I'm so glad you had such a good time with your cousin! and I can't wait to see all those new pictures you have of family. well, I mean I CAN, but ya know....I've gained such a greater appreciation for genealogy on my mission and I'm excited for when I'll be able to dedicate even a little bit of time to it. For now, the Spirit of Elijah has to take a back burner and the spirit of conversion is my best friend.
Speaking of which, I just read our mission President's weekly email and he said we had 16 baptisms in the mission yesterday! Super cool! Hermana Marquez and I got to go to three of them :) One of the investigators I helped teach in Palmdale got baptized yesterday so we got permission to go up there with a member. When I taught Manolo, it started off super great ( I think I actually wrote about him and his response to prayer...) but then got really weird because the moment his parents were within earshot, he denied everything and got all crazy on us, saying there wasn't a God. We visited him a couple times after that, but without much success. Hermana Prince and her companion have been working with him a lot and he decided that he would like to be baptized!! It was SO wonderful to see my Rancho Vista branch. I love them so so dearly. I even got to see Guadalupe and her boys! Also, a less active member named Hermano Munoz who is the cutest old man I've ever met was so glad to see me that he gave me a big hug. Whoops! Ah well.
Also, our member who took us is a recent convert named Guadalupe Umana who is a gorgeous, wonderful, faithful lady from El Salvador who we just adore, Well, she and one of the super attractive, super wonderful, super awesome members from Rancho Vista were making eyes at one another, so we've decided to help them get to know each other better.....all three of us were over the moon excited all the way home. I think missionaries make fairly good matchmakers.....although maybe we overdo it because we're so romance-starved and matchmaking is our only outlet.
We made it back home just in time for another double baptism at our church building and it was wonderful!
Missionaries are in charge of the lessons and talks and things on the fifth Sunday, so Hermana Marquez and one of the zone leaders gave talks (which were AWESOME) and then President Martin, and two of the other elders taught in the 3rd hour about the characteristics of the Church of Jesus Christ, focusing on having unity, charity, and faith. We have a TON of new converts in our ward and they are super amazing, but there have been some MAJOR problems with the not-so-new members and gossip lately. It's getting a lot better, but I think their lesson helped put the importance of being a good representative of the church in all you do back into perspective. One of the things we hear the most as missionaries is how people want to go to church but they see so much backbiting and unkindness and general unChristlike behavior that they think "why on earth would I want to join a church where the members don't even live what they preach?" We always remind them that the Church of Jesus Christ is perfect, even though the people aren't, and to always look at the doctrine to see if that is what is true. But then again, I totally see their point. We as members HAVE to walk the talk (or however that phrase goes in English). Then the changes the doctrine of Christ makes in our lives will attract others to the gospel as well. That is how it's supposed to work. Everything is to be centered on the Savior.
Our investigators are doing pretty dang well, and I'm so so grateful! Jeovani set a baptismal date goal for March 4. I really think he'll be ready WAY before that. He's so awesome and it's so cool to see how Heavenly Father has prepared him! Also, we've been visiting this family off and on for the last little while, and the kids are SUPER interested, but the mom is pretty flaky and it never seemed to us that she was very interested. BUT we finally got to meet her husband the other day (he works in a bakery so he's not usually there during typical hours) and we watched the Restoration movie with the whole family and ended with a kneeling prayer with all of them. The kids want to come to church so badly and 2 of them have already had some really cool experiences when they prayed to know if the plan of Salvation was the plan of God. Please pray for them! Your prayers are helping so so much and we feel your love and support every day!
Transfers are this next week, so we'll find out Saturday what happens. There's a rumor that I'm training again, which I was terrified of at first but I'm getting more comfortable with the idea. I would hate to leave Hermana Marquez, but she's just so amazing and cool that I would feel kind of selfish to keep her to myself for another transfer. One of the greenies that is coming out is a girl from Colorado who learned her Spanish in Ecuador.... we'll see what kinds of surprises Heavenly Father has up his omnipotent sleeves....Is that sacriligious? Hope not.
Love you more than matchmaking,
Hermana Manzana
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