Week 14: Miracles are real!

Hello everyone! 

Hope everyone had a good labor day today! I was a little homesick today for BBQs and family/friends but its ok! Mexican independence day is next week so I'm pretty pumped!

So many miracles and neat experiences happened to me this week!

Last Monday, our district leader had changes so now we have an American district leader, Elder Shumway. Super nice and seems really fun! And fun because he speaks English!

Our district with our old district leader! we were sooo lucky to have him. he was so great!

This week was our last week working at the temple. bittersweet. I loved working at the temple and had so many cool experiences, but we are excited to go back to work everyday and study everyday. this week at the temple, there were sooo many people because it was the last week. one day, there were so many people and not enough tour guides, so Hermana Tirado and I were asked to GIVE tours through the temple! IN SPANISH! I was sooooo scared. so scared. I didn't want to ruin someones tour through the temple because I messed up my Spanish. But my tours went the opposite. Thankfully, I had a little paper to look down on throughout all of the rooms which was good. But seriously the Spirit is SOOOO STRONG in the temple it didn't matter if I messed up. I remember my first tour, we were in the sealing room and the paper said to bear my testimony about eternal families. I felt like I wasn't prepared at all. But the Spirit told me otherwise. I have a strong testimony about eternal families in English, so why couldn't I in Spanish? I talked from my heart and the Spirit helped me so much that I was emotional. It was a very cool experience!

Favorite Latina sister, we have gotten super close! she is the cutest! this is the picture in the reception tent of the temple that everyone takes a picture by. so cool!

Also, one day I was in the reception tent and this little boy with his grandma came up to me with tears in eyes and asked me, "My mom died not too long ago, can I still be with her in heaven and forever?" Tears filled my eyes and I answered with the Spanish that I knew and said, "YES! You can be with her forever! Dont you worry!" It was a little experience that was so powerful to me!

Also the very last night at the temple, we were hoping that at least someone that we teach would come because no one had come yet and we were pretty discouraged. We were in the reception tent and all of the sudden Victor shows up out of nowhere! I was SO excited! We almost cried. It was so cool and we ended our last night at the temple with going through a tour with Victor. He loved it and he said he felt Gods love for him stronger than ever before. We are excited to teach him this week and talk about it more! Such a miracle that day!

Blurry selfie at the temple with Victor. we were sooo happy he came!

 So we are still trying to get over being sick and we haven't been working a ton, but the first day we started working again after the temple and after a long time, my companion and I were both worried that all of our people that we teach and that were progressing wouldn't want us or wouldn't want to hear us or wouldn't be home and all that stuff. (This was before Victor came to the temple by the way). We were so worried! But the first day that we started working it was pouring rain and that didn't encourage us. but we had an appointment with Victor (he hadn't been answering his phone in a long time so we doubted that he would be home) but when we got to his street, he was walking with his daughter and we stopped him and said, "We have been trying to get a hold of you to to teach you and see how you are doing!" and he said, "I have been really busy with work but would LOVE to set up an appointment with my daughter too! She might want to start taking the lessons too, she doesn't know!" WHAT. such a miracle. and listen to this. WHILE we were talking to Victor, guess who walks down the same street right next to us. LUIS! what?!?! another miracle! We have also been trying to get a hold of him because whenever he called his phone it said it didn't have service and he lives in a gated apartment complex so we cant just go to his house. so we started talking to him and he was so happy to see us and he is excited to have his other lessons this week. after all of this happened, we were walking to someone else's house and on the way there, one of our less actives that isn't suuuper happy to have us sometimes is on the street and the first thing that they said is "DIOS VIVE!" (God lives). We continued to ask him what happened and what made him say this and he said that his daughter ran away 2 years ago with her boyfriend and she came back today to their family. he couldn't have been more happy. I almost started crying at this point. we were so worried about all of our people, but it was such a testimony to me that Heavenly Father blessed our investigators and our less-actives when we couldn't work. SO COOL and SO many miracles!

All laying on each other on the way home from the temple!

I'm so thankful to be on my mission to witness all of these miracles. It is such a blessing and my testimony has been strengthened sooo much. I love it here! Keep the prayers coming! Love you all!

Hermana Garner

Last day at the temple!