This week was a very long week filled with ups and downs. Tuesday we taught a wonderful lesson with a woman named Marta Tulian. We met her on the street and as it turns out, we are actually teaching her sister and her family as well. Marta was taught by the missionaries when she was 18 and had a baptismal date then, but her boyfriend didn’t like the idea of her getting baptized, so she didn’t. Now, probably almost 30 years later, she ran into us and invites us in to her home. We taught her about prophets, the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ. She is the first person I’ve met here in Argentina who really didn’t have a clue who Jesus Christ is other than a good man. We read Mosiah 3:5-12 with her about Christ’s life and really emphasized his role in our lives as our Savior, Redeemer and example. We talked about baptism and the importance of following Christ is all things. She seemed rather receptive. We tried going back and teaching her during the week but she was either not home, or with other people and didn’t welcome us in. We went by Saturday night to give it another try and again, she was busy. We did invite her to come to church (she lives RIGHT behind the church…literally 4 minutes from the door), so we told her we would just walk by and get her right before. She didn’t really say yes, but she didn’t say no. When we walked by Sunday morning, I was more than OVERLY shocked to see her standing at her door waiting for us. She stayed for all three hours, talked to lots of members and even told a few sisters that she was going to get baptized when she was younger, but didn’t because of her boyfriend at the time. I’m really impressed by her and her commitment to attend church. We only taught her one lesson, but she came to church! Coming to church is the “tell-all” for me—their church attendance is a true testament of where they are on their spiritual journey and their commitment in coming to church demonstrates to me their true desire to learn and change. After only 1 lesson, Marta came. Hopefully she will continue to respond favorably and let the spirit touch her heart and help her change and prepare for baptism again.
After teaching Marta Tuesday morning, Hermana Deem and I were feeling really good. We went to visit Yesica and finish a few principles with her before her baptismal interview. When we got to her house though, she was anything but the excited, bubbly, happy Yesica we met and feel in love with. Apparently she’s going through some family problems (them not wanting her to be baptized) and some complications with her boyfriend/father of her children. After church last Sunday, she met with the bishop to get to know him and he counseled her to get married. Apparently she had a few more problems with the Law of Chastity than we were told. We were said that she couldn’t get baptized on Saturday, but not nearly as sad as she was. She just kept telling us that she was looking so forward to it, telling her friends and the members at church. She really had changed in the month we’ve been working with her. We talked with her during the week a few other times and just tried to cheer her up. Right now she is working on getting married and then she will be baptized. Thursday we went back and visited with her and just tried to help her keep progressing. I was playing with her daughter Pricila while Hermana Deem and she talked a bit more in depth about the situation. Yesica just seemed down and completely deflated. It broke my heart to see her so sad; to see someone with real desires to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ and then to realize that for right now, she needs to wait. With her daughter sitting on my lap playing with my Plan of Salvation drawings/cut outs, I just looked at Yesica and told her that we loved her. As I started talking to her, I just started sobbing and the tears started welling in her eyes too. The room was just still as we sat there looking at each other as I told her how we would do anything for her so she could enjoy the blessings we enjoy everyday. I have never felt love like that for someone I’ve only known for a few weeks. It was the first time that I really felt the love that God has for one of his children to such an overwhelming degree. Words really can’t express how much love I felt for her in that moment. I always wondered who would leave an impression on my heart during my mission and when I would have people to talk about who became my family in the mission. Yesica and her kids are the first. She wants to learn English so she can talk to you, mom and dad…she is amazing! She just told us that for right now, this is a trial in her life (everything with her family pressures, etc) and that now, more than ever, she’s not going to give up and she’s going to show the Lord that she’s serious by still reading her scriptures, praying and going to church. She’ll get baptized, just not quite yet.
We also taught a first lesson with someone I talked to on the street named Maribel. She welcomed us in to her house (during the siesta…not the usual time that people welcome us in their homes) and learned that she has three young boys, moved from Bolivia to live here, and doesn’t have a religious background. As we taught her about families and the Book of Mormon, she committed to read it and then proceeded to ask us if we had a church nearby and if she could go. She actually used to live by the church building but felt that she was from to humble of circumstances to go into the church since it’s so nice on the outside. We told her that all were welcome and she got a little excited and said that she wants to go sometime with her kids. She also asked us that once she reads the Book of Mormon if we would come back. I’ve been waiting for someone to say that to us! She asked us to come back! Yay! We tried finding her again during the week, but she was always working. We’ll definitely try again this week to track her down!
The latter part of the week was very difficult because none of our investigators were home and would let us in to talk with them. We spent all day Friday walking around trying to teach a second lesson with no luck. To add to the difficulty of the day, it was HOT! We were sweaty, dirty, thirsty, and without people to teach. We tried tracking down less active members (there are lots) and again, we came up empty handed. Trying to keep up our faith, we kept walking, kept looking, kept talking. We actually ran into a less active member when we got lost looking for a reference from the elders. We stopped and asked a woman sweeping her porch about an address and she told us that she actually is a member of our church. We spent some time talking with her and working to rekindle her testimony and help her feel less offended by the church. (most people leave the church because they are offended for one reason or another—not enough friends, getting excluded from the Sacrament, a teacher saying something…etc.) It’s really sad and seeing as we have been studying about charity as a companionship this week, we decided it was time to start really working with less active members.
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