"Built upon the rock"
Again not much happened this week...I got sick this week, for the first time. It wasnt too bad, but since like tuesday i feel absolutely terrible after eating, and I started a fever on friday. i still have a fever of 38, i think thats only a little over 100, and now a sore throat. I rested after church yesterday until like 5, and it felt wierd not doing anything so we left and worked haha. its funny, every single member here thinks theyre a doctor, and every single one has diagnosed me with different things, flu, cold, dengue haha. I hope ill be better this week, so I can go out and kill it in my last week of training.
It stunk this week, our investigator Andrea (the mom of the baptisms last week) got super sick with gastritis or something, ended up in the hospital and had an operation. All of the family has been out of town with her, so 1 we havent been able to teach and strengthen Johel and Efren, and 2 make progress with Andrea. But obviously the worst part is that shes super sick.
But ya we did find out some GrEAT news about Luis Peñafiel, more or less old investigator whose mom wouldnt give us permission. The other Elders from this ward went to his house Saturday morning(without us knowing) to see if they couldnt convince his mom last second to be baptized (we were short 1 for the zone goal). They talked for like an hour, she said that if we had asked her last sunday she would have said yes for that saturday. Which sucks cause we missed that oppurtunity. But we know shes ready to give permission. Its awesome cause the Spirit really helped us know how to do it. The other week we shared a scripture I think in Mosiah 28 about how Alma the older and the people were praying for alma to change...and that he can pray for his mom to change her mind. We also committed him to start praying with his mom every night. And he did it! Just the fact that he was praying showed her he is being converted. Aslo hes attended church alone without help 4 weeks in a row. Hes freaking 11 years old. This kids gold. But ya hes gonna be baptized, it was really touching to hear that the Mom had been touched by the Spirit.
Everything is going great here, im loving it here in the mission. Im super happy everyday this is the perfect spot. chao.
Love Elder Crisp
Monday, March 31, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
March 24th, 2014
This last saturday was probably the happiest Ive been so far. We baptized Johel and Efren Chavez, 16 and 11, Johel is the one who has had a rough past with drugs and whatnot and it felt amazing helping him out. It was kind of crazy leading up to saturday cause right now we really dont have investigators, only that family. And their mom too was gonna be baptized Saturday. So the majority of our effort was on securing the mom, cause the other two were rock solid. Up until Saturday morning, when she said no not this week. It was a bummer cause all of the family would be awesome, but I honestly wasnt too bummed cause I know she wasnt ready-even though we got special permission, she hasnt attended church.
But man was the baptism powerful. I changed and walked back in the room and Johel was bearing his testimony. He said that all the times he was doing all those bad things, he felt like God was angry at him and he couldnt stand himself. And that now he finally feels like God is happy and proud of him and that he knows hes in the right path now. Wow that was awesome to hear. I was super happy for both of them, their both awesome and I hope we can have the mom come around too.
Thats all I really have this week, we honestly didnt have anything else happen but ya Im almost done with my training...I feel like ive been here for like 6 months but then again way less than 10 weeks...Haha. . Thanks for the support and everything tenga una buena semana!
Love Elder Crisp
But man was the baptism powerful. I changed and walked back in the room and Johel was bearing his testimony. He said that all the times he was doing all those bad things, he felt like God was angry at him and he couldnt stand himself. And that now he finally feels like God is happy and proud of him and that he knows hes in the right path now. Wow that was awesome to hear. I was super happy for both of them, their both awesome and I hope we can have the mom come around too.
Thats all I really have this week, we honestly didnt have anything else happen but ya Im almost done with my training...I feel like ive been here for like 6 months but then again way less than 10 weeks...Haha. . Thanks for the support and everything tenga una buena semana!
Love Elder Crisp
Monday, March 17, 2014
March 17th, 2013
"Faith"
Hey so this week started off pretty good, but kind of went downhill. We were putting in work and by friday we had 10 baptism dates for this month, 3 for 22nd and 7 for 29th. But only 1 of those dates attended church. 1 out of 10. Thats definitely our biggest difficulty is getting people to the chapel at 8 in the morning. I want to rip them all out of bed.
Ya and the one who did attend, his names Andres. Hes pretty cool, hes 24 but seriously acts like a 4 year old its hilarious. He broke up with his girlfriend this last week (who was living with him) so we took advantage of that cause he could actually be baptized. On Friday when we talked to him, he said they were done forever. And they showed up holding hands to church on Sunday. Haha it was good that he came, but now we cant do anything...Shes 17 so they cant get married without her parents permission, which is a no. So ya we went from 10 dates to 0.
Our only really strong investigators, Joel and his mom and brother, couldnt make it cause they were out of town...that stunk but theyre still really strong, i dont have any doubt that theyll continue to progress, especially Joel, I dont know if I told but hes had problems with drugs and really wants to change. He super prepared, its amazing to see how quickly his life can change, how quickly the lord can find him and bring him back.
