January 18, 2021 #TeresaTribe

 Hello Family and Friends!! 

This week has been off the charts! We held the big Zone candy land game, which was loads of fun!! I went on my first exchange being an STL, and we remembered this whole week to take TONS of pictures!! 

This week we really gained a deeper relationship with quite a few of the people we are teaching. First off with Teresa, we were able to attend one of her sons basketball game, and they have invited us to come over as much as we can!! Some nights they call us just to zoom with us to say goodnight! It feels like we have been adopted into their very large family!!! 

When Sunday rolled around, we attended the Spanish Branch on top of our English ward to support Teresa and Erika who said they were coming at 12 for the Spanish branch. When it was 11:58, we called Teresa because they weren't at the building yet. They told us they were around the corner!! 

We watched as two cars pulled into the parking lot, all filled with Teresa, Erika and their family!! 

In total, 7 of Teresa's family members showed up to church! You should have seen the look on the members faces when we walked into sacrament and the family took up two rows on the benches!! They Loves church! 

It was a huge miracle to have Teresa and their family attend sacrament meeting! I am exited to see this family progress!! 

Another Person is Miss Shirley. She is someone we have kept in contact with for a while, and this last week she called us out of no where and expressed to us that she had had a dream in which a voice spoke to her saying "we are watching over you". 

She had us, over the phone say "we are watching over you" one at a time. I said it last, but when I said those words she gasped and began crying. She said that It was my voice that had spoken to her in her dream. She wanted to meet with us in person as soon as we were available. She invited us to Olive Garden Saturday and Bought us Dinner. She is such a sweet lady! 

This next person isn't someone we are teaching, but someone we referred to the Spanish Elders. His name is Gabino, or Gavin in English. We had made contact with him once at a park as he excitedly approached us and wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon. 

We were biking this week and we saw Gavin sitting at the park with a blanket spread out on the grass. We approached him, and he was SO happy to see us! He offered us fish which he had been cooking. I accepted (even though I am not a huge fan of fish.) He told us he didn't have any spoons or forks, and he used a stick to cut the fish. Hesitantly we accepted the fish. The fish was pretty tasty  He was overly exited to see us again! He insisted we take a picture with him! 

We finally met up with Joel at the park and introduced him to our Bishop. It was a surprise lesson... the only one who didn't know it was happening was Joel himself. We know he goes to the park each day around 5, so we showed up at 5 and invited the Bishop. We approached Joel and began talking to him. We turned our conversation into a lesson, and at the end I felt prompted to ask if Joel would like to receive a priesthood blessing to help him cope with challenges he is facing. He accepted. Bishop Roofner did it right there at the park, and immediately after Joel said he was already feeling better and comforted!! Joel promised to attend church this Sunday!! 

Lately I can give you an update on Eren. She has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy!! She is an amazing woman and I cannot wait for her to progress towards baptism and making covenants with god!! We set up a virtual temple tour with Eren!! 

Sorry this letter was all over the place, but I thought I would give you a quick rundown of some of the fun experiences I had this week!! 

I love you all!! 

Pictures: 

-Sister Barlow and myself dropping off a table. 

-biking 

-thumb pic biking 

-biking again 

-at the basketball game with Teresa and Erika 

-stingers up Alvin Basketball game 

-after dinner with Miss Shirley

-Teresa's family came to church!!!! 

-us with Gabino at the park 

-exchanges with Sister Haddock 

-bike pic with Sister Haddock 

-us on bikes again!! 

January 11, 2021 Candy Land Race & Baptismal Challenge

 Hello family and friends!!!! 

I hope 2021 has been great so far! 

I wanted to explain the picture of the giant candy land board game before you get too confused!  This week as a zone we will be participating in a Candy Land game based on missionary activities. (Just wanted to clarify) 

This week we saw great success! We were able to find 7 new people to teach, two of our friends came to church and our friend Melinda accepted Baptism!! 

The story of how Melinda accepted was quite the miracle! We were driving to her house, when I had this overwhelming feeling to invite her to be baptized. She had already declined before, and for a month we had stopped teaching her. Eventually We were able to set a new appointments, and we were both curious at how the lesson would go. 

We drove over, and I expressed to Sister Barlow how I felt we needed to invite Melinda again. Sister Barlow wasn't so sure and told me I could if I wanted, but she didn't think Melinda would accept. 

During the whole lesson I prayed nonstop for the convincing power to help Melinda understand the importance of baptism. I don't remember all that was said, but by the end of the lesson, Melinda had accepted to he baptized February 28th! 

God works miracles! We just have to be ready to let him! 

Love you all!! Have a great week! 

January 4, 2021 Park Miracle

 HELLO family and friends!! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope your year has started off well! I wanted to share a miracle that we experienced this last week. Bear with me here  

While roaming around a park two weeks ago during a rain storm, we happened to pass a man who was taking his dog out for a walk. The dog was a very jumpy husky puppy with adorable blue eyes. We had to stop and say hello! 

Within the first few sentences, we asked for the man's name. He told us, "My name is Joel, and I am a Christian." 

We responded by letting him know we were also Christian. We excitedly asked which church he currently attends. He told us he was looking for a church. He expressed that he was having a particularly rough day that day and wanted to get a breath of fresh air. He told us it was no coincidence that we had met him at this exact moment. He motioned at the rain that was falling down around us and told us he was grateful to God for sending us his way, even in the rain. 

We offered him a Book of Mormon, and his response was, "are you sure you can part with this?" 

We jotted down his number and let the man continue on his way. 

Later that next week, we receive a text back from Joel after having messaged him several times with no response. He expressed to us that he has watched a documentary about our religion, and he has begun to read the Book of Mormon. He was grateful that God had Led him to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!! We were so exited to hear this from a mere stranger we had met in the park!! 

We set up again with him, hoping to begin teaching him more about our religion. We set up a time for Friday at 5. We planned on meeting with him at the park.  

When Friday came, We texted Joel to confirm, and the text he sent back broke our hearts! 

He told us that he didn't want to study with us, but that he appreciated all the efforts we put into helping others come closer to Christ. He explained that he wanted to attend Joel Osteen's church instead and he apologized. 

We were heart broken!! 

That Friday, all our lessons canceled, and with nothing to do, we decided to head to the park anyways hoping to find another person we could share a message with. After walking up and down the park, eventually we sat at a picnic table and began calling people in our area book. 

Soon, Sister Barlow perked up. "Is that Joel?" She said motioning with her head. I looked to see a husky dog that looked as if he was taking his owner for a walk. Pulling and jumping, I knew it was Joel's puppy!! 

Joel approached us and we began talking. We ended up sharing a message with him, and clarifying some of his questions. He was anxious to meet with us again, and we set up a time for this next Sunday. 

He continued his walk, and we felt overcome with joy! 

While still sitting at the park's picnic table, we began a video call lesson with one of our members. Not 10 minutes later, Joel came walking back to our table and asked to join our lesson. We sat around the table and we shared our simple message about coming unto Jesus with Joel and the member! 

I know that Heavenly Father's hand was in that experience. Joel is am amazing individual, and I cannot wait to continue working with him!! 

Pray for Joel! 

Love you all!! I hope you have had a great start to the new year!