These past 2 weeks can be summed up into 2 points
- miracles
- ingesting bad water
So all in all it was a pretty classic week in the minds of all South American missionaries that know how it is.
Fun stuff.
My new companion es un re capo. In English, he's great. From Oklahoma, he loves to hunt fish and listen to good old Blake Shelton and anything else that has to do with country.
Gotta love it.
I tried my best to balance out giving my new missionary the best first 2 weeks I could versus overworking my sick-self. We did the best we could, and saw some miracles I'll never forget.
The greatest being of our friend Rosa. Not sure how much I've talked about her in the past, but we've been teaching her for a month and a half. She is from Paraguay and snuck into the country with her grandparents when she was 10 years old to get cancer treatment, as she was going to die without medical help. Once she made it to a hospital, the government decided to not deport them and to give her the treatment she needed. Now she is 18 years old, and just 2 weeks ago the doctors declared her cancer free. It's been a long time since I've seen a person so happy and hopeful like she was when she found that out.
She loves the church, members, and the gospel. Her only doubt was that her family was Catholic. She didn't want to join the church unless she was sure. When we taught her the lessons she felt the spirit and wanted to be baptized, but once she told her grandparents about that, they started trying to convince her that it was a mistake. So after a month of helping her understand and more than anything search on her own for a testimony, she let us know she had felt the spirit testify to her that this is the true church, and she knew she needed to be baptized by one holding authority, in addition to her infant baptism. After all, she couldn't repent as a baby.
So we set a date, (this Thursday the 27th). The last step was for her to talk to her family about it. We prayed a lot for her, but despite the prayers when she invited her family to her baptism they tried to convince her that it was a mistake. She didn't know how to argue back, and simply said " I know this church is true and I hope you all can know that too one day" and walked out.
Moments like these are the most important moments in life. More critical than a test score and more clutch than a championship winning play. While it's not her whole story, and she has a lifetime of enduring to the end, it was likely the most important decision she's ever made. I am very grateful for her example and faith. I'll never forget it.
Elder Telford
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