This last saturday was an activity for the youth of the ward, a day as a missionary. Haha it could have turned out real bad, they gave them all name tags that looked like the real placards, it was like 15 kids running around the city representing the church who knows what could have happened. But it turned out great, they were contacting all day and we got like 20 contacts from them. I think the youth here are much more animated and comfortable with missionary work here. The ward here is smaller and I think theres 6 or 7 missionaries serving, and it seems like every youth even girls are preparing for missions. I know understand why the church in S America is growing so fast cause everybody serves its cool.
I dont have much this week sorry , Im almost done with training, Almost done with 2 transfers here in the field, its pretty crazy. Chao todo.
Love Elder Crisp
Hey so this week started off pretty good, but kind of went downhill. We were putting in work and by friday we had 10 baptism dates for this month, 3 for 22nd and 7 for 29th. But only 1 of those dates attended church. 1 out of 10. Thats definitely our biggest difficulty is getting people to the chapel at 8 in the morning. I want to rip them all out of bed.
Ya and the one who did attend, his names Andres. Hes pretty cool, hes 24 but seriously acts like a 4 year old its hilarious. He broke up with his girlfriend this last week (who was living with him) so we took advantage of that cause he could actually be baptized. On Friday when we talked to him, he said they were done forever. And they showed up holding hands to church on Sunday. Haha it was good that he came, but now we cant do anything...Shes 17 so they cant get married without her parents permission, which is a no. So ya we went from 10 dates to 0.
Our only really strong investigators, Joel and his mom and brother, couldnt make it cause they were out of town...that stunk but theyre still really strong, i dont have any doubt that theyll continue to progress, especially Joel, I dont know if I told but hes had problems with drugs and really wants to change. He super prepared, its amazing to see how quickly his life can change, how quickly the lord can find him and bring him back.
This last saturday was an activity for the youth of the ward, a day as a missionary. Haha it could have turned out real bad, they gave them all name tags that looked like the real placards, it was like 15 kids running around the city representing the church who knows what could have happened. But it turned out great, they were contacting all day and we got like 20 contacts from them. I think the youth here are much more animated and comfortable with missionary work here. The ward here is smaller and I think theres 6 or 7 missionaries serving, and it seems like every youth even girls are preparing for missions. I know understand why the church in S America is growing so fast cause everybody serves its cool.
I dont have much this week sorry , Im almost done with training, Almost done with 2 transfers here in the field, its pretty crazy. Chao todo.
Love Elder Crisp
Monday, March 10, 2014
March 10th, 2014
This week was kind of disappointing, our only date that we had, Luis, couldnt be baptized cause we couldnt get permission. We seriously spent like 4 hours throughout the week trying to obtain it, not even for this saturday but at least some time this month. Cause she wants him to wait like a year first. Which translates to he´ll never be baptized unless she changes her mind haha. No it was kind of funny, we asked if hes not ready now when is ready for you? Shes like when he can say that this church is true, and the BoM is true, etc.... So we turn to Luis and asked him if he believed those things, and even quizzed him about the principles of the gospel and the commandments and what not. Everything we asked he said was true and knows everything perfectly. But still the mom was basically thats not good enough. Whatever haha.
We got an awesome reference, a teenager names Joel - hes recovering from drug and i think alcohol abuse. His mom told him he needs to start going to a church to be strengthen and what not, so we go over and tell him hey we kind of got this church thing that can strengthen you and what not. He was super interested, and was answering all questions really good, And he and his mom and younger brother accepted dates for the 22nd. Theyre all really strong. Its sweet cause the mom only intended for her son to start going to church, but now the whole family will.
So a couple weeks ago we met this inactive Johnathan hes 19. He came to church for the first time in like a year and a half on his own. So we talked to him and said hed me with us and stuff, so this last thursday we go to his house. He told us hes gonna start getting ready for a mission! That was pretty sweet to hear. That one second he was completely inactive and now because of a prompting he had to go to church one time hes gonna gonna go serve. He went out with us all day yesterday, and hes got a really good testimony and teaches real well. Its cool too, hes has less than 2 years in the church, which is the same for a lot of missionarys in the zone-I think 4 are less than 3 years converts. Its awesome to think about cause all of their baptisms lead to all the people they baptize. Just 1 convert in all of their missions can lead to 100 more converts.
So ya things are real good over here in El Recreo 2na y 3ra Etapas. I hope yall are doing well and everything and have a good week! Love Elder Crisp
1. Zona Duran Norte 2
2. Action shot cooking
3. Missionarys in our house (El gordito transfered today)
We got an awesome reference, a teenager names Joel - hes recovering from drug and i think alcohol abuse. His mom told him he needs to start going to a church to be strengthen and what not, so we go over and tell him hey we kind of got this church thing that can strengthen you and what not. He was super interested, and was answering all questions really good, And he and his mom and younger brother accepted dates for the 22nd. Theyre all really strong. Its sweet cause the mom only intended for her son to start going to church, but now the whole family will.
