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| Back to where I started Coahuila |
Wow... what a week this was. For those of you who have been faithful followers of the Elder Plowman 2 year journey in Mexico, you will recognize by my subject line that Coahuila is a familiar place where I started the mission.... l will tell you all about it... but first let me tell you about my week.
Last Monday after we got done with P Day we went to an appointment we had and while we were walking home at about 8:30pm it started to down pour... literally the hardest rain I had seen since last summer!! We were a little worried because we were trying to get to the center of town to see the Zone Leaders, who came up from Campeche to be able to be here Tuesday morning for my district meeting. We started getting wet and found them but then we decided to wait while the rain passed, but at about 9:15pm the rain was still down pouring and we decided we just needed to get soaking wet. So we started walking home and there were parts in the street where we were literally walking in water up to our knees and we got soaking wet hahah it was just one of those moments where I was laughing so hard and only in the mission will I have experiences like that.
Something really important to know here about Campeche is that everyone has their own little piece of land, where they go to the woods and take care of their land. It is funny because there is no official paper work about it, people just decide that a certain part will be theirs. But the thing is that they have to clean all of it before rainy season starts, and usually it doesn't start till June but this week it rained almost every day of the week and everyone was freaking out that rainy season started early this year, but I think it was just a fluke. Anyway, we spent a lot of time helping people clean up their "terreno" as they call it here. Giving service is the best thing ever!
So on Wednesday we went with José, the 14 year old that has gone to church about 6 times now. We asked him how he has felt and he said "I have an answer now. God answered me. I know that this church is true and that I need to be baptized!" It was a MIRACLE!!! Honestly what I have learned in the mission is the best way to get people to be baptized is to just help them receive their own answer by the Holy Ghost!!! No one can convince someone to be baptized, only the Holy Ghost can. I have always seen that the minute someone truly receives their answer, everything falls in to place. He should be baptized this upcoming Saturday if all goes well with his parents etc. His aunts and cousins have been helping us a ton to help him feel ready and give him the support he needs!!! Woohoo!
So last year I was teaching a guy named Carlo who is a professional baseball player and has one of the biggest houses here in Calkini. The problem last year is that he couldn't go to church on Sunday because he was always playing baseball. The other day we were trying to cross the street but we weren't having much success because it was covered in water when suddenly someone drove up and told us to get in. I didn't recognize who it was at first but I got in the back of the car and he said "you were here before, werent you?" I recognized that it was him and the good news was that I remembered his name. We got talking and he said he would love for us to visit us again and that he doesn't play baseball on Sundays now. I love how the Lord truly puts people in our path! Also we were walking the other day (like always) and I literally just told my comp "I feel like we need to go this way" when we started walking down the street and found Alexis, who we have had trouble finding in his own house! Literally the spirit guides me!!
So this week is going to be the best week ever. On Thursday we are going to go to Merida to go the temple with Gloria, who got baptized here in Calkini last year when I was here. We are going to be able to be in her endowment session Thursday night and then in her sealing with Jonas, one of my best friends here, on Friday morning. I am so excited because i haven't been to the temple in literally a year and it is going to be the most amazing experience ever!!
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| Jonas Birthday |
Let me tell you about The Return to Coahuila. What an experience it was. A couple of weeks ago I helped the district plan a trip to Coahuila to be able to “rescue” the little pueblo. The plan was go to Coahuila from 7am on Sunday to visit all the members and invite them to church at 11am on Sunday. I wasn't sure if we would be able to go because we wouldn't be able to be in our own church services here in Calkini. President Ruiz first told me that we couldn't go but then this week he called telling me that he changed his mind and that we should go. So the idea of this was to help Coahuila because only about 4 people go to church each week because there aren't missionaries there anymore. When I was there about 25 people would go at least. Well whenever we were driving through the pueblos to get to Coahuila I had some really mixed feelings honestly. I passed the hardest times of my life in that little pueblo as I was starting the mission. I felt like no one was going to remember me because i was only there 6 weeks and it was more than a year and a half ago when I left. As I got there I truly realized why I needed to be there. I helped everyone know where everyone lives and I started remembering all the people we used to visit. We visited 3 families in the morning and all of them recognized me. But then I decided to go see the old house where I used to live. I found the family that lived next door and it was one of the happiest experiences of my mission. When they saw me, they started to cry and were so happy. We talked about our experiences together and how they were doing and when we went to church that day, 12 people that we visited went to church and about 18 showed up in total. Afterward, my companion and I were asked to give 16 priesthood blessings to literally everyone that went to church almost. I realized how much I love that pueblo. Coahuila literally made me change so much and is a huge reason of why I have a testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ and also why I am the person I am today. I am so happy I had the opportunity to go back because the feelings I have about that pueblo are all positive now. What an amazing experience it was. I have realized how much I have changed in more than 20 months in the mission and it was an emotional experience all around. I know that Jesus Christ can help all of us change, if we just let him do His work.
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| Churchin Coahuila |
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| My first house in the mission |
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| Familia Can from Coahuila |
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| Packages rock! |
Elder Plowman
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