GOD IS REAL

Hey guys!

Another week in Lomas Verdes 2! Hermana Mercado is super awesome, VERY motivated and VERY disciplined. The Lord helped me a lot this week to find my way around and be the leader in most things, since Hermana Mercado doesn't know the area (which is HUGE) or the people! It was an awesome experience, stressful for sure, but it was cool to get a chance to try being the 'momma' for a bit and discover that I really have learned a lot! I love to teach, I really do. I play an equal role in the lessons these days, and it's such a good feeling. We have some golden investigators, Jose and Maria, and they are SO ready to be baptized it's crazy. They came to church yesterday along with their daughter and abuela. Jessica was also confirmed yesterday, by her brother who's a convert of a year, and she brought her dad and grandparents and boyfriend so that was super exciting. We got a 15-year-old less-active to come as well, and we were way excited! We're really close to setting a baptism date with Dominica, she's still not sure, but she's concentrating on the Book of Mormon this week and things are going super well. We have a new investigator, Luz, who works at the house of one of the members. She's in the area of the Elders, but wanted the Hermanas, so we get to teach her! She's really really cute, 22 years old, and already knows a lot because she lives with the member family. We taught Antonio (Jessica's dad) this week, and honestly he has a lot of doubts and questions, but both of his kids are recent converts and I can see how Jessica's baptism affected him. Hermana Mercado and I left our lesson with him (which started as a follow-up lesson with Jessica) and we were both just like "He already believes. He just doesn't want to admit it." He's being real stubborn, but I have high hopes. We're working on Familia Romero and Familia Ceja as well, and I'm excited for this week! We made appointments with lots of street contacts that we're going to visit this week, and I hope they turn out as well. 

Halloween was a little crazy, I kinda wish they would have let us go home a bit early that day because the streets were insane and very drunk. But we made it home fine, of course, and didn't run into anything too scary. A super nice gate-guard felt the need to warn us that he saw lots of guys going around robbing people at gun-point, so be careful - which only resulted in me feeling nervous to walk the streets in the dark for the first time since I've been here... But Halloween and Day of the Dead have both passed, and all is well! I saved a little of the "Booberries" that Momma Trace sent me in my package for Halloween night, and they were way stale but it was way fun. Hermana Mercado really is the best, and I feel way comfortable teaching with her. I felt the lessons this week were much more like conversations, and I was able to communicate things the way I wanted to. I wrote in my journal one night, "I CAUGHT THE WAVE!" like in that one missionary talk - that is, I think I'm getting it! It's been a week of lots of revelation, and I have learned so much about myself, about God, about my relationship with Him... I'm learning what it means to give of my whole self to something. I'm learning the things He needs me to know to accomplish the purposes for which I've been sent. Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me. 

Everybody: GOD IS REAL. He loves us so very very much, with a perfect love that's occasionally hard to understand but that's because we're all imperfect. I have seen what the Gospel does for people. Jessica makes me want to cry every time I'm with her. She always talks about feeling feelings she had never felt before, a happiness she had never felt before. I can't even believe how lucky I am to get to do this all day, every day. Seriously. This church is true, every single part, every principle. We have the truth, all of it, and because we have it we have a responsibility to share it. SHARE IT! Love you all so much, thanks for your words this week!

BEEEEG KEEEES, LIL KEEES,
Hermana LeSueur