New Year's Related Title 1/6/14

WOW IT SEEMS LIKE I HAVENT WRITTEN SINCE LAST YEAR. *forced laughter from the audience*

Hey people, I love you all. 

This week was beyond awesome. One of our investigators got dumped by her member boyfriend so we partook of much Ben & Jerry's and did rejoice. She's solid though and still 100% ready to make the covenant of baptism. I am so stoked for her. She's probably two feet tall and adorable as heck and she is the one who brought us shakes one time. So good. 

We also had a lesson with a less active, Skyler. She brought us gifts! Lotion from Bath&Body and she asked if we would help her move later in the week. 

We had a lesson with Chenisse (AKA golden investigator). She's read all the way to Alma and I am in love with her for doing so. We had a lesson in the parking lot outside of Sears, cause we can't meet in her home. Her parents are quite opposed to the idea, so we ended up in Jesse's car teaching her the Restoration. It's crazy though because the spirit can still be in an old beat up Jeep. The church is true. 

I got a letter from Darlene AND Nathan this week (what more can a girl ask for?) and Sister Heck threatened to kill me several times out of pure rage, cause she didn't get letters this week and I got too many. Thou shalt not covet. 

The weirdest moment this week is when a crazy guy came up to us at the park and told us how he saw hell while he was working in the oil fields. He saw people climbing up out of the fire and gripping onto the pipes. I didn't know whether to laugh or scream during this time. It was a fun interruption to our lesson that day.

We also had an awesome street lesson. Shout-out to the spirit who leads us in all things! Sister Heck felt like, even though we had gone there several times and found NO ONE, that we should try and contact downtown. We ran into Donny and had a lesson on a bench. He had been praying to find church. He had been to an LDS church before but was never baptized. Solid guy.

The best so far though was the lesson we had with the Hathcocks. We hadn't felt ready to go into the last half of the plan of salvation, and we didnt know why. The spirit kept saying "NO!" and finally on our third lesson, we had planned on reading Alma 40 (the spirit world and resurrection). and five minutes in, they get a call that Brother Hathcock's mother had passed. The spirit was so strong as we taught. Everyone in that room must've felt that it was not coincidence that we taught that lesson that day. Truly God knows all things. He does everything in his own timing. And the two first lessons when we left the house literally saying "WHY!? Why can't we get through the second half?"... just. Now I understand. All we can do is be guided by the spirit in all things, and one day we'll see the big picture. It's all in God's timing.

I love you all lots and lots. 

Sister Valdez