Elder Jake Welch: 04-06-15 to 04-13-15 Week of experiences!

Wow, i did lots this week! So Monday night, we went over to the house of Luz and her daughter and we starting to talk about the importance of marriage, because after we do that, Luz wants to be baptized! But her daughter attends another church called the Cruzada, and the missionaries that teach her showed up. One named Ana celia, a black woman and one named Luz Maria, an older woman. The daughter asked if they should go to the dining table in the back of the house and Ana said "no, i wanna hear what they have to say". So we were all cheerful and introduced ourselves but she did not look happy. I saw something was gonna go down! She introduced herself and was very stern and said that their church is true and all this other jazz. So we're just like "lets explain the Book of Mormon to show what we're all about!" and the crap hit the fan! She just started Bible bashing and my comp started too! I was just watching thinking "shoooot". It was kinda fun though. But the contention made me feel really anxious. It got to the point where i thought "nah this aint going anywhere. i need to testify". So i bore my testimony. I said that i KNOW in the name of Jesus Christ that the Book of Mormon is true and that God loves us and gave us prophets again in these latter days. And the Holy Ghost spoke power through me, (i saw the fear in her eyes haha). But after she just brought up something from way earlier that she disagrees with and i knew she was shaken. But the contention was so awful i just felt a bad presence. So i said "come on lets go" to my comp, but Sister Luz and her daughter were like "NO NO LET'S PRAY" while Ana just rattled off! It was a mess! So we prayed and left. But it was interesting! I didnt like how it felt but it felt good to testify of the truth in a "hostile venue" like it says in Doctrine and Covenants. I know the Church is true and no amount of gospel knowledge from anyone can convince me otherwise.

Tuesday was a pretty good day! Luz and her daughter called us over to their house after lunch and apologized profusely and said that they loved how we remained passive and loving in that situation and they also did NOT like how Ana acted and said that she was a very rude woman haha. So yay! God 1 Satan 0! hahahah! That day we met with investigators, and on our way home that night it started to rain. Then rain harder. Then HARDER! So we dropped off the member who came with us and started home because at this point it was POURING! It was the hardest rain I've seen in my life. It got to where there was about 6-7 inches of water flowing like a river down the road and wow! We were up past our ankles in water! It was crazy! When we got to the apartment, i was so wet, it was like i jumped into a pool wearing my clothes. Nuts!

Wednesday was cool! We went to Gato Monte to visit Armando again. He's just such a cool dude. He let us chop some sugar cane with a machete and we've been snacking on it ever since. It was pretty crazy though because when we left we had to walk about an hour to the bus because our taxi couldn't come get us! So we were just walking through this area and WOW the houses are huge! Mansions! Its also a red zone that every one says is full of Guerilla so I'm pretty sure theyre all drug lords. But nothing really happened to us. I saw a man on a side road a way off that may of had a gun i couldnt tell but he was standing as if he were guarding it. GUERILLA. But it was a good time and a nice man let us ride for free to Jamundi in the back of his truck so SCORE! I also tried my first Cholado that day. Its like a fruit icy dessert that Jamundi is famous for! It was pretty good. But it was chill.

Thursday was pretty boring and normal but Friday was chill! We met a new investigator named Jose and he's pretty funny! But he's loaded with hard (and unimportant) questions, such as "where did the black race begin?" i dont know! Does it pertain to my salvation? but he was cool and his wife is super nice and they wanna listen.

Saturday we went to Santander as a district to do some service. A brother from the ward that we went with last time had us help mix concrete because he's remodeling his house. It was hard work but a good time. Afterwards, he drove us to his grandmas house in his sweet 74 Toyota land cruiser and we chatted with them for a while. Its a super cool house thats pretty secluded and all open! It 's a cool place! But it was a good day helping out and getting to know more people.

Sunday was a pretty average Sunday. Luz came to church without us even saying anything that morning which was a HUGE step! i also got pretty frustrated with the ward again. In ward counsel they didnt talk about anything and it was really unproductive. Although we have over 100 less actives. So that's a bummer. But I'm gonna try and make some calls, do some studying and see if i cant help out. But yeah thats about it. It was a pretty good week! Hope all is well, and i love you all!

Elder Welch