Week 49: Ciudad Real, La Mancha District
1:39 PM
Monday- p day was just another day of relaxation and staying out of the heat. We went shopping too and I bought some really nice pants I found for 9€ so that was cool. I'm at the point in my mission where my clothing is starting to break little by little. Every single pair of pants i have has been sewn at least once. That evening we just did some normal contacting stuff and we even ran into one of Flor's kids so that was fun.
Tuesday- district meeting in the morning. Man I really love my district, such a solid group of guys. That evening we were just out trying to find new people to teach and we ran into one of our investigators David. It was his mom's birthday and so he invited us to go to the house to be apart of the surprise and we said yea. We got there, and it was way awesome because they're Bolivian and all of their Bolivian friends were there too, and I had met every single person there from just street contacting. I couldn't remember all the names, but it was just funny to see that many people that I had met that way all in one place. We had some amazing Bolivian food, although it had my enemy cilantro so I struggled to eat it.
Wednesday (1 year left as a missionary...)- in the morning we went and visited Some people but nobody was home so it was more walking and talking. That evening was awesome though. We had two new people come to English class, a Woman from Bolivia (I think she was like the only Bolivian woman I hadn't met in ciudad real) and her son. They said they'd like us to go to there house to teach them and asked lots of questions about us and stuff! Later we went to visit David and we taught him a lesson and it went very well. And yes I'm now officially one year away from going home so I guess it's time to get working! Haha, no but I want to make sure I take full advantage of this last year as a missionary. There's no excuses now, I know what I need to do, I can speak and understand Spanish, now it's just getting out and getten 'er done.
Thursday- weekly planning in the morning. Later that evening we went and visited the less active Nieves and that was good. Then we went to meet with the friends of Kriss, Ana and her kids and we had dinner with them and it was good.
Friday- that morning we went and taught David. We showed the restoration video and it was very good and the spirit was so strong in the lesson. That evening we went to Jenny Yeranni and Valentine's house and kriss and her family also came and we had a bbq and a lesson about the importance of reading the scriptures. I've come to realize how important daily scripture study is in my mission. It truly makes all the difference in the strength of our testimonies.
Saturday- that morning we went and taught the Bolivian woman that came to English classes on Wednesday. Her name is Viviana and her son Mitchell and we had a great lesson with them and they are excited to read the Book of Mormon and come to church not this Sunday but the following Sunday. That evening we did some service for two diffident members and then later went to Flor's house and were able to teach her and have dinner and it all went very well. Today was also the start of the huge parties of ciudad real. Today kicked off with some festival that I don't really understand too well, but people go out in all white clothing and throw wine at each other (La Mancha is world renowned for its wine, especially the province of ciudad real). Obviously as missionaries we always wear white so we had to stay out of the street.
throwing festival from yesterday, but pretty much equally crazy. Nobody was home and like all of ciudad real was at this giant party so it was a complicated night.
Something I felt like I learned this week was the importance of something we read about in the Book of Mormon, in Mosiah 18:8-9..."and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; 9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort..." An Important part of my calling as a missionary is to do this very thing. The purpose of any follower of Jesus Christ is to do this very thing. It's what we refer to as charity, the love of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 it says in regards to this "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." So many things made me think of these verses this week. Sometimes I feel frustrated when I'm with an investigator or I'm talking with someone in the street and all they do is talk to us about their problems. I begin to think "I've been called to teach not be taught or to listen." But that's a mistake to think that way. A part of my purpose as a missionary is to become a better follower of Jesus Christ and you know what, I imagine (although we don't necessarily read about it much in the bible) that Jesus Christ listened to lots of people tell him about their problems. Part of charity is that we "mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort." So my perspective changed on that a ton. One of the greatest forms of charity is just to simply listen.
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