1. I burned my hand making arepas. It was so worth it. I have 3 blisters now. haha.
2. Sister Hernandez with blonde hair
3. Me with black hair
4. Us driving to church
5. and 6. Sister Jess and I doing a face mask. I feel like half of my pictures are me doing a face mask ;)
1. We went to a little churro stand, (Juan the Churro man)
2. Regular, Chocolate, and Dulce de Leche fresh churros. Oh me word.
3. Us with the other sisters at the smoothie place
4. and 5. The super cool little beach, so pretty
6. Sister Hernandez caught a Renaquajo, (a tadpole)
Hola Everyone!!
I hope that you are all doing well, it has been another great week in Florida :). I can't believe that this transfer is almost over, I guess time flies when you are a missionary, because being a missionary is so fun!
We had a couple of cool experiences this week that I would like to share. First of all, we found an old teaching record in the back of our area book. We weren't sure who the person was, but it said that Augustina had been baptized a few years ago. We'd never seen her at church, so we decided to go stop by her house to see if she still lived there. We were so glad that we did. Augustina is 83 years old, she is from Cuba, she lives alone, and is really struggling with some health challenges that make it hard to come to church. She has not been visited in a very long time, and so we were so glad that we found her record. She was lonely, and needed someone to talk to. It was awesome to see how Heavenly Father knew that she needed a visit, and so he helped us to find her.
Another experience we had this week was on Sunday. It was Stake Conference, and before the meeting started we had gone to knock on our investigator, Carla's door. She didn't answer, and she didn't answer our phone calls either. We were sad that she wouldn't be able to make it. However, Charo came to church again. Charo is still trying to stop smoking, but she backtracked this week. We were both feeling very unsure of what to do, if we should keep working with her, or if she needs more time. The whole meeting I was praying that Heavenly Father would guide us and help us know what we needed to do. After the meeting was over, an awesome couple from our ward came over and started talking to Charo. They were baptized 3 years ago, so they know what it is like to be investigating the church. They kept asking Charo, "when are you going to get baptized?" Charo was still not accepting a baptismal date, she feels like she has not gained a testimony yet. I was just praying and thinking "Heavenly Father, please help us know what to say to help Charo. Help us to know if we should keep working with her. We love her, and we don't want to drop her, but if it isn't her time please help us to know that." Eventually that member couple left, and it was just us and Charo. We were talking to her a little bit more about baptism and everything, and then I had the strongest impression come into my mind. The words "if it was her time, she would have already received her answer." Those words were so clear, and I immediately felt the Spirit confirming them. We told Charo that we could not keep working with her, but that of course she is still invited to church and everything. She promised to keep praying, reading from the Book of Mormon, and coming to church. After such a stressful morning of not knowing how to help her, we walked out of the chapel feeling a lot of peace. Charo will get baptized someday, but it isn't her time right now.
None of our other investigators came to church, so it is time to start over again! This week we will be looking for new people to teach.
Something that I read in the Book of Mormon this morning that I want to share is in Alma 25, the very last verse. "And now behold, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and Himni, and their brethren did rejoice exceedingly, for the success which they had had among the Lamanites, seeing that the Lord had granted unto them according to their prayers, and that he had also verified his word unto them in every particular." I love how it says that these faithful missionaries could see that the Lord had fulfilled ALL of the promises He had made to them. I have also studied a little bit about hope this week. In PMG it says that "hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you." It all fits together so nicely! We can move forward, and have peace in knowing that the Lord will always fulfill His promises to us, but in His own timing. Even then, we can still have the assurance that "all things will work together for our good."
I love you all!! Have a wonderful week!
Hermana Monson
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