How is my wonderful family doing????? Wow, I can't believe all that is happening in our family right now! It's so wild! Man, I am so excited for these babies, it's just unreal! I can't wait for them :) I hope you are all doing well and loving life!!!!!
This week was crazy, but so good! Like I told you last week, it was Fallas, where they build giant statues and then burn them! It's crazy! All week there were fireworks everywhere! Seriously, all day there were just fireworks. It was insane--people were throwing them under our feet, they were there during lessons, there were cannons going off--it was wild! I think it was the craziest cultural thing I've ever seen haha. It was so fun though! I loved it. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see them burn, because they do it at midnight :( But that's okay, we had fun seeing them and still being part of it! Gotta love Spain--they party so hard haha!
Well, things are really good--we were so blessed this week and were able to teach so many lessons! There were so many people in the street and we were able to talk to so many people, and they were all so much more open than usual! So that was a huge blessing! We are teaching SO many people right now, it's crazy! I have never taught this many people in my whole mission. It's so fun though. The only problem is that none of them are really progressing. They are all standing on the edge of the font looking in haha. We are just praying and fasting and working our hearts out so the Lord pushes one of them in :) But things are good--we taught Cristobal and Susana and they aren't progressing, but at least they let us come once a week. We are still really good friends with them, they are just running from the gospel a little bit. But I know they will get baptized someday. Carmen is the same way--she knows it's true but is too afraid to get baptized. We are teaching Maria Angeles and she's still trying to quit smoking. Ricardo had to move, but Juan is still here, and he is going to get baptized--he's so prepared. We are just trying to help him come to church cause he has to work a lot. Same with Marcia, the mom of a recent convert--she wants to be baptized but works every Sunday. See? All on the edge of the font haha. But it's so fun. We are just doing everything we can and praying for miracles like crazy. I know the Lord will bless us--we are in the fourth watch of the night, and miracles will come.
Remember Vanessa and Enrique? The young Spanish couple? So we are teaching them the lessons and they really like it. Enrique is a priest in the Catholic church and is super, super Catholic but likes listening to the lessons and comparing it with his church. Vanessa grew up totally Catholic but doesn't believe it. They are seriously our best friends--we have SO much fun with them--ah, I love them so much. So usually--well always, we invite people to be baptized in the first lesson. But with them it's been different, cause we started by teaching them English, then we've slowly broken the ice by sharing little things with them, and now we are actually teaching them. And we've wanted to invite them to be baptized for SO long, but every time something happens--the phone rings, or something. So finally this week we said we are inviting them to be baptized NO MATTER WHAT! So we taught them about the atonement and then talked about baptism. Then we asked them to be baptized. They were like, "Oh, but we're already baptized!" We were like, "No, but in our church with the right authority." When we said that they both freaked out, talking over each other about how they love us so much, and they love everything we taught them, but they are Catholic and aren't going to change. Vanessa even cried, because she was afraid we would stop coming if they didn't get baptized. I started laughing and just told them that we love them so, so, so much and we are just here to invite, and that doesn't change the relationship we have with them. It was so interesting, because the Spirit was SO strong there, because we were saying how much we love them and were testifying of the Savior. Even though they didn´t accept it, I KNOW they will accept it someday and there is a seed planted. I know they will think about it and that it will never leave them alone. They are reading the BOM, and I know they will accept the gospel someday. It was weird because they said no, but I left just as happy as if they had said yes. Just having the opoprtunity to teach the gospel to people that I love so dearly is the biggest blessing in the whole world. That is something I've learned this week--that teaching the gospel to people I love is the most wonderful opportunity in the world, even if they don't accept it now.
Well, we are expecting miracles :) This week I have just been savoring every moment. Just letting go and loving everything--even when we were in the pouring rain with no coats or anything and SOAKING! Loving every rejection, every lesson, every person with all I have, because these moments are so sacred and it will be over before I know it.
This week I learned an amazing lesson. The past few months I've been pretty sad because I felt like I hadn't had that much success on my mission. But this week I was reading when the Savior is suffering in Gethsamane and says, "Not what I wilt, but what thou wilt." And it occurred to me that it all comes down to letting go of our own will. The Savior had the strength to do the atonement because He let go of His own will and aligned it with that of His father. That's what gave Him the strength. When we let go of our will and align it with our Father's, it gives us strength. When our will is aligned with His, all the frustration, bitterness, anxiety, and struggle disappears, because we trust the Lord enough to know that He is in charge and knows what's best for us. It doesn't take away the pain completely, but it takes away the struggle. It's like that moment when a teenager realizes that fighting against their parents only brings trouble, but once they let go and humble themselves and put themselves on the page of their parents, they have more privileges, they are happier, and they have more confidence. It's exactly the same with us! We just have to let go of our will and align it with our Father's--that gives us strength, confidence, and true peace, because we know that He is our Father and will give us the blessings that will benefit us the most--in His time and His way.
Anyway, that was seriously a life-changing realization for me. I am so grateful for the struggles I've had the past few months--if I would've had lots of baptisms, I would never have learned the precious lessons I've learned. I have never been this close to my Father and my Savior and felt of their love more in my life. He knows us perfectly and knows what will benefit us the most.
I feel so much peace, and I know that I have done everything I can, and now it's in His hands. If He chooses to bless us with baptisms, I would be overjoyed, of course. But if not, I have so much joy in the lessons I have learned and the refining it has done for me. Either way I will have peace and joy :)
Wow, sorry to ramble on so much! Thank you so much for being the most wonderful family in the whole world! I can't wait to see your faces! I love you SO, so much!
