Audrey is so beautiful!!! (Audrey is our new niece - Lyzi is Allison's friend from Educador Exchange who just had Oliver.) Oh my goodness!!!! What a beautiful blessing she is! and I can't wait to see more pictures of her, Ryan, Chelsea, Elijah, and Lyzi and Ollie, too! Babies everywhere is right. Dang.
I love babies. I miss them. Good thing those babies will be just the right age to play with by the time I get home :)
Lots of fun things to tell this week: First off: transfers. No change for me and Sister Erickson! I'm really really glad to have more time with her. She's a phenomenal missionary and we're learning a ton from one another (or at least...I'm learning a ton.)
Also, I totally forgot to tell you but we went to a Gospel Choir Jubilee a few weeks ago....It was AMAZING!! We were the only white people there and it was the BEST. There was so much happiness in the room and everyone was so so nice to us, even with our nametags on :)
I got a root canal this week. You know how when we have car accidents they happen in the best way possible? That's how it was with my tooth, too. The dentist filled it in and he says I probably won't need a crown on it till way later, if at all. Cool. But he did this electro-pulse test on my tooth to see if the nerve was still alive and kickin' or had given up the ghost. Before he (He's a member of the church, PS and is very familiar with missionaries) did it he said to his assistant, I think we'll do an EPT, just to be sure" and then he turned to me and said "Early Pregnancy Test. We just want to make sure your baby's doing well." Haha, doc.
We had a lot of really wonderful experiences with our investigators this week. Amanda (a recent convert that we've been working very closely with) bore her testimony about how her life has changed since she's been baptized. She talked a lot about how she was hesitant because she thought adding church and church activities would make her busy mom life even more hectic but she knew it was the right thing. She said ever since, things have been easier. Her relationships with her family have gotten even better, she feels like a better mom, a better wife, she fits everything and more into each day than she did before and she's just happier all around. She's so great!
We also had an experience with an investigator named Manolo. We're teaching Manolo and his step-dad Gus, the mom's a member and we always have lessons with all 3 of them and Manolo usually stays pretty quiet, listening to his mom's advice and gauging Gus's reaction. The other night, however, Gus and Amy forgot about our appointment so we got to chat just with Manolo for a long time. He and I talked a lot about recognizing absolute truth, and if there was such a thing. We talked about the difference between individual opinions, even reasonable, virtuous ones, and God's truth and knowing how to recognize it. He said it's probably just something you can feel....what's true and what's not. He said he's talked to a lot of people who talk about how you "just know" because you get this feeling you can't really describe that just.....exists in your heart. I asked if he had ever felt something like that before. He said he hadn't but he added that he would like to. I challenged him to ask God about His Truth, and advised him that he could use the Book of Mormon for his item to pray about, because we're better able to recognize specific answers when our prayers are specific. I actually dont' remember all what I said because they really weren't my own words, (insipration!!!!) but he accepted. We came back a few nights later to meet with the whole family and before his mom and step-dad came downstairs, we asked how his prayer had gone. He said "Good. It was really good." He seemed unwilling to share more, but later on in the lesson, we were discussing that feeling of complete surety again. We asked Gus if he had ever felt it before, and he said yes. We turned to Manolo and asked him if he had had that feeling before and he answered "Yes" very quietly. AAAAHHHHHH!!! He felt it! How amazing is that!?!?!?! I love being a representative of the Savior and helping people to feel God's love.
On 4th of July, we went out to breakfast with Ricardo Rodriguez, and on-again, off-again investigator who has an absolutely phenomenal testimony of the church and the Book of Mormon but can't get baptized yet because his divorce from his first wife is stuck in court so he can't officially marry his current "wife" Leslie. It's completely heartbreaking that his progress is being hindered by outside sources and I just want to help him in anyway possible. Leslie also has a lot of health problems and it's beginning to take a toll on Ricardo. He didnt' say much about it aside from ' our relationship is getting better, even though her health is getting worse, and I know it's because of other people's prayers for us" but the look on his face completely tore me up because I know how he feels, at least to some degree. My heart goes out to him and I hope there's some way my experiences will help him out, too.
Anyway, he love the "Waiting on the Road to Damascus" talk by President Uchtdorf from last conference, so I printed off the "Of Things that Matter Most" talk from last October and he called later to say how much he loved it and how it was written specifically for him. I love inspiration :)
Also on 4th of july, we played slip-n-slide kickball as a zone and it was AMAZING! The first two bases were kiddie pools, then 3rd base and home were slip-n-slides. We had a ton of fun, but all of our feet were pretty torn up from the dead grass and they got pretty burned on top.Ouch. Socks are in order next time.
Also, I got invited to a leadership conference next week and I 'm way stoked to go. I love conferences and trainings because I get to learn how to be better. It's the BEEEEESST!.
I love you more than all the cute babies in our family and extended family!
Love, Hermana Manzana
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