Hermana Garner - Now a Texan!: 11/14/16

hello family and friends! a lot has happened in the world this week....election, world series and the fall weather has finally begun in Texas! jackets are a MUST at night surprisingly! but I'm happy because Christmas lights and decorations are already going up! it is my favorite time of the year!

this week was an awesome week full of miracles as always. the biggest one was that Kayla came to church again which means she is GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY! we couldn't be more excited. she is ready and she has a powerful testimony that she shared with us this week. We went over and watched the 20-minute Restoration video with her and her mom and we all cried. The Spirit was so strong. It is always amazing to me that something that I already know is true can become more true in my heart again and again. It is also amazing to me that Kayla has been having the missionaries teach her for 4 whole years and now is the time that the Lord has prepared her to make this decision in her life. We are so lucky to be able to do this with her!! it will be a good weekend for sure.

Another very exciting thing that we did this week was MOVE! We moved into such a luxury compared to our other apartment invested with cockroaches and noisy neighbors. We are loving every second and the Spirit is so much stronger! Everything is just easier and there is less stress. Also we have a super nice gym so new abs are on the way..........ha.

remember Jose? The guy that was super sick and his wife prayed for him to get better on that stormy night? We finally saw him again and he is doing so much better health-wise! Him and his wife are super excited about us coming over that they even want us to teach their son and invite him to church! We are hoping that we can have their whole family their soon!

a lot of people have been asking about our meal appointments....they don't really happen. because this is a branch of about 40 active people we only have about 2 or 3 meals a week. but this week we had shrimp for 2 of our 3 meals. first things first, I like shrimp. its pretty good. we went over on Monday to a member's house and I ate the whole shrimp, skin/tail and all and had no idea until I started chewing and it way too crunchy. I almost threw up...haha. I had no idea until the member started laughing so hard at me. After that I could barely eat anymore because it made me sick thinking about that texture again. And then we went to Hna. Regalado's house for dinner 2 days later and what did she make? SHRIMP. the same exact way. So I ate just a little and after dessert (which I happily ate) she said, "Hermana McAdams likes everything. Hermana Garner doesn't like shrimp, only sweets" she could not have been more right!!!!! hahaha. we also ate with Hna. Mederos and helped her spiritually and emotionally. she said her husband officially wants to be active again and her son is working on it too. she got emotional when I was telling her of how great of a job she does in Relief Society and how she is one of the strongest women I know....it was sweet.

Sadly, we haven't been able to contact Jorge and Angel again this week. Every time we have gone over they haven't been home. We are just hoping everything is okay!!

We weren't able to see the Barrios Family this week because we are trying to get the members to help out. So we asked a member this week if they could do a family night with us and them and so it is in process. It is a super fragile thing and we don't want to push them. We are confident they will get baptized soon though! prayers for them!

I have had a lot of powerful experiences this week with the Spirit and feeling God's love. I love how after a hard day I can still feel His love, knowing that I did all I could because I tried my best, even if we didn't have success. The experience with Kayla and the Restoration video was unforgettable and we cannot wait for her to make a covenant with her Heavenly Father this weekend. It will be incredible and I couldn't be happier!

have an amazing week! and be grateful.

Hermana Garner