11-10-14

Hey guys! Sorry I couldn´t write a group email last week, a lot has happened!  So  these past two weeks have been super crazy! Our pool of investigators was getting thinner and thinner last week! People just didn´t want to talk to us or answer their doors!  The mom of Antony (The one that got angry at us) Still wouldn´t answer our texts or answer the door!   Sebastian, the boy that were teaching, was progessing, but super slowly.  So that was last week, but we continued to talk to everyone, and kept working hard. THIS week has been a week of miracles!!! Holy cow!    All the hard work brought blessings for sure!  So, the begginning of the week started out kind of the same. No one really was progessing, Sebastian Did come to church last Sunday, but we really had to push him to go!  We taught him on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday, and then had to go to a conference in Montevideo on Thursday, and then Zone Conference on Friday!  (Those were awesome by the way! This really is the Best mission in the church, and my zone rocks!  Everyone in so obedient, and it really does bring blessings!) On Wednesday night,  we had a little bit of time to go see Sebastian. So we went, and he was playing soccer with his buddies. We played with them  for a little bit, and we won!    We were pretty proud of ourselves, but Sebastian was pretty upset that we beat him.   He wouldn´t let us talk to him!     Hahaha we even ran to a little Almacen down the street and bought him cookies to bribe him, but he just wouldn´t listen! So we learned that we ALWAYS have to let little kids win soccer games!    So we left to the conferences not really knowing where we stood. (He was supposed to get baptized on that Saturday- Last  Saturday)     So we got back from the conferences, and went to go play another game with him, only this time, we were going to let him win!   We went, and he Beat us!     Hahaha so he was happy again, and we were relieved!    We got all the Charlas in, and he was baptized this past Saturday!     YES!!!! We were so happy to see him make that covenant, but we sure were exhausted. The whole time teaching him has been like a roller coaster, we never know if he´s home, or if he´ll listen! (He´s 8)    But anyway, we baptized and confirmed him this weekend, and everything turned out alright!   So that was miracle number one. Number two, His parents, who didn´t really want anything to do with with the church this whole time, went to his baptism, and loved it. We talked to them afterwords, and they told us that they  really liked the baptism, and were thinking about talking taking the discussions!   HOLY COW! They also aren´t married, and in Uruguay, it takes A TON to get married, and they told us that they would think about it!  I KNOW that the Lord softens hearts, and that the spirit is the real teacher. After so long of being in their house teaching their son, the spirit finally penetrated into their hearts! We are going to see what happens, but that was miracle number two. NUMBER THREE!!!!!!!! We talked to Marianna, the mom of Antony, and it turns out that the WHOLE thing was a giant misunderstanding! (Just to remind you, she had asked us to turn off her light braker after they left to Montevideo on a trip. They had forgotten to do that, and need us to do that. So we did, and a couple days later, we got a text from her saying that the lights were still on, and that we were no longer welcome in her house.)   So what really happened was, that after they left to go to Montevideo, her Ex boyfriend, who is kind of crazy, told her that the lights were still on, and that we didn´t turn them off.  She belived him, and sent of that text. When they got home, she realized that we DID turn it off, and she tried to text us, BUT her phone stopped working, and she couldn´t send messages!  So the whole time, she has been trying to get a hold of us, and couldn´t! She isn´t mad!!! She told us that we could come back, and that she is just dying to get her son Baptized!   So we are going to start teaching Antony again!!!    YES!!!!!!!!   MIRACLE FOUR!!! There is an Hermano in the branch who has two grandkids. We found their neighbors first, and started teaching them, and then these grandkids showed up, and then little by little a bunch of little kids heard that we were teaching them! We have a little pool of investigators on this street, and a lot of them kind of really want to be baptized!    hahaha we are going to see how it goes, but it was definetly the Lord´s hand! We have really been trying to show the Lord that we want to bring people unto Him, by talking with EVERYONE we cross paths with in the street, and inviting as many people as we can to be baptized. Probably 0 of the people we invite to be baptized in the street will get baptized, but by doing this, we show Heavenly Father our desire. Because of that, he blesses us With people who ARE ready and prepared to be baptized, and I truly have a testimony of that now!   

This church is true! The Lord really is hastening his work. People are being prepared, and it is our responsibility to find those people, and invite them to Christ. THAT STARTS WITH THE MEMBERS!   

I hope you all have a wonderful week!   ¡Vamos arriba!

Elder Carroll