So, somewhere in the past couple of weeks I finished 1/4 of my mission.. Yup. Time is going just a bit too fast.

 

We had some pretty interesting appointments this week, and the first ones involving drugs since I started my mission! The Elders told us they had an investigator for us  that they had taught a couple of times, and so we were going to have a lesson with them and trade off. We met him (Jorge) at church, and he seemed super nice, but maybe a little mentally slow. At the lesson it was the same, and he had a hard time remembering, but mostly understood the principles and seemed eager to learn more. So we set up another time to go by, and when we did we could only stay for a couple of minutes because he was leaving. We talked for a couple seconds and then he had to go get something in the other room, and Hna Quintero said "something's different.." and when he came back and we talked for a minute more, something WAS different - He was totally normal! He wasn't at all mentally slow, he'd just been using drugs.. Es por eso... So, yup. Gonna have to work on that.

We also met a guy named Josue who was interested (mostly because he doesn't want to go to Hell), and we stopped by again and started talking to him about church and things and asked how interested he REALLY was. He sat there for a minute and then said "well... you see.. I smoke weed. I was in the army and I can't sleep or be normal without it. I'm not a pothead though!" Ha ha. So, gonna have to work on that, too. But he's willing to try out church and to learn more, and his sister-in-law said she'd come too if his wife came, so we'll see what happens. They're the neighbors of the mystery-girl Sarah, and we still haven't ever been able to find her again. Maybe she was a ghost...

 

We also have an investigator named Michael, and he started out as an agnostic, but now he prays and reads the scriptures every day, and it's been cool to see his thoughts and feelings change. However, he's super intellectual and so he has tons of questions about the church's history.. He wants to know everything. he's been reading "Our Heritage," and he wants to read a biography of Joseph Smith and the Joseph Smith papers. He has a master's degree in History, so he loves learning and research, which is good, but we're trying to help him understand he needs a testimony, not just information.. It's been interesting teaching him because he is so very intellectual, and most of our other investigators aren't. So it keeps things interesting :)

 

I think I told you about the big family of girls we had a couple lessons with in Spanish? We taught them again with the Casa Linda sisters (who teach in Spanish where they live) so they could get to know them and start teaching them, and it was pretty crazy. There were 4 missionaries, Gina, and then 6 of them. So there was this huge group of girls all trying to teach and learn, and they kept asking questions and we'd have to explain to the little girls in English sometimes, and were trying to keep them involved, so it was pretty exciting. They said that the other sisters should come walking with them on Tuesday and they could talk more, so they said they would.. and then we're actually doing an exchange tomorrow, so I get to go walking/teaching with them. I'm not sure how intense of walkers they are, but they said they usually walk for 3 hours. so. yup. it'll be great!

 

The missionaries have been doing cross-fit in the mornings, and we've been going. It's pretty painful, but I'm getting a lot stronger! Plus, being in pain together as a zone has really unified us ;) Oh, we're also getting zone tshirts that I helped design, so next week I'll send pictures of how they turned out! The month of Spanish is coming along.. Mostly it's just hard when we're with the other missionaries because they all talk to us in English, and we have to respond in Spanish, but other than that it's been really good and I'm learning lots!

Well, keep on keeping on :)

Lots of love!
--

Hermana Reynolds