Steps of Faith

                                                                                                                            January 6, 2014
Hola mi familia!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you all so much for your letters! Wow, that is crazy that it is so cold there! Winter wasn´t that cold last year. I heard that New York got hit really hard with a snow/ice storm. It is crazy what is going on in the world. I am glad that you are all safe and sound and that you get a snow day! I hope you are drinking a lot of hot chocolate with marshmallows and eating soup! YUM!!! It is extremely hot here, and I actually like the cold way better than the heat. I am getting really tan and everyone thinks I am Latino!!! Yay! That's until they hear me speak. Then they know exactly where I am from. This week was amazing! Lets start with a funny moment. 

This week there was a giant bug in our house. I have no idea what it was because I have never seen in before in my life. But it is like a giant cricket spider. We tried to kill it and we thought it was dead, and then I went back to where it was to get something, and it wasn't there! I dont know where it went!!! It was huge!! Then last night we were planning and we heard a ton of screams from downstairs. The bug had returned! (I hope it was the same one and not another!) You have to hit it like 50 times to kill it, and so one of the sisters grabbed my running shoe, and killed it. Disgusting. now part of it is on the bottom of my running shoe.

So, this week Hector couldn't come to church because he had to work, but Valentina and José came to church!!! Valentina is going to be baptized this Saturday, the 11th!!!!  We will invite Hector to prepare for the 18th, and Josè is preparing for the 25th! Please keep them in your prayers! They are all so amazing and progressing wonderfully! Please pray for Nicolas, the grandson of José, because he doesn´t like going to Primary without his grandpa, and so José can never go to Priesthood. Also, Nicolas was bored on Sunday and almost made José miss Sacrament meeting. Please also pray for Valentina´s mom, Carlina. She needs to get baptized too! We weren´t able to visit Marcela this past week, but we will definitely visit her this week! I am excited to teach her again and help her. This week we found Jenny, who is Catholic but would like to learn more about the church. Please pray that she will have a strong desire to listen. We also found Emma, she was a reference from a member and she wants to come to church and pray and receive an answer, but she wasn´t able to attend on Sunday. We are still having trouble finding new people to teach, but on Sunday we had an companion exchange for an hour while our sister leader went with Hermana Amaya to meet Valentina. I was with Hermana Urteaga from Perú and we were talking to everyone for a really long time without success, and then we were knocking on a door, and the family came home while we were outside and after we talked to them about our message and how it helps the family, they let us in. We were able to help them feel the Spirit of this message and how it will bless their family and the mom said the closing prayer and started crying because she was so grateful. They need more peace in their family! I was so grateful to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands to teach them. I wish I could keep teaching them, but they live in the other area. That's okay, it was an amazing experience and a miracle I got to witness this week.

 

Today we had a zone activity, and can you guess what we did? We went to another tunnel!!!! haha I don´t know what it is with our zone leaders and tunnels but I loved the activity. We did a few activities while we were walking there, but my favorite was when we were inside of the tunnel almost entering the darkest part, our zone leader read a talk written by a general authority (leader of our church), in which he told about when he was called to be a general authority and he couldn´t see any way to accomplish everything he was called to do. I can´t remember the story exactly, but I think he spoke with the Prophet and told him how he was feeling. The prophet said that usually, we have to take the first few steps of faith into the darkness and then the light comes.

 

Our zone leader asked us to walk silently together through this tunnel until we reached the light and opening on the other side. As soon as we started walking, I saw the light on the other side and we were still kind of in the light so I thought, this isn´t going to work, we are never going to be in pitch blackness. But all of a sudden, I was surrounded by darkness. I could still see the light on the other side, but to get too it, I had to take the steps of faith into the darkness. I was with another sister and there were two elders far ahead. We saw them reach the light, but I was so afraid someone was inside the tunnel and was going to grab me haha. but I knew we would make it through because I could see that the elders in front of us had done it.

 

As I was thinking about the experience, I was relating it to my life. I haven´t had to make a ton of huge decisions yet, but one of the biggest decisions I had to make was whether or not to serve a mission. I chose to do so, without knowing what to expect. At first I was scared to death, I had no idea what it would be like to be a missionary, and I had never really shared the gospel with my friends before, nor was I very outgoing, but I knew it was what the Lord wanted me to do, and I love the Lord and our Heavenly Father, and so I took the first few steps of faith into the darkness. Well the light came really fast when I did this. I may not have known what to do at first, but the Lord taught me everyday, and He qualified me for the work. I have become an instrument in His hands and I have seen miracles and learned things that I would never have learned if I didn´t serve a mission. My mission changed my life forever, and I know that the Lord knows what is best for us. He knew that a mission was best for me, and although I followed His will blindly into the darkness, the light He had in store for me was and is, brighter than I ever imagined.

 

There are so many blessings from serving a mission. Besides the thousands of blessings that I have received personally, I get to help people feel the love of our Savior and Heavenly Father everyday, and that is the greatest blessing. I will always be grateful for my mission and for how the Lord has changed me through my service as a missionary. I still have a lot to learn, and little time to do so, but I know that the Lord lives, that He knows whats is best for us. I know that if we put our trust in Him and take the first few steps of faith, He will guide us through the darkness and we will reach the light, and the blessings will be greater than we can possibly imagine. I love you all! Thank you for your examples and for your love! I hope you have an amazing week!! I pray for you daily and love you dearly! Hasta luego!!!