Step Forward

The past two weeks combined have been awesome. We have been putting many more fechas, meeting more new people, members give us more food, and the asistencia [attendance] in church is much higher. We broke 100 for the first time this week. Sometimes, I feel like I finally got the stuff here under control, and then people don't come to church.

I'll give an update on the people progressing towards baptism. 

• Gisel, the sister of a member, is doing great, reading what we give her, and praying. She's serious about this, and it really seems like she understands that we don't want to be wasting our time. Her tarea [homework] for the next visit is finding the Book of Mormon that missionaries gave her a couple of years ago. 
• Eva has 16 years [is 16 years old], and reads everything we give her, and fell in love with our manner of prayer, quickly replacing her Catholic prayers. She's really trying to do everything we ask of her, and is ready to sacrifice. 
• Julian and Valentina are two kids of a less active, with 9 and 11 years. The less Active, Viviana, is all concentrated and ready to come back to church, and was in church on Sunday. Her kids are awesome, and Valentina is definitely awesome, and feels the Spirit in a way that she straight up cries, and was crying all during sacrament meeting, when we are there teaching, and when she said the prayer the other day.

We went to visit a less active family (in reality, the two oldest kids are fully active, just that the parents and younger sister have basically forgotten every reason behind going to church), and there was a lady named Yerika there talking with the mom, and we contacted her, and apparently missionaries had taught her grandma years ago until her death, and Yerika remembers liking the message, but has since forgotten what it was. She consented to visit with us, and is very receptive.

Sometimes, I look at what happens in the obra misional [missionary work] here in Cereté, and then at the obedience and dedication of the other missionaries in Cereté, and think Well, at least I'm trying to keep everything in line. Seriously, if there's anything I've learned: The results of spiritual things are directly related to the obedience.

I'll send pictures next week; I'm on a slow laptop and so I'm not going to risk anything with pictures.

I love hearing about all the progress happening in Centennial! Sounds like Dad is being a bomb Mission Leader, and that Sierra and Lily are being awesome. Congrats Renen on signing that contract, and the backyard is starting to look awesome.

Oh hey, I think I forgot to mention when I got hit by a car the other week. It wasn't tenas, just that they clipped my arm with the side mirror but we were like, You had so much room on the road, but you had to drive that close to us.

The other night, a member Erika brought us to meet a neighbor who is super Catholic and isn't open to other religions. I believe it was, in part, testing us. We weren't told any of this, we were just presented and invited inside and we talked with the lady a bit, just casually. Later, Erika asked us if we were going to return to visit her and teach her, and we told her we aren't. I told her that the lady isn't open to other religions, or basically that it seems like she doesn't want to change, and only wants to talk to us because we are nice young men. Erika was like Tenas! You are real missionaries; You are exactly right! and I was like We are amazing.

I'm trying to think of the funny things that happen each week to write, but I never remember them in the hour I'm here writing. They're usually in my journal though.

Always Great,

Élder Hicken