For example: it was really hot this week. But I can`t express the heat... in the night, you have to choose if you`re more hot, or more tired. If you`re more hot, you get up and show IN YOUR PAJAMAS and get back in bed with the fan pointed on your wet body. If you are more tired, you just sweat and try to go back to bed.
Then... our water turned off! We don`t have water in our apartment... so we can`t wash our clothes, our dishes, or ourselves! It is gross to say the least. We also can`t go to the bathroom...
Then it rained really hard, as it always does after this heat. And everyone makes Torta Frita here when it rains... which is like a fried scone. And every single house makes it, and every single house offers it to us! And it is just a lot of fried bread to eat... it slows us down a bit.
It always scares us when it rains on Sunday, because that is always the biggest excuse that people use to not come to church. But we prayed hard. And as we waited outside on Sunday, after 8 sundays in a row (almost two months) without having investigators in the chapel... some members told us to stop waiting. "No one is coming in this rain," they said, pointing to the flooded streets. I was so mad when I heard this! We need to keep the faith!!
Mica and Ivan answered our phone call as we waited for them outside. "We can`t come, chicas. We only have a bike and in this rain it`s impossible. And we are in Rosario right now." Well my heart just dropped. "It`s weird, something always comes up," Mica said over the phone.
We went and sat down in sacrament. Just before it began, we heard someone say, "Hermanas." We turned around, and there was Natalia! She is the mother of a family of less active members that we have been teaching for 2.5 months. It has been 8 years since they`ve attended church! I was so happy. We ran out and hugged them, and they came and sat with us. I was playing with the little girl who is 5, Bianca, when I heard the door open. I turned around and my jaw literally dropped open. MICA AND IVAN! I was so happy I swear I could have died right then and there. They were soaking wet, and had come by bus. They came and sat down next to me, and were smiling so big it just was the sweetest thing to see. I think we were all smiling a lot!
But I see that we need to be diligent and grateful in all circumstances. Like I said before, it is easy to be happy when all is well. But we have been fighting a lot to see this take place... and it truly isn`t until the very last day of the week, in the third hour of church, or (this literally happened) at 9:15 at night when you find the people that have been waiting for you. And the test is how long we can keep smiling and hoping and walking. Keep the FAITH. During all of the storms.
Love you all! Feliz Navidad!
Love, Hermana Eleanor Briggs
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