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| Elder Jacob Avery - Peru Lima West Mission |
Oooff! I'm getting to internet every week and I'm like..... I don't feel like writing anyone but Mom and President.
In the work, we're in a good rhythm. We got another lady to commit to baptism, but she makes me a little nervous. The other elders invited her to be baptized when I was on a work visit. Her name is Mo**, and she's 25 or 26 but looks likes she's 15. Her friend is getting baptized this week and she wants to get baptized too, so we scheduled her date in April.
Jo** is doing awesome. We found out that he has a bunch of family who are members of the church! They actually live in Rosales (my first area). Wow! What a small world.
It was nice though because they visited with him and he's super happy to get baptized. He couldn't go to church yesterday because he pinched a nerve (he didn't know that, but he explained his symptoms). He felt better last night, and we told him that he has to go to church this week to get baptized on the 21st. Oh, and I saw his wife! In the flesh! We had a conversation, but she said that she's not ready for us to talk to her. With many people it's not a question of if the church is true or not, it's more a question of if they want to take God's way or the highway. All in all, a good week.
I'm kind of panicking because I want to baptize, and there's no time left! I've got two and a half transfers. I was reading D&C 20:38-39, and it tells elders it's their duty to baptize!!
We're looking for families. It's sad because the families here aren't really families. I interviewed a family to get baptized yesterday, and they're all getting baptized without the mom :( It was super, super sad for me to see that. They've been investigating for a long long time and the dad finally decided that his wife's best bet is to see if she follows their example by them getting baptized without her. They're a great family, but they're not an entire family yet. We're praying to find families!!
This was a really awkward week....If you want some strange stories, here they are:
First, we were talking to this mom and her young kids on the door step of her house. Her husband wasn't home for the appointment. As we were scheduling a return appointment, her 14 or 15 year old daughter (this is like Bek's age) picked up who I thought was her toddler brother, and started breast feeding him. WHAT?! Nope, turns out it was her kid...
Secondly, when we were teaching Ce** and his family, he said that his wife wasn't doing so well. She's pregnant and you know that there are people who do okay pregnant, and there's those that don't do so well. She's like 8 months in and super grouchy. In the middle of our lesson, she called Ce** over because she was having a contraction. Then we find out that she's been having contractions all day, and the last one was an hour ago! ''Uhhhhh, yah, nos vemos amigo.''
Thirdly, there's this dude who has crutches and we feel bad for him. He got in a fishing accident and now he can't work because his let got torn up. The other day was weird though because he showed us how he had hook marks all the way up his leg, then he pulled his pants down (we're in the open, on mainstreet!) and showed us how his fishing accident has left him castrated or neutered....or whatever you call it. Wow..... I know that all bodies are temples, but sometimes there are maintenance issues with peoples' temples that I really don't need to know about.
Maybe those are stories will be interesting for the kids. Now it's time for the uplifting story! Three people committed to baptism this week! They are a husband and wife, and the other is their friend who we had know before, which just made it all the better. They're named Al**, Ra** and Lu**. It was very interesting though because we didn't know what we were going to teach them because we were short on time. I told my companion we're teaching the restoration and inviting them to be baptized. He was thinking the same thing so we went for it. Mid lesson, the mayor and vice mayor of the town came in the door. One of them is a less active member of the church, and they 're not usually very serious about the gospel. But the thing is, I don't know how else we would have gotten a lesson with those guys because they never want to go to church!
Elder Clouse was worried that they'd destroy the lesson, but I was feeling good about finishing out. We did it! We taught all five of them about the first vision and invited the three who are not members of the church to be baptized. They all accepted! The Spirit was strong and we left that lesson feeling like we were flying. That helps me understand why Preach My Gospel says, “The Lord will bless you as you teach the message of the Restoration to a world that desperately needs the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Anyways, I hope that everyone has a good week. I'm so glad that you're all doing well. And I'm thankful that I don't have to work at McDonald's again ;) I'm so thankful to be on a mission and that I still have a few months left to rock it! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Jake Avery
Building Skyscrapers (March 2, 2015)
What Does the Holy Ghost Feel Like? (March 16, 2015)
