Last week was a week de 10!
My zone is leading the mission in "effectiveness" (I´m not entirely sure how they calculate that) and Hermana Lopez and I made it into the Super 5! Being in the Super 5 means we reached our weekly goals in 5 important areas: baptisms, lessons with member, other lessons, references contacted, and contacts. In other words, we are high achievers in the mission!
Here are some of the highlights of each day:
Monday: District activity! We went to WalMart (it felt almost like I was back in the US) and bought food (I acquired a jar of peanut butter, which I had been craving for no other reason than that it is hard to find here), then walked to our capilla so Elder Zapata could cook us lunch. He made fideos (pasta) with chicken and tomato sauce and garlic bread. Only, we forgot that our church building has only silverware and cups, not plates! We made do by eating mountains (literally) of pasta off of a couple cookie sheets and the, er, sacrament trays. Don´t worry, we washed them really well afterwards! :)
Tuesday: District meeting. We watched one of the Preach my Gospel videos, then broke our zone wide fast for baptisms together by eating alfajores. (Dad can explain what they are) Afterwards, Hermana Lopez and I went down town to pay our gas bill and got icecream on the way. I had a chocolate dipped cone with two flavors: dulce de leche con brownie and chocolate suizo-- wow! It was so good! That icecream put me in a good mood for the rest of the day!
Wednesday: Training meeting in Ramos Mejia and going on divisions-- with an elder! (shocking!) We had a special conference for trainers and newbies at the mission office in Ramos. It started at 8 am , so we had to get up at 4:30ish to get ready and take the bus and then the train. Because riding the train in the morning can be a little crazy, we arranged to meet Elder Workman and Elder Valencia in Moreno and travel with them to Ramos. Little did I know how crazy the morning train can be! When we got on the train it was pretty full, so there was only standing room. Hermana Lopez stood to one side of the door with Elder Workman to chat with him and I stood on the other side and talked to Elder Valencia, who is from Peru. At each stop, more and more people got on the train. Hermana Lopez told me to stay close, but I thought I already was-- I was standing about 6 feet away, after all. Soon all the people cramming into the train pushed me and Elder Valencia back into the aisle. Everyone was crammed in tight-- there was barely any room to move. I still didn´t think much of it-- a crowded train seemed like no big deal, and I could still see Herman Lopez´s head above the crowd. Soon we were almost at our stop. We´re going to have to push our way out, Elder Valencia told me. And suddenly I realized that jammed in like we were, leaving the train might be a problem. The train stopped at the station in Ramos and the doors opened. A sea of people tried to force their way on to the train! Everyone inside was trying to get out and everyone outside was trying to get in! It reminded me of mob scenes in the movies! Elder Workman shouted to Elder Valencia "Bring the hermana with you!" He took the command literally. He threw one arm around me and started dragging me through the crowd towards the doors. We both pushed as hard as we could, but no one would let us through. Hermana Lopez and Elder Workman managed to squeeze off the train and started shouting at the crowd to let us off too. Elder Valencia was halfway out the door, but I was right behind him and still stuck. The train was pulling away! Hermana Lopez shouted at him not to leave me alone, so Elder Workman shoved Elder Valencia back into the train. Elder Chapman ran alongside the train and yelled to us to get off at the next station. The doors somehow shut without hitting anyone. Personal space was zero. Elder Valencia and I were crammed face to face against the train doors with no room to back away from each other-- awkward! We literally couldn´t move because there were so many people. It was like being a sardine! At the next stop, Linears, we had to push again because the doors on the opposite side were the ones that opened! I stuck right behind Elder Valencia and somehow we squeezed out onto the platform. A host of rules were being violently broken-- we were now outside mission boundaries, without our companions, and alone together! Not to mention that Elder Valencia lost his nametage in the crush in the train-- another violation! And the funniest part was that none of it was our fault! We joked that we were on divisions together. I couldn´t help laughing. Fortunately for the propriety of the situation, we ran into a pair of elders who had taken the wrong train. We traveled with them back to Ramos where we met our very relieved companions. What a trip! It was kind of a scary situation, but I felt really calm the whole time. Mostly it was just very, very funny. My first crazy mission story! To top it off, when we got to the meeting, the first thing President Benton talked about was the importance of staying with your companion at all times! Hermana Lopez was cringing in guilt, but I just tried not to giggle.
Thursday: I set a personal record by contacting 18 people in one day!
Friday: We talked with Otilia, one of our investigators, whose previous baptismal date had fallen through because she was never home to meet with us and didn´t come to church. We reset the date for next weekend and she seemed a lot more excited about baptism than the first time! Her daughter, Luz, will get baptized with her the same day! Only, we found out she smokes! Fortunately, she says she only smokes one cigarette every few weeks. We told her she could only get baptized if she stopped smoking for good that day and didn´t relapse. She agreed. I think she is going to make it!
Saturday: A day of craziness and miracles! We finally found Alejandro, an investigator who was set to be baptized on Sunday. He had cut his really long hair short, was wearing clean clothes, and said he had stopped drinking-- excellent! AND he still wanted to be baptized the next day! Only, when we practiced the baptismal interview with him, he told us he and his spouse were juntada (living together), not married! Aaarg! We told him he´d have to wait a little bit and get married first. He may have a lot of work to do first-- the day we stopped by she was REALLY angry with him. She thinks he is interested in us and not in the church (even thought he is 60ish and we are 21 and 22!). Awkward/drama!
Then we went to an appointment with a new investigator. She started crying because her baby daughter died three years ago and her 8 year old daughter is still upset about it and her husband left her in the street--all good reasons to cry. I was crying too! We left her the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and told her to read it and pray about it. I think she is going to progress! I hope so, because I really want to help her!
Next we contacted an old woman, Amalia, and tried to help her cut her grass (with a shovel=tricky). I tried to teach her while Hna. Lopez cut the grass, but she said she already knew the church! It turns out the elders taught her over a year ago but she never got baptized, even though she met all the requirements. We invited her right then to be baptized and she said yes! She and her mentally disabled daughter who lives with her (who was taught too) are going to get baptized next week! It was so cool that when one investigator fell through, we immediately found another one!
That afternoon Braian Banega (14), the first investigator I ever invited to be baptized, was baptized by his dad, Claudio. Now his family (2 parents, 8 kids, all recent converts) isn´t a part member family any more! Braian looked really happy. The spirit was really strong when Claudio baptized Braian. Only, he had to do it twice because Braian didn´t go all the way under the first time. Claudio joked afterwards that he had to do it twice because Braian was so full of sins! Anyway, I guess that part was funnier in Spanish. I´m so happy that Braian got baptized!
Sunday: More miracles! We had 9 investigators in sacrament meeting! Really 10 investigators in church (fitting for el dia de 10: 10/10/10!), but one had to leave before sacrament meeting (the last block). Getting people to church here is really hard because almost no one has a car. Some people come by motorcycle (whole families will squeeze onto one to get to church!). Fortunatley, Alfredo Peralta, the branch president´s dad, owns an enormous 15 seater van and lets anyone who wants to come to church ride in it! He brought two loads of people to church yesterday! Amalia and her daughter came and I sat next to them and looked out for them during the meetings. It felt good to be able to help them.
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