Opposition in All Things
- Glynis Neves
- Sep 17, 2018
- 6 min read
Drunken songs, expired birth certificate, angry fathers... it's all in a week's work!
Glynis here: It's amazing to see how much Jacob's testimony continues to grow! Each week brings new depth to this awesome young man. How grateful we are for you who support him. He is blessed beyond belief! This week, he sent a special message for Jason Seymour. Jason, he wants you to know that he loves the shoes! They are his favorite pair. He also wants you to know that he thinks about you every day and is so grateful for the example you set for him! I, too, am grateful for the example set for my precious boy! And now, on to this week's adventures.
Hola mis queridos amigos!!! How are you all doing up there in the States? I hope you are all having a good time and are all safe. I am doing great! So tired and sweaty, but I am having a great time. Seriously, it's so much fun to do this work that is so spiritually rewarding.
So, last Monday I had to go into the ghetto. Well, if we are being honest, basically this whole city is one huge ghetto. But I went into the lowest part of an area called Belen. It's where you can buy everything super cheap. While we were there, the first thing my companion told me was to "hold onto your bag for your life." Apparently there are so many thieves there. Well, about 10 drunk guys came up to us and talked to us, and that was pretty darn funny, not gonna lie! Something hilarious that they always do is they "heil" us, as in "Heil, Hitler," and they shout, "Aleluja! Jesu Cristo vive!" and we have to try so hard not to laugh. Sometimes they call us "los esclavos de Jose Smith," but it's just because they don't understand that we want to be here, that the missionary work that we are doing is voluntary. So those are the drunks!
This week we had a goal to finish all of the requirements for the marriage of familia Cuelo, and WE DID IT! We got all the documents in order and planned a reception and even looked for rings, so they could compare prices. We were super excited to get it all done. We went to turn in the documents, to make it all legal, and it turns out that her birth certificate had expired! I didn't even know that was a thing! So, now the wedding won't be this month, but mid-October, which means we won't be baptizing them this month. I was excited to have my first baptism be a family, but it looks like that's not going to happen for a while. Still, they are excited for their wedding, so that's all good.
So, do you remember me telling you about Fran Pezo? He is an investigator that told us that he wants to get baptized, but we can't without the permiso de sus padres (his father's permission). So, we went to his house to start teaching his parents, as well. We knocked on the door and waited, and one of the neighbors yelled at us to hide, because Fran's dad had been drinking and he HATES the Mormons. So we hid! Fran's dad came out and he was as drunk as I've ever seen anyone. He was shouting at the air, at nobody! He was seriously so mad! He couldn't see us, which was a real miracle, because we are positive he would've thrown his beer bottle at us. Well, he yelled and screamed and we waited for him to leave before we came out. That was really scary! If you guys can pray that we will be able to help this family, we would appreciate it! They need the Gospel, and Fran is ready to be baptized, but we have to go through his parents.
Also this week, we went to do some service for a member who recently converted and can't really walk. He is an old man with kids, and he converted to set an example for his children. Unfortunately, his wife won't let the kids come to church with him, but he still limps 3 miles every week to Church because he received an answer that this is the true church. He does this even though his family shames him for it. He is a great example of faith for me. We are going to start teaching his family. We know they could be so happy as a family knowing that they can be together forever.
One of our biggest problems is getting people to attend church. We go to their houses every Sunday morning and wake them up and tell them we will be waiting for them in the chapel. They always say they will come, but they never do. It's really frustrating, especially when it's a person with a baptism date. When they don't come, we have to push back their date further and further. I believe they will start coming. We just have to help them realize the importance of the Sacrament meeting. It is essential!
This week my companion and I are a TRIO! Elder Jackson from Arizona is finishing his mission, and he is with us. This was his first ward, so he is saying good-bye to everyone. He is seriously so funny! I have never met anyone who is as funny as he is. It's all in Spanish and his accent just cracks me up. He's a really good missionary, though, because he makes the investigators laugh, and that builds trust with them. That's so cool!
We gave so many blessings this week! I'm not going to lie, it's so stressful when someone asks you to give them a blessing and you don't know what they are going through. You just have to trust that God will help you find the words to say to help them. Not to mention, it all has to be done in Spanish! But really, it's such a spiritual experience and I love it! I love this gospel and the work that I am doing here!
We taught the Plan of Salvation a lot this week, too. Every time we do, investigators tell us that it sounds so familiar, even though they've never heard it. That is a testimony to me that this plan for us is from our Heavenly Father. Last night we taught it to a family, and the dad started crying. It was really cool.
Yesterday we had a Stake Conference. The sad thing was that there was an apostle here in Iquitos, but in the Stake next door, not ours. We did have two members of the Seventy here, and both of them talked about temples and how important they are. It's interesting, because almost none of the members have been to the temple because they can't afford to fly out to Lima. I can't help but feel that we are going to get a temple here in the near future. That's my prediction, anyway. I feel the Spirit saying it's so important. So, I hope it happens. Just imagine, a temple in the jungle! How pretty would that be??? There's so many people here and members, too. There are 4 Stakes here in the city, so who knows? If it's God's will, we will get a temple!
Lastly, a few random things. So, I saw a jazz band! Really, they sounded so bad, but it was cool to see a trumpet again, and there was also a Euphonium! They really didn't sound good at all, but it made me happy, and I felt a little piece of home on my mission! One last thing, that I think is hilarious: whenever we are walking down the street, the little kids who are playing soccer always stop and follow me. They all want to touch me to see if I'm real because they have never seen a gringo before. It's kind of weird, but I shake all of their hands, and ask who their parents are, and all that. It's really funny!
Con mucho amor,
Elder Neves
P.S. Sorry there are not a lot of pictures. We can only use the cameras when it's a special occasion. Today we are going into a part of the jungle, so next week you will all get more pictures!
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