I decided this week that I am so grateful for the opportunity my Heavenly Father has given me to learn Spanish. And yes, I'm surprised too. I won't say I never thought I would speak Spanish on my mission,
but it wasn't what I would have chosen for myself. It isn't easy to learn another language but it really has been miraculous to see how far I've come in just the past three months. Wayyyy farther than I
ever was with French or Italian. Part of it is because I've practiced and studied it everyday, but the other part is that God has called me to speak this language and He has given me everything I need in order
to fulfill the mission I've been called to. He's really blessed me with this language. We went to a Spanish Training meeting this week and the speaker said, "The Lord has invested much in you with this
language, to speak Spanish is a revelation privilege, a gift. Apply unto it." And then said that Heavenly Father expects us to use this privilege for the rest of our lives. I decided that I will do that, however I can. So this week I think I decided that my ability to comprehend is just about surpassing my ability to speak. So that means I need to start cracking down on speaking again. Progress!
We learned in Sunday School about gifts and talents. God has invested much in each one of us and has given us gifts and talents. He wants to help us find them and develop them. You are very dear to God and He has a great mission for you to perform, ask Him to help you recognize
what it is, and then apply unto it!
So the experience I have to share this week is something that has made me so happy. We were out for the day after a really good morning of studies and I was feeling really excited to share the gospel with
people. More about that later. We had planned to see this one lady, but I felt like we should go and visit her best friend we had met a few days earlier. So we drove down and realized we couldn't remember
her apartment number even though it had literally been just a few days since we had talked to her for the first time. Frustrating. So we decided to knock all the doors cause why not. We left one door to run
into this kid! And I recognized him! I remembered his name and everything! We met him a least a month ago if not more and he seemed interested but the address he gave us was wrong so we kind of forgot about him. He was so excited to see us! He ran into his house and got his mom and two brothers to sit down with us. His mom told us that her son had told her about us that day we met him and that ¡¡¡¡¡¡they had been waiting for us!!!!!!! They moved here from Mexico like 6 months ago, and still don't speak very much English. They said that they went to the Catholic Church there, but that's only because that was the only church they could find. They believe in Christ as the Son of God and want to follow Him and be baptized! Oh man, the spirit was so strong. They were so eager to hear, to feel the spirit, and commit to pray to know if they should be baptized - AND to come to church, AND to meet with us again! I just felt so happy. And so blessed. We've
been looking and looking for the people God has prepared for us to teach and every time we've found someone I feel has been prepared things don't work out and we've had to start over trying to find the
elect. But God promised us that if we would be faithful in finding, and trust that He has been preparing the hearts of the people here, we would find them. I'm so excited to work with this family and do my very best to teach them the restored Gospel and help them come unto Jesus Christ.
This week I have been studying faith. The first step in coming to Christ. And that's one thing that has renewed my enthusiasm and love for this work. As I myself come closer to my Savior I feel so blessed
to have this opportunity to help others do the same thing.
"The Lord has revealed Himself and His perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in Him without reservation."
We can have faith that Christ has felt and overcome all of the feelings we have, the temptations, the sadness, laziness, fear, discomfort, dread, doubt, pain, uncertainty, loneliness, disappointment. Todo. Even the good things we have felt. Excitement, peace, happiness, love, success, hope, enjoyment. These things He has felt and can give you each of things even more fully and perfectly. A perfect love, perfect hope, a perfect happiness. We can trust Him :) He can help us with our daily struggles. Even if that struggle is feeling joy each day. Because the gospel is a message of joy, and God has promised that as we come unto Christ and partake of the Living Water we will feel joyful!
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loosethe bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.
13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.
I testify that the Savior lives and that He knows us perfectly, and that He loves us perfectly, even despite our faults. The help and strength and change He can bring to our lives is real and it is wonderful.
Oh no the spicy air thing! Okay so in our lesson with Angel and his family we are talking about baptism and all of a sudden I get a little cough in my throat. And then a Hermana Ferguson does too. And then the
other kids. And we all are coughing and I have no idea what's going on cause they're using words I don't know in Spanish. Our eyes are watering and I turn to ask Hermana Ferguson what's happening and she
says that this lady is cooking salsa and the steam from the chilis has gone airborn! XD so we take a few minutes to air out the house and breath not spicy air again.
Along the same lines as that we were teaching one of our potential investigators and it's going really well and then her boyfriend and his buddies get home and ask us if we want to eat with them. We had
just gotten out of dinner so we said no. But then they told us that we had to because they had just killed a goat yesterday and we're going to eat him today and that we needed to try it. 0.0 yikes. So we, feeling adventurous, said we would try a little. Annnnd it was gross. But the really awful part was that they salsa they gave us was literally the spiciest thing I've ever tasted. My face got all read and my ears were ringing and my mouth felt like it was going to be numb for the rest of my life. Whew. Crazy stuff. The good news is this lady ended up coming to church on Sunday :D so happy.
And final piece of news, we are having another fireside here in the coming month and I'm playing the piano for the number "I Believe in Christ". It's so pretty! I'm really excited to be able to play the piano again. :) Abby you better be taking good care of my viola missy.
Cause I miss that too.
I love you guys!
mle