Yew, what’s up?
So we had a pretty sweet week.
So they don’t believe in Santa here, which is weird to me, and so on Christmas, they get no presents. But they make up for it with a great tradition on the 6th of January called Dia de Reyes (Day of Kings). This is in memory of the 3 kings that came to Christ when he was born. On the fifth, you write a letter to the 3 kings and tie it to a balloon and let it go. That night, the kings bring you gifts. And then on the 6th, you buy a cake called Rosca de los Reyes which is a oval shaped thing that tastes way good. And in the cake there are a couple muñecos, which are little white angel dolls. Everyone goes around cutting a piece and if you get a slice with the muñeco, then everyone yells and screams. The rule is that you need to host a tamale party on the 6th of February if you get the angel. I got the muñeco 3 out of the 4 times we had it, hahah.
Martin- So, we were walking down this street and we hear someone yell “Hermanos.” We turned around and walked to this somewhat drunk guy named Martin. He asked who we were, so we starting telling him our purpose of being in Mexico City, which is to invite others to Christ. We said we are messengers for Christ. Then he broke down and was sobbing. He was kissing our hands and telling us that he was waiting for us. And that he wants to change. He said he’s been living miserably for 40 years. He pulled out a bag of weed the size of a football and threw it on the ground. He showed us the many scars of his heroine usage. He was literally begging us to help him change. In broken Spanish, I promised him that he is a literal child of God and that he can do anything, including change his entire life. We hugged for like 3 minutes both sobbing. After he asked how he could possibly begin to change. My companion told him to get rid of your alcohol, which he had set on the curb. He picked it up and threw it on the street. We said we care for him like a brother and set up times to meet with him again. It was pretty nuts.
Luiz- We got a referral to talk with a non-member family, so we went and met them. We met Luiz, who is about 25 y/o and had been bed ridden for more than a year. He told us what had happened to him. In Dec 2016, there was a firework factory that blew up in the State of Mexico. He had been inside and when he heard the first of the fireworks explode, he ran out. Once outside, he realized there were still families in there, so he ran back in and brought out 2 families. The 3rd had just made it out when the bigger explosions started. He jumped on the 2 kids and protected them from the explosion with his own body. He ended up with severe burns all over his body. He hasn’t been able to leave his bed for a year. I was crying at the end of this too. We are now teaching someone who is already so close to the Savior. It was an amazing story that I wanted to share with you guys.
I had some dank tacos dorados and sope (tostadas with beans meat and cheese). I also found that the sour cream here is way good, way better than at home, and it makes the food less spicy hahaha…. I still hate chicharon in salsa verde because it’s barely cooked and way slimy.
Yaaaa so pretty eventful week, next week I will get a new companion so that’ll be interesting too.
Make sure our family knows how important family is. I could talk forever about it. Love you guys and READ THE BOOK OF MORMON.
Elder Turner