That's about as creative with poetry as I get. That describes our week though, hoping and praying and fasting and working harder than EVER to get this White Christmas happening. The miracles have been amazing in the mission. We went for 30 firms to 80 in 2 weeks! 80 people being baptized in one month? CRAZY!! But not good enough. We need 21 more and Elder Hernandez and I are going to find at least 1 more so that we can help out this cause. It's that last push. That last sprint to the finish line this week. It's super important to help these people and help them we will! We're so so so so SO excited about the progress being made here for January, but that's not enough! It must be done in December. And I think I might just know who.... XD
This week was so GREAT! Our companionship unity was WAY high and we saw the success come through! I've decided not to think of it as training anymore, just to do what to do what missionaries do and hope and pray that I do it well enough to have him learn what true missionaries are and do.
Our wonderful miracles are as followed and I'm SO excited to share some of them with you.
This week I learned what TRUE love is with some of my new favorite people, Julia and Eduardo. Julia has had a crazy life, her old husband tried to kill her and her kids and while protecting her kids, the husband shot her in the eye. Luckily nothing hit her brain but she lost her right eye and part of her skull. Then she met Eduardo her boyfriend (ps they're older like 60's) who she's not married to but he did an awesome job at showing pure love to her kids and raising a few of their own. He loved her unconditionally, even though at that time she was a one eyed woman without anywhere to live and he was a handsome young man with all the potential in the world. He got her to a doctor and they got her a beautiful glass eye and fixed up the missing piece of her head. Eduardo loved her the same. They've grown old together and have had their trials but never given up hope that she'll be able to see again. Well about 5 or so years ago, Eduardo had a stroke. Half of his body is unable to move and now it is Julia's turn to take care of him. I learned true love watching her in her beautiful dress that she wore to our ward Christmas party jump out of the car and get out her husbands wheel chair, then as he tried to get out of the car, she ran over and gave him a hug and helped him get out of that car. Seeing her put him back in made me shed a few tears as she has a bad back and she lifts the leg that he can't, folds it and makes sure he's comfortably set to go home, gives him a hug and tells him, I love you. That is true love. She takes so great care of him. She came to church and loved it. She will be baptized on January 28th.
The miracle with her is this. She was studying with the Jehovah's Witness missionaries before she moved to Rancho Cordova. Now she's here and we found her. We were going to go teach her the plan of salvation and had prepared for about an hour during comp study. The lesson was going to ROCK. The best planning I've ever done. But when we showed up, she hadn't done her reading. My body and brain were like well, we'll read during the lesson, let's teach this long lesson, set an example of how to teach with the plan for this new missionary. But, the spirit said, no. Read 3 Nephi 11 with her, That's the chapter we assigned. So we read it with her feeling like that's what needed to happen. At the end she said, I had been having doubts about how a young boy could do this. I thought that it was a lie. I was going to only listen to you nice boys, but now, I know without a doubt that that man was inspired of God and that this book is the word of God. We were both shocked when she said, Now talk to me about baptism. She will be a firm by the end of this week and I'm so glad that is happening because I know the Gospel will help her. She will not only love the gospel but the ward. She will be able to have that comfort as she is married this month and then sealed in a year.
I am so thankful for the spirit and for the opportunity we have to have it here with us. A member of the Godhead with us constantly. I love the spirit and our Heavenly Father. THIS IS HIS WORK. He will choose who is ready and HE will make them ready. I love my Savior and I know the Atonement he performed for us is real. He loved us enough to lay down His life for us. Oh sweet the joy this sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer lives.
Love you!
Elder Walker
P.S. As for my spanish anything with the gospel is SUPER easy to explain along with life stories or greetings soccer anything like that is 100% there. Now for the next year, my goal is to get 100% fluent with speech. It's weird. At first I struggled with understanding and now it's only the speaking. I can understand just about anything from mexican slang to spanish proper words. My brain has switched to spanish mode. I'm basically Buzz in Toy Story 3. JK! But, it was fun because on Dispicable Me there is a part where he speaks to her in spanish and before I had NO clue what he was saying to her, but yesterday we were at this house and I heard it and picked up what he was saying lol. SO funny.
Also, we have these members and her dad is the overall guy for the spanish church productions. Well, I mentioned that I was in Savior of the World before I came on the mission and guess what they got us for Christmas??? El Salvador Del Mundo!!!! Both ACTS!!! ON DVD!!! So we can watch it on Christmas as a District with our investigators. Obviously I'll be crying thinking about y'all but, I'll talk to you a few minutes later, so it'll be good!
