Week 23

Hello family! Happy New Year! Well I can hardly believe that 2009 is here! I am excited to serve this entire year as a missionary! Well I hope you are all staying warm but if it makes you feel any better it froze here the other night. There was frost on the grass and the windows. I was freezing. It didn't stay cold for long though. This week has been great. We had a busy week and Sister Hoover felt pretty good this week so we were able to work harder. It is amazing how truly blessed we are. I have seen the Lord's hand over and over again this week. Sister Hoover and I want to be working harder but every time she gets energy it is spent quickly and she needs to rest. The Lord knows our desires to work and has compensated by placing his children right in front of us. We talked to a bunch of people on Monday just walking for an hour or so. We had a lesson with Marcela who is a recent convert. When we got there 2 of here grandkids were there. I love unplanned member lessons! We talked about baptism and the elements that make up the gospel. The kids were so excited and read the scriptures with us and answered the questions. They are smart kids. They want to come to church but their parents aren't big fans. We are praying for their hearts to be softened. We also went to the Bautista's and had family home evening with them. Little Juanito wants to be baptized so bad! He is so excited every time we come. He has had all of the lessons but his dad won't let him come to church either. He doesn't want him to miss soccer. He wouldn't have missed soccer this last Sunday so there is something more. As soon as we can get permission we will have a baptism. We are not quite sure what we need to do but the desire is there for this little boy. His cousin Nicole also wants to get baptized but her parents are not too thrilled. They will hopefully come around as the little testimonies of these children grow. All we can do is pray and continue to teach and serve. I think there are about 5 potential baptisms in the Bautista home. We also had a marvelous member lesson on Sunday. The first Sunday of every month we eat at Sister Wiseman's home. She is a fireball. She is in her 80's and recently returned from a mission. She is constantly working as a missionary. She is a dear friend to 2 of our investigators. One of them she invited to dinner on Sunday. It was wonderful. The spirit was amazing. After dinner we went and decided to knock. The day before I had chosen a street to knock and you will never believe what happened. I picked a street full of apartment complexes. Leave it to me. That's what I get for not liking knocking a whole lot. It just scares me. We found a new investigator. We are going over there tonight. Sister Hoover also felt prompted to give a Book of Mormon to a young man. I was talking and she just interrupted and gave him the book. It was pretty amazing. We picked up where we left off Sunday and the first door we knocked on was a young lady named Jenny. She invited us in. She told us that her husband and his family were all members but she wasn't. Her mother in law talked their 3 girls to church every Sunday. Two of her husband’s brothers had recently returned from their missions. While we were there all of them came over. They were in shock to see the missionaries sitting there. We visited for awhile and then shared a scripture. They asked me to offer the prayer. I was saying the prayer I felt prompted to ask that we could all receive witnesses that we are children of God. I have never felt that so strongly before. It was amazing the peace that filled the room and my heart as I acted on the Spirit. After we left Sister Hoover told me that she felt like she knew them. As we were driving home we talked about and it is a blessing from our Heavenly Father. When we got home she realized how she knew them. She had seen them in a dream before I came here. She knew that we needed to find a family to be baptized. It was a remarkable experience and I know that it is because I am in the right place. God truly loves us and is aware of each and everyone of us. He leads us to those we need if we are faithful. I love all of you and hope you all have a wonderful week! You are the best! I know that the gospel is true! I know that God and Jesus live and that we can return to live with them again. Never forget who you are. We are all children of God no matter what. Love you!