The Donaldsons
hot here but it's also been super stormy all week! The weather here is
so bipolar! The humidity is killing me although I know it will only
get worse! I had kind of a rough week bc I felt super lethargic still
and my brain felt like a tv full of static sometimes but good news, I
have cut yeast and sugar out of my diet and we are moving into another
apartment today! No more black mold! Hopefully it helps me feel
better! The Donaldsons left this morning :( so we are moving into
their place. My companions have been nice enough to let me have the
queen bed! I'm so lucky!
We have had some really amazing experiences with a family named the
Lucios and we love them so much! We met Hna Lucio and their kids Reina
and Toni at Walmart a few weeks ago and they gave us their address but
it was in a town that we never heard of! We finally had the car last
week and on Monday we decided to drive out there and were hoping and
praying they were home bc we felt like we needed to just pop in. It
was SUPER awkward at first but after we broke the ice we had an
amazing experience that night as we taught them the message of the
restoration. As we shared out testimonies of the Savior, the spirit
was really strong and they opened up to us about their daughter Reina
who wasn't there. She had broken up with her boyfriend a few weeks ago
and was so upset that she took a lot of pills and tried to kill
herself. Her parents pleaded with us that we would come back and talk
to her because they are really really worried about her. Well, Hna
Lucio called us Wednesday and asked us to come over that night to meet
with Reina. We taught about the plan of salvation and as we talked
about the Atonement if Jesus Christ, I felt prompted to share my
personal story of how I overcame a horrible break up through the help
of the Savior. It was a really sacred experience for me because for a
really long time, I have wondered why I ever got myself into that
relationship and why I had to go through that- but Wednesday I came to
understand that I had that trial and I had to experience that so I
could share it with Reina. Before that point, she hadn't really opened
up but as I poured out my heart to her, we both began to cry and feel
the love of our Savior. It was probably one of the most powerful
experiences I have had on my mission. We are planning to meet up with
Reina again and we really feel like her family has been prepared for
the gospel, they are amazing! Also, Toni, the 8 year old reminds me SO
much of the youngest kid on the show "The Middle," he is so weird and
so funny! I'll have to get pictures this week!
Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with Sister Cotton in the Smith
Springs ward and it was so fun being in a different area and meeting
new people! One family we taught us from Haiti and all of the children
are baptized but not the mom because their dad won't marry her even
though they've been together forever and have 4 kids together. She is
so precious. This sister knows the Book of Mormon like the back of her
hand and didn't hesitate to go and give her neighbor a restoration
pamphlet in Spanish when I offered to give her one to share. She is
praying that she will find a way to be baptized the 17th of July and I
believe that it's going to happen! All of the kids made plans to have
family prayer everyday and pray for specific things that they need
help with as a family. It was so amazing to hear their goals. There is
so much power in family prayer and it truly unites us! It helps us
remember our purpose here in earth and out purpose as a family.
Thursday we had an appointment with a guy we met at Walmart- Walmart
is a goldmine!- his name is David and we were a little hesitant at
first of what his intentions were when he invited us over. He totally
surprised me in the lesson, he was so real with what he thought or
felt and he completely understood the restoration and what it means!
We are just praying that he'll get work off on Sunday so he can make
it to church! That night we went to our appointment with Flor and Jose
was home too! They fed us corn on the cob, sooo good! Then Flor said
that she had all of the ingredients ready to make Papusas with us!
Best surprise ever! We had a blast making dinner with them and Flor
also made this incredibly delicious pineapple mango juice from
scratch! We had a yummy dinner and we taught the plan of salvation
afterwards and it was wonderful. Because of our great relationship
with them, we were able to be really open with them and truly speak
from our hearts and invite them to do things because we really truly
love them. The spirit was really strong and we know that they are so
close to feeling truly converted to the things that we teach.
Friday night we had such a fun time at the Kimbers making gorditas!
Hna Kimber's friend Elsa was there who isn't a member and she really
warmed up to us. She wasn't sure about us when she met us the last
time but she really likes Hna Torres! Probably because she's a Mexican
too! The food was so yummy and it was so nice, as always, to be with
all of them! We were able to share a message about our purpose on
earth and sing "Mas Santidad Dame" and the spirit touched each of our
hearts. That song is so powerful in bringing the spirit.
