Hola Familia!
WOW what an excellent week!!!!!! To start off the
week Elder Monjarraz and I organized a soccer game with the Zone and it
turned out super fun. We are pretty united as a Zone and we had a lot
of fun together. HAHA, while I was playing I thought that I would get
fancy...when the ball came towards me I lifted my foot up to bring it
down trying to time it just right to send it into the goal. However, when
I brought my foot down I ended up slipping and falling splat on my
back. I instantly got back up and started playing but about
busted my head open all over the concrete...Thanks for all of the
prayers of protection!! :) Yeah so I am more than fine just super
grateful nothing serious happened!
Speaking of gratitude for your prayers on my behalf, Elder Monjarraz
and I have tons of unity in feeling the Spirit. When we feel something
and voice it about 80% of the time we are feeling the same thing. This
has never happened before but man have we had some powerful experiences
seeing the Spirit work in our daily labors. Anyways, the other day we
were walking home at about 9:30 pm when we felt super strongly we should
not be walking in the path we were walking. We decided to go home
another way and instantly we felt better. Who knows what could have
happened but I am so grateful for the prayers and protection the Lord is
sending me from your guy's faith. THANKS!!
On Tuesday, I had my first Zone Leader Conference. What a blessing
it is to have the experiences the Lord is blessing me to have. The
Conference was so great! We meet together, talked about the progress of
the mission, ideas to make things better, and President shared a super
spiritual message that has changed my life. I realize that I don't have
that much time left here and I have many goals. One of the most
important to me is to come home converted; converted to the gospel, the
Lord, and His Church. That's really the core purpose of missionary work
and if I am going to sacrifice two years of my time why not get
EVERYTHING I can out of it? That's my plan. I am counting down my days
and treating my mission time like a track race. That last lap is going
to be where I run the fastest and hardest I ever have in my life! I am
on that last lap and I WILL give it all I have got and more. Cheesy, I
know, but it is helping me stay focused and work harder than ever!!
This last week we made a record of baptisms they tell us in the
ward! We had a baptism on Friday night for a teenage girl named Paola
and it was packed with her friends. She was crying throughout the
baptism and her friends that are members bore their testimonies and she
was just SOO happy. On Sunday, we had the baptisms of Paty and Paco (a
young couple we found knocking doors and are probably the most golden
investigators I have ever had) and Francia and Lorena (cousins we found
this last week who had been to church many times but just needed a
spiritual experience to help them make the decision). The service was
super special and Elder Monjarraz and I sang "Nearer My God to Thee" and
it turned out wonderfully. What a blessing it is to do the Lord's
work!
Well, this next week I am going to be spending a lot of time outside
of my area in interchanges to help some struggling Elders in the Zone.
This is a part of my assignment that I really love and I look forward
to the opportunity to lift some discouraged missionaries and help them
see some miracles! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!
Love,
Elder Janis
