Hey! Another week has passed and I cannot believe how fast it goes buy! Another transfer is almost over and I can't believe it! So I found out in January I will training with is a little frightning but exciting at the same time. There will be two new sisters coming in Dec. and so Hermana Kelson and Hermana Lowry will more than likely be training them since they've been out the longest; which means that Hermana Vawdrey, Hermana Cowley and I might be in a trio for a transfer which will be so cool because it'll be like old times in the MTC except without Hermana Porter. So, then in January 3 more Hermanas will be coming in which means all three of us new girls will be training. I better work on my spanish more!!
A lot has happened in the last week and a half. We're still teaching La Alvarez Familia who I talked a little about last week with Consalo and Maria. I'm going to backtrack a little about them. So, almost 2 months ago, when Hermana Lowry had barely joined Hermana Kelson and I, we were trying to figure out who to go visit. We have an Area book which is full of past records of people that were either visited by the missionaries but not really taught ("potentials") and those that were being taught at one point but for whatever reason were dropped ("formers"). We prayed to know who we should go and contact and then starting looking through the book seeing if any caught our eye as someone the Heavenly Father would like us to go see. There was one in particular that I kept going back to and just felt like we needed to go see. On the sheet it said her name was Hazel and she wanted a Book of Mormon and that was it besides her address of course. I just felt like we should go see her so we did. We went there and found out she no longer lived there but we talked to the family who did live there and made an appointment to go back. Her name was Eperanza and she didn't seem very interested but we figured we could teach her and maybe she would become interested. Each time we went to teach her she would cancel and we'd reschedule. One time we went to teach her and of course she wasn't there so we decided that we would just knock at that same apartamento instead. We talked to some people and made some appointments with people and one of them was Consalo. We didn't know if much would come out of it but you never know so we schedualed a day to come back a teach him. And, from then on we have been teaching not only him but his wife and there children also. I remember after we prayed and I said a silent prayer to know who we should go see that one night, and I didn't know why but I felt strongly that we should go to see Hazel. I was thinking hm maybe she's ready and that's why but when we went there to find she had moved I thought ok maybe I felt we needed to go there for Esperanza and her family. After she had canceled a few times and continued to seem uninterested, I was kind of bummed and confused why I felt like we needed to go there. I figured well maybe I wasn't exactly prompted that we should go there but it was ok because we found a new apartment complex that we had never gone to before, but as we know, Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways and I know that He lead us to them. I really think He lead us there at the perfect timing. They needed Hermana Lowry to be there to teach them, I think, and yeah it's just really cool because I'm already seeing that the Lord is leading us to those who are seeking the gospel. I'm learning a lot of patience, faith, and how to follow the Holy Ghost which is so so so hard but I'm learning =-)
So it was so exciting because this last Sunday not only Consalo and the 3 youngest kids; Uriel who is 5 years old, Karen who is 8 years old, and Yenifer who is 10 years old; but Maria surprised us by telling us that she go work off to go too! So the whole family went including their older daughter Karen who is 12 years old. We were soooo excited! They all liked it a lot! Oh and also very exciting news, we asked if they had prayed to know if the church was true and Consalo still hasn't =-/ but Maria has and told us that she feels good about it and knows it's true. We were soooo excited but have yet to get Consalo to pray about it. He has this phobia of praying but it was so cute because in one of the lessons we got him to pray by himself, without repeating after anyone (his first time praying he repeated everything Hermana Blancarte said, like a child learning how to pray. It was adorable). So before saying the pray that he said by himself, not only us but Maria and his kids were helping know what to say. Everyone was so anxious for him to pray, it was cute and I think it was so exciting for the kids to see their father pray aloud thanking Heavenly Father for his family and asking Him to bless them. It was priceless and though he was soooo nervous and struggled a bit, he prayed all by himself and it was precious. So we have talked a lot about the baptismal date and they're all so excited but we have some road blocks to get over first. Like I said