3/25/24: Terremotos y Taberno

 Qué tal qué tal. This week was a fun one so lets jump right in.

First off, we have some more people on date for baptism! They are very nice and very humble people. The hermana is named Mireya and likes the idea of the temple and wants to go, so we're helping her out with that goal. 

We also have another family that is progressing very well and is feeling more at comfort in the branch. The hermano is a member, but has been inactive for years and has a wife and 2 daughters that are not members. We found them weeks ago through knocking doors and they recieved us super well. We had 2 crazy powerful lessons with them about the sacrament and family prayer this week. They came to church and want to come back! So that's exciting!

Ok now for the goofy stuff.

This week we had a little earthquake (terremoto) in the area. Don't be alarmed, they're actually quite normal here. Usually they're really tiny and hard to notice, but this one was enough to wake everyone up in the city. That is everyone but me... I slept through it lol. My comp yelled at me to get up and from what I remember I heard (translated from spanish), "bro there's an earthquake! Look! Everyone is looking out their windows too!" And I promptly replied, "oh, good" and fell back asleep. My poor comp, if there really was something big and dangerous, I'd probably accidentally sleep through it too and he'd be left alone. But, now I can say I slept through an earthquake.

I also tried alcohol this week. Like the good missionary/representative of Christ that I am. It was by accident, kinda. We knocked on a door and they let us in and asked if we wanted some refresco. We said ok, but they handed us a little cup of this white liquid that smelled like fermented coconut. It was weird cuz usually people just give us coke when they say refresco. We asked if it was fermented an what it was, and they said it is a coconut drink called "taberno" and swore it wasn't fermented. They were very insistant on us trying it, so we gave it a go. 

It was 100% fermented. 

Maybe it's just my weak and untried resistance to alcohol and not fermented for them, but for my bodily standards, that was alcohol, and man it was awful. Lowkey worst thing I've ever put in my body. My testimony of the word of wisdom has been strengthened.

Anyway, I have a few more goofy stories, but I don't want this to be a million words long, so I'll cut it here. 

Scripture of the Week is the chapter of 3 Nephi 18. It's a good one. It's about the sacrament and what following Christ really looks like in our lives. I like verse 15, cuz in spanish it uses the word "velar", which doesn't directly translate, but could be taken as "watch". The difference is "velar" is more awake and ready than just simply watching. It's more a principle of action. So I invite all of you guys to "velar" and pray always. Always being ready to follow the Spirit and make the right choices. 

Anyway, that's the week! Hope you had a good one and I'll talk to y'all next time! ¡Hasta luego!

- Elder Allen

Photos:

1. Us with a goofy looking Ocote tree

2. En la goma