Thanks for the emails this week. Yes, I am so excited to see you, but yes, I am starting to feel lots of emotions as I begin my last full week here. I´m ready to come home, I know I am, but.................
Bueno. In a few hours we´re actually going to go to the center of town for a few hours before District Meeting. Hermana Vázquez, a sister in our zone, asked permission for the six sisters in our zone to go to el Centro before Hermana Hernández and I leave in a couple of weeks. It was really sweet of her and I´m excited to go. I´ll send pictures next week.
The ward activity turned out really well! Not a lot of members attended, but three of our investigators and lots of members from the other ward went, so I think it was worth it. Everyone who did go really liked it a lot and the next day were telling all of the other members that they missed out. The Elders came up with a really creative story line. The skit begins with the basic story of Little Red Riding Hood, on her way to Grandmother´s house, when she meets the wolf and he sends her down another path so that he can beat her to her Grandmother´s house. While traveling down the path, Little Red Riding Hood finds the Three Little Pigs and starts to play with them. Then the narrator comes in and asks the pigs what they´re doing in the story and they´re arguing about why they should be there when the wolf shows up, impatient because Little Red Riding Hood has taken so long to get to Grandma´s house. The wolf decides that he´s better off eating them all right there, and starts chasing them when Maleficent arrives (dramatic entry with an evil laugh) and asks what they´re doing. The wolf tries to act all big and bad, but she turns him into a chihuahua and is about to carry out her evil plans with all the other characters when the rancher prince arrives to save the day. The prince and Maleficent begin to fight when we go back to the day before, when the three little pigs are playing hide and seek when the missionaries contact the pig who´s doing the seeking. She tells them that she´s not interested in listening but gives them Maleficent´s address as a referral. The skit goes back to the fight between the prince and Maleficent, who´s about to beat him, when the narrator warns that the missionaries are coming. Everyone runs and hides in the house and the missionaries arrive and knock at the door, but no one answers. They´re standing outside figuring out what to do when the grandmother arrives. They contact her and she tells them that she´s a member and that Maleficent is her daughter. She lets the missionaries in and convinces Maleficent to listen to them, and the skit ends with the missionaries converting Maleficent. And they all live happily ever after. :)
So that was the big activity of this week, preparing for the skit. But we also had a really good experience and received a big answer to prayers yesterday. On Tuesday we had Zone Conference and decided to do a zone fast Saturday-Sunday. We were fasting for the investigators and for our ward. After sacrament meeting a brother in the ward asked if he could talk to us and expressed that he wants to help us motivate the ward members so that they begin participating in the work. We came up with a plan to train the ward members every Sunday that the bishop approved and they´re going to start in two weeks. It was literally an answer to three months´ of fasting and prayers and trying to get the members to work. Even though I won´t be here to help, I felt like all of the effort we´ve put in over the past few months is finally paying off. The Lord answers prayers in His own time, but He answers them.
I love you all so much! I´m ready to give it all I´ve got during my last full week. I love this work.
Love,
Hermana Southard
cast photo: (left to right, from the top)
Elder Lima, the big bad wolf; Omar & Daniel, the missionaries; Elder Sánchez, el principe ranchero (the rancher prince); Hna Isis, who held the signs "And They Lived Happily Ever After", etc; Óscar, the narrator; Lelani, Little Red Riding Hood, Lety, Little Pig #2, Hna Peña, Little Pig #3, me, Malefica (Malificent); Hermana Hernández, the grandmother; and Hermana Osorio, Little Pig #1.
