time is passing so quickly!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhh. i feel like just yesterday i was writing you about going to the temple and now another week has passed!
this week was so amazing. there are weeks on the mission where we are just going through the motions and there are weeks (like this week) where you really feel like you are making a difference in peoples lives. where you can feel the spirit in every lesson and you cant help but smile all the time. those weeks make this all worth it. we didn't have anyone accept a baptismal date and we didn't really have very many investigators at church but i was just filled with the spirit. i'll tell you about a few of the experiences we had this week....
yesterday we had lunch with a family that we have never been with before in the ward. they just moved into our ward and signed up to give us lunch. so we started talking to them and they told us about some really hard things that they have gone through in their life (he was into drugs, she got pregnant at 18, she grew up in the church and her family are all really active members so when she got pregnant they basically disowned her) and they were basically at the lowest point in their lives. but they have decided to make things right and are working toward being sealed as a family in the temple. the spirit was SO STRONG in the lunch. we testified of the power of repentance and they testified of the power of prayer and tithing. J said that he got baptized 3 years ago because he knew its what D wanted him to do and he didn't really even have a testimony. He was 19 so the bishop gave him the papers to fill out to go on a mission and he said that the mouse on his computer wasn't working so he used the packet of mission papers as a mouse pad haha. But D started to go back to church and say her prayers every night and she would hide money to pay tithing and one sunday she got up and got ready for church with their little boy and they went to church. and J said that something in him just clicked and he said what am i doing here alone. i should be with my family at church. so that's when they started doing the things as a family and he stopped drinking and they talked with the bishop and set goals and things like that. and they pay their tithing every single month! he told us that they have received not only blessings but miracles from paying tithing. as we were leaving we asked them if they would want to accompany us in a lesson that we were going to teach that night with 2 investigators who don't want to get married and they happily said yes. so we met up with them later that night and they were so excited to help us and to share their testimonies. the lesson turned out so great and the spirit was so strong. my companion and i left and could not stop smiling. it was probably one of the best days of my entire mission.
sorry that was a long story and i have so much more i could say but honestly it was so great. these last few months have really strengthened and confirmed my testimony of the power of repentance. when we are living in sin we cannot be happy. but repentance frees us. i have seen it first hand in so many families here in peru and i know its true!!! there is always hope. we just have to start and keep moving forward.
also we had the chance to give service 2 times this week! the first time we went to fix some holes in the walls of a house and then the second time we went to paint the house. i have made some really good friends in the zone so its always fun to get to spend time with them and joke around and give service all at the same time haha.
I LOVE YOU!! talk to you next week!
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