Coca Cola

Feb 24, 2014

Dear Family and Friends

Hermana Rivas, my companion from Nicaragua, has two great American loves: Baseball and Coca Cola. (Coca cola original--no diet or Coke zero: "hermana, you should not believe those lies on internet about how coca cola is bad for you" she tells me with a grin, and Dad? she is a huge fan of the NY Yankees). Her version of heaven is to watch the New York Yankees with a big bottle of Coke on hand.

Yesterday, as we were speed walking to make it to the house on time, she breathlessly told me "that is why I love baseball--there are innings where absolutely nothing happens--pure strike outs, and then, there are innings when it is so exciting, and pure home runs! and that is what today was! Home Run, Home run and Home run!" 

Personally, I don’t find baseball very riveting, but her analogy fit perfectly for our week. This week, the days were a little bit long and they didn’t feel that productive. We were working hard, but without being very effective and spending a lot of time in the streets. On Saturday night, I got down on my knees and begged heavenly father that If we were doing something, to help us know. To help me change. And to help us be more effective. And on Sunday, he gave us a day of pure home runs.

On Sunday, I gave a talk on Fasting, and one of our investigators, Mijael, came to church with his returning less active sister. It was one of the most entertaining days that i have had, as he peppered his older sister with all of the questions that occurred to his very intelligent and inquisitive 26 year old brain: 

"Elderas! (his sister version of Elder) what is a stake?" "·Who is that man? Why does he sit up front?" 

Or, after the closing prayer: "are they going to give us bread and water again?"

He told us after the meeting that it was interesting, but a little but too slow for his taste haha. oh man. 

On Sunday, also, a recent convert that we are working with brought his plan to overcome addiction, met with the bishop and asked for a priesthood blessing to conquer the cigarettes, we found TWO new families and taught them both, with a kneeling prayer at the end, and fasted with an investigator for her first time so that she could find a job. It was a day to good to be true, but the moment MOST unbelievable was after ward council.

Hermana Rivas and I left ward council and just outside the chapel contacted a man, Egon, going home from work. We began to chat with him, and after five minutes we invited him to have a tour of the chapel, and he accepted. We walked in and the bishop and a brother were there, and the brother just HAPPENED to be a distant relative and friend of Egon. We showed him the building, and could explain EVERYTHING--the first vision, the book of mormon, Jesus Cristo and Baptism with the huge paintings on the wall (to say the first vision with the huge painting as a visual is a dream. so spiritual.) and we finished in the chapel, where the bishop bore his testimony and invited him "I have been a member since I was eleven, and it is the best thing I have ever done. i invite you to listen to the missionaries. If they invite you to do something, DO it. You will never find such happiness, and it is the only path." it was a HOME RUN SLAM DUNK, one of the lessons most spiritual that I have had in all of the mission. Too bad that he lives in the sector of the elders..but hey, they´ll just owe us chocolates now! 

I still am reeling from how incredible our day was yesterday. its moments like these that we pay for in tears, in rejections, in hours of walking and studying and praying. But when they come, they make it all worth it.

I love you all! And I have a confession.... I have discovered something about myself...I too, love coca cola. Its absolutely delicious 

"YES!! I DID IT!!" said hermana Rivas when I told her