WEEK OF MIRACLES!

You could title all my weekly emails the "Week of miracles" I swear! haha

But first off,  I had to go to Malaga in order to do all my residency things (I don´t really know what was going on...I´m so grateful for the church and all that they do for us without us even realizing it! I just had to follow people around for a day and wa-lah! everything was done for me.) So me and my group from the MTC got the chance to reunite at the Mission Home!! I can´t even express how perfect timing that was. I got to see my first companion and we were able to swap stories and comfort and encourage each other and it was just so fun! Preidente Deere and his wife even took us out to eat one night and afterwards we were able to have a little training session. They´re both so awesome! I love them.

I left Wednesday, spent the night and then had to return the next night, and let me tell you--the traveling part was crazy enough! Listen to this: I took a bus to Sevilla, caught a cab to the train station, took a train to Malaga, then rode the metro to Fuengirola (where the President lives), and then I met up with all the other missionaries and we rode in a van to the Presidents house! And the same thing back to Huelva! haha it was so crazy, I´m pretty proud of myself that i didnt get lost! On the way back though on the train, another Elder and i were able to travel together and we struck up a conversation with 2 other couples sitting next to us. Haha it was pretty weird teaching with an Elder but the Spirit can work through anything right? ;) In the end, nothing profound happened but we were able to leave them with pass along cards and I gave one of the women a quick note that I had been prompted to write. Afterwards, the Elder and I were talking and we both expressed how even though we weren´t able to give them a Book of Mormon or teach any gospel principles, we felt we had done enough. Maybe it wasn´t their time and maybe these people need more short, signifcant encounters with the church before they even consider listening to the missionaries or even feel interested. We shared what we felt they needed and parted with (I hope) a good impression made. And this knowledge is so comforting to me! Sometimes I feel like we can get super stressed about sharing the gospel and not doing enough--i know i do sometimes! It was hard at first to not feel giulty for not speaking to every person I saw in the street about the gospel haha but I think its important that we remember that Heavenly Father is always preparing His children to hear the gospel. And we don´t have to feel bad if we think nothing came out of our efforts. Something always does. And maybe it was just another step for them being prepared to recieve the gospel. 

 But anyway, miracle time! So we´ve been trying to meet with a teenager, Mercedes for a month now but she was either always busy or we were always busy. But we were able to meet with her this week! We went to her house prepared to share a quick message and get to know her. And when it was time to say the prayer, she asked me if I would pray. I felt prompted to ask if there was anyone that I could pray for, and she  said yes, can you please pray for my friend, Salud? So I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to bless her and ended the prayer without thinking much of it. But then, BUT THEN (haha I´m so happy typing this) not even 5 minutes later guess who knocks on the door! Salud! And thats not even the best part! Mercedes invites her in and then introduces us as the missionaries of the TRUE church and then proceeds to teach Salud how to pray!! And at the end, mercedes even offered the prayer herself and invited her friend to church! So cool! We left the house a little dazed at what had happened and my comp turned to me and asked, "Do you understand what happened?!" She was so excited and I was a little confused at first because I didn´t fully realize what a miracle that was until she explained that we had prayed and instantly, her friend just happened to show up and now we have the opportunity to teach Salud and strengthen Mercedes´s activity in the church! I´m so grateful Hra. Robayo recognized how special that experience was. She´s amazing and she´s teaches me so much. 

Alright, miracle numero dos! We had a little time before a dinner appointment so we decided to stop by a member´s house. We go there and began teaching about the Atonement when two of her adult daughters and three of her grandchildren came in. At first we were a little flustered because we had to restart the lesson over like 5 times as different people decided to join the discussion haha but then Hra. Robayo was inspired to stop and give one of the grandchildren a Book of Mormon and through that, we just happened to find out that only one out of the 5 had been baptized! We thought only one wasnt! And not only that, they were so excited about the thought of being baptized and the little girls were even talking about how they could bring their new Books of Mormon to school to read together during lunch!! WHAT. Hra. Robayo and I were just sitting there dazed like, what just happened?!?! hahaha! It just proves to me, like I said before, how Heavenly Father is always preparing people for us and putting them in our path! And it was humbling to me how Hna. Robayo and I didnt really even doing anything, we were just trying to do what we could and it was the Spirit that is worked through their hearts! So yay! We´re praying for at least 3 more new bautismal dates in the next week!

So guess what? I completed my first transfer!! Thankfully, Hna. Robayo is staying with me!! We´re saying goodbye though to Elder Puelles which is really sad for this area. He´s been here for 6 months and everyone loves him! He´s helped me so much too. Our district leader isn´t in our ward, so we joke that Elder Puelles is my "dad". (Hna. Robayo is my mom because she´s my trainer). He and his comp, Elder Fisher, have been so nice and have helped me transition better into the mission life. And they´ve done SO many favors for Hra. Robayo and I. We owe them a lot! I´ll try to send a picture of our district later.

Anyway, love you lots!! And FELCIDADES TO MCKENNA DAWN YOUNG AND HER MISSION CALL TO FRANKFURT GERMANY! I´m so excited for her!!! AHHHH I love her so much! 

Have a great week!!!

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!

Hermana Morrow