Hi everyone,
Shout out to the best dad (and mom) in the world for father's day :)
I'd say not a ton happened this week...we are still without hot water.(this is going on week 4 without it haha, week 3 complete...a good 18-20 days without hot water haha). Last Pday we spent running around and cleaning the old piso to give back the keys today.
Tuesday morning we did Pancarta here in Los cristianos - we wrote on a board "what makes you happy?" And we actual found two people. One guy said he would come to church. And we met samuel who talked to us about religion and who said he would come to english class. And the first people to talk to us were testigos...haha but they were actually pretty nice about everything. And there was a cute couple that pointed to each other when we asked them what made them happy. Many people didn't stop and there were lots of tourists but it went pretty well (we also put our sign in English and Spanish for the tourists haha). It was a fun little time that we had.
Wednesday: we went to San Isidro. We got failed on today just before the lesson (and we realized that they said yes but there was no possible way it would have worked out in their schedule...that was annoying). And so we just did pass bys. And we knocked on a door next to the pass by because they were home and apparently Elders Hydrick and Meeks had knocked her door before. And we taught her (Rachel) what we could about the restoration. And she knows the bible well so that's good. Maybe she has potential. Hopefully she will listen to what we have to say.
Friday: And for lunch we went to el fraile to visit with Maria and orlando -and Maria's cousin "Juan" is now living with them. He just got here a week or so ago from Venezuela. And for the lesson we "threw an audible". We were going to talk about temples before but with the new person in the plans we thought of sharing the restoration. But then Orlando asked for a video and we thought of the video about father's. And it happened to be perfect for what "juan" needed. It's hard for him because he had to leave his family behind so that he can help bring them to a safer place. And so he feels bad and he misses them a lot. But the video really helped him process what it is that he needs to continue to do. Everything he does is for them. It was a cool spiritual moment we had there with them.
On Friday: English class, Samuel and Juan came! They are new from this week. We met Samuel on Tuesday while doing the pancarta and he asked if he could bring a friend to english class. (So it was them 2, Maria V, Aurora V and Jesus in English class today, the Romanian family is in Romania and no one else came...so it was a small class today).
Right before starting the noche de hogar, Maria Villalobos and Jesus were talking up Mormons and missionaries the whole time before the song and after the prayer haha before starting the spiritual thought. It was pretty funny. We shared a simple message about the savior and his love for us and it seemed like it touched them or helped at least some people out. I felt the spirit at least and it helped me feel good. My companion said those noche de hogars are so good because they are a break for us too where we get to teach people who want to hear the word. And I agree. And both Maria V and Jesus invited Samuel and Juan to church (and Jesus the non-member asked before Maria V and Maria V told him he was more of a member than her hahahahaha it was super funny). Hopefully Samuel and Juan come to church too
Saturday: So while we were thinking about our day we first thought...well...we don't know who's coming to soccer (the Villalobos and Joseph said they wouldn't be there) so we were praying that someone showed up. And we got there to play soccer and we had a huge tender mercy. Christian and Carolina came to soccer today. They are less actives that we both met for the first time today. But what a tender mercy. And we threw around the football with Christian and then played soccer with some younger kids. It was fun. It was good to get to know them. And then Felipe showed up and we played 3 v 3 against some 10-12 year old kids. The teams were actually pretty matched/even haha us and Felipe versus them. They were really good haha. And they didn't want to split up their little team haha.
Then we got ready, ate, studied. I still wasn't excited for our day. And I called Sandra and she failed us...I figured. This is the second time. Well we decided to replan a bit and we went to go do pass bys in los cristianos and get to know it a little better. But we didn't quite make it. Right after walking out of piso we saw an English man and his son carrying a bunch of things up their stairs (they live in the pisos next door). We offered help and the father said sure. And then we brought it to the bottom of the stairs where he said it was fine and we asked to take it all the way of the 50 stairs haha. And after insisting he let us. So that was cool that we got to do some service. And the 11 year old "John" made fun of me for my American accent. He said "wow, you guys sound really American" and he mimicked the way I said Manchester hahaha. (I was explaining that my last name is English and cames from a city by Manchester). The father invited us to come back and talk to him another day if we would like. He doesn't seem interested but he seemed polite about allowing us a chance to chat. It was a polite thing for the 5-10mins we took to help him.
Then we headed towards the bus and because it's a Saturday our schedule on the app is off...so we had to wait for the bus to come. And as we got on the bus, Madeline, an Antigua investagator of the hermanas stopped us and said "hey, I know the hermanas, are you the missionaries?" And we've invited her to a noche de hogar or two but she has never been able to come. And we found out today that she has more potential than we thought. We talked to her on the bus and with her friend Borja. They both are super cool. Hopefully Madeline will be able to come to a noche de hogar or meet with us soon.
Sunday: We also had a Moroccan guy who spoke English, Spanish, Arabic and German to us from his window. We had about 2-3 contacts from the window that day haha. I didn't understand a thing he was trying to say but he thought I knew what he was saying...
So much for not having much to share haha.
Here's a quote from a general conference talk that I really like and am trying to internalize:
"Life is different for each of us. We all have a time of trials, a time for happiness, a time for making decisions, a time for overcoming obstacles, and a time for taking advantage of opportunities.
Whatever our personal situations may be, I testify that our Heavenly Father is constantly saying, “I love you. I sustain you. I am with you. Do not give up. Repent and endure in the path that I have shown you. And I assure you that we will see each other again in our celestial home.” In the name of Jesus Christ, amen"
("He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved" - elder zivic)
I really like that. The mission is hard, it really is. I'd be lying if I said it was easy. And I've had an especially difficult time. But it's kind of like a mini example of life. Life is hard. But there are good times and happy times and sad times and times where things seem impossible to overcome. It makes me feel a lot better that the Lord is there for us and that He constantly is saying, “I love you. I sustain you. I am with you. Do not give up. Repent and endure in the path that I have shown you. And I assure you that we will see each other again in our celestial home.”. Internalize those words. Let them ring true. And I know that He loves us even during those times that we forget or don't remember it or it doesn't seem like it. Just keep going. Just keep trying and things will all work out.
Have an awesome week!
Elder Openshaw
1) intercambios with La Palma
2) a great pizza we ate this week
3) a hilarious video from a pizza company here in Spain (not made with actual missionaries)
Video: Will add soon
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