this week was amazing and this weekend was one of the best
weekends of my entire mission. it changed me!
in the beginning of the week, we took out Hna. Regalado, mi
abuelita (my grandma), to visit some people
including an older lady who is the mom of a member in the branch. she is super
nice and reminds me of my grandma! her name is Manuela so prayers that we will
be able to start teaching her!
we got a call this week from the retirement home that we do
service at sometimes saying that someone wanted to meet with the Mormon
missionaries. so we went over and met a legend. this guy has been a member his
whole life and went on about 3 missions when he was younger. he went to BYU and
was in the marching band and Elder Packer and him were apparently best friends.
he was such a humble man and he loved that we came to see him. he asked us to
sing "sweet hour of prayer" and so we did. he started to cry and
looked me in the eye and said "the gospel is the most precious thing I
own" it was amazing and humbling to meet him. he wants to go to
church so we are trying to find a ride for him to go next week. he said he just
wants to take the sacrament so bad. His name is David Freeman and changed my
perspective on a lot of things.
on Thursday we went to the temple with the elders in our
district and Hna. Mederos and the timing was perfect. I needed the peace of the
temple. It was amazing and I loved every minute of it. There is something about
going to the temple with members you have fallen in love with. It is so special
and every temple worker thought Hna. Mederos was our convert...haha. It was
such a happy day!
Friday we had an AWESOME companionship study with Sis. Hall
and then a meeting with some missionaries in our zone with Pres. Hall. It was
JUST what I needed to hear. He is sooo motivating and makes me want to be such
a better missionary. I am so thankful for him! That day we took everything he
taught us and went out and found some people! I love talking to people on the
street, it is so fun! whether the answer is yes or no! that night we had dinner
with la familia Esquivel and they are the best. the husband is less-active and
is Tomasa's son. but he cooked the whole meal for us and was super happy to
have us over. we talked about how they could do more missionary work and
hermana told us that she was thinking a lot about the sacrament this week and
how she wants to share it with her friends at work. so we role-played it with
her and she said she would talk to someone. we came up with a super good lesson
for members about missionary work and now we are on fire!! its awesome!
Saturday. oh man where do I start. here is an excerpt from
my journal:
"Today was such an interesting day. We served so many
people that we didn't even expect to see at all today. It is amazing how the
Lord puts people in our path everyday and I'm so grateful and humbled to be
that tool. So here is what happened. This morning we went and did a service
project at a local nature park. We planted and dug and enjoyed the fresh air.
They were so thankful for how hard we worked and how honest and positive we
are. They said they have always liked when LDS groups come and help them. We
got home and got ready and we were doing studies when Hna. Regalado calls us.
She sounds like she is literally dying and needs us to take her to the
hospital. We got to her apartment and she was frozen still, sweating like
crazy. We help her up, into the car and we are off to the hospital. This little
lady that was dancing and cracking jokes the day before is now our greatest
responsibility. We got her to the hospital and she just collapsed on the bed. I
sent a couple texts to Hna. Mederos and Presidente and the next thing I know I
was translating medical terms from the doctor into Spanish. Where those words
came from, I have no idea, but I was that perfect tool in that moment. As she
got settled and relaxed, Hna. Mederos and her husband show up. MY MISSION MOM.
We told her what happened and she was more than grateful for us. Time passed
and we found ourselves talking to Hno. Mederos outside for a good 20 minutes.
This guy used to be branch president, branch mission leader and the
priesthood leader of his family. And now? He is completely inactive and no one
knows why. We sat there and talked about life and Mexico for about an hour and
then Hna. Mederos walks out and sees her husband talking to the missionaries.
You can imagine her face. We switched so Hna. McAdams and I could go in and see
Hna. Regalado. She sipped some gatorade, turned over and started to snore the
loudest grandma snore possible. She was okay. We sat down and looked at our
phone and there was a text from Hna. Mederos that said "Come out, we are
taking you out to dinner" So we left our little grandma snoring away to go
eat dinner. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant and Hno. Mederos loved showing
us what to eat and how to eat it. He had such a different light and we could
see it, especially Hna. Mederos. She was glowing. We laughed all the way
through dinner and also felt the Spirit with some of the experiences shared.
They dropped us off at the hospital and they were off. Hna. Regalado thankfully
went home that day and received a priesthood blessing from Presidente and his
son. After we got home, we called President Hall to fill him in on all of the
rules we broke with that experience. He was full of gratitude for how we saved
this lady's life, but little did he know we actually saved someone else's that
day. The next day was Sunday and when I looked at the little Brazos
congregation from the piano, there he was, Hno. Mederos, with his white shirt
and tie, sitting next to his sweet wife, listening. After years of not coming
to church, he was able to take the Sacrament and renew his covenants with
Heavenly Father. I will never forget this experience. After church, he got a
hold of me and said with a smile, "What are you doing for Thanksgiving
dinner?" it is so amazing to be the
Lord's tool right in bringing others closer to Him.
yesterday we had SO many people
at church, it felt like Christmas! our new investigator, Luis came which was
exciting! Hna. Avila who is coming back to church came! A new family that just
moved in came with their parents who aren't members, Hna. Ortiz (Kayla's mom)
came!!!!!!!! with her nephew. Kayla was sick but it has been too long since she
has been to church. And when they walked in, her fellow-shipper/friend stood up
to give the amazing talk that she did. The Lord's timing is incredible and I'm
so lucky to be here. We are finally seeing the blessings of our efforts
recently. I never want to leave!
Hermana Garner |
| me and my grandma (Hna Regalado)!!! |
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| it was a sunny day. |
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| Temple!! |
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| my district! |
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| Hna. Mederos |
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