Now on to Juancho...

This week we learned lots of new things. 

We started working with some lists from the ward. There's three lists.--Recent converts of the last 24 months, direciones disconnocidos (I dont know what that is in English), and the current ward list. These seem like basic stuff. But here in the coast of Colombia, everything's a little bit different.  The ward list has about 580 names on it. But there's about 130 people every week at church.....sooooooo...... yea that's a problem...... b

Before our president came, this mission baptized people like crazy--like 200 baptisms a month.  The problem was that there was no retention, no converts, just baptisms. There also used to be ton of problems with the missionaries. This mission at one point was the number one for sending missionaries home early. (pecadores). When President Searle came here, he changed all that!  Yay!  Soo yea, this week we started banging on doors to find out who these people are. 

It's really weird because we've walked by these houses a million times.  There's investigators that live right next door!  Some are even members who never bothered to say anything.  Then when we ask them, and they're like, Oh yea, I guess I am a member.  Then we find out they got baptized like 5 years ago.  Or they were members all their life, until they turned 25.  It's crazy!  We also found a couple that are recent converts, of about one year, that we've never met.  Cool story. So yea... moral of the story, get organized. 

Now on to Juancho...

So remember Johana, who got baptized last week?   Well, the Dad of the familia de avila se llama juan. But they call him Juancho.  As of last week, he was out of the house going crazy and almost committed suicide.  This week he came to church with the family!  Say what?!   

Johana said that he had a crazy dream where he wanted to buy a house.   In the dream he was asking this young man for help.  He kept telling the man "I want this house."  Then the man said no.  So he chose another house, and the young man said no.  Another. No.  Then the man took him to a different house and said this one.  He entered the house and found a bunch of people dressed in white.  Then he had another dream where he saw the throne of God.  Next to the throne he saw another man, like God.  

Until this dream, he had always thought that God was just one being.   After this dream, he knew that God and Jesus are two separate beings.   After the dream, he felt super bad that he had left his family and that he had ignored God when God came to him.   

Sunday, when this man came to church, I was completely blown away.  He was a completely different person.  He looks like a pretty tough guy.  He'd never said more then adios to us.  But when he came to church this time, he was completley humbled.  He participated in every class, helped other people, sat next to his wife, and apologized sincerly to us like 5 times.  Later, we taught him about the restoration of Christ's church here upon the earth, and this man was sincerly repentant.  I've never seen such a change in countenance in one person, such  sincere humility.  After our first lesson, he accepted our invitation to be baptized.   We're still gonna be testing him to make sure he's sincere in this decision, and we have a lot to teach him, but I have to admit, the Lord definitely knows what he's doing!  He always prepares the hearts of his children.  Some just need more trials then others.  

Miss you all, 

Elder Burk