Hola Everyone!
Soooo.....I'm leaving Oxnard.....I'm kind of bummed,
but....I'm going to SANTA PAULA! I'm really excited. I feel like
almost all of my companions have served there, so now I'll actually be able to
meet the members and investigators that they've talked about. I'm going
to be with Hermana Player (she was here in the same ward with me last transfer)
and I'M TRAINING again too! Another tri-pan! I'm really excited!
This week has been full of miracles. We've been trying to
work as hard as we can so that we can "jump out of the jar." Even
though we didn't reach the goal of 40 lessons that the mission set for each companionship,
we've seen so much progression with our investigators.
On Tuesday, we were able to go teach the Medina family
again. This time we were able to bring not only Gabby, but we were also able to
bring the Relief Society President's daughter, Briana. They're both amazing!
They both want to serve missions, so they love coming out with us to
appointments and they've been such great fellowship for the Medina's. We were
able to talk about the city of Nephi with them and how they can apply it to their
lives. Gabby and Briana had an experience they could share with them for every
point of the lesson. It was good because even though we were there to extend
the committments and keep the lesson flowing, the two girls were the main
teachers. It was so good for the Medinas to see that. On Thursday, we were able
to go back, but neither Gabby nor Briana were able to come, so we had to sit
outside. We taught tithing and fasting and all three of them (Gladys, Kassy,
and Jaline) readily accepted to live it when they were baptized. They still
want to be baptized, but their mom still wants them to wait a little longer. I
love them so much and I'll definitely miss teaching them.
On Wednesday, we were able to find another family to teach.
The night before, we were going through our potentials sheets and we found the
Molantin family. We decided to go find them and when we met them, they wouldn't
let us start off right away with teaching them, but they wanted us to come back
and start teaching their son, Adrian(11-years-old) , to help him start
behaving. He's been going through a rebellious period and his parents want him
to have a better foundation in something to help. When we got there the next
evening, not only was Adrian there, but his brother, Ramses (13-years-old), and
his mom decided to sit in and listen. As we were teaching the Restoration, they
paid attention the entire time and they understood the scriptures really well.
Most of the time people need some more explanations, but they explained them to
us! At the end of the lesson, we invited them to be baptized and all three of
them accepted the date of June 21. They were such a miracle! I'm so glad that
we were able to find another family to teach. The only potential problem is
that both of the boys play soccer during most of the week, including Sundays,
so coming to church might be a problem, but hopefully they'll start realizing
the importance of coming.
On Friday, we were able to teach Freddie again. We had a
more in depth Restoration lesson with him and were able to invite the spirit.
The only problem is that he was having problems feeling the spirit or even
recognizing it. He's been having a lot of issues with his family, but he wants
to fix it. He read everything that we've already given him, but he didn't have
the chance to come to church this past week. I'm going to miss teaching him
too, but I know he'll be in good hands.
Yesterday, we were able to have another lesson with Mayra
and Jose. It was a little crazy because all of the kids were there, but it was
really good at the same time because we were able to get a recent convert and
her son there. We just talked about the 10 commandments briefly, but after the
lesson Mayra came up to us and told us that she really wants to be baptized.
The only thing that's been holding her back is that she's living with her
boyfriend still (who's a less active member). She wants to get separated from
him so that she can be baptized with her son! I love her so much! She comes to
church almost every week and pays tithing even though she's not a member yet.
Everything that she does, she does it to help her kids gain their own
testimonies. She's so strong and such a good example.
Also, this week we were able to talk to the daughter (Ana)
of one of our less actives (Alma). She's only 14-years-old, but she has a
desire to come closer to Christ. We shared Helaman 5:12 with her and were able
to help her see the importance of having a strong foundation in her life
especially at her age. We also talked to her about Girl's Camp and she said
that she might be interested in going.
Every person that we were able to talk to this week has been
so prepared. I know that we got to see miracles because we were trying to
extend our vision and do what the Lord has asked us to do. This has definitely
been one of the most productive weeks of my entire mission.
I'm going to miss Oxnard a ton, but I know that the Lord has
things in store for me to do in Santa Paula. Thanks for all the love and
support! I can feel it every day.
Con amor,
Hermana Halliday
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