I about DIED it was so Cuteeeee!

Hey Family whom I miss so dearly,

So the letter I just wrote to President basically sums up my week so I shall attach that for starters:

Hello President!!!

I have learned a lot this week about how I need to focus on the needs of an investigator and what the spirit is telling me more than on the pressures of my leaders and numbers. We were supposed to have a baptism this Saturday, but it was one of those situations where she was basically only going along with it because she felt pressured.  She somehow passed her interview and we were planning everything for the baptism, but the day before when we went over there to visit her and teach her more about baptism and confirmation, she was in tears. She told us: Hermanas, I know you two and the Elders really want me to get baptized tomorrow, and I want to as well, but I really just can't. And when we asked her why she said it's because she feels that she hasn't fully repented of her sins and even though she has the desire to change and become a better person, she hasn't reached that point yet. And she told us that she felt if she were to go ahead and get baptized anyways, it wouldn't do any good because she wasn't fully repentant. She said she had only been going along with things because she felt pressured and obligated. She also said: I believe it when you tell me that after I'm baptized I will be completely clean of sin, but I also believe that in order for that to be true, I have to change and repent first, because if not, it will be like mocking God. 

Boy am I glad she opened up to tell us that. It really was a wake call for me. Yes, we are here to invite others to come unto Christ through baptism so  they can receive salvation.  But in our objective, the key word before baptism is REPENTANCE.  Sure we can get people into the water, have another fecha filled out, the leaders are happy, all is well. But if we baptize people when they haven't truly repented of their sins, we are actually making it worse for their salvation, because they will be entering into covenants with God that they are mot prepared for.  

I LOVE this woman who we almost baptized SO much. I CARE about her and want her salvation. BUT I almost let the pressure of my leaders get in the way of listening to her her needs. Since then I have studied Ch 12 of Preach My Gospel very thoroughly, and I hope to improve my spiritual sensitivity to really knowing if someone is PREPARED to make such sacred covenants with the Lord or not. The Lord is continuing to teach me new lessons every day, and I am trying my best to follow Him and improve myself every day. We are continuing to teach this woman and I have hopes that we can help her truly come unto repentance so she can make these sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father in the right way. I love  Ecuador. I love Cuenca. I love Tarqui. I love my companion. and I LOVE this work! Thanks for everything President! :)

Love,

Hermana Harper

So there you have it. Sonia didn't get baptized, but I feel good about it. She was not prepared and was not ready to make that covenant with the Lord. But like I said, we are going to continue to help her get there :) Other than that, during the week we went to visit a less active member and his non- member wife, who had actually both come to church the week before. BUT, they are not married for real. Union libre no mas. que bestia. And actually when we got to the appt, neither him nor his wife were there. but his brother Marcelo was! So we taught him, and he actually already knew a lot, as he had been in a lot of the lessons when his brother got baptized 2 years ago. But he never got baptized cause he never could go to church cause of the job he had he always worked Sundays. But now he has a different job! So he accepted a baptismal date, and came to BOTH sessions of general conference on Sunday!! So awesome. So we are really excited to see how he progresses :) 

So there is a part of our sector that has all this awesome graffiti. It's along the street. We finally stopped to snap some photos this week while walking by. Today, we also went to a part of our sector called Turi that has a cool old church and an awesome view of Cuenca! Oh and the little boy in the pics is Pablo, Sonia's 3 year old son. I love him to death. Whenever we go to visit him he always opens the door and yells "las hermanitas estan aqui!" So cute. and we were helping his sister Daniela with her english HW yesterday and there were 3 pictures: a table, a pig, and a book. He points to the table and says "una mesa!" So then I point to the pig and ask him what it is and he says "un chanchito!" so I continue and point to the book while asking what it is and he goes, "un Libro de Mormon!" I about DIED it was so cuteeeee! He wasn't even prompted or anything. He came up with it all on his own out of the blue so funny, and so stinkin adorable. 

Well anyways conference was good. Even though I understand Spanish now, it still kinda stinks cause it's not even CLOSE to how it is in English. Even having the difference of voice makes it so much less powerful and impactful. Picture a Holland talk without Holland's voice of authority. Picture a Bednar talk without his sense of humor. Picture a Monson talk with out the kindness and love emanating from every tone. Just not the same. But that's ok, I still learned a lot :) I'll just watch it all online in English when I get home. haha Sounds like you guys had fun in San Diego! seriously so jealous. stay-cations are the best, wish so hardcore i could've been with you all :( oh well, next time. Hit my ten month mark a couple days go. 8 more left. time is just flying by! Thanks for all the support, love you guys!

Con Mucho Cariño de Cuenca,   Hermana Harper