This week we traveled to Coimbra to do divisions with the Zone Leaders there. It was a good division and I had a good time! However, getting there was a bit of an adventure, haha. For some reason we didn´t use the bus company that we usually use to get there. Instead we used another one that seemed just as good and didn´t seem like there would be any differences.
Well when we arrived in Coimbra, the bus that we were on didn´t enter the bus station like we were used to, instead it drove right past it! I thought that maybe it had forgotten to turn into the station, and that the bus driver was going to make a U-Turn or something, haha. It ended up making a quick stop at a random little bus stop, but we didn´t get off because my companion felt confident that it was going to return to the bus station.
It didn´t. It got right back onto the freeway and started heading towards Lisbon! I thought to myself "well, looks like we´ll be visiting Lisbon today." haha.
But after a few minutes the bus driver noticed that we were still on the bus, stopped on the side of the road, and ordered us off the bus! So there we were on the side of the freeway with our small little suitcases, haha. We were still pretty close to Coimbra, and it was only a 20 minute walk back to where we wanted to go, but it was still a little annoying, haha. But we made it safely!
The actual division was good. My companion for the day was Elder Bates from Idaho. He goes home a few months after me, and he was a fun missionary to work with! As we were knocking doors, a man let us into the building. When we went up to his door, we introduced ourselves and asked if we could share a message with him. He said yes, but when we asked if we could enter his house to share it, he made a very firm shake of his head. So after a few minutes of conversing with him, we found out that he was athiest. I never really know how to talk to athiests, but I remembered a few things that my old companion, Elder Franco, would say, so I tried a few of those out. We ended up not being able to teach this man, but we did offer to say a prayer with him in his doorway. He said that he had never said a prayer in his life. After I said the prayer, we could really feel the spirit, and I know that this man could too, even if he didn´t want to admit it. I love being able to bear my testimony, and help plant seeds in the hearts of people! You never know, maybe one day this man will remember the feelings that he had while he was talking with us, and choose to change his life.
When we got back to Viseu, we started knocking on doors (like usual ;) ). We decided to go to this random little side street next to the cemetary. The first door that we knocked on, a man answered the door, and he didn´t seem very friendly. And he wasn´t.
He was probably one of the rudest people that I have talked to on my mission so far, and that´s saying something. No matter how kind and nice we tried to be towards him, he got even meaner. He said repeatedly "Rua! Rua!", which means "road!", which is what people say to their dogs that are misbehaving. Of course we left after that, and even though I left trying to be in a good mood, I was feeling pretty down.
Half heartedly we knocked on the door of his neighbor, and a very nice lady answered the door. Her and her boyfriend let us in, but we weren´t able to share a message with them. However, they were so nice to us and made us feel so good. At the end, I just wanted to give the man a hug for the kindness that they showed towards us. I felt that these people were a tender mercy for us, because instead of leaving that neighboorhood feeling sad and discouraged, we left feeling happy and appreciated!
He (Antonio) doesn´t live with this lady (Maria), so she lives alone. We passed her address for the sisteres to visit, and they did the very next day. It turns out that Maria was almost baptized 20 years ago, and the only reason she wasn´t was because her family opposed it and wanted her to baptize her children into the catholic church. Well when the sisters visited her, they invited her to be baptized, and she accepted!
I love and miss you all! Have a great week!
No comments:
Post a Comment