Many wonderful blessings. We LOVE the family who is taking special care of her there!
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I will definitely be praying for you even more than usual. I absolutely know that Heavenly Father has an important plan for all of you and that´s what He´s working on here.
I learned this week that the more difficult the situations we are in, the more Heavenly Father is showing us that He trusts us. He wouldn´t put us in a situation that we didn´t have the ability to overcome. I love having that knowledge, and it blesses me immensely.
Oh and nothing happened to me for transfers. Still in the same area with the same companion. We were freaking out a little bit on Saturday because we ran into EVERY investigator we had taught the whole transfer on the streets, and thought that maybe it was a sign that one of us was going to leave, but it wasn´t so. And I´m glad. I LOVE this area and I would be really sad to leave.
This week I had a really wonderful experience on Friday. There´s a family in our ward who just got baptized in December. The parents are Jhony and Alba, and they have two daughters, Karen (13) and Aitana (7). I think I already told you a little about Aitana´s birthday party that we went to a couple weeks ago. Anyway, Jhony has a tradition that every missionary who serves in the ward has to come over and make lunch (which is the huge meal here) for his family. We give them a list of what we need and they buy the ingredients. So, being new, it was my turn to cook. I decided to make enchiladas, the same kind I always make, because I know how to make them without a recipe and they´re really easy. Only they don´t have the same things here in Spain as they do in the U.S. So I made enchiladas WITHOUT enchilada sauce, sour cream, or cream of anything soup. And they tasted just fine. In place of enchilada sauce, I used "mexican" salsa with some water to thin it out and some fresh tomatoes. In place of sour cream or soup or whatever, I used CREAM. Like half and half. How did this happen? Remember, my companion doesn´t speak English. I was on the phone trying to translate my grocery list and I was trying to explain what sour cream was and my companion was like "That´s nata para cocinar" and so I told her to get that. Which is NOT sour cream at all. Oh well. It worked, and I was really proud of it. The whole family told me it was really good, and I hope that wasn´t just to be nice. They ate a TON of it, though, and so I think they really did like it. Jhony is super funny and he said "When you first started, I didn´t have any faith in you. But you did a good job. This is delicious."
The elders were there too, and Elder Cardwell made this blackberry tart that was FANTASTIC.
The cool experience, though, was after we finished eating and the elders shared a scripture. Jhony started talking about how much the missionaries here had blessed his life. He said that when the elder who baptized him left, it was really hard for him. But now he almost looks forward to transfers because it´s amazing for him to see how different each of the missionaries is and how they have all given up this time in their lives to serve the Lord. Then his wife said how grateful she was for our sacrifice and how much her family owes to all the missionaries they know. I got the best feeling listening to her, and she started crying and her husband started tearing up and I couldn´t help but smile because that´s why I´m here. I´m here to serve the Lord and I´m here to bless people´s lives. I love Jhony and Alba. They´re maybe my favorite family here. They are so cool, and every time we talk with them, I get re-energized to be a better missionary.
Keep praying for Nora. Her mom died this past week, and it´s hard for her, but we got to teach the plan of salvation and she was grinning the whole time. I love that lesson. It is amazing, and I knew she could feel the power of it.
Also keep praying for Andrei. Hopefully we´ll have a tour of the temple grounds with him this Saturday! We found out that the date he set for his baptism is September 15, which seems really far away, but he still needs a little time to prepare and to quit smoking, so I think it will be right for him.
Another new (to me) investigator that we taught this week is Luz. My companion was teaching her before, but she works all the time and it´s really hard to get in to see her. She is amazing though. Her husband in Columbia was a member and she took the discussions years ago with him, but didn´t feel prepared yet to get baptized. She understands the scriptures incredibly well and analyzes them like she´s already a member. Now if we can just get her work schedule to let us bring her to church...
We also met this week Mari and Mayelin. They´re from Columbia and Mari recently got really sick and almost died, and for that has just started coming back to church. We´re excited to keep teaching them and to see how they progress.
Well I think that´s it.
Have a wonderful week!
Hermana Lara Schaumann
I found some hypoallergenic sunscreen (at least I think it is) and I got a bottle, but it´s OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive. So hopefully it works and I´m not going to burn and die.
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