Hello Family and Friends! I can't believe I'm on the downhill! I have so much I want to do, to change and to become still! I only hope I have enough time to do the work I need to do and to become the person that God hopes I can become here on the mission.
Well let's take a look at my week.
Monday we bought pants!! Yay! However, it took hours to find a pair of pants that were straight and weren't tight and hugging our legs. Let's just say modern fashion is not missionary standard. But, we finally found some pants and they are a lifesaver here! Now my legs are not being eaten by mosquitoes every day! And when it rains and it is cold here. Pants are A LOT warmer than skirts. Then we played a prank on the Elders. When it was time to go to District meeting, we dressed in our pants with our suit jacket and a white blouse. We borrowed a tie from Hno. Montoya. We dressed as Elderas! It was so funny to see the Elders' faces when they saw us enter dressed as Elders ;). The people always call us Elderas here so we only made it a reality ;)! It was a great meeting.
Tuesday was an exciting day as well. We have started to go to colonies farther and farther away from our house. So today we were in Mendez Arceo. We had some great lessons, but with some hard people and sadly they didn't accept us. Then we went to help a member in her home because she has epilepsy. While we were there we saw her grape vines and grapefruit tree in front.......and being poor missionaries........we took advantage of the situation! We picked so many grapes and grapefruits! We had 2 bags each weighing about 5 kilos or 10 pounds! Then we put the fruit to good use and contacted people using grapes;). In Mexico you have to get creative especially in this mission.
Wednesday we again went to other far away colonies. There was one in particular where no one was in the street, so we decided to actually knock doors. At first, it felt weird because in Mexico you don't knock too many doors or at least not in this mission. Normally we find people in the street. However we knocked all the doors and introduced ourselves or sometimes looked for the nonexistent Melisa. ;) A great blessing from visiting this colony is that a member that makes pan dulce lives here and whenever we go to his panadería he always gives it to us free! :) His pan is soooooo good! So it's a good thing we don't go to that colony every day or else I would eat all the bread in the panaderia!
Thursday we had our intercambios. I went to the area of the Hermanas Lideres. And no me diga, everything was mud! All the streets were mud or puddles of mud! We got so dirty but it was so much fun!
Friday we had capacitacion con Presidente. It was really good! First we talked about personal safety, because I'll be honest it's not exactly safe here. The only reason I feel calm and at peace is probably because I'm a missionary. But it was a good chat about what we can do to always stay safe. Then we got to the good stuff. We talked about our personal study of the scriptures. It was a great lesson that was so good for me! Then after that we had to go prep for our Actividad de Barrio. We had a Noche de Hogar and it went really well! Especially since this ward hasn't had an activity for months now! We are working really hard to excite and reactivate el barrio.
Saturday Hno Jorge had his Entrevista Bautismal con Presidente. He passed! Presidente said we could baptize him. (We weren't sure if we could or not)! Yay! However there was so much stress involved! We literally planned Hno Jorge's whole baptism in 2 hours! Nothing went according to plan, however it all went well and Hno Jorge was baptized!! Presidente actually said that Jorge is an example to all because no one has really suffered as much as him and his story and his change is an example to everyone! Wow! I can truly testify that the gospel changes lives and truly has the power to heal all wounds and cure all illnesses. Maybe I haven't baptized many people, but I have felt so honored to help some of the most lost and down hearted people on the earth and of this mission. ( I always find the hard cases.) I have seen Hermano Jorge go from a sad, empty, lifeless zombie to someone that now feels, smiles, laughs, is happy, and has more self esteem and self confidence. It's as if he was revived. He has a new life and new purpose. I love the gospel and the true power it has to change lives. No other gospel or church can facilitate such great change in a person.
Sunday Hermano Jorge was confirmed! I almost cried as I imagined the angels in heaven singing praises for their brother who has come home-who has returned to his Heavenly Father.
Well my spiritual thought is about Hno Jorge and his miracle conversion (He is now in Ether 9, by the way, of the Book of Mormon) and I also wanted to talk about what we learned about scripture study. Presidente related it to the water sports of skiing, snorkeling and scuba diving. All three are in water, but in each one we see different things. In skiing, we only see above the water or what's on top. This would be to only read the scriptures and nothing more-read only to read. And this maybe is a good start, but we can't stay above the water. We have to delve in. This is where snorkeling comes in. In snorkeling you can see the part above the water and then go deeper and see so many gorgeous things below the water in the middle. This is when we read the scriptures, but also study and search them. We ask questions, try to understand who is talking and to whom, what is happening, why, and what principle is being taught. This gives us a great understanding of the scriptures and is even better than just staying above the water. However, it still isn't enough or the extent of what we could have. This is where scuba diving comes in. In scuba diving you can see everything above, in the middle and at the bottom. This comes when we read, study and APPLY the scriptures in our lives. A true understanding of the scriptures will really bless our lives and give us an unbreakable testimony. In Jacob 4:6 we read, "Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea." True (scuba diving) scripture study gives us wisdom. Wisdom is different than knowledge. Wisdom is something we know from experience and can share to help others. Knowledge sometimes we share just to share, but wisdom is what we need if we are going to be able to help our family, our friends, our neighbors, the members, our visiting teaching and home teaching assignments. Wisdom gives us the power to be instruments in the hands of God and truly bless the lives of others. But this wisdom only comes when we scuba dive, when we truly delve into the scriptures and apply them to our lives. If we stay above the water we are missing all that we could experience and enjoy. Really we need to become masters of the water, masters of the scriptures, so that when Satan comes along to try our faith, he only comes to find an armor and barrier impenetrable. This is my invitation to you all. That you become masters of the scriptures. That you all become wise so that when you are called to battle you are prepared and strong. I know that it is with the simple things that we become strong, stronger than we ever imagined possible.
Well I love you all! Have a wonderful week!!
Con Mucho Amor!
Hermana Lutze
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