Bible Stasher...

Literally. See pictures below… Jane, a lady that the missionaries had been visiting before, got back from a long vacation this week so we went to visit her. Her husband loved to travel and visited almost every country possible after he retired and in every one, he bought a Bible. In the photos below, probably about 80 percent of the books are bibles!! She has over 400!!! And better yet, we found a Book of Mormon from 1975 that she didn’t even know she had. Coincidence…?Anyways, I got to know Jane a little better this week and man has she got quite the story. She is 68 years old, widowed with 2 kids, and very very wealthy. She has been coming to church for months and wants to be baptized but has one thing holding her back…her boyfriend. Who could be her son- he is 39 years old. It is very clear that he is taking advantage of her money and even she knows it but just can’t seem to end the relationship. Her husband didn’t treat her very well and this is literally the first time she has loved someone. Even though she knows he is taking advantage of her and has other women she absolutely adores him and doesn’t have the courage to break it off. It is sad, she doesn’t have faith that a leap of faith will make her so much happier in the end. That ending it with him will hurt for a while but is so much better in the long run. We are so frustrated because we want so bad to help her but she won’t do her part. We can’t end the relationship for her. But it made me think a lot about how many times we do the same thing with God. We know exactly what we should do, but don’t do it because it will be hard, because we don’t want to let go of something or someone, or we don’t have faith that the future could be better. I imagine God being so frustrated because he sees our potential and how much happier we could be if we just followed him and took that little leap of faith. He wants so bad to bless us, to help us, but He can’t do our part. He gave us our agency, our ability to choose, and that is literally the only thing we have to claim for ourselves. Whether or not Jane is baptized, I am grateful for the change of perspective she gave me. And also the mini Bible I can carry in my bag.

Sister Laredo, a Sister from Mexico, stayed with us almost all week because her companions were in divisions with other sisters. She is the best and our 4 days with her consisted of a pizza “pool party”a demonic cat that chased us out of a beco, ice cream, and lots of laughs. We also spent the whole day Tuesday with Thaysa, who is preparing for a mission this year. We have been combining with the members and it helps so much to have them with us and help create friendships with the people we are teaching.

Speaking of which, we are still helping Sarah and Lis prepare for baptism. They are absolutely loving church and the leader of the youth girls is 23 and just got back from a mission so she is helping us a lot with helping the girls feel comfortable and welcome. We love them.

Other random occurrences of the week:

- A payphone on the street started ringing out of nowhere so I answered it. Why not, right: The person on the other end was very confused when I explained that I was a missionary and quickly hung up

- Drunk guy on the street started talking to us and said he never knew that God sent beautiful angels to earth as missionaries. The conversation didn’t last long

- Edna went to the temple for the first time and LOVED it!!

- Started talking with another guy on the street and he started calling me pretty eyed blonde. Sometimes it is hard to be a sister missionary

- Catholic church here had a parade/movement in regards to the fact that our neighborhood is literally falling apart. See video…

- Finally fixed my guitar!

All good stuff. Missionary life is always an adventure and I am very grateful for the experiences I am given here. A missionary who served here a year ago came back to visit yesterday and talked about how much she wishes she could go back and relive it again. I am in love with this work and this place and don’t regret for one second choosing to serve a mission.
Love,

Sister Lauren Mather

Janes Bible library
divisions with Thaysa
pizza and pool... as much of a party as it can get
lunch with Edna and friends
Sunday night