p-day # 36

dear family,

well, it was another INCREDIBLE week. :) I don't even know where to begin. haha.

So yesterday, we had the baptism of Alicia. I of course was stressed out as usual to make sure that everything was all taken care of and pretty... and when we finally started, I was almost mortified. We found out that 3 people had prepared the same talk, and that we had called a different person that our ward mission leader to give one of them. But Hna Soto got up there, with absolutely nothing prepared, and gave one of the most sincere and spiritual talks i've heard here in chile. :) Then, I sang a solo. and I wasn't nervous! I think for the first time in my life, actually. haha. And even though the music fell on the floor in the middle, and I couldn't see the words, no one even noticed, cause the whole ward was crying. :) The rest of the program was perfect, and when I talked with her after, she had tears in her eyes as she thanked me for fighting for her, and for helping her get to this point. She said she didn't have words to describe the beautiful feeling that had come over her after her baptism. :) I love her so much. I am so happy for her. :)

Then, last night we went on splits with 2 young women who are preparing to go on missions. I went with Mayra, who has already started her papers. She was baptized a little over a year ago, and while we were out working, she told me about how she had always wondered why all of the churches fought about doctrine, and didn't really know if God existed. But when the missionaries knocked on her door, and she came to church, she just felt so good. and she knew it was true. :)

We went to visit a family that we found last week, and I told her that she had to share her experience with them to help them feel the spirit and have a little idea of how their answers will come. It was one of the most incredible lessons of my mission. I swear this family... haha. I told you a little about them last week. They are from brazil, and have always been looking for the truth. Mariana asked me how revelation works, if only one man has the rights to receive it... and how we view tithing, if we go by what it says in the bible or ask random amounts... and if we baptize in water like jesus christ... my jaw was on the floor for like the whole lesson. haha. this family is SO prepared. They told us they believe the book of mormon is true, and that they are really excited to come to church this sunday and that they'll let us know if they receive an answer to get baptized the 23 of december. :) incredible.

Teresa, Alicia's daughter, is having a rough time right now. her not husband told her last week that they were over. and then he came back and told her he can't live without her. she wants to get baptized so bad... and we felt like we should invite her to be baptized for the 9th of december. And when we were talking with her yesterday, we asked her what's she's plannnig on doing. She told us that she told Jose that she's getting baptized, with or without him. She's trying to kick him out of the house, because she knows that's what she needs to do. I am just in awe at her faith. And I am so excited to finally help her be baptized. She needs lots of prayers though... :) i love her so much!

Hna Duran, our mamita, made us thanksgiving dinner for lunch on friday. :) i was so happy. She's so dang cute. And she even saved me cranberry to eat with my turkey. I don't think i've ever been so happy to eat turkey and mashed potatoes in my life. haha. I am so grateful to be in this ward. :)

Well, that's all the time I have today. But I am doing so so well. :) I feel like I am growing every single day, and that my testimony is being strengthened every minute. I am so grateful to Joseph Smith for his perseverance and love for his father in heaven and savior. And I love Jesus Christ so much. He is my best friend. And my strength. I am so grateful to be authorized to teach people about him. There is truly nothing more fulfilling or happy than this work. i love being a missionary. :) This is the church of God. I have no doubt in my mind. :)

have a wonderful week, okay?

muah!

hermana spencer.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

dear family,

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!

permiso... haha. So it was just an incredible week. I'm exhausted, sunburned, sore and happier than i have ever been ever. haha. Such is the life of a missionary. :)

So... first of all, Alicia who is going to be baptized on Sunday (AH!) is just the perfect woman ever! She's in the middle of the picture with the family. :) So, last week, we went by on Wednesday to give her the second to last of the two lessons we needed to finish up. And when we walked in, the environment was just really gloomy and sad. We found out that Teresa's daughter, Pia, who was born 3 months early, is like 6 months behind in her development. She's a year old, and by now should be crawling, standing, and even talking a little. She's going to need some therapy to be able to catch her up or she'll be behind forever. Teresa was just heartbroken. :( And exasperated. she didn't know where to even start looking for the kind of therapist that does this kind of stuff. So we told her that we would start a fast with her on saturday so that she would be able to find a doctor and that Pia would get better quickly.

