letter from Jill to the family

Letter written by Jill on 1/20/2012:

Okay, so here is the story I was going to share over email, but I ran out of time. It is from the Saturday we proselyted. This is from my journal the night after proselyting:

"The only real lesson we taught was to this man, Alfonzo. When we approached his door, I wasn't even sure if it was a house or not. There was a piece of plywood, with a rigid top and bottom --- it wasn't enclosed. The piece of plywood connected two crumbly, brick walls, and it kind of looked like it was an alleyway. Hermano Vega knocked on the plywood, and it really was a door. This was a home with no roof and no walls. Alfonzo, this little Peruvian man wearing green, dirty Nike shorts and a dirty red polo shirt answered the door. His head had all of its hair --- dusty, gray hair. And as he spoke, we saw he didn't have his two front teeth and was missing quite a few others. He said he wanted to hear our message, but we didn't go into his house. Instead, he and his wife brought out an old wooden bench and a stool for us to sit on, and we taught him outside of his house on the matted dirt that served as his outside floor, as well as his inside floor. There was really loud music being played right next door, so we had to talk really loudly. He had his Bible in hand the whole time. He and his wife told us that he had been sick for a long time with a stomach cancer of sorts. He told us that he has a friend who told him that he was sick because of his sins, and this was God's punishment for him. But his friend said that if he came to his church, they could heal him. So Alfonzo has started going to his friend's church, and he thinks he likes it. Also, he said that he feels better since going there. He also said that in Jeremiah (I can't remember the chapter or the verse), it described his situation perfectly. He showed it to us, but I couldn't understand it. Go figure. Actually, he showed us a lot of verses from the Old and New Testaments --- this man knows the Bible really well. He has a very strong testimony of God and Jesus Christ, though he thinks they are the same person. We didn't touch on that this time, but Hermana Yupanqui took it away, talking about how we have prophets on the Earth again today after the apostasy, and we have the authority from God to heal the sick, just as Christ did.

"He said that he was sick because his own life was going through an apostasy. It was really sad to see him blaming himself for his afflictions. I told him that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loved him so much. He knows they love him. I introduced the Book of Mormon to him and told him that it is another testament of Jesus Christ, and it is about the people in the Americas and that it supports and testifies of the Bible. Hermano Vega jumped in and helped explain this better --- the Bible being from Jerusalem and that God hasn't revealed any more accounts yet, but he has given us the Book of Mormon. I opened up to Alma 7:11 and explained to Alfonzo that Christ knows his pains and that he loves him very much. I bore my testimony of this and the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Then I had him read the second to last paragraph of the introduction that extends an invitation for him to read the Book of Mormon. He was extremely grateful, and he gave the best, gappy, missing teeth smile I've ever seen. I just wanted to hug him so bad. Abrazos, por favor.

"I wanted to share the picture in the front of the Book of Mormon of Christ visiting the Americas, but then right as I was going to, Hermano Vega did! The Spirit was telling us both to do that. That was really cool. And then I told him he could read about it in 3 Nephi 11, and Hermano Vega marked it for him so he could read it later. He was the sweetest, most humble, open-hearted person I have ever met. He's in my mission, and I so badly want to go visit him again this week. But, alas, I am still in el CCM. That's what the other missionaries are for. Maybe I can go visit him in three weeks. They better take care of him until then!"

So, that was my experience. We talked to a lot of other people, but that lesson, or rather, talking with/getting to know Alfonzo took an hour and a half to two hours, so we didn't have a ton of time left.

But man --- guys, this got me so excited to get out into the field. Also, being an American makes a lot of people want to talk to us, so that is an advantage, too. Haha, thank you, America.

This past Wednesday we also went on a tour of the city, and that was just really cool. Vague description, I know. One of the Elders was SO excited to see a McDonald's, and practically inhaled a Big Mac and fries and McFlurry. Dang, boy. Haha, it was pretty funny.

Well, I love you mucho! I wish you could be here with me and experience everything I am experiencing. Also, I am ready to leave the CCM. It's time to put what we've learned to REAL use.

Con Mucho Amor,

Jill Bill