Week 13: "Pasoli!"

Dear Friends and Family,

Well this week has been so great! For starters, i am addicted to "Pan Dulce" which is pretty much sugary bread that you can buy at the Mexican stores that look so fancy. HAHA those things are amazing... And they are what i buy for a good "pick me up" snack. HAHA some member gave us a GIANT tub of Ice cream so i pop one of the pan dulces in the microwave for 15 seconds and plop a scoop of icecream and it makes for a very tasty bowl of joy:) HAHA

Also while on the topic of food... we ate this thing called "pasoli" (not sure if that's how you spell it, but whatevs!) and it is some Mexican soup type things that you eat with Mexican chip things. And it is amazing! so anyway we ate it at a members house and enjoyed it and wanted more. She always gives us the extras, so we brought a bunch home. And then one of the families who we are currently teaching invited us over around dinner time to have dinner and to have the lesson. And guess what they made?!?!?! PASOLI!!! It was so good. and not even old after eating it so much. BUT! that's not even the best part. we walked out of that dinner/lesson feeling so full and the white lady who we had tracted into and helped with their car came out with a big bowl. and what was it?? PASOLI!!!! HAHA we were a little hesitant because she was a white person cooking a Mexican dish so we didn't expect it to be very good. BUT, It was better than all pasoli we have ever had. So we thought that was pretty funny:)

Ok now moving on from food and onto the good stuff. Honestly... This week was hard. VERY hard. Things falling through, we had to "Drop" a couple people, (which means stop teaching because they aren't reading or doing anything. they just like the listening) so there are other things we could be doing more productively. Its sad to drop people but necessary. and lessons were falling through especially with our main family, Elies and Patricia. They haven't come to church and we assume they are just busy and things are happening. so another way to have patience. And i am working on it! However... Something really truly amazing happened just within the last week that has been a blessing and will be a blessing to the branch here in Foley.

Our third family. Lucia and Ramon. Not sure how much ive mentioned about them, but i will debrief on their story so you all can have a little background. This family is AWESOME! They are from Honduras and have three kids. And we thought that the father was a member cause he said he was baptized, but it came out to be that he was baptized into some other church and he just knows a lot about the church! but we are looking for his records just in case... But we met the mother one day while tracting. she didn't seem too excited, cause i mean we are other "preachers" going around trying to convert. The father wasn't home that time so we weren't able to go in and teach but at least we got a return appointment. So when we went back for the next appointment we finally met the father and he seemed to be SOOOO excited about the church. Like he LOVES it! so we taught a simple lesson about how families can be eternal forever. and they were excited:) this time the wife seemed to show a little more signs of life. HAHA So long story short, we asked if we could come by and keep teaching them. And they agreed:) even asked us when our church was cause they wanted to come! And guess what... THEY CAME!!! 0ur first investigators that came to church:) It was way cool! and the cool part was they were participating in the gospel doctrine class. So that was super cool!

K so cool part time! at church they invited us over for dinner so we could eat and then have a lesson. And though the food was SOOO good, that wasn't the best part. HAHA It was a great lesson and we definitely felt the spirit! and to cut out all the unnecessary parts, they accepted the baptisms invitation!!! Both the Mom, Dad, and if the son chooses to he will be baptized as well!!! and that will hopefully be happening the 26th of this month!!! super soon, but super possible! We are all excited about that. HAHA

So all comes to show. Patience and hard work all pays off. Even though we didn't have to really do anything because these people were prepared by the lord and they are ready. And i am glad that i could be a part of their lives and be a part of this change. We have a lot of work to do this week and we are excited! Love you all so much and cant wait to keep you all updated on the family we are teaching:)

Much love from Foley Alabama,

Elder Stonely