Well, The Heavens *Are* Open..

This place just got a lot less Dominican.


On Elder Tapia's last day in the area we took some chances and tried to teach some lessons in the the morning before our 1 o'clock bus. Went awesome, we're working really hard with a brother and sister who are recent converts, and had a really cool chat with a lady named Milagros (literally 'miracles') about why we need the Book of Mormon. That last one only ended because we met literally inside the bus station and had to stop the bus from pulling away without us. It was a great lesson though and I'm pumped to teach her again soon.


We headed up to Madrid, and I dropped off Elder Tapia with all the other condemned missionaries on their way home. We lost 15 great ones this transfer, tons of leaders, hard workers, trainers, and friends. Hard to imagine the mission without them.


Future looks bright though. The new crop is slightly bigger than the group we lost. Of my previous companions, 2 remain on the mission and both are training. (Even my son Elder Romrell. I'm a grandpa!) And Aviles gets the one and only Elder Johnson.


I had to wait in Madrid for a few days and try to set appointments over the phone but I got my new comp Friday and headed back up north. Elder Johnson's a beast, and we jumped right in. The four teaching appointments I set up while spinning my wheels had a 25% success rate, so we got one appointment. Alexander moved here from Colombia like 2 years ago but he's still looking to make friends and have a support system, and he has a lot of religious questions, so he found the Church on Facebook! We invited him to sacrament meeting and he made some friends! Missionaries are great and all, but when people actually take the time to come to church and meet the everyday members, they can feel the love of God though their brothers and sisters in His family.


For that reason, we've decided to focus this transfer on inviting people to church. Sometimes as missionaries we shy away from this invitation because people always have excuses, but this transfer we're going to scatter the invitation far and wide and systematically break down and eliminate people's excuses so that they can experience the blessings that come from living the gospel on a weekly (and soon daily) basis. We go to church to be strengthened spiritually, to learn and grow alongside others, but above all to have a weekly reminder though the sacrament of what our Savior did for us, and the opportunity to repent and change that He gives us every day.


That being said, we had three consecutive street contacts tell us that they already go to church at Cielos Abiertos (Heavens Open), which as near as we can tell is the local evangelical church. We invited them to ours and got in contact, so who knows. But I swear if we pull up there one day and they try to tell me that revelation from God ceased with the Bible... 


The heavens are open though. In our last lesson with Denisa and her family they had a few scattered questions- ("why do they call you guys Elders if you're only 20 years old?" "Why do I feel so scared when people start screaming in the local Pentecostal church?" "Where does the Bible say that women can't wear earrings?") So we decided to answer them, always connecting back to the Restoration. The truth is that Christ established his Church a long time ago, and gave priesthood authority to His apostles. They in turn established his Church after His ascension, ordaining priests and elders to the priesthood. But over time the truths and authority of that church were lost. And now, today, people are confused by lots of half-truths, doing their best to get closer to God. Luckily we don't have to do it alone. God has restored His church and truth in our days, and it's all for the purpose of guiding us to our Savior so He can help us return to our heavenly home.


We're on a train to MLC today, and when we get back, this week's going to be fire. Talk to y'all then!


Elder Curtis


Traveling pics
Elders' quorum hike
Telescope
Ham leg butcher shop/deli in Madrid
Helpful reminder






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