Wellllllllll looks like another week has passed by super quick, up here time just isn't the same like it was down in good ole AZ. Hope you all had awesome weeks, up here the kid and I are loving life, the area, and the mission! This week we had a lot of cool things happen to us, i'm gonna jump right into it.
So this week was fast sunday as you all know, so really it was a great opportunity to teach the investigators what is the law of the fast and then invite them all to fast in order to receive their answers to their prayers! So, I'll start with Noemi, she is progressing really well, but her problem right now is that she is lacking a little bit of faith. Her family is all jehovah's witness, this religion is famous because it tends to be a little bit more evidence based and not faith, so really she is struggling with that right now. Soooooo, we invited her to fast about it and come to church (like always), and she did it! iT was awesome, and testimony meeting was great, she had to leave right after the meeting so we didn't get to talk much, but this week we are going to go back and see how her experience was exactly and what she felt during the meeting. She is progressing well, but she will NOT agree to a baptism date, she lacks a little bit right now in the faith section, but that's ok! We are helping her everyday, and she is slowly and surely getting better and completing the compromisos.
We also invited Eliseo to church this week and he came! He usually doesn't come because he has to work in the corn fields, but this sunday he didn't have to and he came! He only is 18 years old and he works with a bunch of grown men in the fields, what a stud!!! But he came to church and sat right next to me in the sacrament meeting. We had a friend of his sit on the other side of Eliseo, so that when he would take out his phone to play games, his friend would snatch it out of his hands and tell him to pay attention!!!!!=) hahaha it worked perfectly because he eventually payed attention to the speakers and listened to their conversion stories. After about 20 minutes in the meeting, he leaned over to me and whispered, ''I've visited every church here in Cantel, and I feel good in every church, but here i feel different, i feel more calm, relaxed, and I can feel something different.'' What an awesome statement that was!!!! I explained that he was feeling the spirit, he must have liked the feeling because he ended up staying for all 3 hours!!! He is reading the book of mormon and progressing really well, I just hope that he gets baptized and doesn't get attacked from his all evangelical family!!
So the culture here in Guatemala is very different than it is in the States, here the men assert dominance over their wives, and whatever they command them to do they HAVE to do, or sometimes they receive physical punishment, it is super super sad, and we saw it this week. We contacted this lady by knocking on her door, she seemed super excited and positive and invited us in to teach her! We were super stoked, we started with the restoration and how the family is super important, she seemed really into it............ until her husband walked into the house. He asked her to come with him for a sec and didn't even look at us, they went out of the room and talked for about a minute, and after about a minute he left and walked right out the front door and she walked over to us bawling her eyes out telling us that today she can't accept us in her house and that she was super super sorry. I felt sooooooooooooooooo bad and wanted to help her, but really the best thing that we could do was leave the pamphlet of the restoration, challenge her to read it, and leave. I sincerely hope that nothing physical happened, it seemed like it was just harsh words, but really how sad to think that the husbands treat their wives in that manner here in Guatemala. It's a different mindset and culture, and I am sure glad that this type of disrespect isn't as prominent in the states as it is here.
This week we got a new Elder here in our mission named Elder Ferrari, Dad he is from Brasil, Sao Paulo norte, he is super tall and is such a stud! I don't know if maybe you remember a family named the Ferrari family, he was born into the church so maybe you knew of a young couple with this last name and the wife was expecting or maybe didn't have any kids. He is the only braziliano here in the mission which is super cool!
Hermana Doris one of our investigators has had some crazy stuff happen this week! She has attended church every sunday for months and months, but she isn't completing with a couple of the commandments so she can't be baptized. But, this week she talked a lot with her boyfriend and they aren't going to get married!! What a relief, he is not a member and he hates members of the LDS church, so it isn't the best environment. She is the mom of the kid Johnson that we baptized a couple of weeks ago. When we talked with her she told us that her plan is to marry in the temple, and after a couple of questions that we asked, she told us that she knew that she wouldn't be able to do that if she were to marry this guy. They haven't officially split up, but it looks like things are going to end between them soon!! What a miracle honestly!! We have been praying for her since I've gotten here, and maybe she will be baptized this month, but we will see. RIght now we are just teaching her all of the lessons and helping her to feel the need to split up with this guy. We love this family so much, I would love to be here to see them get baptized and follow the example of Jesus Christ!!
Just an update on the area, it has been raining nonstop for the past week, the natives say that it's going to be like this until October!!! The weather everyday is cold with the clouds at our ankles literally they walk the streets also, and the rain is CRAZY. Its awesome and I love it, but it just makes everything a little bit more interesting haha. So i guess we've entered the rainy season!
This week my comp and I really focussed on contacting more people in the street and we had an awesome experience! When we made the decision to do it more, the first day we did it we contacted a guy named Rolando within the first 10 minutes, this guy is the cousin of a bunch of active members here in our branch!! He has always been interested in the church, but he has never had a reason to go. So when we contacted him and ended up teaching him a lesson just a few days later and he is SUPER POSITIVE! He said that he wants to change his life and he wants to be a member!!! Right now he is having problems with his wife and his kids, and he needs help. When we taught him the restoration and the importance of the family he LOVED it, he wants it to be a part of his life. he couldn't come to church this sunday, but this next sunday we are going to bring him for sure!!
This week was awesome, it was a hard week of just go out and work, but good things are happening!!=) I love this area and I pray that I dont have changes in 2 weeks, but if I do, I know that I will be in the right place. I love you all, keep studying your scriptures and praying everyday as a family!! Love ya all, have a great week!!
Love,
Elder McLeod
