AAHHHH!!!! The field is WHITE.
Hola familia!
I'm going to skip the chit-chat and tell you that...
ARTHUR AND LULU ARE GETTING BAPTIZED ON OCTOBER 25TH!!!! AHHHH!!! TEARS OF JOY.
Okay, here is the run-down story: Thursday night, Hermana Fairbourn and I felt really strongly after 6 months of trying to get the Gonzalez-Ambriz family with a baptismal date, that we should get at least Arthur on board to get baptized because he has literally been begging. After desperately praying in the car on the way to a last minute set up appointment, we were able to set him with a date! The spirit definitely guided that lesson. It was such a miracle!! We were hoping also that it might help motivate the others.
--THEN, just yesterday, we received a call that Lulu got permission from her dad to get baptized!!! After weeks of praying and fasting as a family, her dad said YES!!! We were screaming for joy at the news. It is hard to describe the extent of the miracle but, ahh man it was amazing! AHHH!! Sorry I'm screaming so much in this email. Miracles really do happen when you don't stop praying. Just don't stop praying, ever.
Also, Chayla, the oldest daughter, is so close to accepting a baptismal date! We have a lot of faith that she will. Also, Mayra told us last night that she is ready to get married and she is just waiting for Arturo to propose! She really wants him to get baptized so they can get sealed in the temple. This family is literally SO close, it's literally killing us! Haha it's so amazing to see so much progress!! Ahh! I love missionary work and the Atonement!
District miracle: After an inspired district meeting about the Book of Mormon, a member from the branch invited all of us to eat at an Asian Buffet for dinner. Our hostess take us to our table, asks what kind of missionaries we are, and then runs and grabs something. She then returns and slams down the Book of Mormon in Chinese on the table! She asks us if we could teach her all about the book. We taught her right there, using the things we learned in district meeting, and then she gave us all of her information, including facebook info and email address. We invited her to conference and she accepted. She is so excited to learn more from the Mandarin Chinese missionaries! How SWEET is that?! It was so cool to see our district all come together to help this one lil' lady.
Wasn't General Conference awesome? I loved so many talks, especially Elder Bednar's and the one General Authority who laid it down and told us not to make excuses and take responsibility for all our actions to increase spiritual confidence. I love it when people are bold. Conference was so perfect for so many of our investigators. I love how the Spirit works that way. Julian even came to conference in his white shirt and tie! Another miracle.
I've had a huge realization the past few months. Sometimes, God doesn't allow you to feel too confident in something or else you would become complacent and stunt your growth. I am so grateful for that. I don't think I've ever felt so inadequate in my life! It's a blessing. Just don't get discouraged if you're not constantly seeing progress in yourself. God will give you sneak peaks here and there, but just always strive to be better because every single good choice you make gets you closer to becoming like Christ whether you realize it or not.
I love you!!
Hermana Barnes
Las fotos:
1) The 4 sisters about to fall off a cliff.
2) Snake charmers on Potato chip rock. A super sweet hike our whole zone went on today for P-day. Bring on the soreness!
3) Les quiero a los Hermanos Lopez! These two are like everyone's grandparents in the branch. They take care of us.
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