(The birthday gifts arrived a little early .... Happy Birthday, Carlie!!)
This week was great! We had a lot of success.
The first big thing to report is P____ and her family came home! Finally! I am so happy! It was really fun because we were leaving Y___ one day right after a cita fell through and I looked up and there they were! It was so cute! The twins took off running and so did I! It made me so happy! I hugged them until they were blue in the face. But I don´t even feel guilty! We went straight to their house! They had a great time in the South and even went to the capilla once out of their three weeks. Which I think is pretty darn good! They are the same good old family that I love. V____ brought dresses that her cousins gave her so she could were them to church, and J____ continued talking about all of the fun she had at EFY. I love them so much! We taught J____ the Plan of Salvation again because we have to teach all of the lessons again after baptism and once we got to the part about death she said 'that is why I have to help my family get to the temple! So we can all be together forever!' Last night we did a family night with them that was a classic family night. We ate cake for P____´s birthday and we had a lesson from J____. After, we played a fun game with all of them together in the same room. It was super cute because even the twins were with us. R_____ was on P_____´s lap and P_____ was sitting next to me. I just put my head on the table and cried, I was so happy! Then I looked at P_____ and said 'you know I love you, right!?' And, he smiled and said: "yup!" It feels good to be with them again.
For more good news, Family B_____ is doing a ton better! I felt like we should just pass by for them on Wednesday. We were in divisions. So we went to their house and they were home and let us in. We talked to them about prophets. It was awesome because C_____ said that is really interesting because I always thought that if there were prophets before we should have prophets now. Yes! We do! Then we talked about one of the things the prophets invite us to do is family night and family prayer. We are really trying to teach the whole family unity thing because that is what they really need. It was an awesome lesson and the spirit was really strong. And to make it even better, they went to church on Sunday! Yes! C____, I think is ready to get baptized. He is so awesome. They had a question about callings and we told them one calling that all men and women have is home and visiting teaching. He loved that idea! He was so cute because he told us 'I love that because sometimes I want to help but I don´t know how.' He is awesome!
The daughter of MC is doing well but I am afraid she is too comfortable where she is. There are too many people in this world who like to use that as an excuse. They say well... "Everyone are sinners. and so why do I have to change my life upside down for your church? I have faith and that should be enough right?" We went to lunch with them this Saturday and it went really well. I hope we can help them go to church again. M_____ told me that if her kids go she would go. She seemed hopeful when we told her that we were visiting her daughters house. It is still really beautiful to watch people who refuse to change until it involves their family. Then they change.
We had something weird happen to us recently. We contacted two ladies at different times who gave us false directions to their house. We did not know that and went to both of the houses anyway. The first house was of Sandra. The lady that came out was NOT the Sandra we met on the street, so we asked for Sandra but it was still a Sandra that lived there. The exact same thing happened with Maria. It was super weird. Let me tell you how awkward it is to go to a door and ask for Sandra and when they tell you that they are Sandra and you don´t believe them......
Elder Ballard gave us a challenge in the conference that has been quite the challenge (especially with a companion who is counting down the hours until they go home) He wants us to contact 20 people every day! It has been really hard. But I have actually found it an answer to prayer. You know how people always say that God always answers prayers but never in the way we think? Yeah, I felt that one. We have been praying and fasting for new investigators. I thought God was going to just be really cool and put all of these prepared people in my path and tell me exactly the ones I would have to contact ... I was wrong. When we prayed and fasted for more we were just told to contact more. And it worked! We have new investigators! But it was not because we have not contacted a bunch of people who did not want anything to do with us. (We have.) But that is okay. God does not just give us things handed to us on a silver platter. We have to work for it sometimes. This is a good example. God says you want new people to teach? Then talk to more people! God has guided our feet. But now He can guided them a little faster because we are moving faster. He is smart that way.
This week I have been thinking a lot about sin. I know that sounds funny, but as missionaries we come in contact with it a lot. Not that the people we teach are vile sinners, but we are here to help people overcome sin. Both mom and dad have talked to me a lot about vices or addictions or chains that bind us. So did Hermana Wright in the interview I had this week. Sin is just chains. God wants to free us. He wants us to have agency to choose what we really want. He wants us to be free to love and to love in the way that means it will never end! satan wants to bind us. It is interesting because here we see all of the tricky ways that satan has that bind us. Phrases like: "we are all sinners that is just the way I am." Or, "Oh but don´t worry about me I already have faith in Christ." "I don´t go to church but I still pray with my family and teach them to do good things." There are so many things that are working so well here and it makes me so sad ... because I can see that they are chained. But other people don´t understand that because they have not experienced the freedom of being away from the chains. Now I understand why Nephi and Moroni freaked out so much in their writings because they saw it happen. They saw how much sin hurts people. Moroni spends like two pages telling us to please be careful between knowing what is good and what is bad. I thought it was redundant at first until I realized how many bad things that satan has made to look good and how many good things that satan has made to look bad. Which is what makes the Atonement of Christ that much more beautiful! He is good! There are so many paths that will only lead to pain but He can save us from every one! He loves us! Moroni promises us that if we can just cleave to the good we will become the sons of Christ (Moroni 7). We will become that new creature (Mosiah 27) The one that is born again through the blood of the Lamb. And that new creature will only be possible through our Savior. He is the author, the hope, the possibility, and the motivation for becoming the new creature. Which is why we become Children of Christ.
I love you all so much! Thanks for your prayers, love and letters! They make me so happy! We need your continued prayers. I am so happy here on the mission! I am going to love the next change here! I am falling in love with Apoquindo more and more every day! Thanks for every thing!
Hermana Webb
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