well, here i am in las avenidas! in the zone san miguel, which is the farthest northern zone i believe... i'm not all that sure though. haha. My companion is from ensenada mexico, and she is absolutely adorable. the pictures of us are some of my favorites that we've taken so far. :)
She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my whole life. And we get along so well. We have the same taste in music, and we can talk about everything. I was scared that being the senior companion was going to be overwhelming, but it is actually really helping me to gain confidence in myself and learn how to work together as a team in every aspect of the work. she is teaching me to rely on her for even the smallest struggles i have, and she told me that she feels like she can be her complete self with me, which makes me feel so good. we are always laughing and smiling and the people in her ward tell us they can tell a difference in our companionship already. .)
So, on tuesday night, our first day together, we were finishing up our contacts, and we had one left to do... so i contacted a woman, and my companion contacted a family. i started talking to this woman and she didn't even look at me. she just stopped and stared straight ahead. i continued talking, and i asked her if she had faith in jesus christ. she shook her head. so i asked her if something had happened in her life to make her stop believing. she nodded. so i started to testify that her heavenly father really truly loves her and that he never leaves us alone in this life, it is us that distance ourselves from him. i told her that he is waiting for her with open arms ready to help heal her from all the pain that she has experienced in her life. and then i asked her if we could write down her address and maybe come by in another opportunity to be able to offer a prayer and share a small message of hope from our savior. she looked me in the eyes and said, ¨"a prayer? why can't you come by right now?" obviously we were taken by surprise... haha. but we asked her where she lived, and she pointed to our apartment building. haha.
so we walked with her to her apartment, and she began to tell us that she has passed through EVERYTHING in her life. from being abused as a child to an alcoholic right now to having her husband cheat on her and her mom take away her son because she isn't fit to raise him. she spilled everything to us and told us that she has never felt that someone really has cared about her in her life because no one has shown her their love. but that she feels more love and care from us than even her own mother. and she asked us if we could come back the next day because she knows that she needs to try this path now, after trying all of the other ones. and when we went back the next day, she asked us if she could come to church with us on sunday. :) sadly, we couldn't find her on sunday morning, but we are still working with her. a lot. it just gives me such a strong testimony that there are truly people waiting for us specifically here in our missions. our very first day together, we found her. I know we have a lot of work to do with this woman, but she told us that she felt a peace in her house that she had never felt before and that she wants to continue with it. :) i loved hearing that. :) it was an incredible experience. ah. i love being a missionary!
One of our investigators who has a baptismal date is Andrea. she is 13, and we went to her house on her birthday to do a family night with her and some neighbors who aren't members. her mom, Karla, is the cutest thing on earth. She has been inactive for a long time, but recently started coming back to church when hermana fuentes and hermana lopez found her and her daughter. she is so dang loving with us, and i just want to hug her all day long because she is so sweet and always giving us compliments and always offering to walk us home or bring us food or call us to make sure that we're safe. such a sweetheart. :) and her daughter, Andrea is so excited to be baptized. we're getting everything ready for the 14 of october. :) such a sweet testimony and desire to follow christ. it is incredible to listen to her share what she knows with us, because the spirit is always so strong. .)
Then, on friday, we were contacting, and we saw a little old man walking super slow all alone. so we asked him where he was going... and he told us that he was lost. :( poor thing. we walked him to his house on the other side of town, and his wife got home just when we did... and invited us in. :) she told us that the light in the kitchen was broken, and that her husband had gone to buy a new bulb, but had been gone for a long time and she was so worried about him. we changed the light in the kitchen, and shared a short message... and they asked us if we can come back because years ago they were having lessons with the missionaries and they want to have them back. it was such a wonderful experience. i was just in awe. because everything fell into place at exactly the right moment to be able to enter their house and share the gospel and a little bit of service with them. such a cute little couple. they remind me of the cute little couple on up. haha.
then on saturday, we had our ward party for the 18th of september, which is their independence day. i made a jello salad... ya know, to be patriotic... haha. and we got to know all of the members that were there. i filmed a couple of the dances that they did, and took lots of pictures. it was really fun to be able to talk to so many people and gain their confidence. this ward is absolutely wonderful. :) there is an hermano here who was born in chile, but grew up since 5 months in utah. so he speaks english like a utahn, and when i heard him i tripped out. haha. it was fun to be able to talk football with him for a little bit. i can tell this this ward is going to be a welcome change. haha.
well, that's all i have time for today, but I want you all to know that i have such a strong testimony of this gospel. I am so lucky to be a part of this work, to have this mantel of a disciple of christ placed upon me and to be able to teach people who know nothing of true happiness how to change their lives. I feel the weight of it, but i wouldn't change it for anything. and i can only hope to become better and better every day to be more capable of carrying the spirit that i need to touch people's hearts. we would be nothing without this gospel. and i know that we, as members of the church, are truly blessed to have such a wonderful knowledge of the great plan of salvation. i love this work. :) and i love all of you.
have a wonderful week. happy 18 of september!
hermana spencer.
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