He didn't email us until 6:30pm on Monday so he was in a bit of a hurry to tell us all of his stories. No pictures this week either :-(
So, I am now known in the zone as the contactor. I talk to EVERYONE. This week has been amazing. I´m not getting big headed with myself or cocky, but I share the knowledge that I have with the other Elders and it’s this: "You just have to talk to everyone, share who you are and what you have, be kind, offer your help, and God will do the rest." The zone leaders and other missionaries in the area want to have me come to their areas to show them how to contact. Ugh I wish I could just talk about this stuff because its sooooooo long to write.
Remember the awesome contact I had in the street last week? We went to his house and he has 2 families living there!!!!!!!!! We walked up to the door and someone we didn´t recognize opened it. We said, "Hola! Ahorita estamos buscando por Justino... No sé si él vive aqui" (We’re looking for Justino, I don’t know if he lives here) Then we heard someone from around the corner say, "SI SI PASANLE!!! PASANLE!!" (Yes, Yes…Come in , Come in) We found 2 families, the one of Justino and the one of another lady. We were talking to them and got to know more and more people. They all accepted baptismal invitations but there was one problem with Justino. He´s living in free union with his "wife". Like I said before, he has work in other areas, so we were going to teach them about the law of chastity this past week but we found out that he left for his work again in Montana, and won’t be back until November :´(. But their family is still awesome and the kids are great. There are 6 people total in their family and they are all progressing wonderfully. The mom is super sick, during our lessons, she would have to leave to go and throw up sometimes. Poor lady... So, almost all of them came to church this past week. All the kids came and the oldest son brought his girlfriend!!!!!!!! Sooooo cooool. We are progressing another investigator named Elizabeth and she brought her cousin with her to church!!!!! I had 7 investigators for Centro in the church this week and it was AWESOME. They all said that they were going to come next week because they liked it :)
I love the trio I´m in and we´re getting a whole lot of work done. We have had some wicked experiences this past week. Elder Knutson is dying (finishing his mission after this change), and whenever he talks on the phone he always says, "Elder Koontz doesn´t let me get trunky because with him, we don’t have time to think about anything else." (I like using quotes that I have heard because it’s hard to explain how hard I´m working with my own words) Ugh, I have so much to say!!!!!!!!
Ok so this was suuuuch an inspired contact. We talk to soooo many people every day. We were talking to a Taxi the other day and he told us that he had talked to missionaries before but they didn’t really come by anymore. He said it was quite a while ago but we asked if we could note his direction and pass by his house some day. He said of course and whenever was good for us. So the next day we were walking around, and the person we ate with was bieeeen lejos (really far). We started looking at our notes and found that the taxi we contacted that day before lived in the area, so we thought, ah well lets pass by and see if he´s there. We got to his house and said "Buenas tardes!" and of course he responded, "Quien es?" (who is it?) we came back with "Ah los misioneros hermano!" (The Missionaries, brother) Then he said something that caught us off guard. "Ah! Les esperando! Pasenle, pasenle!" meaning "oh I´ve been waiting for you, come in, come in!" So we went inside and we found 2 kids sitting on a couch (boy-17 girl-16). So we asked him if they were his family or friends and he just responded, "No.............. They´re RUN AWAYS" He told us that he was getting his Taxi washed and he overheard them talking about their plan, he told them to get in his taxi and he would take them where they needed to go. He totally tricked them, and took them back to his house, locked the door, and made them call their parents. They were 5 hours away from their home. He told us, "you need to share your gospel with them." Then he ran upstairs and came back down with a Book of Mormon!!!!!!!
We understood that their parents were going to come and get them and they were about to receive the whoopin´ of a lifetime. So we shared a lesson of repentance and love. We had a great time but the girl was on the verge of tears the whole time and she did have a couple tears fall once or twice. We knew they were scared but we listened and talked and got to know them more. We ended up taking a picture with them and they are going to add us on facebook. Elder Knutson got excited because he was reading a chapter earlier that morning and he knew in that moment that it was meant for them. I got the impression to share something that Dad ALWAYS tells me. Alma 37:35 (look it up) (35 O, remember, my son, and learn wisdom in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to keep the commandments of God.)
After I shared this scripture, both of them just kinda looked down, and had that look of, "we just got told". Elder Knutson looked at me and he couldn’t keep from laughing. But all of us laughed after they read it because they knew it was true. I have been soo excited this whole week to share this experience because its soo funny and so perfect. We even found out that the kid is a member of the church and he was still running away. We got into him a little harder because he knows about the law of chastity and he knows what they were doing wasn’t smart. We talked to them about their plan and where they were going. I was ready to be a Dad and planchar (iron) them with how their plan was very idiotic. I was going to "smack ´em up side the back of the head" and help them realize that they didn’t have a backup plan, and how they would have needed one because obviously things don’t always go according to plan (because we were in the room talking). Then after we talked them out of the whole running away thing, the girl asks us, "So what part of the United States are you from?" in perfect English!!!!!!!!!! We were like, "WHAT?" She then told us that she couldn’t resist doing that. She said she was raised in Riverside California but she moved here a couple years ago. She was fluent in both English and Spanish. A little after that, the whole family showed up. And, I mean the WHOLE family. I´m talking Grandparents, cousins, mom, dad, brothers and sisters, the whole 9 yards. But only of the girl.... That boy could have never been more alone... We contacted all of them and shared a short message with them about what we taught to them. We told them about how we talked about repentance, how they didn´t want to run away anymore, and how they were sorry for what they did. We hurried and shook their hands and bolted. When we were walking around the corner of the house I told Elder Knutson , "We gotta get outta here cause there’s a bomb that’s about to go off," and then we started jogging away with our mochilas.
Ok well, love you all! I have to go because it’s late. I´ll talk to you in a week!!!!
Love, Elder Koontz
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