3/24/14

My companion and I had a good week. I can´t believe it has been
another week in fact! We are getting along well after a few struggles
at the beginning of the week. We spent some real quality time picking
the lice out of each other´s hair and talking and we have felt a lot
better since....odd bonding time, eh? My companion has been more and
more willing to do contacts. I have been slacking a little the last
few days, just getting nervous about not contacting in the most
quality way I can I guess, but as a whole we have been doing a lot
better. My companion did tell me today though that everything has been
making her sad the last few weeks. She said that she doesn´t know why
but things are just making her sad. I am trying to be helpful,
serviceable and not too burdensome but still wish I could do more to
help. I am going to try to be more positive about every situation too
and hope that that will help her out a little bit.
I can tell that things are going to get really cold really fast.
Weatherman says this week is going to be hot again but this last week
got chilly with a ton of wind! my companion and I were already pulling
out the full leggings and going out to walk the streets in pouring
rain. Everynight we just stand in front of our little heater and eat
it up. A few times this week I feel like its even felt like Christmas
during a few lessons. When I am inside with people I love talking,
about the gospel and feeling the spirit, and its cold outside its just
happy and Christmasy :) Not quite like Christmas for reals or being
with the fam, but good :). I have a feeling though that it is going to
start getting really hard to leave the apartment in the morning when
it is freezing like that outside. Here´s to prayer!
This last week my companion and I had some awesome lessons! We felt
the Spirit so strong with a few investigators-- including one named
Marina and another named Cecilia. We invited Marina to be baptized
again (she has been invited before) and she still isn´t sure that she
is ready but we asked her to pray about it. I told her how meaningful
prayer is to me including how back in institute in college we read
Enos 1:4 one day which says ¨-- 4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled
down before my Maker,and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and
supplication for mineown soul; and all the day long did I cry unto
him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that
it reached the heavens-- and that I realized that in prayer I wasn´t
doing my part. When asking a question I would wait for the Heavens to
reach down to me, I didn´t do as Enos did to put in my part and reach
up into the Heavens but that as I started to do so, I started to
recognize all kinds of answers that my Heavenly Father sent me. As I
told her about this experience, the words just came and the Spirit
just worked through me. Afterwards my companion told me that she
started praying in the lesson that I would have the gift of tongues
and be able to explain what I wanted to and then I just took off. Oh,
the power of prayer :). We also invited Cecilia to be baptized. She
said yes and we plan to put a fecha with her soon! We also had a young
woman named Gladys come to church with us. It is the first time in my
mission that an investigator/future investigator has actually come to
church with us and I am so excited! We have a cita with her this week
and she is so great! She also came on a week where the bishopric had
asked me to speak and I felt the Spirit work through me again as I
stood at the pulpit and shared how the Savior has helped me overcome
all of the difficulties I have faced in my mission. I love it! I would
have to say that those are the miracles we have seen this week, the
Spirit working through us :) and I feel really blessed that the Spirit
can work through me. Not only that but we seem to have met a lot of
families this week through contacting who seem prepared to accept the
gospel--good thing that is one of the mission goals we pray for!

I included some old pictures from my companion´s camera because I
haven´t taken any new ones this week-- I can´t remember if I have sent
these before or not...they are old ones of my companion and I with
Estefy, one of the members who recently left for home but had lived
here for the summer entirely with her family who usually live
separate.