FAMILY!!!
So last week for P-Day we went to the OCEAN. PEOPLE. IT IS HUGE. We went to these massive cliffs and resisted the temptation to jump in. It was beautiful! I live in the coolest place! SO that was a lovely P-Day activity. Definitely different from the Valley haha.
Speaking of lovely P-Day activities, I WENT TO THE TEMPLE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE APRIL AND IT IS THE BEST THING EVER!!!! I cried the whole time. That new presentation is powerful. I just sat there smiling the whole time, I was so happy! I thought a lot about you guys and all I could think of was, "Man. Families are great. I am glad this place let's me be with them for eternity."
I can't get over how fast time is flying! Let it be announced that my birthday month is about to fall upon us. But in all seriousness I can't believe Thursday is Halloween! I feel like it should be June. The weather here is beautiful-65 degrees and sunny. Not suffering.
This week flew and it seems like we were on our feet for all of it! I love being on a bike-which is a lot easier to ride in a skirt than it looks, let it be known. I'm starting to get a hang of where everything is in this area and how the ward works with the missionaries. I love this ward!! The bishop is hilarious and he gives a lot of support to the missionaries. Our ward mission leader, Hermano Espinosa, is on fire! He is super passionate about the work and is really on top of it. It's cool to work with someone who understands and is excited about the hastening and the urgency of the work. There are 8 missionaries serving in this one ward, and at first I was like "this is waaaay too many missionaries." But the more I am here, the more I realize how much they are needed! The ward is handing out referrals right and left and there is SO much work to be done!! It makes me so happy. We wake up every morning, study, and just go. We take 15 minutes for lunch and dinner and then we're out again. I am loving it. I love coming home completely whipped and exhausted. There are a lot of missionaries in Chula Vista (there are 2 zones, Chula Spanish and Chula English) so everywhere you look, you see black tags. It's so cool, the mutual support we feel from one another. I've always loved big groups of people, and here it definitely feels like an army.
Hermana Kelemen is awesome! It's really fun to be with someone from my MTC district. There wasn't an awkward "get to know you" week and we just jumped straight into the work. Our teaching styles are waaaaay different, but somehow it really works and we've taught some really cool lessons as a result. She's been in this area for 3 transfers so she really loves it and knows it well. I'm learning a whole new way of teaching from her and it's been a blast to see how our two styles of teaching can come together into something totally different. I love her a ton!
We are teaching a lot more investigators than I am used too, so that's been a blast. Antonio has a date set for next Thursday!! He's super solid. He gave up coffee in 4 days and is so prepared. Teaching him is really interesting. For some reason, neither mine nor Hermana Kelemen's Spanish is super great in those lessons. We're always fumbling over words and teaching things really simply. But the spirit works through him so strong!! We explain a principle really simply, then he sits there and thinks about it, and then he says "so what you're saying is...."and then launches off for the next 5 minutes about the principle using details we never taught him!!! Watching the spirit work through him is incredible, I've never seen anything quite like it. It a huge testimony builder for me, knowing that we are simply the mouthpieces. And sometimes not even that. At times we are simply the people who presents the idea and then lets Heavenly Father take care of the rest. OH MY SHOOT DANG IT IS THE BEST THING EVER.
It was the primary program last Sunday. I cried the whole time. Being on a mission has turned me into a SAP.
Then Anna and Socorro are our other progressing investigators. Anna is the mom of the ward mission leader in another English ward, but would rather attend the Spanish ward so that's why we are teaching her. Anna doesn't realize how much she has changed and how much she has progressed. Actually, Soccoro and Antonio are the same. They don't realize how different their countenances are! I know I've only been here a short time, but man. They are different. I wish they could just see how much the Gospel has changed them. Antonio actually texted us the other night about his baptism. He said he had some doubts because he didn't feel like he was worthy to be baptized or start this journey. We talked about John the Baptist in the bible, and how he didn't feel worthy either to baptize Christ. But he did anyway-because he knew it was right. Then we talked about the tender mercy that followed-the Holy Ghost being manifested in the form of a dove. The Holy Ghost being present is significant in that event in the Bible, but I also think it was a small sign to John that said "You did good. You did what was right." We need to walk with faith, knowing that the way is right, never needing signs to encourage us, but rejoicing in the tender mercies that say "You're doing good. You're doing what is right.".
Pray for Antonio, that he will know that this is right, and that he will have the strength to take that leap of faith!!
I love you all so much. I hope you realize how incredibly important you are to me!! I feel your prayers daily!
Hermana Hess
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