Saturday we had Spansih conference! It was so amazing! The second we
sat down there was a man on the projector via skyo and Hna Torres
looks at me and says, "That's my grandpa!" Well, pretty much her
grandpa! Another Elder from Mexico heard about him- Elder Alvarez-
who's been in every calling you could possibly think of besides an
Apostle and so the a Elder got in contact with him and asked him to
speak to us from Mexico! They had no idea Hna Torres was related to
him- tender mercy! He asked someone to read a scripture when he was
speaking and we forced Hna Torres to stand up and read it and it was
so cute- he asked her what her name was and then when she told him, he
took his glasses off and squinted his eyes and said, "Is that my
granddaughter?" It was adorable! He is an incredible man and had so
many amazing things to share with us concerning the Spanish work.
Everyone was confused at lunch when they served us lasagna. Lasagna at
a Spanish conference- only my ward would do that :) they're special!
The lasagna was super yummy but we were all expecting some kind of
yummy Spanish dish! It was funny to see everyone's reactions. It
really was a wonderful conference and it was such an amazing
experience to get to be with all of the Spanish missionaries and feel
the spirit of our sacred work with the Lamanites. It was so nice
seeing all of my friends like Hna Knecht and Hna Stricklin! After the
meeting we rushed to the Donaldsons and has dinner with them. It was
kind of our goodbye party. We had a lesson with Alex Javier that night
and were so pleasantly surprised to see his sister Riccy there who is
a member but hasn't been active for a while. She was incredible and
helped us teach Alex about faith. Then we got to the part about
repentance and something incredible happened. We watched the video"The
Mediator" and talked about how God's laws must be just but with Jesus
Christ there is mercy and He provides a way for us to be freed from
our sins and anything that might keep us from being worthy to live
with Him again. Riccy broke down about how she feels bad about things
she has done and doesn't feel worthy to be in church. Hna Schmit and I
were able to share our win experiences and testify to her that she
will never be unworthy to go to church or to receive the blessings if
the gospel because she has a Savior who wants to take those things
away from her. The most amazing part is that Alex was testifying to
her as well! It was such a blessing to see how he really is developing
a testimony of his own.
Alex came to church on Sunday and stayed for second hour again. He is
doing so well and we feel like he will be ready for baptism next week.
It has been such a blessing to see how the teachings of the gospel
have changed him. After church we had lunch with Hna Vasquez and her
cute daughter. She is so amazing and has really taken the things of
the gospel into her heart. She found the church within the last ten
years and has such a solid testimony of everything. We had a lesson
with our friend Adrian after that and it was extraordinary! He read 2
Nephi 31 the night before and had some questions so we read it again
with him. We talked about baptism and the gift if the Holy Ghost and
he really soaked it in. At first he was saying that he didn't feel
like he needed to be baptized, and as we asked more questions he
opened up about how he didn't feel worthy to be baptized. We simply
testified that he is a son of God and that he was definitely worthy of
baptism if he had a sincere heart to be better and change his life.
Without us even asking, he said that he wanted to be baptized and he
decided to be baptized on July 27th- his brother's birthday! It was so
beautiful to see how the Spirit not only opened his heart but truly
helped him to understand the things that we shared with him and it was
so amazing to see him light up when he made the decision! I cannot
wait to skype into his baptism after my homecoming talk on the 27th!
I know that waking up at 5 everyday played a huge part in the miracles
that we have seen. Sacrifice truly does being forth the blessings of
Heaven!
Brother and sisters, something I've learned this week is that the
adversary is really good at making us feel like we are not worth the
blessings that Heavenly Father has in store for us. That is a complete
lie. We have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who has made it possible for us
to always be worthy of whatever God has planned for us. I hope you can
all feel how special you are to God and know that you have so much
worth and have the ability to be great!
I love y'all!
Hermana Knight
Melody being crazy again.
We woke up at 5 am and found this guy passed out on the curb in the
rain. He was soaking wet. He finally got up around 7 and went back in
his apartment downstairs!
rain. He was soaking wet. He finally got up around 7 and went back in
his apartment downstairs!
The Hermanas in Paducah right now! Saying goodbye to the Requelmes who are going
back to Chili this weeks!
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