Chocolate for the Soul

Family and Friends!! Happy Fathers Day, Dad! I hope that you had a great day at home with the family! I love you!! Last Monday we had another Family Home Evening and shared with them the talk from Neil Anderson about tornadoes and being firm in the faith when trials and temptations come. I really like having these activities with the ward and seeing them share experiences and bearing testimony. I also really like this talk by Neil Anderson from the last conference in April. Read it!! Tuesday was a blessed day for my companion and I. The firt blessing was when we went to visit the reference from President Zobrist. We went to the gas station where he works and it was closed down but we went in anyways. There was one man there and it happened to be the reference from President Zobrist, Luis! We ended up teaching him a lesson right there. He said he really likes the church and wants to come. He is about 45 years old and has a wife and two kids 15 and 16 years old. We both felt that there are people out there that are ready for the gospel and we just need to find them and teach them! The second blessing of the day was when I finished teaching the piano class one of the girls from the other ward came in and brought a girl that works with her mom to come and talk with us. Her name is Monica. She said she was interested in the church and wants to know more. It was her first time in a chapel. So we taught her in the chapel and she liked everything that we taught. She is ready for the gospel in her life. By the end of the lesson we invited her to follow Jesus Christs example in all that she does and she agreed. Then at the end we invited her to be baptized and she agreed! We were both so touched by her faith and desire to do what is right. It was a good reminder for the both of us about how this gospel has blessed our lives and how we love sharing the gospel to those that really want to hear us and change for the better. The only little bummer about Monica is that she doesn't live in our ward so we have to send her to the Elders for them to teach her, but I am happy that we got to share that experience with her. Wednesday morning I learned the meaning of feasting upon the scriptures. There isn't enough time to study the scriptures as much as I would like. We have one hour of personal study and one hour of companion study, then language study. This day I felt like I was rushing to read everything and learn more and more. The scriptures have now become my chocolate for the soul. I love reading the scriptures. I love what Joseph Smith says about the Book of Mormon in the introduction. He says that no man can get closer to God through any other book than through reading the Book of Mormon. I love this promise. We can all get closer to God when we read the Book of Mormon. In the night we met with Rene Charcas and his wife to see how their interview went with bishop. They are 2 of our rescued this week. At first Rene was upset for some reason, I didn't really understand what he was saying I could just see that he was mad for some reason haha but then he started talking about the members and judging them. Thankfully in the morning I read a perfect scripture for his actions. It's a little intense scripture but we both felt like we needed to share it with him. It is Moroni Chapter 7 verse 12 through 20, but mainly verse 19. It says be careful because the judgment that you judge others will be the same judgment upon you. We read that scripture twice with him and told him to be careful and not judge others harshly because you will be judged the same! After that he said, okay I won't judge anymore. It says it right there in the scriptures, it is really clear. Then he said thank you for being very direct with me. I like it when you tell me how it is and are hard on me. haha Well now we know haha This week we found out that he is still having problems with drinking so now we know to be hard on him and tell him how it is. At night we went to visit Luis Ramos, the reference from President Zobrist but he wasn't there but we ended up teaching his son. Thursday. Diana and Jaime moved to another location temporarily because they are reconstructing their house. This week we didn't really spend much time with them because in the beginning of the week Diana had an interview with President Zobrist but didn't want to go and Jaime wanted her to talk to other people and leaders before talking to President because he doesn't think she is ready. We were both a little frustrated with this because they haven't been progressing as much as we would like. So this week we left them on their own for a little while and it ended up being for the best we found out later in the week. Sunday we didn't expect to see them at church because the other chapel is closer to their temporary house now, but they came! Jaime had questions about how to fill out the tithing form and they are really serious about getting the paperwork down this week and getting married this weekend. They came to us and told us their plans and wanted us to help. Finally! haha On Sunday Jaime asked us if we could go with Diana to go wedding dress shopping! So today we are ditching the Elders and going wedding dress shopping with Diana! We were both so excited and Diana is excited too! We don't know exactly where to go but we are excited! Friday we had the Fathers Day Talent Show activity with the Stake. We invited members, less actives, and non members to come. I played the piano! An arrangement of Disney songs and said here is a little piece of my home for you! The talent show went really well. Saturday morning the Elders had a baptism. We went to help them get ready and decorate a little for the baptism. Our last baptism we forgot to empty the font so the baptismal font was super dirty. Lo siento! We helped them clean the font and then decorate for the baptism of Rosa! I love baptisms and it was fun being able to help the Elders and share the excitement of someone's baptism with them. I love baptisms. My favorite part is hearing the testimonies of the recent converts after baptism. The spirit is always so strong and it is an incredible experience to see the change in others. After the baptism, Rene Charcas's wife had a gran pollada. It's when people make fried chicken and potatoes or other things to go with the chicken. Super yummy! Muy rico! We helped get the members and missionaries to come and help her raise money to pay for her house and food for her family. Sunday. As a Zone the missionaries all went to Alto Selva Alegre to help the ward go out and visit all the less actives in the ward. It was fun going to a different area and knowing that the whole ward of Alto Selva Alegre was getting visited. Also, it was my 5th month anniversary of leaving for the mission! It's crazy to think that the time has gone by. The time really flies by. Thank you for the love and support. Remember to always read your scriptures and choose the right! I love you all! Love always, Hermana Flora xoxoxo