Alright folks, I have been pretty bad about responding to my emails from my mom and dad, so I am just going to let you hear a little bit from my email to Presidente and update you on a few things. Thank you for your understanding.
We had such a sweet experience with Freddy and Kathy when we went to visit them this week. Freddy was rescued a few months ago by other sisters but still has struggled to maintain activity, and because of a disease and a hip replacement and a long recovery process, Kathy has been confined to her house and the hospital for several months. We have visited them every once in awhile and a few weeks ago we found out they weren't putting the Book of Mormon in very high priority, so we got them on a regimen of daily scripture study and family prayer. This whole week my companion and I have been struggling to recognize the influence of the Spirit - we are working, being obedient, praying with faith, planning, and all the basics, but we still haven't felt like He was really strongly present in our lessons. We had been discussing it on the way to our appointment with Freddy and Kathy and when we sat with them they said they had been reading and praying every single day. When we asked how they felt, Kathy said she felt pretty good but wasn't sure how she SHOULD feel. Freddy looked at his wife and talked to her about the peace and happiness they had both felt when they read and he began to cry as he explained that THAT was the Spirit. He took her hand and they both shed tears as they themselves testified of the power of the Holy Ghost. We had gone to strengthen them and in turn WE left edified and filled with the Spirit.
This week I had some GREAT experiences in personal and companionship study. We had a work visit and I went to Puente Piedra with Hermana Aliaga, and there I began to study about spiritual creation in Moses 3. Much of what I studied had to do with what we discussed in the interview, about desires and how our righteous desires will read to righteous actions. My understanding of the relationship between our desires, our thoughts, our words, and our actions has been strengthened and deepened. As I studied, I wrote down questions - lots of them - that arose, and those questions led to other questions whose answers led to the answers of the original questions and well, it was a lot of fun. If I am going to have success now on the mission and throughout my life, I first must plan it, and in order to plan it with God and receive His power, I need to primarily have the desire to obey His commandments. Those commandments govern all creation - His laws are eternal; they do not just apply to this mortal life. He didn't just make them up to keep us in line. The power of God is the power to create, and if we are to become gods and create throughout the eternities, we must be able to master ourselves - the desires of our spirit AND the desires of our body - to become aligned with God's commandments. Because righteous desires become obedience that becomes faith which becomes power that sparks and fuels action.
So, my couple updates: we found out transfers and it looks like I will be staying here in sunny San Diego with my darling Hermana Paredes to baptize thousands! Woohoo! She sure is excited about killing me...
Also, Elder Hernandez, our district leader, is on the plane to Panamá right now. His goodbye talk yesterday made me cry, obviously. He was a great DL and now we'll have a new one. But other than him, our whole district is staying together! I am so so happy!
Alsooooo, let's see what more. Don't send me mail after this week! Hahaha I say that as if I were Harry Potter the day he found out he was a wizard. Just letting you all know...if the notion happened to cross your mind to send me mail...take advantage and send it now. I will receive it with open arms. And with the Journey song playing in the background.
Okay I think that's it for the updates!
Oh yes I almost forgot! Have I told you lately that I love you?
Hermana Hewitt
Our district - Elder Hernandez, Elder Riquelme, Hermana Hewitt, Hermana Paredes, Elder Quenta, Elder Starita, Elder Poma, and Elder Gillies.
The sunburn I brought back from my work visit in Puente.
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