Hello!
This week we had the
Dia de Accion de Gracias (Thanksgiving). Like I said in the prior letter, we had three
different Thanksgiving meals set up. The first one we went over to the Richey's
house. There we had our traditional Thanksgiving, with mashed potatoes,
stuffing, beans, rolls, and pumpkin pies. After that, we had a little bit of
time where we went and taught a few lessons to investigators. Then we had to hurry
over to the Martinez's house for our second Thanksgiving meal. There we had,
more or less, another typical Thanksgiving meal. Well, they're from Panama, so
it wasn't quite an "American Thanksgiving." There was a side of rice
with almost every dish, which was a little different for Thanksgiving, and a
lot of fruits and greens. Finally after this meal, we had one more to go to
before the day was over. At this point, I was not looking forward to this last
meal. I was already super full, and at the point of bursting! So we arrived at
the house of the Herreras, and they brought out a huge plate of food for us.
The nice thing about the first two places was that we served ourselves, but
here we had no choice but to eat everything that was on our plates. We each had
our own little chicken, a huge side of rice, and another huge side of mashed
potatoes. I've never felt so sick from food in my life. I was afraid that I was
going to throw up. Not because the food was bad, it was delicious, but it was
just so much. So after quite some time, we finished our last bit of food. Or so
we thought. After we ate all the food on our plates they brought out a birthday
cake from the fridge for Elder Martinez. Once again, they served us so we had
no choice but to eat a huge slice of cake. After that, we returned home to our
house, did our planning as fast as we could for the next day, and passed out in
our beds. It was a different Thanksgiving experience, that's for sure. But all
of the food was super good.
A few funny stories
that happened this week. The first is about me. This actually happened
yesterday. We were in a lesson, and we were talking about Joseph Smith. One of
the investigators asked if they had to be young like Joseph Smith to find God.
But I only heard them say that Joseph Smith was young when he found God. So
with a big smile on my face, I looked at them and said "Yes!" Haha.
After they good really quiet and a little awkward. And I was wondering why. But
then my companions stepped in and told them that they didn't need to be young
to find God, because they were both a little older. After that though we had a
short laugh.
One more story
happened with one of my companions. We were talking about how the Book of
Mormon and the Bible are different witnesses of Jesus Christ. One witness in
the Americas and one in Jerusalem. Well, instead of saying the word
"testigo" for witness, he said the word "testiculos"
(testicles). We got a really weird look when he said that. One of the fun
things about learning a new language is looking back at the mistakes that you
make. At the time it may be embarrassing, but when we think back to those
moments we always have a good laugh.
Last thing in this
letter, I just want to write about an experience or two that we had this week.
The first one happened yesterday, during sacrament meeting. The Spanish Sisters
in our area have been working really hard in our area to activate this less
active lady. She's come to church the past few weeks, and she's really
progressing. But this week, they were impressed to invite her to take her
friends to church with her this Sunday. Well, Sunday came along, and we
couldn't find the Sisters anywhere and church was about to start. Then they
came in through the doors, looked at us, and said "prepare
yourselves!" About fifteen people who we had never seen before came in
through the church doors, and joined us for our sacrament meeting. Back home I
didn't really think fifteen people at church was a big deal, but looking out at
our congregation, it was about doubled! That was a really neat miracle that we
all saw.
One other thing, we
were having a lesson with a lady named Adriana. As far as we know, she has
never met with the missionaries before. But while teaching her the Restoration,
it all just made sense to her. Normally we have to clarify points about the
Restoration, but she was the one saying the things we normally clarify. At the
end of the lesson, we were able to set her with a baptismal date. And she
invited us back again, and offered us to feed us before the lesson. For
Hispanic people, that's a super big deal! So there is lots of potential with
her in the future, and I know that God prepares people to receive our message.
I have no doubt about that.
I hope y’all had a
good Thanksgiving, and hope that y’all are getting excited for Christmas!
-Elder Adams
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