Why don’t we start
off with last Monday night, shall we? It was great! President and Sister
Nattress invited the STLs to come over for FHE with their family and it was so
much fun. He started with some news about the Temple Open House and then we ate
and played games and sang songs and then we shared the lesson with them. It was
great. I love the Nattress family.
Tuesday we took
photos with our recent convert family, the Carrillos, for a news article that a
white member in the Elder’s area is doing on missionary work. We are trying one
of the finding ideas in our handy, dandy planners. Not sure how many
investigators we will get out of it, but it was fun to do!
Wednesday we had
exchanges again. I went to another area and Sister Bukoskie stayed in ours. The
area I went to is an all biking area so that was fun. It made me want to bike more
especially while the weather is so nice. Still can’t explain why I biked more
in the summer than I ever have in the winter. Doesn’t really make sense, but
there you go! I still haven’t met them because our appointment is tonight, but
exchange miracles are real and we got 3 new investigators this day!! Yay! That’s
just the best.
And they are so nice. Or so I’ve heard haha. They gave her a bag of cookies so
they are good in my book. Plus, what really matters is that they are interested
in learning more.
Friday I had MLC
all day, but it was different this time because Tracy Watson from the missionary department came and trained us
and it was soooo good! It renewed my drive and focus and taught me some things
that Sister Bukoskie and I have already put into practice.
On Friday night we
stopped by some of our investigators to set up an appointment. While we were
talking with him, his 6-year-old daughter put up a sign in the front window that
said “Welcome peoples, welcome friends.” So adorable. I love kids!
Then Saturday we had our Tri-Mission Conference with
the Mesa and Scottsdale missions. Elder Holland was supposed to come and speak
to us, but was unable to. Instead we had Elder Wright, a member of the 70. He
wasn’t Elder Holland, but he was still great! He said, “Trust me, there is no
one more disappointed that Elder Holland couldn’t come than me.” Haha good
point. The Mesa missionaries all had iPad minis!!! I
can’t wait till we get those. Tracy Watson showed them to us at MLC and it was
just so great. No more planners and hefty area books. No more lugging around a
notebook, PMG, and Scriptures. All of it in one nifty device. That will be the
day. But till then missionary work is still going forth just great.
Then Saturday
night something amazing happened. We went to go check up on our investigator
Vanessa because our appointment had fallen through and her fiancé (also our
investigator) got put into jail this week and we just wanted to see how she was
doing and how we could help. We parked our car at a house that we tried and
then I felt like we needed to walk there which was weird because we normally
don’t do that. But we did that night and it made the timing just perfect. We
got close to their house and there was someone sitting on the ground by the car
talking to someone sitting in the driver’s seat. The guy on the ground was
Francisco! Which surprised us because we thought he was in jail. Turns out, he
got released last night and is now on a payment plan so as long as he pays, he
doesn’t have to go back. Miracle! Vanessa was the one that was in the car and
she got out. We could tell right away that they had both been crying. They told
us that they had been fighting. Vanessa lost her baby recently, Francisco went
to jail, she’s been working ridiculous hours, not even a year ago they were
addicted to drugs and she just felt like everything was easier before and she
was just going to leave with what she had and not give up and Francisco had
decided to stop fighting and let her go, when we walked up. We talked with them
a while and talked about how their lives have changed recently and how Heavenly
Father has been with them every step of the way and how He loves them and how
He will continue to be with them even though Satan is trying his hardest to
make them fall. Francisco said about 6 times that he knew that God had sent us
there that night. I know it too. God really does love us and watch out for us.
He knows us and knows what we need and He takes care of those needs. I feel so
blessed to have been able to be used as an instrument in His hands. We shared 1
Nephi 11:17 with them and gave them Matthew 11:28-30, both of which I love. I
love my mission!!
I hope that this
week is a great one for you and that it is filled with our Heavenly Father’s
love.
Con amor,
Hermana Baria
