Mi dulce familia,
Once again, what a week! Quite a bit different from the last, but still pretty crazy. <our house is the house of every missionary that doesn't have anywhere to stay, so in my month and a half that <I've lived here <I've lived with LOTS of other sisters. for example,
on Sunday night Hermana Mercaado and her companio slept here, and currently 2 sister missionaries who are extending their missions live here with us. So, the whole week I was basically getting used to 3 different companions instead of just Hna Nuñez, because we did lots of companion exchanges between the four of us. It was fun, we found a few people already willing to get baptized, not to mention a few more families who need to get married. We haven't been able to contact Estefania, we call her every night and even went all the way to her house at eight thirty pm and she wasn't there. The problem is, she already had a baptismal date and was all ready. But she started working in Walmart literally the day after we confirmed everything, and fell of the face of the planet. Anywho, the night we went to her house at the time that she supposedly was off work, was after a day of working with Hermana Villegas, one of those days where no one was in their house and ready to meet with us, so lots of walking and street contacting - oh, Liliana flat-out rejected us. Not sure what craziness happened there, but she never wants to come back to church. Anywho, we finally found Estefania's house and she wasn't there, and Hna Nuñez was by this time literally doubled over with stomach pain, like she couldn't even stand up straight. So out in this really sketchy area called Palo Solo we called Hna Whitehead and the doctor who told us that it sounded like appendicitis and GO TO THE HOSPITAL. Well, it didn't turn out to be appendicitis, just a stomach infection, but Hna Nuñez and I were there in the hospital til
five am, her in the hospital bed and Hermana LeSueur in the rollie chair in the corner, for 6 1/2 hours. The doctor gave her some super expensive medicines and told her to rest for a day. So the weirdest day of my mission happened on Saturday, Hna Nuñez sleeping all day. Me getting a few hours of sleep and going out to work and buy Hna Nuñez medicine with Hna Montero for a few hours, then cleaning and sleeping a bit more. Super weird. I was the only one who had any money left over for the month, so between all the taxis and medicines I'm super excited to get reimbursed haha! Well, yesterday Maria Guadelupe and Esmeralda and Ernesto got confirmed. Maria Guadelupe is reading the Libre de Mormon from the beginning. Visiting with the three of them this week, I have never seen them so happy. To be honest, Maria Guadelupe and Ernesto are by nature a little grumpy, haha. But this week was constant smiles and lots of progression. A pretty crazy moment - we were with Maria Guadelupe and I was showing her the relationship between the Book of Mormon and The Bible with some specific passages, she suddenly remembered this dream that she had awhile back, and she saw very clearly in her mind 1 Corinthians 1 15. So we looked it up and it literally says "also baptized the household..." I think that was the comfort she needed that her husband will be baptized one day, too. We have a few new investigators who we're super excited about: Huberto, Mary, Maxi, Edith/family. Baptism right now is in the plans for all of them! And we're keeping the faith that we'll find and baptize the once-golden Estefania. Also, if I could ask for a special prayer for Maria Guadelupe, that she'll continue to grow and continually remember the special experiences she's had. I continue to be amazed by how the mission is changing me. I have now passed my seven month mark, and at the end of this cycle I will be pretty close to my halfway mark. There's a quote I like from Presdient Eyring that says "think more about what you are becoming that what you have done. Then, what you do will spring from what you have become." I feel as if every week I try without success to describe what the mission is, how it makes me feel. I can say, right now, as a missionary of 7 months and 3 days, that I have become a believer. No, i can't say that I've ever been a doubter. But in this moment, my knowledge of the character of God has expanded. Phrases I often dismissed as cliche have new and personal meaning as He's shown me their truth. i recently found something I wrote when i had been in the mission for three months in total. i called it the truths of god, and i wrote it in one of my most difficult moments, but also a moment that was, for sure, a turning point. with three months in his service, here is what i had come to know: God weeps with us. God is incredibly patient. God is never too busy. God can literally speak peace to our souls. God is my Father. He is my family. God will never leave me. God understands. God expects that we give everything. God needs each one of us to learn to turn to him in our darkest hour. God has so much confidence in me. God's only motivation is our happiness. God gives us very obvious chances every day to improve our character in a major way. God gave us the sacrament so we could remember to hope, among a billion other reasons. God places every person ion our lives for a reason. God, in truth speaks to us through all of our leaders. He exists, He's there. This I do really truly know. I love you all, so excited for another week in PALMAS! Be safe, if there's absolutely anything i can do for you from over here let me know! Love you
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