Week 74: La Rosa

Buenos días! So many things happened this week!! It's been one of the best weeks of my mission:))

HIGHLIGHTS

-We said goodbye to the Platts:( They have helped us to become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. Our last mission meeting with them felt very much like parents gathering his children at the end of Their life. They gavw us counsel for the things that our most important-focusing on the good through adversity, always following the prophet, the importance of the Book of Mormon, stay on the covenant path. There was so much love. At the end, we gave them a book of letters from all the missionaries, which touched them deeply. We sang the EFY medly and then "God Be with you til we meet Again." Everyone was crying. We all gave them hugs on our way out. They have made such an impact on my life, and I will miss them, but I am honored to be a part of the transition between mission President's. The Galoteras arrive today and we will have the opportunity to meet them tomorrow. Please pray for them and the Platts!

-This is super random, but at zone conference I asked Hermana Young to cut my hair because the hairdresser had cut it unevenly, so she brought her hair scissors and cut my hair over a trash can during lunch at zone conference. It was such a bizarre situation that I couldn't stop laughing while she was cutting my hair.

-The new Preach My Gospel came out and it's already changed my life! I love it so much! Everyone should study it! 

-We got permission to go to the LA Temple Visitor's Center with our friend Heydi (the one who moved to Bakersfield). She is still working through some things to be able to get baptized. She had a great experience at the temple and is so excited to be able to go inside someday.

-On Saturday afternoon, we were walking around the Slater Slums to visit some friends who had been taught in the past. We decided to visit Imelda. As we were walking up to her door, we saw that there was a party going on on the side of the house but didn't think much of it. She opened the door and we could tell by the fancy dress that it was her party. She didn't even skip a beat and said "I know God sent you to me for a reason today, so I would like to give you all some tacos before you leave." She told us that it was her son's quinceñera (which I'd never heard of for boys before) and even though she barely knew us, she insisted that we stay. She gave us these huge plates of food and kept on asking us if we needed anything. She even had us take pictures with her son before we left. We definitely felt a little out of place but it was so sweet! She is a very Christlike person. We are going to bring her some flowers and a card today to thank her. 

MIRACLES

So we are really focused this transfer on increasing our faith to find the elect. We have been praying to find 3 people who are prepared to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Our branch council has started praying as well. And we saw some great miracles this week!

-Lucas! He accepted the invitation to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on July 15! The gospel of Jesus Christ is helping him to finally find peace and relief from the hardships in his life. And he has a family in the church! Hermana Menendez has come to our lessons and been so kind and friendly When he came to church on Sunday, he was welcomed lovingly by the branch. 

-Noel! Right before church, we got an online request for a missionary visit. We immediately called Noel and he said he's just searching for more faith in Christ because he is going through some really difficult situations in life. For some reason, Hermana Echeverria randomly mentioned we were about to walk into church and he got all excited and asked for the address and if he could come! He biked 20 minutes to church and was able to make it to the last half of sacrament meeting. He felt so much peace there, and we are going to start meeting with him to teach him about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

-Cathy! We have our Sunday school classes before sacrament meeting. While we were in Sunday school, the stake president came and got us and said a visitor who speaks Spanish just walked in. We went and talked to Cathy. She belongs to the Baptist church but has had so many miraculous experiences with the church of Jesus Christ that she thinks God is trying to tell her something. From friends giving her Book of Mormons, to the missionaries answering her prayers to do service for her, to showing up to a community bible study led by the missionaires, and now to a couple in our branch just randomly inviting her to church after meeting her at a devotional. We talked for an hour after church about all of these miracles and set up a time to meet this week to do family history!

-Edgar! The Quesadas invited us, Luis Palacios, and Edgar for Sunday dinner. To give a little context, we started teaching Edgar in January and taught him for a couple months. Then in March, we invited him to be baptized, which scared him, and he was super busy, so he stopped meeting with us. Since the end of April, he has come to church every Sunday but still been "busy." At the end of the lesson, we were talking about his schedule, and he said he has time to start meeting with us again every Sunday! Yay!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

Some of my very favorite Bible stories are found in Matthew 14. 

Jesus is healing and teaching the multitude and they need to eat. So he asks what they have and all they have is a meager five loaves and two fishes. They bring him what they have and with that, he is able to feed 5,000 (Matthew 14: 15-21).

The next story is when Peter walked on water. It was stormy night on the Sea of Galilea and the apostles see the Savior walking toward them on the sea. The Lord commands Peter to walk on water. Peter didn't have the power himself to walk on water, but the Lord required all the faith he had to take that step off the boat. His walk on water was by no means perfect, but the moment he faltered, He cried out in faith for the Christ to save him, and Christ did (Matthew 14:22-33).

What I learned from these stories is that Christ requires all that we are, how ever small that may be, and uses that small offering to work miracles.  

I believe in the living Christ. He is resurrected. He still leads His church through prophets. He still declares His gospel. He still works miracles. And as our living prophet, President Nelson has promised: "In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen.”

Love you all! Seek and expect miracles this week!

Hermana Dudley

1. Haircut at zone conference

2. Heydi and Alejandra at the temple

3. In front of temple

4. Another temple picture

5. Christ's statue

6. Saying goodbye to the Platts

7. Sister Taimana and I got rolled ice cream on exchanges

8. Quinceñera with the Quinceñero?

9. Tacos at the Quinceñera. Strangest experience of my life because we don't even know these people lol.