We had a miraculous turnaround this week and had five
investigators in church and all five have accepted a baptismal date for either
the 17th or 24th (I know that seems really sudden, but they're people who
almost all have 1.Been to church several times before and 2.Have family that
are members). So with Gael and Ariana (the 2 scheduled for the 17th) we visited
them almost every day in the week. I will include a picture of them below. Chucho
is also in the picture and will get baptized on the 24th. Elvira and Karla are
the other two with dates for the 24th. Those are the core 5 for now.
There are
only 2 districts in my zone. We're the smallest zone in the mission as we have
14 missionaries. I don't know why President thinks it's Tuzpan. It's definitely
Tuxpan. I've seen a few confusing signs that say Tuxpam, but never Tuzpan.
Zone
conference was really good. We only had to travel a little less than an hour to
Poza Rica. We had gone to Walmart to buy food because every one or two
missionaries were supposed to make something from their home for everyone to
try. Elder Pearl and I made "yellow death." Do you remember that?
It's the mix between Ramen and Mac & Cheese that always ends up better than
it sounds. Everyone was reluctant to try it at first, but once they gave in
they liked it. One sister missionary actually got a little upset when we threw
away the leftovers after everyone said they were full because she thought
we were going to bring it home and she said that if she would've known then she
would have asked for the leftovers so she could eat them the next day.
I
studied the Spirit a lot this week and found myself a lot more in tune. I feel
like my prayers were guided by the Spirit. I was rather amazed by how
consistently my prayers were answered. (*I asked what some of the answers to his prayers were other than the people coming to church and baptisms. This was his response, "Even
as my mom I'm sure you'd be surprised to know just how quickly I can manage to
forget details. I just remember feeling really grateful at the end of every day
for how I'd seen my prayers answered. Perhaps I'm simply doing a better job at
recognizing the answers, but I felt that gratitude almost constantly this week." He still cracks me up.)
I'd be cool with going back to Xanath
with Elder Alor. ( *This was in response to me responding to his desire to get back in shape. Xanath was all hills).
Due to several events this week it wasn't the right week to do
splits in Cerro Azul (the area furthest to the north), but I'll do them this
week. Regardless of what happened though, I feel like I'm getting along with
the missionaries in the district pretty well. I'm starting to have more trouble
helping the sister missionaries because it's harder to get super involved in
the details "Do not counsel missionaries of the opposite sex,
even if you are serving in a leadership position. Such talk can lead to
inappropriate feelings and relationships. Always refer such cases to your
mission president." -Missionary Handbook.
Christmas decorations are in
some of the big and fancy stores, but that's about it. I think there's another
holiday type deal at the start of December, but I don't remember. I was in the
CCM last year at that time.
My favorite part of the week was that I was able to
do 3 Baptismal interviews this week and we put 5 people on date. So in other
words we're starting to see the work progress more around here. The hardest
part of the week was finding out about an incredibly hard situation that a
family that the zone leaders are teaching is in. I was in their area that day
to do baptismal interviews and was therefore involved when we found it out. I
won't explain the details, but know that the Lord answered our prayers and
things are looking better. Not perfect, but hope is on the horizon.
A tender
mercy was 1. Seeing that situation be improved and 2. Finally seeing some
people in church.
Something that made me smile was spending time with Dana.
She's the 5 year-old sister of Gael and Ariana and she is the cutest little 5
year-old I've ever met. On Sunday she wore a shirt that said, in English,
"Laugh, Smile, and Be Happy." After church I asked her if she knew
what it meant, she said no, then I gave her an explanation and said that
it was the perfect shirt for her. She smiled, agreed and ran off to play. Oddly
enough she didn't smile in the picture that I'll send and she put her sweater
on before taking the picture so you won't see the shirt, but know that she's
typically a ball of happiness.
Something I loved from my study is something that
I would suggest that anyone read in order to understand while we're all
different, but all important. It's 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I know it's a full
chapter, but I promise that it will enlighten your understanding if you read it
with a Spirit willing to learn.
Love
You,
Elder
Finlinson
A picture from when they visited Alamo to help with the flooding.
A Sunday meal that the missionaries helped prepare. We
made the Guacamole! They were also starting the fire with charcoal to cook
steak in the background.
Ariana
has the blue bow, Chucho is dressed up without the tie, Gael is in the totally
casual outfit, Dana is the little one in yellow, Elder Lobo disappeared from
the picture, but Miguel (the cousin of the others who is helping us teach them)
fills in the spot nicely haha, and the mom of Miguel. Also Elder Pearl, Elder
Jimenez, and me.
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