Buenas tardes mi familia eterna,
So turns out at least six more weeks here in Tlaquepaque with
Hermana Malacara! Woo! Hoo! The elders called us at about 10:30 last
night. They always call at about 7:30pm,
so we were all nervous and tight stomached for so long! We had so many people nervous too. All day long when we arrived at their houses,
they would ask, ¨Sooo, what’s the news? Is somebody leaving?¨. We had to inform a few people after the news
arrived! I am going to be honest ... I literally squealed. I’m not really good
at the whole goodbye thing. Get ready for one crazy transfer after so much
work!
These are my new favorite pants!
They are green like the Mexican flag, and I got them for the equivalent
of about $3. They are so soft!
Every Monday, I have been searching long and hard for a Coke
with my name and today I found it! The only sad part is that Alexis is a boy
name here! Ha! Ha!
Also, just in case you were still wondering, I still don’t have
full feeling in my lip. Remember the crazy wisdom teeth surgery? Oh well, ni
modo, I will have partial feeling the rest of my life!
This week was ... A WEEK OF MIRACLES.
Hermano Oscar is practically a member! Once we ditch cigarettes,
we are golden! Tuesday we were walking for mil años and not finding anyone. The
light at the end of the tunnel is that he was going to go to Ward FHE and we
were going to talk about repentance afterward. We show up at church and
well...he didn’t. We were so bummed. He calls us and says ¨Hey are you still at
the church?¨ We said, “Of course!” He
told us he was sorry for being so late, but that he would be there in about 15
minutes and he had a surprise for us! He
showed up at about 8:15 WITH HIS WIFE AND KIDS. They live about 15 minutes from
here, but wow, they are so special! We talked about families and one of the
counselors in the bishopric gave him a blessing to help him live the Word of
Wisdom. BUT, his blessing also mentioned that lots of people including his
family, would receive the gospel through him, and that he would be SEALED IN
THE TEMPLE. His wife started to cry and
told us how she is so grateful that her husband has found God and she keeps
asking where He is.
Another night, we had another lesson in the chapel and we talked
about families more and our Father in Heaven. His wife is opening up so much
and his 10 year old son is an angel! They all want to learn more and be
baptized. One morning we went to visit Hermano Oscar and we talked about our
baptismal covenant and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. We were talking
about what we need to feel before baptism and he gets teary up talking about
mistakes he’s made and how he just wants to change and be better for his
family. He wants to help his kids outside of his marriage to receive the gospel
too. This is what it means to be repentant, to have this change of heart.
We went to church on Sunday and here comes Hermana Elsa (the mom
who’s less active), both of her sons Oscar and Jose (the one who listened one
time and then didn’t want anything) the family of Hermano Oscar, and Hermana
Elsa invited her niece who also wants to learn more. All of this started by
loving and finding a less active member and helping her to feel peace during a
rough time. The gospel is incredible and when people are touched by it, they
start to share it with everyone. Wow, this family blows my mind!! It just felt amazing at church on Sunday. We
had seven investigators come to church. AHH!
This week my Heavenly Father taught me so much about the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. I realized how much I’ve truly been touched by the love of my
Savior. All of my experiences and meditating this week helped me to prepare a
talk for Sunday. The bishop asked my companion and I to speak. I loved it. I
started out by sharing the story from President Hinckley la de “He Took My
Lickin for Me”. I asked everyone if they
had been touched by the love of Jesus Christ.
When we feel just a little bit of his love, we start to have faith. We start to believe in what He did, and we
start to see that it is possible … with Him, everything is possible. Our love for Him starts to grow and we want
to repent. We want to use the sacrifice He gave us. We want to be better for
Him. We want to show our love for Him and we trust Him enough to be humble and
repent, and confess, or whatever we have to do. Fear doesn’t matter, talking
with a bishop doesn’t matter, what others will say or think doesn’t matter
because we just want to come unto Him. I told a BYU story too. In my 3rd
semester, I was feeling a little hopeless. I was scared, I just wanted to do
what was right and I remember one night driving to the temple in Brad’s car. I
parked outside of the Provo temple and started to listen and sing “I Know that
My Redeemer Lives” … then I started crying and stopped singing. I shared the
lyrics of this hymn and talked about how we have made or are preparing to make
covenants. We have or will have the Holy
Ghost and we have to be firm and faithful to the end, o sea, we have to allow
the Lord’s love to touch our hearts our whole lives. I used Elder Holland´s talk about the First
Great Commandment (still my all time favorite talk) and how he asks Peter
if he really loves Him. If we love the
Lord .. we serve Him. If we love Him ..
He comes first. Last week Grandma Janice told me that I was finally accepting
the Lord’s love. I read that and thought pridefully ¨Hey that’s not true, I
always feel it!¨ The truth is, that’s
not the truth. I resist it so many
times. I put extremely high standards
for myself and I’m really not very patient. I have resisted His love so many times in my
life, most thinking I wasn’t worthy of it, or that I could figure things out on
my own. My President gave me a blessing
one time and in my blessing said that I needed to learn about and experience
the Atonement and the Savior’s love on my mission so that I could bless my
husband and kids. IT’S SO TRUE!!
I am finally feeling the Lord’s love. I am finally understanding repentance. I am seeing myself how He sees me. My love for Him is growing more and more every
day and my mission is the most incredible gift that He has given me. I love the Lord. If I don’t communicate anything else with y’all
.. I want you to know this .. I love Him.
I love Him a whole lot and I love what He has sent me to do. I love Him for his patience. I love Him for what He did. I love Him for always giving us a second
chance. I love Him for giving me this
mission, and I love Him for being by my side every day. I am just extremely grateful and happy and
with Him it’s all possible. ¨Todo lo
puedo en Crist que me fortalece.¨ .. This scripture is so going on the wall in
my home. Philippians 4:13: “I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” .. not going to lie .. I like it
better in Spanish!
I love you all to the moon and back and I hope that you are
happy. Come unto Christ, forget everything else and come unto Him. Feel His love,
do what He asks, and receive His love.
Love you almost as much as He does!
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