Monday was THE BEST! We got up at 4:30 AM, got ready, and made our way to the estaca to meet with our district to hike one of the mountains (hill compared to the mountains in Utah) here in the city. Six of us stuffed into one taxi, the other 6 into another and we made our way to the base of the mountain. There wasn't a trail so we just improvised knowing that if we continued to hike up hill we'd eventually reach the top. About an hour later, we made it to the top to find a giant cross on a big cement block. We all climbed on it and looked out into the city....THIS CITY IS HUGE!!!! The houses go as far as the eye can see!
We've been teaching to guys named Raul and Julio...and to be honest, I'm actually a little bit scared of them...they always seem to be a little drunk. We teach them in their recording studio full of guitars, drums, bases, whistles, etc, and every time we begin, they insist on playing a Christian Rock song with their instruments for the opening hymn. And they REALLY get into it. Did I mention that both of these men are over 50? Just a tad different than singing 'I Am A Child of God'....but if they insist!
So...turns out that Hermana Valdez (my old companion) didn't get sent home after all.... And I had the wonderful opportunity of doing divisions with her this week...do I need to say more?? The entire day she criticized me and bragged about how much success she has had since she left. 8 baptisms, 10 investigators in church the previous Sunday, baptismal dates lined up until the end of March, on and on and on.... But, to get back for all the hard times, I worked her SO HARD! Normally we have around 8 lessons, but when I was with her we had 11 lessons and 15 contacts. And when she complained that she was feeling sick...well I walked just a tad faster! I'll repent for it later;) Turns out...that EVERYTHING she told me was a complete lie...every baptism, date, investigator...EVERYTHING! Poor girl...
Hermana Benson and Bravo had a baptism yesterday at noon and we went to support them. He was a 9 year-old little boy and his entire family and extended family was there to support him too. He entered the font with one of the Hermanos in the ward, the baptism prayer was said, and went under. When he came back up he was completely out of breath and, arms spread, backed himself up against the wall of the font. Unfortunately, his feet didn't go completely under the water so he was going to have to do it again. He was completely freaked out. I thought, "He'll get over it." But no! He stood in the pila for an entire hour backed up to the wall as everyone tried to talk him into trying one last time. He wouldn't do it! So...we left without a baptism...crazy stuff!
That night we walked to Sofia's house and as we were teaching her, her son walked in. It was the first time that I had ever seen him because he usually works until 2:00 AM. By the look on Sofia's face, I knew that it wasn't good. The 3 of us sat half scared to death while he hovered over us asking us questions, insisting that we answer the way he wanted. Did I mention that he was completely drunk? The smell of alcohol on him was completely overwhelming. That's when mama Zambrano came out...my companion chewed him out big time. The whole time I was cringing thinking that at any moment he was going to explode on us. He was absolutely fuming! He stood up, barged out of the room, and cranked his music up so loud that we couldn't even talk to each other. As if things couldn't get worse, he came back in with 5 of his shirtless drunk friends. We immediately stood up, grabbed our back packs, and left the house. I felt so bad for Sofia...she was bawling..begging us not to leave... Oh! I wanted to knock some sense into all 5 of those guys! If only! As sister missionaries, we are definitely protected in times of danger. Thank goodness!
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| Hailey labeled this one: "You know you're fat when your dessert is the size of a quarter" |
Les quiero mucho! Hasta luego!
Hermana Ingram
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