Pray for Daniel and Nereyda's Upcoming Baptism

Hello!!

Well I hope every ones week has gone well. Ours is moving along slowly but surely. We have seen miracles with our family that's getting baptized this coming Friday! But I think they're using up all our miracles because everything else is a bit rough these days. But its OK! Here's what we did this week:

1. Daniel y Nereyda!  We are moving right along with these guys! Wow we have had some special little experiences with them. So I forget what I've written about them, but Daniel is kind of a spaz, and they both have the attention span of 7 year olds. But we have really tried to do everything possible to help them and are seeing them make changes in their lives. We have really really focused on them praying and reading the Book of Mormon as a couple every day. We made a big poster with calendars on it of July and August, and they stick on a sticker if they read :) they loved it. And they're doing it! Not every single day, but they're doing it and are seeing the blessings in their lives. And they are understanding that baptism is a big and important commitment. Wow. And the ward is getting all into this wedding. I'm only expecting about 40 people, but the ward keeps making things bigger and bigger and are making food and cake for over 100 people! Geez. Ha-ha whatever. I'm sure well hit the usual snags this week, but I have lots of faith that finally, after 2 years of investigating the church, Daniel and Nereyda will be married and baptized!!!!!

2. Other than that, I don't know what to tell y'all...we found some new people this week, but no one is super positive. But they have potential. We are planning a couple of activities for this week, a service activity and (maybe) a face painting booth type thing? I know, completely non gospel related, but last time when we passed out glasses of juice, the people just took them and ran for it; if we have face painting, the kids will whine until their parents bring them over, and then they'll have to talk to us for a minute or two, right? We'll see how it works out or what the rain decides to do. 

We are also really concerned because one of our mission focuses is raising the attendance in the wards, but our attendance is steadily dropping...we don't know why!! We visit lots of people of course, what is going on?! our 2nd week here the attendance was 99, and this past week it was 60! So we gotta figure something out on that fast before the ward just disappears all together. We are a little stressed but we really are working, I promise!!

Despite the challenges and the sweltering heat, I am so very grateful to be here as a missionary. I love the Gospel and I know that it can bless everyone. I am learning a lot here in Las Palmas. I hope that everyone has an excellent week!

Love, 

Hermana Gilland

Bats in the House!

Hello Everyone!!

 Wow we have had a crazy week here in Las Palmas and I have some great experiences to tell!

1. BATS! Well, our house is a crappy Guatemalan house, and we have holes in the roof, and a bat got in last week and was flying around! AGH! How scary! I was terrified ha-ha. We called a neighbor who came to get it out. Yikes!

2. Baptism of WENDY!  Our perfect little investigator, Wendy, got baptized on Saturday. Everything went well, her boyfriend baptized her, she was really happy. She has a great testimony and I know that if she keeps at it, she'll be a great and faithful member forever. It was a little sad because her family had said that they would be coming but at the last minute didn't. Her family is all really Catholic and aren't thrilled about all this. But they're a great family and love to read, so hopefully a little later they can gain testimonies of the Book of Mormon. 

3. MIRACLES!  Well, I don't know how I'm going to tell this story because it's kind of complicated, sorry if it doesn't make sense... So we have been searching for investigators and going with old investigators, trying to find someone positive. We came upon a young family who had been hearing the missionaries off and on for 2 years. I mentioned them last week -- Daniel and Nereyda. They need to get married but Daniel didn't want to, but they have a baby together. Me and my comp were really excited to work with them this week.  We went on Tuesday and found the Hermana distraught, because she and Daniel had been fighting and he had left and she was thinking about moving out and leaving him... there was something about him having a girlfriend on the side, typical Guatemala...so we were super bummed because we wanted to help these guys to be a great family.  Now, if he's cheating on her then we are in kind of a weird spot. We were really sad because apart from them we have nothing, and we were pretty much going to give up on them. But we decided to go back and see how they were doing. Me and my comp both really felt, against all reason, that we needed to still try with them. So we go and they're both there and we teach a bit about families, and Daniel tells us that he does not want to talk about marriage any time soon, blah blah...but he keeps talking, and tells us that he just got back from the wedding of his friend, and in the course of his talking, he ends up pretty much convincing himself that he really does need to get married!! He said that he wants a better life for his son, and even though there are always going to be problems, he's never going to leave Nereyda. We challenged him to get married and baptized on the 21st and they accepted!!!! Holy Cow!!! It was just totally not what we were expecting at all!!! And now we are in the process of planning the wedding! Wow. I don't know if I explained the story well enough, but it just really shows that we have nothing to do with this, and that the Lord has perfect timing. He knew exactly when the missionaries needed to come back into this family's life, right when they're ready to make big changes. We still have a lot of work to do with them, we aren't out of the woods or anything. But wow, I still can hardly believe what happened. And another little miracle, Daniel asked us to try to get into contact with the first hermanas who were visiting them to invite them, and the very next day we got our hands on the phone number of one, called her, and she was so excited and said she'll be here. Isn't that great? I'm just so happy to be a part of this, and that their first missionaries' work wasn't in vain. Wow!!!!

Well that's pretty much my week. We had lots of ups and downs, and about 12 little miracles with Daniel and Nereyda, and I am just so grateful for all that I am learning here. I know that the Gospel is true. I love being a missionary! I hope y'all all have a great week!!

Love, 

Hermana Gilland