Then we finished up the lessons in the next 2 days, and on sunday we went to pick them up to take them to church with us. Teresa's husband wasn't ready to go, and he didn't want to come. (he's a less active member, but they're not for real married, so she has just been waiting so that she will be able to get baptized.) But she was like, well i'm going and im taking the kids with me. so she got all of the kids ready to go, and when we got there, they all just looked so beautiful and i was just beaming. As we walked to church, and I held both of her little kids' hands, I was just bursting with joy. I don't remember a time when i was that happy in my entire life. Just to be able to know that this family is going to be eternal. yeah, Jose is going to take some more work. But they know what they want. And we are the tools to be able to give it to them.

Then, we passed by later to take a picture to be able to put in the program for Alicia's baptism, and they told us that the kids LOVED primary and that they never wanted to leave and are so excited to go back next week. :) And then, the most incredible part of the story... Teresa told us that she found an old friend in our ward named valeska that she knew from years ago. Valeska has a son who was born 3 months early, and has the same problems as pia. so she gave teresa all of the information she needed and all of the doctors she needed. I started to cry. It was just so incredible to know that Heavenly Father had answered our fervent prayers. We hadn't even finished our fast when our prayer was answered. I love this family so much, and I am going to do everything possible to help them become an eternal family. I have never been more committed to someone in my life. haha. ah. i love being a missionary. :) pray for them for us, will you? The Chandia family.

I also got to go on splits with hna nielsen this week. :) it was one of the best days i've had on my mission. It was a really needed night for both of us, because we talked about all of the trials and struggles we've had so far on our missions, but also we talked about the ways that we've grown and the strengths that we've discovered within ourselves. She told me that if I could only see the missionary that I am, I wouldn't be worried about if I'm doing my job. she always makes me feel so good. .) And then as we both shared our testimonies, we just realized how incredible it is to be here on missions. She helped me realize, once again, how incredible this work is. And how much I truly love it. And how much I love my savior. I was so grateful to have had the chance to be with her for a day. I hope we get to do it again. :)

 

 

We found 2 incredible new investigators this week. Mariana and Rodolfo are a family that moved here from brazil about a year ago, and they've been contacted by the missioanries a few times, but they could never get ahold of them again. The questions they asked us were like the ones written in preach my gospel, and as we shared the message of the restoration with them, and asked them questions about what they are searching for and if they've ever wondered why there are so many churches on earth, they just ate it. I've never seen someone so hungry to know the truth. We invited them to be baptized, and they said that they would. :) And they were so excited to start reading the book of mormon. :) the only bummre is that they didn't end up coming to church yesterday. but we have another appointment with them on wednesday, so we'll help them. :)

And then simon, who was a street contact about 3 weeks ago. I actually didn't remember his face at all. But our plans fell through, so we went to pass by his house to see if he was there. before asking if we could come in, he buzzed us up. and we taught the restoration to him too. the spirit just flooded the room as we started to talk about joseph smith. and when i invited him to be baptized, he was so sure that that was what he wanted to do. we told him that if he reads the book of mormon, he will find the answer to his question of if this church is true. he told us that ever since we talked to him the first time, he has been anxious to continue investigating because he feels like this is the right path. I left the lesson absolutely awestruck. He even said a perfect closing prayer. wow... the lord truly prepares people for his gospel. we just have to be diligent in searching for them. :)

we also did a service project to help someone build a house this week... well, we started to anyways. it crumbled in the earthquake, so we just cleaned up all the trash in the dirt and tried to smooth our the floor and stuff. Then we found out that he doesnt really own it... so we couldn't stay and help him actually start building the house. i was so bummed. i have been waiting my whole mission to be able to build a house. haha. it felt like fake service. oh well. i love helping people. so even if it was fake, i still felt good. haha.

