So......I am in Sucre. We left Potosi this morning....I have been transferered out and it looks like I´m training this transfer..my last transfer and second time training. It looks like that my time is flying faster each day.
So I have a long story to tell...I don´t want you to worry, but to know that I´m safe and out of Potosi finally haha. There has been a huge strike going on in Potosi and it has been a week already. But in this strike, they close down everything. Stores, restaurants...everything. There aren´t any cars, taxis, or buses. Nothing. I liked it in the beginning because everyone was home and my companion and I could find lots of people home, but as the days past....people left Potosi because of the strike. The dangers of the strike was the fact that a few people still continued to open their stores, drive, or open their restaurants. And that....caused lots of angry people to come by with sticks and motors to tell them to close their shop. We witnessed a few things....people throwing rocks at cars...a bomb go off....marches....but these past days it has gone bad. Mineros...mine workers are angry with the government here. I honestly do not know a lot that is going on because we do not watch not news, but poor Potosi is fighting the government for a few causes. There are apparently mine workers walking around Potosi with Dynamite...and because stores are closed, the stock of food is going down. Everyone is running out of food...but the strike continues...once again, as I tell you of these things, I do it because the missionaries in Potosi need your prayers and because I have escaped from the chaos.
There is apparently no way to get out of Potosi. What they do here in Bolivia when they are protesting or on strike is leave rocks in the middle of the road. Lots of rocks so cars can not pass by. Getting out of Potosi reminded me of two things...the halocaust and a war movie. We got up at 3:45am to have my pensionista and her boyfriend drive us to meet up with other missionaries and a member to accompany us to walk 10 miles to where we were to meet the car that took us to Sucre. I was honestly scared and on a verge of tears......I was already sad for leaving Potosi, but leaving like this was terrible. Haha. We were lucky to find a way to walk less..finding cars between closed off roads (with rocks), but after we had to walk a little more with our luggages......we walked tso much that the Elder that was helping me with my luggage...one of the wheels burnt off. We walked past a bunch of mine workers...drunk and probably with dynamite.....I swear I was praying the whole way..we finally got to the place where the car was waiting with the other missionaries coming from Cochabamba to enter Potosi. We ran.....and we saw mine workers running behind us....drunk and wanting us to stop. Not wanting us to leave. It was a huge group of them.....They wanted to flatten the tires of the cars so that we would not been able to leave. They attempted, but it did not work. Then I heard, "Well then, lets bring out the dynamite." The member who accompanied us kept saying, "Let them leave. They are from the church!" I just started to tear up...and I just wanted to leave.......We got in the car and ran off from the mob and headed out. But the roads were blocked and so we had to drive up hills and mountains of rock......we got lost a few times....a road that we couldn´t pass, we couldn´t have passed it in 15 minutes, but going through stony roads that weren´t even roads, we got back to the same route in 2 hours. Then we had to go through the same and arrive to Sucre at noon.We had to push the stick shift car up the hills...and choose between fork paths many times.....I swear.....the Lord has helped us escape and has protected us from harm......Everyone told us that we wouldn´t make it, but we did. And tonight I´ll be going to Cochabamba in a bus ride of 8 hours.
I found out about my transfer early. I found out friday night, but I only knew that I was going to Cochabamba. I had to pack early and prepare to leave. I was really sad...really sad to leave Potosi because I don´t know when I´ll ever go back. I had grown to love so many people there and leaving them was really hard. But I had seen the fruits of our labors this transfer...and the area and ward will be blessed with a few baptisms this month as I leave it with Hna Barzola. I am hoping that it can continue to progress.
Last night when I found out that I was going to train, I honestly didn´t know what to think. I am really happy though because I´m pretty stoked to work hard til the end. My new companion is Hna Vilchez from Nicaragua and she is new. Brand new in the mission. I´ll be finishing training her. I know that Lord calls and gives revelation to God´s children. I have been released to serve as Sister training leader and its really bittersweet....I had learned so much and I still have so much to learn yet.
PS: I can´t attach photos today. Sorry. Junk internet place. USB slots are jammed.
No comments:
Post a Comment