Week #32: Teaching the Plan of Salvation

Rio Blanco Zone with President and Sister Ruiz and Elder Adrian Ochoa

The ball has started rolling over here in the mountains, and things are going good. This week has been filled with alot of traveling and long bumpy hours in buses.
      The week has been a little bit scattered to say the least. we were only in our area Tuesday Wednesday, Sunday and part of Saturday.  This hurts our ability to go out and find new people in the week, which is one of my favorite parts in the misión. Every time we find or start talking to someone new it;s like jumping into a new book a life completely different than our own, with new tales, stories and adventures that are completely unique.
            However, on the bright side we did have the chance to listen Elder Adrian Ochoa on friday...in Reu in a conference.   Traveling to Reu is always an adventure...it is about a five and a half hour bus ride from my area - except it is split up in three difference bus rides so there is added time finding and waiting for the different buses.   I don't know any of you have seen the buses here - but we are not talking about luxury bus lines or even Greyhound.  They are crowded to the brim with people three to a seat and two to the little gap in the isle.   And the buses are not quite built for me, if all of you back home remember I am about 2 meters tall...or in other words to big to ride this ride (the buses).  When we were traveling to away games during football season in high school,  legroom in a normal bus with two people in the seat was a challenge.  Without a doubt my knees hitting the seat in front of me caused knew pain by the time I get home, it is a different level here, with no room and no personal space the whole ride.  But this just adds to the adventure and creates opportunities to talk to fellow bus riders and their animals as I bump, hit or stumble upon them.
          The week has been overall successful.  On tuesday we took a 40 min walk to a part in our área called sector Perez (I assume there must be a lot of Perez's there) and visited a family (not named Perez) we have been visiting for a good month or so now. When we arrived over at their little house on the top of a great big hill my comp started to help Carmelina, the mom, with the dishes she was washing and started to teach her.  In the mean time I walked over to a sunny little patch of grass that the kids were doing their homework in. As my comp taught their mom I pulled out the little puzzle of "el plan de salvacion"  that my parents sent me.   I made a game out of it all and told them all about the plan of salvation. When we finished the puzzle and explaining the different parts  I asked each of the little ones which of these 3 do you want to go to? (the sun , the moon, or the stars) they all said: the sun.( Why?) because its brighter and Jesus lives there!  I told them that we need to do a few things in order to get there.  Faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost and to endure to the end.  After a little bit I asked Grace if she thinks she needs to be baptised. and she said she wants to be baptised on the 7th. Cool right! (would have been cooler if the other little ones didn't loose parts of the puzzle when I went to talk to their brother but kids will be kids right and the loss of the parts was worth it because Esben the brother said he wants to get baptised as well) five minutes later the mom came over interested in the puzzle as well and so I went through the whole thing again with her children helping along the way. She too accepted the 7th as a day for her to get baptised.
      Sunday was a pretty interesting day as well. In the morning we woke up early to head down to the house of this family and bring them to church.   The mom ended up not being able to come but Grace and Esben could and on the way down from their house we ran into Alejandro (their uncle and our investigator).  Church went great and the both of them loved it.  During the 3rd hour I got a call from one of the pilas members in the branch asking if we could do divisions and go visit someone with him real quick. Of course I said yes and so I went outside to go with him.  Little did I know that he was about to take me on a motorcycle ride to Manzanas, and after the ride the joven ended up not being there, but we left a note with him and came back.  This was the first time I had ever been on a motorcyle in my life (because Dadio doesn't approve of them, but I bet the mission dad, President Ruiz doesn't approve of them either, but it was for a good cause, in doing good) and going through all the twist and turns of the mountains made it all the better.
       This week has been great. and I love this área more and more as I come to know these members more and more.  Things are great and the misión life is good!   Tell everyone to right, and if they have any recipes to send them along.  Looking for something different we can make in our skillets.