So much to tell about this week.... and so little time. Stephanie finally got baptized!!!!! Praise the heavens. It was intense, but she is officially a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The first baptism of my mish! Well, actually the first person I taught from start to baptism. Man, what a crazy ride we've been through with her, eh? She was so happy afterwards. It was the greatest. Her dad and grandpa came too. We got to watch from behind the scenes in the girl’s dressing room and help her change afterwards. It was awesome.
Stephanie's baptism day with her father and grandfather
Interviews this week were so good. Pres loves me, pretty sure :) They went so well. He said he was going to do it in Spanish as long as I could understand everything. I was fine with that, of course. I responded in Spanish and then he just switched to English for some reason. I still spoke in Spanish. He said my pronunciation rocks! Thank you very much, daddio. While it was my comp's turn, I spoke with his wife, Hermana Da Silva and she said I speak way better than lots others at this time in the mish. I don’t feel like it AT ALL! But it’s all good. Pres says I have that going for me and then he said I had another thing going for me. He really knows next to nothing about me. It was so cool what he said! He said, you just have the sweetest spirit about you. I can feel your love and that will touch many investigators and contacts as well. He said to make sure during my whole mission that I don’t lose that about myself. It is a very special gift I have. It made me feel so good! I loved it.
Our humble abode.... the gates to our house, our bedroom and our kitchen
Pres brought two packages for me with him. Yep, that’s right... EASTER packages! Thank you so much everyone! I loved it. Mom, you’re gonna kill me, but I did open them. Ah, don’t shoot me. I wasn’t going to, but my comp wasn’t that much help either. But, I mentioned we have been starving and so we needed the candy. Too bad it lasted us all of two seconds. Kenya, your little bag of candy you made is sooo cute! I love it. Thank you so much! And mom... I love your guts! Those flowers are so perfect. My comp loves them and they do bring me sunshine every day. I love the bookmark too. Everything is perfect.
We’re back to starving. Yes, mom, we do have a store we can buy stuff from, of course, but we have not near enough money to provide ourselves with good stuff. I mean good as in healthy. I just want to say, I liked the food when I first got here. It’s not terrible, but I quickly realized, their menu consists of only about five meals. I’m not kidding. I have eaten the same greasy, oil-covered fattening things since the day I got here. I feel bad saying that, but it’s true. It's just not the variety we have in the U.S. It’s all good though! All is well. I am happy!
Miracle of the week... Hermano Ery Ramon gave us a reference this week. Score! We have been trying to work with the ward to get references. We were only doing contacts in the morning so we decided to go visit her. She is awesome! Fabiana is her name. We walked in and talked with her and her daughter. It’s just them. She’s a ballerina and so cute, in between Cass and Kenya’s age. Her name is Denise. We gave the lesson of the restoration and the BOM. They had questions galore. She even asked about tithing. Questions are good from investigators. That means they have questions of the soul and are looking for something. If they sit there and just say they understand everything, it’s a sign. Anywho, we decided to end with a prayer. We taught them how to pray. When Hermana Hite ended with Amen, Fabiana slowly looked up at us and said you almost put me to sleep. Hermana Hite flipped out and said I’m so sorry! It was kinda long, wasn’t it? I apologize. Fabiana said no... that’s not it. I feel at peace. I feel so calm and ... good. She held her hand up to her heart and got a titch emotional and said I can’t explain this feeling I have in me right now. I feel so good, what is this? We got to explain the spirit to her and of course I started tearing up. She asked why I was crying and I said it was because I knew she was feeling what Heavenly Father wanted her to feel. And that the things we were teaching her were right and true. She said I have a lot of love, just like president said. I guess people can see it more now :) It makes me feel good. She said she felt the same spirit when she was with the Ramon family and she wanted to feel it all the time. It was so awesome.
The streets, buildings, shops and artwork of Uruguay
Later, we saw her in the streets. She loves us. We invited her to church and she said she probably couldn’t come, but she would try. I decided to ask Ery Ramon to invite her. He said he was on it. He invited her and lo and behold they showed up to church on Sunday! Ah! It was a miracle. The church yesterday was full of about 10 investigators of ours and the Elders. That is so awesome for this ward! We were so happy. Interesting thing happened though. In Relief Society the lesson was on tithing. We thought good; she'll learn about tithing here. But, “no.” The Relief Society got in a giant argument about it. Fabiana is very bold. She said straight up in front of everyone that she thought it seemed like a burden. The ladies freaked out! I was afraid she was going to walk out, but thank heavens, she didn’t. I said a little prayer and Heavenly Father made it okay. She stayed for all meetings and got to see Steph receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now she wants a BOM along with a Bible. She doesn’t have a Bible, which is weird for here. We will meet with her this week, so I think everything was alright.
Man, I just love her. She has bonded with me. She expresses emotion and hugs and stuff (which isn't typical of the culture), so I feel so connected to her. She is just great. We can only hope for the best, right? I’m excited to see what will come with her.
I had an overwhelming experience... mom and dad, with that thing you told me to do... make a list of what I want to become while I’m here and one with what I want to leave behind. Shaq sent me her testimony with a quote that said, "The scariest thing in this life is that through the atonement and Jesus Christ we can be whatever we want to be and have whatever life we want." I love that and I’m
finding it to be so true... it changes lives out here and it can do the same for me. Now I’m scared... because I can be anything I want. I want to be me... a better me... a me that Heavenly Father needs for my future family, and my future callings and ward and life and you guys. I just happened upon an old conference talk that went right along with all this stuff. Faith. Faith builds off the past but never longs to stay there. Faith is for the future, faith is knowing God has something in store for us, something that’s better than what we have now. And by trusting in that faith, we can have anything we want. I guess Heavenly Father really wants me to start being the better me. I get overwhelmed with that. But I also know, "Whoever shall lose their life for my sake, shall find it" and that’s what I’m trying to do. Oh man, good stuff this mission teaches you. I don’t even know who I’d be without experiencing these things I am. I love this gospel. That’s all there is to it.
Ash with the little ninas
In the meantime, Hermana Hite and I are slowly rockin’ San Jose. We have more lessons with members, more lessons period, more investigators and life is good here. Slowly but surely San Jose is growing.
Thank you for your testimonies, your love and support and packages. Until next week, loved ones. Be good. Strengthen your testimonies! This church is true, without a doubt. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t. I love you all! Love, Ash
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