The Hotel's Burning Down. Maybe I Should Take A Shower.

No, I refuse to stop talking about how awesome the people of Talavera are.


We met with Nemesio this week! Since his baptism he's been preparing to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He got a lot of scriptures to read from the branch president and his best friend in the branch, Mauricio the legendary ward missionary. The problem is that he tries to memorize everything, like he's prepping for an exam. I guess since he's had a few interviews he's in the habit of prepping to recite what he knows, but we've got to adjust the way we teach him a bit.


During a lesson with Jesús and Milena, we finally dived in and had a real discussion about baptism. 


(They're not a couple jaja, Jesús is a 22 year old Cuban guy and Milena is a mother of 2 from Columbia. They just both were in the lesson because Milena lives in the branch president's home and Jesús is best friends with his daughter)


They both have been taught everything, could pass a baptismal interview without question, know the branch super well, come to every activity, and have the desire to be baptized. They just both don't feel ready. It's really tough but we talked it out for a while. They want their baptisms to mean something and relly signify a new start. They also still don't feel like they know enough about the church, it's structure and organizations, and a bunch of cultural-type stuff. We made a plan to keep answering their questions and help them achieve whatever it takes to feel ready.


Aside from that, we now are planning the baptism of a woman named Mercedes! She kind of fell out of the sky and it's amazing. She lives in a pueblo north of Talavera that for some reason is boundaried for the ward and misioneras of Salamanca. However, it's so much easier for her and another family of members to attend our branch, so Salamanca passed her off to us. She's been taught everything by the sisters and came to church with us for the first time yesterday, passed a baptismal interview, and if all goes well will be baptized this Saturday! We're excited to welcome her to the branch and get to know her better.


Slice of Life:


The JA (Jovenes Adultos - Young Adults) held a karaoke and board games activity and some of our best friends showed up. Total blast.


Zone Conference was awesome. It was cool to see a bunch of people from past transfers and hear from President Eastland. We talked a lot about stewardship, and how our teaching areas are entrusted to us with the expectation that we diligently strive to improve them. At church on Sunday the Elders' quorum also talked about how stewardship in raising families and service to others is really just God delegating the responsibility to care for His children. This makes it incredibly important that when He trusts us, we give it our all.


Also, we stayed in a hotel the night before and the fire alarm went off as we were getting ready to pack up. Turned out to be nothing but would have been an interesting story for sure.


Have a great week and enjoy the pictures!


Pictures
I found a ton of pictures of rice dishes in my photos this week. No regrets, they were all delicious.
1. Rice beans and beef - Brazilian, Thiago
2. Rice, potatoes, beef, hot dogs, eggs - Bolivian, Hermana Fátima Vazquez 
3. Rice, absurd amount of chicken - Columbian and American working with Spanish ingredients 
4. You can keep your Hollywood sign
5. Future Elder Jesús Martell 
6. Pre-Zone Conference pic. As Elder Salas has faithfully learned to say: "Talavera with the drip"
7. Very Spaniard looking street







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