May 21, 2012

This week we were walking out of one of our citas and this old man came running over to us. He was wearing this weird turtle neck sweater that went down to his ankles in a weird tunic style. I kind of liked it. I want one too. But anyways....he told us that he had been looking for us and wanted to talk urgently. He tried to pull us into his house at that very moment, but we were a little late for our next appointment, so we just took out a return time for the next day. His name is Antonio. He has 70 something years. We went back the next day and it was so good. I loved it so much. The moment we sat down, he started to say one million different things. He explained that he had just gotten out of the mental hospital a few weeks earlier and that we was looking for religious direction. (He also said about five hundred other things that didn't make much sense. For example, his favorite types of olives, why glass scares him, which martial arts actor is the best, which dog would be the best dog to help you in a survival situation, and more and more) We talk with lots and lots of people, but Antonio was different. Usually we talk to people who speak, and it is super obvious that they have never had very much education. Antonio talks like he is reading from an encyclopedia. We eventually were able to stop is endless flow of words and started to teach. Once we started to teach, he just stopped and listened so closely. When he didn't understand something, we would stop us and have us explain the principle over again. It was awesome. At the end of the lesson, we decided to challenge him to baptism and he accepted. Emphatically. Jumping and screaming emphatically. He told us that he has read about every religious scripture ever written and felt like he had finally found the truth. We gave him a Book of Mormon and all of the different types of folletos that we had on hand. We went back two days later. When we got to Antonios street. we saw that he was waiting outside is house on the porch with his arms crossed, hugging and pressing the Book of Mormon to his chest. When he saw us he was so excited and jumped off the curb and started running towards us. This was kind of unsettling for me, but I held my ground. He shouted, "Ramos! Lewis! Hola!" So excited. hahah I felt like how I expect dads to feel when they get home from work and their kids come running towards them. Except for my kid in this situation was a 70 year old man, but that is beside the point. It was sweet. I laughed so hard. Once we got him sat down and calmed down, we started the lesson, and he told us that he had read all of the folletos and the Book of Mormon up till Helaman. hahahah I couldn't believe it. He told us that he knows it is true. He also asked us what time and where is baptismal service will be. He also asked us what he will be wearing for the baptismal service and all of the details. We invited him to church the upcoming Sunday and he accepted. He loved church way too much. He asked about 567899 questions to the teachers and all the members loved him. Oh yeah, he arrived to church in a Napoleon Dynamite like suit with one of the bow ties the size of a dinner plate. I was so excited. 


In between classes, he started explaining to me all of the reasons he likes stairs. Not kidding. One of the reasons he likes stairs is because he likes exercise. I asked him what kind of exercise he likes to do and he told me with a very straight, serious face "Martial Arts". I said, snickering a little bit "Oh yeah, how do you know martial arts?" He then told me that he has watched every martial arts movie ever made. He told me to act like I was coming at him with a knife so he could show off his martial arts. I did, (horrible mistake) and with amazing speed, he slapped my hand away and punched him square on in the crotch. hard. In the middle of church. I doubled over and felt to the ground with tears of pain in my eyes. He calmly pretended like nothing had happened, stepped over me and went to the next class and left me in the hallway on the ground. I love Antonio. He is one of my favorite people I have met so far in the mission, and he deserves the attention I have given him in this email. More Antonio stories are sure to come.

Everything else is good. I am happy. All is well. Life is good.