What a week! Full of its ups and downs...
This week we found a family who is caring for their 75 year-old mom who, because of a recent stroke, can't move the entire left side of her body and can't do anything for herself. We got a call from her member daughter asking if we could come every Wednesday and care for her mom for 2 hours in the morning as none of the siblings could care for her that day of the week. We agreed, and woke up early Wednesday to walk the mile or so to her house. When we got there, we were greeted by one of her daughters who was on her way out the door to work. She explained that we would need to feed and bathe her and that if we could, teach her a gospel principle that would help her in this hard time..and off she went..leaving us to figure things out on our own. The only thing she could do for herself was talk...which meant the rest was up to us. So, we started by lifting her into a chair and then carrying the chair to the shower room where we bathed her with a bucket of boiled water and a bar of soap...it definitely wasn't an easy process but we finished, fed her, and taught her about the plan of salvation. We hit two birds with one stone: service and a message!
I finally bought a guitar! One of the Elders in my zone was looking for someone to buy his black Mexican guitar and I jumped right on it! I bought it for 500 pesos ($50)...what a steal! Now when I come home after a long day...I can sit down and let out all of my stress by playing a few songs!
Sunday morning we woke up extra early and walked to Hermano Carlos' house (ward mission leader) to make tortas for our baptism that was scheduled in between sessions. We prepared over 50 tortas, packed them up and took them to the stake center. My companion and I then walked the 2 mile walk to a member's home to borrow a baptismal dress of hers. We passed for each of our investigators and walked with them back to the stake center...the two sister missionaries and their little ducklings. We got there and as we were preparing everything for the baptism, we got a call from our investigator who was to be baptized that day...and it wasn't good news... She told us that she didn't want to get baptized anymore or ever. We tried to reason with her but she wouldn't have it. I couldn't believe it... What a let down...
In between sessions, my companion and I left to see if we could find on of our investigators. As we were walking down the sidewalk, I heard a lady's voice from a distance yelling something that neither of us could understand. There was a lot of traffic so hearing was difficult. We continued to walk and a few seconds later we heard the voice again from behind us but still couldn't make out what was being said nor could we see who was yelling. We continued walking. Once again, we heard a very angry woman's voice screaming, "Guera! Vengas!" We both turned around and all of a sudden, about 20 feet away, a lady came running out from behind the traffic with a huge glass bottle of alcohol in her hands. We immediately turned and started to run. We thought that she'd stop soon after, but she wasn't letting up. The whole time she was screaming "Guera! Vengas!" and started screaming that I needed to go back to my country and that if not she was going to shop me up into little pieces and make guera tacos out of me and feed me to her dogs....CRAZY!!! We quickly turned a corner and I pulled my companion inside a little corner shop. Luckily, she went running by. There nothing like returning to a peaceful stake center and listening to the inspiring words of prophets and apostles of God after a moment like that. But where was the talk about what to do in moments when crazy drunk ladies are threatening to make white girl tacos out of you???
This week was definitely a tough one... Our baptism falling through was a real blow to our confidence. The people in the street have been more disrespectful and inappropriate than ever. I can't even step foot in the streets without hearing things that I wish I hadn't. What's even harder is that my companion and I are trying our absolute hardest to do things right. I feel like I have never worked so hard in my life this past month...and we aren't seeing the blessings. However, hearing conference this weekend was exactly what I needed. One of the many things I took away from conference is this: Life isn't easy...it's full of hardships, difficulties, sadness, and struggles. Sometimes we feel that we are giving it our all and we feel like we aren't seeing the rewards and blessings of our hard work. However, I have learned that when we put our trust in Him, things will always work out. Though we can't see what's ahead, He can. Like Alma and his brethren, we too will go through times of hardship and struggle. A lot of the times, God won't take these moments away, rather, He will strengthen us so that we can overcome them. We have to keep our heads up and push for those extra yards! The great things in life aren't always easy!
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| Package from Mom :) |
Eso es todo por esta semana! Les quiero! Gracias por sus oraciones y ayuda! Hasta luego!
Hermana Ingram
Hermana Ingram
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