Week 39... Opposition in all things!!!

It was such an amazing week. So as you all know here in Los Sauces we were 4 missionaries and now we are only 2. We practically doubled our work load here and we still are working with the branch. It is a lot of work to do, I am so glad for all the work we have to do. Literally there is not one moment to take a break. Sometimes I get a little stressed with all the things we have to do, but that is when I turn to the Lord for help and He helps me through my times of need. God calls us where we need to be and when we need to be there. There is a reason why I am here and have all this work. I am so grateful for the time I have here. The people here are really progressing. All the leaders are really beginning to have the TRUE CONVERSION. At first they weren’t really converted, they were here, but they were not here to stay. Now we have a bunch of members super strong in the Faith and I know they will stay here forever, bringing home the Lost Sheep of Christ. I have seen so many miracles in this sector. I never thought I could be so blessed. I have definitely seen the Lords hand in this work. Being here in this branch has been the best thing that could have ever happened to me. 

This week we have been really focused on all of our investigators. We have a bunch of investigators that are really progressing. 

We have a 10 year old girl named Isabella, she is the daughter of a really active member, but the problem is that when she was 8 her dad did not give her permission to get baptized. He is super catholic and did not want anything to do with our church. We started to work with this family and we started to teach her. At first she was really shy and didn’t want to talk. Now she is really open to us, she even talked to her dad and convinced him that she is ready for baptism. It has been such a great experience to see the Faith that this little girl has. She has been helping her family so much. She will be baptized on the 4th of JULY!!! ;)

We also have an Hermana named Joana, she was the investigator of the other Elders. She was super sad when both the Elders left. She didn’t want to listen anymore to the missionaries. She was really affected a lot by the change, because it is hard for her to make friends and open up. It was our goal to have her open up to us. My comp and I started to visit her every day and just gain her trust. We started gaining her trust when she saw how much we loved her family. She has 2 kids, 1 of which is a special needs kid. And me, loving the special needs kids, began to play and joke with her kid. His name is Georgie. He is so funny. She really began to open up to us. She even surprised herself at how fast we gained her trust. She has been with the missionaries for almost a year now. She has never received an answer whether or not she should be baptized. We passed by pretty much every day this week talking about the importance of baptism. She really began to open up and make the changes necessary. This week we also had a very spiritual experience because we decided we needed to fast with her. So Saturday we went over to her house and she made us lunch. After lunch we started the fast with her and talked with her about what we were fasting for. We told her that we were fasting so that she could receive an answer. And with the power of the Fast she would be able to receive her answer and she could be able to make the right steps towards baptism. She fasted all Saturday and came to church. She had a really powerful experience in church. And then when we went by on Sunday night to talk to her about how she felt, she told us that she received her answer. She told us that this church is true and that she knows she will be baptized. She only had one problem. She told us that she made it a goal that she wouldn’t be baptized until she has known the missionaries for a year, and we have a couple months left before that. We challenged her to be baptized on the 4th of July also. She has really made the right decisions and is in the right direction. I know she will receive her answer and she will be baptized on the 4th. It is amazing, the power of Fasting.

We are really doing so good here in Los Sauces. We are becoming strengthened through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The members and the investigators are really becoming stronger and we have seen a lot of progress. 

I want to share with all of you a scripture I read this week:

2 Nephi 2:11  There is opposition in all things...

I want to bare my testimony that there is opposition in all things. But with this opposition, we have the opportunity to be strengthened through Jesus Christ. I have seen many times in my mission where I have been struggling, where I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore, but this is when I turned to the Lord for help and he helped me push through these trialing times. I know we have opposition so that we can grow and become stronger in this Church and become closer to Christ. It is the same principle as working out to gain muscle. As we are working out, we are literally destroying our muscles; we are ripping the muscle. That is the opposition. Then when we heal our muscles, our muscles become stronger and they can increase. The same is with our Faith. When our Faith is put to the test; that is when we can gain a stronger testimony of our Loving savior Jesus Christ and his message. I know that with opposition we can grow closer and become stronger. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.