Well dang, I have too much to say and no time to say it. The technology has been a huge game changer this week, which is good, but now I have too much to tell you guys. The nice thing is though, because it's been 2 weeks since I sent an email, when I look back on it I can really see some cool progress.
So things started off pretty well last week. We had a lesson or two everyday and were spending the rest of our time knocking doors and contacting on the street. We were staying really busy, working hard. The best part was eating with our investigators. Everyday for like 5 days straight we ate with somebody. And it's so cool 'cause everyone is from a different country. (I'm not supposed to send names of investigators home now that we have Facebook) But one of our solid families is from bolivia/dominican republic and the mom taught us how to make empanadas and these little bocadillos this week. She really has been like a second mom for me since I've been here, but I'll tell you more about them in a minute. So yeah the week started well, we worked hard and had some good food.
Then by Saturday it was getting rough. Elder Jager was really feeling down. I mean, I totally understand it. Everything kinda seemed like it had stalled. Not one of our investigators was progressing, we had just been dropped by one, and even though we have been killing ourselves in the street every day we hadn't had one new investigator since I arrived. So on Saturday Elder Jäger wasn't really feeling motivated, but I dragged him along and we got stuff done. Then Sunday we kinda switched spots and I was down. We went to Benavente for sacrament meeting and I really wanted to talk to the group leader about an idea I had, but he kinda shut me down on it. Then I was conducting our meeting in Zamora and we had planned on 15 investigators coming, but we didn'thave any and some of our members didn't even come. We have 7 members and 2 came. So that was a flop. Then on Monday elder jager was struggling again. It's hard sometimes to keep working so hard when you go so long without seeing any progress. But we both knew that all we could do was keep doing it and have faith good things would happen.
But Monday night everything changed. We asked a guy on the street for directions to the castle and it turns out he's a tour guide or something here. So he took us to the castle and explained everything to us, then to the cathedral, then to the it her church's in Zamora. We ended up spending almost 2 hours with him. As we were talking about the churchs we were able to explain the restoration and that's where it got cool. He really related personally to what we explained. He said he had always believed in God, but never liked the churchs. So as soon we finished explaining that he took us to a friend's house and we shared the restoration with him. Just like that we had 2 new investigators and they're both Spanish. I thought that was impossible. Then we had intercambios and I was with elder Bateman. He only has 6 more weeks than me here and we were in Zamora this time so I had to take the lead. That was pretty stressful, like I really didn't think I could do it. I was convinced that it would be make or break for me. So we started off by going to the main square and setting up a picture of Christ and talking to people there. It's funny, but I think what really turned things around was a game called "what are the odds." if you don't know what it is you'll have to Google it cause I don't want to explain it through email. But it's basically a game where you dare each other to do stuff. So that game gave us some good ideas to talk about with people and how to use Facebook while contacting. You'll probably see a post this weekend with some of the results. We have so many appointments that we can't even contact until then. So that's cool. Then we had 5 lessons planned between the 2 companionships on Tuesday, so we took 2 and Rosales and Jager took the other 3. It was definitely a night of miracles. We taught the family that taught us how to make empanadas. In fact, this was when I learned how to make the little bocadillos. So we ate and then we read a chapter in the book of Mormon. I was planning on just reading, sharing a short message and leaving since that would be easy. But I'm telling you guys the gift of tongues is a real thing. We had such an awesome discussion. I mean, normally I listen and talk when I can and then I can teach the portions that we practiced, but this time I really just wanted to listen and understand. But every time it was like I just knew what to say. Whether it was a word in spanish or a scripture that I should share or a memory that I could apply, it was just flowing. Everything came to my mind when I needed it. I know that that lesson was taught by the Spirit, and that was a cool experience. So then afterwards we went to another friend's house. We met him on the street the week before, but never taught him so this was an important step. I'll have to write more about the story next time, very interesting, but long story short he's coming to sacrament meeting on Sunday with his family. Things went well. Then we got back to the piso and Elder Jager said one of the lessons fell through, but while they were walking back they found someone new and ended up eating with them and teaching a lesson. So overall Tuesday alone made up for all of the frustration we've had building up over the last 6 weeks.
I really want to tell you more about the technology and the role it's played this week, but it will be easier to explain when we post everything on Facebook. So I'll do that on Monday. By the way, EVERYONE ADD ME ON FACEBOOK. I don't have time to go through and friend everyone, but I will be posting stuff in Spanish and English. The whole point is to help people everywhere, not just here. It will only help me be more effective if family and friends see my posts as well as the people here.
Today was the coolest pday so far. We went to Sanabria. It's about an hour and a half drive, so that's why I'm writing so much. But it was so worth it. The lake is beautiful and there was no one there. We spent like 4 hours just sitting on the rocks and relaxing. Elder jager brought his ukulele so he tried teaching us. Then we went to a small pueblo or village on top of the mountain and got some massive steaks. There will be pictures of all of this later. So yeah, it was a very relaxing day and we've needed that after 2 weeks without a break.
Last night week took some time to think about our vision for Zamora. I'm so excited, because realistically we think that by the time I leave in January or February we could have some kind of building to meet in, and 4 baptisms. The baptisms will be cool since they're so rare here in Zamora. Oh yeah, and they'll be in a RIVER!! Our investigators are making so much progress I really think it's gonna happen soon. We visited one of them last night that has had problems with the word of wisdom since I got here, I mean real addictions, and he told us he hadn't smoked or had alcohol in a week. Crazy right?? Zamora is so exciting right now.
Don't worry about the sending clothes. I figured out how to sew pretty well. Maybe that will be a cool 6 month present or something. No rush though. If cream soda is too complicated for Elder Jäger he likes kool-aid too. They don't have that here. We both know you spoil us so don't worry about the package too much. Hermana Pack called me about the debit card and I saw your email. That sucks. I'll be fine for a while since I don't need anything out here in the middle of nowhere. Pdays are free sooo....
I've been out long enough I'm seeing posters for movies I hadn't heard of before. We saw lots of bladerunner stuff, I hope that was good. Add it to my list for when I get home. We've seen some funny posters for other movies where the translation of the title is weird. I'll take pictures from now on.
Talk to you soon,
Josh
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