Week 54: La Rosa

I feel so much JOY!!! I love being a missionary. I am so grateful for the relationships I develop with the missionaries and friends I serve around.

Friends update:

-Edgar is doing really well. Still reading the Book of Mormon and increasing his faith and understanding. Sad news...he moved this weekend. He doesn't know where it is yet. It is all kind of last minute. But please keep him in your prayers that he can continue to progress.

-We taught Maria the principle of acting and not being acted upon. She still has a lot of excuses for not coming to church but is making baby steps! This coming week, she is planning on going to the English church service so she can at least take the sacrament.

-We found two new friends! Carmen and Rogelio live right next to the church. They just lost their daughter. Please pray for them that they can find peace through the atonement or Jesus Christ.

Exciting news:

-On Tuesday, we went to the LA Temple with Brenda and with all the Hermanas, Enrique, and los elderes from Cerritos to do baptisms and it was so special. I loved talking with Brenda. She told me her son Jeovani talks about wanting to go on a mission all the time! Brenda definitely set the temple trip up for an engagement but Enrique had other plans...

-I went on exchanges with Hermana Votaw in Cerritos because our companions were at departure dinner!!! We taught some of the people I taught when I was there, including Irene and Atonia!

-On Saturday, we were at soccer when we saw this group of girls walking up who we didn't recognize and then I realized it was HERMANA MIDENCE AND HERMANA JACKSON!!!!! I was SO EXCITED!! They totally lied and said they weren't come to CA for the engagement but it was worth the surprise. Then afterwards Hermano Palacios and Hermano Marco Sarco took all of us and the Hermanas out for tacos. Cool miracle: after teaching the hermanos and Hermanas a lesson about Family History, we had a prompting to go up to this family sitting behind us and turns out they had listened to the whole thing and were interested!

-On Saturday night, we went to the Newport Beach Temple for Brenda's engagement (we got permission from President Platt). Hermana Young made the sign and we set up rose petals and candles. Hermana Midence and Julie (from the Bellflower ward in Cerritos) were the photogropher/videographer and we watched from behind the bushes! It was so cute!! It's been amazing to see this family go full circle. Brenda and Enrique are going to get married civilly in a couple of weeks and then this Summer will be sealed in the temple!

-On Saturday night, we found out transfer news. Hermana Amézquita is going home tomorrow to Utah and I am getting TWO new companions. Hermana Echeverria will be joining me as an STL and we will be in a trio with Sister Storm, an English-speaking sister who is going into her last transfer. I'm very excited to learn all the lessons the Lord has on store for us this transfer.

I will miss Hermana Amezquita. From her I've learned forgiveness, change, and unconditional love. She will be dearly missed.

I used to get nervous for changes like this, but I just feel peace thinking about the changes that are coming. I'm sure there will be bumps along the way, but I know the Lord's plans are the best plans.

When I was with Hermana Midence a year ago, the song we listened to all the time was "Sé Hará Señor Tu Voluntad" ("Thy Will Be Done").

Here are the lyrics:

Thy will be done, O Lord, not mine

Whether in brightest day or darkest night

And give me strength to carry on

Whatever comes

Thy will be done

Though I don’t always understand

What thou hast willed, what thou hast planned

I’ll leave it all inside thy hands

And trust thy will until we meet again.

If there is one thing the mission has taught me, it is to completely surrender my will to His. Because I know He knows best. I often think about the parable of the Currant Bush that Elder Christofferson shared about Hugh B. Brown:

"He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thought he heard it say: “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.” President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’"

He is the Gardner.

I invite you all to view your trials and challenges as way that the Gardner is helping you to grow. I promise as you do so, you will find more joy.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Hermana Dudley

1. Hiding during the engagement

2. Last planning session with the ZLs

3. Hermana Jackson and Hermana Midence surprising us at soccer

4. HB Zone (last zone council)

5. Hermana STLs and Brenda at the LA Temple

6. HB Zone Devo (President and Sister Platt came)

7. The Hermanas with Brenda and Enrique at the engagement

8. Hermana Amézquita and I with our friend Maria