Who We Represent

Being a missionary means that we get to know and love some people 

with very interesting lives. Today I just want to give you a few examples.

1. The other day we went to visit an investigator who is an artist. Not just any artist though. He does sculptures out of various materials like wire and plaster. It just so happens that 80% of the sculptures he had in his house were of naked women. 

You can imagine how uncomfortable us missionaries and the family we brought with us felt. Also, the last time we went to visit him, a friend of his was visiting and he told us (a little bit slurred due to the endless source of alcohol he was drinking) that he had not washed the pants and sweater he was wearing for more than a year. Ew...

2. I always thought that things like drug trafficking and other shady businesses were just rumors and only exist in the movies. Wrong. The other day we met a sweet lady who told us that for 8 years she was married to a drug lord, and that they killed her husband and then kidnapped her for three days. Crazy...

3. A few weeks ago two 45+ year old men pulled up next to us in their car, and kept insisting that they take us to buy a soda in the nearby convenience store. We told them no and kept walking. Much to our surprise this last week we ran into them again. This time walking in the street. They were both a little bit affected by alcohol and they kept insisting that we accompany them to their apartment, and that they are just two "college kids." And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, one of them came up to me and said "outside of all this religious stuff - I just want to tell you that you are beautiful and I would love to get to know you. You really can't go to the movies, 

or anything like that?" Bleh...

It's great being a missionary because it's like all of the natural barriers fall down when the people meet us, and they open up to who they are. They don't seem to notice that we are two young girls, without much real life experience. I think it's because they see not who we are, but rather who we represent. 

One of my favorite things to explain to people is why we don't use our full names. 

For a year and a half, we have the privilege to represent our families, and the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing. I absolutely love being a missionary. 

Like Ammon I say with him, "And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon [me], that [I] have been made [an] instrument in the hands of God to bring about this great work." (Alma 26:3, The Book of Mormon)

Rainy season again!

In front of our apartment.

Con Amor, Hermana Jones