Helloo Loved Ones,
Huge Shout out to my Mother, who had a Birthday this past Thursday!! Love Love Love!
So, I must apologize for the lack of pictures - I promise to send lots next week!
So this week, was one of the best weeks I've had on my mission thus far! Last Monday was Halloween - which made it difficult to find people at home, but the costumes were awesome to see!
On Tuesday, we went to see Linda, the Familia Ballesteros, and The Familia Campos.
Let me tell you a little bit about the people we teach.
VALERIA - she's so awesome. Her fiancee, Nefi, was less active for many years, and they are returning to Church! Her testimony of the Restoration and of Joseph Smith are so strong. Whenever we go over, I honestly just feel like she's teaching us.
JAHAYRA - Similar situation; she's also so solid, we love visiting her. She and her intended, Oliver, are getting married within the next two weeks! We get to go help plan her wedding tonight, because we already had an appointment with her, and we're bringing Hna Reza from the Ward to help!
LUCY - Super cute young college student - a bit hard to find; everytime we go knock on her door, a different family member of hers answers - her father, her mother, her older brother. Soon we'll be able to teach the whole family!
CYNTHIA - She's a smoker; she's got four little kids and her husband works a LOT - her mom lives with her as well. She's really interested in the message, and evidently has been sharing it with her husband and mom after our visits. We're working with her!
FAMILIA BALLESTEROS - So get this: this family owns a Bouncy House business!! Ever wonder how to say bouncy house in Spanish? It's brinca brinca - which comes from the verb brincar, which means 'to jump' or 'to frolic.' Very Catholic family, but they - Mom, Dad, two teenage sons, and Uncle - all seem to have a real desire to know the Truth, esp. the Dad. He told us he wants to know what God's will is concerning his family.
FAMILIA CAMPOS - Ah, what fun! They are a rambunctious, fun-loving family, and we have an appointment with them this friday.
NALLELI - Pronounced Nayellie. She's very nice, and she's got a cute little daughter. We taught the Restoration as our first lesson, and she really seemed to know it was true. It was awesome to see that light in her eyes!!
JUAN MANUEL - Oh, Juan. :) He already wants to be baptized! The only problem is we haven't taught him any of the lessons yet - but we will!
CECILIA - Finally, we have Cecilia. She has three YW-age daughters, so we brought with us the YW president on our first visit. Though we had planned to teach Restoration, we ended up doing a Word of Wisdom lesson - they had a ton of questions!
...And that's just the ones who have yet to be baptized! I sometimes think our investigators - the sons and daughters of God that we have the privilege to teach - are like American football. When they're baptized, we act as the quarterback, tossing them towards Eternal Salvation, the 'End Zone'. We can't just walk off the field - the touchdown can't be made unless there is a receiver to catch the ball. That's where the members come in - with their help, we can run the ball into the End Zone, which is the Temple. There's gonna be opposition - Satan's players are some of the biggest, meanest players out there: namely, fear, doubt, hopelessness, and loneliness. We must muscle our way past these big guys with the football tucked securely under our arm, never fumbling. Only then can we raise our fists and voices in victory.
Whoa - that was a pretty sweet analogy. :) Pretty sure I've heard it somewhere before, so don't quote me on it.
So it was actually this week that Valeria received her rock-solid testimony. We went in as usual, and showed her the 20 min Restoration video. We then asked Hna Mendoza, who had come with us, to share her own testimony of Joseph Smith. She did so, powerfully. Hna Martin and I then testified briefly. We then challenged her to pray for a personal witness of the truth of these things. We told her we would all be silent for some minutes afterward. She offered a very heartfelt prayer, telling God she had the same question that Joseph Smith had, and asking if this Church was the true one. Afterward, she began to cry. The Spirit was so ridiculously strong in that room, it was awesome. I have felt the truth of the restored gospel, and now I have seen that Spirit of Truth work through another daughter of God!!
Last experience: so the other night, we randomly decided to visit the Familia Granados, less active members. Hna Granados is a truly amazing woman - she breaks her back every day in a laundromat to help her husband support their family. She is a convert of ten years - before her baptism, she drank, smoked, did drugs, you name it - but after, she never touched any substances. Amazing. My companion was inspired to share a scripture with them - Alma 34:40-41. My comp asked me to read it, because we'd been practicing reading scriptures in Spanish. I did so, sounding like a broken record, with many pauses. When I finished reading I looked up and realized that Hna Granados was crying. She told us that she's been praying and praying to know how to handle life, and how busy it is - she testified to us that God had answered her prayer through this scripture. It. Was. Amazing.
Love, Love, Love,
Hna Smurthwaite
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