Last week was slow, but the weekend was full of miracles! It's weird to think how I used to spend my weekends and how relaxing they always were. Despite the craziness and (sometimes) stress of weekends in the life of a missionary, I can't imagine ever going back to strolling casually to the movies on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon picnic and nap. It just doesn't compare.
We had a few lessons during the week, and a whole day of contacting in Berkeley which turned out awesome. We found one AWESOME lady who seemed really golden.....but her phone number was wrong. And so was her address. But we found a couple of young adults that we told the sisters of the Berkeley singles ward about, and a lot more. We talked to way more than 20 people and we met 7 people who wanted to learn! Only in a couple of hours too! It was pretty cool. There are prepared people, even in the crazy city of Berkeley.
But the real miracles came this weekend. General Conference was absolutely amazing and gave me and Sister Ayala just the motivation we needed. We didn't have any investigators watch it on Saturday, but I learned so much. I was so grateful for Elder Holland's talk about depression - I've taught a lot of people with depression and it's hard to understand but it's given me so much more compassion as I've seen how it really is another way that Satan limits our agency. It was particularly touching to me when he spoke about how all of these people will have perfect emotional health in the next life. We just have to support them and help them right now. President Uchtdorf's talk was spot-on as well as he talked about why people join the church and why they fall away. We all have to help ourselves AND help each other. That's the way the church works and that's why Jesus Christ established a church and has re-established this church again today, when we need it more than ever.
And right after General Conference, we worked in the VC and found a super golden family! They live in Oakland but had never come to the temple before. They decided to come with their friend Manuela that was visiting from Honduras. We showed them God's Plan and taught them a little bit about the Book of Mormon, and they immediately accepted a copy! They don't live in our area, but I'm so excited for the elders to teach them!
Guess what? That was only Saturday. Sunday was full of miracles. Sunday morning ended with exactly the talks I needed to hear from Elder Richard G. Scott and President Monson. Then we had a ward potluck with our members - I just love this ward so much. It was so fun. I couldn't focus much on the Sunday afternoon session very well - we watched it in Spanish and MARTIN AND GUADALUPE CAME! Martin Jr. was there but coloring, and Ryan was sitting in the car because he didn't like his hairdo. But Martin and Guadalupe were there for Russell M Nelson's talk about marriage (I knew he was my favorite apostle) and they were even holding hands! This family is SO CLOSE. So close to coming to church together and eventually, the temple :)
So after that, we had a whole night completely open. We didn't have any set appointments but we were really motivated and ready to find new investigators! And that's exactly what happened - we went to visit a member and they weren't home so we knocked the door of their Spanish-speaking neighbor. She immediately invited us in, we taught her, she accepted to be baptized and we're teaching her whole family tomorrow! And then, she gave us a referral for her sister who lived a block away so we took a little stroll over there. No one was home, but on the way back to our car, we ended up running into her sister's family! Without her sister. It took us a little while to figure out that it was the same family but then we decided to compare the addresses and it was! The dad really wanted his kids to learn about God, and his kids really wanted to even though they are 16 and 19 years old. But they are so awesome! We're seeing them Friday. It's going to be the best week ever.
And it STILL doesn't end there! We went to visit our investigator Marilu and found out that the woman that rented a room in their home is causing loads of problems. She's always drunk and the kids are absolutely terrified of her. But when she came home drunk the other night, Angel's first response was "We need to pray." This rambunctious crazy 5-year-old knows exactly what to do when things aren't good. It's scary but I know God will protect this family and they will learn to trust Him and His gospel. They are SO close. They watched General Conference as well at the Preciado's home but it was in English with Spanish subtitles so Marilu didn't get too much out of it. But we'll work on that - that's why it's online!!! Afterwards, we went to see the Preciado's on a whim and taught them about tithing. They've been members for more than two years but haven't made it to the temple yet because they haven't been paying a full tithe. They're working so hard and we were able to support them and help them recognize that they CAN pay their tithing. I love getting to know the members so well that they tell us what they need so we can strengthen their faith. And I'm grateful for the companionship of the Spirit that prompts us to visit members and give them the support and encouragement they need. We need each other - even other members need our testimonies and our compassion. There are situations every single day where we can be the Lord's hands here, inside the church and (especially) outside of the church.
And there's even more. Because we visited the Preciado's, we didn't have time to head to Berkeley like we planned so we had to improvise. With the Spirit of course. So right as we decided to pull over because we had no idea where we were going, we saw a Hispanic man and he walked right into the house that we were parking in front of in that very moment. We took that as a sign from the Spirit, and indeed it was! That man didn't answer the door, but his cousin did. We couldn't go in and teach because his wife wasn't there, but he invited us back on Thursday so that's what we'll be doing Thursday night! And we already know the perfect members to take with us.
Sister Ayala and I are really excited for these last two weeks of the transfer, and praying for more time together!!! We're going to find a lot of new investigators through family history (she's an addict) and service projects in highly populated Spanish neighborhoods of our area (which are rare but we'll make it work). We're also starting our own MTC - Member Training Classes! More details to come! There are prepared people for us to teach, and we're going to find them and really get the work going in this area! I'm grateful for all I've learned in the past few months. Once again I'm reminded of one of my favorite scriptures at the end of Alma 32: "Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you...behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst."
And like M. Russell Ballard taught, we ALL have this responsibility as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and....mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places" and we can all feel this pure joy as we bring souls to Christ.
Next week's email will be filled with even more miracles as we visit these families and find more. Talk to you all next Monday! Les quiero!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
