Monday we went to Chihuahua for the 5 week meeting for the trainers and the new missionary. I slept on a real mattress that night, so that was a real treat. We had the meeting the next morning, and it went great and we all learned a bunch. We also had interviews with our Mission President Ingalls this week and it’s amazing how much my Spanish has improved since the last time. This time, I wanted and had the full interview in Spanish and I was able to say everything I needed and wanted to say in Spanish. I learned some things from him, for example, as much as us missionaries love to sleep on the bus rides to Chihuahua, we should be doing our studies instead. Therefore, when we get back to our area we can go right back to work. Anyways, this week I had a lesson with a Catholic Family. When we got let in, they told us, we have like 10 to 15 minutes, so I did my best to make it short. However, I ended up being an hour and a half. The main dilemma that we had in that lesson was that they thought, well they still think that priesthood authority is passed down when you baptize someone. And so they claim that the authority wasn’t lost when the apostles died. I tried explaining to them and I asked where does it say that, or where does it even it even imply that in the bible. Of course she said she didn’t{t know where exactly. I don’t have the whole bible memorized. I am very glad she told me that because I thought she did. And then we left, but that was a good experience for me to teach and have a discussion with people who had strong faith.
Some people we teach, have no religious background, for example, the family we are teaching right now, Jorge and Carmin. And with them, you have to teach in a much simpler and clearer manner, otherwise you quickly find that they didn’t understand a thing. We had the opportunity to teach Jorge and Carmin and their family about the Commandments. We invited them to pray together as a family every night before they go to bed, and also to set aside time every day to read the scriptures. And they also said that they had been reading from the Book of Mormon and that Jorge was on chapter 17. So then I asked them what is one thing they can remember that has happened, and they couldn’t even tell us one thing haha. So then I decided we were going to read the first chapter together. And we explained what was going on as we read, and when we finished, Jorge said, “Wow I don’t remember any of that. I am going to start over.” So I am hoping that they realized that they need to read it and understand, to actually be able to gain a testimony about it.
Friday it finally got cold here. I woke up and it was 48 degrees inside our house For some reason, it's always colder in our house than outside. For food, we had Descada again, which is sliced ham, hot dogs, and hamburger meat mixed in with cheese on tacos and I had 6 plates it was super good. They couldn't believe that I kept asking for more and more. Afterward, we went out contacting because I have been back with every single person pretty much and we need more people so that means it’s time to go find them. After about an hour or so, we found a lady named Melissa in her house. She’s a Young lady that lives at home alone and works at the store right next to her house. We contacted her and got to teach her lesson 1 ( The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ). She is a Christian right now, and has been Catholic and other religions and she told us that all the churches say that they are the only true church. And so by the end of the lesson, we were able to help her understand that really, all you have to figure out is if the Book of Mormon is true. Then she told us that the book gave her fear haha which was something I have never heard before. Then she later accepted that she will read it. Then I ended the lesson with a prayer in English, because she{s learning English, and she said she was able to understand it. The next day, we were finally able to find and teach Salome the Restoration, and she was truly able to understate it without me having to keep retrying to explain it haha so that was great. However, she’s going to her ranch again for a month, but she said she will read The Book Of Mormon. Rosa, her daughter-in-law, was there for the end of the lesson will be home, so we are going to work with her and then again with Salome when she gets home. This really is a special family, who has been searching for the truth, but just haven’t been able to find it. I am seeing with them that they are recognizing that this really is Christ’s Church, and that’s amazing to see. Then we went to visit Jorge and his family, and he told us that he is going to be leaving for a time to Chihuahua for a job, so that was a bit disappointing. But we are going to continue working with the rest of their family.
Sunday, we got up in the morning and we were able to bring Jorge and his family to church for the first time! We knocked on their door and the mom answered the door and she was wearing lipstick, which was abnormal, so I figured that was a good sign. A member drove all of us, so we all piled in and got to the church. We were able to give them a little tour before our meeting started, and they really enjoyed it and thought it was very clean and pretty. We had church with them and they took the sacrament for the first time and then had fast and testimony meeting, so they got to hear all the testimonies of the members and missionaries. Then we went to Sunday School and had a discussion about the Book of Mormon. So yea that was really exciting because besides those 2 kids that we brought to church, those were the first people we have brought to church in the 17 weeks I have been here. Oh but I forgot my camera so there won't be any new pictures sorry.
Elder Talbot
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