December 9, 2011

Hello!

This has been a long but AMAZING week, probably one of the best of my whole mission. Let me just start by talking about a few of the MIRACLES that I saw. The first is Margarita. We had set up a cita with her and her boyfriend in a contact, but when we went by they weren't there. The next day, I had the distinct impression that we should go by and visit them, so we did. She was there and as we got to talking she told us that she had always wanted to meet with missionaries, that she had talked to them in the street but that they had never offered to come by and she was too embarassed to ask them to come! She has a good friend that was recently baptized and is really grateful and excited to be learning about the Gospel. It was like the PME video about "How to Begin Teaching" with German, it was just so unbelievable. We invited her to be baptized right then and she was so excited to be able to prepare to be baptized on the 28th! We also had the great privlidge of literally seeing the moment that the Holy Ghost testified to her that the Book of Mormon was true. We were reading the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction, and when she read "We invite all men... to read the Book of Mormon..." she got choked up and said: "This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read, I feel something in my heart just like my friend described to me, but I never thought I'd get to feel it too." Her prayers are so sincere and we are just so excited! She has a lot of challenges. She'll have to get married and her boyfriend is hesitant to change because of what his family and friends will say, but he supports her completely, it is also hard working around her work schedule, but she lives right in front of the church and says that she is excited to come this Sunday because she won't be working! I am so grateful that the Lord gave me the privlige of seeing this miracle, and equally grateful for the fact that He trusted me enough to give me the impression to go visit her because He knew I would listen!

We also found Cristian and Nicolas this week. We contacted Cristian near his apartment and shared a scripture about joy in 2 Nefi 2:25. The impression then came to me that I should give him the book, even though it was my last one, but I did and I told him: "This is a treasure, I want you to have it." He seemed taken aback but grateful. We went by on Sunday and he was there with a few friends, we got to teach them the Plan of Salvation and it was SO COOL! The Spirit testified so much. It's clear that they are living the lifestyle of typical jovenes, but they were so respectful and attentive and I could see that they really felt the Spirit. Nicolas prayed at the end that we would continue to teach them how to come closer to God. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I keep thinking about how excited I am for them to be future missionaries and priesthood holders! I always get my hopes up so high, but that's a good think, I think.

I've learned so much this week. At the beginning of the week I was feeling really down because this is a really tough companionship for me, and it has made me realize the gap that there is between refraining from saying the negative and choosing not to respond when someone offends you and actually loving someone the way that Christ loves them. I have gotten pretty good at the first part, but I'm still working on the second. It's good because I have needed to turn so much more to prayer this cambio, and I feel the blessings of the greater fervency of my prayers. I gained a new appreciation for the Atonement and that even when I'm afraid that I've messed up on my mission, I know I haven't done anything unforgivable and that Christ always provides a ladder for us to be ok again. It was a nice reminder.

I realized that if there's one thing I've done right on my mission, it is that I've allowed it to change me. Just like it talks about in "The 4th Missionary" there is a difference between obedience for minimums and obligation, and obedience for love and discipleship, I know that my obedience is motivated by the latter, and that's at least one of the successes that the mission has brought me.

This is getting really long, so I'll wrap it up now, but thanks for being great and doing all that you do!

Love,

Hermana Gebara