December 15, 2014
It is a little strange to see
how some Christmas traditions transfer from the states to here, even though
they totally shouldn’t. Some people have decorations with snow, and I am
bracing myself for the classic treat of paneton with steaming hot chocolate,
which is honestly very tasty, but not something someone wants after a December
day here. But whatever, Friday I will be having some for the ward
Christmas party. Remember Bill, the guy I mentioned went to the Christmas
devotional? I think he's going to be the Santa. That will be pretty
funny to have a Papa Noel that doesn’t speak a lick of Spanish.
Speaking of gringos,
you will never believe this: We contacted another gringo in our area
named Mike. He married a Peruvian in the states, and retired to live
here. Guess where he lived for 10 years: Sparks, Nevada. It
was weird, like I had followed them all the way down here. Just to
explain, Los Olivos isn’t exactly the place in Lima to see a lot of
gringos. The richer part where a lot of Americans are is in the Lima Central
Mission, like San Isidro or Miraflores. (I’m sure these places will only
sound familiar to Davi, and even that’s a maybe.) This is just strange.
The Lord is giving us
some great opportunities this week: First, tonight we are going to teach
to referrals that we got out of nowhere. One of them, Jose Antonio, had
talked with us on Saturday and said that he really wants to have a clean slate
and has listened to the missionaries about 2 years ago. We are really
excited for that today.
Another example:
After going to a faraway appointment that fell through, we were feeling a
little down. We went to the bishop’s house to give back the chapel key
that we wouldn’t need after all, and we asked the bishop what we could do to
help. He mentioned a family that moved back into the ward whose father is
very less active. When we passed by on Sunday, the wife seemed very
wanting to share the gospel with her distant family (and it seems like she has
a lot of them). We'll be there tomorrow.
Also, Efrain Carasas
accepted the invitation to come to church out of nowhere. (He's an
investigator we were honestly only teaching because he was a member referral
and the member always sets the appointments. He wasn’t really anyone that
was progressing in the lessons.) We were just dumbstruck after that
lesson, because we honestly weren't too optimistic. And it’s not like
it’s because we're so great at teaching. It’s just because something
seems to have told him to.
It’s just kind of
funny. After working and working and working, something great generally
falls out of the sky. It's like someone's looking after us, noticing that
we're working hard and just having a batting slump, so then in His love gives a
couple of softballs to help us feel of worth. Not like we are any better,
just that the Lord decides to help someone that wants to help and just doesn’t
do it that well. Everyone goes into the MTC thinking that they are doing
this great service and that we are hot stuff, but then there comes a point
where you realize that it’s really the opposite. We don’t really have a
lot to offer, but Someone a lot better than us has called us to serve because He
wants us to feel like an important part of His work, though in the end it’s Him
that really makes it all work out. It’s fun to see it all sometimes.
Love you all!
Don’t get too fat on paneton and mantequilla!
Elder Johnson
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