Letter #51 09/28/15

THIS week has been the craziest of all. I am now officially an hermana again, and I did not think it would be this big of an adjustment. Like, whoa. There have been a lot of ups and downs. I will say that I miss the freedom of speech and expression that come with the english speaking missionary territory. Working with the hispanic community again is.. different. BUT so beautiful, of course. We have been stuffed full of rice and chicken and tres leches and all the goods, so we're feeling loved. 

I've also had so many moments as of late where I'm singing a hymn, or listening to a random human on the street talk about their love for the Lord and I'm like.. wait. This isn't what real life is like. I have a badge that authorizes be to waltz into random homes and talk about the Savior's love and sing to them and hug them and stop them on the street and.. I am so grateful. There's been lots of little baby times of gratitude this week, that's for sure. I'm so grateful to be here!

Working with the Charlottesville 1st ward spanish group = wonderful! I really feel very strongly like I'm still here in this area to help strengthen the group. It's hard being a new member and this group is full of them, so we've seen lots of beautiful friends going through LOTS of hard things. But this past week was so magical- I have gained SUCH a strong testimony of, really, how little we do as missionaries. Heavenly Father sends His spirit and His angels to do the rest. Three of the less active group members have shown desires to regain lost faith and come back to Christ and it is INCREDIBLE! And we've been hitting our heads against the wall for the past months, yearning to know what to do for them. It's easy to forget, amidst all the to-do's of a mission, or even life, that our Heavenly Father and Savior are willing to do SO much for us- all they ask is that we put that trust in them. 

Specific miracle from the group this week, we had a lunch date with cute Hermana V. She's this Honduranian grandma that just went through the temple and is STELLAR. We ate Baleadas and they were wonderful. I was just rejoicing to be full of queso fresca and tortillas again. But as we shared the spiritual message, we issued a special commitment that she would pray for a specific miracle for us to see after we left. We told her that we would go out and work our hardest, and call her in a day or so and see how her specific prayer was answered. 

Meanwhile, the following day, we visit this beautiful couple named S and N. S has been struggling with the church and faith and wondering if she should continue to live the gospel. The moment we walk in, she's like, "Hermanas! I have to tell you about this dream I had!" She begins to recount the dream she had, about this scary horse creature that was trying to get inside her home and it kept galloping around and she was so scared. But at the very moment when she thought all hope was lost, this beautiful white cloud envelops her and her children and she hears a voice that says, "You need to go back to church". 

And she just knew it was directly from God. And we talked with her about just how aware of her and her struggles Heavenly Father is. 

THE NEXT DAY we call V. Before we tell her anything that happened to us, she tells us that her specific prayer was that one of the struggling members of the group would receive a sign from God that would help them to come back.. 

It's all true, my friends. Heavenly Father works according to our faith. He is SO willing to help us and our loved ones out. And He will, if we trust Him enough to do it. I am so grateful for Him! I've been striving to develop a closer relationship with Him this past week, and He always keeps His end of the bargain. I feel His love! I know you can too. :) 

My sick self helping cute Sister McNeely kick it on her 5K.