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| Sabbath Day with Obispo Cruz! |
Oh my goodness, I just love Anjomil. This little 8 year old boy is darling. When he was getting confirmed on Sunday, it said in his blessing that he would go on a mission. It's crazy to think that I had the opportunity to be part of this process, that he might be able to help others do the same. We all decided we were going to help pay for his mission, not even joking!!
Okay now on to a really Spiritual experience I had this last week and it has to do with Dad's spiritual thought he put in my last email. So to preface, these last couple of months on my mission have been some of the hardest and most challenging months in my entire mission. Nonetheless, I have never been so happy at the same time. It's weird and I am not really sure how that is but it happens! So, these last couple of weeks I have been a little more stressed and it was really getting to me. I had been debating for weeks trying to figure out if I needed/should get a blessing to help me with guidance. Last Friday was a SUPER stressful day, and I just kinda broke down. A lot of things weren't really going how they needed to, or I guess how I wanted them to. I hadn't been sleeping well, and I was starting to get sick, all signs that I needed to slow down and stop stressing. The next morning, I was in my personal study and I just felt lost. I was deep in my thoughts wondering how I was going to be able to accomplish all these tasks I needed to do in the mission, be a good example for Hermana Post, work hard, figure out personal things, etc.. and I didn't know what to do. I decided to pray to ask Heavenly Father what I needed to hear, and what he wanted me to do. After the prayer, I had a very distinct thought come into my head, "Read Dad's spiritual thought again," and I thought," hmm... Okay. So I went back and read the parts that I had read before, and then, it was as if these words had just appeared, like magic. Dad started talking about how, "The work that we do requires the help of heaven, and how we need to be meek, humble, and willing to wait or lean on, and trust the timing of the Lord and his miracles." I took that as I needed to let go of my pride and stubbornness and that I needed to ask for a blessing. Then, my eyes just skimmed to a couple paragraphs down, where Dad says, " My dear daughter, if I were to help you in any way, I wish for you to have that blessing." I lost it. I started crying tears of happiness, because regardless of whether or not Dad had felt prompted to put that in, I know that it was Heavenly Father using Dad as a way to help me understand His will for me, and to accept this divine help I needed. I went into the bathroom and I said a prayer of gratitude, thanking Heavenly Father for my wonderful Father, who never fails to help me, for his spiritual guidance, and for allowing me to see the hand of the Lord in my life when I really needed it. I texted Elder Bradford (our district leader) and asked him if I could get a blessing that night, and I did. It was one of the most personal, and powerful blessings I had ever received. I am so grateful for that experience, because it is one I will never forget. So, Dad, never think your spiritual thoughts go to waste. They are ALWAYS needed!!!
Our investigators are growing, WOO!!!
Vilma: we taught her twice last week, and she is very open to listen and loves our visits. She's Pentecostal and she has a lot of faith. We gave her a Book of Mormon and taught her lesson one. The Spirit was super strong when we testified of the power of the Book of Mormon and we felt prompted to invite her to be baptized. She said yes initially, and then she said no, but we're not giving up hope! We have a cita (appointment) with her tomorrow.
Melodie: so, we actually taught Melodie at the beginning of March a little bit, back when Hermana Zimmerman was just starting her training. She had interest, accepted a fecha (baptismal date) to be baptized, but then ignored us for a bit and didn't really keep her commitments. So we dropped her for a while. But we had an impression to pass by her house and one of her sons Ernis was outside, he's 3 years old and the cutest thing ever. He had us come say hi to him, and Melodie came to the door and asked us when we were going to come visit her! So we are seeing her later today and we are super excited.
Zoraida: So we were looking in our area book and found this woman named Zoraida, she had been taught on three other occasions in the last 10 years by three different sets of missionaries. So, we decided to give it a shot and look for her. We prayed before knocking on her door, we knocked and she said, are you Mormonas?, and we smiled and said yes, why yes we are, and she said, do you want to come inside? We were like YESSSSSSS!! So, we got to know her and we were talking about her family and she told us about how one of her sons has been missing for 7 years and she doesn't know where he is, and she just broke down and started crying. We were able to share a couple scriptures with her and our testimonies on the Plan of Salvation. She knows that it wasn't a coincidence that we stopped by. She said that whenever she was having a hard time in her life, the Missionaries always showed up. We are super excited to keep teaching her!
Luis: we met Luis yesterday while contacting this street we walk by to get to Melodie's apartments. We talked about baptism in our contact and he told us he was interested in being baptized! It was another miracle, and we have a cita (appointment) with him Saturday!!
Nicole: we are still working with her. We had a really cool lesson with her and Ivette, teaching them lesson one with these cool cups Hermana Thelin made. We gave them Alma 32 to read. We just love Nicole and continue to pray for her and hope she will accept to be baptized soon, so she can enjoy the blessings of the gospel with her Mother and draw closer to the Spirit and feel the love her Savior has for her. Prayers for Nicole would be appreciated.
GREAT NEWS: Mayra and Anjomil got baptized and it was such a special day! They are just the cutest people and so great. :')
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| Mayra & Anjomil's Baptism. |
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| Hermana Post, Green, Mayra, Anjomil, Elder Bradford & Murillo. |
It was so crazy saying good-bye to President and Hermana Boucher, but it was a good day. Funny story: we got to spend a little more time with President and Hermana Boucher than we thought, because on our way home, they were going to meet us at our apartment to do inspections and on our way back to our apartment two of our tires popped on our car - It actually wasn't my fault!! So they came to where we broke down to help us out. We had some good laughs and It was HILARIOUS, because President went to go get in the drivers seat to help get the car towed and he yells, "OH MY GOODNESS SISTER GREEN" because, MY SEAT WAS PULLED UP SO MUCH HAHAHAHAHA. Hey, I am small, so what do you expect. It was pretty funny. I hope he reads this and laughs. (Love you President)
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| Saying Goodbye to President & Sister Boucher. I'm Going to Miss them! |
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| Last Zone Conference with President & Sister Boucher as they have Served for 3 Years and are being released. |
We are meeting President and Hermana Smart tomorrow! I am super excited.
I forgot it was fourth of July yesterday, haha!! It was just like any normal day, we worked and later we celebrated by listening to patriotic songs. Usually everyone goes to the beach here to celebrate the 4th.
Wow, how crazy that Cade is home from his mission and that Bergen is off to Russia! I am grateful for them and their examples to me. I cried reading that Bergen shared her Spiritual hospital experience with Neno at her Farewell, and that my little video I sent singing; "The Spirit Of God" helped our family in that stressful time. CONGRATS TO AJ AND BAILEY ON THEIR BABY ANNOUNCEMENT WOW!
Thank you for your comments in your letter about seeing the transformation I've made. I have never been happier in my life and I am so glad for the things I am experiencing and the person I am becoming. I still have much to improve in, but I am proud of the person I am. That is all thanks to Heavenly Father and His perfect plan. I love the mission and I am glad that was part of His plan for me. There is nothing sweeter, than to know that families can be together forever. It reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures, found in Mosiah 16:7-9, that talks about how Death has no victory thanks to our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the light of the world and I know He lives and that He is at the head of His church, and I know that these things are true with all my heart!! Hermana Josie gave me a quote that I really like, and it says; "Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional" -Roger Crawford.
Thank you for raising me in the gospel, my dear family. I know who I am and I know what I can become.
I love you.
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