anyways, those were the great events of the week. :) I hope you enjoyed them. I did. We're working crazy hard here. And just seeing miracle after miracle. Our ward is increasing, our investigators are progressing, our less actives are trusting us and starting to come back to church... I just love being a part of this work! haha.

sorry that your week won't be as cool as mine... but enjoy it anyways. eat lots of stuffing for me. and gravy. that doesn't exist here... haha. i love you all so much!

happy thanksgiving. :)

hermana spencer.

ps, i also got to see hermana fuentes this week. :)

p-day # 34

dear family,

So... it was an awesome week. :) I feel like my testimony is growing so much and that I am becoming a better missionary every day. As we have been studying Preach My Gospel together, we have been focusing on the questions that everyone here asks us, or the typical excuses that we hear in our contacts. And as we studied about the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith, I was just blown away at how incredible it is that we have the same church that jesus christ organized when he was here on the earth. There are no other churches on earth that have a prophet and 12 apostles. there are no other churches that have temples who do work for the dead. there are no other churches that have the authority to confer the holy ghost to those who have been baptized. and we do. we have all of these things. and it is all because the lord prepared his people to receive his gospel again, thanks to a 14 year old boy and his innocent undying faith. I am so grateful to be a member of the church of God. To have received a witness that I am part of his kingdom here on earth, and to have the chance to help others receive the truth once again. :) we gotta find those lost sheep, baby!

So one of our investigators, Alicia, who has been back and forth with her decision to be baptized since I got here FINALLY told us why she's been so indecisive. She told us that she knows she needs to be baptized, but that she's scared that if she saves herself, that she won't be able to be with her family forever, and she would rather perish with her family that be saved alone. I was so happy when i was able to tell her that she, through her efforts and faith, can be baptized for her loved ones who have passed away and can be sealed to her husband for eternity, but that the first step is her own baptism. she accepted a date in 3 weeks, and yesterday, she came to church as happy as a camper. :) The spirit was so strong in the lesson as we invited her to be baptized and she, after 25 years of having missionaries in her house, told us that she wants that more than anything. ah. i love the gospel!

Her daughter Teresa is also investigating, but since FOREVER has known that the church is true and has been waiting to be baptized until her not husband decides it's time to get married. This week, we had a family night with all of them and played memory with some of the commandments. It was one of my favorite lessons that I've ever had on my mission, and as her not husband bore his testimony about the prophets (he's a less active member of like 15 years), once again the spirit was so strong. I love this family so much! and I can hardly wait until they can get married so that they can be sealed! We're searching for every possible way to help them move up the date of their wedding. haha.

The Vargas family, who is a less active family we are working with because Juan Andres, the 10 year old son, is preparing to be baptized, is progressing so much. :) Helaman, who is 20, decided that he doesn't like the way his life is and that he wants it to be in harmony with the gospel again. so one day, he just broke up with his girlfriend of 2 years, started reading the book of mormon every day, is teaching his little brother what he learns... and he told us that he's maybe thinking about a mission. :) AH!!! haha.

Fernando Huanquilen, who is evangelist, is so closed. :( this week, we read 3rd Nephi 11 with him and his wife Maria Cecilia, and as we testified of how much our savior loves us and how he sacrificed his life for each one of us, the spirit was crazy strong. Both of us testified that the spirit only witnesses of truth, and that it cannot witness of things that don't come from god... and he was almost in tears because the spirit was so strong! but then, it was like his eyes were darkened, and he started trying to prove us wrong with his bible again. ugh. We know that he felt the spirit! It is frustrating when they have the truth right in their hands, but they are too hard hearted to accept it. :( We're still praying a TON that he will pray and feel that it is true.

then yesterday, we went on splits with our ward missionaries. :) I was really nervous to be out doing missionary work without a companion who has had a little training at least... but it was so awesome. .) It just amazes me that if we are working hard, that we will find the people who need our help in every moment. :) We are trying hard to focus on reactivating these less active members. This week, we're starting english classes and ward family night. If anyone has any ideas for what we could do as a ward, I would love to hear them. .)

