3 Amigos

We met the 3 amigos this week, Peter, Gonzalo and Miguel as we pulled up to a trailer park that we have never been to before. The original plan was that we were going to go to this bigger trailer park that I knew had a lot of people who used to be taught, but we ended up making a wrong turn into a smaller trailer park, so we just parked the car and walked around. About 10 seconds later, we saw a group of guys drinking outside, but they weren't drinking modelo or bud light, rather they were drinking coca cola! We asked them for a soda and they let us sit down with them, so we taught them all about the Restoration. We found out that Gonzalo was baptized in the Church in Guadalajara a while back, so we were able to find his record and move it to our ward. His two friends, Miguel and Peter, seemed really interested as well, so we set up a return appointment for Friday. I was on exchanges that day in a different area, but Elder Abraham went to teach them with Hermano Cuevas and they set a baptismal date with Miguel for August 10th. Peter wasn't there, so we taught him the next day, but Gonzalo and Miguel joined along as well. We had Tony Romero, a different member, with us this time and we were able to make sure they were going to go to church the next day. Peter is pretty deep into his other church and is an usher there, so he wasnt able to make it, but Gonzalo and Miguel made it. They almost didnt make it though because they had pulled up to the parking lot, but they thought they were at the wrong church, so they started to leave. Luckily, Elder Abraham and I were pulling in to the parking lot and we flagged them down and were able to get them to the right place haha. They really enjoyed it, said that they felt at peace and want to come next week!

At that same trailer park, we found a young adult named Angel. Right after we had talked with the 3 amigos the first night, we were about to get back into the car, but we saw Angel, talked to him and set up a return appointment. We went back for the appointment, taught him the Restoration and he accepted a baptismal invitation. We taught him again on Saturday and we brought Tony. Tony was ready to take him to church, but Angel slept in a little too late, so we missed him this week at church.

We also had Jose at church this week again and he is still progressing well and has his baptismal date for later in August. He is becoming super converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and he has really great support.

There is another lady who lives right next to our church building and her name is Maria Raquel. She loves coming to church and should honestly be baptized by now, but she just has some doubts about having to endure to the end. We taught her this week though, but it seems like we can probably have a lot of the sisters from the Relief Society help her out with her testimony more than anything. 

We had been trying to get by a member referral this week named Jorge. Jorge is a little bit older and has some trouble hearing, so it seems like we have to bruise our knuckles trying to knock loud enough on his door haha. This week, he answered for the first time and he let us right in. He talked about how much he loves the example his daughter (who's a member) has given to him. He wanted to start reading the Book of Mormon and to come to church. 

We have been blessed for sure this week with the lessons we have had. One great blessing from that is that we haven't had to be out in the heat for longer than just a few minutes, but more importantly, people's testimonies are growing of the Savior and His restored church. 

The area is great and my comp is great and there is a lot of work that the ward needs us to help them with!

From my studies this week, I learned how special it is to be able to testify of Christ as I read Acts 5-9. I love the example of the Apostles who were brought into a council and told by the Jews to not preach about Jesus Christ. Their response is in Acts 5  "And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.  And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

Elder Moon