Hermana Boyer
This week was crazy, but so good! Like I told you last week, it was Fallas, where they build giant statues and then burn them! It's crazy! All week there were fireworks everywhere! Seriously, all day there were just fireworks. It was insane--people were throwing them under our feet, they were there during lessons, there were cannons going off--it was wild! I think it was the craziest cultural thing I've ever seen haha. It was so fun though! I loved it. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see them burn, because they do it at midnight :( But that's okay, we had fun seeing them and still being part of it! Gotta love Spain--they party so hard haha!
Well, things are really good--we were so blessed this week and were able to teach so many lessons! There were so many people in the street and we were able to talk to so many people, and they were all so much more open than usual! So that was a huge blessing! We are teaching SO many people right now, it's crazy! I have never taught this many people in my whole mission. It's so fun though. The only problem is that none of them are really progressing. They are all standing on the edge of the font looking in haha. We are just praying and fasting and working our hearts out so the Lord pushes one of them in :) But things are good--we taught Cristobal and Susana and they aren't progressing, but at least they let us come once a week. We are still really good friends with them, they are just running from the gospel a little bit. But I know they will get baptized someday. Carmen is the same way--she knows it's true but is too afraid to get baptized. We are teaching Maria Angeles and she's still trying to quit smoking. Ricardo had to move, but Juan is still here, and he is going to get baptized--he's so prepared. We are just trying to help him come to church cause he has to work a lot. Same with Marcia, the mom of a recent convert--she wants to be baptized but works every Sunday. See? All on the edge of the font haha. But it's so fun. We are just doing everything we can and praying for miracles like crazy. I know the Lord will bless us--we are in the fourth watch of the night, and miracles will come.
Remember Vanessa and Enrique? The young Spanish couple? So we are teaching them the lessons and they really like it. Enrique is a priest in the Catholic church and is super, super Catholic but likes listening to the lessons and comparing it with his church. Vanessa grew up totally Catholic but doesn't believe it. They are seriously our best friends--we have SO much fun with them--ah, I love them so much. So usually--well always, we invite people to be baptized in the first lesson. But with them it's been different, cause we started by teaching them English, then we've slowly broken the ice by sharing little things with them, and now we are actually teaching them. And we've wanted to invite them to be baptized for SO long, but every time something happens--the phone rings, or something. So finally this week we said we are inviting them to be baptized NO MATTER WHAT! So we taught them about the atonement and then talked about baptism. Then we asked them to be baptized. They were like, "Oh, but we're already baptized!" We were like, "No, but in our church with the right authority." When we said that they both freaked out, talking over each other about how they love us so much, and they love everything we taught them, but they are Catholic and aren't going to change. Vanessa even cried, because she was afraid we would stop coming if they didn't get baptized. I started laughing and just told them that we love them so, so, so much and we are just here to invite, and that doesn't change the relationship we have with them. It was so interesting, because the Spirit was SO strong there, because we were saying how much we love them and were testifying of the Savior. Even though they didn´t accept it, I KNOW they will accept it someday and there is a seed planted. I know they will think about it and that it will never leave them alone. They are reading the BOM, and I know they will accept the gospel someday. It was weird because they said no, but I left just as happy as if they had said yes. Just having the opoprtunity to teach the gospel to people that I love so dearly is the biggest blessing in the whole world. That is something I've learned this week--that teaching the gospel to people I love is the most wonderful opportunity in the world, even if they don't accept it now.
Well, we are expecting miracles :) This week I have just been savoring every moment. Just letting go and loving everything--even when we were in the pouring rain with no coats or anything and SOAKING! Loving every rejection, every lesson, every person with all I have, because these moments are so sacred and it will be over before I know it.
This week I learned an amazing lesson. The past few months I've been pretty sad because I felt like I hadn't had that much success on my mission. But this week I was reading when the Savior is suffering in Gethsamane and says, "Not what I wilt, but what thou wilt." And it occurred to me that it all comes down to letting go of our own will. The Savior had the strength to do the atonement because He let go of His own will and aligned it with that of His father. That's what gave Him the strength. When we let go of our will and align it with our Father's, it gives us strength. When our will is aligned with His, all the frustration, bitterness, anxiety, and struggle disappears, because we trust the Lord enough to know that He is in charge and knows what's best for us. It doesn't take away the pain completely, but it takes away the struggle. It's like that moment when a teenager realizes that fighting against their parents only brings trouble, but once they let go and humble themselves and put themselves on the page of their parents, they have more privileges, they are happier, and they have more confidence. It's exactly the same with us! We just have to let go of our will and align it with our Father's--that gives us strength, confidence, and true peace, because we know that He is our Father and will give us the blessings that will benefit us the most--in His time and His way.
Anyway, that was seriously a life-changing realization for me. I am so grateful for the struggles I've had the past few months--if I would've had lots of baptisms, I would never have learned the precious lessons I've learned. I have never been this close to my Father and my Savior and felt of their love more in my life. He knows us perfectly and knows what will benefit us the most.
I feel so much peace, and I know that I have done everything I can, and now it's in His hands. If He chooses to bless us with baptisms, I would be overjoyed, of course. But if not, I have so much joy in the lessons I have learned and the refining it has done for me. Either way I will have peace and joy :)
Wow, sorry to ramble on so much! Thank you so much for being the most wonderful family in the whole world! I can't wait to see your faces! I love you SO, so much!
Hermana Boyer
No comments:
Post a Comment