Hello!
So, talk about CRAZY weather! I hope and pray that you are all safe and sound! The only weather report I can give you for down here is rain....I LOVE IT! Except for today... Saturday afternoon our car was backed into, the driver door now smooshed in. Luckily we were inside in a lesson when it happened. The car still runs, but since it's a church-owned vehicle they are fixing it right now. So here we are, without a car, my bike tire blown out and no immediate time to fix it, and RAIN. Luckily you sent me all my warm stuff, so we've walked to email, and now are going to walk to Wal-mart for some groceries. There must be a reason why we're walking in this downpour ;)
This week has been so full of amazing things! First off, I LOVED THE PACKAGE!!! It felt like an early Christmas! The decorations are BEAUTIFUL and so so fun! Totally my style! How did you know?? Hehe the pics you sent me are HILARIOUS... plus it was also good to see everyone's smiling faces :) Thank you thank you thank you! The warm blanket, the candy, the Stephens Hot Cocoa (which they don't have here... I've been craving it!), the advent calender, the iPod (THANK YOU), and the iPod home!!
Brother and Sister M: THANK YOU!!! What wonderful friends you are :D :D I love you guys so much! Thank you for watching out for my family while I am away, and thank you for your never-ending love and support! Thank you for the wonderful gift! Such a pleasant surprise and blessing! I just love ya!
So THAT started off my week nicely! A member in one of our wards bought us a little 4 foot white tree, with some decorations (that happened to match perfectly the ones you sent me!) so I spent the night (since I was still way sick on Monday, turned out) decorating our new tree by myself and listening to Muppet Christmas Carol. Ahhhh..... some things about Christmas never change! HAHAHAHA!! ;D
So.... MIRACLES. I want to tell you about some:
W, my friend who is battling his alcohol addiction, is going to be BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY!!!!! HOLY SHMOLEY!!! I am so so excited for him to take this huge step in his life. We had an amazing lesson with him this past Saturday, and by inspiration we brought a member from different ward to come talk to him. This particular member is a convert and battled the same things, almost to a T! All Sister M and I could do was sit there and silently cry as Brother O talked to W, and told him he needed to make this decision for himself... testifying that baptism is what he needs to do.
The Spirit was incredible, and the lesson was powerful. W said "I want this. I want to change. I will do what it takes. I want to keep my baptism date for next Saturday." He said it with a burning desire, and for ONCE, I felt that he truly meant it. Every day until his baptism we are having different members go to his house to give him a Priesthood blessing. Last night the member called us after his blessing and said "Sisters, W is so ready. He told me he even wants his WIFE to take the lessons! He wants this Gospel fully in his life so bad!" ..... I can't even begin to describe how happy I am to see W progress! Dad, I used your little notes that you gave to me for him. I know it has helped him! Thank you!
I love this Gospel.
ANOTHER MIRACLE: Last Sunday a woman walked into church with her 13 year old daughter. Since we were out of commission last Sunday, the members of the ward they attended took her around. We got a few phone calls about it after the fact but get this: NO ONE took down ANY of her information for us. Not even her name. All we got was a description: woman with a down's syndrome daughter.
I was heartbroken. I prayed that she would come back next Sunday so we could meet her and start teaching her!
So Wednesday night we were late getting home; a lesson had gone over, and we were stressing to make it back by curfew. We were late. It was an obscure time for us to be arriving home. So as we pulled into our parking space at our apartment, a woman and a young girl walked right across our space. Thinking nothing of it, and only thinking of how exhausted I was from the day, the Spirit HIT me: "That's her! That is the woman you needed to find! GET OUT OF THE CAR!" ... the words in my heart rang deep.
"That's her! That's the woman from Sunday! It has to be!" I leaped from the car, and not knowing what to say, I called out "Hey! Did you go to church on Sunday?" .... it would've been an extremely awkward moment if she hadn't answered "Yes, that was me" .... Her daughter turned around with a big grin on her face; her little spirit knew. So we got her name (V) and information and were able to teach her this past week. She is amazing!
The Lord knows us, and He knows exactly where we are and what we are doing; always! He puts people in our paths and in our lives for a reason. I do not doubt that one bit. I don't believe in circumstances anymore. There was a reason and a blessing waiting for us in being late that night... the Lord knew we were trying to be obedient, and He blessed us when things were out of our control.
I've never doubted that.
I love this Gospel! I love Heavenly Father! I love our Savior Jesus Christ! I am so happy we get to celebrate this Christmas season! We were asked to work at the Mesa Temple to be "greeters" on the temple grounds at the lights. It was similar to Temple Square; simply gorgeous. I had a wonderful night talking to MANY people about the church. The Temple draws people to it. It truly is the house of the Lord.
I LOVE YOU ALL!!! And I wish you a happy week! Stay safe from all that wind!
Love,
Me
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