Once again, an extremely full week! I wanted to start off with a scripture I found this week that really got my attention.
Ausi and I at the Baptism
Alma 38:5 from the Book of Mormon:
"as much as ye shall put your
Alright, on to the week we go:)
On the Way to La Boca
La Boca
On Monday
we went to La Boca:) We had planned on taking pictures and shopping,
but the weather had other plans. With the howling wind and rain we
decided to go straight for the Boca chapel where we played ultimate Frisbee! It was Sweet, even if I did get a little beat up:)
After a fun
p-day we met up with All, who accompanied us to visit Daiana:) We taught
her the word of wisdom and the law of chastity, helping her understand
that her body is a temple and something sacred, that she truly is a
daughter of God with divine potential. We then visited with Hermana
Veronica and her little son Luca!
ouch! frisbee pain
On
Tuesday we started out the day with our district meeting:) My companion
and I talked about the importance of unity in a companionship. To teach
the principle we decided to demonstrate a lack of unity;) I taught the
entire thing, going on and on. Afterwards I said we were going to read a
scripture. My companion started to announce where the scripture was
found but I cut her off mid-sentence, telling her that she was wrong and
that the scripture was actually in Alma. All of the Elders in our
district looked at me with their mouths hanging open! However, before
everyone got the impression that I was an evil dictator, my companion
explained that we had been acting, and explained the importance of
having unity. I thought it went really well and enjoyed acting;) Elder
Cook also had his birthday, so we sneakily bought him a cake as a zone
and sang to him:) After the district meeting we had lunch with Hermana
Chiclayo who took us to a restaurant close to her house:) Yum! After
lunch my companion was feeling sick with a bad cold, so we headed home
so she could rest. I didn't mind, as the wind was horrible outside,
smacking against the windows! To keep myself occupied I read my
scriptures and marked up my bible.
On Wednesday
both of us felt ill! You'd think I'd be used to such things by now...
After our vianda of rice and milanesa, Javier accompanied us in the
rain:) With him we were able to teach Anderson, Medita, Kevin, and
Daiana. Afterwards we met up with the Sandon family and did some
practices for how they could invite their friends to go to church:) It
actually turned out really well. As we got back to the house at the end
of the day I realized that Javier had actually been teaching me as well
throughout the day. He taught me the importance of fasting, and that we
shouldn't worry if we don't receive an immediate answer. Every fast will
be answered, but in God's time and in His way. I also loved what he had
to say about prayer. About following through with promptings received
and trusting in the Lord. It was amazing!
On Thursday
I read about 20 chapters in the Book of Mormon in the morning, as my
companion still wasn't feeling too well. It was so cool to see the
entire mission of Ammon and his brothers and how the Lord used them as
instruments to save so many thousands of people! Later that day Victor
accompanied us:) I managed to lose 76 pesos... but it was a good day
regardless:) We visited Juan, a less active member. He had a Book of Mormon that he wanted us to give away. I told him we would be happy to
do so, but only if he was willing to do three things before that. First,
read a single chapter in the book. Second, write his feelings or
testimony regarding what he had read. And third, go with us to give the
book away to one of his neighbors. I don't think he was expecting that!
However, we didn't give him room to wiggle his way into excuses and
agreed that yes, he would read, write, and be ready to give the Book of
Mormon away the following week. Success! We also visited a referral we
had received. His name is Brian and he's currently in the hospital
recovering from an accident. He was actually very receptive and we were
able to teach him a little bit about the Restoration of the gospel:)
This lesson was followed by visiting Daiana, with whom we went over the baptismal
questions:) She had also already finished everything we'd left for her
to read, so I had to think of some more homework for her! We finished up
the day visiting Carlitos and teaching him about the importance of the
temple:) Before leaving we sang "Families can be together forever" in English and Spanish so that we could practice for the real deal on Sunday. It went really well and the spirit was felt.
Cerviche!
Friday
came around and off we went to lunch with the Herrera family:) It was
my first time, and I have to say I loved it. They are such an example of
living the gospel in their family. The love between husband and wife
and towards their children is evident immediately. After lunch my
companion and I headed back to the apartment as we both felt ill... yay!
However, we had Daiana's baptismal interview later that evening, so off
we went at 6 to pick her up and head over to the church. Everything
went extremely well, and after the interview Elder Cook and Elder Merma
gave my comp and I a blessing. As Elder Cook was giving me the blessing I
felt as though Father was giving me instructions and guiding me. He
talked about the importance of prayers, to always remember that God is
my Father, and that I needed to be prepared for the people that were
prepared for me.
My Companion's Wonderful Peruvian cooking!
Cutting onions makes her cry.
Lomo saltado with rice
Papas fritas
(French fries)
Saturday
consisted of making lomo saltado, a Peruvian dish that I love, with the
Sandon family! After cooking it and eating it we visited Jaghira and
Mary, and I got to hang out with Mary's little daughter and her legos:)
We then headed over to the church to teach Zulieka the gospel of Jesus Christ lesson. After teaching her briefly my comp and I didn't know
where to go. We called and called but no one was home, or didn't want to
answer their phone, or couldn't receive us on such short notice. then,
all of a sudden, my companion felt prompted to call Daiana. We both knew
that she was out of town for the day, but my comp had been receiving
the prompting several times to call her and hadn't really paid attention
to the feeling. However, when we called Daiana answered and said that she
was home and that we could stop by. What a blessing! I've learned many
times on my mission that when we receive a prompting from the spirit we
HAVE to act, no matter what. It doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense
or if it's not what we want. All that matters is trusting in God,
trusting that His vision exceeds our own.
And then she was baptized! That's right, on Sunday
Daiana was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter
day saints! But let's back up a second. In the morning when my companion
and I entered Relief Society, the sister speaking pointed at me and
started talking about my piano abilities. She then asked me, in front of
the class, if I'd be willing to play for sacrament meeting. Shocked, I
said sure, to which she found one of the bishopric, scheduled
everything, and came back to tell me that I would be playing a special
number that very day! Talk about nuts! I ended up playing Pachabel's
canon in D. Then we had the baptism! It was beautiful. All of Daiana's
family came. I couldn't help thinking as we sat there how
we hadn't done anything to bring about the baptism. That really EVERY
baptism was God's baptism. We don't prepare the people. We don't even
choose them. God puts us together. It's beautiful and humbling, working
side by side with God in the mission. My companion and I also sang our
song Families can be together mix in Spanish and English:) We had lunch
with Elder and Hermana Hunter (awesome) and the rest of the day was
pretty sweet:)
Beautiful Baptism of Daiana
I'm
extremely blessed to be here in the mission and love every moment I
have been given and every moment yet to come. Love all of you!
Hermana Mallory Dickson
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