Really getting it

Oh my goodness gracious, I love you both so stinkin much! I just love hearing about your lives and how generous and fun and intelligent and cool you are!
 

Thank you SOOO much for getting something for Hna Marquez. She's been a little bummed this week because she's fairly certain that she won't get anything for her birthday, so I think this will be a nice surprise for her. I just love her so much and I know you both will, too. Right now we're living in an apartment with another companionship, Hermana Quick and Hermana Prince. It's so fun to be so close to my baby again! She's such a dynamite missionary, I love her. Apparently, Elder Perry is going to be coming to our mission at the beginning of March...I'm so stoked! I LOVE conferences. They give me such a good boost in energy and motivation. And to have a meeting with an Apostle of God? It's going to be amazing!!!!!!

 

This was a SUPER good week. We were in a trio for a couple of days with Hermana White, the sweetest, funniest person ever. She reminds me a lot of Kristina, in both personality and in appearance. We had some super powerful, super amazing lessons and we visited with a woman that Hna Waite and I had found last March. Josefina is actually the sister of a former investigator family and we never had time to visit with her before (well, more like she never had time to visit with us) but she's not working now. She's super great. She's very much in need of a strong relationship with Heavenly Father, so we talked a lot about the importance of being able to feel the Spirit in our daily lives. She was very receptive and seemed to grasp the concepts we shared very well.

We also met with our friends Jeovani a number of times this weekend. He's AMAZING!  I liked how Hannah put it in her letter....he's so elect! It's just amazing to see how Heavenly Father has prepared him to be able to accept the gospel. We read all about the gospel of Jesus Christ in 3 Nephi 27 on Saturday. It starts off talking about how Christ's church has to bear his name and it has to be founded on His doctrine. He stopped us right there and said, "That's what I want. I want to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ and not worry about what other people think or say because I'll be able to feel God's approval and support."

Yeah, he's pretty awesome. He's incredibly open with us, and he asks so many wonderful questions. He says he always feels bad for bothering us with so many questions, but it's not a bother at all! Every time he asks something new, I think of the phrase in the scriptures that says that we should "hunger and thirst after righteousness." We see that in his eyes and he's so excited to be baptized on March 4.

 

Speaking of which, Happy Birthday, Lijahsaurus! I sure love you, my sweet boy! Also to Olivia! she's such a beautiful young lady now :)

We're also teaching a man named Rigo who  was baptized when he was 9 but then never went back again because his mom left the church. He is also totally dynamite and has made huge steps in his life to be able to get to this point where he's ready to come closer to God. It's really interesting to see the difference between our investigators who can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost and Rigo who actually has that companionship of the Holy Ghost. He comprehends the gospel so well and so quickly and he automatically knows how to apply the principles to his life, which is something we usually need to walk people through.

Man, I just love being a missionary.

 

I've always loved it, but I've always been rather eager to be back home. Now though, I feel like I'm completely relishing the experience and I'd love to be here (maybe not forever, but ) a long, long time. I thought I understood my calling before, but I feel like I'm just now comprehending how special and sacred it is. I'm so grateful to be a missionary!

 

I love you more than quarters!

Love, Hermana Manzana