Houston Frozen...
3/10/14
Hola Familia!
Wow. What a week. I can't believe it
is already Monday again... and what a week that we've got coming up!! I am so,
so excited to see pictures (wedding) and all. I just know it is going to
be fantastic. Congratulations Erin and Chris! I love you so much!
Also this week I'm going to be
hitting my year mark.... where did that year go? Hermana Townsend and I were
laughing when we realized we have literally been doing the exact same thing
every single day for a year. Wake up at 6:15, exercise, study...etc. It
certainly doesn't feel like it. But at the same time, to look back at all the
changes and progression, it seems like it's been forever! But here we go. Home
stretch. I just imagine Rockne (track coach) yelling at us to sprint it in,
give it your all until you are long passed the finish line.
And with that... we had an awesome
week full of miracles! From members popping out of nowhere that we didn't know
existed who want to come back to church to investigators accepting baptismal
dates. It was a good week! I've realized my past emails have been a bit...
extensive, so I'll try and be a bit more concise this time. I'll try...
Well… sometimes writing is a bit difficult
because I always talk about the same people, but never use their names... and
so they become the "new family" or such and such.. Well anyway. One
of the families we are teaching, that as previously explained, is incredible
prepared. Their kids ask the best questions, but then they also are starting to
answer some of each others questions with what we've taught and it's amazing.
Well this past week we taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ with the
importance of faith, repentance, baptism by immersion, and the laying on of
hands to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And I was amazed at how some of
those ideas were such new concepts to them. The Hermana said she didn't know
the real purpose of repentance. And as we talked about how the whole reason we
do it isn't for clearance, but it is for change of heart, she was amazed. Her
whole life it had just been "confession", but even after confessing
she still felt guilty and unsatisfied, and now she understood why. They
committed to pray for a specific baptismal date, and I am so excited for them!
They are reading and praying, now they just have to come to church. This week
is spring break, and so a lot of families left on Friday after school, but
hopefully they come next week!
One cool miracle of how the Lord
places us in the right place at the right time. Well, we were headed to an
appointment... but we had to use the restroom. Rather than waiting and using
the families, we decided to stop by the gas station. As we were leaving I said
bye and have a good night to the attendant, and the man paying flipped his head
and just starred us down. I felt a little silly, but hey, I was just being
kind! Well as we were getting in the car he came up to us and asked us if we
were from the Mormon church, well… yeah! He said he was baptized in 96 in
Colombia and just recently he and his wife have been wanting to come back to
church. We got his information and he asked us for a Book of Mormon so he could
start reading again. We have an appointment with them on Wednesday!
This past Sunday we had ward
conference, and it was really incredible. And the "missionaries
sister" came (again with the ambiguous names...) and loved it!! The stake
president in the Spanish Houston West Stake is awesome and he gave a
beautiful talk about… well... life. But in his talk he related us to the story
of la tortuga y el conejo (the tortoise and the hare). Sometimes we want to be
like the hare and run ahead, over serve for a while and then once we think
we are good, take a break for a while. But really the purpose of the
gospel is to take it all step by step. Don't go faster than you have
strength but don't be idle either. Be constantly striving for progression.
And he shared in Hebrews 12:1-2... "...let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us RUN WITH
PATIENCE the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith...." And it explains in verse 10 that it
is "...for our profit, that we might be partakers of his
holiness." Or, receive eternal life!! So he invited us all to really think
of the things that will help us "lay aside every weight" and put
on the "horse blinders" to focus our minds in on Jesus, and
the finish line. To remember our purpose for why we are here in this state of
probation, and how we can help others remember it as well. So I invite you
all to ponder on that too!
And one last thing. Remember my dear,
dear friend GG? She is the neighbor to one of our members in the senior living
center, and our member referred us to her because she was so
lonely because her family had abandoned her. Well we ended up having
such an awesome relationship with GG, and we had the chance to serve her in
many ways, and I really grew to love that lady. She even made us her
special banana bread for Valentines. She had the hardest life, but she
explained that she turned out so good because she didn't have parents, so God
raised her. If there is one thing that is for certain, that woman loved Jesus.
She had alzheimers, so we weren't able to really teach her of the restored
gospel, but the spirit was always so strong when we would sing hymns together.
Well we realized we hadn't seen her for a little while, so last night we felt
like we should call her and see if we could come by. Well we called and someone
else answered. My heart kind of sank as she said that she was her daughter. She
told us that GG passed away on Thursday. Man. We both just cried. Missions are
so much more that I ever expected. That the Lord allows us to develop such strong
love for His children. She may not have accepted the fullness of the gospel in
this life, but I know that she is so happy right now. She always bragged about
how she had the best voice in her Baptist choir, and I know she's probably
singing at the top of her lungs now. And I've already promised myself to make
sure that her work is done, I don't know how... but it will be done. How
grateful are we to know of this great plan of salvation. Death isn't the end,
but really just a beginning, and a big step towards our divine potential.
I love being a missionary. Thank you
all for the love and support. I hope you all have a wonderful, wonderful week
and I can't wait to see the pictures on Monday :) Until then, remember who you
are and all you stand for. Make good choices. Replace fear with faith.
les quiero demasiado,
Hermana Draper
This is my 'dime' GG.
I love this lady and I am going to miss her so much.
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