Week 15: Gospel Blesses Families

Friday was my 100th day in the mission! Crazy.

Sad thing - the other day I wore the golden plates necklace that I got during my freshmen year for seminary and the sisters in the ward told me not to wear it anymore. They said it looked like gold and they were afraid someone would try to steal it. I am glad I’m on the Lord's errand here! 

These are super pretty origami flowers that a young man in the ward made for us. He and his family are absolutely great! His name is Jonathan and he’s 23 years old. He used to be in the army, but had an accident and is now blind. He does crafts and he’s soooo good at them! He also makes beautiful picture frames with sticks, and he made one for my hermana and me. He amazes me and he is still happy and grateful to the Lord. He is such a great example to me! 

This week it has been raining like crazy! It makes the weather so much nicer and cooler, but ruins our shoes. My companion’s shoes died this week. lol

This week we have been working with an investigator a lot. It’s amazing to see how much the gospel is changing her life! The first time we met her, she was walking along the sidewalk, and we walked and talked with her. She wasn’t feeling well. She has an illness that gives her migraines, has ruined her ability to talk well, and she has difficulty remembering things. As we walked together, she started crying and was distraught. Our first lesson was similar: she cried a lot and didn’t feel worthy to be baptized or talk to God, because she said she had a rough background. Her first Sunday at church was the same. Little by little she is becoming happier (we’ve been visiting her for about 5 weeks). Now during the lessons she smiles the whole time and is so happy.

Slowly her family is coming to the lessons. At first her family ran when we came, or made excuses not to join us. Her oldest son left the room with his girlfriend and we could hear them laughing at us...lol Eventually her youngest son started joining us and he loves to pray with his mom and with us. Then her daughter started joining us, and she is so smart. Yesterday her oldest son joined us! In fact, all three of her kids joined without us even asking. We were so shocked; we honestly didn’t know what to do. Halfway through the lesson, her oldest son wanted us to wait while he went and got his girlfriend so she could listen too. Guadalupe was so happy! She was all smiles the whole lesson, while her kids talked about the gospel. It was probably my favorite lesson so far. The gospel is for families and blesses families. I am sure of this! They aren’t a perfect family, but we are slowly seeing progress in their relationships. I’m so happy for their great family. They have such a desire to learn and to change. “In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e, time. Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home.” – President Dieter F. Uchtdorf