Well, another transfer come and gone. We actually got transfer calls on Saturday night because President Passey wanted us to be able to say goodbye to everyone on Sunday at church so we could dedicate Monday to the work. So we had heard that there was a 50% chance we would stay or leave. And since I have been in the valley for 4 1/2 months already I assumed I would be leaving. Bummer, but that is how missionary work goes. So the zone leaders always get calls first telling them what is happening and then they tell us if we should wait for a call or if we are staying together. Well... WE ARE STAYING TOGETHER! We were so stoked! I had prepared myself mentally to leave and hearing that I get to spend another month and a half in the Kimball first branch was awesome! I have come to love it here so much and the people are so incredible! When we told people we were staying together it was just a big celebration! haha I love it and am going to make this transfer last as long as it can haha.
So we had a really inspirational week. We were able to start seeing a lot of the fruits of our labor.
Wednesday night Johnny and Sean went to the temple for the first time to do baptisms! After they got home Johnny sent us a text that just made me heart leap for joy! He said "it was wonderful....felt like the spirit lifted me higher and more confident to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. It is so great.....felt like I'm much closer to them nowadays than ever before....Thank you both so much."
We also were able to meet with Johnny this week and talk about Patriarchal blessings! From the minute we started explaining what it is, he just got more and more and more excited! I know I say this every week, but it has just been so much fun and a blessing to see how quickly the gospel can change someones life! There have been so many examples of that that I've seen, that it is impossible for me to ever doubt! I know that if we just put in that little bit of faith and desire to work and change, we can feel the gospel change us into the person we need to be! I have felt it work in my life these past 10 months and I know that I have much more to experience! I just cant wait to see what the gospel does for the rest of the people I meet!
On Friday morning the elders over the Young Single Adults branch called us and asked if we could help them teach a lesson that afternoon. They met a guy named Angel who had moved here from Mexico. He doesn't speak English. One of the elders is a Spanish elder but he didn't want to teach alone so we helped them out. Angel is hilarious! He has so much desire to learn what God has in store for him and to feel closer to Him as well. He asks such incredible questions, we know that he is always thinking. At the end of our first lesson with him, the spirit was so strong and he just seemed so stoked to learn more. Elder Hughes invited him to be baptized on September 13 and he basically said "of course!" We are way stoked! Yesterday we had another meeting with them and we just explained the Book of Mormon a little more and read Alma 32. He had been reading over the weekend and had some questions for us. The first question was in 1 Nephi 4. He was wondering why Nephi was commanded to kill someone if that is against the 10 commandments. We explained the situation and how it says in verse 13 that "it is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief". He seemed to understand that pretty well. As we continued reading the chapter, we got to the part where Nephi (dressed as Laban) and Zoram go out to meet Nephi's brothers and they think he is Laban and that he will kill them. When we read that Angel said "He is going to kill them too?! hahahaha". I don't know why but it was just hilarious! He was laughing really hard and so we were all laughing and then Elder Hughes' poor companion who doesn't know Spanish had no clue what was going on. It was a fun lesson.
So yesterday Jordan came out to go visit some people with us. Back story: on Wednesday he was texting us asking for help answering some questions that his friend has about the church. Then on Thursday he asked us how he could invite some friends he has to learn about the gospel. We were telling him that he was doing some great missionary work and he said "i figure since I didn't go on a mission, i can make up for it now." He is only 22 years old so we told him that he can still totally go on a mission, that he just needed to meet with the Branch President to work everything out. That night he sent a text to President Arbizo saying "how can I get information about going to the temple, getting a patriarchal blessing and going on a mission?" Needless to say our Branch President was floored! They met that same night and now have a goal set for Jordan to start working on his mission papers in December! BAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Sooooooo awesome! Jordan is so stoked now and he talks about it all the time. It's so incredible! So we told him that he could come visit people with us to just get a taste of what missionary work is like. So he signed up to come out with us on his only day off work. We had a lesson with him before we went out about the restoration of the gospel and he was so touched. He just explained to us that after feeling like that, with the spirit so strong, there is no way he could ever doubt it. He is doing incredibly. Just another example of how the gospel can change someone so quickly!
Well, that's about it! Love you all so much! Keep letting the gospel work through your life! Remember that any trials or tribulations we have are so temporary. Heavenly Father knows us each and no matter how hard times get, no matter how much we think we need a trial to be lifted, He knows the right timing and He will do what is best for us. "Trusting God is having faith in His timing".
Have a good week!
Love,
Hermana Lundquist