Hey family!!!
Can you all believe that July is here!!! This will be the second Fourth of July that I have missed. That means that I am winding down! Haha! How is your summer going? I hope that you all are enjoying your hot summers... Here it is getting "colder" when I say colder I really mean... It`s not THAT hot... because it is still pretty hot. But things are going well here. We are just not having that much luck finding new people to teach... So that is kind of discouraging... I really do miss Manta when we don`t have anyone to teach. I kind of get tired of ringing door bells and knocking on doors all day and hearing the same thing over and over and over again...
For example, "No I don`t have time." Or... "No I`m Catholic, or Evangelical or whatever they are...." or the classic, "I`m on my way out of the house... maybe some other time." But with all of these excuses... I don`t ever regret coming here to Ecuador... I am so happy that I made the decision to come and I know that no effort is ever wasted... I have hope that we will talk to the right person or knock on the right door and someone will let us in... We just have to be patient and loooonnnnggg suffering and keep trying. There are lots of people here that are looking for the truth in their lives... We just have to show them that we have this truth and we have what can bring them peace in their lives.
This week we have had our handful of let downs... We are trying to contact the old investigators that the other sisters had in this area... But now that we are new they don`t seem to want to meet with us. First we had a set visit with an older man named Lenin... When we got to his house at 3:30 a woman came to the door and rudely asked us, "What do you want?" We told her with a smile on our faces that we would like to talk to Lenin... She gave us an annoyed look and out came Lenin and said without even saying hello, "Girls I told you over the phone that I can`t meet with you until after 5... because I go and visit my kids and my grand kids... I just don`t have time right now..." He was about to turn around and go inside but I stopped him by saying, "Uhhh you told us yesterday that 3:30 would work for you and now we are here... Can you please just give us a couple of minutes?" He only said that the game was on and shut the door... We took a deep breath and I complained to my companion about how rude people can be and we kept working... I can keep working but I haven`t really gotten down the no complaining part.... I need to follow Nephi`s* example a little more.
Well the next day we went to visit a woman called Fannie and her son Pedro... Fannie told us that she would be in her house at 7:00 that evening so we go to her house in hopes of having a visit and teaching a lesson with her. Well when we got to her house we knocked on the door and someone asked from inside... "Who is it?" Then after we replied the missionaries there was some uncontrollable laughter from inside the house. Well a different kid of Fannie`s came out of the house but he didn`t open the front door... He came out on the roof of his house. We asked if his mom was home and he told us that she had left the house and had locked the door and they couldn`t open the door or let anyone in and they also couldn`t open the door and leave either. We set up another appointment and asked him to pass along the message that we stopped by and he smiled and said that he would.
Welllll... as we were at the corner looking at our planners deciding where to go we saw a woman pass by us and knock on the same door we had just knocked on... And lo and behold... it opened and she entered the house that was "locked". She then left the house about 15 seconds later with the same kid that lied to us and told us that the door was locked.... I was so tempted to say to him, "some lock on that door you have". But I didn`t... I just smiled at him as he looked at us in horror realizing that we were still on the same street. It`s always nice to catch them in their lies... But it doesn`t really make things any better in the end. I would rather just be the stupid one than realize that many people lie to us everyday.
One good thing about this area is that the members have money and give us really good food. So that is always a nice thing. But I don`t think my companion likes Ecuadorian food very much. She always leaves the houses saying... Well that wasn`t that great... And I want to look at her and say, "ARE YOU SERIOUS? THAT WAS DELICIOUS!!!" But then I have to admit... I must be used to many worse things so I am sure I would have said the same thing if I came here right at the beginning of my mission... I guess my tongue has lost it`s sense of taste for bad food... Because we just have to eat it.
This week we ate with different sisters from the ward and it was kind of funny. We went to a sisters house and she is married to a man from China. She has a lot of Chinese things in her house and I was hoping for a Chinese dish or something different. She showed us pictures of her husband and then she told us that he is a Buddhist and prohibits her from going to church. Man would that be difficult! But she said that her husband understands a little bit more now and she gets to go to church sometimes. She then started saying that her family eats really healthy and that they eat all natural foods. Well her lunch wasn`t what I would consider all natural or healthy. She served us a pile of rice with cut up hot dogs in it... As we ate I just told myself... At least it isn`t chicken`s feet. -__-
Sorry I don`t have that much news this area is pretty normal... We are in the city and the food is pretty normal and the people are too... but they all have one thing in common... They all need the gospel... and that`s why I am here... Today I went to the doctor because I have had a cold/cough for more than three weeks now and at the front desk when they asked me where I worked... It felt pretty good to say, "I work for the Church if Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints... I`m a missionary" It`s the best job anyone can have! I love this work and I am truly grateful that I am a part of it... I know that this church is true and every effort is worth it.
Love you all more than I miss you!
Love, Hermana Welch #1 (Jess)
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