Unexpected win (I am literally shaking!)

OKAY so as many of you know, I am a Christian (I've recommended like two different illustrated Spanish Bibles in this subreddit already), and I had also mentioned that I was pretty sad that there are no Spanish speaking churches near where I live, specifically Pentecostal churches because that's what I am! Well, I happened to be watching an old live from a Pentecostal church that had a Spanish service last year, and I was about 30 minutes into the video when my mom called me (I live with my dad in the PNW, and my mom lives in the South). I paused my video and answered, and when I did, she was frantically and excitedly telling me that there was a Spanish speaking pastor who just founded a Spanish speaking bilingual Pentecostal church RIGHT IN THE AREA THAT MY MOM LIVES, and that the Pastor was at her house to visit with her and her husband! And she said "I told him all about you and how you've been learning Spanish! Do you want to talk to him?" I was freaking out and telling her, "WAIT! I DON'T KNOW! DOES HE WANT TO TALK TO ME?" Because this was SO spontaneous and unexpected, and I felt so NERVOUS to talk to him! But my mom insisted that it was fine and he already knew about me and if I was willing to talk to him then it would have to be right then and there because he was getting ready to leave. So I agreed. We talked in Spanish and I learned a little about him and his background, that he is from Guatemala and he founded the church only about a year ago, and he's still working on getting everything together for it and trying to invite more people. He said he doesn't like those automatic translation devices that some churches use, and that he wants it to all be live translation from another person. He kept telling me how good my accent sounded and kept asking my mom "Wait, she's American? Is she actually American? And her Spanish is that good?" That definitely boosted my confidence LOL. And my mom was also very taken aback because although she has known that I've been learning Spanish, she has never heard me have a conversation with someone in Spanish until today. I kept hearing her say in the background "She sounds so good speaking Spanish! Wow!" At times, he did switch back to English to say certain things so that my mom and her husband would be able to understand too, and his English was pretty dang good and flowed quite naturally, and guess what? Turns out he learned English the same way I learned Spanish. Watching stuff. He said "I learned English from watching television. I don't even know how I speak it today, I just do." Yup, that pretty much sums up our situation with learning Spanish too! We start out with listening, and then one day we can just speak it!

Anyways, he was saying how he would really like to meet me, which he WILL, because I normally visit my mom once a year and I plan on going over there this fall! And he also said he wants to add me on facebook and for his wife to meet me too lol! I am SO excited about this! And also so nervous because I am still sweating and shaking! :D That's my win! And my motivation to keep getting that input has increased!

TL;DR My mom spontaneously put me on the phone with a Spanish speaking church Pastor and I got to learn more about him and his church and I'll be going over there to visit this fall!

Edit 1/14/25: I can't believe I even have to add this to my post, but since it's the last ever post on this subreddit mentioning religion hence the new sub rule, I am going to put everything I have to say here. I've seen people making assumptions about me in the comments solely because of my mentioning that I'm Pentecostal. I have been accused of supporting disgusting things like pedophilia, husbands beating their wives, and of course, the classic, being in a cult. People need to remember that "Pentecostal" is an umbrella term. Different Pentecostals believe different things. Maybe some religions support all those horrible things mentioned. But not me, and not any other church that I've been to (And I have been to quite a few). Take the video that recently went viral where a pastor at an Apostolic church in Virginia made a young girl go up in front of the whole church and tell them she was pregnant. I'm sure most people who saw that video now automatically assume that all Apostolics are like that. But again, of all the Apostolic churches I have been to, nothing like that has EVER happened, and most Apostolics all over have also expressed their concern and disgust with what that Pastor did. It's something that should have NEVER happened. I am just disgusted and genuinely hurt that people have been making awful false claims about me as a person and my beliefs.

I have never ever tried to push my beliefs onto ANYONE in this subreddit. All I wanted was to share this amazing win for my Spanish learning. And it was obviously important for me to give context to that win. How else was I supposed to share it? "Hey guys, my mom called me and put me on the phone with a Spanish speaking man"? People would wonder, "Why did she call you?" "Who was the man?" "What did you talk about?" It was impossible to share this win without giving the context, and of course I wanted to share this win because it's HUGE to me, and this has always been my favorite, most supportive sub when it comes to learning Spanish. I never would have imagined that it would lead to a complete ban of even the mere mention or HINTING at any religion in both posts and comments in this sub. I honestly feel hurt, and this means that I will no longer be able to share any kind of resources I may find related to Christianity, and I will no longer be able to share wins like this one. The day I finally translate a sermon for a Spanish speaker who knows no English, the day I finally read the Bible in Spanish, when I go meet that Pastor and visit his church in person, and any and all other wins that I'll have, are things that I will not be able to share with the community. Anyone who is Buddhist, or Muslim, or "the other kind of Christian" that people actually fancy, or Mormon, or Jewish, and so on, will no longer be able to share their own experiences relating to their beliefs and Spanish. It's simply unfair.

Imagine if, for example, there was a ban of even MENTIONING anything about the lgbt community. Someone who was trans, for example, would be prohibited from even mentioning the fact that they are trans, even if they were trying to give context about something. Imagine if someone experienced a "win" at a pride festival, and they had the exciting opportunity to use their Spanish, but they couldn't even share that win with the DS community because the mention of lgbt isn't allowed. Do you see how that's unfair? So why is it that other beliefs, organizations, ideologies, or communities (not just the lgbt community, I was just using that as an example) that others would consider a cult/indoctrination are still allowed to be mentioned, but God forbid I make a post sharing that I talked on the phone in Spanish with a church Pastor? Even more so, how is it fair that this became a rule that affects the entire subreddit because of a couple of people getting extremely offended over something that they mistakenly thought I partake in?

I know if I were to make a whole post about it, it would get removed, so I hope that this gets brought to light in some way by more people stumbling across this post here. And anyone who reads this will now know why I will no longer be participating in this sub. I enjoyed my stay, and this sub was always my favorite! Unless there are better changes made to the sub, this is my farewell, and I wish you all the very best in your Spanish learning journeys! Bye dreamers! -Ariel