Mis Queridos Queridos;
Well this past week was great! And this week coming up will be even better! One highlight of the week was when Hermana Gonzalez and I made green pancakes and surprised some of the sisters in Otavalo by arriving early in the morning to do a house revision and eat pancakes on St. Patrick`s day. Also, Hermana Gonzalez and I have seen the hand of the Lord in splits just as much as in our time together. This week we have been helping Carlos prepare for his baptism this upcoming saturday along with Cecilia. They are both investigators from member families. We are so excited to be able to help them to finally be able to form eternal families. Baptism is just the first step. I`d like to start out talking a little bit about Carlos.
Carlos Catucuamba has been listening to the missionaries for a long time and the only thing that had been keeing him from progressing was his work which only permitted him to be at home every 3 weeks. He has been on vacations the past couple weeks so we have been really able to focus on him. Something miraculous happened on Tuesday. Carlos lost his job. The Lord is closing a door for Carlos, in order to open a window that leads to heaven. He will now be able to look for a job that allows him to not work on sunday and spend more time with his family. Carlos knows that its going to be hard but wants to be with his family for forever. He has announced his baptism for this saturday and has invited his family. Even better he brought his mom to church yesterday! Carlos is going to be powerful! His challenge at the moment is his fear that after baptism he will fall. We are going to be contacting/visiting him everyday this week, building his faith. The members are also visiting and strengthening him.
Cecilia Farinango keeps progressing and has also anounced to her family and the ward her baptism for this saturday. Cecilia is a true March Miracle. Even though she could be my grandma, we have been able to help her cast away all fear and just trust in the Lord. This would not have been possible without the help of the members who have kindly translated into Quichua all the lessons with us. Cecilia came to another family home evening last night and participated! We love her so much. The other day my heart just about melted when she showed us her Camino de Fe (the plan that we give all progressing investigators to put on their wall to see their progress), that she had been marking everyday in which she has said her prayers. We gave her a picture of Joseph Smith to help her remember his name. She can say in Spanish.. "Joseph Smith.. Prophet!" SO CUTE.
We also have one more March Miracle of the week, Davìd Carlosama. Davìd was a referral from a few members that brought him to the noche de hogar we had last sunday. David is 19 years old and has been searching for light. His friends had commented to us that he wanted to be baptized, and our first viist with him we invited him to baptism, he accepted for the 18 of April! He says he wants to follow Christ and come to know His true doctrine. There are many other churches in the world, but there is just one that contains ALL the doctrine of Christ in su forma pura. (DON`T KNOW HOW TO TALK IN ENGLISH ANYMORE) The young single adults in the ward invited him to the stake talent show and he practiced and danced with the ward. Sidenote* I love being in this area. The ward is solid. Something that I really love about teaching David is that he truly understands and applies the scriptures, and he remembers what he reads! This week he starts back up in the university, and he doesn`t know the schedule yet. We hope that everything will work out so that we will be able to keep visiting him in the afternoon because where he lives there are no buses at night.
Hey everyone. Thanks for your prayers and worries and love that you display for los demàs. As King Benjamin says, when you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God. Something I learned today in my studies was that Christ always had the Father with him throughout his life because Christ never did anything that didn`t please His father (Juan 8:29). Christ was fearless. He befriended the beggar. He loved those who despised him. And he NEVER gave up. People knew the father through him. I want with all my heart to be the same. I want people to know God through knowing me. I want people to feel his love, reverance, peace, and goodwill through the example and concern I can give. This is the only true church of Christ on the face of the earth. There is no other way to receive celestial blessings than through the holy priesthood. These promised blessings are real. If we believe in them, than we will let it be known through our actions. Get to work everyone! How do you let your testimony show?
Con Amor Well this past week was great! And this week coming up will be even better! One highlight of the week was when Hermana Gonzalez and I made green pancakes and surprised some of the sisters in Otavalo by arriving early in the morning to do a house revision and eat pancakes on St. Patrick`s day. Also, Hermana Gonzalez and I have seen the hand of the Lord in splits just as much as in our time together. This week we have been helping Carlos prepare for his baptism this upcoming saturday along with Cecilia. They are both investigators from member families. We are so excited to be able to help them to finally be able to form eternal families. Baptism is just the first step. I`d like to start out talking a little bit about Carlos.
Carlos Catucuamba has been listening to the missionaries for a long time and the only thing that had been keeing him from progressing was his work which only permitted him to be at home every 3 weeks. He has been on vacations the past couple weeks so we have been really able to focus on him. Something miraculous happened on Tuesday. Carlos lost his job. The Lord is closing a door for Carlos, in order to open a window that leads to heaven. He will now be able to look for a job that allows him to not work on sunday and spend more time with his family. Carlos knows that its going to be hard but wants to be with his family for forever. He has announced his baptism for this saturday and has invited his family. Even better he brought his mom to church yesterday! Carlos is going to be powerful! His challenge at the moment is his fear that after baptism he will fall. We are going to be contacting/visiting him everyday this week, building his faith. The members are also visiting and strengthening him.
Cecilia Farinango keeps progressing and has also anounced to her family and the ward her baptism for this saturday. Cecilia is a true March Miracle. Even though she could be my grandma, we have been able to help her cast away all fear and just trust in the Lord. This would not have been possible without the help of the members who have kindly translated into Quichua all the lessons with us. Cecilia came to another family home evening last night and participated! We love her so much. The other day my heart just about melted when she showed us her Camino de Fe (the plan that we give all progressing investigators to put on their wall to see their progress), that she had been marking everyday in which she has said her prayers. We gave her a picture of Joseph Smith to help her remember his name. She can say in Spanish.. "Joseph Smith.. Prophet!" SO CUTE.
We also have one more March Miracle of the week, Davìd Carlosama. Davìd was a referral from a few members that brought him to the noche de hogar we had last sunday. David is 19 years old and has been searching for light. His friends had commented to us that he wanted to be baptized, and our first viist with him we invited him to baptism, he accepted for the 18 of April! He says he wants to follow Christ and come to know His true doctrine. There are many other churches in the world, but there is just one that contains ALL the doctrine of Christ in su forma pura. (DON`T KNOW HOW TO TALK IN ENGLISH ANYMORE) The young single adults in the ward invited him to the stake talent show and he practiced and danced with the ward. Sidenote* I love being in this area. The ward is solid. Something that I really love about teaching David is that he truly understands and applies the scriptures, and he remembers what he reads! This week he starts back up in the university, and he doesn`t know the schedule yet. We hope that everything will work out so that we will be able to keep visiting him in the afternoon because where he lives there are no buses at night.
Hey everyone. Thanks for your prayers and worries and love that you display for los demàs. As King Benjamin says, when you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God. Something I learned today in my studies was that Christ always had the Father with him throughout his life because Christ never did anything that didn`t please His father (Juan 8:29). Christ was fearless. He befriended the beggar. He loved those who despised him. And he NEVER gave up. People knew the father through him. I want with all my heart to be the same. I want people to know God through knowing me. I want people to feel his love, reverance, peace, and goodwill through the example and concern I can give. This is the only true church of Christ on the face of the earth. There is no other way to receive celestial blessings than through the holy priesthood. These promised blessings are real. If we believe in them, than we will let it be known through our actions. Get to work everyone! How do you let your testimony show?
Pictures:
PS:::If you know me.. you know about my chicks.
PSS::: Cecilia and her ovejitas or llamagutas in Quichua.. sorry its a little blury
PSSS:::: Anyone want choclo? Its corn season! That means meriendas de choclo cada dia.
