It has been such a marvelous week this week! My new companion is Hermana Gamarra from Peru! I was super excited for this change and am really happy to be here in Los Naranjos. I am freezing cold...but I had a good welcoming here! The members are so wonderful and loving. They take really good care of the missionaries and I already feel so so much love for the people here in this area! I am really excited to work with the members here in Los Naranjos. They seem to be more willing to help and to contact their friends here. Also, there is so much potential here in Los Naranjos! When we did our weekly planning, I asked Hermana Gamarra if she would make me a list of all of the people that they are teaching right now and we set goals to set 11 baptismal dates in our first change here with the investigators that we have and we are working to find even more people. I am hoping to see some big things happen in this area over the next six weeks. We are going to work as much as we possibly can to leave with the members. Right now we have plans with at least one member every day. We need the prayers that they wont fall through!
My companion is a good missionary. We made the goal day 1 here that we are going to be exactly obedient and that we aren't going to let these investigators fall through without a good fight first. My faith is bigger that it has ever been and I am so so excited to start in this new area and see success! We definitely have our differences that we are going to have to overcome but I am expecting a good change here and hoping that we will have 2 changes together so I can send here home :) haha I have always wanted to kill someone in the mission...and now I have a chance with my companion as she heads home in July :) Also I am hoping I can stay here in Los Naranjos for a while...the cold is cold but nice for a change and i don't mind having to wear thick tights and a sweater all day :) :)
One thing that I have learned through out this week is the importance of the book of mormon in conversion. Hermana Gamarra teaches with the book of mormon in every single lesson. I wish that I would have applied this more in Turin. I feel like the investigators that we had in Turin only kept their commitments for their commitment that they felt that they had to us. I have learned that if we share our love for the book of mormon from lesson 1 they will grow to love it too and will keep their commitments to read out of love for what they are reading and love for God. The Book of Mormon is the keystone to conversion.
My time is going to be shorter to write in this area as we live an hour from the city of Juauyua where we write and the bus only passes every 2 hours, so we are limited on our time. But I will do the best I can to send pictures and write every week :) But we also get to talk in a couple of weeks for skype!!!!!!!! I need you to tell me a time and what day you want to skype. President said we can skype on the 8th or on the 10th...so it is up to you!!!! But I need to know for sure this next Monday...and if we can do it exactly like we did the last time...if Mara can send me a link...that would be super chivo. I love you all so so very much. Take care and enjoy this week! And never lose sight of the tree of life. There's nothing that's worth losing your salvacion. Love everyone. Serve others. Read in the Book of Mormon every day and have faith in the Lord. He is our best friend and our greatest apoyo if we will just let him into our lives!
DECISIONS DETERMINE DESTINY.
Hermana Stoor
Los Naranjos is how I imagine Dads mission in Colombia...hiking through fincas of coffee all day long! I LIVE IN THE LAND OF COFFEE...and those who break the word of wisdom.
We got lost in a finca yesterday and then got caught in first rainstorm of the season as we ran more than a mile to the house of a member. We were soaked from head to too...but happy as ever :)
Here we are crawling under a fence to get out of the coffee field...my companion thinks I'm crazy :)
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