Buenas tardes Familia,
This week has been super awesome and super funny. Elder Zenteno is just a really awesome guy. We honestly had some really funny experiences this last week.
One of these funny experiences that we had was that, like I said before, I don't know my area very well yet. We literally ran around this week like chickens with their heads cut off (okay well I guess not literally). But honestly we just walked and walked and walked and walked. We walked around a block like 3 times looking for a house of one of them left actives... after not finding it I started to talk to someone in the street. I started the conversation and then my companion asked something like this "have you ever seen missionaries before" before she could respond I answered "well we walked passed here about 3 times in the last 10 minutes... I'm pretty sure you have had the chance to see us" she laughed and then told us she didn't want to learn about our message. Elder Zenteno and I definitely had a good laugh :)
One thing that Elder Zenteno said this last week that I found very interesting was that it was weird for him how many people are so rude to us. He said that in all of his other areas people would invite him into their house and listen to their message or at least schedule a time for them to return. He said that he feels like nobody here wants to listen to us and that it's so weird how everyone is so Catholic here. For me all of this has been normal my whole mission... I guess I just kind of thought that this is how missionary life was everywhere... but he said that people are just really closed off here and are always too busy to hear us... he mentioned that it's probably because it's a city. All of this has been super normal for me... I guess that's a blessing that I have recieved from being in this state of Jalisco my whole mission.
One super sad thing this last week happened. Elder Solórzano and I shared messages and served a family named Familia Jaramio. They always seemed happy to listen to us but just seemed like to be the typical less active family, didn't want to go to church. Well the first day this last week I brought Elder Zenteno to meet them. We entered and everything was normal but then Sister Jaramio said "I have some bad news... well good news for me but maybe bad news for you." She then went and told us that she returned to the Catholic Church... she went and confessed her sins to the Father there and couldn't stop crying from so much happiness that she recieved. She said that she wished she never would've left the Catholic Church and that it is the path that she has chosen and that she never ever will go back to the LDS Church.... Ouch. The only thing I could think of was talk about the Book of Mormon. I asked her if she ever really asked God if it was true and if she had ever recieved an answer that it is true. She pretty much said that it's a good book but that she never had prayed to God about it. We read in Moroni 10:3-5 and invited her to read part of the Book of Mormon and to ask God if it was true before she closed the door on our church. Pretty much she told me that she wouldn't pray about the Book of Mormon and was happy about the decision she made to go back to the Catholic Church. We shared our testimonies and left with a prayer. I honestly wanted to cry... it's just so sad. We shared messages with them like 3 times every week and I have cleaned their house like 3-4 times for service. I think there are two reasons that she fell away from the church; 1. She never had a testimony of the Church. 2. The members never visited her in her home therefore never really had a good relationship with anyone there. It is super sad... but just makes me want to work super hard helping the people feel welcome in the church especially in Home Teaching.
The best experience ever in this last week is about to be shared, brace yourself. I definitely went through the Guadalajara Temple this last Saturday and did a session :). So in this mission it is a rule that the missionaries can't go to the temple for two reasons... 1. It's a rule of the mission. and 2. The temple is out of our mission's boundries. What happened was a missionary named Elder Payne came into our zone for his last week of his mission. The cool thing is that one of his converts was going to go through the temple on Saturday for her first time to recieve her endownments :) Well this convert just happened to be in my last area in Buenos Aires and I taught her a few times and always shared messages with her family :) Well the president told Elder Payne that he could go to the temple for his convert but that he should go on divisions with Elder Summers because he was also in that last area. :) This has definitely been one of the things I have always wanted to do and something that I thought that I would never have the chance to do... but it was amazing :) The convert (Hermana Guadalupe) looked like the happiest person I have ever seen in my life.... ever :) It was one of the best experiences I have had in my mission seeing a convert go through the temple. :) It was pretty cool going through the temple in Spanish as well and the new part was pretty cool too (just have to say... Saints and Soldiers). Awesome experience and awesome week!
I love you all and we will be talking to you all next week!
