Dear Family,
This week was a pretty good week. We had some trials... especially in sacrament meeting. To be more specific, out of all of the 10 baptismal dates that we set the last week... none of them came to church. It's tough because we felt like people really did have interest in our message, a lot of people all ready said that they recieved an answer that this message is true and the Book of Mormon is the word of God, say that they are going to go to church, and then don't show up and don't answer their door when we go by Sunday morning. Agency is awesome... but it's kind of annoying sometimes.
We did have a couple people that did come to church and really do want to learn about and follow Jesus Christ. One of which is a sister named Alma (Alma is actually a very common name down here but it's always for women not men). She is a really neat lady that has a lot of faith in God and believes in Jesus Christ. She comes from a different faith but her faith is based on Jesus Christ as her savior so our message really touched her in a very special way. We found her in the street in front of her house sweeping up some leaves. We offered to help her but she told us no but that it would be wonderful if we passed by to share a message with her about Jesus Christ. We went to her house for the appointment but she didn't have very much time so we shared a quick message about the Restoration. We then passed by another day and had a complete lesson with her. She enjoyed the lesson, accepted a baptismal date, and before we could invite her to church she asked us where it was and if she could come to the services. Well when we got to church we found Alma sitting there ready to listen and very happy to be there. She told us that she got lost on her way there... took a wrong bus, but asked people for direccions in the street and eventually found her way there getting there on time. She's awesome. She also was saying hello to everyone and was just super happy. She also mentioned how nice everyone was, the love she felt, and the unity of everyone there. :) Got to love finding prepared people that actually want to follow Jesus Christ and act as well :)
I also had a very humbling experience going on diviciones [splits] with one of the district leaders named Elder Taveras. He is awesome. He has been out in the mission for 6 months and is just an awesome servant of the Lord. He is always smiling and happy to see anyone. He is also from the Dominican Republic (just like my last companion) so we had a fun time talking about his country and food (más que nada, platanos [mostly about bananas]). Anyways, after planning for the next day Elder Taveras told me about why he came here on the mission. He told me that his life was super hard... his family had struggles with the normal, daily life... for example, making rent and finding food to eat everyday. He also has more respect for his Mother than I have ever seen in anyone. He told me that there were days that his mom wouldn't eat so that her 3 boys had something to eat during the day. Elder Taveras doesn't appear like he is someone that has had such a tough life... he is always smiling and ready to help in anyway he can. He loves everyone and is an excellent missionary. He is an example to me... he told me that he is here on the mission to bring happiness to others the way his family received happiness from being part of this church and is out here because he loves his mom. It was a humbling experience and yet again I have failed to recognize all of the many blessings the Lord has given to me my whole life.
This week was good and I am excited to see what this next week brings to Elder Zenteno and I.
By the way Elder Zenteno is simply awesome.
Love,Elder Summers
This week was a pretty good week. We had some trials... especially in sacrament meeting. To be more specific, out of all of the 10 baptismal dates that we set the last week... none of them came to church. It's tough because we felt like people really did have interest in our message, a lot of people all ready said that they recieved an answer that this message is true and the Book of Mormon is the word of God, say that they are going to go to church, and then don't show up and don't answer their door when we go by Sunday morning. Agency is awesome... but it's kind of annoying sometimes.
We did have a couple people that did come to church and really do want to learn about and follow Jesus Christ. One of which is a sister named Alma (Alma is actually a very common name down here but it's always for women not men). She is a really neat lady that has a lot of faith in God and believes in Jesus Christ. She comes from a different faith but her faith is based on Jesus Christ as her savior so our message really touched her in a very special way. We found her in the street in front of her house sweeping up some leaves. We offered to help her but she told us no but that it would be wonderful if we passed by to share a message with her about Jesus Christ. We went to her house for the appointment but she didn't have very much time so we shared a quick message about the Restoration. We then passed by another day and had a complete lesson with her. She enjoyed the lesson, accepted a baptismal date, and before we could invite her to church she asked us where it was and if she could come to the services. Well when we got to church we found Alma sitting there ready to listen and very happy to be there. She told us that she got lost on her way there... took a wrong bus, but asked people for direccions in the street and eventually found her way there getting there on time. She's awesome. She also was saying hello to everyone and was just super happy. She also mentioned how nice everyone was, the love she felt, and the unity of everyone there. :) Got to love finding prepared people that actually want to follow Jesus Christ and act as well :)
I also had a very humbling experience going on diviciones [splits] with one of the district leaders named Elder Taveras. He is awesome. He has been out in the mission for 6 months and is just an awesome servant of the Lord. He is always smiling and happy to see anyone. He is also from the Dominican Republic (just like my last companion) so we had a fun time talking about his country and food (más que nada, platanos [mostly about bananas]). Anyways, after planning for the next day Elder Taveras told me about why he came here on the mission. He told me that his life was super hard... his family had struggles with the normal, daily life... for example, making rent and finding food to eat everyday. He also has more respect for his Mother than I have ever seen in anyone. He told me that there were days that his mom wouldn't eat so that her 3 boys had something to eat during the day. Elder Taveras doesn't appear like he is someone that has had such a tough life... he is always smiling and ready to help in anyway he can. He loves everyone and is an excellent missionary. He is an example to me... he told me that he is here on the mission to bring happiness to others the way his family received happiness from being part of this church and is out here because he loves his mom. It was a humbling experience and yet again I have failed to recognize all of the many blessings the Lord has given to me my whole life.
This week was good and I am excited to see what this next week brings to Elder Zenteno and I.
By the way Elder Zenteno is simply awesome.
Love,Elder Summers