Not What Happened Last Week - May 14, 2012


TO: You + 5 More
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I'm not going to let the same thing happen this week as did last week! I'm going to get my stories out there! Because last week I had a lot.


So, about a week and a half ago now, one morning I woke up, got showered, ate breakfast, and went outside to our "sink" to clean my bowl. As I got down to the "sink" I looked into the water and saw... A dead raven. So I go back up and shout to Elder Hatch (who is showering), "Elder Hatch, there's a raven in our "sink"" "A what?" "A DEAD raven in our "sink". So... after Elder Hatch gets out of the showered and dressed, he goes down to see the dead raven... and we then tell our land lady "Doña Hilda, did you know there is a dead raven in our sink?"  "A what?"  "A dead bird in our sink. Did you know?"  "Oh, goodness, no! I'll have my "maid" clean that out really well with bleach and everything and then you'll have nice clean water to wash your dishes with!"   Not exactly why we told her... but ok. It works. Funny story for the day. 


This last week was a pretty good week. We had several great citas with some good people. One of the best citas we had with with two investigators named Gilda and her daughter Marian. They are referrals from a member named Olga. Anyways, they have always had great questions for us, and they read the Book of Mormon, and the pamphlets we leave behind. Anyways, this week we were finally able to teach Marian about the Message of the Restoration! And she said that she believes that it is very possible that Joseph Smith saw God, the Father, and Jesus Christ and that he was a prophet and everything. It was a great lesson and they are progressing a lot! Even better, they came to church with us on Sunday and stayed for all 3 hours and they really liked it! 


On Friday we were walking around, looking for someone to teach, and as we were walking around we saw this 22ish year old kid say goodbye to his girlfriend and watch her walk away... he was of a "rougher" look... long hair, skater, lip ring, ear gauge, etc... as we walked by we said "Buenas tardes (good afternoon)" and he said "Hey guys, how's it going?(in english)" So we decided to stop and start talking to him. It turns out his name is André and his mom started teaching him english about 11 years ago and he speaks with a very good accent. So, we talked for a second and then he asked if we were going to talk to him about Jesus, and we said yes. So then we started walking and talking to this kid. He was a really nice guy, with some good questions, and we ended up giving him 2 copies of the Book of Mormon, one in english and one in spanish, and gave him our phone number in case he has any questions or wants to learn more. He was a great guy. Unfortunately, he doesn't live in our mission, but that's ok! We got a little seed planted for the future :)


Obviously, as my family knows, I got to talk to my family yesterday, and those are always great/special days. A little over a year ago, when Elder Nelson and I were companions, he mentioned that he liked to say family prayer when he talked to his family on Christmas and Mothers' Day... and I always forgot to mention it until yesterday, when I finally remembered. Having a family prayer was absolutely wonderful! It reminded me of all those times that we did prayers when my dad was in Utah, or in other places studying or doing clinicals, or anything like that. It just brings a sense of warmth and unity to do a family prayer, even when your thousands of miles apart.


Love,
Elder Andrew A. LaPray