La Capilla Abierta
Two witnesses that Jesus is the Christ
On the 3rd I did all I could to
talk to Everyone in the street and invite them to the Capilla Abierta,
or open chapel, that would be taking place on the 7th, Saturday. I said
hi to one woman on the street. She greeted me quite warmly, which just
doesn't happen here in Caballito! She called me Tesoro, or treasure, and
asked us how we were doing. I said we were doing fantastic (especially
now that someone had talked to Us on the street!) and gave her an
invitation. She accepted it readily and said she'd be there on Saturday.
It made talking to everyone on the street a little bit more enjoyable
afterwards. knowing that sometimes Someone will respond:)
Hermana Weitl
Some thoughts from Hermana Weitl:
"We worked, and I mean WORKED! We started praying as though everything depended on God, and worked like everything depended on us.
We were able to serve and help in little ways, but meaningful to the people that received us. No slowing down! The Open House for the church was Saturday night and we invited EVERYONE. And ALMOST EVERYONE CAME!!!! There were so many
people that came, there were about 80 nonmembers and over 100 members, I
think. Hermana Dickson and I taught and taught and taught!!! And from
this event we received a ton of referrals!
On
Sunday, I turned around to see a less active family who came back with
the rest of their family who are nonmembers. I turned the other way and
saw another less active family, and another.... And they came! Some with
their FAMILIES!! It was a great week. A great week indeed. :)
I love the mission."
On
the 4th we had to drop Emanuel from our teaching pool. He wasn't progressing and said that he
felt pressured towards his baptism. His wife had broken down in tears
when he had said such, which I'm sure had to have killed him. He's a
great guy, and I know one day he'll take this step. But for now we have
to back away and let him grow on his own. He knows that the Book of
Mormon is true. With that little bit of faith, that little bit of
knowledge, GREAT things will happen. As my companion and I were heading
home from their house it started pouring rain. Thankfully we both had
umbrellas, a luxury I haven't enjoyed up to this point in the mission.
As we made our way home we heard something in front of us screaming
bloody murder. As we got closer we found the source of the noise. A poor
cat was stuck outside of its house and was screaming as it got
absolutely drenched. It sounded like a siren and went off just as
frequently. My comp and I couldn't just leave it there suffering so we
carried him about 100 yards over to an overhanging where it was dry. As
my companion held the cat in her arms its crying stopped. As soon as she
set it down however, it bolted out of the safety and back into the
pouring rain, stopping in front of the locked gate once more. Crying
just as loudly. My companion and I both thought of Emanuel. How he was
more willing to suffer with what he was comfortable with than take a
step into the unknown, into something infinitely better. It was
sobering, walking away from the cat as it screamed out into the night.
Our view of Caballito
The
5th consisted of following a prompting. My comp and I were trying to
get in touch with a few less active members when I felt prompted to go visit
Silvana, an old investigator. My companion said we should follow the
prompting, and off we went. When we rang her bell I just knew she was
going to be home and have time to talk. Not that that is normally the
case. She's hard to find. But she was there, with time free to talk. She
invited us up and we went on in. She wanted to talk to us in English to
practice. We ended up teaching the Restoration in English, something
I've never done before. It was powerful, if not for her, than for me.
She kept asking us, but why did you come today? Who told you to come see
me? I was pretty blunt. I told her, God.
The
6th was spent at the doctor and sprinting to pick up our dinner and run
it back to the house. We went 20 something blocks in 15 minutes. Talk
about bookin' it.
And the 7th was the Capilla Abierta. It was a
great success and many members as well as their friends stopped by. I
get kind of nervous when teaching in front of large groups of people.
It's a good thing I wasn't called to be a visiting center sister. I'd
much rather work one on one. But life goes on.
On
Sunday I gave a talk, my first in Argentina and in Spanish. I was a
little nervous going into it, but as I got up and began to speak the
words flowed, the spirit aiding my tongue and my nerves. At one point I
asked who was a convert to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only my
companion, out of everyone in the congregation, raised their hand. I
gave them a second to redeem themselves before raising my own hand. I
explained that I had been a member my entire life, but that I was ALSO a
convert. I then asked who was a convert of those present. Almost every
hand raised. There was a sort of power in seeing all of those hands
raised. I actually kind of felt unified with my ward for the first time
since coming here. My talk was over the blessings of the Atonement. I
shared many scriptures, ending with a powerful testimony. And then I sat
back down. The ward can choose to implement the things they heard or
not. But they cannot say they have not been told.
Looking
back on this week, we did go through a lot of hard things. We had a lot
of plans fall through. Hardly any members accompanied us. We were sick
at different times during the week. Our baptism fell through. We
couldn't even save a cat from the rain. Yet, for some reason, I just
feel so Happy. I get down on my knees and just can't thank God enough. I
can't thank Him enough for this time. For the scriptures. For my family.
I have never prayed so much for my family. I go into my personal
studies so dang excited to read my four chapters in El Libro de Mormon. I
just want to Work, Work, Work. Serve and Work some more. I feel on
fire. Maybe right now we don't have someone progressing towards baptism.
Maybe right now we're looking. But I am happy because God is good. He
is gracious. He is loving. He is in the inner workings of this mission,
of me.
How I love the Lord my God.
Hermana Dickson
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