Week 22? Cerritos

The best thing about this week is that we were able to go to the temple on Tuesday with the zone!!! It was so peaceful and calm and helped remind me why I am here. I am here to help others to make sacred covenants that will bind them to Christ.

I feel like this week was definitely a growing week. We had lots of opportunities to learn. Recently, we've been focusing on prioritizing and choosing to do the things most effective with our time.

Last week, we had 51 friends who we were teaching. From counciling with our leaders because there were too many demands on our time, we decided to pause teaching some of our friends who aren't very consistent in meeting with us. We also prayed about some who we should give to the Elders we share a ward with.

One of those families that we gave to the Elders was Carlos and Jaqueline and their kids, Nicole and Alan. We met Jacqueline one of my first few weeks in the mission. We had been assigned by the APs to contact all the young adults in our ward, so we knocked on this door on Ferina St. The young adult we were looking for had moved but Jacqueline answered the door and she said she had time for a message, so we shared the 4 minute Restoration. A few weeks later, we were able to start teaching her husband and kids as well! They are such a sweet family, and I felt a special connection and love for them. They moved here from Mexico about 7 months ago and although they were raised Catholic, they are searching for truth and to increase their relationship with God.

They haven't been progressing much the last month or two because they've been pretty inconsistent to meet with (we only taught them about 3 times). But we trust the Elders in our ward, and because Carlos and Jacqueline are technically in their area and we know they will have more time to be persistent with them, we felt like it was best to pass them off.

Yesterday, we had the pass off lesson and it went really well. The kids are in Mexico visiting grandparents, but we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ to Carlos and Jaqueline. The Spirit was strong. I will miss teaching them, but I hope that they will continue on this path to making covenants as a family that will bind them to each other and to Christ.

This week we were also working all week to get our friends to church. We realized that most of our friends' next step in continuing to progress is going to church. So we identified 13 of our friends who should be going to church and made a plan to help our friends get to church. We felt inspired to talk to all of our friends about Christ and how He is the center of the Church (especially about the Sacrament). We also tried to have members in all of these lessons. On Saturday night, we visited each one of them to give them a card and a box of strawberries and remind them about church. We also prayed for each of them all week long.

On Sunday morning, Brenda came! And Mociel, one of our newer friends who we love so much, came halfway through, which made us so happy! But we were disappointed none of our other friends came. During the Sacrament, I was really heartbroken. We had been so excited for our friends to come, and it hurt that they had chosen not to come after all that we had done and after all that they had felt. La Familia Perez especially had said they felt the Spirit during our lesson and wanted to come to church and were willing to wake up early to come, but then they didn't.

During the Sacrament, I was thinking about our Savior. Some of the words from Elder Holland's talk "Missionary Work and the Atonement" came to my mind. He said: "I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are the Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How can you believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for him? When you struggle, when you are rejected, when you are made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world has ever known, the only pure and perfect life that ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living God knows all about your sorrows and afflictions."

I felt so grateful for my Savior yesterday. Maybe we worked so hard last week and then felt the pain of Alfredo, Edgar, Monica, Kathryn, Katelyn, Edgar Jr., Maria, Griselda, and Yarita using their agency to not come to church and after all they had felt. But I can't imagine the pain the Savior feels after giving his whole life, even giving up his life for each one of us and then watching each of us at different points and different times reject Him. It makes me love Him even more.

Although we love our friends so much, we don't do this for them. We do this for our Savior. And I know this labor of love this week was so worth it for my Savior.

He did so much for me and I can never repay Him, but I can show Him how much I love Him each day by working hard and giving everything to Him.

I love Him and I know that He guides and directs this work.

I have faith that He will continue to work miracles in the lives of our friends.

Love you all!

Hermana Dudley

1. Bellflower City Sign

2.Delivering cards & strawberries to our friends

3.Cerritos Zone & Cypress Zone at Newport Beach Temple

4.Hermanas at Temple

5.The Spanish Squad-Passoff lesson

6.Church parking lot has the best views

7.FHE with Familia Lopez y Family Perez (2 weeks ago)