7/15/24: Mal del Estomago

 Heyo, how's everyone doing? I'm good. I hit 10 months this week, which is sweet. It was a relatively uneventful week, but I'm still gonna write!

First off, to explain the title, I got a little sick this week, but now I'm all good. I got up Wednesday morning and felt not so great, but I still felt like working so we went out to make some contacts for the morning, but right around lunch time I was so exhausted, I could barely stand. So after lunch, and after hearing an appointment for the afternoon cancelled, we decided it was best to turn in. We went home and I crashed for like three hours, and then I was better the next day! I learned that sometimes it really is just better to rest haha.

The work here in the new area is pretty good. It's definitely a bit slower than my last area in some ways, but in others ways it's great! The area is small and takes about 30-40 minutes of speed walking to cross the whole thing, so it makes planning lessons pretty nice cuz we don't have to take out much time for travels.

Last night we had an interesting lesson with a guy who's been forcing his kids to go to church for the past six months (he's not a member and doesn't go himself). The thing is, is that he won't let any of the kids under the age of 15 get baptized. He feels like they're not fully responsible enough to make that decision at a younger age. He's partially right, but responsibility is not the same thing as accountability. He also believes that repentance should not be daily because that's mockery to God, but we helped him clear up that misunderstanding and explained what repentance really is.

 It became clear why he wants his kids to wait after I learned this, because truly understanding repentance is key to truly understanding baptism. It's interesting because many children and youth I've seen understand the relationship between these two principles quite easily, but I think as we grown older and harden, our minds can sometimes grow farther away from the truth.

Needless to say, we're working with him... He's a good dude and has great intentions, but I guess he just needs a few things cleared up. Pray for my boy Edel and his family.

Outside of that, there are about 3 or so other people progressing quite well, keep María Adriana, Gregorio and Anaice in your prayers as well!

The Scripture of the Week is Acts 5:42, it's about mission work!!

"And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ"

I read this one this week and said 'hey, that's what I do!' And it's awesome! I love to know that I'm doing the same work that the ancient apostles did too on the daily. Acts is a great book of scripture and I would highly recommend reading it for all who desire a strengthened knowledge of what Christ's true church really looks like.

Anyway, that's all folks! Have a good week and remember Jesus! ¡Adios!

- Elder Allen

Photos:

1. La vida es loca

2. The Glorioso Cristo monument in Tuxtla (from a distance)