So a couple weeks ago we met this inactive Johnathan hes 19. He came to church for the first time in like a year and a half on his own. So we talked to him and said hed me with us and stuff, so this last thursday we go to his house. He told us hes gonna start getting ready for a mission! That was pretty sweet to hear. That one second he was completely inactive and now because of a prompting he had to go to church one time hes gonna gonna go serve. He went out with us all day yesterday, and hes got a really good testimony and teaches real well. Its cool too, hes has less than 2 years in the church, which is the same for a lot of missionarys in the zone-I think 4 are less than 3 years converts. Its awesome to think about cause all of their baptisms lead to all the people they baptize. Just 1 convert in all of their missions can lead to 100 more converts.
So ya things are real good over here in El Recreo 2na y 3ra Etapas. I hope yall are doing well and everything and have a good week! Love Elder Crisp
1. Zona Duran Norte 2
2. Action shot cooking
3. Missionarys in our house (El gordito transfered today)
Monday, March 3, 2014
March 3rd, 2014
We had some problems with our investigators this week. First, it really doesnt look like Mario is gonna get married, we talked with his wife and she doesnt want it at all. Also we were teaching a couple who arent married and live together, but want to be, the problem is the girl is 17 and hes 24, her parents hate him and wont sign the paper for matrimony...so our only other good investigator is Luis.
With Luis, the 12 year old, we fought hard to try to get permission from his mom to be baptized. I never thought wed have to fight a member of the church about that, but ya we still dont know if hell be able to be baptized this saturday, and hes our only date. Its tough but were gonna work hard. She says hes not ready and will change his mind, just cause she fell away. In one lesson with him and his mom, we were trying to get her to feel comfortable to come back to church, she also says she isnt ready to change her life even though she knows she should. I remembered the thing mom sent to me from January ensign Uchtdorf, that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best is now, and shared that with them cause it applies to both. Luis is super strong and is basically like come on mom haha.
It was cool also, Saturday in studying in Alma 20, about Ammon with the father of king Lamoni, its kind of the same situation, except the father wants to kill Ammon for converting his son basically. And in verse 26, the father sees how much Ammon loves his son and changes his mind, and after desires to change himself as well. I thought that fit perfectly, so I guess thats the goal is just show we care. This can go with any investigator though, just show you care.
We had a lunch with President Amaya, because our zone set the mission record for consecutive months fulfilling the goal, 4 months (which seems low for a record no). Its kind of funny cause a lot of the zone has only been here for like 2 of those months including me.
This weekend and today and tomorrow is a holiday here called Carnaval. All it is is people take off work and through water and paint and eggs and whatnot at each other. Its hilarious well be walking down a street and like 4 or 5 kids will be like GET THEM and start chasing us with water guns haha. The thing is most of the people leave to the beach, so here in Recreo is empty. It makes me want to go to the beach so bad, I totally would but the beach is outside of our mission. I dont think well be able to find anyone tomorrow cause everyones gone.
Well I hope you all have a good week, have fun in Arizona
Love Elder Crisp
With Luis, the 12 year old, we fought hard to try to get permission from his mom to be baptized. I never thought wed have to fight a member of the church about that, but ya we still dont know if hell be able to be baptized this saturday, and hes our only date. Its tough but were gonna work hard. She says hes not ready and will change his mind, just cause she fell away. In one lesson with him and his mom, we were trying to get her to feel comfortable to come back to church, she also says she isnt ready to change her life even though she knows she should. I remembered the thing mom sent to me from January ensign Uchtdorf, that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best is now, and shared that with them cause it applies to both. Luis is super strong and is basically like come on mom haha.
It was cool also, Saturday in studying in Alma 20, about Ammon with the father of king Lamoni, its kind of the same situation, except the father wants to kill Ammon for converting his son basically. And in verse 26, the father sees how much Ammon loves his son and changes his mind, and after desires to change himself as well. I thought that fit perfectly, so I guess thats the goal is just show we care. This can go with any investigator though, just show you care.
We had a lunch with President Amaya, because our zone set the mission record for consecutive months fulfilling the goal, 4 months (which seems low for a record no). Its kind of funny cause a lot of the zone has only been here for like 2 of those months including me.
This weekend and today and tomorrow is a holiday here called Carnaval. All it is is people take off work and through water and paint and eggs and whatnot at each other. Its hilarious well be walking down a street and like 4 or 5 kids will be like GET THEM and start chasing us with water guns haha. The thing is most of the people leave to the beach, so here in Recreo is empty. It makes me want to go to the beach so bad, I totally would but the beach is outside of our mission. I dont think well be able to find anyone tomorrow cause everyones gone.
Well I hope you all have a good week, have fun in Arizona
Love Elder Crisp
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