SHOUT OUT TO ZACK

Dearest dear family

 

I have had a serious case of no-motivation-to-email-itis. I appologize. I will now send you copeous amounts of pictures, videos, and words to make up for my lacking.

 

 

 Things have been absolutely positively incredible over here. Yesterday we got the opportunity to speak and sing at church. I spoke about miracles and one of the Elders gave a great talk about the Atonement. Then all 6 of us missionaries (yeah, there's 6 in this ward!) sang "The Spirit of God" acapella. I can't explain in words how fantastic the whole experience was. The spirit was so strong!  First of all, I spoke spanish without getting lost or confused or messing up. We sang together and sang strong. The Elder I spoke with has one of the strongest testimonies I've ever witnessed. And after we were done I sat back down and looked out at the people in the congregation and I couldn't believe how much I loved them! They were all so happy. The past few days has been packed full, from 6:30AM - 10:30PM, and it has been miracle after miracle.

 

We cover a really large area of about 6 or 7 cities. We take different buses and walk different routes every day at different times. A few weeks ago a young man gave us his seat on the bus and when he got off we gave him a business card and wrote a little "nota de gracias" to say thank you. The next week we saw him on the bus again! He rememberd us and sat by us. We started talking and found out that he is from Guatemala and has only been here 2 months. He misses his church youth group in Guatemala and is happy to be here but doesn't know anyone and can't speak english. He got off the bus before we had time to talk more but we gave him an invitation to the Cena International and told him to come on Saturday! He said he would be there and we were really excited to talk more! Saturday came and he didn't show up. We regretted not getting his phone number. I prayed and prayed the next few weeks that we would bump into him again. Last Saturday we spent the whole day running around to give out invitation to the church service the next day. We had layed out our planned route but right off the bat switched things around, starting where were were planning to end and ending where we would have started. Later that afternoon we made it to a friend's house to say hi and give the invitation. Guess who was sitting on the sidewalk outside! The Guatemalen! Right off the bat he appologized for not coming to the cena. We talked about english and asked if he'd like to take the classes offered by the missionaries. He said yes, and asked if his brothers and friends could come too! OF COURSE THEY CAN! We swapped numbers and since he already had a church in Boston that he attends, felt best to not invite him the next day. However we did let him know that we would be speaking and singing. After church on Sunday we got a phone call from Marvin simply asking how our service went and saying hello. He had talked to his brothers and they are all excited to start this english classes this wednesday! And let me tell you, we are really looking forward to it also!

 

Things like this happen all the time. I am constantly reminded of whose work I am doing, and whose time I am on. We can fill up our schedule all we want, we could knock every door, we could call all the numbers in the phonebook if we really wanted to. But when we study, and pray, and humbly ask for direction the Lord leads us to the people that need us. Saturday night someone named Dinora called us and asked if we could come visit her. She used to know the missionaries and is having a really hard time right now. She knows that if we come over we could help her. And we can!

 

It's no secret that life is hard. I would never ever describe my life as traumatic or sad or difficult. But I can remember the moments when my heart was as low as I thought it could possibly be. I remember when life felt unfair, and also when I was totally in the wrong. I remember questions I've had and answers I eventually found. Those answers picked me up, and carried me, and lead me to where I am now! The joy that I feel is through knowing that no matter what comes my way, I can overcome it! It's only because of these experiences that I can now look someone in the eyes and promise them that things will get better. I can promise them a better life, and I can promise them a day when all will be perfect, and we will be fearless, and we will know that our God and Savior lives. We will live with him! Because I have been carried, I can now help carry others.

 

The videos I made aren't uploading....

 

I'm really sorry. The problem is that I used to take notes in my planner on what I would email about so I wouldn't get here and stare blankly at the screen. I stopped taking notes... so now I get here and scramble to remember things to talk about. But from now on I'll get back into it!

 

Here's to another great week for all of you folks. I sure to love and miss you! 

 

My awesome little nephew Zack Attack is getting baptized this week! I wish I could be there! I love you soo so much buddy!

 

LIFE IS A MISSION!