August 27, 2013 - The Heavens Opened

And on the 4th day of the week, God allowed the Heavens to open, and for hours upon hours rain descended from the sky until all the Mexicans shut their doors, for fear of the floods. And the Lord saw it was good, and allowed it to continue to rain for the next three days, and the evening and the morning made it a freakin humid oven when the sun shined again, much to the dismay of the missionaries on bikes.

Actually, there was a sweet sand/lightening storm preceding the floods, so much that the missionaries were instructed to "get the heck indoors or else you'll get struck by lightening and die" (that was the text we got from the senior couple serving here in the Valley. They are the best!)

This past week flew by!! It was definitely a week of relying 100% on the spirit, as every single one of our appointments and their backups fell through. We weren't able to see a lot of our investigators, which bummed us out, and then all of the less-actives that we see said that they don't want to go to church because "they don't feel like it.". I think this week my heart has broken more than any other week in the field. Us as a district have been working so hard, and striving to become the best missionaries we can be, but at the same time we aren't seeing a whole lot of progression. We brought up the issues we've been facing with the ward council but they said "talk to the mission president" and then planned who was going to cook what for the ward party....But it's ok. Refiners fire, peeps. Our district leader told us that "it's good to feel heartbreak. Means you're heart's invested".

I think the moments that I have appreciated most have been the moments where I literally do not know what to do, and then Heavenly Father steps in, opens a window and says "here ya go"-I've learned that we need to work our hardest to have these moments come. We need to do all we can FIRST and then Heavenly Father knows that we are ready to go forwards. I think that's where the enabling power of the Atonement comes in. We should not pray to Heavenly Father to fix the situation, we should pray to Him for the strength to fix it ourselves. As saints, and knowing what we know, we are the fixers for the people with broken hearts. And as we serve those we love, we find that our hearts become healed in the process. We rejoice and are edified together. WHAT A GOOD LIFE.

I sang "Be Still My Soul" in church last Sunday...way to go, music. Salvation for the soul.

We had a meeting where all the Spanish missionaries in the mission got together to discuss some of the specific challenges we face. Things from food to machismo to the death-phrase "Si Dios Quiere"-it was actually super good! Made me really proud to be working in Spanish work. Then we went to 5 Guys after and it made me really proud to be an American.

Dad you bought USU vs. Air Force tickets?!?!? I've never been prouder to be called your daughter!!! I'm thrilled that your seminary class is awesome-do I know any of them? Are you kickin trash? Duh.

Is mom still primary president?

Well, sorry this is a boring letter!! I'll send more exciting stuff next week. It's the last week of the transfer and huge miracles always happen this week!

Love you all SO DANG MUCH!

Hermana Hess