Wow week one of this last transfer was a GREAT WEEK!
Monday night Hermana Giddings said goodbye to a lot of the members. Tuesday we went up to Santa Maria and I got my new companion. Her name is Hermana Eardley and she is AMAZING!
We met a lot of the people we are teaching and she blew me away with her Spanish and honestly just with everything! She is awesome and I love doing the work with her. On her second day here, the English ward was having a party at the church and one of the members called us and said someone was at the church wanting to have a lesson. We rushed over there and then got a member from the English congregation to sit in with us and the man we were teaching explained how he almost died and how he saw God. We translated for the member sitting in with us and the member asked, "Wow, how did you almost die?" and the man being taught said la brujería and the member looked and us and said "What did he say?!" We were so shocked and said to the member, "He said witchcraft". We all looked at each other awkwardly. The man being taught continued to talk and we all felt pretty weird. We taught him the restoration, but he wasn't super interested so we decided to quickly end the lesson. We told the man that we were teaching that he is always welcome to come to church services so we will see if he comes to church. It was a funny welcome to Lompoc for Hermana Eardley but we have had such a blast.
We got new bikes so we have been back on two wheels!
Our mission wants to make sure we have breathing masks in case we need them. I already had some for the wildfires so here we are trying them on.
We've started teaching a family of 4 which was such a miracle. We are really seeing so many miracles here in Lompoc. This week has been a very busy week and I had the opportunity to study about charity. In 1 Corinthians 13 is says:
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth."
Speaking of charity, Hermana Eardley had never had elote (street corn) before so we got some and the lady who was selling them gave them to us for free!
I have been able to see the importance of having charity on my mission, not just for the people we are teaching, but for the members, people I serve around and my companions. This past week I was feeling like wow we have a lot to do; with the people we are teaching, helping this branch grow and helping the sisters in this district. Here's a picture of my entire District.
I felt like there is no way we can do all of this, but as I read that scripture I realized that as long as I try my best to help those around me and show charity to them, there is no way we can fail. It was a great reminder to me of the importance of charity and how the Lord truly is the one doing the work here.
I am loving Lompoc and being with Hermana Eardley. I am excited for another week here in Lompoc!
**A Note from her Mom - Please pray for her safety as she travels by bike and car!
She loves getting emails. This is her address:
Email: lily.pita@missionary.org (Don't reply to this blog - it is a public site)
Her mailing address is:
Hermana Lily Pita
California Ventura Mission
3301 W Gonzales Road
Oxnard, CA 93036