WHAT A WEEK!

Beautiful sunset in Katyland!

1/13/14

Hola Familia!! Feliz 13 de Enero. Well this week has been amazing! I've had a true rejuvenation for what it really means to be a servant of the Lord. It all started last Monday when we attended a funeral for a member in our ward. I never had the chance to meet him because he was always in the hospital in Houston with a serious heart condition, but we had the chance to visit with his wife and kids once or twice. The relief society president asked us to accompany her, so we got permission to go to Houston for the service. When we arrive, guess who is asked to offer the opening prayer? Me. What? I just had a deep "you know you are a missionary when..." moment as I thought about how I was saying a prayer. At a funeral. In Spanish. For a person I never even had the chance to personally know. It was a really special experience and it reminded me of how grateful I am for the knowledge of the eternal nature of families if we follow the laws and ordinances of the gospel!

Then on Tuesday we had the most incredible lesson with one of our investigators, remember the referral from the brother who's serving a mission? Well she hadn't been keeping commitments to read, pray or go to church so we were really trying to figure out how we could teach her to really understand how this is important for her life. We had planned to teach a certain lesson, but I'll be honest, going into the lesson I had no idea how it was going to go. It ended up going completely different, but by the end of the lesson she agreed to say the closing prayer, and she asked so fervently to know the truth of the Book of Mormon, I wish I could describe the feeling of how the spirit just flooded the room. After she said "amen" we all just sat there for a few minutes on our knees. No one wanted to be the first to break the silence. It was so powerful. Later that week we had another lesson with her, and we brought one of our members with us. I wish I could explain how perfect that member was for her. She bore her testimony of some trials that she had passed through (which were quite similar in the both of their lives) but how her faith got her through. The member also invited her to come to church, and she responded with some different excuses about how her brother would have the car, and such. The member just said she would come and pick her up then! It was quiet for a moment.. then she said ".. pues.. vamos entonces!". She came to church yesterday and she said that she really enjoyed it. The ward welcomed her right in! I got to teach the CTR 8 class yesterday, and so her daughter was in there with me. It was just such a miracle. 

So, for our very humbling miracle we had yesterday. We got out of church and headed to our first appointment which was up in the north part of our area, in a neighborhood called Sundown. Well his wife wasn't there yet, so we set up another appointment for later in the week. Then after receiving a few calls all of our appointments fell through for the night. We headed down to one of our back up plans. They weren't there... so we felt that we should try to see if a friend we had made the other day was home, who happens to live in the Sundown neighborhood as well. Well... they weren't home… so we got back in the car. I felt that we should knock some of the doors around, but I unfortunately shrugged it off and we headed back down into our area to try another potential. As we were saying the prayer to get out of the car I just felt so guilty! I knew that I had ignored an impression. I told Hermana Townsend and she said she felt the same. So we repented and came to the conclusion that we had to return to Sundown. (third times the charm right?). The first door we knocked was not the nicest person I've ever met… then we walked to the neighbors who were sitting outside! The first thing she says to us is "what church are you from and what do you believe?"... well then. We ended up standing there for two hours talking to her. She invited us to sit down about an hour in. She said that she was a Jehovah's witness, but she wasn't going right now. We talked for a while and I was surprised with how similar a lot of our beliefs were! Until we got to the subject of the Plan of Salvation and our purpose here on earth. She shared how hard it was when her sister died. It was so hard, because she believed that her soul died too, and that she isn't still alive, but would be again at the Resurrection? I didn't really understand. We testified boldly of the plan and how we know the eternal nature of our spirits, and the true purpose of why God did send us down to the earth, how it is just the beginning of the glory that is to come! She had lots and lots of questions, but we left with the invitation for her to pray about it, because God is the only one with all the answers. But get this... we got a return appointment!! She said she would be willing to have us come back and talk with her more. Man, what a lesson for us to learn. Never ignore the spirit. Never. But God is so merciful that even when we make mistakes, we can repent and He can still work His marvelous work!

I love being a missionary. I just can't explain how happy I am for this opportunity to be out here. The church is so true. I know that this is truly the Kingdom of God on the earth. I'm not just here trying to convince people to change religion, that's not the point, I am striving to prepare them to make sacred covenants with God that will help them on the path to eternal life!! 

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Remember to replace fear with faith and let the Lord guide your days! You never know when He will need to use you as one of His earthly angels to bless His children! I love you!

Les quiero demasiado,

Hermana Draper

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los cielos de texas. :)

i love you!