It's Spring!

Hola Familia!

 What a week it has been. Time just is flying by.

Virginia's finally warming up! We had a super long winter, and a lot of snow. But I am LOVING the springtime. All of the trees are blossoming and there are daffodils on the side of all the roads. I love it!  It just makes us want to go out and share the gospel! Although, it is
surprisingly hot. It kind of went straight from winter cold to summer heat. That makes us nervous for this summer.

We saw a ton of miracles this week. I think the biggest miracle this week was Tara. We have been working with her for a long time, but it's been rough with her family situation. She's been a little iffy about the church in the past because she didn't want to cause problems with
her dad.

Well we went to go see her this week and no woman was home, so we couldn't go inside. We sat on the porch outside and chatted with her. She was so excited to see us! She had, had a dream the night before. She was trying to turn this list switch on, but it wouldn't turn on.
She decided to pray and ask Heavenly Father to help her turn it on. Instantly, when she tried again, the light came on. She said that she had this feeling come over her that she has never felt before, and she knew that her Heavenly Father was there, and this was the right church
and path.

This week Tara has expressed her heartache with some family problems, which was a little sad for us because Tara is never not smiling. But she began to cry when she talked about the gospel. She said that there was always something missing. She didn't know what, but there was
something she needed. And as she has made these steps in the gospel, she feels complete. And she feels like she has a relationship with her Father in heaven. :)

My testimony grew this week. I think I have always known the gospel is true. I always knew that it was right, but when I see somebody gain a testimony, and come to know that it is true, I see a change I them, a light that just gets brighter. And that just reassures me of the truthfulness of my message, as a missionary.

Noel is progressing well, too! He is kind of still a punk and questions just about everything we say but there is a change in him too. He knows it's true. Our lessons are getting better and better with him. I love working with youth, because I feel like I can connect with them. Noel is preparing for baptism and is understanding the importance of it more and more. We have fun lessons with him.

Our district is really trying to step up the game. It's incredible to see the ward, especially the leaders pushing us, and encouraging us! They really want to see baptisms and success, so they are doing all they can to see the work hasten. Yesterday, bishop went around church
and basically chastened the leaders for not going out with the missionaries when they can. We get a lot of youth to come out with us, but adults often are too busy. It makes us want to work harder!

I got this terrible cold (again! I feel like I'm always sick....) at the beginning of this week and I still have it. It was super hard at the beginning because I'd have to take naps in the afternoon in order to have a bit of juice left to be a missionary. Hermana Sorensen got a ton of paperwork done this week while I napped. But I learned something this week about sacrifice. It was super hard, but I forced myself to get up and work during the most important hours of the day.
And although I was sick, uncomfortable, miserable, and I had an excuse to stay in, I noticed that when I went out, we were blessed. We had the BEST lessons when I was working although sick. I know The Lord blesses us when we forget about ourselves and get to work.

Our mission had a theme for each quarter as we set goals for our areas. This first quarter was "step out of be boat" meaning, we can walk on water but we have to take the first step out of the boat! We just started our new quarter "step onto the mount" meaning the mount that Abraham went obediently to sacrifice his son Isaac. It is so hard to sacrifice, that is what I am learning. Abraham had a hard time giving his only son, but he wanted to show God he loved him more. So as a mission we are asking, "What are we willing to sacrifice?" Sometimes, it's little. But, when we give up something we love, and put it in hands of The Lord, he will provide. In the end, Abraham was provided with a ram as sacrifice, but he knew all along that The Lord would provide. His faith just needed to be tested.

Today we are going to Washington, D.C. With Tara and her cousin Jocelyn. We are going to the Zoo and super excited. DC is covered in the cherry blossoms right now and we don't want to miss it. Spring break started today, so everything is going to be super busy. But we are happy everybody will be home this week to teach :)

I can’t believe how fast time is flying. It made me think of the conference talk last week. Just like Olympians only have 4 minutes as their moment to shine, after much performance, our life is so short in the perspective of eternity! I only have less than 7 months of my mission. It is flying by. It just makes me think of what can happen in a short amount of time, what I can do. What differences I can make.

I love you all! Thank you for the love and support. I love hearing from you, it's so motivating :)

Con amor,

Hermana Spencer