Life in the Trenches

Week #37

Last week I had something I wanted to talk about. Today I have no idea. How about what happened this week?

We've met a lot of wonderful people these last two weeks. People who accepted invitations to church and to read and pray. I do have a favorite family though.

I met this family a few weeks ago with Elder Lagos on a companion exchange. The entire family is women, so we've had to teach some lessons from the door, but we are almost certain that they will be baptized.

The first is Maria. She's about 55 and has very simple desires and a very simple understanding. She's also a stereotypical short, Latina grandmother. She loves to feed people and says things in the funniest ways.

Second, Ingrid. She's about 26, short, round, always happy and is just like her mother. They talk about the same things in the same way and understand the principle of faith more than anything else. They also call us padres.

Third, Jocelia. She's the miracle of the family. She's about 20, short, dark, attractive and intelligent. (One of the members in the branch is already thinking how she would look in a white dress.) She is also the one who understands why the Gospel needed to be restored. When we invited M--- to be baptized, she responded that she had already been baptized and didn't think she could be again. Before we could say anything, Jocelia, very loudly, " Mas Mãe, precisaser feito com autoridade." ( But Mother, it needs to be done with authority. )

The three want to be baptized and we marked a date for the first of March. One of my favorite days. What birthday present could be better than three baptisms? I'm excited.

I don't know what else there is to say this week. I spent a lot of time working in other areas this week, so I didn't do all that much in my own area. Good week though. Something that one of the missionaries in the Fort Collins mission said is that missionaries should be learning something every time they teach a lesson. We only have four lessons and we always teach the same one, but somehow we learn something. You can learn something too. Remember, seek ye learning.

It's getting colder! This is probably the best news. These last few weeks were horrible. I don't think we had a day below 35° and the humidity just made things worse. Most days were closer to 40°(for all you Americans, that's about 104°.) This week, it looks like rain and nothing above 30°. Que bênção. I might even use a jacket or long-sleeve shirt. We're even using blankets at night now. 

Now we just need hot water. Yeah, the water is the same temperature as the pipes and our shower head is broken. If you want hot water, you buy a shower head that heats up the water. Ours doesn't work anymore. The morning showers could stand improvement.

Here's a photo from our balcony yesterday morning. 

Love you all.

Elder Dickson