(Our emails crossed in the wind. I did write to her.)
Wow, you haven't written anything to me... :( Well, I'm not going to write a whole lot because mother's day is Sunday and I can tell you more then, so here goes...
Sister Franco and I fasted yesterday to start the purification challenge! We wrote out goals and things that we want to stop doing and/or thinking about, and then fasted and prayed to Heavenly Father to help us with our goals. As a result, yesterday we saw so many miracles! I truly think The Lord blessed us because of our desire and commitment to better serve Him. As soon as we walked out of the house to go to church, we came across this man and we talked to him and I did the blessing contact! (where we set up a time to come by the homes of others and leave a blessing of peace and comfort) and right after that, these two young men walked by and called US over. The one was actually a member and was asking about singles wards in the area. The other wasn't a member and we got his information and will be trying to set up a lesson with him in the future. You have to understand that we almost NEVER see anyone right outside our front door. And it was like, BAM! BAM! one right after the other and they both seemed interested!
Moving along.. after church, Hermana Valadez told us that she is so grateful for my companion and I and that we have helped her and her family so much... and before I go on, let me give you a little background... so, we went the their house on Friday and Hermano Valadez's mother was there. She's trying to learn English and has been attending the English classes that we've started doing at the chapel. She's interested in reading the Book of Mormon and we talked to her a little about the promise that was made that if we read the entire Book of Mormon in our desired language, we will learn it. It was pretty cool, and Hermano Valadez, who says he doesn't have a testimony (eye roll), bore a really powerful one to his mother. Anyway, afterwards, one of their daughters, Mitzi, started crying and we didn't know why. So we went and talked to her and she started talking about all of these problems that she has, particularly with a boy at school who won't leave her alone, even though she tries to stay away from him. Apparently all of her teachers and counselors at school don't believe her when she says she's trying to keep away from him and her parents blame her and her grades have started going down. The last time we talked with her and her sister, Hillary, she really felt the spirit and has been praying multiple times a day and reads her scriptures daily as well. She expressed to us that even though she's putting in her effort, she feels like Heavenly Father isn't answering her prayers and that she can't handle things when no one believes her and her relationship with her family isn't the best. Her mother and her bump heads a lot and while she understands that her dad works so much to take care of them, she doesn't feel like she's very close with him because when he comes home, he's always in a bad mood and yells. We shared some thoughts and prayed with her. And so the next day at church, Hermana Valadez also thanked us for talking with Mitzi. Mitzi also thanked us again and said that she was afraid her parents would yell at her after we left Friday night, but instead they were super nice to her and Saturday they all spent the whole day together as a family. Mitzi told us that her parents were different on Saturday and she feels like God is now answering her prayers.
My heart goes out to the Valadez family. They are so precious and I love them so much. Since we've moved into the ward, they have attended church every week. Sister Franco and I have never seen them miss a Sunday, but others in the ward tell us this is a big change for them. I guess as missionaries we don't always realize how much of an impact we make in others lives.
In some ways they remind me of my own family. When she was talking about the drama she has with her mother, I was reminded of the many times you and I bumped heads, and even said very hurtful things to one another. I know that I've said things to you that I regret and wish I had never said. You've said things that have hurt me as well, but know that I love you more than words can say, and I know it's the same with Mitzi and her mom. Also, I can see a little bit of my own dad in Hermano Valadez. He tries so hard, I know he does. And he has a testimony, but he feels the stress of work, work, work and it gets to him. But he loves his family SO much and he never wants to lose them. He wants to be worthy to enter the temple. The whole family is so strong and so willing to make changes in their lives.
So Sunday night we also went to night church with Thomas. Earlier this past week we had a pretty powerful lesson about el dia de reposo. He cried towards the end and says he really wants to live it and he knows the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy, but he needs the extra money to send to his kids in Mexico. We committed him to pray about it and throughout the week sent him little scriptures and texts of encouragement. And so last night at night church he told us that he almost didn't come because he felt really sick, but right before he was going to call us, he suddenly felt perfect. He said he had been praying a lot and we've been praying a lot for him, and apparently his boss called him up randomly and told him that his schedule had been permanently changed and now he has Sunday mornings off every week! (He still has to work at night, but we're going one step at a time.) He does understand to importance of this commandment. And then later that night we met another really cool man on the street who was super, super nice and seemed real interested, but real busy as well. Haha. We did the blessing contact, gave him a restoration pamphlet, and a Finding Faith in Christ DVD. He even told us a pretty cool fact: Every Mexican man named Jesus has the nickname "Chewy" and so since Hermano Valadez's first name is Jesus, we're going to ask him if people call him Chewy when we do our little FHE with them tonight.
Anyway, love you so much! Hope you're doing well! And a member is letting us use her computer to Skype on Sunday, but church doesn't get out until 2, so... I don't know if dad will be there. :( If not, I can Skype and then call him. I'm not sure yet, though...
No comments:
Post a Comment