8/17/15 Week 74

Belated pic of Rene's baptism

Without charity we are nothing.  I think that line could sum up every important thing I have learned on my mission.  I feel like this week, things just really have been clicking.  Every missionary needs to learn exact obedience.  We know that by exact obedience, we see miracles right?  Yes...but what makes those miracles so special?  It's the "why" behind it, and now I feel like I'm just figuring out that the "why" of everything is based in charity.  We should do things not just to check a box that says we did it and we are a good person, but because we really love our brothers and sisters, and more importantly God.  :) It's hard to sum up all of these light bulb experiences that have been going on in my brain these past few weeks (aka the spirit) but I think Elder Uchtdorf says it pretty good.

      "The 'what' and 'how' of obedience mark the way and keep us on the right path.  The 'why' of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic.  It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration"  Woooo!  I love love LOVE it!  That is really the key to happiness, not just in the mission, but in life. Don't just do things because you have to do them, or because people say its right, do it out of love and watch your life change from boring routines into an exciting spiritual adventure! I know it sounds cheesy, but I know it's so true! I feel like it's something I've known in my head for a long time, but I'm finally just realizing it in my heart this transfer.  It's about time right? I haven't been happier :)

Zone Conference

Hno Saldana

Now onto just a few miracles! We had to take our car into the shop to get a few little things fixed, so we were on bikes for a few days. It was about 7:30 and we were on our way to a trailer park that isn't too far from our house.  We thought it wouldn't take very long to get there. We got to the normal road we take to drive there, and realized it was a lot busier than we thought. We didn't feel very safe about it, so we decided to go a different way that we were "sure" would get us there. (Ya not very wise on our part...) Long story short....we got very lost. We were riding for about 30 minutes and it was starting to get dark, and we were both getting pretty nervous. We had been saying a lot of little prayers during this adventure, and so for some reason when I came to this street called Farris, the spirit literally halted me. It was like I didn't even push the brakes! I asked Hna Whimple if she had ever seen this street before and she said no, but we both felt good about it. At that point I had basically given up all hope of teaching our lessons for that night; I was just hoping to get home at all. But because of the tender mercies of Heavenly Father, Farris street led us directly to the trailer park we had been trying to find! We were able to have an awesome lesson with one of our investigators, Miguel. I feel like it's one of those "New Era worthy" moments:) haha. God really does hear and answer prayers… I feel like I have been saying that every week :)

Service at THE SOUP KITCHEN

This week we also did service at this cute little place called Our Daily Bread.  It's like a soup kitchen for the homeless.  It was so fun!  Hermana Whimple is a trooper and ate a little concrete on her bike on the way there, but once we got there we met Sophia.  She is so cool!  She said that she had met with missionaries a few times and is seriously thinking about joining our church! She is our age and just moved here from LA.  We had some great talks with her, and she even came to church on Sunday and stayed for 6 hours.  She got the times mixed up and came to Spanish instead of YSA, but she was cool with staying.

 Well, all is well in Denton! Id came to church, Mig still wants to be baptized, we are having a hard time keeping in touch with Haz so that has us a little worried...but Din and Soc are still progressing as well! Please pray for them!:) Love you all! 

Hermana Bonny