Tuesday, December 10, 2013

feliz diciembre!

 Visiting with Hermana Driesel in the old ward!

12/02/13
Buenos tardes mis queridos!! Como les va??
Well, this has been quite a great week! It's been different, and humbling, and full of food! Yes, we did have three dinner appointments for Thanksgiving. Aye. But it was a very fun day.
Well, to give you a quick update on the Cubans... they are amazing!!! Yesterday we were finally able to have a lesson with them again, and, miracle of the week, the Bishop was able to come with us!!! We decided to review the Restoration with them and really focus on the importance of authority. Fortunately we had the Bishop to answer some of the questions eloquently such as why women can't have the priesthood and such. Don't fall out of your chair, but since I've been on my mission it has really helped me realize and respect truly the divine and distinct roles between men and women. That they truly are different, but equal. They are still reading in the Book of Mormon everyday (even though they wake up to go to work at five and get home from work after seven... seven days a week). He said it so simply, and in English basically said, "Well, if we want to know if this really is true, we got to put in the work and sacrifice, there isn't any other way to find out". They are still working to change their schedule so that they can come to church, but for now we just keep praying for a miracle! Also this past week we have been working with the Elders Quorum Presidents wife to get her ready for the fifteenth! Since a lot of our past lessons have been quite intense, commandments and such, we decided we would simply read a chapter with her. Well she just restarted in the begining, and so we got to read the awesome chapter seven of the first book of Nefi. It was the perfect chapter for her, as it really talks about how el Senor has power to do all things... according to His will. Also, when Nephi is tied up by his brothers, just as Elder Bednar says in the atonement talk, he doesn't ask for a change of situation, he just asks that the Lord can give him strength to overcome the situation. She is facing a lot of different challenges, but she shared that she felt like this is just what she needed to be reminded of. We aren't going to ever be tried more than we can face, so just ask the Lord for the strength to face it! 
So as mentioned earlier… this week has been a very humbling week. Hermana Townsend and I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about la obra misional. So down here in the south of the I-10, there are a lot of English-speakers... compared to other areas we have served. Before we could knock for an hour and receive a handful of potential investigators... whereas on friday we knocked for multiple hours and received one potential investigator... for the English missionaries. NEVERTHELESS. We are super excited, because God is just giving us the opportunity to grow as missionaries! We just feel really impressed that we have to learn how to work more effectively with the members, especially with the holidays coming up! We know there are tens of thousands prepared to recieve the gospel in this area, as President has promised, and we just have to trust in the Lord to know how to find them! So, pray for our area! "Fasting and prayer demands miracles". :)
I know that we have a very loving Heavenly Father, who is always looking out for us. This morning I read in Romans 8:32 "He spared not His own son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things". Just imagine the truly infinite love He has for us. He has given us everything. Everything. Our amazing families. Our bodies. Kolaches. Agency. Even His only begotten. So why not trust in Him?
I love you all so much! Happy December! Have a great week. Remember who you are and all you stand for. Make good choices. Replace fear with faith! :)
les quiero demasiado,
Hermana Draper



With Brother Villegas

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