Er...cheese enchilads, Keeping attention, authority‏

Oh how I love my life.We had a slammin week this week. The elders weren't able to help us out with english class last minute so I had to teach advanced. Last time I "sub'd" advanced we played a riveting round of Jeopardy which kind of rocked those little Italians world. Apparently Italians are Jeopardy deprived. They didn't know what it was. So ANYWAY this week I hurried and threw together a lesson but they mostly wanted to talk. So one of the guys in the back of the class raised his hand and said, "What do you guys eat for Christmas?" I kind of stood there for a second because...we don't really have a second Thanksgiving and pull out a turkey or chicken or something. So, therefore, my response of, "Er...we actually have our meal on Christmas eve and in my family we sit on the floor, light candles, and have oranges and cheese enchiladas." After them expecting some fancy feast (coincidental reference to cat food) it was clear that my answer had kind of let them down. BUT whatever. I always went to sleep on the 24th completely pleased.So we went back to the ol' Acevedo home. Our last lesson with them was kind of a mild explosion...meaning...it was bust. We taught the importance of keeping the sabbath day holy and they were all so out of it and not paying attention and...I kind of wanted to teach the principles of the gospel while doing a mildy embarassing tap dance just to get them to focus. Though I somehow refrained. We even asked the elders (who had joined us for this appointment) a couple of questions and had them explain a couple of things and...nada. The family was zoned out. It was bizzare as could be. I selfishly felt a little better that they wouldn't listen to the elders either--that it wasn't just us. Terrible of me? Perhaps. SO Sorella Skabelund and I really prayed about what we needed to teach and somehow during companion study the lesson practically put itself together. We ended up teaching repentance. We used a nice visual which involved the father of the house holding a cup full of water to the ceiling using a broom handle. We had successfully obtained their attention. :) I tried doing some different things during the lesson that we hadn't planned just to see if I could really get their attention and if the message was really sinking in. It was cool. Lots of questions were asked, we said their names a lot, and we tried to help them see how obeying the rules of the gospel makes them feel good. In the end, instead of repentance seeming like a completely painful and rebuking experience, it's more of a way for us to use the atonement, replace our bad habits with ones that bring us joy and peace. Ah, sigh of relief. Also, we reset our baptismal dates with them. We have a good share of work to do with them but it thank goodness we don't do it all on our lonesome. My stars, what would we do without prayer, the scriptures, leaders, and personal revelation? Sad day indeed!We had an investigator show up at the end of church today and wanted to see us. Her name is Sameh. She's from Tunisia. And we haven't seen her in like a month! We really didn't have anything prepared for her in that moment (because we weren't expecting her) but we went into one of the rooms in the church and uh...were really praying in our hearts. First off, this girl is kind of incredible! She's very sensitive to spiritual things. In fact, before I got here, SHE had a really strong feeling inside that she needed to approach the elders and talk with them. Er...seriously? Come on! So I kind of feel a good amount of pressure to not mess this up. (Well, I feel that with everyone, but I recognize that there is something really special about her.) Somehow I just blurted out, "Let's read 3 Nephi 11". So...we started. We got to the part where Jesus gives his authority to the peeps in America. And I stopped and told her that we know that we have this authority. Then, (brace yourselves) she says, "So why is authority important anyway?" I think I almost choked and glanced around the room for hidden cameras! "Well, Sameh, that is a great question!" ha ha It was too perfect. Then my companion gave a really great comparison story that helps explain the importance of authority. It was crazy cool. We invited her to finish the chapter and pray to know if this church really does have the authority from God. My companion and I finished that lesson and looked at eachother and just thouht, "Well holy smokes! We totally got help with that lesson and P.S. she's fabulous!!" So we're more then just slightly excited for our next appointment on Sunday.Did you guys watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional? We went to the church to watch it and we had three of our members there: Fratello Carli, Tina, and Fratello Signorini. Oh man, they're all old and hilarious. I sat by Fratello Carli and one time after the MoTab choir sang he said, "I didn't understand a word, but that was beautiful." ha ha Oh man. Best of times.Have a marvelous week! I hope you're all happy and loving this time of year to be with fam and friends, and reflect on the significance of Christ's birth. Til next week! Behave yourselves!....Sorella Hansen