The wholesome... and the awkward😬

Dando a la indigente (Giving to the homeless lady)

On Saturday, we went to knock the door of a referral and on the way back from the unanswered door, a homeless woman came by our car window and asked us for money for food. We said that we couldn't give money because of rules as missionaries, but we said we could come back and give her some food later that day. She didn't have a phone, but she said that she tends to chill at this one abandoned restaurant next to the marathon gas station.

So we left to go have our member meal, and at the end we asked if we could take some extra food for this one homeless lady.

They let us (God bless you Hno Estrada), and we came back to her with a full bag of tacos and water bottles.

She seemed crazy surprised that we actually came back with food, and she asked who we were. We explained that we were missionaries and that we help share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She introduced herself as Sephora and asked us what our favorite scriptures were. I shared Alma 36:21 and Hermana Gray shared Jeremiah 29:13. Her face lit up as we talked about why they were special to us and how they could be special to her too. We got talking more, and she asked how she could feel the Holy Ghost in her life. That's when we started explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ to her.

By the end, we pointed her to the way of the church and said that she was free to come anytime.

Sephora was so incredibly sweet!! The whole time we had the lesson, I couldn't stop thinking about how much God loves her! Even at this point in her life, at her lowest of lows, I knew that God looked at her like a Princess on her way to becoming a Queen. Her worth is everything to Him. How do I know that for sure? Because I love her, and I'm an incredibly imperfect human being. If I'm capable of loving her, I can't imagine the love that a completely perfect, Celestial God has for her!

Tiene un novio? (Do you have a boyfriend?)

So I, uh... had quite the awkward situation pop up the other day.

 There's this guy that we've been kinda teaching named Heber that we met from Soccer Night and a few days ago he texts us saying, "Can I ask you a question...? In person...?"

So that was a little suspicious. Then Soccer Night pulls around and we ask him what his question is. He's like, "Uh... I'll ask you after this game."

We're like, "Uh, ok." Then we went to another room to have a video call lesson with someone. After the lesson, we went back to the gym, but then I realized that I left my stuff in the other room. So I rush by myself to go grab the stuff and when I get out of the room, Heber is walking by.

So we start talking normally at first about soccer and stuff and then eventually we get on the topic of our ages. He says that he's 22 and I say that I'm almost 20. 

Heber gets this look that kinda says, "Ah, ok, good, good." And then he asks, "So, about my question..."

Then he said something that I didn't understand. I asked him to repeat it again and I STILL had no idea what he was saying. Then I asked him to type it out in spanish dictionary so I could read it in English.

Here's a screenshot:

"How do you handle so much beauty?"

I read that and was like, "Oh! Oh... haha😬😅"

Then he's like, "We get along really well. Do you have a boyfriend?" 

And I was like, "No, but uh... as missionaries we're not really allowed to have boyfriends."

"...but you can after your mission right?"

"Yes... technically" 

"When do you finish?"

"In 9 months..."

Then he was like, "oh."

And I was like, "Yeah."

"Well, your P-day is Monday, right? What if we just have a nice lunch?"

"My comp has to be there."

"Oh yeah, that's fine. So are you free to do that?"

Then I pulled the uninterested but still friendly investigator card, and said, "I'll let you know."

I, in fact, still have not let him know. Good thing I'm leaving this area in 4 days! 

Otras Cosas

Other fun things that happened this week:

-Our last P-day we went to the Fire Station!!! Super cool!! Should I be a firefighter???

-Accidentally made a spooky video? (It's in the album)

-Had the most unhygienic dinner ever. (Lady does not wash her dishes and her kitchen is a kingdom of flies)

Pensamiento Espiritual 

John 6:1-13, Mark 6:30-44

I was wanting to talk about this one a while ago, but I kept forgetting to.

In the first week of Hermana Gray's training, the mission had a giant video call with all the new missionaries and their trainers. During the call, this one guest lady talked about the story of Jesus and the Fishes and loaves, but put focus on something extra special.

As the story goes, there's about 5 thousand men (not including women and children) that they need to distribute food to. Obviously, they can't feed that much, but Jesus asks around the groups to see if anyone has food that they could use. The only one who offers up anything is a young boy with his 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

Then y'all know what happens after. Jesus multipies it so that the entire 5 thousand could eat it, with more to spare.

The lady on the call had said, "I highly doubt that the little boy was the ONLY one who had food to give. When they went around asking who had food, I'm sure there were people thinking, 'My loaves aren't enough to feed 5 thousand people, so I won't bother offering it.' But that little boy, with great humility, gave up the little that he had; trusting that Jesus would amplify it.

Do we often look at what we have; the talents we possess, the love we have, and think it's not enough, so we don't offer it to God? We need to be like the little boy, and trust in the Lord enough to know that he will strengthen whatever we will offer."

So that's my invitation to you. Don't underestimate what you already have. Even if it's little, it's enough for God to work with. Offer your talents, strengths, and weaknesses, and God will multiply it ten fold. 

Ciao!

Hermana Perkins