For Every Door that Opens

The Joys of Knocking Doors...
Door 1
(Knock, Knock, Knock) Man appears at screen door: "What are we selling today ladies?"
Sister Bergin: "We're not selling anything, we're missionaries" (Big SMILES!)
Bald man: "Well then if you're here to talk about God, church, or any sort of philosophy that you might have, I don't need it." Sister Alvey: "...Really? What is it that you believe?"
Bald Man: "I'm not going to answer that question."
Sister Alvey: "Oh well do you go to a church?"
Bald Man: "Not answering.."
Sister Bergin: "Alright, well can we just give you this pamphlet then."
Bald Man: "Don't need it."
Sister Alvey: "Are you sure..?"
Bald Man: "Positive. Goodbye ladies"

Tough Crowd!

Door 2
(Knock, Knock, Knock) (Doorbell) (Knock)
"Hola!"
"Buenas Tardes!"
"Come in."
---We walk in to a living room full of men dressed in suits and ties, and woman in long dresses with bright colored bandanas covering their hair. Everybody from ages 4 to 80 grabs their bible and sits down. Apparently we knocked into a Christian congregation. The pastor invites us to share a 15 minute message.
WHOA!
Us: "Thank you so much for inviting us in. We know that you will be able to increase your faith by listening to our message, but first can we start with a prayer?"
Alfonzo (Pastor): Claro que si! (of course!)
Us: "How is it that you usually pray?"
Alfonzo: On our knees
Us: Oh, us too! (We explain how we offer prayers)
Alfonzo: Okay, let's pray
Sister Alvey and I kneel and fold our arms, and suddenly the room erupts with the prayers of everyone there. Every person dropped to their knees and started practically yelling "Gracias Senor por mi familia, Gracias Senor, Gracias por todo lo que to haces Senor, Gracias." It scared us both to death. This prayer lasted for probably 10 minutes. Meanwhile Sister Alvey and I are silently pleading that we will be able to share something with them that they will be able to accept.
We spoke with them about prayers after that, and briefly talked about a prophet being called in our days, and gave 2 of them Books of Mormons. It was a good lesson, they at least heard us out, and understood. But they want us to come back next week. Alfonzo said that he wants to learn more, and that he wants to show us why he doesn't believe that God calls prophets...and he wants us to show him why we do. He assured us that he sincerely wanted to learn, and promised that it would not be contentious.
We are pretty much scared to death that it is going to turn into a huge bible bashing session...ah.
At the end Sister Alvey asked if we could show them how we pray. She said she would like to say it. The room went dead silent. FINALLY Mariza (Alfonzo's wife) says, "We'd love for you to say it. ...if it's okay with Alfonzo." Alfonzo sat in silence for another 30 seconds before saying that women never lead prayers, and he would be happy to begin. He knelt and began to pray, and everyone else dropped to their knees and erupted again into the same prayers they had said before.
We left on a good note...and we're studying like crazy for next Sunday.

Door 3
We began talking with a woman outside of her house last week, and she was very interested in what we had to say.
We started to explain the restoration and the Book of Mormon to her, when her daughter came to the door with a super annoyed look on her face,  "Who are you?"
 "We're Missionaries."
"Are you Christians?"
"Yes"
 She looked us both up and down and walked back inside. A few minutes later she returned to listen to what we were saying. We thought she was going to kick us out, so we gave her a card for a free "Together Forever" DVD and started talking about how the gospel blesses families. She said thanks and walked back inside.
Then she yelled from her room, "Wait? Are you guys MORMONS?"
"Yeah we are"
 "So Mormons or Christians, which is it?"
We proceed to explain how as Mormons we are Christians, and she says "Oh... okay" and walks back inside again.
 We thought that she wanted us to leave, and were sure she was going to lose it if we stayed talking to her mom much longer, so we started wrapping things up.
 Just as we were about to go she came out and said. "I want you to know something. This morning I was having a terrible time, and I just realized how much I need to have God in my life again and I was praying and praying that God would help me to find him. And now here you are on my doorstep." 
The Elders have an appointment with her on Wednesday. :)

Other doors we already knocked on

We are probably going to have to stop teaching Aldrin soon :( He just can't accept the Book of Mormon. We know that he is going to come around someday; he's just not ready yet to commit. But Bishop Limon is as determined as we are and has unofficially given him a calling in the scouts. Lol.. So whether he is 'officially' a member or not, he is seeing the blessings of the gospel in his life, he loves coming to church, and their family has changed for the better in the last few months.

Somebody I taught at the beginning of my mission, Julian, was supposed to get baptized on Saturday. The Missionaries called me up the morning of to tell me that he had gone to jail the night before for unpaid tickets. We're afraid that he is going to get deported this week :( You would not believe all of the crazy things that happen to people when they make the decision to get baptized... I hope that he can stay. And if not that he will find the church again in Mexico.

Peter Orosco is someone that we are teaching. I told you a little bit about him last week. Bishop Limon is so excited to have him in the ward, he already has a calling for him- and says that he knows that he is an answer to his prayers. The youth in the ward outnumber the adults by more than double. This is a problem because most of the youth speak and read little Spanish. And most of the adults speak little English. Peter's first language is English. He'll be baptized next Saturday. :)