Update from Los Alamos... This week was what they call ''Semana Santo'' and for some reason it was a lot harder to find people! Friday and Saturday NO ONE was in the streets OR in their houses. We don't know where in the world they were, but those days sure were difficult. Especially Friday. We were so tired and it was a super long day. Whatever, those days happen sometimes. At the end of this rough day, we had such a miracle. We had a cita with one of our investigators, Evelyn. She's 20 and lives with another 20 year old, Reinoldo, who's a member but not active. They have a baby who's less than a year old. They are soooo so cute we love them. Well we've been teaching them the past couple weeks and Evelyn is progressing really well. She always reads when we leave her homework in the Book of Mormon, and she's always excited to learn more when we come. She can recognize the Spirit when we're there and points it out. She says she can feel a tranquility in the air. It's great. So anyway we went Friday and were talking about if she was reading and praying to get her answer about the Church. She said she read a couple times (ha! NO ONE does that) to make sure she understood and remembered, but that she hadn't made the effort to sincerely pray about it. She told us she was watching the clock wishing it would be 7 o'clock so we would get there, it was awesome. You'd think, with the message we have, that everyone would be like that. But really they're not. Ha. Oh well. Anyway, we taught her about the Word of Wisdom and she said that wasn't a problem for her. Yay. Then we taught about the Law of Chastity because she's living with someone but they're not married. She said she knows they should get married, and she knows she would feel a lot better if they did. But the problem is they're saving money to have the wedding and a big celebration in November. So, we talked to her about getting married civilly in the chapel like, this month (she has a baptism date for the 28th) before her baptism, just doing something small, and then in a year from now they can get sealed in the Temple for time and all eternity and have their huge party then. She wasn't opposed to the idea, but she needs to talk to Reinoldo obviously. But it was so great. The idea is for Reinoldo to receive the Priesthood so he can be the one to baptize her. It will be so beautiful. But the problem now is that he just got a job and he's working every day to provide for his family, so he can't go to church. And he needs to come back to church to get the Priesthood... So this might be an obstacle. :( They are just so great and we want her so bad to be able to be baptized on the 28th. But we'll see.. Okay so after the lesson, I invited her to say the closing prayer and in it to ask Heavenly Father right then about the Book of Mormon and about the Church, if it was all true. We kneeled and she offered such a beautiful prayer. She apologized for the times when she has turned her back on the Lord, and she said she never wants to do it again. She thanked God for us, and for all the things she's been learning. She was crying at this point and her prayer was so sincere. She then said, ''I feel it right now, in this moment I feel it in my heart and I know it is true.'' She was like sobbing and I was too and the Spirit was so strong. It was amazing. It was SUCH a blessing to be able to be there in the moment she received her answer. Wow. It was amazing! She is such a doll and we're teaching her again tonight. This day was just a complete testimony to me of the scripture Ether 12:6. It says: ''Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.'' We didn't get the miracle until after a long, hard day that tried our patience and our faith. But we DID receive the miracle. It was so beautiful.
Easter Sunday was great. We had 32 people in church, yeah the branch is super small. But it was so good. We have some really strong members. We just need to help a lot more of them become active again. And obviously we want to baptize more. But the talks and lessons were great, I loved it. No one in the branch plays piano, which is sad. In my old ward of Caupolican, we had a ward with 60-70 attending every week and no one played piano except Hermana Hamblin. I had this feeling that I should practice more... And when I did, I was a lot better than I had been. I was definitely getting some help from on High there and shamefully enough I didn't practice as much as I should have. But I want to try to find time to practice here so I can play for our meetings on Sunday. It would help a lot.
Well, that's it for today. Hermana Gomez are doing great. I want to share my testimony that I KNOW that Jesus Christ lives. I know He is the Savior of the world, and the Savior of our souls individually. He loves us. This I know, for I feel it deep in my heart. I love being a missionary and having the tremendous opportunity to wear His name and represent Him and His church.
Love you all. Be good. :)
Hermana Anderton
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