Sent: Mon, July 19, 2010 9:02:31 AM
Subject: HOLLLAAAA!!!!!!!!!!
Holaaaaa Familia!!!!!!!! I first just want to thank everyone for all your love and support! It honestly means the world! Last week, if you couldn’t tell I was pretty down and depressed but I´mmmm baaacccck and I feel just happier than ever!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Ige’s for your package and for the goodies!!! I was sooooo happy and my companion was even happier. She said she has never tried Peanut M/Ms and starburst so she was ecstatic and Buterbaugh.....I love youuuuuuu! haha. I sent cards and letters but with the Guatemalan mail who knows if they will ever get there!!! So I just wanted to say Thank you!!!!!!! Oh familia, I believe in MIRACLES!!!!!!!! Heavenly Father truly does know and love His children. This has been such an amazing week. I will try to explain some of the things that happened.
First of all, last week. Ayyyyyy just everything seemed to go wrong. It was horrible!! We worked really hard and it just seemed like everything crashed!!! We had been working praying and fasting that we would have our family be baptized on July 25 because that was our zone goal and because our family didn’t come to church last week that goal crashed. Well they came, but didn’t come in!!! It was just so disheartening because all of our positive people had problems and it just didn’t seem like the 25th would be a day of miracles like we had thought and been working for. I just felt so sad and disheartened and like I failed!! It was horrible, but Heavenly Father has taught me some really important lessons this week.
Well first, like I told you Angelina she was really positive, experienced miracles and to do but she always had her problems and it was just one big ugly cycle and she just wasn’t progressing anymore. This was so sad, because we worked with her for so long. I started working with her with Hermana Buterbaugh and just it was so frustrating to see her not progressing. But last week, Hermana Angel and I just had enough and decided that although it was hard we just had to drop her, because she wasn’t progressing and we couldn’t continue to just go over every day and clear up doubt after doubt problem after problem. So for a week and a half we didn’t visit her and like I said it was sooo hard because out of all my investigators I feel like I have the closest relationship with Angelina. So yeah, we didn’t go over, but we still just continued to pray, pray, pray for her! And so it’s a week and a half and we’re walking on the street and we run into her and she just asks us if we could visit her so we went over!!!! And it was just amazing how much the Lord answers prayers and knows His children!!
We went over and she just told us that ever since we stopped visiting her she has felt so sad and a difference in her life. We were like okkaaay. And she told us that something has just been missing and that last night she couldn’t take it. She couldn’t sleep because she just felt terrible so in the middle of the night she got out of bed and was crying and something told her to read the book of Mormon. She hadn’t read or come to the church or done any of the things we told her since we stopped visiting her. She randomly opened the Book of Mormon to 3 Nephi when Christ is teaching the people in the Americas and she lit her candle and started reading.
In this chapter, Christ was teaching the Nephites about baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and she said her heart just filled willed with joy and she now was crying, but tears of joy!!!!! She said she couldn’t stop reading and all the doubts she had everything that people was telling her, she couldn’t remember them!!!! Because she KNEW the words she read were true. OH MY GOSHHHHHHHH!!!!! She opened the Book of Mormon and started teaching us!! It was hilarious!! And then she told us, I know this is true. When can I get baptized_______ aHHHAHAHHAHAHAH seriously we were without words!!!! It seemed too good to be true so we talked about the covenant that she was going to be making and how important it was and we went through all the baptism questions and it was SOOO powerful because Angelina was different! Her answers blew Hermana Angel and I away!!!! Because she actually truly understood and everything we’ve been trying to help her with, all her doubts....gone!!!! It was seriously AMAZING!! And just strengthened my testimony that God hears and answers prayers!! that He knows His children and that this is His work!!! I seriously walked out of that appointment speechless!!! That’s never happened to me before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This seriously is the work of the Lord and He is in charge. I can try and try to do my best to convert people, but really we need to just trust in the Lord. He knows His children and He will give them answers to their prayers if they seek them. aHAHAHHGGHE E HFHE we are SOOOOOO happy!!!!!!!
