So this week was pretty sweet! We had a strange/amazing, experience. Elder Wihongi and I were heading to a lunch appt. with a member, when the wheel of my comps bike broke and we were forced to walk the rest of the way. Right when elder Wihongi picked up his bike to start walking, the intertube exploded inside.....right next to my ear. It was super loud and it scared me for second. Luckily it also happened to scare all the dogs who had been barking and chasing us! Yes! We walked, tranquilo, to the lunch appointment. When we left, we started heading back to the apartment to drop off our now dead weight. As we were walking down a road we saw this little chihuahua being confronted by three big dogs. They were barking at it and lunging at it. Then this bigger dog came out of no where and grabbed the chihuahua by the neck and started throwing it around like a ragdoll. Elder Wihongi immediately dropped his bike to the ground and chucked a rock at the dogs. They scattered and the little dog ran off yelping super loud. I have to say, as much as dogs have bugged and annoyed me here, I was slightly traumatized by what I just witnessed. It was so mean and unfair. That chihuahua is super tiny and there were 4 big dogs trying to kill it. So, as I said, Elder Wihongi jumped right in while I just stood there for a second like a loser. I came to my senses, dropped my bike as well, and chased after my comp, who was running to rescue the chihuahua with a giant rock in his hand. I started yelling "basta" and "cucha" at all the other dogs that were now gathering around the commotion like vultures. Eventually we managed to grab the little chihuahua. We then headed towards the crowd of people who had come outside because they heard the whole thing, from their houses. We started asking around to see if people knew who this dog belonged to, but we couldn't find an owner. The people who had come out of their houses told us to go try some lady who lived around the corner to see if it was hers. But then another lady said "I'll take the dog to one of my friends house down the street, she likes dogs." So we were like "sweet. take it." Elder Wihongi and I were starting to walk away when some random kid came out and said "Hey, I can fix your wheel for you!" Before we could say anything, he had changed the wheel. We were like, "well...we don't have any money, but we will come back later and give you some candy and your wheel back". We started riding away again when someone ran to catch us and told us to come back. So we turned around and went back. We started talking to all the people. We met the friends of the lady who took the dog. As we were talking with the lady who took the dog and her family, it turned out that this person, who we had just met, was an old investigator of the church and her son had been baptized in the church many years ago!! Say what?? We were like "wow! Can we teach you something?" They said "yes. But you are not allowed to convert us." We said "ok. We'll try not to." hahaha. They were a super cool family. The next day we returned to the house of that kid who helped us, to give him candy and we were able to meet his mom. We asked if we could share a message. She accepted. We taught her and set a baptismal date, right then, on our first visit with her for the next month. So...because my comp got a flat tire, which forced us to walk, we happened upon the dog attack, which drew a crowd, said crowd witnessed my comp bravely throwing himself into the fight to save that little dog and also witnessed me, standing traumatized, until eventually stepping up to yell "Cucha" (not as brave, but still). So from that, we met two really awesome families. Coincidence? I think not. By small and simple things. haha. I don't know why Heavenly Father does things the way He does, but I trust His eternal wisdom. Maybe it HAD to be dramatic, in this situation, to catch the attention of certain people? I don't know. All I DO know is that I am on the Lord's errand and I need to be ready to testify and teach in any and all situations.
We set a baptismal date with another girl that we've been teaching for a few weeks as well. She is getting baptized this next Saturday. She is super excited. All in all, this week was completely unexpectedly awesome in the extreme.
It has been a little hard at times as well though. One thing I love about new experiences is that when something new does happen, you get to see yourself react and see where you are lacking. You also get to see where you are progressing. I realized, for example, that I don't like dog fights! Who knew? I'm actually mortified by them but when called to action I can yell "doghouse" to the biggest dog!! I think a lot about Ether 12:27. I love that scripture!! The knowledge that I won't be stuck with the frailities and weaknesses of life forever, gives me so much hope. It helps me remember my God and my Savior Jesus Christ more. And it helps me remember how much I need them always in my life. This week was awesome and I learned a ton about how I can be a better person and missionary. I'm so grateful to be out here.
Love you all,
Elder Porter
This is our investigators. The family Quavedo and a young girl we're baptizing this next Saturday. We were making lunch with them in the picture. It was delicious!
Look Ma....no hands!!!
So half of our area is in the "city", and the other half is "farm lands". This is the NICEST "road" (I'm being generous by calling it a road) we've found, in the "farm lands". Most of the "roads" are waaaayyy worse than this one AND most of the roads have dogs that jump out at you as you ride down them.
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