Love,
Elder Summers
This week has been super awesome and super funny. Elder Zenteno is just a really awesome guy. We honestly had some really funny experiences this last week.
One of these funny experiences that we had was that, like I said before, I don't know my area very well yet. We literally ran around this week like chickens with their heads cut off (okay well I guess not literally). But honestly we just walked and walked and walked and walked. We walked around a block like 3 times looking for a house of one of them left actives... after not finding it I started to talk to someone in the street. I started the conversation and then my companion asked something like this "have you ever seen missionaries before" before she could respond I answered "well we walked passed here about 3 times in the last 10 minutes... I'm pretty sure you have had the chance to see us" she laughed and then told us she didn't want to learn about our message. Elder Zenteno and I definitely had a good laugh :)
One thing that Elder Zenteno said this last week that I found very interesting was that it was weird for him how many people are so rude to us. He said that in all of his other areas people would invite him into their house and listen to their message or at least schedule a time for them to return. He said that he feels like nobody here wants to listen to us and that it's so weird how everyone is so Catholic here. For me all of this has been normal my whole mission... I guess I just kind of thought that this is how missionary life was everywhere... but he said that people are just really closed off here and are always too busy to hear us... he mentioned that it's probably because it's a city. All of this has been super normal for me... I guess that's a blessing that I have recieved from being in this state of Jalisco my whole mission.
One super sad thing this last week happened. Elder Solórzano and I shared messages and served a family named Familia Jaramio. They always seemed happy to listen to us but just seemed like to be the typical less active family, didn't want to go to church. Well the first day this last week I brought Elder Zenteno to meet them. We entered and everything was normal but then Sister Jaramio said "I have some bad news... well good news for me but maybe bad news for you." She then went and told us that she returned to the Catholic Church... she went and confessed her sins to the Father there and couldn't stop crying from so much happiness that she recieved. She said that she wished she never would've left the Catholic Church and that it is the path that she has chosen and that she never ever will go back to the LDS Church.... Ouch. The only thing I could think of was talk about the Book of Mormon. I asked her if she ever really asked God if it was true and if she had ever recieved an answer that it is true. She pretty much said that it's a good book but that she never had prayed to God about it. We read in Moroni 10:3-5 and invited her to read part of the Book of Mormon and to ask God if it was true before she closed the door on our church. Pretty much she told me that she wouldn't pray about the Book of Mormon and was happy about the decision she made to go back to the Catholic Church. We shared our testimonies and left with a prayer. I honestly wanted to cry... it's just so sad. We shared messages with them like 3 times every week and I have cleaned their house like 3-4 times for service. I think there are two reasons that she fell away from the church; 1. She never had a testimony of the Church. 2. The members never visited her in her home therefore never really had a good relationship with anyone there. It is super sad... but just makes me want to work super hard helping the people feel welcome in the church especially in Home Teaching.
The best experience ever in this last week is about to be shared, brace yourself. I definitely went through the Guadalajara Temple this last Saturday and did a session :). So in this mission it is a rule that the missionaries can't go to the temple for two reasons... 1. It's a rule of the mission. and 2. The temple is out of our mission's boundries. What happened was a missionary named Elder Payne came into our zone for his last week of his mission. The cool thing is that one of his converts was going to go through the temple on Saturday for her first time to recieve her endownments :) Well this convert just happened to be in my last area in Buenos Aires and I taught her a few times and always shared messages with her family :) Well the president told Elder Payne that he could go to the temple for his convert but that he should go on divisions with Elder Summers because he was also in that last area. :) This has definitely been one of the things I have always wanted to do and something that I thought that I would never have the chance to do... but it was amazing :) The convert (Hermana Guadalupe) looked like the happiest person I have ever seen in my life.... ever :) It was one of the best experiences I have had in my mission seeing a convert go through the temple. :) It was pretty cool going through the temple in Spanish as well and the new part was pretty cool too (just have to say... Saints and Soldiers). Awesome experience and awesome week!
I love you all and we will be talking to you all next week!
Love,
Elder Summers