Happy Thanksgiving

Hello!

I hope everything is well.  I heard from Mom that you all got together three different times for Thanksgiving Dinner. Wow. Crazy. They don´t celebrate Thanksgiving here so we had the traditional rice and Tuna. It was good though. 

I am so glad that the members here love to feed the missionaries. They always make us amazing JUGO (juice). Yesterday I had Strawberry Milk with fresh strawberries and Pan (bread). It was amazing. Did you guys  remember to eat Pumpkin pie and Cheesecake for me? Those things do not exist here.

Scripture Study

This week I finished reading 3rd Nephi, 4th Nephi, and Mormon. One theme I found in these chapters was The Light of Christ. The Light of Christ can mean a lot of things, but here are two definitions that I found during my personal study. 

1. An example and obedience
2.  Knowledge

 I was reading in D&C 6:21 where it says that Christ is the light in the darkness. If we liken Christ to the darkness we can feel when we don't have the Holy Ghost with us, when we choose to not follow the prompting of the Holy Ghost or we choose not to obey the commandments. Then I found this amazing scripture in Helaman 13:9

  

And ^afour hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten; yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence. 

One question came to my mind...How long will you choose to live in the darkness and not the light? I have shared this scripture with a few of our investigators and it really makes them think. I was then reading in Mormon 5:16-24, where it talks about Christ, and how he is our shepherd.  It also says not to be lead by Satan and to humble ourselves and repent. It was pretty amazing to find all of these scriptures and really think about the Light of Christ. Christ will always be the light in the darkness and his light will never not be there, but are we willing to see his LIGHT? It was a great scripture and spiritual experience for me. It's amazing that I was able to really search the scriptures and find what the Light of Christ meant to me personally. 

My Week

On Tuesday we had a mulit zone conference with President Dennis. It was all about the Obra de Salvacion and Christ (Work of Salvation). We watched Mormon.org videos about Christ, loved it and we also got to take a photo as a Zone.

On Thursday, Thanksgiving we had a baptism! E got baptized!! He had a baptismal interview on Wednesday and decided to get baptized the next day! After his baptism and after he got the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, he said that he no longer felt alone in this world. He is also finding a lot of strength in the scriptures!

On Sunday, his two nieces also came to church. We found E, because his two older nieces K and R, were baptized 3 years ago with their mother in the church, but have not been to church for a while. 

One of the youth named Leni, lives next door and one day he was helping us with our teaching appointments and told us he had some friends who are members, but have not been to church. He told us that we should talk with them. So he introduced us to them and we taught them for two nights in a row about prayer and reading the scriptures and invited them to church. And they came! That night we went to their house to teach them again, and their parents, and uncle got home from work while we were their and we found out that their uncle E and younger sister A are not members. So we started to teach both E and A as well as their parents. It has been such a great journey with them. 

On Sunday, their younger sister A came to church for one of the first times. She has a baptismal date for the 14th of this month! K also leaned over to us in Relief Society and told us that we saved her. She has been reading the scriptures every night. Last night we taught them about the importance of family prayer and once we left, they stayed on their knees and prayed as a family for the first time. I am so happy for them. I know that they will continue to endure to the end. 

I have been feeling the spirit a lot more lately. About two Sundays ago, we were walking down the street and I got a strong impression to stop right in front of this lady who was leaving one of the tiendas (stores). I turned to my companion and said  contacting, which means we start talking to a person and get to know them. So, I asked her if I could help her carry her groceries home. She said yes and we talked to her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She said she was Catholic, but had a Son who she thought might like to listen.

 We talked to Hermano C, he is Jehovah Witness and lives by himself, but was visiting his mother. We talked to him and invited him to church the following Sunday. He didnt really seem interested and he lives in a different area some of the week, so we just made a note to meet with him again in a week or two. To our surprise he showed up to church without us calling him! He has come to churhc the past two sundays and this week on Thursday he called and told us he wanted to be baptized! He has a baptism date for the 7th of December! In the same week I also found a scripture in 1 Nephi 4:6 which says I was lead by the Spirit not knowing where to go.

Things are so much better this week. The spanish is coming. I still dont completely understand everything and sometimes it is frustrating, but it is getting way better. I am so thankful the Lord and his help through the Holy Ghost.

Always AnnaAlicia