Hola Familia,
I love you so much! Thank you so much for the chocolate! That was a lovely surprise. It also came on the hottest day of this year and so it was completely melted. So we popped it in the fridge and have been snacking on cold chocolate all week. It's been wonderful. Thank you! This week has gone by at lightning speed. We have been soooo busy! It's so good. And we are working so hard. We are exhausted, but so happy. And we have seen so many miracles this week I don't even know where to start.
We have been teaching Esperanza and really been focusing on getting her to her baptismal date on August 31. And the Spirit has been so strong this week. On Monday night we had a lesson with her and it didn't go so well. When we asked her if she was going to come to church on Sunday she said she didn't know because she was kind of embarrassed to get a ride. That's what Jose always says and we were shocked because she's never been like that. But then we talked to her and said that that was exactly what Satan wanted her to say. And I told her when things like that happen she needed to punch Satan in the face. Hna Wallis used to always say that and I thought it was so cheesy, but I actually used it. And it worked! We came back the next day and asked her if she had read and she said, "Yes! I punched Satan in the face!" She's adorable. And she's been praying so much for Jose to come around and she even fasted on her own! When she told us that we were amazed! We have had so many spiritual lessons with her this week and she's recognizing the Spirit and she knows it true. She bears her testimony to us of the Book of Mormon every time we come over and she tells us that she knows it true. And she wants to get baptized so bad, Jose is just being difficult. We were talking about it with her and she said that he says that he wants to take things step by step. And she just said, "Hello. We have a kid. I think we skipped a step." The Spirit has been so strong this week and we've all really felt it. I have no doubt that she can get baptized on the date that we gave her. She is so great.
Keeping things in the family, we were over at Jhoana's house and we were teaching Heidy and Adela and we watched Finding Faith in Christ with them and the Spirit was so strong. And then we had an amazing lesson with Heidy about the Atonement and we invited her to be baptized and she asked us what she needed to do to be ready. She told us that she wants to be as happy as Jhoana. We promised her that she could. It's so frustrating though because no one besides Jhoana (and us) really believe in her. She's 15 and she's made a lot of mistakes, but everyone just treats her like she's a lost cause. And she isn't. If only they could see what we see in her. If only she could see in herself what we see in her. She has so much potential and no one can seem to realize that. So that drives me a little crazy. But we believe in her. And so does Heavenly Father.
Someday this whole family is going to have the gospel. It might not be right now, it might not be for twenty years, but I know they will. They are being prepared and their hearts are being softened. Now it's all just about doing our best and being patient with the Lord's timing and their own agency.
As we were teaching Heidy, Moises (Adela's boyfriend) came and sat down on the couch. Jhoana was bearing her testimony to Heidy and I felt like I needed to ask Moises what he knew about the Book of Mormon. I kind of ignored it because I didn't really want to and I was scared about what he was going to say. But Jhoana finished and that kind of finished the lesson and Heidy went to the bathroom and Moises was still sitting there. So I turned around and said, "Moises! I have a question for you. What do you know about the Book of Mormon?" His face was priceless. But he said, "Nothing, really." So we explained it to him and he started asking questions and it was amazing! We have been waiting for so long and praying and fasting for the opportunity to teach him and there it was! It was so perfect. And it was so good. We were able to explain all about what the Book of Mormon is and why it's so important and why we need it in our lives. And then we committed him to read it. Hna Spencer and I walked out of there so excited and happy. The funniest part though was that as we were walking out the door, he was like, "Wait! I have one more question!" Okay... "How do you have to have your hair in your church?" It was so funny because he has this kind of crazy, but somehow still well-groomed pony tail. And he loves it. Even though Cindy (his daughter) tells him it makes him look like a princess. We told him that he would be fine. As you know, hair is not the most important thing.
On Monday night (I'm kind of skipping around here) some of the Elders came over and gave our investigator Patricia a priesthood blessing. She's been sick for a long time and no one can figure out what's wrong with her. It was a really special experience and the Spirit was so strong. We all felt it. And Patricia is moving slow, but she's progressing. It's taking her a while to put things together, but each time we visit her, her understanding increases. My love for her and her family grows and grows every time we go to teach them.
We taught Geraldo again last night and he loves everything we say. He wants to be baptized but he takes it very seriously and wants to make sure that he's fully repented before he does because he wants it all to be right in the eyes of God. We told him that we would teach him how to fully repent so that he could be ready for baptism and he was so excited. He told us that when he's baptized he wants to do what we do and tell everyone about the Book of Mormon because they all need it. He's so fun to teach because he's so enthusiastic.
So those are some of our experiences from teaching this week. I wish my writing could do it justice, because it's been amazing. The Spirit has been so strong and at the same time, we've had so much fun. If you're doing it right, missionary work is fun!
Yesterday though, we had the most atrocious day. We got this text message from Jhoana telling us that she probably wasn't going to go to church because her sister had just dropped off her three daughters and she didn't want to deal with the hassle. But she needed to go to church. We are doing everything we can to help her stay strong and grow her faith. So we went over there, told her it would all be fine and we started getting everyone ready. And it was too late to find a ride, and so we walked to church. Three grown ups, six kids all under the age of six. It took us half an hour to get there and it was so hot. We got there barely in time for the sacrament I'm pretty sure we looked like had just come from a war zone. But the kids were so exhuasted that they were pretty good during sacrament meeting. And then the chaos started. Amy, who is almost two was so tired. And she just started screaming and screaming and would not stop. We were trying to entertain Amy and Jordan so that Jhoana could listen and learn, but it was hard. And there was a point that Jordan just looked at Hna Spencer and I and he started screaming too. Hna Spencer juts looked at me and said, "This was not in the job description." But somehow we survived. And Jhoana came to church, and that was really the most important thing. And we found a ride home for everyone. That was a tender mercy. It was raining and we didn't really want to walk home. So it wasn't that bad--actually it kind of was--but it was so worth it.
The only really not so awesome thing that happened this week was that I got three X-rays and we spent three hours in the ER on Saturday. Not as dramatic as it sounds. We were in an accident. With our ward mission leader. Not. My. Fault. We were coming off of the 66 and this exit is really weird because there's a stoplight at the end of the ramp before you get onto the main road. Well the light was yellow, so, being the excellent driver that I am, I slowed down. And I don't know what happened, if he just wasn't paying attention or if he thought I was going to try and speed through it, but he hit us from behind. Thankfully, not a lot of damage was done. Our car barely had a scratch. So that was good. But Hna Spencer had a headache and my neck hurting and so Sister Riggs told us that we needed to go to the Emergency Room to get checked out. I guess Urgent Care doesn't take accident victims. We felt so dumb because we just walked into the ER, definitely not having an emergency. The registration guy was just kind of like, what are you even doing here? Just in case, right? We actually had to because of liability issues or something. But just like we thought, nothing was wrong, just some whiplash. Fun. But I think that it might be best for the cars in this mission if I get sent to a bike area...
Anyway, that's about it. I love you so much and I think you're the best family in the world. Have the best week ever. And I will too!
xoxo
Hermana Simpson
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