August 11, 2014

We are definitely seeing miracles in our area. 

We have two investigators Alma and Sabino, they are the parents of a recent convert, Imer. My first visit in this area with them we extended the baptism invitation and Alma was all for it and Sabino was very hesitant. We didn't see them for about a week and a half. We were a little nervous about how they had truly taken the baptism invitation but when we saw them again, Sabino looked happier than ever and accepted the invitation and date. Since then he's been all smiles and practically glows.

Also, we contacted someone in the street and found out that the misioneras before Hermana Caballero and Hermana Curiel had been teaching her. We set an appointment for the next week. When we went the next week, she asked if we could come back later, which unfortunately we wouldn't be able to because we had a meeting. We agreed to come back a different day and started to walk away. We were a little unsure about where to go for the next hour and a half before our meeting. That's when her daughter ran after us and said, "Wait! I'm actually the one that wants to talk to you!" We sat down and taught her about how she was a daughter of God and about her grand potential. She listened very intently and when we asked her how she felt she said, "I just, I just feel like it's true." We invited her to read in the Book of Mormon and pray. She agreed to do so and we have another appointment with her this week and so we'll see how it goes.

We also have an investigator that we were going to drop because we couldn't get a hold of her. Everytime we would visit her she wasn't home or couldn't visit with us. We decided to visit her one more time and when we dropped by they were making Chiles en Nogadas. We offered to help and she let us in! We talked and visited with her as we helped prepare the ingredients. She then invited us back! We're hoping that it was a sign to show that we should continue working with her. 

We have two investigators named Karla and Sarai. They're sisters who have been visited by the missionaries for a long long time. We had been thinking about dropping them for a while and because neither of us were sure if we should, we took it to the Lord during our weekly planning session. We both felt like we should continue with them and decided that we would sit down and have a good talk with them. We haven't had the chance yet but we're hoping that we'll see why the Lord wants us to continue with them. 

We had the baptism of Doris on Saturday. Is was a good end to a very stressful day. We had been running around all day and then as we were finishing a very argumentative contact it started to rain. Everything went late. Hardly anyone showed up until a half an hour after it was supposed to start and Doris didn't show up until 45 minutes after it was supposed to start. To her credit, there was a flood in her store but she still came and it was positively beautiful. I'm convinced that my favorite part is when they step into the water. The Spirit just fills the room and it's an absolutely wonderful moment.

  I am also constantly surprised by how much and how quickly people trust us as missionaries. We visited a member family with whom the missionaries have worked hard in the past to reactivate and so we keep tabs on them. They seemed upset during church and so we decided to pass by. The mother was there with her daughters and after my companion shared Ether 12:4 and talked about that with our faith we have a hope for a better world, the mother told us all about the problems that she had with her husband. I sat there thinking..."I don't know what to say, I have to say something but I don't know what to say." I started to pray and pray for inspiration about what I could say to this family, not to counsel them, but to comfort them. I felt the need to share Alma 7:11-12, however, when the mother asked what we thought my companion responded with her testimony that everything would be okay and after a bit more talking I felt that my moment to share my thoughts had passed. We closed with a prayer and the mother asked if we could sing, "I Need Thee Every Hour". We sang and after the mother asked me why I had hardly talked that day. I can't remember what I said but I did say that I would like to share something with them. I sat in silence for just a moment and listened intently to the Spirit. Then I began to speak, I testified of the Savior and of his love for us. I shared the scripture and testified of it's truthfullness and how the Savior is always there for us. I felt the Spirit fill my soul and knew that as I testified to them that they were feeling the testimony of the Spirit and that as He testified to them of the truthfullness of the words, He was also testifying to me. I shared another of my favorite scriptures with them Isaiah 41:10,13 and testified of the truth of it.

  I was very grateful for the chance to be an instrument for the Lord and that I could help deliver the words that that family needed. I had been feeling lately that I was lacking alot in the ability to teach and help these people here in this ward and I am so grateful for the reminder that my abilities do not matter. As long as I seek the help of the Lord, he will make whatever abilities I have enough. 

I know that our Lord loves us more than we can comprehend and that He is mindful of us in every circumstance.