This week was such a wonderfully spiritual week. All week I've just been on the verge of tears- full of gratitude and love for my Savior and for the gospel. I've felt an overwhelming amount of love for Puerto Rico, the culture, the people we're teaching, the members, etc. Life is beautiful. The people are wonderful. And the church is true. It just can't get any better than this. :)
And of course, there were a ton of miracles this week!!! We've been working with a less active named C. and we've always tried teaching her husband and grandkids that live with her, but they always hide from us when we visit her. But we've been praying so hard to find people that already know members. Whether it's family members, friends, neighbors, etc. And the Lord definitely helped us with that this week. On Monday we felt prompted to pass by her house so we did and in the middle of the lesson, her granddaughter just walks out and sits down next to her grandma and listens too. We were shocked. Someone who had hid every time just decided to randomly come out and listen. And she is awesome! She had almost been baptized before, but her mom hadn't let her because her mom doesn't like the church, but now, she's not under-aged so she doesn't need her mom's permission so she's totally going to get baptized! We're super excited for her!!
Also, a member introduced us to her friend, V. He is super interested and loves the message of the restoration and has been to church 3 times now and we were super excited because we just knew he would get baptized in August, but then yesterday, he told us that he's moving to the states on August 11. So if he's going to be baptized it has to be this Saturday. Basically we need a miracle, but I believe in a God of miracles and that it can happen. So we're going to be working super hard with him this week so that he can prepare for baptism before he leaves. Please pray for him! :)
And M. came to church! It was the best thing ever seeing him at church! He's definitely going to be baptized on the 20th! He is such an inspiration!
One night, we were talking about the apostasy we've seen in Puerto Rico in our missions as we were walking to an appointment and unfortunately the conversation took a slight negative turn and we were feeling a bit depressed about the lack of interest of the people, but as we were talking we passed a young man that said "hey wait! You guys are missionaries right? I have some questions for you." So we stopped to talk to him and basically he's a golden investigator! He's been passing through a lot of difficult situations and he's decided to turn to God and search the scriptures to find the peace and answers that he's looking for and he wanted our help to help him understand the scriptures and God's plan for him. It was such a huge miracle! It was like God had hit us with a ton of bricks. like He was saying "hey, there are people waiting for you! Love them and get to work! They need you!" It was a very humbling experience and I truly know that there are tons of people that the Lord is preparing to receive this message. I love Puerto Rico and the people and am so grateful that I have this chance to work as the Lord's representative here on this little island. I can't wait to come visit Puerto Rico with you guys so that you can also enjoy this paradise! :)
Also, it was a bit strange, but we got to go apartment shopping on Wednesday! They are making some changes to the area next transfer so they needed us to find a new apartment for the elders that are moving here to Guayama. It was so fun driving all around Guayama searching for apartments. It was super weird as a missionary but I guess missions prepare us for the rest of our lives so I guess I'll just be a pro apartment shopper when I get back. :)
Then on Sunday, we had the most amazing and spiritual lesson that I've ever had in Relief Society. It was about service. Service is a great opportunity to help others feel the love of their Savior and to help them feel important. Our Savior Jesus Christ was the most perfect example of loving others and serving them, and we should strive to see others as He sees them and serve and love them at all times. Before my mission I feel like I was very self-centered and never really searched for opportunities to serve, but I hope that I can be different after my mission, because everyone deserves to feel loved and we can be the instrument that helps them to feel that love. We should strive to love each and every person we meet and seek opportunities to serve them and help them feel the love of the Savior. In that lesson about service I just felt so full of the love of the Lord and then at the end they played a slideshow of pictures of service with the song "Love One Another" and the last picture was a picture of missionaries preaching the gospel and I started to cry. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for this opportunity to be a missionary and learn to love and serve others as the Savior did. It's the most fulfilling and gratifying thing we can do. My mission has changed me in so many ways and I'm so extremely grateful for who my mission is helping me to become. Thank you for raising me in righteousness and for giving me this opportunity to serve our fellow men and bring them to Christ. I'm having a hard time fully expressing how I feel, but truly I love this work and I love being a missionary. I know that we will draw closer to our Savior and feel more of His love for us if we serve others and love them as the Savior loves them.
I love you all so so very much and hope you have an absolutely wonderful week!!!!! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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~Hermana Allan
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