This has been an AMAZING week and I can´t wait to tell you about it.
Monday was a good P day and we went to one of the only patches of grass we could find in all of Murcia, and we tossed the frisbee around for a while. It was a good time because I was finally good at something that the Spanish speakers aren´t. They still kick my trash in soccer though. Later we met with P... and her grand daughter was there. We shared a short message with them and planned a noche de hogar (home evening) for the next Monday. N... is her granddaughter's name and she´s not a member, but her mom is menos activo. They´re both coming, I hope. Then after that, we visited J... C... and did a noche de hogar with his family. It went well and we shared a message of the Book of Mormon. He´s starting to come back to church and things are looking good for him and his family.
Tuesday, we went to eat lunch with J... and J... J.... They made seviche which is another Ecuadorian dish. There was shrimp, squid, and fish in it, but I managed it pretty well. Hope you´re proud of me. Then we shared a short message with them and talked about his church attendance. J... said he wasn´t bored in the capilla this time and it´s getting more interesting and that is kind of an answer to his prayers for him. Later that day, we visited R... and he happened to be moving a washing machine down 4 floors of stairs with his niece, so we helped him with that and then shared a little message. We´re going to keep working with him until the members get involved. No one else is visiting him. Later, we went to visit a referral from J... and got right in to the house. The guy´s name is L... and has a son named L... M.... They are actually really interested and are so nice to us. We did a lesson 0 with them and they said we could come back, and L... M... came to our English class the next day.
Wednesday, We ate with E... and R.... She made some super good paella which we´ve eaten about 2083 times since being here, after leaving there, we went to try and visit some VERY menos activo Russians, but they didn´t want to let us in. After that we just went straight to the capilla to teach English. We had a really good class and L... M... showed up. After the class, we asked L... M... if he could meet for like 10 minutes, and went in a separate room and talked a little about the Book of Mormon. After that, we gave him a little tour of the capilla and he said that he thinks he´s been there before when he was little. Really good day with him. He´s a maquina (machine) and remembers EVERYTHING we teach him and knows how to apply it.
Thursday was another day of miracles. We visited A..., who we visited like the first week we got here. She has a son on a mission but she isn´t a member. She´s gonna take a little more TLC to accept the Gospel, but she´ll figure it out one day. We´re going to eat with her and M... next week. Later we visited L... and his family again and his Daughter B... was there too. She´s about 21 and L... M... is 20 I believe. We taught them the plan of salvation and everyone was very involved in asking questions and the lesson was really good. Then we went to visit J... and A... and just shared a short message with them.
Friday, wasn´t the best day of the week, but it never is. Friday´s are tough because not a lot of people are home. During medio dia (noon) we ate at the O...´s house. We had this soup that had garbanzo beans and little noodles and it was pretty good. After visiting them, we went to the familia A... and Elder Galarza helped M... and D... with their French homework. I helped a little with a few things in English, but they didn´t have too many questions for me. Later, we talked about the 2000 stripling warriors with them. Those boys are like perfect children, and they know the scriptures super well. One of my favorite families here. The rest of the night, we tried to find some other members or menos activos in Patiño, but didn´t have any luck. I´m telling you, Fridays are rough.
Saturday, we ate with the Familia A... and they made some really good chicken and rice. After that, we stopped by L... M...´s house, because it was his birthday. He just wanted us to stop by and say hello, but they invited us in and gave us some cake. This time the mom was there, and her name is something really hard to say, so she told us we could call her M.... :) We taught the whole family about the BOM and it was pretty good, but M... is super Catholic. But all in all, it went well. After that, we visited A.. and shared a short message with him about Christ. We had a good discussion about our beliefs and what Muslims believe about Christ. There are a lot more similarities than you might think. Right now we´re just sharing little simple messages with him about what we believe. Not trying to baptize him at the current time. Plus he gives referrals which is an added bonus. That night, I was a little sick with a fever, so Elder Galarza gave me a blessing, and I was able to sleep well and wake up the next morning feeling a lot better.
Sunday was a decent day as well. We had a good time at church, and Elder Galarza and I taught the investigator class. We taught a lesson on temple work and family history. After Church we went to visit J... J... and just shared a little baby message about faith and repentance. We´re taking things a little slower with him so he understands everything well this time around. The lesson went well and we set everything up to talk about Baptism next week. We didn´t have any luck after visiting him though. At church, Elder Clark brought me a couple super warm blankets because in our Piso we only have like 3 tiny, super thin ones and it´s reaaaaally cold here now. It just changed all the sudden.
This week has been by far our best week in Murcia. We had 20 lessons which has been really hard for us to do in the past and as well for all the companionships in Murcia. We´ve seen lots of miracles. This week we've really tried to step up our obedience, and we've been blessed for it. We weren´t disobedient missionaries, but we've been doing our best to keep ALL the rules this week and we´ve seen the blessings for it. This principle is important for missionaries, and that´s why it´s stressed so much. It´s easy to slip into habits of disobedience, but when we´re obedient, we see miracles. This isn´t just for missionaries though. Heavenly Father blesses all his children when they keep his commandments. It´s a natural result. We have commandments so we can be blessed. Commandments keep us safe and happy. "Consider the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments" That is the truth.
So how are you doing with the seafood?
The truth is I haven´t eaten very much, but I´m doing fine. :)
Are you having any opportunities to sing?
Not really. Sometimes with R....... and other times in the shower.
Is the weather changing?
OH YES. It´s pretty cold here now. the humidity makes things feel so much colder. I have no idea what the temperatures are though.
Are you getting more member referrals and are you teaching them in the homes of the members?
Every once in a while, but not too frequently. We don´t get too many from the members.
Any new favorite foods?
Little pastries filled with chocolate and I don´t know what they´re called, but that will come later.
Have you lost your keys to your PISO and been locked out?
No, thank goodness. That´s impossible for us. Our door doesn´t close unless you lock it from the outside, so you have to have to key to close it.
Well that´s all for the week. Have a good Thanksgiving!! I believe I´ll be going to Cartagena to have a Thanksgiving dinner. I´ll report next week,
Love, Elder Adamson
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