Email 46 - "Don't worry, be happy; God will bless you!"

 That´s me in paradise!

 All the Sisters at the conference :)

After a group shot at the Conference, I snapped one shot, and then it turned into what you see in the following photos, haha, just everyone snapping pics in every direction. Just another reminder that missionaries are a bunch of teenagers, haha. I got some pretty fun shots :)

 In Tenerife, we were planning on staying with the Sisters there... and then President called and said he´d gotten us all hotel rooms! Those two days felt much more like a vacation than they were probably intended to, haha...

Eating at the Roca´s (our recently released ward mission leader- solid family), and, to be honest, I sometimes think that 18 (editor:  meaning, I think, 18-years-old for young men to begin serving missions) was maybe a little too early... haha

A----a :)

We were drawing out the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and she put on the bottom, "June 21st, YES"

"Hello my family! Don´t worry, be happy, God will bless you!"

(That´s from the homeless guy who, from what the members say, is going on three years sitting near the chapel greeting members as they come to church.)

This was a week of miracles :)

Remember Y-----a? We showed up to their house the other day, and she was all smiles. After a few minutes, she finally burst out and told us that her boyfriend had proposed to her! They´re getting married!!! 

As we sat down with 8-yr-old A----a and taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we set a baptismal date and she was thrilled to accept it and then run tell her mom.

Now, I´ve felt the Spirit when people have accepted baptismal dates before, but I´ve never felt it like I did with A----a. There were angels in the room, folks! A----a´s all set to be baptized on the 13th of this month, and the whole family (including Y-----a´s fiancé) are stoked to attend.

I haven´t told you about C------e and P---a, right? They´re the 13-yr-old and 15-yr-old little sisters of a YSA recent convert, J---é, who´s very, very protective of his little sisters. He used to tell us that we couldn´t set a baptismal date with them, because he felt like they weren´t ready. We´ve seen big changes with this family this week :)

His 18-yr-old brother, O---r, has made some big mistakes in his life. He was recently kicked out of school, has tattoos and gauges in his ears- but he´s had all of the lessons from the Elders (2 years ago), and we were surprised to find that he was willing to let us in the other day when his sisters weren´t home.

As we taught about the Savior, O---r would smirk and kind of laugh as we explained things, but anytime we asked him a direct question, it was amazing how clear it was how much he believes in what we're teaching, and how badly he wants it to be a part of his life. 

I´ve been reading in Doctrine and Covenants lately, and this verse made me think of him:

"And again, verily I say unto you, there was joy in heaven when [O---r] bowed to my scepter, and separated himself from the crafts of men." (D&C 106:6)

Long story short- he and his two sisters have baptismal dates for the 21st of this month! :)

F----o has been doing well, but we were confused when he didn´t show up for church this week. Technically, he could still be baptized on the 7th, but he´s suddenly not answering the phone. It´s only been a couple of days since we´ve seen him, but we´re still a little nervous. Prayers would be much appreciated :)

Elder Beuden and Elder Shumway had an incredible baptism this week- probably the most powerful service I´ve ever been to. A---n, their investigator, has accepted the Gospel and sacrificed his past life without a second thought. On the day of his confirmation, he was given the Aaronic Priesthood. During his baptism, "the power of Godliness" was most definitely manifest, as it has been each time we take a step closer, with our investigators, to the waters of baptism.

Oh, and that zone conference that we had in Tenerife was amazing. I loved being with the missionaries from all of the islands, I loved getting to see President Jackson (it´ll be a few months before I get to again. ´Nothing like when I was in Madrid!). I didn´t love the boat trip back to Las Palmas (we all got super sick, haha), but it was a cool couple of days.

During the conference, my comps and I sang a three-part harmony for "Nearer My God to Thee"... and I think I´m ready to not always be given musical number assignments, haha. It comes with being an Hermana, I guess. We pulled it off okay, though :)

Anyway, the whole conference was very focused on the Savior- how He taught, what His role is. With Him, Heavenly Father´s Plan of Salvation is perfect. Without Him, it´s worthless.

As I´ve seen people making major changes this week, and as I´ve been working on some of the major changes I need to make, the Savior is becoming increasingly more important to me. I know without a doubt that my mission is worthless without Him, but worth every second with Him. 

I know He lives, and I know He´s trying to help me humble myself to become a better missionary. :) ´Definitely a work-in-progress!!

Anyway, we´re happy and our trio´s doing great. I hope you all have an awesome week :D As a district, we´re planning an activity where we´ll basically take everyone through the Plan of Salvation, and we´re going to have a family dressed in white at the end, talking about eternal families in the Celestial Kingdom. Like I said last week, that eternal perspective is what keeps our investigators going, and it´s what makes me tolerate being away from you all!

Love you tons!

-HCL :)