Danger! Danger!

Hey everyone! So this week has been really slow, and not as busy as it was last week. But it was ok. We are glad it's Monday! Yay! So last week, we were in an appointment with a less active lady whose husband was offended a while ago, but her son wants to get baptized. So anyway, we were at their house giving a lesson. So while we were there, not 2 mins later, the elders knocked on the door, and they were with a member. Sister Bode and I were SHOCKED, but that is an understatement. Man, we were livid! We had been fighting the ward for so long telling them that we can NOT go into each others areas for anything. Period. So when the elders showed up, we were furious! We were having a really bad day as it was, our ride was a flake, so we had to go up there on our miles that we didn't have, it was bad. So anyway! It was just a bad day. That was the icing on the cake. And I think if it was anything else, I would have blown up anyway. It's just that the elders had to suffer my wrath. I thought that they were there because it was either the elders or the ward saying "oh the sisters don't know what they are doing and they are just sisters, so the priesthood needs to go contact these people because we have the priesthood. Let's not ask the sisters (since it's their area) about any of these people. We have the priesthood so we can do and go wherever we want. Who cares if they know the whole story about these people." Yada yada yada. I was ticked! That pushed me over the edge. And NO ONE taked to us about what they had planned on doing. So I gave the elders a good tongue lashing. I don't think they like us much anymore, but oh well. They can't go into our area. Period. But the next morning I apologized to the elders for yelling at them, I know that I could have talked about it a little more calmly. But man, I was ticked! And it was the WRONG night to do what they did. So anyway....we have things figured out, and they aren't going to do that anymore. So yesterday we talked to the bishop and he agreed that if we are going to go into each others areas, we better have a good enough reason to call president about it. Later that night (last night) we went to see a man that we haven't taught yet, we didn't know much about him, and he lived out in the country a bit. (they are just bigger lots) So we took a lady from our ward with us, and she is a very smart lady. The appointment went well we thought, until we got back to the church to pick up our car. She asked us why we were going out there at night without a priesthood holder. We told her that as long as there's 3 women then we are fine. And she said no, we aren't fine. She was very apprehensive about that appointment. There was a semi truck parked infront of his house, and his house was very shady. He lied about other people in the house (he said there wasn't anyone home but him, but in reality his son was home), he took us into the back living room instead of the front one by the door. And he didn't turn on any lights except the room that we were in and the light in the stairway. And that was it. The lady from the ward said that everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. BUT we were not harmed, so I bet angels were protecting us. And I know that angels are all around us as we travel and teach. She told us that we need to be smart about tracting, if we see nice shiny cars in the driveway of a trailer, DO NOT KNOCK ON THE DOOR. They are apart of the cartel. She told us a bunch of other stuff, so we are taking more precaution and texting a member everytime we have an appointment or when we are going to tract, to let them know where we are and how long we have been in the appointment/tracting. That way incase we get kidnapped or shot they will know where to start looking for us. Don't worry though, angels do protect us, and I had a blessing from the bishop at the start of the transfer and in the blessing he told me to be wise and to be careful, and that I need to be smart about things, and we will be protected. So I don't know if all of this is connected, but if it is, I'm not taking any chances, and Sister Bode and I both agree that this is what we need to do. And we are going to drop a few people...and there are to many signs that one of our investigtors could be with the cartel. The first thing we talked about with her on her doorstep was Juarez, because she is from there. We asked about the saftey of those people, etc. But we are afraid that these people will start to think that we know too much and that's why they keep us coming back. To keep tabs on us. But they aren't really interested anyway, so there is no need for us to go back. And one of our investigators is a target for the cartel. Her husband was supposedly a cop over there, and the cartel has threatened him not to go over the border. So we think their house is watched and we might be possibly watched for knowing these people. So...and they aren't going anywhere with the gospel, and the spirit just isn't there when we teach. So we have to be very careful whose house we go into. Sister Bode brought up a good point also, is when we are in their house teaching, there is no stopping them from coming in and shooting up the house. So we decided it's just better not to go back to some of these houses. But we've been here for 3 months already and nothing has happened, so I think we are ok right now. We just have to be smart about El Paso. Anyway! We were thinking it might be safer for us to switch areas with the elders, give them the rural stuff and we take the city. A lot of people that we have talked too agrees with us. So we will see what happens. There are a lot more stories from this week, but I will write them in my journal read it when I get home. :) It was an interesting week. Anyway! Be smart, be safe! Love you all!

 

Love

Sister Stolp