Week 8, Pueblo Nuevo Viñas

I’m going to start off this week’s blog with a funny little story.  Elder Walbom mentioned how they are teaching English every week to those who are interested in Pueblo Nuevo Viñas.  This past week they had a spelling bee, and he said that they were really bad at spelling English words.  But then he said they all got a huge laugh when he told them how he was down to the final 3 students in his spelling bee in 6^th grade, but lost on the word “fajita.” They thought that was pretty funny!

The first pic above is Elder Walbom drinking out of a bag.  The water they have to drink (because missionaries from the U.S. aren't allowed to drink the water there) comes in bags, and they don't have water bottles yet, so they just rip off a corner and drink out of the bag.  They went fishing last week during their P-day and Elder Walbom caught the first fish!  They were using string tied to a bamboo pole!  He did say it was a bit difficult trying to get the fish out of the water.  Nobody has fishing rods like we have here.

Here is this week’s letter:

So this week was better than the last week. Its definitely still a struggle here but it is a little better. Highlights of this week. We changed cooks for the better! Our new cook is one of those eternal investigators but she absotely loves the missionaries and always makes sure we are fed. Her rice is very good. Let's see, Fast Sunday was really great and very spiritual even though I couldn't understand most of what was being said.

We had a miracle occur on Sunday where the mother of one of our younger investigators, Hillary, came to church completely out of the blue. Hillary´s dad hates the church so we were very surprised when her mom showed up! Hopefully the Lord can keep working in this family to allow Hillary to be baptized.

On Sunday night and Monday morning the power went out. We legitimately had to use candles for light in our house that night and because we couldn't cook anything we ate cereal for dinner. We had to return to our house early because no one could see us in their homes as there was no power.

Now. Soyla. She is a nonmember who we found the other day through a reference. Guess what... she reads here book of mormon every single night and prays every day. She knows that it is true and has known for years and years. Her kids are all inactive members. The only reason she hasn't been baptized is that she lives with someone who supports her but is not her husband. Shes been living with him for 23 years. Anyways we really think that she is the key to reactivating huge amounts of less actives in this area and reigniting that exctiment for the gospel that was lost from this town. That's been our goal this whole time because only about 10 percent of members here are active right now. Anyways we believe that Soyla is the miracle spark we need because she has a huge family. Thus was born the Soyla Initiative.

So it was a good week and I hope the weeks only get better. Adios!

I looked up Pueblo Nuevo Viñas on Google maps satellite view.  

It rests on the side of a volcano, and there are dormant volcanoes all around.

Here is a close up of his little town, with its 4 main streets! 

Elder Walbom lives on the street farthest to the East.

A view of a street in Pueblo Nuevo Viñas, with its crazy wiring!

 A big, yellow spider that Elder Walbom has "adopted." It lives just outside his window and he watches it every morning. He was going to name it Charlotte, but is open to any suggestions.