He is the Reason for the Season

Hola!

This week has been one of the best weeks of my mission. Not because I did a lot of teaching or anything but I am starting to feel like the Lord is trusting me more and the Spirit is working stronger in me than it ever has before. I am learning so much and I love it!

The Elders surprised us with a real Christmas tree last Monday! It is pretty tall (5 feet or so) and it is so cute! We had fun putting lights on it and making cheesy ornaments with pass-along cards. It is so fun and it smells so good! We have it in our study room by the window so everyone can see it and we can always smell it.

We are the best stalkers! Jasmine and Tyson (investigators) moved last week – and they didn't know the exact address where they were moving to – so they just told us the general area. They don’t have a phone so we don’t have any way of contacting them but we knew that we had to find them. We went over one night to the general area where they told us, said a prayer, and then followed the Spirit. The second door that we knocked on was their house! They were so surprised to see us! It was a good surprise – not a creepy "stalkerish" surprise. We were able to talk to them about the Word of Wisdom this week and they are both super committed to quit smoking! We made them a little care package of how to quit and they are doing so well. On Sunday, Tyson had to work but Jasmine and her 3 little sisters all came to church and they absolutely loved it! They told us that this is where they are supposed to be and that they have never felt so much joy in their lives. Also, they love being surrounded by so many good influences at church and they know that people are happy because of the Spirit!

Mission Christmas Party

We had our Mission Christmas Party this weekend and it was so much fun! We had an ugly sweater contest so we made the Elders their ugly sweaters because they gave us a tree. Their sweaters were the best ones at the party – if you ask us – but somehow they didn't win the ugly sweater contest. Oh well, it was fun anyway!

The Maestas got baptized this weekend! Whoo! The dad is a less-active who is coming back to church and his wife (Jessica) and their son (Kristopher) got baptized. They were so happy – I absolutely love this family! Marla Hicks actually spoke at the baptism and she did a fabulous job. I love how much Marla has changed since her baptism and she is growing in leaps and bounds. I have never seen anyone with so much faith and I love her so much.

Funny moment…
Sister Valdivia got pulled over – hilarious! The Elders were following us and the cop tried to pull us both over but he only got us. Thankfully, he let us off with a warning. We were going 38 in a 25 – so funny!

Cool thing this week…
I started a prayer journal about a week ago and I got a prompting that we should go see a less-active named Sister Schwab because she needed a blessing. A couple days later our plans fell through – so we prayed – and I got another prompting that we should go over there right then. When we went over to her house, it was perfect timing! She had just returned home and she was super sick. Also, she was going through a really hard time with her family. We asked if she would like a blessing and she replied, “Yes, I would love one.” The Elders came over later that night and gave her a beautiful blessing. The next day she felt good enough to go to the Ward Christmas Party. This was such a testimony builder! It was one of the first times that the Spirit was able to testify to me in advance what others needed and I know that it was the Spirit that guided us in that situation. I love this gospel!

"The actions whereby we demonstrate that we truly do love God and our neighbor as ourselves will rarely be such as to attract the gaze of admiration of the world. Usually our love will be shown in our day-to-day associations with one another." – President Thomas S. Monson

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."

Mmmm…
Chili and Cinnamon Rolls – must be a flatland thing but they taste really good together!

Misionera Amor!
Siempre Una Aventura
Hermana Adams