couldn´t get him to look at the camera
the clinic from yesterday
This week was definitely an interesting one but fantastic as always! The subject of my email basically describes my week. Hermana Ozuna and I have decided that humor is one of our best friends and on the really hard days that is how we keep ourselves going. We visited Nicaudi 4 times in the past week and each time she was super drunk. One of the days we were teaching one of her neighbors after stopping by to see if we could help her and we looked out the window to see her in the street with her Book of Mormon trying to share a message with the neighborhood. It was pouring down rain and she was just out there yelling about the gospel. If it wasn´t so sad it would have been really funny.
We had many interesting appointments like this this week. On Saturday and Sunday part of our area had this party for Christmas in Summer. When Dominicans party...they party. So for two days the streets were full of loud music and dancing and lots and lots of drunk people. We stopped by the first day to see if we could visit an investigator and quickly learned that would be near impossible with the noise and craziness in the street. It´s ironic because in the mission manual it says that Sundays are a great time to teach people because everyone is home. The problem here is that everyone is also drunk. Sundays are consistently a hard day for teaching. If it wasn´t so sad...it would be funny. The one day a week that families are together, half of them are incoherent.
I´m also guessing that there was a Catholic holiday or something this week because one day EVERYONE was saying rosario. We contacted one lady and she invited us in the share a message. She told us that she wanted to say rosario first and we thought eh why not, give and take. LIttle did we know that this takes 30 minutes to do. So we listened for 30 minutes and then afterward she told us she didn´t have time to listen to our message. SNEAKY! This was a little sad...and actually really funny in hind sight.
On the flip side we had some really really cool opportunities this week. There is a senior couple serving in the institute who are like my adopted grandparents. They took us sisters out to lunch on Saturday and we had PIzza Hut! Oh how I have missed normal American pizza! The Partridges are absolute life savers and always brighten my day. I help them with the institute choir and so I get to see them a couple times a week. I learn a lot from them about helping lift others and always sharing a smile. After talking with them you always feel better and you can´t help but smile when they walk in the room. That´s the kind of person that I want to be. The one that always makes you feel worthwhile and important and who leaves you better than when they found you.
Alex is finally back from his baseball tournament and is doing great. He came to church on Sunday and we´re working to get him ready for baptism. He has had 3 different dates already and missed them because of baseball. But we´re hoping that some time in August he will be ready. We´re being a little cautious because we want to make sure he´ll be active. There are so many members here and NO ONE in church. So we make sure that we´re not just going to baptize another less active. Nevertheless he is doing well and is as excited as ever.
We´ve also been able to work with some American doctors this week as translators. They are here doing a free clinic for anyone who can´t afford a doctor visit. Yesterday we were able to go help all day and it was really fun. This is something I wanted to do with the school before my mission and it´s interesting how the Lord works and made a way for me to still do it on my mission. And I´m actually able to do almost as much as the doctors because they can´t communicate with the people like we can. Yesterday I was translating for the nutritionist and helping her with presentations and such. It is great. We get to go help again tomorrow and I couldn´t be more excited.
The other American with us is definitely helping me gain patience and love for other people. The poor dear had never even lit a match and I had to teach her how to do that. She really struggles with the culture and the language but she has a sweet heart and I know she´ll be a great missionary with a little help. Yesterday she was afraid to go to the clinic because there would be sick people and she has a fear of germs. After much coaxing she finally agreed to come. If it wasn´t so sad...it would be really funny.
Well everyone, I want you to know that I know the church is true. The Lord really does love us and knows our needs! He is looking out for us. I am so grateful to be here every single day and love being a missionary!
Hermana Ewell
No comments:
Post a Comment