Otra Semana

This week was hard for me, but it's all good. I don't have a lot of time but here are some of the things that happened. 

Elder Wrieder

Nobody here knows how to say my name. Instead of saying it right they say stuff like "weeder", "weride", "wrider", etc. It's kinda funny. Also they called Elder Lloyd (my companion) Elder "Yoyo" because the d at the end of his name looks like an O on his tag, and the double L in Spanish makes the y sound. It was iconic. Elder Wrieder and Elder Yoyo. Los gringos.

Interesante

People here are so nice but also super bad at being upfront and honest about if they want to talk or not. We stopped by a house for a follow up visit and we knew the lady was home because the door was wide open. After we shouted to see if she was there, a little girl came out shaking her finger at us and told us that her mom wasn't home. But I'm smarter than that, so I asked the girl to ask her mom what time she would be back. So she went back into the house. A couple seconds later the little girl came and shut the door on us.

Lubenson vs Tik Tok

Our friend Lubenson is progressing super well. He can't read though so he hasn't been able to read the Book of Mormon which has been a challenge. So during one of our lessons this week I tried to download the "Libro de Mormón" app on his phone so he could listen to the audio, but there wasn't enough space on his phone. But, there could be enough space if I deleted Tik Tok which was on there. I asked him if I could delete it and he was obviously very reluctant. So I opened the app and had him take a minute and ponder about if the things in there were really bringing him closer to Christ. Then he let me delete it and replace it with The Book of Mormón! Now when he gets on his phone he has nothing else to do but listen to the Book of Mormon. And he's always on his phone. During church he showed me where he was at and it looks like he's in Alma! I am excited for him. 

José and the Plan of Salvation

The greatest part of the week was teaching our friend Jose the plan of salvation. He had the best reactions ever. When we started off by telling him that he lived before he was born he looked totally shocked. It was a huge relief because most people don't even seem phased by it and it's kind of annoying. But he was totally shook. The whole lesson was like that. He just looked at us in total awe the whole time. We were also using his Bible to show him the verses that back it up and he was shocked by that too. He was like "is this really my bible? How come I've never heard that?". It was priceless. When we taught him the doctrine of the three kingdoms of glory he put his head in his hands totally blown away. It was great. Also his mom is dying and was laying down in the next room. After we taught the plan of salvation he turned to his mom (who was asleep) and said "did you hear that mom! You can die in peace!". That part was a little weird haha but it was good. It was a really powerful lesson and José told us that he feels a lot of great changes are coming his way. 

Teaching Pool

Good things are happening in our area. Rances and Lubenson are getting baptized this week so hopefully all goes well with that. We had 3 other great friends come to church yesterday in addition to those that already come. Fran, Dionoso, and Burno. It was cool to see the sacrifices they all made to work it out in their schedules. Bruno was working all night and still chose to come. So I am excited for all of them. 

Spiritual Thought

I've been studying the plan of salvation a lot this week and I thought one of the scriptures I read was pretty interesting. D&C 88:22 - "For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory". 

I love that the plan of salvation puts everybody where they feel comfortable. If we don't go to the celestial kingdom, it will be because we can't. We will not be able to withstand being under that amount of glory if we haven't practiced living the celestial laws here on earth. So for that I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who's plan puts everybody according the law that they decided to live, and where they will be comfortable. 

Love you guys! Nos vemos

• Elder Wrieder