This week was so great. It really was, we had so many miracles and great things happen, it all was just such a testimony to me of God's love for us and the people that we are teaching and finding.
Well Tuesday of course was Christmas and I got to call home and have a great time with that where I could clearly see and hear my parents the entire time😬😡. But it was nice to see yall for the however good it was and I will patiently wait until mothers day for a hopefully better call. And if not I'll only have 74 days till I come home anyway. Which I did get a definitive answer on btw I will be home on Friday the 26th of July.
Christmas was spent first at our ward mission leaders house and they made crepes for us and provided wifi so my companions could call home. Then we went to the pipers who are a part member family. Brother piper is an aethiest with no hope of changing. They were neighbors with Tad R. Callister and very good friends with him. Brother Callister even gave him a signed copy of the infinite atonement with his testimony in it and still no change. But he loves the missionaries and is very friendly with us as well. We are actually going over there for dinner tomorrow night. After the pipers we went to the Jordan's and I called home and saw the babies and how much they have grown. After that call we went to the Geohagens house. Sister Geohagen is a puerta Rican and brother Geohagen is an American with a lot of health problems. They are both converts with very strong testimonies and love the missionaries. After the Geohagens we went on by to a man who came to church for the first time in years just last Sunday, who is all alone after his wife died 9 years ago, and we went by and talked for quite a long time. It was crazy the love I felt from God for that man as he bore his testimony of the church and of how following the counsel of the Prophet has blessed him in his life. Even though he has been alone for 9 years, he knows that he has not been truly alone. After we saw him we went on home and I was so tired and dead I just immediately collapsed and fell asleep.
Wednesday we had district council in the morning. We have this board type of thing that has all of the progression steps marked on there, like if we've had a lesson with them or if they are reading and praying or going to church, things like that. And we portray the people we have as fish (like they're moving up a fish ladder) and we ran out of fish this past time and our district members are amazed. It's a real good visual to see just how blessed we are being in this area and how are many efforts are being received. Nothing else really happened that day until the night when we knocked into this Honduran family of 4 (all brothers and sisters over the age of 20), we had a really great time with them and shared the Because of Him video with them and they really loved it and seemed to love us.
Thursday was Spanish conference. That took the whole day and many miles but was really good. We managed this quarter as a Spanish body to find 228 people, but we only baptized 4. Which puts our ratio at like 1:56. So it was talked a lot about how we can become master teachers. So it was all really good and such. Then we went out and ate dinner and came back and the entire day was gone by then.
Friday was elder Barrus' birthday and so while he was in the bathroom I went to work decorating the apartment with some flag ropes and lights and balloon and the works. He came out and was very surprised. Then we had weekly planning to do and the only other interesting thing that happened would be the birthday dinner that the palmas had for elder Barrus. The palmas are from Nicaragua and they make some very good food. We had this soup type thing and cake for dessert. Her husband and mother in law who was also there are from Cuba. And we could not understand a word they were saying. Cubanos have the worst Spanish on the planet, like it is impossible to understand them. So that was fun.
Saturday we had a very very very good lesson with someone we contacted last week. We shared the Light Your Family video with Marisol last week and she seemed to like it and we invited ourselves back the next week and she was like okay whatever. Luckily when we knocked on Saturday her and her husband Miguel were there. We said we have another video to share and I asked if we could come in and she reluctantly let us in her home. But we gained a friendship with them so fast. It was just talk about this and that and how about this and what's your family like and what are your pass times and all of these different things. Actually, the thing that probably helped us get in with them the most was the mention of Juber and Surma, becuase they are very good friends with them, and it has made so much more sense as to why we met Juber and why he let us into his house that day, so that we could get in with Marisol and Miguel. There is a huge sign to know exactly when you are in with someone too, it's when they just get up in a middle of a conversation and without asking if you would like one, go to the fridge and bring you a soda. That is 100% how you know you are now their friends and they feel comfortable with you. It was just such a super fun time. Up until they started telling us their story of immigration. And then it got pretty serious, they shared their feelings of how hard it was to come up to America, but how much hope they had for a better life. Miguel shared that at one point he walked through the desert for four days without food and water. And while he was walking one of the men in his company died their third day. After they reached a place where they were fed and given water they went back for their friend so they could give him a proper burial. Marisol talked about all of the different murders and crimes and poverty she had witnessed in Honduras each day and her hope for a better and new life as she left her family behind and started walking to the states. She has been here for 2 years now and has 2 siblings who she has not met and probably will never meet. We were able to bear our testimony of the atonement of Jesus christ and how through him the afflictions and darkness lurking in our memories and our hearts can be cleansed, when we pray for that darkness to vanish and for peace to replace it. We shared the story of alma and his trials and how when he turned to the lord in prayer he was able to find that peace and comfort and continue to endure. And they loved it. They were crying the whole time and the spirit was so strong and they acknowledged the spirit and they want to know everything that we teach. It was awesome and one of the largest and most humbling blessings and experiences in my life. They are so cool and I am so glad we could meet them.
Sunday was just as great as Saturday. And you're probably asking how is that even possible. Well we met with Ruben again and taught him the gospel of Jesus christ and put him on date for the 12th of January which is super duper close and rapidly approaching. So we are meeting with him 3 times a week at a members home (the geohagens) and we are just going to cram everything down his throat. But he already knows everything (except the commandments 😯🤞) so it should be pretty fine. Our lesson with him went so well, what is faith to you ruben, "it's a belief in something you can't see and a conviction to act as God would want you to", good, and repentance, "its praying to God and asking for forgiveness so you can be changed and become a better person and more of a servant of God". It was such a cool lesson and it's just mind blowing how prepared he is. Like we haven't even done anything yet. He just knows everything. It's super cool. That night we went out and knocked for a while and met some cool people but didn't have anything eventful really happen.
Today the stake president has invited us over for new years and that should be pretty fun.
Elder Bertoch
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