Hello all!
This week was a life changer for me, at least for my time in Mapastepec. I’ve learned to 100% appreciate the little things, and this week that little thing is called “sleeping with a blanket because now we have air conditioning.” But I’ll get to more of that later. On Monday we did our normal P-day stuff, like cleaning, grocery shopping and hand washing all of our clothes. It was Hermana Renteria’s first time! :o) We start proselyting at 6 pm and we visited the family of a recent convert couple. Their family members all have really different needs and challenges, but in the end the solution is always the pure doctrine of Christ, faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. The gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. On Tuesday we visited with Hermana G, a less active member. We’ve been trying to gain her confidence for the past 3 months and she’s been opening up little by little. We visited her with the Relief Society President and the spirit was present and she started to tear up and look away and it was a really good lesson.
On Wednesday we totally saw a miracle. Hermano Antonio accompanied us for some lessons and I felt like we should visit an investigator, named G but he wasn’t home so I was feeling kind of confused but our backup plan was a super old less active who doesn’t leave her house. There aren’t records for her though and there isn’t anyone else to testify that she was baptized, so she’s actually not considered a member. I didn’t want to visit her BUT we were close by to visit G and her husband waved at me so we stopped to say hi. She told us she was feeling really sick and that the night before, she had dreamed that we passed by with a man to give her a priesthood blessing. So Hermano Antonio gave her a blessing and it was super awesome that God guided us to her, especially in a round about way.
On Thursday we went to Tonala for zone conference! It was actually super good. Our zone leaders gave us all little paper sheep and we wrote down what we wanted to change to be better missionaries and then made a little altar and lit the sheep on fire like a sacrifice from the Old Testament. Obviously very symbolic but we all have to make sacrifices here in the mission field AND in life. If we want to be more Christlike, more obedient, and better people. When we got home we started to pack and clean el cuarto. On Friday President Toledo, our branch president, and the zone leaders showed up on our doorstep bright and early to help us move all of our stuff to the new house. The new apartment is a lot safer and nicer and like I said in the beginning of this week’s letter, it has a/c in the bedroom. Wooo! It was totally worth it to move, especially after we took everything out of the cuarto and realized just how many insect and spider friends had been living with us.
On Friday an investigator, named A accepted baptismal invitation and after that her mom told us that we couldn’t visit them anymore. It was beyond heartbreaking and I was totally ready to cry right then and there. It’s totally different on the streets when we contact and people turn us down than when you’ve already been teaching and feeling the spirit with an investigator and (to quote the Book of Mormon) “the traditions of their fathers” impede them from accepting the restored gospel. The rest of the week was more walking and contacting and what not. We had some really good lessons this week but like always the biggest challenge for this area/Chiapas was getting people to church. However Hermana Renteria and I have plans to baptize all of Mapastepec. Wish us luck! Hermana Dangl
Con much amor,
Hermana Dangl
P.S. This week I found out that Mapastapec is named after Mapaches (raccoons) and means “Raccoon Hill,” or cerro de los Mapaches.
This week was a life changer for me, at least for my time in Mapastepec. I’ve learned to 100% appreciate the little things, and this week that little thing is called “sleeping with a blanket because now we have air conditioning.” But I’ll get to more of that later. On Monday we did our normal P-day stuff, like cleaning, grocery shopping and hand washing all of our clothes. It was Hermana Renteria’s first time! :o) We start proselyting at 6 pm and we visited the family of a recent convert couple. Their family members all have really different needs and challenges, but in the end the solution is always the pure doctrine of Christ, faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. The gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. On Tuesday we visited with Hermana G, a less active member. We’ve been trying to gain her confidence for the past 3 months and she’s been opening up little by little. We visited her with the Relief Society President and the spirit was present and she started to tear up and look away and it was a really good lesson.
On Wednesday we totally saw a miracle. Hermano Antonio accompanied us for some lessons and I felt like we should visit an investigator, named G but he wasn’t home so I was feeling kind of confused but our backup plan was a super old less active who doesn’t leave her house. There aren’t records for her though and there isn’t anyone else to testify that she was baptized, so she’s actually not considered a member. I didn’t want to visit her BUT we were close by to visit G and her husband waved at me so we stopped to say hi. She told us she was feeling really sick and that the night before, she had dreamed that we passed by with a man to give her a priesthood blessing. So Hermano Antonio gave her a blessing and it was super awesome that God guided us to her, especially in a round about way.
On Thursday we went to Tonala for zone conference! It was actually super good. Our zone leaders gave us all little paper sheep and we wrote down what we wanted to change to be better missionaries and then made a little altar and lit the sheep on fire like a sacrifice from the Old Testament. Obviously very symbolic but we all have to make sacrifices here in the mission field AND in life. If we want to be more Christlike, more obedient, and better people. When we got home we started to pack and clean el cuarto. On Friday President Toledo, our branch president, and the zone leaders showed up on our doorstep bright and early to help us move all of our stuff to the new house. The new apartment is a lot safer and nicer and like I said in the beginning of this week’s letter, it has a/c in the bedroom. Wooo! It was totally worth it to move, especially after we took everything out of the cuarto and realized just how many insect and spider friends had been living with us.
On Friday an investigator, named A accepted baptismal invitation and after that her mom told us that we couldn’t visit them anymore. It was beyond heartbreaking and I was totally ready to cry right then and there. It’s totally different on the streets when we contact and people turn us down than when you’ve already been teaching and feeling the spirit with an investigator and (to quote the Book of Mormon) “the traditions of their fathers” impede them from accepting the restored gospel. The rest of the week was more walking and contacting and what not. We had some really good lessons this week but like always the biggest challenge for this area/Chiapas was getting people to church. However Hermana Renteria and I have plans to baptize all of Mapastepec. Wish us luck! Hermana Dangl
Con much amor,
Hermana Dangl
P.S. This week I found out that Mapastapec is named after Mapaches (raccoons) and means “Raccoon Hill,” or cerro de los Mapaches.
Pan de muerto (Dead Bread?) haha
Zona Tonalá
The mission for the mission that we created :)
Our new cuarto! Check out the a/c on the wall!
Our closet!
Our kitchen.
Our bathroom.
Laundry area!
Love the new domecillio! It sounds like you're really engaged in the work. Hannah Gutierrez came home from her mission and we took the YW to her homecoming. Your mom was there, too, as well as your sister. I bet they were thinking of you.
ReplyDelete¡Cuarto con aire acondicionado! I had 2 of those on my mission in Puerto Rico. When the cooled air finally cools down your bed and you need a blanket! Ah! Luxury! Enjoy! Mark McLaughlin
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