Week Sixty-Two: People Are Great!

Area: Arvin Spanish Group
Companion: Hermana Luquette

This was a pretty good week. We have been working hard and seeing success from all of our efforts. It has been starting to heat up here. I must have been spending too much time in the cold because I am getting super uncomfortable in the heat. That is bad news because it is supposed to be in the high eighties this week.

This week has been a good start to the new transfer. Hermana Luquette and I are still together here in Arvin, so we are having a lot of fun down here. I am excited to be able to serve in this part of the Lord's Vineyard for the next couple of weeks. Everyone has been staying outside recently because of the pleasant weather, so we have been able to talk to tons of people.

Early on this week, we were walking down the road when we saw a man standing in his yard. We started talking to him and we noticed right from the start that he was a little strange. We told him that we were missionaries and he asked us if we had ever heard of Asaroth, the Angel of Death. We told him that we hadn't and he said, "Of course you haven't. They don't want you to know about him. But I got a picture of him on my phone." He proceeded to tell us that he stands outside of the retirement home and waits for people to die and then takes pictures of their windows. He showed us the picture that he took and it was just static. We told him that we couldn't see anything and he said that we must not be pure in heart. Awkward. . . Then, he showed us a picture that he took of God. It was another picture of static. After Hermana Luquette saw the picture, she said that even though she hasn't seen God, she knows that He is there. The man then said, "What do you mean that you haven't seen God? You just saw a picture of him!" It was super funny! You see and learn something new every day!

Early one morning, we were parked in an area and got out of the car to talk to people. There was a lady on the phone next to where we were parked, so we asked her if we could just give her our card. She said that we could. As we were writing out our information, we started to notice that there were tire marks all over the yard. The yard was completely destroyed and there was glass and broken car parts all over the yard. We found out that a car had been doing donuts in the street when it lost control and crashed into a parked car. We were able to help out a little bit and later, we were able to take advantage of the fact that everyone had come out to see the rubble in the street.

We were walking down the street on Saturday when we saw a man destroying a plastic rake with a hammer and a chisel. He never made it clear to us why he was doing that. We started talking to us and he started rambling about the Bible. He talked to us nonstop for about ten minutes. While he was talking to us, another man came up and interrupted our conversation. I started talking to that man and Hermana Luquette was left to talk to the man with the rake. While I was talking, I heard the man talking to Hermana Luquette. He said that he was looking for a wife and then he asked her if she would marry him. It was super awkward. We made a quick retreat!

This week, we started teaching a lady named Josephina. She is the friend of a member in the ward and has been to church a lot of times already. She is super sweet! The first time we went over to teach her, she was making lunch. She told us to sit down at the table and made some for us as well. It was sweet. We dined on sauteed cactus and scrambled eggs. Que rico! To top it all off, she gave us a stack of homemade tortillas to take home with us in a beautiful hand-embroidered towel. It was beautiful.

We are still teaching Refugio and he is doing wonderfully. It was nice to see him at church yesterday. We went over and taught him afterwards and he said that he was able to feel a special spirit there and that he knows that going to church is a responsibility and a blessing. He is so cool! I love teaching him.

I love being a missionary! I have been able to see the hand of the Lord in so many ways this week. I know that I am in the place I need to be right now! I love the gospel and I know that it is true! Have a good week!

Hermana Blau