Californian A-Venturas: Fifty-ninth Week in the Field

Hola Everyone!

This week was so absolutely amazing!

The Jones are still doing really great! We had a Family Home Evening with them on Monday and talked about the Tree of Life. We went through each of the steps of the vision and had them draw it. It was a really neat experience we had with them because Natalie and Chris both got into it as well. On Thursday, we were finally able to have a lesson with them at the Nelson Family home. The boys all clicked really well and the Nelson boys didn't hesitate to invite the Jones boys over for a play date in the future. The lesson went just as well as we had hoped it would. They're still planning on being baptized on the 16th and confirmed on the 17th. We still have a few more things to teach them which shouldn't be too difficult to teach before they're interviewed. The ward council agrees that it's being amazing to see the progress with this family. Even just a few months ago, no one could have imagined them where they are now.

Vanessa is still doing great as well. She's still been attending the Fillmore ward, but she loves it. We found out that part of the reason that they go there is because her boyfriends parents are active members there and come to Santa Paula to pick them up. We talked to the Elders in our district and they said they would talk to the parents to see if they could bring her and Jared and Enoch to the Santa Paula ward. We think this'll help her get more of the fellowship that she needs to continue to progress in the gospel. We ended up teaching her the Plan of Salvation this week, which was perfect timing because the Aparicio's dad died and they had just gotten back from the Rosary service. She felt a lot of peace knowing that they would be able to see him again after this life. She's still so prepared and loves learning about the gospel.

We were finally able to get a hold of Celeste this week! She's been going through a rough time and was kind of distancing herself from everything and everyone. One of our appointments fell through the evening we ended up seeing her and we know that it's probably because we needed to see her. A few minutes after we showed up on her doorstep and had already been talking with her, Sister Castro (the member we were taking with us to the other appointment) showed up! We didn't plan it even though at first Celeste thought we did. Sister Castro pointed out that Heavenly Father was definitely looking out for her and that she needed to let us in to talk with her. She did and we had a very touching conversation. Celeste has been struggling with some things (we don't know what, but she says she's stressed about the pressures of life). Since her husband isn't a member, I think that adds to some of the stress. She's such a sweet spirit and I love being able to help her come closer to Heavenly Father. We tried convincing her to let us come over and do some service for her and in the end she reluctantly agreed, but said she'd call when she needed help. We're going to call or stop by and followup with that this week.

Alfonso is a new investigator that we were able to start teaching this week. A few months ago, the other Hermanas in the ward started teaching him, but then he went to Mexico. He just got back and now he lives in our area. He's so prepared and hasn't forgotten anything from before he left the country. He has a lot of questions and he loves learning. It's even better because his granddaughter wanted to listen in and learn more as well even though she's only 8. Later, her mom and his daughter came out and she didn't seem to interested herself, but she said that we could teach her daughter as long as Alfonso was there. Also, the whole time, Alfonso kept trying to get us to tell him our first names. We wouldn't give them to him even though apparently the sisters before did. With time I think he'll understand that we're servants of the Lord and not just his friends that come and hang out with him.

Monique is doing absolutely amazing. We had a lesson with her and Sister Cook on Saturday. We taught the first part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and talked a lot about the story of Alma the Younger from the Book of Mormon. She loved how similar her story was to his and she applied it to herself really well. She's been struggling a little with some health problems as a result of her past, but she has the best attitude about it. She knows that God will help her either overcome or deal with the issues according to His will. She came to church again this past Sunday and loved it. She had a lot of really good questions on why we do certain things or why we believe certain things. We're having a dinner with her and the Relief Society president and another family in the ward tonight, so we're really excited about that. Also, she signed up to feed us on Thursday and she's so willing to help out with anything that anyone asks her to do. She truly has been prepared by our Heavenly Father to hear this message of the gospel.

Garrett got ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday in church!! The progress that he's been making is so amazing. I honestly don't know what else to say about him that I haven't already said so many times before. Melissa is doing absolutely amazing too. She loves helping us out and helping Garrett progress. She's still planning on being baptized and we're hoping to finally be able to set her with a date soon. We had to explain to them that this was the last week of the transfer and that one of us might be leaving soon and they got a little bit upset, but they understood that it wasn't permanent or that we'd never see them again. I'm so grateful for the amazing relationship that I've been able to form with them.

As far as I'm doing, everything's great! I love working hard and serving the Lord with everything I've got!

Thanks for all the love and support!

Con amor,

Hermana Halliday