before, Consalo drinks and smokes and a new bit of information that we finally know now is that they are not married which was a fear for us because it seems like that is the norm and no one is married but just live together. So today we get to talk about the word of wisdom, which should be oh so much fun, and then the next time we talk we'll talk about the law of chastity and how they need to get married. Hermana Blancarte is our life savor and did the honors of asking Consalo if they were married or not. She said that he said he didn't want to get married yet which we will find out why when we talk to them soon. All of this is pretty nerve racking to talk to them about but I know it will be ok and they will change because the Lord will help them and strengthen them. They've already been seeing blessings from simply learning about the gospel and I know the Lord will bless them even more as they commit to follow His commandments. I will indeed let you know how the word of wisdom and law of chastidad lesons go next week =-)
Other news, I told you I had a lot to say ha, we finally got a hold of Karina! If you have forgotten who she is; she is 20 years old, was supposed to be baptized a while ago but wasn't ready, she left to go see her parents which we were so nervous she wouldn't come back, and so on. Well, she has been ignoring our calls and we could never find her at her home for the longest time but just recently called us back and we finally met with her! I was sooooo happy because I have been so worried and sad about that whole situation. So the talk went well and we hope she is going to get back on track. We had a really open conversation about everything, which started out pretty rough and awkward at first, but ended soo well. She was so happy that we came by and we found out that she has never really prayed to specifically know that the church is true. That explained exactly why she wasn't ready and we challenged her to pray and ask and tomorrow we will see how that went =-)
Also, we are teaching a new family. They live next to Joaquina y Moises Campos who are recent convert/inactive and so we teach them each week. One day when they weren't there for their appointment we started talking to Eva Lugo who we are now teaching. She is from Mexico lives with her husband (or probably boyfreind which we will find out for sure soon) and they have 3 beautiful daughters; Jessica who is 8, Lupe who is 12, and Vanessa who is 1. Lupe doesn't really stick around for the lessons but she's slowly warming up to us. Jessica on the other hand loooooves us. When I say loves us I really mean it. She loves to learn and wants us to come over every single day so we can sing and learn. Her mom hadn't read much from the Book of Mormon or the pamphlets but guess who pulled them out and started reading them to her mama, yes Jessica. Oh my goodness she is so cute and enthusiastic about learning about the gospel. Everything about it she loves, it's precious and she is exactly what Heavenly Father means when He tells us we need to be as little children. Anyway, at first Eva was pretty skeptical of everything but after a few lessons she really started listening and loving it, I think it has a lot to do with her daughter who is so enthusiastic about it all. Eva especially showed interest when we told her about el plan of salvasion. She had no idea where we came from, what our purpose is, and where we will be going and wanted to know all of this. I think we take for granted that we know this. So it took 2 lessons to finish talking about the plan of salvation and by the end we asked if she had any questions. She said no because she knew it was true. I was sooo excited to hear this. So, Hermana Kelson commited her to baptism for the 22 of Nov and with a smile on her face she said yes and told us that she knows these things are true because it makes her feel happy and warm in her chest. We explained that this was the Holy Ghost and that it is true. The Spirit was very strong and we are so excited! But along with all of these great experiences, Satan is always there waiting to try and mess is up so please pray for her. She is going to talk to her husband and try to go to church. Please please pray for all those we are teaching and for us. We need it sooo much.
Well that is pretty much what is going on. We are teaching a lot but many we are teaching are not progressing so please pray for us that we may find those who are ready. I can't tell you how grateful I am to be here even though some days are long and hard. I know with everything in me that this is the only true church on earth. Share your testimonies as much as possible and if you don't have one yet get one because you have no idea yet how much the Lord is waiting to bless you. I love you all soooo much!!!!!!!!
Love,
Hermana Alvey
p.s. sorry this is so long haha I just get so excited about everything... I'm pretty sure I could make it even longer lol. Love you guys, until next week take care!!!!!
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