Sister Michelle Christine North: Country Quirks‏

People! Hermana Reyes and I set our very first baptismal date this week!!! It’s for December, just a month away- woah, when did that happen? Yeah, I know that is a lot to take in seeing that you guys have no idea who our investigators are…so I’ll fill you in. Last week we were knocking on doors, we found a family who had been taught by the missionaries in the past but they stopped taking the lessons because they moved far away. Fifteen years later, we knock on their door and they let us in. After teaching the restoration to them in that first meeting, we all felt the spirit really strong. Natalia (la mama) and Pedro (el hijo) both expressed their feelings to us of the changes that they want in their lives. They come from a rough past of drugs and other things and they want a change. The beautiful thing about this is that they can have that change in their lives. The atonement of Jesus Christ offers that blessing to anyone who has a true desire. After expressing this to them, we could see that light in their eyes, the light that the gospel puts into the lives of those that live it. At the end of our visit with them, Natalia told us that she knew that the Lord blessed them by sending us. That absolutely melted by heart and I knew that it was true- this message is so perfect for them. This week we were able to see their progress as they prayed and read the Book of Mormon, which lead us to inviting them to set a date for baptism. They were so excited when we told them that they could be baptised just like Jesus Christ, they chose December 7^th. Keep them in your prayers.

This week on our way back home from San Leon (a little pueblo 20 minutes away from the main part of our sector) I met a joven named Mario on the micro. He was super nice and when I told him that I was a mormom missionary, he asked, “What is the difference between Mormons, Catholics and Evangelicas,” which set up the perfect setting to explain to him about the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ. For my first time ever I taught the first lesson in its entirety on the mirco. I even recited to him Joseph Smith’s first vision (In the moment I couldn't decide if I actually should do it because it is such a special experinece, but I am glad that I did!) Even thought we were on a BUS, the sprit was there! He said that he felt peace hearing about the prophet Joseph Smith and that he wanted to learn more- to know if it was really true. I gave him a Book of Mormon and took down his address so that I could pass him off to the missionaries in his sector (unfortunately he lives in La Cisterna, close to San Miguel). And if that wasn’t good enough, when I turned to look at my compañera, I saw her writing down the phone number of another contact that she made all on her own- so proud of my hija.

Just one more super RAD highlight of the week. So remember how I told you guys that we have cows??? Well…of course Hermana and I went to knock on the door to see if they wanted to hear the gospel. At first they weren’t very interested but as we talked to them, they started to open up; turns out that our Relief Society president is related to them. Also they told us that before the missionaries used to come and teach them. When we asked why they stopped learning, they told us that they were just too busy with work, aka: milking their cows. AH! Light bulb- WE CAN HELP MILK YOUR COWS!!! (That’s what went off in BIG fancy letters in my head). We told them that we offered service and they accepted! Can you believe that? Yes, me, I milked a cow this week! I asked the hermano if it was safe to drink the milk straight from the cow and he literally pulled out a mug, squeezed out the milk and gave it to me to try. You better believe that I tried it…AND LIKED IT! I am such a natural country girl…Taylor Swift did me some good after all! Haha.

So as you guys can see, we are falling in love with our sector and the people here!

Xoxoxoxo

p.s: Hermana Reyes has been so excited all week to liven up our front yard with flowers and plants and it was everything that she talked about every time she saw someone’s garden or heard the word plant. While we were teaching Pedro and Natalia this week, the uncle walked in and said, “Who left that plant by the door?” and excitedly Hermana Reyes said, “You guys have plants too?” awkwardly, Pedro excused himself outside and Natalia continued by explaining to us that the plant that the uncle was referring to was marijuana. Ha ha. Moral of the story: we are teaching the word of wisdom this week.

picture 1: TURTLE TALK