Hermana Taylor was sick this Tuesday, and luckily for her health but not the work, all of our appointments fell through. Luckily she's feeling better than she did then, but is still having some funny stomach issues. We're getting medicine at the store today, so hopefully it'll make it better. She's been so good to stick it out and be strong and have a positive attitude with everything. Even when we ate oysters soaked in lemon juice and tapitio.
We met Miguel and Filomena, as well as Manual and Ivan this week. Filomena and Miguel did a lot of the talking, explaining why alcohol is bad to Manual and Ivan since they had been drinking when we showed up. They both have a lot of faith and loved watching the Restoration video with the elders before we got here. They looked forward to us sharing a scripture and we read one about keeping commandments in 3 Nephi. They invited us to have a bbq with them yesterday, but when we went back, it was only Ivan and Manuel. We talked about the Book of Mormon and finding happiness. Manuel only speaks Spanish, but Ivan preferred to speak in English. So when we would talk to Ivan and English, Manuel read 6 pages in the Book of Mormon. How awesome is that? We're going back Friday and they might come to church next week.
We met with Lily twice this week. Our concern with her is that she doesn't really seem to have "real intent." So we went over Friday (when we ususally go over Saturday, but didn't think we'd be able to because of a baptism we were helping at) to read Moroni 10:3-5 with her and talk about how real intent includes being willing to act on the answers you receive. We started by singing a song, which brought in the Spirit so much, and then talked about real intent. She says that she is prepared, but she still wouldn't commit to pray about a baptismal date. I think she's afraid what she's believed for her whole life being wrong or incomplete in some way. Which makes sense. Hopefully we can help her to have more spiritual experiences so that she will have a stronger confirmation of these things. She also wanted us to come back Saturday after the baptism, so we went back and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She really liked it and felt the spirit, but still wouldn't make a committment. This week we are going to try to help her see how the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and not just that it's similar to the Bible.
Friday was a bit of a difficult day for me. I have arthritis and up to this point haven't had problems with it. When my wrists get sore, I start knowing that I should probably give myself a shot. I have had some apprehension about giving myself a shot since being in the field because during travel they got warm (when they are supposed to be refrigerated) and then got colder than they should have been at the back of the fridge. Anyway, before my mission I had a lot of blessings that said that I wouldn't have issues with my medical issues on my mission. I hoped that this meant I would just have an 18 month break from arthritis. But turns out that's not the case. Friday morning I said a specific prayer that my knee wouldn't be swollen after our hour of personal study, but that if it wasn't, I would trust God that my medicine was okay and I'd give myself a shot that night. Well, I got an answer, even though it wasn't the one I wanted. My knee was still swollen, so I told God that I would keep my promise and give myself a shot that night. I found this quote that says, "Although the trial may be hard and the relief may not be immediate, we need to learn to allow God to carry our burdens." I am beginning to see that if I do what I'm supposed to, I won't have issues with my medical issues. But that through the Atonement, I will be enabled to do the things I need to to keep the issues in check. My testimony of the Atonement and desire to teach of it was greatly increased this week.
Hermana Clark