Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Letter from Oct. 18

Hello hello,

So things are goin good in Mesaaa. Before I forget, from now on...if you want you can send snail mail to me at "525 E. Main  St., Mesa, AZ, 85203"...that's the Visitor's Center. That will make it so I can avoid the delay. The only time you wouldn't send it there is if I go fullfield, which would be in January at the earliest probably.

Anywho...thanks for all your emails! Sounds like you're having a good time, and I just love to hear all your words of wisdom and everything. So let's see the highlights.

Well this past week we fasted for new investigators, and they have come! We met one at the first house we were knocking at while we fasted, and it's this 23 year old lady, with 3 kids, whose husband just died of cancer..so sad. So she's Dina and her mom is Rosa. So she is really nice and really wants to learn a lot, so she's new. Then we also have Berenice who was a referral from the Oakland VC, who's 10 year old daughter used to come to church a lot. So she's also new! It's interesting as we're getting more potentials and more new investigators to have to try to discern who is really "prepared" for this unique message that we share. For instance, one 16 year old kid named Miguel told us he wants to learn "historias"...he has lots of great questions, but he mostly just wants information. Then other people want to learn more about God, and so it's a matter of teaching them more about God, but teaching them that this is a unique, fully restored, fullness of his Gospel. Obviously people constantly get us confused with Jehovah's Witnesses and stuff, and it seems like to many it's just that all missionaries do the same job, no matter what religion they affiliate with. So I don't know why I'm telling you that...it's just been interesting to see how to raise their expectations with our expectations.

Oh...we do have one potential that's pretty awesome. I might have told you about him...his name's Jorge, he's 17 years old. He lives next door to a referral, and we got the feeling like we should knock on his door, and we did, and he's read some of the Book of Mormon and all that, and he's awesome. THEN last pday, after emailing we went to walmart. And as we were there pondering over cereals in aisle 12, we hear a "Hey!" and it's JORGE! And he came up and talked to us and was like "I don't know why I keep seeing you guys all over the place, I tell you it's a sign!" and we're like "Yeah....must be!" hahaha. Anyways, so he's awesome, hopefully we can begin teaching him soon.

What else...Jose is having a rough time right now. His baptismal date is long gone, and we're hoping to set another one soon. This past week we had a lesson w/ him and Hmo Garcia, our branch mission leader, and it went really well. Then on Saturday we had a baptism of an 8 year old girl in our ward. Sis Tejada and I sang at it and also had the chance to bear our testimonies, it was a really good event. So Jose came to that with his daughter! But then on Sunday he couldn't come to church. Yesterday we found out that he lost his job, is getting evicted in a few days, all of this...no bueno. So we're trying to figure out how we can help him out. Employment, like in the Tujunga ward, is a big issue here too...not so much w/ members, but w/ a lot of investigators asking if we can help them find work. OH..also, funny thing, Jose texted us on Sunday and goes "hermanas you always ask me if there's anything  you can do for me, and finally there is. Can you loan me $300?" Hahahhaa, oh man. Sticky situation. BUt it worked out. So that's definitely something we have to deal with here too. ANyways, so on Sunday David and Guadalupe came to church! And the ward has definitely just really accepted them, they really get along well. David supposedly loved priesthood and was participating tons, and Guadalupe's going to a RS activity tonight. So that's really good, it makes such a difference with the members involved. And this week one family is gonna go over and invite them to have an FHE at their house with us, which will be great. So that is good news! Also, Ana, who was the one who came last week, went to church w/ her friend at her ward, which was good.

Hmm...what else. VC is going well. It's interesting that I was so unsure about the VC when I got my call, and now I can't imagine anything else...I LOVE working in the visitor's center, meant to be. A few days ago I confirmed a call for a guy who's at Camp Pendleton Marine Base, who's getting deployed in a few months to Afghanistan. That was a cool experience.

I had one crazy experience this past week. Last last friday we had prep meeting, and there one of teh sister's, Sister Hansen, who works in the VC but has been fullfield for 3 transfers (so I barely know her), bore her testimony. There were a lot of things in there that struck me about it...particularly, she talked about how she's come to have "conversations with God" when she prays, and that was somehting that really influenced me. Then,this past week, she was here and she pulls me aside and goes "I want to ask if my testimony meant anything to you?" and I said yes, and she told me that that night she had prayed to know who her testimony was for, and my face came to her mind. And we don't even know eachother that well! And then I started thinking about it, and I realized that the entire week I had been thinking TONS about a lot of things she had said...about forgiveness, praying, opening your heart, everything. What's more, I asked my comp about it, adn she told me that to her and some other sisters Sister Hansen's testimony didn't make any sense at all...while to me it was just what I needed. Crazy, no? God definitely works through people.

Anyways, I must be off. I love you all so so so much, thanks for all your support. Keep praying and reading...I've realized that miracles are awesome, they're exciting and motivating, but that's not what has converted me...it's the amount of time I devote to studying and praying each day. So there you have it! I love you all!

Love, Hermana Fors


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