The roads of Sarandi...We had surprise interviews this week! We went to Durazno two days in a row. That was killer waking up at 4:30 a.m. to get there. On top of that I have not been sleeping this week. It makes for very hard, long days of work. I blame the mosquitoes. Seriously! I was going to take a picture of my poor legs. It’s like last year all over again. I look like I have chicken pox. It’s so bad. I wake up in the middle of the night itching so bad that I can’t fall back asleep. It’s so hot at night that I can’t sleep with sheets or anything on, so the mosquitoes just eat me alive. Ugh! It’s been so miserable. There were no mosquitoes in Maldonado :( Just last night I decided to use my bug spray even though it would make my bed and sheets smell icky. I actually slept the whole night through... until my comp woke up because she was getting eaten. It’s such a nightmare. There is no escaping the elements here. We need to buy a fan. Anywho, interviews went well. President said the mission is seeing lots of success, but with lots of success, Satan works harder. He told us we needed to arm ourselves with obedience.
First thing Hermana Da Silva said when she saw me was, "How weird it is to see you over here, hermana! Why are you not in Maldonado?" Hmmm... I wonder? haha. Then pres said when I walked in, "Hermana, your Maldonado bishop misses you! Do you miss Maldonado?" I said, “Yes!” He said it was a good thing. It means I left part of my heart there and that’s good. He said if I didn’t miss it, it means I didn’t give my all and serve with everything I had. I took that to be a compliment (I guess). He asked how our Book of Mormon reading was going. I said good and explained what I learned. Then he said, “Ok, you’re done.” Uh... that’s all? He said he’s not worried about me.
The beautiful sunsets of Sarandi...There is so much to be done in this area. We don’t have much support from the ward at the moment, but we are trying to change that. Every week we need to find new people to teach, meet with the investigators we already have, teach all 22 recent converts every week, work with the ward and so much more. It is not physically possible. Like I mentioned before, we can only have three lessons planned daily because everything is spaced so far apart here that there isn’t enough time in the day for more than that. Plus, in between those lessons we have to find new people to teach and do our daily contacts. The ENTIRE week, and when I say entire week, I mean entire week, is already completely planned out. If we want to meet with anyone new, we have to set an appointment for next Monday. It’s insane. So crazy. For that reason, we really need the help of the members. They should be having ward missionaries to teach the recent converts, so we can have more time to find new people to be baptized. Other plans are to have a weekly convert class to invite everyone to so we can teach them all at once to save and gain more time. We are thinking of teaching a class on how to read because no one here in this town knows how. Also, we are using our resources of young women and to do splits every Sunday to get more work done and get to know them better. Every area has its challenges, right? In the meantime, this week we have been trying to meet with all the members and get to know them. We need references and if they get to know us, trust us, see that we are here to work, they will give us references. So very slowly we are trying to make progress… and slowly we are doing it… I think.
We had a lesson with a family which really paid off. They have a garden, huge property and a homemade pizza oven out back. For the first time since I’ve been here in Sarandi, I felt at home with a family. It was so great.
Miracle of the week… while doing splits last Sunday, my comp and her companion for the day found a lady named Sandra. They are wealthy here. She has one daughter and her husband. I was surprised when my comp showed me the house when we went to the return appointment later in the week. She had listened to the elders once before about four years ago. We had a really good lesson with her using the Book of Mormon. She understands everything and how to receive an answer to her prayers to see if this is the true church. It was great. Then we tried to make a return appointment and she said sadly that she was going out of town. So we asked for a number to call her. She looked at us strangely and said we already had her number. We said noooo... She said yes.... you called me two Sundays ago, remember? Um... we just met you one Sunday ago and we never asked for a number to reach you at. She stared at us and pointed to my comp and said, "Yeah it was you. Your accent. You called and said you were the missionaries. You asked me how I was and where I was. Then you asked if you could pray for me. You said you would and that you would be coming to visit me soon. Then you hung up." Um... we never did that. She said well I guess it was the other missionaries here in Sarandi. No... we are the only ones we told her and we don’t have your number. We all just kind of sat there in awe. She said she talked to us on Sunday because we had called and told her we were coming to visit... we said we never called and the spirit... I don’t know how to put it into words. We did not call! We went home and searched in the old investigator records to see if maybe the hermana who was here before had called, but we couldn’t find any record of her as an investigator at all. When we call old investigators and set up a lesson with them, we never ask if we can just pray for them. After searching that whole night, we have to believe that it was simply a miracle... angels… preparing the way for us. It was a wonderful experience and after we clarified with Sandra that we really didn’t call, she sat there thinking and said… well, everything happens for a reason. Maybe it’s my time. We haven’t seen her since but I think she will be baptized. I will keep you up to date.
I got a package from Hermana Hite this week. If she is reading this, THANK YOU! I love you. I’ll be writing you soon. I hope you got my letter.
This area is hard and everyone told me the baptisms just spring up here. Not true. We are working our darndest but... all the investigators we have had so far we had to drop. I know it will take more work and I’m going to have to be patient, but I have the Lord’s promise from that scripture I found in Nephi and this really is a choice land. It will just take some time. I gotta prove my faith. Until then... hard work. It’ll be good. I’m excited to see what things will happen here. Sarandi will be the best yet. I love you all so much. Loves….until next week. Love, Ash
P.S. Cool things. We found fireflies here. It’s so awesome. When it rains here, instead of worms (like in Utah) or snails (like in Maldonado), frogs come out everywhere. It’s crazy. Also, while walking we heard a man yelling it’s still alive!!! We turned around and he was riding his bike with a HUGE lizard that looked kinda like an alligator hanging there. Whoa. I’m gonna find me one of those. haha We were going to go exploring today, but it’s rainy and so humid. So….next week!
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