Monday, May 29, 2017

More rain, cooking with missionaries

Buenas tardes a todos!
First, I'd just like to announce my half-birthday. I turn six months old today! (According to mission reckoning, of course; in worldly terms, I'm rumored to be more than 19 years old). It's hard to believe that the mission is already a quarter of the way done. It's gone by super fast; I feel like I've only been out here for 2 or 3 months! It's been great, though. I've come to understand the scriptures more, my testimony has been strengthened, and I've gained a lot of experience. I have been able to see the very real effect that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has on people. When someone learns to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent, and strive to follow all the commandments God has taught us, God works a powerful change in that person's heart, and they become a new person. They gradually become their best self, and they experience a joy that cannot be found in any other way. It's absolutely awesome watching that change being worked in people! I love being a missionary!

I normally don't share the spiritual thought at the beginning, but I guess that's how it worked out.

Anyway, we had another great big thunderstorm again yesterday. I'm not sure what it is with Sundays, but I guess they've been officially turned into the Day of Lightning. I tried to take a picture of the gorgeous storm, but the picture can't do it justice.
It was super awesome because at any given second there was a flash or two of lightning in the sky. It was pretty! I happen to enjoy lighting. Is that weird?

Most people here in Mexico buy tortillas premade. A few of the sisters in the ward, however, make their own tortillas. Sometimes they make their own dough, or they buy raw dough from one of the many little shops. One of the sisters taught us how to make tortillas from just the dough. We also found a little tortilla dough shop near our house, so we decided to try today to make tortillas. This is what happens when an inexperienced American and an inexperienced Dominican, with extremely limited cooking tools, try to make Mexican food:
I don't think it turned out too badly. The tortillas were a little ugly, but hey, it was our first time.

As far as the work goes, we broke a record for the number of new investigators we found this week! (Well, it's at least a record for since I've been here). We found a lot of super promising people. Also, one of our investigators, who is basically ready for baptism except that she's living with someone without being married, finally convinced her partner to arrange a marriage. Wahoo!! If everything goes well, we'll be able to baptize her shortly. Also, I might become an official wedding witness, something I've never done before. :) I'll keep you updated.

Also, this is Julieta. She has met with the missionaries before, but when they asked her to get baptized a long time ago, she said no because she didn't think she was ready. We have been meeting with her the last month or so, and we have experienced many miracles with her, and she decided that she wants to get baptized again. Wahoo!! She's a great lady. Her personality is really funny, because she's almost 70 years old, but once we get her going, she acts like a sassy 20 year old. She's great!

Anyway, things are going great here. Thanks for everything! Keep being awesome, everyone!

--
Elder Jakob Schramm

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