So first is Ineibis. She is the girlfriend of Reinier (my recent convert). She is 15 years old. (yeah, a little young but thats ok) and her and Reinier have a 6 month old together. SHe was living in the street with the whole group but once she became preggo she moved in with a family friend of her parents (her parents still live in Cuba) and this family now has legal rights over her. Anyways, we ahve met her a few times awhile back when she was visiting Reinier and what not but thats about it. But 2 weeks ago REinier asked us for a Book of Mormon to give to Ineibis (pronounced ee-nay-bis) and the following week (last sunday) she and Reiniel showed up to church together! So awesome. After relief society, on our way upstairs to sunday school she said, "hermanas, I want you to start teaching me. I love this church already!" Woah! Then as we were talking more she said she is already in 2Nefi and LOOOOVES the Book of Mormon and cannot stop reading and Reinier had told her to read Enos and she absolutely loved this chapter about prayer. She said she hates reading but that the Book of Mormon is different. Ahh, when she was telling us this I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Seriously! So after church we gave her a restoration pamphlet to read and study before we would meet with her on thursday. When we met with her on thursday she had not only read the whole pamphlet but there are questions and additional scriptures to read at the end and she ahd answered all of the questions read all of the additional scriptures and was so ready for us to teach her. The lesson went super great. She kept telling us that when she was at church she felt peace like she had never felt before and that she is jsut so excied to keep learning. And at the end she said "ok so when I get baptized Reinier can baptize me right?" Haha she is so wonderful. Buuuuut, here is the really really unfortunate part..... obbvously she is so ready to keep learning and wants to get baptized as quick as she possiby can but the family that she is living with who has legal rights over her are super against it and since she is minor she has to get a parent signiture. We ahvent talked to her much about this and we havent thought through options because we have only taught her one lesson but we know this is going to be a problem. So we will see.
A few random things that have happened with the cubans this week that have made me happy and that I want to remember... first off, the other day when we were leaving we asked them if there is anything they need that we can help them out with and Carlos said, we live in the streets, we have absolutely nothing, but we dont lack a sinlge thing anymore because we have the gospel in our lives now! It was super humbling. I started crying and realized just how incredibly great these cubans are and how incredibley true that statement is. The gospel gives us everything we need in this life. Love, peace, comfort, security, hope, purpose, everything. Also, the cubans know how to cook! Seriously! They feed us 2-3 times a week (yes, another very humbling thing. This group who lives on the streets and has no money sacrifices and feed us always. When we go in the early mornings for a lesson they give us bfast, even when we insist that we have already eaten and arent hungry, when we are there for a late lesson around dinner time they always insist that we stay for dinner. Seriously we try so hard to not eat their food because obviously they dont have a lot but they say we arent allowed to teach them anymore if we dont eat with them. So humlbing.)Anyways, cuban food is so so good! And lastly about the cubans, is that when we have a late lesson with them (which is most days) right before we head home for the night they make sure that we send them a message when we get home to let them know we made it home safely. I LOVE THESE PEOPLE SO MUCH!
Ok on to Karen! Hna Caba and I contacted her in the street hace 3 semanas and when she contacted her she was waiting for her bus to head home from work. As we sat down on the bench that she was sitting on and were talking to her for a few minutes her bus came but she said she wanted to listen more and feels good around us so she would wait for the next bus. We ended up teaching her a lesson and set up another appt with her. The whole 20 minutes we were talking she was smoking and it was windy so the smoke kept blowing right back in my face which was so unfortunate but the lesson was so powerful. We met with her again last week and she was so stinkin excited to see us. She said she just feels good when she is around us and is going through a really hard time in her life right now and just needs to find peace and help. We taught her the restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon and left Alma 32 for her to read. When we met with her the next time she just kept going on and on about how much she loved that chapter and how much she wants and is ready to change her life. We invited her to be baptized once she feels and knows that this is true and she eagerly said yes. Then when we were done and leaving her a reading assignment she pratically thre the Book of Mormon at us with excited for us to mark the chapter for her to read! It made us happy! We have a lesson wither her tomorrow and are really excited about it. She had to wokr yesterday so she couldnt come to church but this coming sunday she is planning on coming!
We had a ward activity on Friday night and it was a HUGE success! Seriously so many people came we were so surprised! It was an activity of the nations so each person brought food from their country to share and then lots of people performed traditional dances from their countries! it was a huge success and all of the food was AMAZING! Peruvian food...l still one of my faves. Oh and then philipino food was so delicious! Us missionaries brought.... Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwhiches! Haha they were a huge hit and gone super quickly. There are about 4 American Families in our ward so they brought other food as well. Oh and we made choc chip cookies and brownies. It is so funny but everyone here always goes crazy over those two! They love them.
Last pday we went to a burrito place to eat... It was just like Costa Vida! I am dead serious! All of us americans literally about died we were all so happy! And the whole atmosphere was American! It was so great!
Ok real fast about Dani... He went to a YSA activity on friday with some guys from the ward and he had a ton of fun! He always comes to church, reads the Book of Mormon and prays daily, and our lessons are always super great with him. We are still trying o figure out what else he needs. But we both feel strongly that we need to invite him to be baptized again adn pray about a date. We have this lesson with him tonight and are super excited!
Ok there is more but I am out of time. I am going to leave you with a few quotes that I have found this week that I really like...
In regards to missionary work "OBEDIENCE is the price. FAITH is the power. LOVE in the motive. the SPIRIT is the key. CHRIST is the reason"
"The reason why Christ suffered was to get to know us better. Perhaps the reason why we must suffer pain and heartache is to get to know Him better"
"Whenevery you say something about another, ask youself, "Is it kind?" "Is it true?" "Is is necessary?"
I love you family! Truly, I didnt know I could love you guys more than I did before my mission but I do! Thank you for everything! I hope you all ahve a great week!
LES QUIERO!
Love, Hermana Heims
ps.... Mom, in the next package, can you send me toothpaste! I dont know if I have mentioned it before but the spanish breath is KILLER. Seriously. My first comp and a few others warned me of this when I first got into the field and I just laughed. But wow. It is so true. I dont know if it is the brand of toothpaste here that just doesnt do the job or if it is something else but I am afraid to try it. And they have crest and colgate but it literally costs a fortune. So, if you could send me a tube or two in the next package that would be greatly appreciated!
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