This week has been one of the best weeks in the mission for sure! Monday was hard but after being able to talk to my president and others, we had a NDH (Noche de Hogar - Family Home Evening) with our Venezuelan investigators and some Venezuelan members. It was really good because I taught 1 Nephi 8 and was able to explain a lot of great advice after what I had felt hours earlier. Also, I received a package from my friend from home, Madi, on Monday, which was PERFECT timing.
The next day, our pension was having a bad day.. she has had a VERY hard life and she basically told us her life story. I was able to share what Dad said about passing through our personal Gethsemane´s, passing those "Thursdays and Fridays", but in the end, "Sunday" will come and it'll all be worth it. It was such perfect timing to be able to share that.
During this week I've had a TON of spiritual experiences though. My companion and I taught "The Restoration" after not having taught it in a while. It was a super spiritual lesson and we were able to invite a new investigator, Paul, to baptism for the 10th of March. He's 13 and his grandma is a member.
We also went and helped out the Patriarch, whose business almost went up in flames due to the 8 house fire that went up last week. He lost everything on his last floor. It was pretty sad. We got a lot of work done though. My companion didn’t really want to work the whole time and wanted to leave after 30 minutes, saying we were wasting our time. He fell after jumping off a seat onto a shampoo filled floor and also cut his finger on something. Later during the day he kept saying he was upset that his shirt got dirty and that his finger was black and kept saying how mad he was. It was hard to hear him complaining about those things when this family we had just helped had lost so much.
Cory and another elder working to clean up after the fire.
The damage done after the fire.
Thursday was an AWESOME day! We taught Ariana the first half of the Plan of Salvation in the bishop's house and tied it in with repentance and baptism. The spirit was SUPER strong! It's been one of the best lessons of my mission. I explained to her about baptism and shared 3 Nephi 11:32-33 then explained more. At first she kept trying to run from the fact we were talking about baptism and kept trying to change the subject but the spirit was so strong, she just slowly stopped trying to change the subject and it just ended up her listening. I invited her for baptism on the 10th of March and SHE ACCEPTED! Super hyped honestly.
I was talking to Harold (one of the YSA) and he said he talked to her after that and she explained she has never felt anything like that and she accepted baptism because she “felt something different that day.” It was the highlight of my week for sure!
On Friday, Elder Johnson came up to Trujillo and has been staying in our room for the past 3 days. Man I love that kid! Super sad to see the guy go home but it's been real with him. Him, Elder Velasquez and I just bro´d it down these past few days and talked a bunch. Also, Saturday night we got some pizza and drank mate. Love it. It's been real with him though.
Anyway. That’s pretty much it for this week. I'm looking forward to a.. new experience.. I love you all and have a great week!
Otuafi, Elder Rokovitz
After a District p-day.
Me and Elder Velazquez.
A baptism that the sisters had.
