There's a sister we've been teaching recently who's making a lot of progress so we're beginning to review the previous lessons we've taught her. When we teach the gospel of Christ we go over it in five steps; faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. When we teach the Word of Wisdom we explain the five things we're not supposed to take into our bodies; drugs, alcohol, tea, coffee, and tobacco. As we were reviewing the five steps to follow Christ with this sister she got them confused and so she told us how after faith comes alcohol.
It's a good thing she didn't remember the ten commandments or else stealing and adultery might have come next.
I may have already mentioned this but I'm still dying to ride a camel, it would be a much calmer way to travel. In order to get around we have to take the Metro Express buses and I learned the hard way that "express" means that the buses don't come to a complete stop at the bus stops. The buses here don't have doors and so anyone can jump on or off going any speed. Thankfully though I think that I'm finally getting skilled enough that I don't have to fear for my life whenever we go places anymore. The other way we get around (which I prefer) are the auto-rickshaws that are like little three-wheeled doorless taxis that will take you anywhere you want to go if you can tell them how to get there. The only thing we have to be careful of there is to not hire any drunk drivers (which is harder than you'd think sometimes).
It's amazing to see the way the gospel changes people. People whom I had very little rapport with and didn't mesh well with in the beginning have become some of my best friends as they've listened to our message and accepted us in their homes. When I first got here I focused very hard on commitments: "Sister you're coming to church on Sunday right?" or "Brother I want you to read these chapters before I see you again". This week we visited with a group of teens who all joined the church but have not been coming despite our consistent efforts these last three months. This time we didn't ask them to come to church, instead we shared a message and played a fun game with them for a while. Guess what? Come Sunday they were ALL at church without us giving any invitation. The most important thing we can do for those who are struggling or wandering off the path is to be their friend, I testify of that.
Anyways until next time study your scriptures and stay cool. :)
-Elder Cloward
A quick note from mom (Jen):
After last week's letter about not having enough socks, I asked him about the store situation. Here's what he told me about stores over there...
We have one store here that somewhat resembles a very very small Walmart. It's called Spencer's but it's way down the road so we usually shop at one of the small stores we pass by each day. 95% of the stores are smaller than my bedroom back home and you can't go inside. Instead you point at the product you want, point again when the owner gives you the wrong item, then kindly correct him when he says he doesn't have what you want but you can see it right behind him. It's a very different way to shop but it's kinda nice because we don't have to go very far to buy anything. Anything you want to buy, whether it be groceries, pens, hardware, or anything else, is sold this way.
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