Living and Loving

The lady from the story in my email, the mom of the family Diaz, made this homemade jam and gave me some.
I love her!

I love this family with all my heart. 

La familia Polio made us dinner to celebrate their one month of being baptized. 

Ahh....I found nectarines. :)

My boot couldn't take the rain and the mud any more. I got new ones for the rainy season coming up.

A little lamb right by our lunch appointment.

Recent converts. They gave me a cucumber and a lime to eat with my dinner even though they only had 2. I love these people so much. Their mansion will be great in heaven.

My little home girls. They make me laugh SO hard and just ask about boys all the time.

The capacitacion (training) of hermanas in the zone. It was so fun.

David's baptism. The tall on in white is his uncle, who is a sealer in the Xela temple.

Family!

It amazes me how sometimes the days can go by so slow but all of the sudden it is Lunes again and we are writing the family and running around and doing all the stuff. Time goes by so fast. Tomorrow we start Hermana Gonzalez` last transfer. That is crazy. Neither of us have changes and so we are just loving life and hanging out and working hard. I decided that one of my absolute favorite parts of the mission is just being with your companion and walking in your area to a cita- talking and laughing and contacting. It is the best. When we are worthy, the Spirit really is our constant companion, and that makes life constantly enjoyable. The Polio family always says ¨Our house might be the poorest one on the street, but it is the richest in blessings!¨ I love that. The simple life, filled with faith and family is all we really need in this world.

The capacitacion of hermanas went so well! Everyone came to La Esperanza here in Xela and everyone participated. I talked about the importance of loving the people and loving the gospel. I started my lesson by inviting a companionship of hermanas up to the front. I had them say everything that they loved about each other and then asked if they were willing to do anything to help and serve each other. I felt the Spirit so strongly as I just watched these hermanas expressing love to one another. We read the story of Christ washing his disciples feet in John 13-

 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

 16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

 17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

I testified to the hermanas of the happiness that comes when we truly love one another and love the gospel with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. I just love reading the scriptures and learning more and more. I also had to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting about the importance of scripture study. I feel like I still know nothing and I don`t understand or remember so many things, but the Spirit helps us remember all that we need to. And more that what we read and see, it is about how we feel and how we apply all that we study. I want to be better at that.

David. That was a miracle of this week. We stopped by his house on Monday night to pick him and his mom up for a Noche de Hogar in the house of a member. When we got there they just made us wait in the street a minute and said that they had something to tell us. David said that he had been praying and felt like Heavenly Father wanted him to be baptized the next day (Tuesday). That was fun! So we called the district leader and went on divisiones to get everything done that we needed to. We had other citas and we were sprinting around everything but those days are always the best on the mission. Laying down SO so so tried and as soon as you close your eyes, the alarm goes off and you are on your knees- begging for the Spirit to lead and guide you in that days adventures. And He did. It was a hard day, and such a wonderful day. Mari is still working towards baptism and hopefully that will come soon. But David stood strong and despite all of the opposition that confronted him this week, he was baptized on Tuesday night and it was the most beautiful baptismal service. The bishop got up, super teary and said that he felt that he needed to confirm David right then. In the blessing he said ¨Your Father in Heaven wants your to know that you are clean. You have been cleansed and purified from everything that has ever happened in your life.¨ I loved that. That is how I feel each time that I go to the temple. Cleansed and purified and made whole.

 D&C 76:69 These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.

That is the point of the Gospel of Jesus Christ- changing us into perfect, purified, and glorified beings. I love watching other people start on and continue in this wonderful process. What a blessing it is to be part of this work. We really are establishing the kingdom of the Lord on earth.

Yesterday a huge family came to church that I had never seen before. Apparently they are friends of a member that she has been working with for the past year but they never progressed. They came on Sunday and I talked to the mom and the kids after church and asked what she thought of the meetings and how she felt. She told me that she had made the decision to return to church and that she felt that she needed to be baptized with her family. Her husband supported her and they all came together. I put a fecha with her for her baptism and she just cried with happiness. We are going to have a family night with them and their member friends tonight. They are so precious. They live in the boundaries of the neighboring ward that assists to our same building so we will have to pass the reference but I am so grateful to just be a little part of the miracle. And feel of their faith and desires to choose the right.

La familia Diaz is a new family of members that just started going to our ward. They were baptized a year ago in another ward in Xela and just got sealed. We went to their house last night and drank homemade hot chocolate and bread with jam and heard of their miraculous conversion. A year ago their family was in a terrible car accident and their 8 year old daughter passed away. They had been visited by the missionaries for years and years and never wanted anything. But after their daughter died, their hearts were softened and they wanted to be baptized immediately. The talked about the Plan of Salvation and the blessing it was for them to understand the purpose that God has for the family in his eternal plan. The mom cried and said ¨The knowledge that I received of the Plan of Salvation has helped me to live one day at a time and rely completely on my Savior. I don`t know how I could have lived this year without that knowledge. You guys as missionaries are angels. You truly are angels sent from Heavenly Father to help us all understand why hard things happen and what we can do to be worthy to see our daughter again.¨ I was obviously crying at this point. How merciful is our loving Father. We can always repent. We can always change. There is always hope. I love Him. I love my family. I love being a member of this church. 

I went on divisiones with San Mateo this week and we met these two really old people (like 85+ years) and they are the best things ever! We gave them a Book of Mormon and he was SO excited. While we were singing the hymn he just read kept reading the first page and wouldn`t stop. When we finished the hymn he looked up at me and said ¨What is the promised land?¨ I explained a little bit of Lehi´s story and the Lord´s promises to him and his family. And then the old man asked ¨But where is it?¨ I told him that the land the Lord had promised to Lehi was here in the Americas. He smiled so big and got so happy! He turned to his little wife and said- did you hear that? The promised land is right here!¨ And then in his closing prayer he said ¨Thank you, Father in Heaven, for letting us live in the promised land.¨ I loved that! My eyes filled with tears as I hugged those precious people and left for the next cita. Missions are just days and weeks and months filled with miracles and spiritual experiences that help us all become a little more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love Him so much.

And I love all of you so much! Thank you for all the notes and letters and love. They are so precious to me and help me want to be better! Praying for you always and always.

Hermana Jane