Week 37: Raymond

Buenas tardes!!

This first week of the transfer was crazy as always. Lots of meetings, adjusting, and teaching our friends in between!

Hermana Votaw is honestly amazing. She is the oldest in her family from Arizona. She is one of the most selfless, kind, Christlike people I have ever met. Hermana Garcia is also so inspiring. She is 24 years old. She grew up in a Catholic family in El Paso, Texas and joined the church when she was 17. Her faith is so strong. She also is really patient with us and willing to speak Spanish and correct us all day.  I just have 8 months on the mission, and Hermana Votaw has 7 and we are training Hermana Garcia so we're a pretty young companionship but the Lord is helping us so much! 

Highlights

-Woke up at 4 in the morning to take Hermana Cordova to the mission home and say goodbye :'( then went back to sleeping at the Hermanas apartment til 6:30 and then I got my new companions and helped all the other Hermanas get moved in!!

-Ward Talent Show! Bailes, canciones, y comida! We even sang/played A Childs Prayer in Spanish

-Testimony Meeting yesterday was amazing. Something that I admire so much about our members is their strong testimonies. Most of them are converts to the Church or their parents are converts to the church. They recognize how the gospel has blessed their life and want to share it with everyone. 

Miracles

-We had an amazing lesson with Cornelio! We taught him the commandments and he accepted to live all of them!

-We found the mom of a FAMILY!! Jessica and Guillermo have 2 little girls. They told us we could come teach them & we ended up just being able to teach Jessica the Restoration but it was amazing! We hope we can teach the whole family when we get back :))

-After Jessica's lesson, we were running to another lesson when Hermana Votaw complimented this lady who was sitting in her car across the street (Paulette). Turns out she is going through something really hard in her life right now. We just listened to her for almost an hour and sang her "Oración de un Niño." We felt such a strong connection with her. At the end she said: "Where is your church? I want to go! Also when can you meet my teenage daughter?? She'd love you all. I think she'll be a missionary too one day." Then she asked us for all the pamphlets and cards we had with us. Milagroooo!!!

-Paula came to church for the first time. She is someone that the Hermanas were teaching in the other area before we merged but after months, she finally asked off work so she could come!!

Since it was the beginning of the transfer, we had opening zone devotionals for SAW and SAE. For SAE this transfer, our there is "Are You Still Willing?"

This last conference, Elder Pearson taught: "The great task of life [and the cost of discipleship] is to learn the will of the Lord and then to do it.” True discipleship leads to a fulness of joy. Are we willing to pay the price of discipleship? We cannot afford to take vacation days or personal time off from our willingness to “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.” Discipleship is not cheap, because the companionship of the Holy Ghost is priceless."

This reminds me of the story of Peter the apostle. The Savior came to Peter when he was fishing and called him to leave his nets and help gather disciples. After the Savior's death, Peter and the other apostles went back to fishing and the Lord came to them again and called him again to leave his nets and gather disciples, asking him three times: "Lovest thou me more than these?" (John 21:15).

The Lord has extended to each one of us the call to leave our nets and be His disciples. Sometimes we turn back to our nets and the Lord has to ask us again: Lovest thou me more than these? I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to partake of the Sacrament each week and say "Yea Lord, thou knowest that I love thee" (John 21:15).

I invite each of you to consider what nets you need to give up to show your complete willingness to serve the Lord. He needs you! He loves you!

I promise as a representative of Jesus Christ that as you do this, you will have Christ's power in your lives and find joy in focusing on what's most important. 

Love yall!

Hermana Dudley

1.SAE Zone Devo

2.Familia Garcia con Hna. Cordova antes de que se fue

3.Liderazgo de SAE planning for zone devo

4.Carlos y Noemi took us out to eat

5.leaving at 5 am for sumoconsejo

6.SAW opening zone devo

7.SAW closing zone devo from last transfer

8.bailes at the ward Talent Show night!