another busy, crazy week in Málaga. I can´t believe how fast it went by, which is a good thing, because it means we have lots of work. I thank everyone that sent me a package or letter recently- Elder Estrada tells me that there are two packages and lots of letters waiting for me in the mission office. It´s a good thing that we have zone conference this week, so I can get everything on Friday. Speaking of birthdays, mine´s coming up! (name that aardvark) And if you really want to do something nice for me for my birthday (which you already have), invite the missionaries over for dinner this week, accept any challenges they extend, and try to bear simple testimony to a non-member or a less active friend this week. Dealio?
The members in my area are really taking it up a notch. We have invitations to eat with and teach members nearly every day this week. The Elders in our ward are a little jealous, because there are so many members in our area (and we get to eat Magdalena´s cooking... mmm...) Speaking of, guess who really has a love of gazpacho. Guess. Me! Still loving the food (as evidenced in photos), and loving most everything else, too.
Hna. Coloma and I get along swimmingly. She gets a good laugh out of everything. Mostly my Spanish. We really love the people though- investigators and members. One less active member this week got angry with us when we asked if we could visit her. She´s a returned missionary, and she went off for five minutes about how she knows how missionaries work, and that we only care about numbers and not individuals. Later Hna. Coloma and I decided she couldn´t believe that if she saw how we were after we teach people- we always talk about their strengths, and discuss what we can do to help them. We cry and pray for the people who´ve lost loved ones, or who face poverty and sickness, and smile long after we visit with those who are doing well.
I have a few good stories this week- but maybe only I appreciate them ;) We taught a Nigerian named Rosemary about the restoration this week, and at the end of the lesson, invited her to pray. She declined, saying she didn´t think she should, because she had sinned "and sin is sin". Hna Moreno and I (this was during an... intercambio... oh, companion exchange) pulled out all the tricks in our bag to invite her to pray. It´s a commandment, the Lord loves all His children just like she loves her son no matter what he does, it´s the devil who teaches a man not to pray, the Lord taught he came to teach the sick for "the whole need no physician"- "ALRIGHT! I get it! I´ll PRAY!"
We´re still teaching the Romanian family, and I love them more every day. The little girls are still studying the Book of Mormon faithfully, and are always ready and waiting with their scriptures open when we come to teach. When we went the last time to teach, as we walked into the living room they all called out, "Hermana Johnson! Hermana Johnson!" Something I´ve learned about being so far from home is what it means to have someone know who you are. I felt ready to burst from happiness the other day when I heard one of the girls calling "Hermana Johnson!" from across the street in la Palmilla this last week.
Anyway, the whole family believes what we teach... it´s just a matter of helping them understand why what we teach is important, and different from other religions. Honestly though, I look forward to visiting them more than anything else, and the children at least do too. We only passed by for a minute last night to see if we could do anything to help them on our way to our next lesson- all 6 children crowded in the doorway with their grandma to talk to us, and they looked crestfallen (particularly Melisa) when we said we had to go.
Some days are hard, when everything falls through, but the people make every hardship a blessing. If all I do in these 18 months is help this one family come to Christ, it will be worth it to me. Well, I best be heading.
I know that this is the restored church of Jesus Christ, because I feel His influence in every aspect of this work, and most of all His love and concern for each person we teach. Every facet of this gospel is perfect, and the only teaching that makes sense of this life and the life to come. I am more grateful than I can ever express for my Savior, and for His mercy and love for us all.
I love all of you and pray that you can feel the same joy I experience every day sharing this gospel.
All my love, Hermana Johnson
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