Buenos Dias!
Well, it's been starting to get a little more "Christmasy" around here - but definitely not with the weather! It warmed up this past week and it's been perfect! It's been in the 70's pretty solid during the day and not much colder at nights. We used to have to wear our jackets after dinner but now it's fine. Kind of a weird winter, that's for sure. But it's getting so exciting with all the lights and everything! People get super into the decorations, and I don't think I've seen so many lights and big blow-up decorations in all my life. It's definitely pretty when we bike around at night through certain neighborhoods.
Oh, and I have some exciting news that happened this week! I got my bike back and it works great! Cesar worked on it and got it all fixed up for me. Now it's smoother and works better than ever. I had been having issues with the bike tube in there so I replaced it and guess what? On the way back from Cesar's it went super flat and would not stay inflated for any amount of time. We took everything apart and found a huge nail that had just been stuck in there destroying anything that went in, especially when the tube was inflating. That same day Elder Johnson found a nail in his tire (bigger than the one in mine) and had a problem with his tire. I don't think people realize what a workout it is riding a bike with a flat tire! It's hard!
And speaking of bikes, we've realized that our legs have turned into machines. Yes, they're pretty huge, but now they don't hurt a bit, no matter how much biking we do. We're cruising around 20-25 mph without hardly feeling a thing. It makes us feel kind of good, but also realize how ridiculous it is. Hopefully we get a car in not too long, so our nights and teaching appointments can be a little more efficient. We still get to go to a gym in the mornings (we wear ear plugs and bring Preach My Gospel to stay focused), so we get a decent amount of workout these days. It's funny though, you think with all this biking, running, and working out we'd be a little thinner, but that's definitely not the case. We eat well (actually pretty healthy too), and we're staying "well-hydrated".
We had a pretty sweet lesson with the Barraza's last night though! Well, in the terms that we know a whole lot more about what's up and what's keeping them from getting baptized. She's a very stubborn person that if you push or pressure her, she's going to 100% back off. It has to be her, and then they don't know how they're going to get by if they pay tithing. So the good thing is that they both still love church and they love what it's done for their kids. It's just these little concerns that we have to take care of. That and Cesar Jr. has been really distant, exhausted, and not in Church really since he's started wrestling. We're kind of excited because we got permission to join him for wrestling practice today and help him (with wrestling and life - you can do wrestling and all the Church stuff too!). Apparently he's been dropping a ton of weight and stuff. So yeah, we're excited to go help him out.
Well, we had a pretty sweet experience on Saturday as we were going to visit one of our investigators. I decided to bike down this certain avenue on the way there and as we were going down, this lady yelled and waved us over. We had no idea what was going on, but went over and talked to her. She told us how much she wanted to go to Church, and just needed a ride and where it was (for her, her husband, and kids). She told us how she had been praying that we would come by, and really thanked God that He had answered her prayers. We were excited and went to go pick them up Sunday morning. We did find out that they had been baptized in Mexico, but hey, we just built up the Lord's kingdom a little more! That's fine. I definitely know the Lord guides you when you pray and put your faith in Him. Sadly, we had the same luck with investigators at Church this week. We're just going to have to keep working, do a little more fasting and praying, and see what we can do.
We also got to teach some new people again this week! A lot of our new investigators lately haven't been terribly solid, but that's why we're trying to find new people all the time. Last Friday, we taught the wife of this less-active fire fighter guy and it actually went really well. She's way Catholic, but they teach their kids to just read the Bible, search, and pray for answers for any questions they have. Which is perfect! We're going to teach the kids later this week, so we're pretty excited about that. And at the end of the lesson she just said, "Wow, sounds like I better read this book then." We assured her that was what she needed to do :)
That and we finally taught this family Monday that we've been trying to teach for a long time. There's 4 daughters that are really open and like talking to us, and we've been trying to get in to have an official lesson. It was kind of tough, because the dad over and over agiain said how he had talked to so many pastors and gone to different churches, but he simply couldn't change. He's Catholic and that's never going to change. If it was just teaching the daughters it would be a lot simpler, but he's not really open so we're just really praying and hoping the Lord will soften his heart. It was nice to finally go in and have a real lesson though.
And I was able to go to the Christmas devotional on Sunday and it was AMAZING, like always. That's one of my favorite things of the year, and it always helps me focus on what's important in life and in Christmas. As missionaries, Christ is so central to every day that it makes it a little easier for us to always be focused on Him. But we definitely have a renewed desire to become better, more like Him, more humble. more powerful (spiritually more than anything), more willing to submit to the will of the Father.
So we're just busier than ever, really hoping that we get to stay together one more transfer here in Yuma. Life is great - always exciting, always exhausting, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm doing great and loving it. Hoping for a very white Christmas!!
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