Friday, September 29, 2017

Cool Baptism

We get invited to a lot of cool baptisms but this one was really special. The mom and dad have been together for 27 years but refused to get married. But they have a son serving a mission in the west mission.   Six months ago our hermanas started teaching them. At first they refuse to marry and so couldn't get baptized but our hermanas kept teaching them and this morning they were married and this evening they were baptized. Even more cool -- President Santos from the west mission let their son return to perform the baptism. There were lots of happy tears.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Milestone Day



We said goodbye to our first two assistants (far right) this week because they are going home and celebrated the calling of two new assistants (in back) who are fantastic!!

Unusual Cohort



This group came out together and left together being in the same group creates a special bond. Because we had only one Hermana in this group, I got to be her companion for the day. We all went to the temple and had dinner and testimonies in our casa.

[Dictionary: cohorta group of people banded together or treated as a group.]

Saturday, September 23, 2017

General Women's Conference

We had a marvelous experience during general women's conference. Two sets of sisters brought 6 investigators to our casa for dinner and to watch women's conference. We had so much fun. They loved the conference. I'm certain every one of them will be baptized. Two of them wanted their photo taken as if they were playing my piano.  The spirt was so strong in our home I hated alto see them leave. I was the only person out of 11 people who spoke English. Nobody was there to translate. Maybe that's why we got along so well?  They didn't understand my Spanish!!




Thursday, September 21, 2017

Weathering the Storm

We are so grateful to have the CCM next door.  We had to evacuate 16 missionaries who live on the north side of the island and they were able to spend the night in the CCM.  They came over to our casa today and the Hermanas helped me cook.

When the missionaries were in our home Presidente shared a powerful  message about storms.  He compared the storms that occurred before the Savior came in 3rd Nephi to the storm that carried the Jaredites across the ocean.  The people in 3rd Nephi were without light for three days and they lamented "Oh that we had repented..."  The Jaredites had light during their entire voyage because they had the faith to call upon the Savior and he provided light for their barges.

What a difference the light of Christ makes in our lives when storms come our way!






Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Daily Miracles


I need to be better about remembering all the wonderful experiences we have each day.  I'll share a couple that are fresh on my mind:

  • The other day two of our Hermanas were in a cochea (a blitz) and it was time to return the chapel but one of the Hermanas got the impression they needed to pass by the park.  When they arrived at the park they heard many voices calling the name of the Hermana who wanted to pass by the park.  The voices belonged to five adolescents who she had taught in another area and they all had dates for baptism, but had moved before being baptized.  They place they had moved to was the very area where this Hermana was helping with the cochea and because they bumped into one another they can now be baptized!

  • We are grateful to the leaders here who are worthy to receive revelation.  One of our branch presidents got the impression late one night that he needed to pass by the casa of the Hermanas that worked in his branch.  When he arrived at the casa the front door was open and he saw two people running out the back.  It turned out that an investigator had stopped by and brought two of her brothers, who had invited themselves in.  The Hermanas did not have the fortitude to dismiss the young men from their casa, but within 15 minutes of their arrival the branch president showed up.  We were able to remove the Hermanas from the area the next morning and train them on how to avoid such situations in the future.

  • A rather funny incident:  two of our elders had been teaching a man who was having trouble with the word of wisdom.  He smoked cigars and just couldn't bring himself to give up his cigars.  The missionaries didn't know what else to do to help him.  One day they passed by his house to teach him again and he announced he was ready to be baptized.  The night previous, someone had stolen all his cigars and he took that as a sign from God that he needed to give up smoking.  He was now ready to be baptized!

Stormy Skies



Who knew a pending hurricane could bring such lovely skies?

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Rough Seas


The seas were really rough today. Usually they're so calm you could waterski out there.

(Video coming when I figure out how to add it...)

Last Minute Invitation



We received a last minute invitation to pass by this baptism. (Thus the casual dress). I got to assist the woman in the bathroom before her baptism. The elderly man is 87. Never too old to repent and be baptized!  The little boy with the football is the bishops son. I wanted to take him home!

One other thing about the 87-year-old:  he married his "spouse" Wednesday.

Barefoot Riding

I've heard of riding bare back but bare foot?

Alimentos!

Apparently I bought platancos, yautias, auyama and yuca.  We'll see what my housekeeper wants to cook up with these interesting alimentos!

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Feeding the Missionaries



Feeding the missionaries is as much work as training them!!

Better Safe Than Sorry


This amazing investigator wandered into our office today. He had researched the church on the internet and found such conflicting information he wanted to see for himself what we were about. We had a wonderful first discussion and he committed to come to church this Sunday!

Exact Obedience Brings Blessings

We have an elder who was tempted one day to quit working and rest for an hour. Because he had covenanted to be obedient he resisted the temptation and continued to work. That evening he visited the casa of an investigator who wanted to be baptized but her parents would never give permission. That night, after three years of waiting that night they gave permission.

One of our hermanas was told to stay in for two days and to rest. The second day she felt like she needed to go to church instead of resting. In church that day a member came to her and said she had been saving a reference for just the right missionary. The member felt like this Hermana was the right missionary.

Friday, September 8, 2017

Flooded with Only Blessings

We are so grateful Irma passed by without hardly a wink.  We had some wind and rain, but no more than I have seen here before.  We pray she is as kind to Florida.

The sisters in one of our zones had a wonderful experience recently.  For two months they had been having trouble finding investigators and the members weren't helping at all. The sisters worked and worked, and were as obedient as they knew how to be and the area was dead.  They decided to have a purification fast, and ask The Lord what they needed to do to repent.  They received revelation that they needed to focus on the work, and not on distractions.  They began with this new focus and within days they had 23 referrals from the ward.

This zone is on fire.  Coincidentally (of course, we know it was not coincidence), there was a sister in our of the wards who, almost thirty years ago, had been taught the gospel and baptized by a missionary but was now less active.  But it turns out that the missionary who had baptized her thirty years ago was now the stake president and she was living in his stake.  The stake president discovered she was in her stake and told the sister missionaries who re-activated her and taught her husband the gospel and baptized him.  The stake president sat in on the lessons and now he is re-animated about missionary work. The ward is so excited about this new complete family in their ward that they are all focused on the work.  The Lord sure comes through when we give the little bit we can give, he floods us with blessings.

Monday, September 4, 2017

We love the Brazilians!

It was so fun to have our daughter here this week. We received a new missionary from Brazil and they chatted away like old friends. All the Brazilian missionaries were impressed with her Português.

Pday with mi hija



So happy mission presidents are not restricted from going to the beach!  But we realized the reason missionaries can't is not just because of the skimpy clothing. It's also a huge distraction and would be difficult to stay focused on the work after a day at the beach :)

Cave Man?


We ate dinner in a cave Friday night and they sliced up this animal leg (a pig a goat a lamb???) right in front of us. We felt like cavemen ourselves.

New way to find and teach

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