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! And I love my companion so much. :) I am so grateful to be a part of such a great work. If I were not here, I don't know how this sector would be, and my goal is to help it become stronger than it was when I came. And that can only happen through hard work and lots of prayers. haha.

 

 

have a wonderful week family. :) muah!

hermana spencer.

p-day # 33

dear family and lovely fans,

well, it was another incredible week here in Las Avenidas. :) We had a baptism, taught 29 lessons, contacted 135 people, and found 12 new investigators. The Lord is truly blessing us here, and I feel so satisfied. When we put in more than our all, He gives us the strength to work and then gives us the blessings for our sacrifices. :)

Andrea was FINALLY baptized. haha. On Monday of last week, we went to talk to her about changing her date again because she didn't come to church last week. We told her that she has to take this seriously, and that until she comes to church 3 times in a row she couldn't be baptized. well, obviously she was crushed. :( We were too, and when we got back to our apartment that night, we both just felt really bad. :( So we prayed about it, and then talked to our district leader... and realized that we were toying with the designs of God by changing her date. So we called her, organized everything, and yesterday, she was baptized. :) It was one of the most beautiful moments of my mission so far. Although I was stressed out to the max, and freaking out because we thought there was no water in the font ten minutes before it started, and there weren't very many members there to support her, when her grandma started giving her talk, tears came to my eyes. We fought so hard for this girl to realize how much she loves her Father in Heaven. And to finally see her in white, so excited to take this gigantic step was overwhelming. She said the water was freezing cold, but that she just felt like a clean sheet, that she had started a new life. The musical number and talk from her 13 year old cousin brought the spirit even stronger, and as she bore her testimony, I just beamed. I love her so much. :) This has been such a long fight, but she has finally made it and she is changing her family for her courage. :) These kids down here I swear... haha.

We found 2 new people, Hernan and Nivian, who are super interested in learning where the true church of God is. The spirit was incredibly strong in our first lesson, and they were asking questions like the ones scripted in Preach my Gospel. haha. There are truly people prepared everywhere to hear the gospel. We just have to take out the trash talking to everyone in order to be able to find them. haha.

We are praying our hearts out that this ward will continue to grow every week. When I got here, there were about 40 people coming, but now we have over 70. :) yesterday, there was not an empty seat in the chapel... haha. We just gotta keep working with the less actives! haha. Man is there a lot of work to do here!

Well, that's all I have time to tell you today, but know that I am doing super well, working as hard as I can, talking to everyone, eating less, and sleeping like a rock. :) The mission is incredible. I am so grateful to be a carrier of this message to the people who don't have any knowledge of it. There is absolutely nothing that compares to this work. :)

I love you guys! Have a wonderful week. :)

p-day # 32

dear family and devoted fans,

well, my first week of training is over, and i could not be happier. :) I have the greatest companion ever. She is such a hard worker and she has such a great sense of humor that we laugh ALL DAY LONG!!! We have an event of the day every day... Thursday it was that she invited a schitzophrenic woman to be baptized but didn't realize she was schitzophrenic... haha. And yesterday it was when a contact told her that he doesn't respect spaniards because they invaded chile a million years ago and killed a bunch of people in the name of christ... to which she responded, "well, i wasn't there. so you should listen to our message." haha.

Our ward is doing fantastic. We have two moms here: Hna Duran and Hna Molina, and both of them are always calling us to make sure that we're eating and that we are safe in our house at night. I love them. :) Michelle got confirmed yesterday, and it was so beautiful. .) I was crying of course, because I'm always crying. haha. There was just such a sweet spirit and as her grandpa blessed her to be a guide for her family back to the temple, it just hit me that she has changed the course of her family for the better. :) Ah. I love the gospel, and I love being a missionary. :)

Andrea didn't come to church yesterday, so she won't be getting baptized on sunday. :( It's so sad that these people who are so prepared for the gospel and so prepared to be baptized don't understand the importance of complying with their commitments, and so we're going to talk to her about it again, but this time with the condition that she has to come to church 3 weeks in a row before she can have a date to be baptized again. I am goign to be praying really hard for her to make the decision to take this seriously.

