Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Week 37! "Scavenger Hunt"

From 9/22/14

Hola Family and Friends!!

Wow! Another week went by so fast!! My companion and I had a good week.

Last night we met a family who accepted our invitation to baptism. They are a complete family with the desire to learn more about the gospel. They are a mom and dad with three beautiful daughters. Without even knowing us, they opened up their home to receive us, they treated us respectfully and offered us a ride to our home after the appointment. It was so great to meet them, and provided a moment when my companion and I finally took a breath of relief! :)

It was so neat to run into a few others by accident. We met less active members by contacting in the street.

Our Zone Leader baptized a family last year and found out that they are living in our area. This Elder gave us the name of the family and asked us to look for them--but he didn't know where they live, they are not on our branch lists, and we don't know them either. So...we had a name to go by and nothing more.

One afternoon, my companion and I got onto a full combi and stood in the aisle. We heard a fun 80's song so I decided to sing out loud on our ride. One young man got up from his seat and offered it to us, so my companion sat next to him and began to contact him. His name is "L", and he told us that he heard me singing and that I spoke English really well (for being a missionary from Mexico right?) then he realized that we were missionaries.

He told us that he is less active and recently came to our branch to live here. He asked us if we knew a Chilean missionary who baptized him the year before.  L was the same young man that our Zone Leader had asked us to look for!! What a miracle! We were so excited to meet him. He admitted that he did not have a good reason as to why he stopped coming to church.

We are going to begin teaching all recent converts in our branch, and the active members too. So we'll get going on that this week.

We were on a scavenger hunt to find someone with an appointment. They live in a Colonia - it's pretty large, so we walked around for a long time looking for a street called Aries. As we walked we talked to people on the way and found another less active that way. By accident, when we were not looking for the street, we found the street.

We knocked on the door and a woman came out. She invited us in and told us that "R" was her father and that he was unavailable but that she was willing to hear us. She told us that she had been reading the Bible in the morning and found a scripture that she really liked. Her daughter had just come home and was doing homework when the mom remembered the scripture and wanted to share it with the daughter. In the exact moment when she reached for her Bible and began to look up the scripture reference again, we knocked on her door.

She told us experiences she's had of answered prayers and even accepted a baptismal date. It was really special and we were happy to realize that the Lord was helping us. Had we arrived at their house one moment earlier or later, she may not have let us in.

Even though we face adversity, the Lord helps us to learn from each of those experiences. In our heads, maybe we were disappointed to not find the street, but God knew that this lady had to act on her faith first. When she was willing, we accidently found her house. It was really special.

In other events, I am 9 months old. I took some photos this week that I hope to be able to send to you today, maybe soon but if not, they'll come next week.

We are also blessed because a member moved to our area that is a returned missionary and now the elder's quorum president. He is willing to help us any day that we need him.

Today I ran into a member from my first area. I almost hugged him, and he said the same thing - he even remembered my name. It was a huge blessing. I remember all my areas with love and my companions too...

Please keep Tiffany, Hermana L, Hermana H, and me in your prayers! :) We love you and pray for each of you. 
 
“Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. … My declaration is that this is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need. There is help. There is happiness. … Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. … It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come. … Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “An High Priest of Good Things to Come,” Liahona, Jan. 2000, 42, 45.

CON AMOR,
 
Hermana Fernelius :)

 

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