!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are no words to express my excitement when I get to talk to you on p-days!! So I just put exclamation marks! I love you Mom and Dad!
Spiritual experiences... Well, this transfer, our mission has a goal of getting 50 baptisms. Elder Andersen had us make a goal for 40 last month, and 50 for May. Now these are some pretty hefty goals considering our mission isn't known for being a baptizing mission (yet.) So we have had to work SUPER hard. Last month we got 32 and we were so close to 40! But I know without a doubt that the Lord wants at least 50 this month. Never in my entire life have I ever wanted to accomplish this goal, and I can feel how close we are. I know that this is a big goal but I know that through our faith and trust in the Lord, and working super hard everyday, we will see that. We did a fast for these 50 baptism this last Sunday and it is thrilling being able to share the faith with an island of missionaries to help make history here in Puerto Rico. It hasn't been done yet, but I KNOW we can get there. We also have a zone goal of 27 baptisms and a district goal of 10 to help us buckle down and do our part of the 50. So, we have to work SO hard, but I have felt time and time again the Spirit confirming that not only is this what the Lord wants and needs, but how close we are. In times of discouragement I have felt that comfort and know that this goal is of God.
Investigators: so we are constantly finding and dropping because Hermana Boucher (Mission Presidents Wife) in our zone conference talked about finding those that are truly, "seekers of truth" and those who aren't. That is basically what we have to do, in order to find those who are prepared. So that means a lot of contacting and a lot of rejection and a lot of miracles! As of right now we have Ivette and Nicole, and Leeandra, an investigator of Hermana Cortes and Hermana Antonio.
Ivette and Nicole: we had a lesson with them on Saturday and had this lesson PERFECTLY planned, and we even got Alex to come with us. We had it planned to talk with them about what our purpose is on earth and what we have to do in order to obtain eternal life and the blessings of the Celestial Kingdom. While in the lesson, it was super hard to keep the topic on track because Alex and Ivette and Nicole were getting distracted and it was hard to maintain the spirit of the lesson. We didn't feel the Spirit prompt us to invite them to be baptized, so after the lesson we were pretty discouraged. They didn't go to church yesterday so we were even more discouraged. I was just wanting to burst into tears because I was so stuck on how to help them. We decided to pass by just to say hello because we were contacting by their house. To our surprise, they let us in, (they don't like when we randomly show up without calling so for them to let us in was a miracle in itself) and we just stayed for 10 minutes, and while we were there Nicole says, "Hey! I have a question. So what happens after I get baptized?" We were shocked. But we ended up telling them about how they only have one lesson left before they are able to get baptized, (there's this thing called Mind the Gap where it shows the investigators what they need to learn and commit to before they are baptized and it helps them see how prepared they are) and we showed them on their Mind the Gap and pointed out that they only had a lesson left. Then we kinda explained about how baptism works and how the thing that changes after baptism is that they have the Holy Ghost and that they would keep going to church and keep learning. Nicole says, "Oh, okay, well mom, if you want to get baptized then you can get baptized and when I am ready I'll get baptized after you, because we need to look for God." We were so shocked! But we are so, so, so, so BEYOND excited because they mentioned baptism before we did! We have an appointment on Friday and we are going to invite them to be baptized on the 27th!
Leeandra: she has a lot going on in her life and we were able to get to know her more. We read her a scripture in the Book of Mormon and gave her one to read, and she said she wanted to go to church (she went once) and Sunday morning came and we went with a member to go pick her up and she wasn't there. :\
Random things: there are FIREFLIES HERE! I have never seen fireflies in real life and they are everywhere and it is so magical. I feel like I am in Princess and The Frog in Puerto Rico, Lol. Some of my girl mission friends and old companions have discovered that I am in the embark video and have watched it and I am still just as embarrassed now as I was then, hahahaha.
I have made a list of things to share with you when we Skype on Mothers Day! I am excited to share all these funny stories. And for you to meet Obispo. I love him so much. So we have two elders in our ward now, and four out of the five companionship's in my district are all training, craziness. At our correlation meeting the missionaries have with Obispo, he told us how we are like his kids. We have a great relationship with him.
I am SO excited to see you both and Tubba and Cam and the girls this Sunday! Seriously SO STOKED! I am grateful for all of my experiences on the mission and I love that I am constantly being challenged to become something more, to challenge myself more, to be a better Disciple of Christ and to constantly improve myself. I have a lot of weaknesses but I know that my weak things can become stronger, and that one day I will be perfected in Christ like Moroni talks about in the end of the Book of Mormon. I love you all.
-Hermana Green
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