Week 19: Heavenly Father loves us!

 Hello Friends and Family!

I made it to Santa Fe Springs and I love this area.  It feels like home :)  There are some pine-like trees every once and a while and we can see some mountains. haha!  We woke up to having snow on the tip tops of the mountains and it is still a freezing 60 degrees! I just think about how if it were 60 degrees at home we would all be in shorts and a t shirt but here I have a scarf and my jacket and I am still freezing cold!!  My new companion is Sister Otte and she is from Texas! She is soo funny and we have so much fun together.  We both just laugh all of the time so this is going to be such a fun transfer! She has been out almost 10 months! Our area is HUGE because we cover YSA and the Santa Fe Springs ward.  At times it is overwhelming because there are so many people that we should be seeing but so little time as well!

We have seen some great miracles this week! it is super awesome to see an area grow and see more and more people prepared for this gospel!  We went to go and see one of our baptismal dates, Margarita, and teach her the Restoration. She was a little distracted with her grandson at first but was still understanding everything that was going on. When we got to the First Vision she just stopped and listened and after she said that she felt so good and could feel the spirit but directly after that she said that she had pain in her heart. Sister Otte and I were both so confused about what happened because we had never had that reaction before. We talked about it a little and she said that it was an actual physical pain in heart. We decided that we would pray and we prayed that at that exact moment she would feel peace and calm in her heart and know that the things we are teaching her are true. At the end of the prayer she said that the pain had left and she knew that she wanted to be baptized. It was such an amazing moment.  We have been talking about how we are representatives of Jesus Christ and how when we promise blessings to our investigators it is really a promise from Christ.  We have the opportunity to make those promises in His name. That is the power and authority of our calling. 

We also have this awesome family who Sister Otte and I have such high goals for and are so excited to see their changes. They are a part member family. Both of the parents and the 3 oldest kids are baptized but are very less active.  We basically treat them as investigators because they don't really remember or know anything about the church.  They want to change and start coming to church which is so amazing.  The best part is the kids want to change the most and are the most willing to make the efforts to change.  There is a 20 year old named Eddie and we work with him at YSA and he is making such great progress.  He still struggles with reading the scriptures and saying his prayers everyday but he can see the difference on days when he does read which is the best part.  But the rest of the family is 15, 12, 8, 4, and a newborn.  The 8 year old is named Illusion and she is so much fun.  She says the funniest things every time we come over and she loves reading the Book of Mormon.  She tells us all the time that she "wants to be Mormon sooo bad" so we just keep telling her that we are working on it!!  She is the one that is motivating her parents to keep making changes.  She wants to go to church every week and the parents can see the difference in their family when they go and don't go.  I love seeing an 8 year old make such a huge difference in her family and setting an amazing example.  I love this family so much.  Every time we go over to their house I feel at home and so welcome and that is something that I have needed!

Being on a mission is definitely one of the hardest things that I have done.  I am constantly exhausted physically, mentally and spiritually but I have learned many things already.  I have learned that Heavenly Father is constantly aware of all of our needs. Every single one of His children.  He knows what we need and He wants us to be happy.  No matter how alone we feel, or frustrated, or happy He is constantly by our side smiling down on us and giving us little blessings showing us of His love.  I love this gospel and I love my Heavenly Father!

“I know the Lord lives. I know that He loves us. I know that apart from Him no one can succeed, but as a partner with Him no one can fail.

“I know that God can make a lot more out of our lives than we can.

“May we all have the moral courage from this moment forward to more fully strive each day to think on Christ, learn of Him, walk in His steps, and do what He would have us do.”

~President Ezra Taft Benson

Have a great week!!

Love,

Hermana McMinn