Hello!
I am now in a place called Lago Azul. These names are so ridiculous. There is no lake and if there were, it wouldn't be blue. It's nicer than Aguas Lindas for sure. The roads have asphalt on them, which is a delicacy. This is already my favorite area so far, as far as working goes. The physical features of Lago Sul still win the prize of most beautiful, but I really like the members I have met here. I live in a house with just Elder Lima, my new companion (who sneezes as loud or louder than dad does). There were 4 missionaries here in the past, but they were moved to other areas and this place didn't have missionaries for awhile. We were sent here (that makes it sound like mission impossible or something) to start the missionary work again. Our area book has almost no one in it, so this week we focused on getting to know the members and finding new people to teach. Thank you, mom, for asking the questions that led to that description of my new area, haha. This week felt like the most productive week I've had so far. My companion teaches very well and has a desire to work. He's probably my favorite one so far. We have a huge area to cover because there are only 2 of us, so we're still getting to know where everything is, where members live, etc. There are many less-active members here and a decreasing number of people in the ward. Many of the converts get attached to the missionaries instead of the members, so after the missionaries that baptized them leave, they have a big probability of leaving too. Aguas Lindas had this kind of problem too, so I feel like what I learned in Aguas Lindas will help me to see things here with the right angle. We're having success in finding new people to teach by visiting less actives. Many times find wrong addresses but teach the people we find there anyway. One example:
When we left the chapel in Aza Norte where the transfer took place, we took a bus to the central bus station and then waited 1.5 hours for our bus to arrive to take us to Lago Azul. Not many buses go there. We got in and started talking to this cool looking strong guy from the army that wears glasses and braces. He plays saxophone in the army band. It turns out that he knows a majority of the people from the ward in Lago Azul that are on missions. He also knew where our house was. I don't know how we would have found our house without him. We got his number and address to pass by later. Later during the week we went to the address he gave us (or we thought we did) and asked if Jackson was home. He came outside to meet us, but it wasn't the same Jackson. It was a skinny Jackson. We entered anyway and started talking to him. After a little small talk we stopped and asked "So you're Jackson? Is there another Jackson that lives here?" He said of course I'm Jackson and said that he's the only Jackson that lives there. He had talked to the missionaries once before and gave them his address and everything. He said that we were lucky to find him at home. I said "Well we called and you said this would be the best time, right?" Then he was confused and said that no one had called. We were all very confused but we said "WELL ANYWAY! CAN WE SHARE A MESSAGE WITH YOU?!" or something like that. His sister and aunt and a bunch of other people participated in the lesson and really liked it. They all committed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Later we found out that there are two addresses that are basically the same that are in different parts of Lago Azul. It's so crazy that something like this happens almost everyday.
I have a question for you all that will help me with teaching people this week (maybe this would be good for family home evening):
How have you been blessed by being obedient to a specific commandment? (like tithing, keeping the sabbath day holy, etc.)
Also, we´re trying to start family mission plans with the families here. If you have any ideas about how to make a family mission plan, let me know! (this would be good for FHE too...)
A family mission plan is just a layout of how your family is going to help with missionary work. It involves setting goals and making plans to achieve those goals.
Love,
Elder Young
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