So I'm going to hopefully spare you the boredom but this week in the work wasn't very exciting. I would compare this week to an oasis, from far away it looked very promising. We had lots of lessons and activities planned out. But as we got closer we found out there really wasn't much - much of it fell through. We had a ton of failed lessons and so we did normal thing to do when you don't have lessons, try to set up more and talk to people to see if they are interested. Sometimes it can get interesting when talking with people but nothing too crazy this week. I'm just thankful for the few lessons that didn't fall through.
We had a tender mercy when someone we contacted in the street called us to set up a lesson. That very rarely happens, it's happened maybe once before for me. The only issue is he speaks french (better said, Haitian creole, he's from Haiti) and all our 3 french members were busy at that moment. So we will meet the coming week. But, this week we were able to get a lot of less actives and investigators together to play volleyball and that was a ton of fun =)
We celebrated the birthday of a recent convert of ours. It was a ton of fun because we went to a Brazilian steak house and got to eat all we wanted. My favorite meats were "cadera" (the meat from the hip of a cow) and "las entrañas" (which I probably shouldn't translate but it's the entrails and surprisingly was really good). There also was a grilled pineapple covered with cinnamon that they brought around and it was super good. I probably ate 2-3 pounds of meat. I knew it would be a very long time before I ate meat that amazing, so I took advantage of the opportunity. =)
I learned a lot this week.
I'm learning how to be a better leader and teacher.
From my daily scripture studies I learned something that just hit me. It's a simple detail that's hard to explain but for me it makes a world of difference. Every week at church we partake of the sacrament, bread and water that represents Christ and His sacrifice for us. And here is part of the sacrament prayer that I saw a little differently:
"...that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen."
We promise when baptized that we will take the name of Christ upon us, always remember Him and keep His commandments and we are promised in return that we may always have the Spirit with us. But the promise is NOT that we will always will FEEL the influence of the Spirit. The Spirit is the 3rd member of the Godhead and has a lot more roles than just to help us to feel good. So after realizing that this week it helped me see better that the Spirit is still guiding my life for the good whether I feel it or not. For this reason, we should cherish those special moments when we do feel the Spirit testifying to us personally.
We don't need to know whether an idea is the spirit or from ourselves, if it's good it comes from God. And here's a scripture that backs that up.
Moroni 7:13 (13-17)" But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God."
As long as we are doing what is right and keeping our side of the promise, I know that Heavenly Father keeps His end of the promise.
Funny moments:
We made some calls Sunday to set up for today and I tried calling our investigator Andrea who we haven't had contact with for weeks because she is caring for an old person and lives there. So I called what I thought was Andrea's number and was talking with the person. I thought she sounded different but I continued and invited her to an activity we are doing tonight night. I kept saying things like "How's your family in Peru?, we can meet at the church" and she was confused and I was too. After she told me she didn't know how to get to the church I realized I probably had not been talking to Andrea...I hung up and realized the name was Adriana! Andrea didn't answer. =/ But Adriana is coming to the activity haha =)
During calls, one of the Elders here likes to end his calls in this way:
"Hey, what sound does a microwave make? Can you imitate that sound?" And then he hangs up the phone and leaves them hearing the same sound =) it's pretty funny especially when someone isn't expecting it =)
Additional food moments:
I love being in Barrio 6 because we get fed to a lot of Peruvians and Peruvian food is amazing. This week we had Lomo saltado (I don't know how to explain it) and Ceviche (fish with lemon juice and onions, very sour and spicy). My companion and I have been eating Jamon Serrano the past week, we bought a kilo (2.2 lbs) and have been buying fresh bread to go with it. We make sandwiches of it and put on tomatos and alioli. It's amazing. (I've sent pictures of the Jamon Serrano legs, they are cured pig legs, really salty and flavorful). I also learned how to prepare a coconut and tell if it is ripe or not (thanks to a member). Coconut (to me) doesn't taste like much without being sweetened haha =) I also got creative and made fresh strawberry lemonade and then made frozen strawberry lemonade too. It was quite good.
Have a great week!
Elder Openshaw
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