Mi familia!! :)
Primero, les quiero muchisimo!! :) I love you all so much and am so grateful for every single one of you. :) I can't believe that as of tomorrow I will offically have been on my mission for 6 months!! I honestly cannot believe it... I only have one more year. I don't like that thought. I love being out here and learning every day and am so grateful for this opportunity to help and serve others. Missions are the best! To celebrate 6 months Elder Perry decided to come to our mission and talk with our whole mission. That's tomorrow!! Agh! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! We're taking a mission photo and then we will have the opportunity to listen to him and Elder Clayton from the Seventy. I'll write you next week and let you know how it goes. :)
Exciting news for the week, ADRIAN GOT BAPTIZED! :) He got baptized on Saturday night and then yesterday he received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. In his confirmation, he was promised some pretty cool blessings as long as he continues to grow and strengthen his testimony. He was told that one day he would serve a full time mission and bring many more souls into the gospel, and that eventually through his example, one of those would be his father. That's a huge promised blessing for the Reyes family. Yesterday was his 11th birthday as well, so it was kind of cool to go over and talk to him yesterday about how he felt about everything and then to celebrate his birthday with him and his family. I love this family so much and I have seen so many miracles happen with them. It's amazing how fast you can grow and love people that you've never known before and how much they really become a part of your life. It's one of the many miracles of a mission. :)
As for our other investigators, Jennifer is still doing great. She's been going kind of crazy this week because Justin is in Montana but it's been good. We've had some good service opportunities at her house like moving in kids beds and moving out and moving in broken washers. And we don't even need service clothes; who knew of all the things that were possible in a skirt? :) She really is doing awesome though and it's awesome working with her. She said that a missionary from another church stopped by to talk and she told the missionary that actually she had found the church and her and her daughter were going to be baptized in it. The missionary wasn't too happy when she told her what church, but Jennifer stood her ground and bore her testimony to the lady saying that she knew she was choosing the right church. And then when she told us about it later she told us that "And through it all, it didn't even phase me. I didn't doubt for one second that I have chosen to be baptized into the right church." That's the gospel of Jesus Christ in action. :) We, as missionaries, don't change people; it's the gospel of Jesus Christ that changes people and causes them to want to make changes in their lives to grow closer to him. It's beautiful!!
Jessica is still doing really well too... We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! She said it's a little different than what she's used to, but that she really likes it. She still reading in the Book of Mormon and she even has a little notebook that she keeps and she writes down all the questions that she has about religion, the church, the Book of Mormon, anything. So, here's the exciting news... On Saturday we had a really good lesson with her and we extended the baptism invitation to her and she accepted!! She also accepted a date for Sept 24, assuming of course that she feels ready. She really wants to read more of the Book of Mormon and know for herself that it's true, so of course we'll keep visiting her and let the spirit and the gospel of Jesus Christ give her the confirmation she needs that this really is the true church of Christ. She's awesome!
Alena is still having trouble with Brandon... Keep them both in your prayers.
I love being a missionary :) I love the long days, the beautiful weather, my companions, the people we get to visit, the help of the Spirit, the scriptures, the funny little things that happen during the day, and most importantly, the love of our Heavenly Father and the love that our Savior, Jesus Christ has for us. He loves us so much that he gave his life for us. Love is the center of the message that we are privileged to share. :) Thank you for all that you have done/do for me! I love you all!
Love,
Hermana Haws
