Letter #29 03/30/15

Hermana Yost and Hermana Kingsley

The cutest little nina.  I can't ever handle.  This Sunday four ninos snuck
away from their families to sit with us during Sacrament meeting.

Okay, I just realized last night as I was meditating on my life and thinking about what I wanted to share today that you don't know anything about anyone I love here. And that made me super sad. Because, life is really so incredibly wonderful in the good ol' Potomac River Ward. And transfers are coming up and I'm so scared that I'm gonna leave. ): BUT. Enough of that nonsense, as my ward mission leader says, let's get down to the 'nitty gritty'. (Yup, that's right. My Bolivian ward mission leader quotes Nacho Libre better than Nacho himself.)

This is Isaiah, our sweet Iris's little boy.  Sad news, she's STILL in El Salvador, so no way
of getting ahold of her.  Pray that she comes home TODAY.  It's our only dream.

Our best pal, Nico.  He's one of the single adults in
our program.

FIRST off. La familia B. I remember mentioning them a few weeks ago, but LET ME JUST TELL you so many miracles with them this week. So, basically, their story is (if this is a repeat email, please forgive) that the two girls, Karen and Lisette, are going on 8 months of meeting with missionaries and they've been prepared for baptism for a while, but they're only 12 and 14 and so the past companionship didn't feel like they should baptize them. Meanwhile, they invited the mom to learn and she was actually really ready and has progressed super quickly.  Anyways, we had some awesome lessons with them and.. THEY'RE GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY after conference. I'm so excited! We've been having family home evenings with them each Wednesday and it's really like family. I love them with all of my tiny little heart. Ah! Also, C. C. is the uncle of the family, and we just invited him to one of the lessons a few weeks ago, and we absolutely adore him! He comes to church and every single adult activity and just eats it up. We had a beautiful lesson with him on Saturday morning, where we invited him to be baptized with his sister and nieces.. he's felt like he needs more time, but when we talked about it in the lesson, he was like, "well.. do you think I could? It would be so beautiful" and we were like, UHHHHH. Yes. Of course you can! :) So, he's getting baptized this Saturday too! Everything that's happened with them has just been this huge dream and I am eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me this incredible opportunity to see a few of his most precious children enter the waters of baptism. 

The five companionships that make up our district/ward.  LOVE them
so much.  Sometimes we have so much fun I forget that missions are hard. :)

In other news, another miracle human is G. He's 17 and easily the coolest kid in his entire town house complex. We talked to him and he already knew the entire plan of salvation just through pondering it, and as we taught him he nearly quoted Alma 32, the chapter we had felt prompted to give him at the end of the lesson. We had another lesson with him this week and taught the restoration. It was pretty powerful, but also pretty silly. He thinks I am the single weirdest human in the entire universe, not that it matters because it's not ever about me, BUT I didn't help my case any when I started to give an analogy relating God's knowledge of what we are going to do to your mom knowing that you love noodle salad and knowing that you'll choose it tomorrow for lunch. Uhh.. what's noodle salad, you ask? Not quite sure myself. Hahah. Talk about speaking the thoughts that are put into your heart. ANYWAYS. Basically, he prayed at the end of the lesson and we don't know if he forgot we were there, but he just said the most sincere prayer about how, even if he won't admit it, he met us at a perfect time when he was really struggling. HEAVENLY FATHER is so aware. It was really powerful. 

Also, another beautiful baby miracle. As we were walking to go G's door, we saw this lady who was clearly struggling having patience with her brood of children, but they went the other way, so that was done. But afterwards, as we walked back to the car, we ran into them again. There are no coincidences, especially if the Lord puts someone in your path twice.. so I ran up to her and gave her a Because He Lives card and just bore my testimony of Jesus Christ's love and understanding to her and all of the kids. The spirit was SO powerful and a silent tear ran down her face as she thanked me and hurried on her way. 

Sneaky visits from best friends back home
make a missionaries whole night!  Shout out to Chris & Madi Seeg. <3

Anyways, I'm just SO incredibly grateful for the opportunity I have to be here. It's been yet another refiner's fire and I'd be lying if I said I don't continually get frustrated when people continually don't understand me, BUT. We're seeing so many miracles. My prayers are answered every second and I KNOW that the Lord is here. Like it says in the Because He Lives, video. There are no exceptions, no lost causes. I know with all my heart that that's real because i've FELT it this week. No matter how many times we feel like we mess up, or don't measure up, he is ALWAYS right there. 

<3 Love, Hermana Yost

My companera make me draw things.  A card we
made for Abuelita.  She is really struggling healthwise.

If I've learned anything from my comp, it's that you ALWAYS draw a picture
on your progress record.  The ward council eats it up like meat and rice. :)