There might be a few mistakes in this email because I need to write quick. I don´t have much time left and a lot happend. (Note from Mom: there are always lots of errors, but I have been trying to edit them before I post them here. Hopefully, I caught the errors and made paragraphs so it is easier to read:))
First, I have really been working with my comp to get along better with him. I have been trying different tactics to laugh with him and help him focus on the good things.
On Thursday, I went up to Tonala. We had some trouble catching the bus with the other gringo because he doesn´t have very much time there and we missed the first one. We were going and the bus broke down, so I took advantage of that and contacted the bus. It was a first for me, but it was good. So we were up there and I got to know a lot of their possabilites for baptism. We are trying to actually get that area moving and baptizing. There are so many testigos de Jehova (Jehovah's Witnesses?) up there.
In the night, the power went out. Not that it mattered much becuase their lights don´t work anyway. Their toilet up there is just concrete and the shower is water in a bucket with a bowl. It is pretty funny. So we used candles for the night.
I did my first hard interview but that was good and we got it all figured out with how they were going to baptize him. The next morning, we hitched a ride back in to Chinandega.
We had our baptism this Saturday. We had a family Pineda. We have been teaching them for about a month. They were my first baptism from a contact and not a reference. They were so ready and it was a very neat experience for me. We had a little problem with the clothes, but we got it all figured out finally and got them married and baptized.
We had one more kid that has been half running from us and then telling us that he had to go do something. It was weird. But in the night, we had to go look for him to baptize him. So we went and he wasn´t there. We talked to his cousin and she said that he knew that his sister has been saying things that aren´t true about him and he was embarrassed. My comp didn´t think we should go look for him. He asked two members what they thought because we were disagreeing. Needless to say, we went to the house to work some things out. I told him that we need to talk about things between us and not the members and that we HAVE to go look for the kid because Satan works extra hard right before the baptism and if we didn´t go look for him, Satan would surely win. He just sat there and didn´t say a word. The ZLs called about 15 minutes later and told us to go out and look for him and baptize him, so we left and my comp was a little irritated.
We got to the house of the kid and it started raining, HARD. It was a big storm. The street turned into a river. We talked to Guiermo, the kid, and he said that he wanted to get baptized, he just wasn´t sure if he was ready and he wanted to wait. We told him Satan would only work harder in the next week and that we had to do it that day. He said, OK-- miracle number 1. We went to go look for a taxi. Oh, by the way, the power went out too while we were talking. We went to go look for a taxi and they told us we wouldn´t find one in the area we were at. We told them they didn´t have the faith. We left, went half a block and a taxi came-- miracle number 2. We went to the Stake center. I called some other missionaries and they said everyone had already left the stake center and that it was closed. I just prayed that there was someone there. We pulled up and the gate was open-- miracle number 3. We went in and there were three guys getting ready ro leave. We went in and started getting ready. I realized we needed another priesthood for a witness. I went and asked one of the guys if he was an Elder and he said yes and he told me that he could stay for a few minutes--miracle number 4. So, with no power, we had a baptismal service with him, me and my comp, Guiermo´s cousin, and these three guys, out in the hall where there were emergency lights. We did the baptism by the light of 3 cell phones to make sure everything was done right with the baptism. We finished and went home. We ended up spending 150 cordobas in taxis. But we did it. We also had to work hard to get him confirmed on Sunday too. He said he had no clean clothes and only sandals. After 30 minutes of trying to convince him, I lent him a pair of jeans and a pair of shoes and we went to church. Everything was good. It was just a night of miracle after miracle to baptize him. It was really good.
We threw water balloons for p-day today. That was good. I think that´s about all for this week. My comp has learned a lot and is starting to adapt better. Thanks for the support from everyone. I love you all and thank you for your prayers.
With love,
Elder Ashby
With love,
Elder Ashby
No comments:
Post a Comment