Week 15 Hermana Courtney Jones

Hi!  We didn't have time to write yesterday because we had a meeting with the mission president that lasted for 6 hours and it takes us an hour to get there from our area and an hour to get back to our area afterwards so they gave us a short preparation day today in the morning to write our family and do our laundry :)

Ok, so this week has been very interesting. First of all we didnt have water all week! Our whole little subdivision of houses didnt have water and everyone was kind of mad. Soooo...I went the longest in my life without showering....one week. Finally, yesterday it rained so I put a bucket outside to collect rainwater to shower in. Hahaha I have never been so grateful for rain. Also last night there was the biggest thunder storm I have ever experienced in my life. All the power went out in all of El Oro. We didnt get home from the meeting with our mission president until 9 at night and while we were walking to our house it was pitch black because all the power was out and there are no backup lights or anything like that. The only time we could see was when lightning would strike. It made me laugh because it reminded me of the plants verses Zombies game where you cant see where you are going or who is coming until lighning strikes and you can see for a second and then you are blind again. We went to bed at 9:30 because there was nothing to do with the power out because we couldnt see and when the power goes out no one comes to fix it until the morning. 

Anyway this week our ward got tons of clothes from people who were collecting clothes for members of the church in need. It was so cool to see how happy everyone was when they got their little packet of clothes for their family. It is so different here than my other area. In my other area I think I got close to ten skirts and 20 shirts from investigators and members of the ward in the city, but here in El Oro I have given away close to that if not more clothes to members and recent converts who don't have anything to wear to church. I think that is why I have come to start to love it here so much because I have never met people so humble in my life.

There is one family in the ward who lives at the top of a mountain in a pueblo, Santiago. When we go to their house it takes us 30 min to get from El Oro to Santiago and then another 30 min to get to the top of the mountain. WeE are always super sweaty by the time we get to their house but they walk to church every Sunday and back because they can't pay the 8 pesos or close to 80 cents for the taxi. The members say that the taxis always rip off the missionaries when they are both from the US because we are willing to pay it because it seems cheap. For example to drive in a taxi for 15 minutes is about 8 pesos or 80 cents. The taxistas will try to charge 30 pesos for them, which still seems super cheap which is why Americans are willing to pay it!  Also it is interesting because at church for activities a member of the church will teach everyone how to make something so they can go and sell it in the street. For example last week they learned how to weave baskets so they could sell them on Monday at the farmers market.

This week I also ate cactus and it was one of the best foods I have eaten here! Oh also I learned how to grind the corn for the dough, make tortillas, and cook them on the little stove. It was super fun because one of our investigators (Diana), who has a baptism date for this Sunday, own a tortilla store and we talked with her on Saturday and she said she couldn't come to church on Sunday because she was super behind on making her tortillas. So for our service project for the week we spent an hour making tortillas! It was super fun. My first few tortillas were terrible and she told me just to eat them but by the end I was a pro :)

Ok for the spiritual though for this week I learned a ton this time from the mission president yesterday. First of all our goal is not to see our investigators in white at the baptismal font. It is to see them in white with their family at the temple. Also we learned about different types of obediece in the mission. 1. difference between Nephi and Laman/Lemuel. Obey because you love the Lord and don't complain! 2. difference between Cain and Abel. Both gave an offering but Abel gave the best he had. We need to give out heart and soul to the Lord, all we have, time, thoughts, effort. 3. Difference between Satan and Christ. Why are we trying to do the best we can? Is is to glorify God and his kingdom or bring Glory on ourselves? Many missionaries want the recognition of other missionaries or the mission president to glorify ourselves but in truth we should be glorifying God. Also I loved when he talked about how if we cant be faithful to God for 2 years and close our hearts, how can we expect to be faithful to our future spouse for Eternity? That is one thing about the mission president that I love is sometimes he says things very strong but when you hear it you want to become a better missionary. For example comparing us to Satan and saying that we are being unfaithful to God.

Also this week, I finished reading the new Testament and sometimes I am just amazed at what you can find in the scriptures. One thing I really loved this week was when I was studying the Last Supper. I was studing the sacrament and the blood of christ and wht it means and a scripture I really like 1 John 5:8 and it talks about the water, spirit, and blood. Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and taking the sacrament. I liked this alot because it also goes along with our goal is not just baptism. It is to have investigators who take the sacrament every week because these 3 things are essential parts of eventually receiving eternal life.

Also this week we worked with hermano Max in our ward.  He is super funny but he brought his wife and his two daughters and we went and visited I think everyone he knows. He lives in a little pueblo in San. Juanico and they are the only members there, but he told us that his vision for his little pueblo was to have a branch there by the end of the year. I have faith in his vision becasue after one day of working with him we have 5 families there who we are now visiting.  It was so funny because one family said they weren't interested in listening to us and he was super insistent. He was like this gospel has blessed my life more than you can imagine just give them 5 minutes and I promise you will like what you hear. And what do you know they said we could visit again! I still can't believe that he was inactive in the church just 6 months ago. I sent some letters in the mail so do you mind telling me when they get there so I know about how much time it takes letters to get to you?

Anyway I hope you have a great week!

Love Hermana Jones