But... we have 2 other people who are so strong and preparing for their baptisms. one of them is juan andres, who is 9 and a son of a less active family. the other day, we were teaching him the plan of salvation, and when we explained that only the people who have been baptized into the church of jesus christ o latter day saints can live in the celestial kingdom with heavenly father. and he said "then i need to be a member right now." haha. it was so sweet. :) and before i had finished the baptismal invitation, he said yes. haha. we are so excited for him. it just makes me so happy that these children are changing their families. because of his desires to be baptized, his mom is now coming to church again and his brother is reading the book of mormon with them. :)

then teresa, who has been an investigator for like 5 years now because she's not married, came to church yesterday. it was the coolest lesson ever! we had prayed before to know what to say... and we went from the beginning of the restoration to the importance of baptism to the gift of the holy ghost... and when we had talked about the gift of the holy ghost and how we can be guided in all of our decisions in our lives and feel comfort and peace always, she said... "that's it. i'm going to church tomorrow." she has had every bad experience in the church, but she came yesterday. :) and she said that she felt so good and that she is going to come every week, and that she is going to talk to her boyfriend about getting married right away so that she can get baptized. she's sick of waiting. :) it was such a miracle. :) ah.

i seriously am so grateful that heavenly father has given me this opportunity to be a part of this marvelous work. through my efforts, he is working his miracles. And when I work hard, the blessins and miracles multiply. This week was amazing. :) and I know that it was because of our diligence and faith and prayers. :) The Lord truly is waiting to bless us when we do what he asks of us, we just need to do our part. He loves us so much, and he wants us to be happy. Never ever forget that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass, and that every challenge we go through brings even greater blessings. :)

muah! i love you all! have a wonderful week. :)
hermana spencer.

p-day # 31

dear family and devoted fans...

well... i don't even know where to start... haha.

I think the biggest news of the week is that President has called me to be a trainer. I am the youngest trainer in my group... with only 4 changes. But as I was talking with Hermana King right after the little capacitation meeting we had, she told me that he had three people coming in and knew right off the bat that I would be one of the trainers. I still think he's crazy... haha. But he told me that he feels very strongly that I am prepared for this calling and that I am going to be a great blessing in the life of my new companion.

It was really hard for me to say goodbye to Hermana Fuentes. :( We only had five weeks together because this change was short. It was like ripping my heart in half and sending my sister to another country. Like she was leaving on another mission. haha. I cried more than she did I think because we had really gotten so close. It's been an adjustment for me to not have my sister here with me anymore, but I know that hermana freire and i will be that close in not too long, also.

So my nuevita is from madrid, spain! she actually has a best friend that is in brayden's ward, who went to his baptism this week and knows him. crazy how little the world is right? she is an incredible missionary. I don't feel like I am doing hardly anything at all, simply setting appointments and guiding her there. haha. The Lord has blessed me with an incredible companion, and I am so grateful that I have this chance to relearn everything over. I know it is going to help me a lot in my growth as a missionary, and I know that we are going to see lots of miracles together here in this sector.

Second crazy thing of the week is that I was able to go to a devotional with Elder Bednar. :) I sat on the 4th row, and the spirit was just incredibly strong. He had asked us to read 2 of his talks before we came to the devotional, and to have a specific question in mind when we came in. he asked people to comment on what they learned from the talks that they read, and then used their comments to teach us things that we can apply to our missionary work. One of my favorite things that he talked about was the grace of Jesus Christ, thanks to his atonement. That if we truly just put all of our faith in him that he can strengthen us and carry us through our trials, then we can do everything. we can do all hard things because he loves us and is there helping us the whole time. I went into the devotional really really stressed out and really worried, because I had received my companion the day before and had absolutely no idea what i was doing. But after the devotional, I just felt like all of my prayers had been answered there, and that I can do this. :)

