200 DAYS - MARCH 7 2016

Art Museum Merida Centro

So yes, it is official! I have been out 200 days! Can you believe it!?! Okay, just to make it clear. No, 200 days is not all that special, and no I haven't been counting, HOWEVER, this week i finally finished my bottle of daily vitamins that had 200 in the jar, so that makes it official! I was actually really happy when i finally finished it. But now what am I gonna do without my daily vitamins!? I might die... pray for me!!

Okay so this week was a super great week in Calkini! We worked ridiculously hard and honestly I find my heart and soul more in this work more and more every day! I learned a ton this week about how to be a better missionary, and how to help others more. We had a ton of success during the week, but on Sunday we didn't have much success with our investigators in the church. Our faithful Maria did go though :) she is the best. I will tell a crazy story about getting her to church that day. 

On Tuesday we were in divisions in Hecelchakan, a pueblo like 20 minutes away from Calkiní. It was good! What I have learned about divisions is being away from your companion and your area for a day really makes you miss your little house and little pueblo.... and your companion. But I did learn a lot from my leaders that day! But it was funny cause literally 5 people asked me in that one day if I dye my hair and told me how beautiful the color is... and I was like no i have never dyed it, idk why everyone keeps asking here and never ask in Calkini! Lol

So the two little boys, Mario and Luis, who literally love me and my comp, are awesome. And so are their parents. Turns out their mom is a Mormon, just doesn't go to church. :( But she is super awesome. We were gonna baptize them in 2 weeks, but we prayed a lot about it and decided it is too fast. We talked to their mom and she said she just doesn't want them to go to church, get baptized, and never go again because the missionaries leave. So we are gonna make sure they build a really strong habit and testimony before they get baptized, so sure it might be a couple months till they get baptized, but it'll work out!!

Parrot asked me how I was, in Spanish of course

So on Sunday, we went at 7am to go get Maria from her house that is super far away from ours and where the church is. We went with a member in his mototaxi to get her. When we arrived, her son was there, and he was asleep completely hungover from drinking the night before. She told us her son was drinking all night, and she needed to cook him food. And we were like okay well he is literally 40 and not a kid anymore but lets do it!! So the thing is Maria literally doesn't have any food... she just eats like beans and begs for food every week. And this just shows how awesome she is. With the little food she has, she gave it to her son. So we told her to get changed for church and we would cook it for her. But of course in this little pueblo, cooking means making a fire and everything. So all my skills from earning my eagle scout finally kicked in! WOOHOO! So we made her a fire and cooked the food for her son, but then her son woke up and was super mean to her and so finally after like an hour of helping her, we started walking to the mototaxi, and we were SO dirty... at 8am. So then we were running around to other investigators houses and it was just a super crazy morning. Then to bring Maria back to her house, we borrowed a trici bike, which is literally a bike with a seat in front to push people.... and it is HARD to push someone in that thing. The day of rest wasn't so much like that haha, but she is so awesome. She was showing us all her clothes the other day, and she had like 5 Mayan traditional dresses, nothing else, and goes... I HAVE SO MANY CLOTHES. Like in most peoples thinking she has nothing, but in her thinking she has everything. She hardly understands everything we teach, but what she understands is that she has to get baptized to enter into Gods kingdom, she has to go to church every week to be happy, she has to get baptized again because we have permission from God to do it, and that after death she can be with her family.

We have a ton of other investigators, 7 with baptism dates, but none that are really worth writing about yet.... well Mariana and Alfredo. We had a great lesson with them this week about temples and how baptism is the first step to entering the temple and having an eternal family, and they are gonna be baptized in 2 weeks as our goal! They have been going to church for like 6 months apparently, just have a ton of faith in the catholic church still.

Anyways this week was a super good week! I totally got pooped on by a bird AGAIN this week, this time on my back. I don't know what the deal is, but its getting a little old!! Haha. Honestly super happy here. I know this church is true and I know this church is the only church in the world with the power and authority to perform covenants that help us return to the presence of our heavenly father!

Elder Plowman

1John1  5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Clarinet Class in a culture center- I am totally gonna go play and teach and then baptize them all!