Happy Halloween Meaties! To one and all! How does it fare? Well, the world is just swell here in Atahualpa, my new sector. All is well over here, we`re contacting, visiting, and just working hard. (And as for new experiences, I`ve finally had my first 2 bowls of Chicken-Foot soup and lamb stomach! Yum Yum!) My comp, Elder Gomez, is just swell too. Essentially, this sector is pretty similar to Carapungo, only it`s a little more `dangerous´at night. So, it`s only a matter of time before I get my real first mugging, but we are being really safe about how we travel about. And that`s not the only danger, I have 2 swell stories! The first one is: yes, we did feel the Earthquake. So we`re sitting, studying, and then what started out as what we thought was a normal plane passby quake turned more dramatic. Yes, the whole city shook for a grand total of 5 seconds, but it sure got our hearts pumping! Excitement!
Ok, here`s the fun one: over here Elder Gomez and I LOVE guinellos (fresh picked bananas), and we buy tons of them. Take a very close look at the one in the picture, looks Tasty, eh? Anyways, we were pretty much overtly excited to have just purchased this giant bunch of bananas when we noticed some leaves and webbing on the back. Perturbed by the filthyness on our banana stash, we whipped out a lighter to easily burn away the white web. But Lo! The moment flame touched the web ball, simultaniously a giant banana spider lunged forth as hundreds of it`s babies spewed forth instantaniously everywhere. We practically screamed, tossing the infected bunch into the sink as the hundreds of baby spiders spread quickly all over the bananas, the table, and the frigde. Frantically, we killed all the small ones before they could incubate in some cranny of our home, and proceeded to pour tons of boiling water on the bunch of bananas, killing all life while still preserving our beloved fruit. Looking back at the picture, I can`t believe I was holding a whole infestation of spiders right up against my face. Fun times, eh!? (I`m drawing a comic about it right now, but didn`t finish it in time to send this week, but by next monday, it shall be ready!)
Ok, now here`s the spiritual side of what`s been happening. So, since we`re both new to this sector, we have done tons of finding new famlies to teach, since we`re pretty much starting from scratch. (except for one family, The Gonzalos, he`s already assisted church once and lives right across the street, yes! Automatic investigator! ) And lately, we`ve been teaching a new family we found on Tuesday, the familia Torres. It`s 2 parents with 2 kids, and their whole family is DEEPLY rooted into the Catholic church, so it`s been a little tricky to teach them, but it`s really neat to see that as we explain the Book of Mormon, the restored church and authority, and other doctrine, you can see the understanding in their faces, but they don`t want to change because they`ve been rooted in their church their entire lives. (and by their reactions, I think Cecilia, the mom, is afraid to know if this church really is the true church, and the changes and sacrifices she`ll have to make in order to live to the highest standard of God) BUT, the real thing I want to share is that yesterday, close to the end of the lesson, as we were closing and i was bearing my testimony, I felt the spirit in a way I`ve never felt it before. (because normally, it`s rather like an enveloping peaceful feeling) But instead, I felt it as if it were a literal burning in my bosom, enfusing my heart and feeling on the brink of shedding tears. The spirit was testifying at that moment. I felt it, and I truly hope they felt it too, and did not try to shove it off, but that was quite honestly the first time ever felt something like that, and thought that it was something I`d like to share with you guys at home.
So, read your scriptures, check your bananas before eating them, and have a happy Halloween!
-Elder Sanders
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