I got to go to the temple because i am training too, and that experience was incredible as well. The temple here in Chile is bigger than guatemala, but still really little. I loved being able to be filled with the spirit that you can only find in the temple. It was like a breath of fresh, rejuvenating air. And sitting in the celestial room afterwards, thinking about what it is that I want to do to help my companion become a better missionary than I am, I received lots of inspiration and a confirmation that God truly does love me and trusts that i am capable of fulfilling all things here on this mission. I simply just need to spend all day long pouring my heart out in prayer, and be diligent and think about how many people there are here that need this gospel. We cannot rest, we cannot stop for one minute. We are the only missionaries in this area, and only we can do this work here.

And my last experience that I am going to have time to tell you about is that we had a baptism yesterday. :) I cannot even tell you how incredible it was, family. Seriously I just want to cry thinking about it. Michelle's family has been having so many problems for so many years. But for her to finally be able to do what she has been wanting to do for so long... ah. I was crying like the whole time. haha. her aunt gave the talk on the holy ghost, and as i watched her, I just realized how incredible it is that this 11 year old girl has so much courage and faith and has been fighting to be able to follow jesus christ ever since she was 8 years old. The spirit there was just so special. For her to be baptized means that her family has taken a huge step in their progression back to the church, and i know that thanks to this decision and faith of their wonderful daughter that hearts are being opened even more. :) She had to be put under 5 times, but on the fifth it finally worked. haha. another 8 year old boy was baptized with her, named Angel. :) one of the greatest moments of my mission. The ward was so supportive, and it was just amazing. .)

well, that's all the time i have, but i love you all so much! we have another baptism on saturday. andrea finally made her decision! so i will have that story and pictures from that baptism on monday next week. muah!

hermana spencer.

p-day # 30

dear family,

well... I have now lived through my first earthshake. it was a 5.7, which is 1.3 less than an earthquake. Both my companion and I were pretty freaked out, but since we don't live close to the ocean, we really don't have too much to fear. Although, we were studying in our pension on the 13th floor, so we felt it pretty strong. haha.

Best news of the week is that yesterday, we had 30 more people at church than normal, which included 7 less active families that we have been visiting and working with. As they walked in and we greeted them, I felt like my heart would burst with happiness. :) We have been praying every single night since I got to this sector that these people will remember their testimonies and make the decision to come back. and yesterday was a huge fruit of our labor. :)

and the best part of all was that the Arcos family came. Michelle Arcos, who is 11 years old, is going to be baptized this sunday. And her and her little sisters were participating in the primary program, so they'd been practicing with the primary all week. This is a family that has had some REALLY difficult problems, and has been less active for a while now. All of our lessons are tense because both the mom and dad are really closed off and damaged... and this last week, hermano rodrigo told me in english that he's sorry that they are so hard to work with, and that maybe he'll tell us the whole story soon. We have been gaining their confidence little by little, and they want me to sing a solo in michelle's baptism... haha. I've been praying so hard for this family every single day because I know that they have so much potential and that they can be an eternal family if we just keep working hard and praying that their hearts will be opened. And yesterday, for the first time, they came to church. I wanted to scream and jump for joy. I had to hold myself back from hugging the hermano. haha. there is truly nothing better than knowing these people are progressing towards what you know will make them eternally happy. ah. i am so excited for michelle's baptism on sunday. she is so ready, and we are so happy. :)

But... Andrea told us last night that she's not really sure if she wants to be baptized anymore because she doesn't know if she wants to do her first comunion, i don't know what that is in english. haha. but it's the first ceremony they do in the catholic church. My companion was like, ¨did Jesus christ do his first communion? she was like, no. so she asked her, so do you want to follow jesus christ by doing something that he did: being baptized, or do you want to do your first communion? We left her with 2 nephi 31, and told her to read it and then write down everything that was in her head and heart, and pray about whether or not God really wants her to be baptized. We are going to call her tonight to see what her answer is. Hermana Fuentes took it pretty hard. It is too hard when an investigator that has received his or her witness of the truth, but turns away from it. I don't think we truly understand the influence of satan on these people since we can feel the spirit all the time as missionaries. Ugh. This work is really hard.

