Time for yet another weekly email haha. We have had such a great week and I have lots of miracle stories to share with all of you! But first, a little update on our person who was on-date for baptism, Teresa. She has not been in contact with us since we went to the temple visitors center with her like 2 weeks ago, so we decided to take her off date. We were hoping to meet with her and just change the date instead of taking her off, but we haven’t been able to see her so that is pretty disappointing. However, it was very exciting to find a bunch of new people this week because I’ve definitely seen how that continual finding leads to having more solid people to teach.
I hit my 9-month mark, which is a strange day because it’s another time when I get smacked over the head and realize just how much I need to make all of this time count! It was an awesome blessing to be able to go to the temple and celebrate though, the mission temple trip couldn’t have had better timing. I am so grateful for the past 9 months and the many things I’ve learned during that time. Even though I still have so much progress to make, it’s such a blessing to be able to look back and see that Heavenly Father truly has been shaping me into a better person, day by day. I only hope I can keep progressing and learning as much or more during this second half of my mission!
We had an incredible lesson with a lady named Yoanna on Friday. The elders came and gave her son a blessing because he has severe disabilities and recently got sick on top of all of that. Yoanna was so touched by it and we reviewed what we had taught her about the Restoration, and then felt prompted to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. We applied the training we received from the assistants about asking questions and using the scriptures. It went so well that she was practically begging for more information, and committed herself to praying about baptism and reading and studying the Book of Mormon more! It was so cool! Hopefully the next time we see Yoanna we will be able to teach her the Plan of Salvation and put her on-date for baptism.
Saturday was also a day full of miracles! Our neighbor Allen came to the stake picnic we had and we found 3 new people to teach during power hour!!! One of them asked exactly how he could come to know that the Book of Mormon is true and said he was going to call and tell us how it’s going! We also got tracked down by the daughter of a potential we were going to visit before we could even get to her door. They were in a hurry to leave so we couldn’t pray, but she and her mom told us how excited they are for us to visit and that we can come any day!
I have felt recently that my ability to be guided by the Spirit has grown and I am so grateful for that! I want to keep working to develop that skill of having my ear closely tuned into the Spirit and being brave enough to follow it. It isn’t always easy, but it does lead to blessings and miracles!
I am grateful for Hermana Capron and her hard work. We have been having a good transfer together even though it has been very very difficult at times. We also have a sweet youth who has been loving coming out with us! I feel like the work with all of the people we’re teaching is moving in a good direction and that we will see at least two or more baptisms within August and September.
Other interesting things of note about this week:
-We got scammed by a sex offender who is targeting sister missionaries.
-My district needs to stop going out to eat because wow it was hard to buy groceries today!!
-I can’t go to the temple with Ali because he didn’t have time this week and the temple closed on Saturday for 2 weeks. Sad face.
-While we were tracting we decided to follow some really loud music we heard. It took us to the most lit block party ever, complete with a band that was entirely comprised of these marimba-type instruments made of giant pvc pipes. It was pretty legit. You never know what to expect next, my friends.
-Wild blackberries are everywhere here and the locals hate it, but wow they are AMAZING.
-We knocked on the door of a salesman and he gave us kudos because apparently the salespeople think we’re even more hardcore than them ahahaha.
Anyway, I always try really hard to think about what to share with all of you each week, and this week I want to encourage each of you to watch the 3-part video series that the church has just produced about Reyna I. Aburto, the new Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency. She has gone through so much in her life, and it’s very cool to see how she has applied the gospel to help her overcome these challenges, and now to help lead one of the biggest women’s organizations in the world. Even if you aren’t a member, give it a watch! Her story is amazing because she has succeeded despite really difficult challenges, and she still is able to find such great joy in her life! I love you all, and I know that the Savior is always waiting with open arms for the moment you decide to turn to Him!
Have a great week!
Hermana O’Barr
