Crazy
blessed this past week...
For the past 1 1/2 weeks I've felt the urge to start learning Spanish.
I've been worried because I didn't want it to mess with my Portuguese but my
comp and I set a goal together to learn, and we decided our goal was to say a
prayer in Spanish at the end of the transfer. Little did we know we were
predicting what would happen the next week...
Our neighbors are
Hispanics and from Honduras. Every time I go out and see them in the parking
lot I speak just a few limited words that I know. We even gave them cookies and
our relationship seemed normal haha. Well one day we came home from the church
and had 2 notes on our door and an airhead candy. The notes said, "We are
you fans. Tu eres lindo el fraquito. Usted es muy bonito." Hahaha, just
enough to inflate my head a bit. Well, not sure how to reciprocate a love note,
we wrote a note back with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and testified of its
truthfulness. The next day we got another note of the door saying (in super
good English) that they love the pamphlet and will read it.
Well after that
moment, my companion and I freaked out because we had to learn Spanish! After
throwing the football around in the backyard, one of our neighbors came outside
and we talked (at a good 15 feet apart) in Spanish and I kept throwing in Portuguese.
She mentioned how they used to go to our church in another area but ever since
they moved, they stopped. They loved going to church!!!!!
What.
So ever since then, my
companion and I call a member in Chile (a member my Sister Aimee got close to
on her mission to Chile) and we chat, pray, and we even taught the Plan of
Salvation in Spanish!! Honestly, the gift of tongues is so amazing. I have felt
it so strong (again) while trying to learn Spanish!!
As far as the 4th of
July, it was a pretty normal day except for our barbecue! My comp and I made
the yummiest fruit salad (yes, that was my job) while my comp made Shiskabobs!
They were so yummy and what a blessing it is to have a personal grill and a
smoker literally chilling outside of our apartment. We had a nice talk, shared
a tub of ice cream, and had a solid day!
We also had a special
fast with Tory who is our most progressing investigator. Just a back story; she
has been meeting with the missionaries for over a year now and the previous
missionaries (after inviting her to baptism twice) decided to just study Come
Follow Me and that's it. Well that has been amazing for Tory but we have put on
our game faces and the past 4 lessons have been SO SPIRITUAL. She decided to
talk with her atheist husband (again) to see if he will let her get baptized.
On Sunday, we joined in on a special fast for her with some members. Although
in our lesson she didn't say her husband miraculously said yes, she said it is
an ongoing discussion. We read the talk by Elder Alvardo called "After the
Trial of Our Faith" and decided that if she is doing all she can do (which
she is praying, fasting for 24 HOURS, meeting with the missionaries now twice a
week, etc) then we can trust in the Lord to perform the miracle is HIS timing
and HIS way. We are so excited to see how the Lord has guided Tory and how he
will continue to do so.
Love you all and have
an amazing week!
Elder Gardanier
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