The unexpected unexpectedly happened....expectedly

Hola family and friends!

A lot of things happened this week, so focus, Dory, focus as there is a lot of names to be given, puns to unleash, and quotes to share and this is the last time we'll be able to talk before the test next week.  ;)

Tuesday was our Bible study, and the first picture is the group that showed up.  

In the front is our branch president, President Begay and his wife right next to him.  Alva is right next to her, and the two people in between Elder Jackman and I are her daughter, RuthAnn and granddaughter, Taylor. RuthAnn has been less-active for a guesstimated 10 years at least (Taylor isn't a member), and she moved back to Laguna, the village of Casa Blanca, to get out of a rough situation. They now live in a "barn" that is probably barely bigger than the cars you all drive, and they had to get all the mice out and even then they wake up in the middle of the night with spiders on them.  But we helped them a little bit with the cleaning and we'll be weeding for them this week.  They ended up coming to the Bible Study (this week was Christ's baptism), and RuthAnn shared quite a bit and said that her moving back here is her gentle reminder from God to read the scriptures and come closer to him, it was an awesome spiritual experience.  Near the end of the study, Elder Jackman then felt that we needed to ask Taylor what she feels.  She responded and said something similar to, "I want to follow the path of Jesus Christ and be baptized."  The Spirit came in and basked in the 10 seconds of silence that followed.  We will be meeting with them this week to begin the lessons and figure out when a good date for her baptism will be. :D

Then Wednesday happened.  I almost got away with not telling anyone that it was my birthday, but we went to the senior center, where within five seconds of being there, Elder Jackman started the wildfire that happens when you tell one older lady a secret and she has a bunch of friends there: that lady asked me how old I was turning, then she guessed 16.  I thought she was joking, but I guess I'm only good at sensing jokes, not seriousness.  That sums up most of that day. XD

One of the ladies there, an investigator named Theresa, found out and went and made me a cake and brought it to the relief society activity, which is the second picture, the strawberry cake.  It was a nice surprise, and I would've been fine without the cake, but it was really nice.  She said she was my mom for the day because she made the cake. XD

Now we jump to Saturday.  We had been helping Theresa with her mom's 93 birthday party that was going to be Saturday so when it came time for the party to actually start, she said how grateful she was for the people showing up and everything... then she said, "Oh, before I forget, I want to introduce two of my friends, Elder Jackman and Elder Dial.  They're from the Mormon church and they have helped a lot with this party.  If you need any help with yard work or house work, contact them because they'll help and they'll share some of the word of God from the Bible with you."  We were completely caught off guard, but it was awesome to have an investigator do that without prompting!

Picture three: that is one investigator, Becky.  She has been taught for over a year, and she has only one thing holding her back from being baptized: she's been smoking for 50 years. This is the relationship we have with her.  She gets mad at us if we don't act ourselves around her or if we don't treat her house like our own.  She goes in for surgery this week, and we might not be able to see her for 2 weeks, at least, but with transfers happening while she'll be gone, we decided to get pictures now just to be safe. :) 

Sorry this one is such a long one, but know that I love you all, and there has been a lot of good things happening here and there, I'm sure!  Keep a smile on your face, and don't ever try to be someone you're not- but try to become a better you today than you were yesterday!

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

Elder Eli James Dial