This Week in the Books

Hola familia!

This week.... where to start... how about with a funny story?

Tuesday. We were eating lunch with the mom of our Bishop. Everything good. My comp looks at me with a puzzled look and then reaches and pulls something out of my hair. It was a bug about the size of a tick. No biggie... hahha bugs crawling on us is nothing new.

I watch as her eyes get big and she began saying, "No no no no no oh hermana no no no no hermana no!!!! Oh no! Hermana! Abuela! Es un piojo!"

Shoot! I thought, it really must be a tick or some form of a tick that can live in 0 degree weather. Hahaha, the eyes of Abuela got super big and she shouted "Fuego! Ahora!" Hna Torres threw the bug in the fire and then grabbed my head and began looking for more. All of the sudden she said, “Ay no! Hermana!!! Ay no no no no no no no!!” She began pulling out little eggs from my hair.

Turns out “un piojo” is not a tick. It’s a louse.

That day she took out about 200 eggs from my hair and about 45 living lice ranging from the size of a chia seed to the size of an adult louse. As Hna Torres was de egging me, she told me that our family of investigators all have them. She noticed it the last time we went over to their house about 5 days ago. It is really cold so I have my hair down all the time. There are 4 girls in the family, so I got it from them when we would hug them goodbye.

The next morning I washed my hair with vinegar. Haha that was almost a week ago and still my head smells faintly of vinegar....

Kyle, Jake and Joey, you guys have no idea how blessed we are to live where we do. Lice is a plague here. Most of the kids have them because they live with the dogs and cats and their houses are not good. My comp told me that she had lice for 3 years when she was in school. It’s just a part of life growing up in South America. 

…Not going to lie, it isn’t fun having lice when you’re in a lesson and you can feel them crawling around your head…

But oh what a blessing it has been! Every night Hna Torres de bugs and de eggs my head. During this time, we have gotten to know each other so much better. I have so much more respect and patience for her. No, I don’t agree with many things she does, but I understand her better and realize that she is here for a reason, and it is to invite others to come unto Christ. For that, I can be happy that she is my comp. I am so grateful for her. I am grateful that she is my companion. Plus if I had a gringa comp, my head would be even fuller with lice, hahaha! Hna Torres knows a lot about lice and is a pro at de egging (from much experience).

Guess what I have!! It rhymes with mice and they are not very nice....

We had a sleepover last night with the six hermanas that are here in Punta. Para despedir la Hna Torres (to say good-bye to Hna Torres—she’s going home this week).

There was me, 2 from Chile and 3 from Colombia. Again, you guys have no idea how blessed we are. My comp and the 2 other Colombians told us stories all night about times that they have been robbed in the streets or been held at gun point for information and money. They all have been beat up too by the rebels. The hermanas don’t travel by bus if the distance is longer than 2 hours because the rebels and drug cartels do paradas (stops) with the people on the bus and it’s is a guarantee that you will get robbed, clothes and all, and if you resist, they will shoot you. My hna leader was in one of these buses and they beat up a man because he refused. 

While everyone is celebrating Independence Day, with fireworks and parties and all, I’m sitting here in a ciber, still trying to wrap my mind about it. You have no idea how blessed we are to live where we do, that we can leave our house unlocked while we walk over to the neighbors... we are so blessed. 

This week also, we had an investigator come to church!! It was awesome! This is her second time coming to church. Saturday night we shared a really awesome experience we had in church the Sunday before. Our investigator is soooo prepared and is progressing really well.

Unfortunately, she told us something after church that crushed my heart. She asked us, "Why are there so many people on their phones? Nobody seemed to be listening to the talks or paid attention during the bread and water. You guys told me that church is really important and is the highlight of the week, that it is a place where we can receive revelation, yet no one seems to care. Everyone is on their phones or sleeping..."

GUYS LEAVE YOUR *lo siento* STUPID PHONES AT HOME.

You guys are an example for the investigators. It breaks my heart when they are so excited to come to church and they have the faith that they will receive revelacion and then they come and NOBODY says hi or welcome. Nothing. And then everyone is on their phones or sleeping. This is a huge trial we have with our ward. 

The church is a sacred place. We are recovenanting with God that we will follow him, that we will be His disciples. It is a place to receive comfort, solace, and revelation. It is a place where we can feel the love and unity of the saints in our area. Yet so many go in with the attitude of another thing to check off the list. If the talk isn’t interesting, check Facebook or watzapp. During the sacrament, where are our thoughts? How many blessings and inspiration have we denied because of our own self-interest?

This week, we also visited a less active x-bishop and less active returned missionary. That too made me think a lot. It is so sad. I could see in their eyes the regret, the pride, the anger.

Three things we teach to everyone here: OLA Orar, Leer, Asistir (Pray, Read and Go to church). If you do that every day, with real intent, you are set to go.

I think the biggest lesson that I’ve learned so far is the type of member that I want to be when I go home. God loves us so much. We are so blessed. Read your scriptures.

love you all!

$710 pesos (about $1.40) well spent