Every time I've been changed from an area, a series of events tend to happen that make me feel like my time in that area is complete and it's time for me to move on. This weeks events have been no different.
On Tuesday, we went to a town called La Estancia. We visited some members there and met with Diana, a 13 year old girl we have been teaching. We finished up in La Estancia and had made plans to move on to another town called El Ciruelo. About a year ago, the missionaries started a family group in El Ciruelo, but it didn't last long because there was only one member who attended and the people they were teaching, and the member stopped going to church and so did the people they were teaching. While we were walking along the highway to get to El Ciruelo, a mysterious black truck stopped and people started getting out. We met Marcos, a great guy who is a member of the church and currently lives in Salt Lake. He also introduced us to his sister, Santa Cruz, who lives in a town about 15 kilometers past Eld Ciruelo called Santo Domingo, and is interested in learning about the church. We gave them a Book of Mormon and set an appointment for Friday.
We went with Santa Cruz and her husband, Misael, and her dad, Emigdio on Friday. At first, they were reluctant, but they immediately served us tamal de tichinda (tamales with mussels) and we got chatting. They opened right up and we had a great lesson. Marcos relived his mission days and shared his testimony of the first vision, and they all committed to read the Book of Mormon, which they've been dong. Going to church is hard because Santo Domingo is 80 minutes and $130 pesos from Pinotepa, so that's why it would be so important to start a family group close to them.
About 5 minutes after we met Marcos and Santa Cruz, we contacted 2 women waiting for the pasajera (pickup truck that takes people places). They invited us to come and share a message with them. They also live in Santo Domingo.
We got to El Ciruelo and the first guy we met was a member of the church from Acapulco, whose wife is from... Santo Domingo. We got their phone number and they told us to visit all of her family and friends.
We then found a family that the missionaries used to teach, and met a few new interested people and found out where the member lives. So when we got done filling our lives with people to visit in La Estancia, El Ciruelo, and Santo Domingo, we were fresh out of time to be able to focus on Yutandayoo and Pinotepa as well.
We received a letter from Presidente Treviño today informing us that Yutandayoo will be receiving its own companionship of missionaries next Monday. If the work goes as well as it's going, Yutandayoo will be a branch by the end of the year and El Ciruelo will be well on its way. It makes me feel so good to know that I've been part of something so great.
On Wednesday, we were asked to go do 2 baptismal interviews in a city about 2 hours from Pinotepa called Ometepec. We went, and the girls who were supposed to have their interviews had gone to visit their cousins in Vista Hermosa (a village in our area). We then ate lunch and left without doing a single baptismal interview. It was a waste of 5 hours, $220 pesos, and that was some of the worst Chinese food I had ever eated. I'm not salty.
On Saturday we had a Ministering Activity in our area. I went with Elder Oliva, mi primer hijo, my first trainee in the mission, and Presidente Bautista, the branch presidente. We went to Yutandayoo and had some great lessons. It brought back the good ole days of Elder Oliva and I working in Costa Azul, but he's learned alot since we were companions, so it was a lot less stressful for me.
On Sunday, we went to a funeral. I hate funerals. I hate funerals. I always cry, even if I don't know the person well, because I watch their family, and the family cries. And their friends cry. And then I get empathetic and I feel their pain and then I cry and then I look like a fool and I get a headache. But Hermana Juana, the mom or grandma of almost every member or everyone we teach in Yutandayoo, passed away on Saturday. The funeral was a little irreverent, but really, reverence isn't really a thing here. I did get a free bottle of Coke, which was great, but as I watched so many people I love say their last goodbyes to somebody they love so much, I cried, but then I was so thankful for the knowledge that I have of the Plan of Salvation. Death is not the end, and families can be together forever. And the best part is it's not just a doctrine that sounds pretty, it's the truth.
I don't know if the next time you all hear from me if I'll be in Cuernavaca in my final days, or if I'll be home. I'm not really sure how it's possible for the day to go home has come, but here it is. Leaving Pinotepa will be hard, but I'm excited for the next adventure that lies ahead of me. I love all y'all! Have a great week!
-Elder Aldrich
FOTOS
1) The only good thing that came out of our trip to Ometepec was that we bought a kilo of Trix cereal for only $50 pesos! (That's a ridiculously high quantity for a ridiculously low price for name brand cereal.) We were thrilled. And it's already gone.
2) We drank out of cocos. Ahh, it never gets old.
