Miracles and Mariachi Music

Hola everyone,

 

This week was pretty interesting to say the least and I had several new experiences....but no dog bites or sun burns. Half of the week it was super hot like in the upper 100's and one time I looked at our truck and it said 120 degrees and I was very concerned....luckily it cooled down and out of the blue it started raining! This week was pretty tough, because we lost a lot of lessons because of people not being home when we showed up, but we prayed to find miracles and people to teach.

 

We did a lot of teaching with the Paisano/Acosta family this week. This family is very awesome and they have so much potential, because two of them are already members! They make some really pecoso or super spicy food that is very delicious, but you cannot get around the burning sensation in your throat and stomach as you eat it. They always have their grandma and aunt over and they give me a hard time. Mexicans like to joke about setting up Elders with their daughters....but they just joke, however, they started calling me cunado or brother in-law this week, which was pretty strange to me.

 

We heard a lot of mariachi music and when I heard a tuba I could locate it. In fact, a miracle came from my sense of hearing. We had gone to Silvia Villescas' house and no one was answering so I heard a tuba in the back yard and we walked around the corner of the house and there was one of our recent converts Erik! He walked up to us and we had a short 15 minute lesson from both sides of the fence and said a prayer and were on our way, but he hadn't been coming to church for a while and it was good to talk to him.

 

Also this week we had the opportunity to teach an entire family not just Elsa. Her husband Obtavio wasn't too sure about having the missionaries over, but he wanted us to come over. He is paying his tithing and is prepared. We taught their family and I am looking forward to inviting them to be baptized this next week. They are awesome! Their daughter Miriam plays trumpet and piano, which is super cool.

 

Ricardo's dog Pelluza didn't bite me this week. She ran away, but Ricardo is much happier now as he is changing his heart and growing closer to Jesus Christ. We taught him several times this week and he started reading more in the Book of Mormon and is liking what he reads and feels a lot more.

 

Cesar and his family are doing awesome. Jonathan and Julissa were going to be baptized this Saturday, but Cesar has to work and he wants to perform the ordinance, so we are going to wait a couple weeks until he can be there, but they are prepared!

 

We experienced another miracle in finding on Friday night. We had an appointment cancel on us right when we got there and we had no clue what we were going to do, but then we felt like we should walk and go visit a man who we got a referral for. Previously, we visited the wrong apartment number, but then we knocked on Apt #1 and there was his wife Irma, but Carlos was in the back tending to his garden in his sombrero. We walked up to him and started talking to him and he had us follow him. This man liked to talk and he talked for two hours and we taught for about 5 minutes, but he is being softened.

 

The Gomez' apartment was full of Catholic symbols and it was a new experience for me. Their home was decorated in a very unique manner, but apparently this one wasn't as subtle as Mexican homes. The couple accepted the Restoration pamphlet and we are going to visit them. They are great people!

 

Two other miracles that we saw were with a referral and then with not having enough miles. The first occurred on Wednesday. We decided to go contact a referral. The woman had about 4 kids and her name is Marta. She already has fellowship with Silvia, and she is super prepared. She had the exact same questions as in the Plan of Salvation lesson: "Who am I, Why am I here, and where am I going?" It was awesome. Yesterday we didn't have enough miles to go teach the Paisano/Acosta family and the investigator and recent convert Cesar came and picked us up and it was such a miracle! We had a great lesson about the importance of church and Carlos is definitely progressing. :)

 

 Have a fun 4th and a great week!!!!

 

Love,

Elder Sterling Grant Richards

(your son) :)

 

PS: niece is la sobrina in Spanish.