November 4, 2013

Hola Familia,

Hope You all had a fantastic week and a good Halloween!

Our Halloween was fun. That morning we had a meeting, and at 5pm our whole zone got to get together and watch movies! We got to watch Monsters University and Monsters Inc. It was really fun to hang out with the other missionaries, eat popcorn and treats!

We had an interesting week this week. Lots of work. We sometimes lose contact with Esperanza. She now has a car so she leaves a lot, and the only way we can go see her is if she unlocks the gate to her door, and she rarely answers the phone. Needless to say, we have a hard time trying to visit her and Jose. This week, she calls us hysterical. I guess she and Jose were having some marital problems and she was very upset. We rushed over to see her and we had NO idea what we were going to say. (I'm not very experienced with the whole marriage thing yet). We were able to help her and calm her down. We left her with a prayer and invited her to ask Heavenly Father to give her the right words to say to Jose. Later that night we went over to follow-up and the elders came to give her a blessing. She mentioned that she really did feel Heavenly Father helping and was with her in her conversation with him. It was a very touching experience.

On Halloween we also had a very touching experience. One of the Elders in our district got a call from President Riggs. He called me, Hermana Argueta and his companion, Elder Creager into another room. Apparently, Elder Creager's aunt had an unexpected bad asthma attack and didn't make it. It was a very touching experience and he felt like us Hermanas needed to be a part of it so that we could help.  It was a very touching experience. Apparently his aunt was a single mom, and her oldest son had been out on his mission for 6 months. It made me very grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. It also made me grateful for the spirit, the comforter. It truly helped the Elder through the situation and helped all of us to be able to help as well.

We taught our progressing investigators this week, Christian and Kayla Arias. They are getting baptized in 2 weeks. We only get to see them once a week so we are hoping that all goes smoothly. They are sweet kids, they just have an attitude issue at times. But they love the church and they love the spirit they feel at church.

We also taught our other progressing investigators Jamie and Jennifer last night. They get baptized at the end of the month. They are SO excited. Jamie is super shy, but she is excited too and LOVES going to primary (She's 10). We taught them a super scattered lesson last night because they kept asking different questions. We taught them the word of wisdom, prophets, obedience, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost and making good decisions. It was a sweet lesson though. We love those girls! (Plus, in Jennifer's prayers she always said "thanks for sending these gorgeous girls to teach us" :))

This week I thought a lot about parents. I thought a lot about how important the lessons we learn in the home are. Parents have a HUGE impact. Some parents think "My kids are too young to know what is going on" but in reality they pick up a lot more than we think. It’s no wonder our Savior invites us to become as little children. They are innocent and submissive. They contain every Christ like attribute that we lack, even if they are unaware of their actions.

The home and how parents raise their children have a huge impact on the choices they make and who they become later in life. (Thanks mom and dad!)

My favorite quote from Jhoana this week was "Others try and tell me that this church is not true. It doesn't matter what they say, I know the truth. I am going to prove it to them by the way that I raise Jordan." 

I love you all so much. Thank you for the love and support. I know that this is the work of the Lord and I am honored to be one of his servants in the vineyard. Keep being great member missionaries!

Con Amor,

Hermana Spencer