This week has been a great week. Starting off the week with a special conference for the leaders in Imbabura on Tuesday, another conference in Otavalo with all the missionaries in the area with President on Wednesday, a birthday party for Hermana Pinto on thursday with the zone, divisions with Hermana Berrospi in Quinchuqui (a little bit outside of Otavalo) on friday, and the women's general conference on Saturday (in Spanish---amazing the difference in what I now understand from what I could understand 6 months ago). What a week! Even more so, we got a call last night, (sunday) saying that we had emergency changes, and that Hermana Pinto was to go to Otavalo to be companions with Hermana Tarax, and my new companion is Hermana Torres. It almost sounds like a joke but it's not.
After all this time together, I would just like to say that I am so proud of my mission daughter, Hermana Pinto. We have grown so much in miracles, in faith, and in love. She has helped me be more diligent and she has always been such a strong support. I am so grateful that we were able to be companions for her birthday last monday. Don´t worry, I made her french toast breakfast in bed, cake with candles, and cute little notes. It was fun:) Even more so, we were able to really have a weekend of miracles, 22 lessons over the span of 3 days. I´m glad we were able to finish things off together with a boom. Now I am super excited to be with Hermana Torres, we have a lot in common, she´s from Honduras and a family of 10.. all members. I love it, because she has the same accent as Hermana Madrid and I miss that accent. I know I sound a liitle creepy but its true. Hermana Torres is 20 and loves to run and eat healthy, she also really wants to learn English and likes to sing, I know we are just going to have so much fun. Hermana Torres and I are going to rock Ibarra right out of its socks. Anyways this week we have 2 investigators with baptismal dates.
Betty Salazar: Betty recently got a job working as nanny for a family where her son goes to school. Its perfect because she doesn´t have to work on Sundays and she´s happier. She´s also been reading the Book of Mormon, and even though she wasn´t able to come to church yesterday because of an emergency trip to Otovalo she still looks good for the 11th of October. We have a lesson with her tonight with a member, and I hope everything will go well. She accepted the Word of Wisdom with shining colors and she feels good about her baptism.
Daniel Ipyalez: Daniel is a contact that Hermana Pinto made on the bus when we were on divisons yesterday afternoon with some members. Hermana Pinto taught him about the restoration and he accepted a baptismal date fro the 18th of October right there on the spot. Even though I don´t know him yet, I have faith that he will progress. He is an Evangelist that feels like he´s missing something. He said that he wants to feel sure about his religion and right now he doesn´t feel so sure. He accepted the challenge to pray and read the book of mormon. Anyway we have an appointment with him this Wednesday, hopefully we will be able to find him because he lives in a little pueblo up on the mountain, but with God everything is possibleJ
Anyways I also would like to share a little story that left me amazed. Yesterday I was on divisions with a member of the Sagrario Branch who was accompanying me to make a few visits. And we were trying to get back to the church to meet up with Hermana Pinto when the bus just wouldn´t stop for us. We had to wait 20 more minutes for a bus that finally stopped. On this bus, sitting across from us there was a young couple with a baby. I was a little tired and the couple was busy talking and kissing. But their little baby was just staring at me. I smiled and waved and he smiled back, his parents didn´t seem to notice. I looked away and then back, the baby was still staring at me. I don´t know how to describe it, but I felt as if the small little baby that couldn´t be more that 8 months old recognized me as a messenger and disciple of Christ. I could feel it from his penetrating gaze.I know its sounds weird but you just had to be there. The baby seemed to be saying, I have come into this world to be a part of the Lord´s army, and you need to talk to my parents. I thought it was just my imagination so I looked away again, only to see out of my peripheral that the baby frowned at me and looked away too. I can´t describe what I then felt as I opened my mouth to talk to his parents. And you´ll never beleive it...his mother told me that she was a member of the church but had fallen away. She told me about how her family was active but she was living with her boyfriend. She later expressed how she wanted to have an eternal family and she wanted her boyfriend to get baptized. Whoa. It was pretty amazing. Sadly they don´t live in our area, but we passed the reference to the Hermanas de Ejido. Anyways, I am happy for that little baby who was just so persistent, and I´m glad that I was able to open my mouth. I will never let a time pass when I don´t open my mouth to talk to the people.
I know that the gospel is true. I know that we are set apart as missionaries by the holy priesthood of God, and that we as members and missionaries alike have a light. Maybe not everyone notices, but some do (like little babies on buses). I am so grateful for the small miracles that God shows us everyday. I know that if we continue in diligence we will be able to see our investigators progress. I love to be a missionary. And I am so excited to start another week, preparing for general conference to be able to recharge and reevaluate. I love to be a part of this grand restoration of the gospel of Christ!!
Gracias por todo de su apoyo y ayuda a través de oraciones y obra misional personal en sus propias barrios y hogares. Sigan esforzando al leer las escrituras y fortalecer sus testimonios en Cristo y en esta plan de salvación. ¡Sean preparados para la conferencia esta fin de semana con preguntas especificas! ¡Tengan una feliz semana!!l
Con mucho amor
Hermana Powley
