Jan 6

This week was awesome. First off, we had 9 investigators come to church which for me is unheard of and a huge miracle. I felt so glad to be able to see all those people right where they needed to be. Equally awesome was that we saw 4 less active members that we´ve been working with come to church. I love seeing them come becuase I know some of the challenges that they are going through and I love being able to see them turn to the gospel for help. We are teaching an investigator named Maria that I just realized I wrote about last week. She´s the one where her husband died super recently. It has been great to see her feel some of the peace that comes from the gospel. She still hasn´t accepted a baptismal date but she has come a few times to church and I´m sure that the Spirit will keep working with her until she does.

Eva Ruiz is all set for her baptism this Sunday. She is the owner of a pizza store and sometimes when we visit her we have to go to the business and she gives us a free pizza. She told us once that she feels horrible because of the Sabbath Day. She makes the most money on that day and she can come to church each week but she can´t close her store Sundays. We talked to the mission president and he said it was all okay. But it was cool to see that she herself wanted to find out how she can best keep that commandment. The relief society president said that she participates well in the ward classes and that she is rock solid. But still please pray for her.

I was able to see a lot of hte tender mercies of the Lord thjis week. First off, one night we were visiting a member in their house to share a message. The area presidency tells us that we naad to visit the members very often to share a message and leave come commitment. Well anyways after the lesson the member just mentioned that everyone hopes that the missionaries will pass by their house and share a quick message. Just that simple phrase made me feel so happy and blessed to be able to participate in this work.

Second, we had the best turn out ever I think as a ward this week. Usually there are like 140 people, but this week there were 197. I think it might be because of the new year but either way 197 people were able to take the sacrament and renew their covenants with the Lord. I´m praying that all those people will keep coming to church and keep feeling the Spirit´s joy. It was so full in the chapel that we ran out of chairs.

My companion only has one week left but he keeps on being very diligent and hard working. I´ve been able to learn a lot from him and I´m super glad for his example. I love you all and I hope you have a great new year!