*Darlene: Darlene has a date for the 21 June but still struggles a little bit with the word of wisdom, especially with her coffee. We went in this week to teach her again the word of wisdom, and she said she understood that the commandments are given to us because God loves us, they´re not just things to restrain us and limit us. She agreed to live the word of wisdom with a stronger determination. I also felt impressed to have her watch the conference talk for Presidente Uchtdorf ¨Forget me not,¨ where he talks about the worth that each one of us has for Dios.
Later in the week when we stopped by to visit her in her office, she popped her head out of her cubicle with a big smile on her voice and motioned us over saying, ¨look! look!¨ We went over to her desk and saw that she was watching the movie ¨Joseph Smith prophet of the Restoration¨ all on her own! She told us she had listened to the talk by President Uchtdorf and after had watched several other videos. Darlene was so impressed by the sacrifices that Joseph Smith and Emma had to take to bring to pass the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. She told us that she felt more and more ready for her baptism every day, and that she can feel that she is progressing spiritually. We were so happy for her!! She´s so ready to take the first step on the pathway to Dios, and ready to progress even more.
*Pedro y Nelly: We went to visit Pedro y Nelly this last week and planned to teach them lesson 3, the gospel of Jesus christ. We taught them about faith and repentance, and when we got to baptism, Pedro looked up at us and said, ¨Well now I know what we´re lacking in our family. Baptism!¨ He said, ¨We have faith, we´re trying hard to repent, now we just need to be baptized!¨ We promised them that they would have more family unity and amor in their home if they were obedient to the commandments of the Lord, and we invited them to be baptized. Pedro said without hesitating, ¨well, as for me, I´m going to be baptized.¨ Nelly is a little bit quieter and we don´t always know what she´s thinking, but she said she´d support and follow her husband in his decisions. They need to be married first, so we offered them two different wedding dates that are close to here. Pedro basically proposed to Nelly right then and there and asked, ¨Ok dear, when would you like to be married?¨ As of right now they are getting married at the end of June and getting baptized at the end of July. They still have a few things they need to sort out before their baptism, but now they are progressing and were so happy with their marriage date. We´ve just gotta keep praying for them!
One day this week Hna. Nuñez and I were standing outside of a referral´s house, and all of a sudden we felt the ground start moving and the fence behind us start rattling. A little temblor (earthquake) came rolling right on through Miraflores! We moved into the street away from the buildings, but it only lasted a few seconds. But it was pretty strong! I think they said it was a 5.5 on the richter scale.
On Saturday we had an activity called Puertas Abiertas (open doors) that we´ve been planning in consejo de barrio (ward counsil?) for about two months now. It turned out FANTASTICO!! Each organization had a room and themed it around what they do each Sunday in the capilla. There was such a spirit of unity in the church among all the members! We were all helping and supporting each other and cleaning and preparing all week long. Any time anyone came walking into the church everyone ran to their places and were so excited to welcome in their friends and strangers alike. It wasn´t so much the number of people that came as much as the actual people that came. Darlene came with her 18 year old son Jesus who left contento with a Book of Mormon and some church DVDs. Saturday night a woman came walking in who lives right next to the church. She heard all the commotion in the church and decided to walk in. Her name is Violeta. When we talked with her about the baptismal font she went quiet, and finally said, I never imagined anything so beautiful. The spirit overcame us so strongly it was almost tangible! We were about to close the doors and end the activity when a family of mom, dad, and three kids came walking in. They also live in front of the church and had actually been invited by one of the young men knocking on their door. The dad was just blown away when he heard that Christ had come to the Americas. They also loved hearing our message of how families can be together forever. All in all it was a great day and we get some fantastic new references. I am very happy here in Santa Cruz and even though it´s very hard work being a missionary, it´s all worth it.
I´m pretty sure Father´s Day is this Sunday, so I just wanted to say FELIZ DIA PAPA!! I love you so much and hope you have a great day!!
I love you guys and thanks again for the birthday wishes. Hope you all have a wonderful week! Take care!
Love, Hermana Anderson
P.S. The title has to do with the quote that dad sent me this week that I love. Ëvery man has within himself a continent of undiscovered character. Happy is he who proves the Columbus of his soul.¨ Goethe.
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