Columbia River Temple week!

Buenos Dias you all!   What a week! 

This week we had a definite struggle with our golden investigator, Manuel.  We received a call from him about a month ago, but neither of us knew who he was, and Hermana Wortley had never taught him before. His number was already in our phone, so we knew he would have a teaching record somewhere in our area book. Turns out he would sit in on the lessons that his identical twin was taking (and when I mean identical, i mean.... SUPER identical) and has been looking for a church to go to. YES!  We had a church tour with him and invited him to be baptized, and he said he would.  We didn't set a date with him because he wasn't ready to set a date. Unfortunately this past Monday and Tuesday we have been worried sick for him.  We haven't been able to have a second lesson with him, and he finally called us last Monday night that he is "going back to mexico..."  He's being deported and he doesn't know when he will return, or return, period, for that matter....  He was so ready, and we are very sad we won't be teaching him anymore, but he promised he would call the missionaries in our area as soon as he returned.  He thanked us for all we've helped him with, especially teaching him the gospel. That was definitely not a single lesson gone to waste.  He still has a Book of Mormon and he says he reads frequently during the week.  We sure will miss him. 

We also have a recent convert that was baptized in February who has been struggling.  He was attending for 6 MONTHS before he took the missionary discussions and was baptized.  He has really struggled since his Mom and sister moved in with him this past month.  Working more for more paychecks.  He has also completely lost his testimony and treats the church like a joke...  We've invited him to come every week, and he laughs and says, "yeah, we'll see.." SALVADOR. NO!  He has completely lost his desire to attend church and has lost his sight of the importance of church attendance. 

The sisters in my zone

I also had the opportunity to go on exchanges with one of my Sister Training Leaders, Hermana Capi.  She's originally from Mexico, so she's totally a native, and she only had to spend 2 weeks in the Provo MTC.  She's most recently from outside of Los Angeles, CA.  This time, I was able to take over our East Wenatchee area and drive us to our appointments and investigators.  I was able to learn more ideas for planning days out.  We struggled trying to figure out when to go where because of miles and not wanting to backtrack, haha!  But we followed the spirit, and we had one great lesson with Concepcion and his wife Esperanza.  Let me tell you, they are the CUTEST Mexican native Abuelo and Abuela you will ever meet! (grandpa and grandpa)  Every time we visit, they offer us apples, just as most of our investigators and our less actives do.  They are such a wonderful couple!  We have invited them to take our "Tendreis Mis Palabras" learning program, but they refuse to ever learn how to read or write Spanish...  We thought they would love it, but we have great plans to give them the Book of Mormon in Spanish on tape for them to listen to.  We are very excited to keep teaching them!

We also went to the temple this week, HOLY COW!  It was amazing, and I am so grateful I was able to go this transfer with my trainer and companion, Hermana Wortley.  As I sat in the Celestial room, I prayed to my Heavenly Father to help me cope with my stress and anxiety, and as soon as I felt like tears would start rolling down my face, a wave of calmness came over me as if it was a cool breeze on a summer day.  I know I am here for a reason, and I know that certain people need me, and each and every full time missionary in the world right now.  I can testify to each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that I know that His grace, and Our Heavenly Father's grace is SOOO sufficient for each of us who will ever live on this earth, and there is no way we can comprehend how much that is.  Christ's atonement and grace and blessings are overflowing our daily buckets, and we must try to recognize them every single day.  He pours daily blessings upon us every day, do not look past them!  He needs each of us, every single day in his vineyard, just as the whole section of Jacob in the Book of Mormon testifies.  I invite you to read Jacob, and to look for the things we can do as members and to be Christlike examples to do our part in the vineyard in every change we get. 

Love you all, tenga un buena semana!

My wonderful zone!