Hola,
Wow...It has been an
incredible week!! I can’t even try to put into words how I feel! It’s
hard to write a week’s worth of stuff into one short email. But some
trivial things to start off...
- HAPPY SWEET 16
RACHEL!! I LOVE YOU!!
-And Happy baptism to
my amazing Aunt Lylianna (is that spelled right haha?) and her
Family!! I love you guys!!
-We had intercambios
this week and that was super fun! I was with Hermana Hyde
-I finished my
training this week! (woohoo)
-It gets light here
at 4:30 and dark at like 12 so we wake up all night long hahah
-I got to help an
abuelita in our ward plant her garden! She’s 92 and still lives her life
like she was 50, haha. She is so cute!
Ok. So a few weeks ago,
we felt prompted to suggest a ward fast for the missionary work here in
Estrecho! Last week we fasted as a ward. This week, we have seen so
many miracles!! Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers! When we
started this week we didn’t expect to have 3 people accept baptism, but that’s
what happens when you follow the Spirit!! We were walking this week and
we had extra time that somehow we didn’t plan for. We were walking past
the house of an investigator that has been sharing with the missionaries for
about a year. We said, "Well I guess we are here for a reason!"
and knocked her door! She let us in and we started talking! A
normal conversation quickly turned into us following a prompting from the
Spirit to ask her to be baptized....AND SHE ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She also has never been to church and SHEC CAME TO CHURCH THIS SUNDAY!!!
WHATTTT???
The next one is after
Lunch one day we walked out of the house of a member and we had to go run an
errand for the financiero in the mission but we had the thought to pass by an
investigator real fast that we hadn’t been able to meet with for a while.
We passed by and she was there!!! We also followed the prompting to
invite her to baptism and...drum roll....SHE ACCEPTED!! And she hasn’t
been to church in about 2 months because of family problems but...SHE CAME TO
CHURCH THIS SUNDAY AND BROUGHT HER MOM!!
The next is that
night, we were going to our 2nd lesson with a new investigator and we were
going to teach him the Restoration. We had the thought to invite him to
baptism at the end of the lesson and...HE ACCEPTED!!!! Actually, he said
he had already prayed to know if the things we were teaching were true and he
got the answer that yes, they were. He hasn’t been to church before
either but....HE CAME TO CHURCH!!! MIRACLE!!!!!
We know that none of
it is us though. All of this is the work of Heavenly Father in the lives
of His children!! I know none of it is me. I’m only an instrument.
I had a really sweet
experience this Sunday. I was sitting in church with some little girls
sitting by me and the speaker was talking about how we should become as little
children, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, etc. As
missionaries we walk a TON and our boots are covered in dirt basically all the
time. One of the little girls ran to the bathroom and came back with a
paper towel and she began to clean our feet. I immediately thought of the
woman washing the Saviors feet. As a representative of Jesus Christ, this
little girl was basically washing the feet of the Savior, and I felt how much
the Savior loves little children. They are so kind and full of pure
love. I want to become more like these pure little children!! I
never want to forget that experience!
Also Karina, the
bishops daughter is leaving to Honduras on her mission tomorrow!! We
had a goodbye party for her and she is getting set apart tonight. It
made me remember everything from my few days before leaving and how much saying
goodbye hurts! But immediately I remembered how much peace I have felt
every step of the way, how many miracles I've seen as a missionary, how happy I
am, and what an incredible experience it is to serve a mission! Even
though it may be hard at some times, most of the time it is just pure
joy. I remembered why I came on a mission. I came because I love
Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father and I want to help His children have this
same happiness that I have and help my brothers and sisters make it back to
live with Heavenly Father too. I love being a missionary!! I love
you all!! Have an amazing week!!!
--Hermana West
