I hope you all had an amazing week. Wow, It's March! In my head I know that time is always the same, but it feels like it is moving so fast. I feel like I'm in the last leg of a marathon, and just sprinting my way to the end. It makes my head spin when I think about it too much. :)
We're all good here on the California end! We have been having a ton of fun doing the Lord's work. It's a little funny, because sometimes we'll look at the day we have planned, then realize that we don't have any time for meals, because we have so many appointments.... So we'll put dinner as a backup in case someone's lesson falls through. It is a great blessing though.
This week was wonderful. Last Sunday, a less-active member in our ward brought a friend to church. We introduced ourselves, and asked if she would be interested at all in having us come by. She said yes! So we set up an appointment for Tuesday. On Tuesday we went, and we taught the first half of the Restoration. It was an amazing lesson. The Spirit was so strong. It was almost palpable. Socorro (the investigator) is so prepared for the gospel. Every time we brought up a new point, it seemed to just click in her brain that it was true. She agreed with everything we had to say. She even bore her testimony to us about prayer. It was amazing. At the end of the lesson, I invited her to be baptized, and she said that she has been wanting to be baptized in a church, and a lot of her friends had been inviting her, but she hadn't gone to any, until she decided to come to ours. She talked about how to her, it wasn't a coincidence that we were there. So wonderful. We asked if she would like to be baptized on March 24th, or March 31st, and she chose the 24th!!! Oh my goodness, I wish I could describe how amazing it was to see her faith. She is so willing. We set up a return appointment, and went over the next day to finish the Restoration. We taught, and she talked about how she had been feeling that her baptismal date was really soon, but then she told us that if it was God's will, then it was time. OH MY GOODNESS!!! When does that happen? She's so cool! So we are working with her to be baptized on March 24th. :) She couldn't come to church yesterday, because she had to go to Mexico, but we will be seeing her this next week, and have been in contact. I'm so excited for her. :)
We had a super funny moment in the middle of our first lesson with Socorro. The woman who owned the house started cooking jalepenos in the kitchen right next to where we were. About 3 minutes later, we all randomly start coughing because of the spice that is being pulled into our lungs... We all died for a good five minutes, opened all the windows and doors, and just tried to breathe. Then it subsided slightly, and we were able to bring the Spirit back. But it was so funny.
We had an amazing zone conference on Wednesday. We talked all about the basics of the Gospel, and what we are teaching. So we are now putting a huge focus on helping our investigators do the simple things like reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and going to church. It's been really neat to just start again with the little things that make up the big things. Like it says in Alma, "6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." It's by doing the little things that we bring about the great things. How do we gain a testimony? It's not like a huge tree will randomly fall from the sky, and plant itself in your heart. It's piece by piece, step by step. If we want a big testimony, we have to first do the little things to plant and nourish it.
I had the opportunity to sing again in the temple music devotional last night. Kevin and Shelley came! It was so wonderful to see them again. I sang a song called, "I Heard Him Come", and it was a wonderful experience. I love to sing, and I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have to do so. I had Hermana Laboriel translate part of it for me, so I sang a verse and a chorus in Spanish, which was a lot of fun. :) I'll try to include a recording of it.
Haha, I've been noticing recently that the more I learn Spanish, the worse my English gets. I probably won't be able to communicate in either language by the time I go home... ;) Haha, it's been a lot of fun. I love being in a trio. My companions are way too much fun. I absolutely love being with them. We have definitely felt a lot of joy the past few weeks.
I love being here, I love serving the Lord. I am doing absolutely everything I can to give the Lord everything I am. I'm so happy that I have this time to serve the Lord, and I will be very sad when this time comes to a close. But that day is not today, so I'm not going to worry about it too much. It's so interesting to me, because when I came on my mission, I never anticipated feeling the way I do now. I feel like my heart breaks a little more with everyday that passes. I love these people, and all of the people I have served so much, with all of my heart. Every few hours or so I just think about how much I don't want to leave. Then I get back to work and choose not to worry about it, because I will cherish every moment I have to wear the Lord's name on my heart.
I love you all so much. Thank you for all that you do. :) If you want to send a last letter before I go home, I would love to get one. I hope you all have a spectacular week, and that the Lord will watch over and bless you. I love you!
Much love, Hermana Wood :)
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