesecake)
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| the food looks good...but the pizza tastes like plastic, |
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| and the cheesecake is fake....haha |
Then we finally got home, but by that time, it was time to head out teaching. First we went to see Paola. It is her little boy's 2 month mark, so we celebrated with some queque. It was yummy. Second, we went to a FHE with Rosaura and Ronald and all their kids. (less actives) It was a nice night. Their 15 year old daughter taught us about repentance.
At the end of the night, we were supposed to teach Junior, but for some reason, he was angry, so he didn't want a visit from us. We were super confused.
It was a long day.
Martes, 25 Agosto 2015
A miracle happened this morning. As we were contacting some people, we decided to stop by a less active's house. Well, every time we go there, she always turns us away. Today, she still opened the door "coldly", but this time, I decided to ask her if we could help her cook, clean or wash. Usually everyone turns down our offers, but not today. She agreed. We went inside and conversed, and then the second miracle happened...her husband (non member) showed up. We got talking with both of them. It was an amazing discussion. Their names are Roberto and Cecilia. They were begging us to come back...we willingly accepted! haha
Later that morning, we ran into Alan, who we had to practically torture to give us referrals. He introduced us to his brother (return missionary, but inactive now). We talked with them and their uncle for a little bit. Then we went to lunch.
After lunch, we taught a few people, like Venesa. We talked about the Book of Mormon. She was really into it, so hopefully she prays and asks God about it.
Later, we visited Jose Luis. When we got to his house, he was reading his Book of Mormon. He is already in 2 Nephi 17. He told us all of the story he has read so far. Then we taught him about faith, repentance and baptism. Then we invited him to be baptized. He said, "But I'm already baptized." I then explained that he needs to baptized the way that Christ was baptized, with authority from God. He told us that he would pray about it.
Then we stopped by to see Erene and Ernesto. We told them that we don't have transfers, and they almost cried out of happiness. They are seriously adorable.
Then we went to dinner, and sang cute children songs in English, with Arsenia's granddaughter.
Later, Violeta stopped by to give me my dress. It is gorgeous! It is a simple red dress...and I love it!! Then we got ready for bed after planning.
Miercoles, 26 Agosto 2015
This morning we visited a young married couple in the park. They are super educated and they were really interested in what we have to share. Jose, the husband, shared his beliefs with us, and at the end, he was pleasantly surprised that we were still listening to him, because he told us that all other religions that have tried to teach him, went running off whenever he would share his beliefs. He does have a very different belief than most Peruvians, but he said something that we knew we could work with. He said, "You can feel the truth. You feel it in your heart." And that is when we knew that they would be really interesting investigators, that can progress.
In the afternoon, we went visiting with Rita, the Bishop's mom. She is so cute. She calls us her pretty little princesses. :)
In the night, we had a FHE. It was us, Felicita (the home owner of the house that we held it in) and Luis Wong. (less active) We taught about the Atonement. During the lesson, I got feeling super sick. We hurried and finished, said a prayer, waited for Felicita to give us her refreshment of popcorn to us, and then we headed out.
We hurried to the pension to grab dinner for Hna Lofgran, and then went home so I could lie down. I don't know what overcame me, but I did not feel good.
Jueves, 27 Agosto 2015
This morning we had our district meeting. There are now new people in our District. The district is Elder Romrell (10 months), Elder Moore (3 days in the field), Elder Salas (2 months), Elder Warren (1 year), and us sisters. It was a really good meeting. Elder Warren is a great district leader. The spirit really guided the class. In the end, we all bore testimony of a miracle from the week that passed. It was a great feeling to hear some amazing growing experiences. I am excited to be in this district.
I got my package of Tootsie Rolls! Thanks!
At lunch, Violeta came by to have Hna Lofgran try on her dress. Then we took pictures in our dresses so she could show a friend the dresses that she made.
We had quite a few appointments fall through, but the ones that we had were pretty good.
Bonus of the day....we ate coconut chocolate cake!
Viernes, 28 Agosto 2015
This morning we had planning. After planning, we went visiting. We visited Evelina Chavez and she let us know that her husband is reading a book from the church, and that once he had read the whole thing, he wants to have visits from us. We are super excited! Evelina has been patiently waiting for a long time for this day.
Then we visited Paola. She said that she is actually going to start to prepare to be baptized, but she doesn't want a date yet. One day soon....
Sabado, 29 Agosto 2015
Today was a very special day in the mission. Elder Bednar and Sister Bednar came to speak to our mission. It was a beautiful experience. We had to be at the Institute building at 9:30am. At 10:00am, we took a picture as the mission...and that is when I ran into Erin Kelly, Danielle's friend from high school! She just got into the mission field 5 days ago! It was so crazy to actually run into someone I know. Small world!
