Elder Taylor Moulton: Week 54: Dancing Robots, Flojos, Doctor Dolittle, and Word of Wisdom Problems

Hola Family!

Well, we found a lot of new people this week. They include, but are
not limited to, Peruvian families, a Columbian woman that has the
voice of Eezma, a basque man who can't speak Spanish, and a family of
Gypsies who really wanted my clothes(the mom wanted her son to look
like I look...), and a Book of Mormon too! But as life would happen,
they were all a bit flojo(sorta a word we use to describe people who
don't follow though), so we had a few citas fall through. But that was
all redeemed by a few successes we saw this week! And a giant
dancing robot man in a plaza on the way to English class.

One of which happened when we visited our Spanish friend Manuel, who
was at church last week, in his basement apartment out by the
factories in Lamiako. We were surprised to encounter inside 1,
Dolores(a pregnant gypsie woman we met who we didn't believe at first
was Manuela girlfriend, but once finding her inside on the bed we knew
it was true), 2, them smoking some not healthy substances that weren't
just tabacco(we arrived at the family home evening in the church after
smelling a bit like pioneer square), and 3, them totally ready to
receive the gospel! We were able to testify about the Book of Mormon,
they accepted a copy, tears were shed(them through emotion, me a bit
from the fumes),and yep, those who'll accept the gospel aren't always
the most obvious! (1 Samuel 16:7)

Between visiting a member and having lunch at our branch mission
leaders house, we found this woman on a bench named Maria Del Mar(like
the woman we baptized in Manresa). She had a shaved head, and looked
pretty busy, but upon talking to her we found that she was super
spiritual Spanish woman from the next town over! We also found out
that she had enough pets to keep a pet store in business(2 dogs,
birds, snakes, cats, you name it), and a huge family(I want to see
this house if she can keep all of these animals and a big family
inside for a meal, the pisos here aren't that big!). But just another
example of how we never know who'll accept the gospel, which is why we
should share it with everyone!

We also had the opportunity last night to give a blessing to a two
month old baby of a less active recent convert couple named Vlad and
Paula(a Romanian and an Ecuadorian woman, I guess it works!). Alicia
was the premi who we visited in the hospitals 2 months ago, but is
still sick and can't breathe very well out of her lungs, so with her in
Vlads arms, as our very large hands on her tiny little head(lightly of
course), I was able to give her a blessing of health. It was a small
moment, but after a whole week of people firing on us, it brought
peace to our hearts to help this little baby and family. If there's
anything I've learned here in the mission, it's that the miracles come
not always with fire and "the spirit of God" playing in the
background, but rather in the small moments. Such as blessing a tiny
baby, or being there to witness Alica our recent convert shake Hermana
Dayton's hand at the stake conference.

But overall a good, but long week here in Las Arenas, with my son
Elder Perry making headway by calling out Catholic men on false
doctrine and chasing after basque men to later set up another lesson
with them. He's been the best, his Spanish makes me laugh about how
much I've grown this last year(treinta nefi does not exist haha), and
how much I need to keep growing to be his trainer!

I love this work, and I'm excited for what's to come this week!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Taylor Moulton