Another Great Week in the Work of the Lord

August 26. 2013

Hello Everybody!

As always, it was a great week in the work of the Lord. It was kind of a weird week, so we felt bad for our new companion who jumped right into the craziness of it all.

Well, Esperanza IS married! It turned out amazing!! We were expecting it to be a very simple and kind of lame wedding at the church. BUT the RS president took some initiative and made an excuse to have a Hispanic fiesta. She had the Elder's Quorum help decorate the gym. She had these beautiful decorations and a beautiful cake. She called members of the RS to come and bring food. There were plenty of all sorts of delicious, Hispanic food. I was in heaven. It was more than perfect. Me and Hermana Simpson were almost in tears from our gratitude.

A ton of Esperanza's family came to the wedding and loved it. They were all so grateful for us and the members. There was a ton of fellowshipping going on. There are a few family members in her family that are iffy about the missionaries, but after the wedding, we have a ton of potential in visiting them. Her now husband, Jose, was super grateful too. He has a hard time taking help, but he was SO HAPPY at the wedding. We know that they are going to end up getting sealed in the temple. It's just a matter of faith and time.

The Baptism went well too! It was a 5 person baptism! Our three kids got baptized, plus another English investigator and an 8 year old boy. It was very weird to be a back in an English ward. They are SO different from the Spanish program. They had everything planned and set up. It was wonderful though. The Dad of Kayo, was there and he is not a member and he really felt the spirit. My talk on the Holy Ghost went well (mostly because it was in English :) )

We had a musical fireside last night. I was beautiful and VERY spiritual. I sang in the missionary choir. We sang a few songs together and had a few quartets and solos. I sang in a quartet with other sisters in a song called "my kindness shall not depart from thee" It is SO beautiful. It's about the Lord talking to Joseph Smith in Liberty jail.

We also saw a miracle last night. A sister was supposed to do a solo that was like the best part of the program. But she has vocal nodes, meaning she isn't supposed to be able to sing. She got a blessing and sang the song beautifully. She had almost everybody, including me, in tears.

Our companionship is doing well! It's still a little weird adjusting to having 3 of us and two trainers but it's going well. We still need a bed for Hermana Wilde, so she is crashing on the couch for now. We are really excited for this transfer though, it feels like it's going to be a good one!

 Our one investigator, Heidy, is doing better too! She ACTUALLY came to church yesterday and liked it! She has been complaining that she doesn’t want to come because its "sooooo boring." She knows the church is true and really wants to get baptized; it has just been like pulling teeth getting her to read and go to church. She's extremely lazy (Apparently it’s "really hard" to turn the pages of a book). But we know she will get there. We are mostly trying to get her to take her stupid lip piercing out.......

So the food is amazing. Some homes give better food than others, but I am loving the variety of Hispanic food. EXCEPT the other day, we were teaching a girl that lives in the basement of members. The member gave us this drink. I thought it was coke with ice in it. NO. IT WASN'T. It was this horrible purple slime that had the consistently of really really thick cough syrup. And what I thought was ice? Nope. It was whole grapes and pineapple. It was atrocious. But of course, I forced the whole thing down my throat.

I love being here. I am seeing trials, but more joy from this great work. Sometimes I wonder, "Okay, why do I have this gospel? Out of all the people in the world, why was I blessed with the truth" and then I realize that my calling as a missionary is why I have the truth. I had the calling before the world was to have the truth and be one to share it with others. I know that this church is true and that this gospel is for every one of Heavenly father's children.

I love you all so much!

Hermana Spencer

1. Me, Hna Simpson, Esperanza, Jose, Baby Ryan, and Hna Wilde at the wedding! (I promise they were happy, they just refuse to smile in pictures)

2. Me, Kayo, Natasha, Pablo and Hna Simpson at the baptism

3. Hna Simpson, Esperanza and me