Hola Familia!
So I actually have some time to write a decent letter this week! I
have so much that I want to tell you all. First off I want to tell you
about our baptism on Saturday! It was so awesome :) The girl that got
baptized is named Gimena and she is so great. She is 17 years old and
she lives with the Diaz Family. I love the Diaz family except for one
thing..... their dogs!! They have this dog that is seriously the
living image of death. It has some kind of disease and doesnt have any
hair and it has been in so many fights with other dogs that its throat
is falling out.... ya it is so gross!! and the best part is that this
dog lives in the house with the people. The house doesnt smell great
but we do love Gimena and for this reason we go into their house to
teach her. She was kind of a miracle for us. We met her on the second
day that we were in Iquitos and she accepted a baptismal date on the
first lesson. She had a lot of problems that were holding her back
from baptism but in the end it all worked out. She was super nervous
on Saturday but after she was baptized she couldnt stop smiling. We
had problems with the water again at the baptism because a pipe was
broken. So what did we do ? We duct taped it and shoved a stick in it
:) Yes, duct tape was sent from heaven. There were 3 baptisms on
Saturday because the Elders had baptisms as well so there was a lot of
people and everything about it was really fun!
Okay I want to tell you about Lupe. We met Lupe on the first night
that we arrived in Secada. My companion and I are brand new to this
area and so we were walking around getting to know the streets and I
saw her sitting outside her house and decided to go and talk to her.
We found out that her husband had joined the church about 5 months
ago. He came out and joined us in our lesson. We started teaching and
she was super uninterested and had lots of doubts but at the end of
the lesson she invited us back. We went back a few days later and
taught a lesson again and invited her to church. At that point she
starts telling us that she really doesnt like the church or anything
about it. She doesnt like going, she doesnt like the people and she
doesnt like having the obligation of having to go to church. Pretty
much she told us that she hated everything about it. The whole lesson
I was super bummed because I could tell that she really didnt like it.
At the end we both bore testimonies of the blessings that come from
going to church. After the lesson me and my companion were talking and
we decided that we werent going to visit her anymore because obviously
she wasnt interested. She had told the previous Elders that had taught
her to go away and never come back so we didnt have much hope for her.
That next Sunday we were waiting outside for one of our investigators
and Lupe walks in with Carlos ( husband) My jaw dropped to the
pavement. Me and my companion were so shocked. We welcomed her in and
the meeting started. I had to give a talk in sacrament that day (
worst thing of my life!) and so did my companion. After our talks we
looked over and she was crying. We visited her after church that day
and she told us that she really enjoyed church and wanted to go again
next week. We were both super scared but we decided to invite her to
be baptized... and she said yes!! Next we invited her to read and pray
about the Book of Mormon....and she did!! She told us that when she
started reading it her whole body was filled with warmth. In our last
lesson, Carlos (husband) started crying because he was so happy the
sisters had finally come to teach his wife because she really didnt
like the Elders. She is getting baptized on November 16th. It is truly
amazing how the Lord has the power to change hearts. It was a
testimony builder for sure.
We are teaching another really great family but we are waiting for
their marriage papers before they can get baptized. There have been a
lot of problems with thier papers but we are praying that everything
will work out for them to get baptized this month.
I wish I had time to tell you about all of our investigators but time
is short as always. My new favorite food in the entire world is
Maduras Fritos. It is bananas that are sliced the long way and fried
in a skillet.....seriously heaven on earth! Also I love Inca Kola! It
is 10,000 degrees here as always and there is mud everywhere but its
whatever. I got the worst sunburn the other day haha and my companion
told me I looked like the Peruvian flag, red and white:) I love you
all and hope that you have an awesome week! Happy Halloween! We dont
have Halloween here in Peru so you all have to celebrate for me! Love
you, talk to you next week :)
Love Hermana Allphin
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