Training is really hard. It is without doubt the most diffcult thing I've experimented. I'm tired all the time, I feel like I'm failing in absolutely everything I do and I think my idioma is dying. It's like watching a slow motion video of somebody walking on ice, trip a few times and catch themselves, then falling flat on their backs. I've yet to break the ice, but I have fallen enough times to chip through the first layer. But, freak, the blessings are completely worth the stress. I have never seen such growth and miracles in a sector in the first 2.5 weeks. Whitewashing is hard as well. I don't know the streets, the members, the way the ward works and I'm the only gringo in the area. It is extremely irritating that my comp is sort of selfish, doesn't put forth the effort to try to understand me when my spanish is bad (very frequently now), and my spanish is malfunctioning. But I love it! Starting completely over. I love this sector! It's incredible to see the change in the sector and the ward since we arrived. It may be the greenie power, but surely it is the power of the Lord. He directs this work. He is there every step, every breath, every drop of sweat, every tear of frustration. He knows the people and He knows how they need us to find them.
For instance, when we arrived that first week and we got lost trying to find the capilla. We had 2 registros of investigadores the other Hermanas had been teaching, a list of menos activos that wasn't correct, I didn't know what to do and asistence in the Sacramental was 67. As of yesterday night, we have 4 investigadores progresing, our asistence was at 86 (not because of us, people went out of town the week before) and we have 2 fechas baptimals! WHOOH! Marinela and Miyarai (mother and daughter) are the two miracles in our lives at this moment in time. They were references from the Elders in another estaca and we visited them the night of Friday. They had both shared before, years ago, with misioneries, but they couldn't get baptized because Marinela was living with her pololo (boyfriend). But she told us when we entered that her meta is to get baptized. Right off the bat, she told us she wants to go to church, she doesn't smoke or drink and she wants to read the BOM. WHA-? How incredible is that? We taught the first lesson, then I asked if they will prepare themselves to be baptized together on the 12 of Abril. They are so ready! The Lord is preparing the hearts of the people. This sector, I have never seen such success in such a short amount of time. He just needed new workers for this part of the vineyard. There is no such thing as a dead area. There is to work. That is all. When you work, put all your effort into every bit of what you do, and dedicate it to the Lord every second of every day, He has to bless you. He's obligated when we do what He says. I have witnessed that faith is a principle of accion. If we want to see people progress and read their scritures, we need to progress and read our scritures, and do everything possible to follow even the little commandments. For example, yesterday we were dying of heatstroke. We forgot our water bottles and there were tiendas open in every corner. I was almost tempted to break the day of rest and pay for a botella, but decided to wait and maybe if we entered a home, we could ask for water. We walked no less than 5 houses down, found a menos activo, RM member who asked us if he could give us water for the heat... I don't know if that experience influenced my comp as it did me, because in America Sur it's normalish to buy things on Sunday, but I felt the love of God in that moment.
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