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| Hna Dodson (wearing her new dress) with Hna Erin Kelly |
The first people to address us, was Bishop Stevenson and his wife. They gave us a piece of advice...Make the spirit the 3rd member of your companionship...and then allow that companion to speak.
Second to address us was Elder Godoy and his wife. They are from Brazil, but right now they live in Lima. Their advice was...Understand that the mission president and his wife are here for you... for a reason....they are here for my life....for my eternity. They will forever be people who helped me reach a higher level of what God wants for me.
Third to speak to us was Elder Suarez and his wife. They are from Brazil and his wife speaks only Portuguese. I really want to learn it. It sounds like Spanish mixed with French. Their advice: Give your testimony every fast Sunday... No matter where you are, bear witness of what you know...because we are all witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Then Elder Bednar and his wife spoke to us. Sister Bednar talked to us about something that I know, changed everyone's way of being. She said, "I want to be your mom right now. You are all glowing and are just so happy. I know they would love to see you right now. Your mothers love you and have great plans for you." She ended with this phrase, "Be the missionary that your mom thinks you are."
After she finished her thoughts, Elder Bednar spoke. The way he teaches makes everyone feel good and he keeps it so interesting. He started his talk by telling us that in the church, we have this false tradition of "writing down all that speakers say to us". He went on to explain that the Book of Mormon was written on two sets of plates...the large and the small. The large are for all the facts and history. The small were for the spiritual matters. He then described to us that if we write all that a speaker says, we are just adding history to the large plates, but if we write down the thoughts and ideas that come to our mind, from the spirit, that we are writing on our small plates. He then challenged us to write on "small plates" as he spoke to us today. I realized that I have been taking notes wrong my entire life!
He didn't just give a talk, we had a discussion with him. It was really special. Something that really impressed me was that they talked about children. They told us never to use the phrase "If you ever do that again, I'm going to (fill in the blank)!....unless we are actually going to go through with the consequence we say. :)
Another point that he taught was that we usually say our prayers and after we say Amen, we wait...but he said that when we say Amen, that is when the prayer starts...we need to act according to the prayer we just said.
During the entire meeting, the spirit was so strong. The power of interpretation is amazing! It gives you a larger desire to focus on what is being said because the sentences are being broken in two, so to understand them, you must focus and meditate.
When the meeting ended, we were singing the last hymn, and Elder and Sister Bednar mouthed out to me "What hymn number?" I showed them on my fingers. haha It put a smile on my face....that they are just normal people. I love and adore them so much.
After the prayer, they got up and all of them left. When they left, you could feel the strong influence of the spirit leave, too. We could still feel the spirit, don't get me wrong, but his spirit is 10 x more powerful than just the missionary spirit alone. It was such a special experience. I am so grateful to have had such a great blessing to have seen and 'met' Elder Bednar.
After the meeting, we ate pizza for lunch, as a whole mission. It was really fun. There are very few sisters in our mission, but being a small group makes it easier to get to know each of them. :)
We went visiting after and no one was home! At the end of the night, we were able to visit Erene and Ernesto. They had a christian over name Christian. :) We shared a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and then Christian shared his testimony about God's plan. He is a really cool guy...he belongs to another church, but hopefully we can help him find the fullness of the gospel.
We made Mac-n-Cheese using spaghetti noodles, for dinner. haha It was yummy!
Then we went home, planned and got ready for tomorrow. A lot of people should be coming to church tomorrow. I really hope it happens!
Domingo, 30 Agosto 2015
Well....only 2 less actives showed up to church! 2! We taught 17 less active families this week and only 2 people showed up! That was definitely disappointing. We just have to hope that next Sunday, more will come. After all the classes, we stayed for Ward Council.
Then we went visiting until lunch. We stopped by Ernesto and Erene's house to see why they didn't come to church. Erene woke up sick and Ernesto stayed home to take care of her. We chatted for a few minutes and then we went to lunch.
After lunch, we studied and then went out visiting some more. We visited a couple named Wendy and Miguel Angel. We had a pretty interesting discussion with them. They want to continue listening, because they think that our message is interesting. :)
One of the other lessons that went really well, was with Luis Wong, his sister Gladis, and their niece Anmary. We read Alma 24 with them. Usually when we read with them, Gladis gets bored and starts to fall asleep, but today, no. They were all so intrigued with the story, that they couldn't wait to keep reading after we would stop and explain what was going on. :) They were so excited to apply the teaching of "burying weapons", that they want to bury their weapons/sins.
To end the night, we taught Shirley and Darwin. (less actives) We taught them about the Family Proclamation. They really liked it. We get along great with them.
It was kind of a disappointing day, but the visits we had were something really special.
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