Like I said last week was just so hard and I honestly doubted asked myself, does Heavenly Father really answer prayers? Because we’ve been praying and fasting and working and it just seemed like for nothing. But this was such a testimony booster for me!!!!! Oh man this week was crazy!!! We’ve had so many experiences that I don’t have time to write them all. But I’ll try continue. So Wednesday we were walking and on our way to an appointment and one of our menos activos faces popped in my head. We haven’t visited her at all this change and I don’t really know her that well because I only visited her like one or two times really briefly with Hermana Buterbaugh, but her face popped in my head and I told Hermana Angel we needed to visit Amalia. Herm Angel didn’t know who that was but she said ok. So after our appointment we go to her house and visit her and her eyes are just swollen. It turns out that a couple days ago, her daughter died!!!! She got some disease I’m not exactly sure what happened but when Amalia saw us she just started crying more because she had been praying that she could feel comfort and support. So we talked with her and taught her and although of course it’s still hard, she said she could feel comfort and she came to church!!!!!! but daaannngg how crazy is that????
The next day, we were about to leave our house to teach one of our investigators and Hermana Angel told me uhhh I feel like we should clean out our pantry and take some food to Hermana Eva. We have enough for this week. And I was like okay! Why not? So we went through our pantry and got a big bag full of food and we just brought it to Hermana Eva thinking nothing really of it. When she saw us come with this big bag she almost dropped to the floor. She asked us if it was for her and we said yes! And she just had the biggest purest smile on her face and she told us that this week her husband hasn’t sent any money to the family so they haven’t had anything.
For the past couple of days she’s been giving her kids the last of the tortilla they had left and that’s it and that today she ran out and had NOTHING!!!! And she just prayed and prayed so hard in the morning that Heavenly Father would help her so that she could give food to her kids!!!!
Hermana Angel and I looked at each other and we all started to cry. It was seriously just pure love and happiness!!! Heavenly Father answers prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If there’s one thing I know, it is that! He loves and knows His children. My heart could just burst because I just feel so grateful to be part of this great work. I felt just pure joy like I never have before. We didn’t know the situation, but the Lord knows!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He lives and loves, and answers every child’s prayer!!!!! I left the house and after these little miracles a thought came to my head. Of course! The number of prayers we say and are answered bring great joy and happiness to our lives!! But in the end, what’s more important and what brings the MOST joy is the number of prayers we answer. This is true happiness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I could just burst right now I just feel so happy and that I can honestly say that I KNOW this is the Lord’s work and more importantly that I know that He lives and loves!!!!!!!!!! Thank you thank you everyone for all your love and support while I’ve been out on my mission. This has been just the most incredible adventure! I looooove Heavenly Father and this gospel with all my heart and it is the biggest PRIVILEGE to share it with the Lord’s children here in Guatemala!!! I love you all. I’m crying because I just feel sooo happy. Hermana Angel is laughing but I just want you all to know that I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the Lords work. He is in charge. Do not worry about me!!!!! I am in the Lords hands, how cool is that????? With all my heart, thank you for everything!!!!! Love you allllll! prestos todos prestos........the church is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love, love, love,
Hermana Ali
Ps. by the way can you believe it another change has come and gone!!!!! This is my last week of this change I cannot even believe it!!! I am dreading cambios. I don’t want changes. There is so much work still to be done here and I don’t want to leave til it’s finished. But if it’s my turn to leave...eeeeeee!!!! I love Hermana Angel. We get along great! She is hilarious!!!!!!! And I just love her. Everyday something funny happens and I truly have learned so much from her. Oh Hermana angel said to tell everyone that you can send me packages whenever you want!!! haha. She always says the funniest things. Yesterday, oh man hilarious. Ok so on the mission I don’t know what’s wrong with me but I am addicted to chocolate!!!! Every night I have to eat chocolate. It’s crazy I don’t know if it’s the dirt roads or floating poo or what but I loooooove and neeeeed chocolate. But anyways I was minding my own business eating my chocolate at night and Hermana angel told me. Hermana Garcia, don’t eat so much chocolate, your butt is big! And I said What???? Not because I didn’t understand but because I was so thrown back by her comment. And she looked at me with a confused look and said, yor boot ess beeg!! hahahahhahahah! I could of died it was just so hilarious. She is a very honest person and I don’t know is just funny!!!!!!!!!!!! So I will be sad if I have to leave her. We get along great and she cooks me platanoes and beans every morning and likes to make tortillas!!!!!!!! Why would I ever want to leave!!! haha. It’s funny. Latinas are just hilarious.
First Companion MTC and CCM, Hermana Williams