Maria Cecilia told us that she has been studying the book of mormon like crazy with her husband, and she had a million questions for us when we went by the other day. We told her to pray about it every time she reads it to know if it's true. She told us that she loves us visiting her, and that she doesn't want either one of us to leave because she has become so accustomed to having us here. haha. that was nice to hear. :)

We have a lot to do this week... we have a new initiative called the member binder, and we have to organize it with all of the information of every family in our ward so that we can know better how to use the members... plus changes are this week. I doubt we have changes, but you never know. haha. And then, on Friday, we are going to have a devotional with....... get ready for it.......

ELDER BEDNAR!!! He is talking to our mission, and Rancagua. by the way, a very special missionary named... elder archuleta will be attending. haha. I am so excited to be able to see hermana nielsen and hermana cantero, and of course Elder Bednar. :) It will be incredible, and I can hardly wait. haha.

well family, that's all the time I have. :) i love you so much!

hermana spencer.

p-day #29

dear family and wonderful fans,

well, i made it through the week. it was a rough one for both me and my companion, and we are both really glad it's over. haha.

We went out and worked, and saw lots of miracles. we found an old woman who recently got sick with alzheimers and has not been visited by the members of the ward since she got sick. we sat and listened to her stories that she can remember, and taught a lesson to her daughter who is not a member. Her name is Tila, and she is just incredible. :) She puts her mom's garments on her even though she has no idea what they are. She is such an example of a true disciple of christ, and we are confused as to why she isn't a member of our church... but we are going to do some research this week so that we can help her. :) then tila, bless her heart, took us to meet a little old couple that she knew was in need of our help and message. it was a week full of miracles nonetheless, even though it was really hard on both of us.

on wednesday, we went to visit a sister in our ward who hermana fuentes is really close to... and as we talked to her, and hermana fuentes told her that she was homesick, she said just the words that both of us needed to hear to be able to get out and get to work. It's one thing to read words of encouragement like we always do as missionaries, but it's another to hear them. Hna Duran is an ex missionary, and she told us the story of the beginning of her mission when she couldn't talk to the people because they were dirty... but eventually grew to love them all through her efforts and prayers and work. and that she wishes now that she could still have the call that we have because there is nothing like it in all the world. we truly are the only people in this area who have the responsibility to teach the gospel of jesus christ of latter day saints. people look at us and know who we are, and we can truly help every single person here. we can never doubt our potential, because the Lord has called us here and given us the tools to be able to fulfill that call.

Same thing, again we went out and worked and saw miracles. One of our miracle families that we found a few weeks ago told us that they are going to pray about the book of mormon and to know if joseph smith really saw god and jesus christ. :)

needless to say, conference was a huge breath of fresh air, and i walked away from it with answers to almost all of my questions and my fire lit once again. I still have a little nostalgia, but i remember why i'm here and how important this work is. And even through the hard weeks, we still see miracles and we still laugh and smile.

My favorite talk was president uchtdorf's because i think i have been a little too focused on the finish line of this mission lately. I just need to enjoy the day and not worry so much about if i'm going to be able to remember everything to be able to tell you all about it when i get home. This mission is my life right now, and I need to live each day, not just pass through it.

i love this gospel so much. i love my father in heaven so much, and i am so grateful that he has given me this chance to come on a mission. I am learning so much about myself, my desires, and my savior, and I know that this is the only place that I could ever do that. I love being a missionary. :)

 

i hope all of you took something away from conference. :) and if you have any questions about anything, i'm here to answer them for you... because elder russell m nelson said i could. haha.

muah!

hermana spencer.