Hey guys!!
Hope things are going alright back there in America. We had a
pretty chill week, but here are a few highlights:
1. Battling the Pastores! We are working right now in a
little apartment complex-area, and we’ve found several families and people who
are a bit interested. It’s kind of fun to me because we found out quickly that
a lot of them go to the same Evangelica church, and right after the first time
we went through the pastor was apparently going around and telling people to
not listen to us. Ha-ha. We have arrived in good timing though because
apparently a few months ago the church split up and there were a bunch of
problems, and the new pastor is a guy who no one really trusts. So maybe, just
maybe, some of these people are ready for the true gospel. Some people aren’t
listening to us because of what their pastor said, but some tell us they don’t
really care. Ha. It’s fun to be up against some pastors. I’m wondering if they’ll
ever say anything to us or try to get us to leave. I guess it depends on if we
have success there or not. It’s fun, I feel a little like Alma and Amulek, when
they started working with the poor Zoramites.
2. I just want to share a special experience I had yesterday
with a member. There is this Hermana named Ingrid, she’s a sweet single mom of
3 wild kids, and her life is really hard. She works really hard, but has lots
of setbacks. We like to go with her just to give her a boost and a quick break
from the kids. Yesterday we shared a message with her, and she cried and seemed
really sad, but with a small determination to keep going. She is a great
example. Well, we were getting ready to go, and she told us to wait and went to
go get something. She brought out a bottle of lotion, "fancy" lotion,
and gave us each a big squirt. Let me just tell y’all, people don’t have nice
extra things here. Her lotion is one of her very few luxuries, very few. She doesn’t
buy makeup, or do anything with her hair. Her lotion is her one "feel
pretty" thing that she has. And she freely shared it with us. She didn’t
have to do that. But she gave us some of the one nice thing she has to give. I
learned a few good lessons from the squirt of lotion. One thing is that I
really think I can understand a little bit better how Christ felt when he saw
the widow give her two mites. She, like Ingrid, gave everything she had,
freely. Wow. Another thing that I found interesting and special is that we can
see in the New Testament various times when it mentions a woman anointing Christ’s
feet with ointment, or pouring fancy oil over his head, things like that, and I
just found it special that she was serving us kind of how other women have
served the Savior. I don’t know if I’ve expressed the story very well, but it
was a special moment that I had, rubbing in the lotion and thinking of the sacrifice
of Hermana Ingrid for me. She was grateful to us for coming, and I was grateful
for what she had taught us. She is a special single mom and I know that the
Lord loves her so much, and was glad that we had visited her and brightened a
dark day just a little. And then when we were about to leave, something sad
happened. We had tried to bring the spirit into her home, but then as we were
leaving, her uncle showed up, drunk and angry, and she started to cry again and
told us that we had to go. It was a really sad moment to watch that happy
moment we had had disappear, and I could tell that the evening was going to be
hell for her. It broke my heart. We each gave her a big hug and we had to go. I
prayed in my heart that somehow the Lord could be with her in this difficult
evening, when no one else could be there with her. It was very sad. Sometimes
the Lord asks us for everything, and then blesses us in ways that are hard to
recognize but really are for our good. But I know that he loves us more than we
can imagine. I’m really grateful for the things I’m learning here and for the
examples of the faithful people, and so many faithful single moms that I’ve met
here.
Well, that’s pretty much all I got. I really appreciate all your
support and prayers! I hope that y’all have a great week! I know that the
church is true!!
Love,
Hermana Gilland
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