Week 11: Faith in the Lord

Be peaceful. Believe in God and in yourself. You are doing better than you think!

~Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Zone Conference

Another great week here in Gardena/Lawndale California! Much has happened and nothing as planned but that is what I have learned happens as missionaries! Make plans but know that they are going to change!

Well, Ignacio and Georgina had their baptismal interviews this last Wednesday, and at first they didn’t show up..we waited for an hour and they didn't come!  WE were so worried, but they are so solid and so I knew that it had to be for a good reason.  So we went to their house and Georgina looked really sad and Ignacio was sleeping.  She was like "hermana...look...I went through and did our bills and all of our finances...and we don't have enough money free at the end of the month to pay our full tithing." Then she proceeded and showed me and explained all of her calculations and bills and was like "look hermana...this is all we have free at the end of the month and its not the full tithing..so you see we couldn't come to the interview because we can't be baptized and promise God that we are going to pay tithing and then not pay the full amount...that would be mocking God....and if I put this money in an envelope each month and give to the bishop and tell him that it is my tithing, he may not know that it is not the full ten percent, but God would know!"

They are so faithful, and they really want to follow God and his commandments, and they will be such faithful members!

And so then, we had a lesson about Faith and we promised them blessings and discussed that if we put our faith in the lord and keep the lord's commandments, then we will always receive the blessings and the Lord will watch out for us.  We also promised them that if they paid their tithing first that they would always have enough for their needs. Then we told them that the elders were going to be at the church again at 7, and that they could give them an interview since they missed their earlier appointment, and then I asked her how she felt and Georgina was like "bien hermana. seguimos en pie. tengo fe" which basically translates (good sister.  we are still on. I have faith)  It was SO POWERFUL AND THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG!!!!! And then they went and passed their baptismal interviews! They are such amazing examples to me.  After that lesson, I was like, man...I NEED TO HAVE MORE FAITH!!!! Faith is like a muscle.  we constantly have to be exercising it so that it can be stronger or else we will lose the muscle!

AND THEN...they were supposed to get married on Friday.  So Ignacio left work early on Friday and they went to the courthouse, and they were able to get everything done, and were in the system, but when it came to actually getting the license in paper form...they were too late. :( and the man at the counter was like "oh you barely missed it by a few minutes" so the bishop tried to pull some strings, and THE MAN AT THE COUNTER WOULD NOT BUDGE! (meanwhile we and about 15 other people are waiting at the church to see their wedding) and then the man at the counter was like...."you can go to the norwalk courthouse.." so they hurried and drove to the norwalk courthouse, and right when they got there, everyone was walking out because it had just closed. (darn you satan!)

They are getting married right after I finish emailing today and we are sooo excited for that too! And the plan is that they are going to get baptized this next Sunday! They are so ready and can already see the blessings of this gospel in their life.

If we earnestly appeal to God, he takes us as we are and makes us more than we ever imagined.

~Sister Neill F. Marriott

Sorry for the short email but these computers are not the best. I had a better email written and then it deleted it all so there is that! haha :)I will work on writing a better email next week I promise!

I hope you all have a great week and don't forget to pray :)

Love, Hermana McMinn