All in the Tag: Week 23! "Too Many 'Jaja's' in One Email"

From 7/7/14

Hi family! Kylie must have some last-minute things she needs to get done before coming then, eh? Procrastinator...:P jeje kidding. But we will definitely need to see her beautiful little face when she gets here! :)

I am very grateful for prayer. It`s true that the voice of many asking for the same thing is very potent and powerful. I don`t remember if I`ve shared with you all or not, but I prayed a lot before the last transfer. I said to the Lord that I would be happy wherever he would put me, but that the only thing I really wanted was to be in the place where He knew I would be able to "give it my all" and progress the best He knew I could.

Then He sent me to [my current area]. First, with Hna D, who is a very hard-working, capable individual. Then, He added two more hard-working, talented hermanas...Hna M and Hna Q. And I feel like He answered (and is answering) that prayer. Prayers are powerful.

This week was great! Hna D celebrated her 21st birthday, so I woke up early and taped balloons to the wall jijiji. It was secretly also my 6th-month mission mark :D. For lunch, we went to hna P's house and...little did I know....we were in for a legit 3-course meal. She`s taking cooking classes so she was very particular. We accidentally started eating the "main course" before the soup and she started freaking out. From the kitchen we heard, "Esperen!! No coman eso! No coman!!! Carambas! Carambas!!!!" I was scared; I thought there were bugs in the food or something. But no. She just forgot to serve soup before main dish. And the main dish?? ...LAMB. It was definitely a birthday meal for Hna D...It was special jaja.

This week was very neat as well. We had a ward mission activity that we as missionaries decided to put on. Us four sisters, plus the elders of our ward, are pretty awesome. We invited all to come and....A TON OF PEOPLE SHOWED UP! It was probably the best turn out to a ward activity that we've ever had in any of our missions combined. It was great!

We instructed the ward members about how they can be better fellow-shippers and their purpose in the missionary work. There was so much energy and excitement throughout the activity. Afterward, we played a soccer-type-game with balloons, and ended with orange Fanta floats (my idea jeje)! When I first got here, I was nervous about our ward because it`s had some difficulties in the past. But I really feel the energy that the missionaries and certain members give off that is infectious to the rest of the ward.

Saturday, "G" WAS bAPTiZED!!!!!! :D G is about 40 years old. She and her family are Cuban, and her husband is quite Atheist. But he came to the baptism as well & with their 5 year old son ("E"), supporting her.

Hna D and I wanted the baptism to turn out well, so we made invitations and handed them out the Sunday beforehand. We cleaned the pila (baptismal font) a few nights before. We organized the program and speakers in advance so the members would be involved. And we got there early Saturday to fill the font ourselves and drag the piano from the sacrament room into the baptismal room! jajaja. Two great sisters from our ward came half an hour early and made white bows out of toilet paper to hang as decoration! jajaja. It looked so presentable, I felt like we were in gringo-land again. We had prelude music, we took pictures, and the jumpsuit for G fit perfectly!!!

Then, as the service began (only 1/2 hr late! which is pretty good, actually), President and Hermana Richardson walked into the room! Aaaaaah. as soon as I saw them sitting there at the back, I felt the Spirit even more strongly. They have a presence, that`s for sure. The call of a mission president is something special.

Hna D and I had a special musical number, "Mandò a Su Hijo" from the primary songbook. The service was so special. G shared her testimony at the end, after being baptized. She stated that "...with God, we have everything. Without Him, we have nothing." Her testimony was straight from the heart. I looked over at her husband, and he just sat there unfazed. But I feel that, in reality, he was listening. She expressed how happy she felt after the service.

Investigator "B" (remember the Nigerian?? :)) was there. Afterward, Hna M and Q introduced him to President Richardson while I played postlude. I walked over after the postlude number just to hear B say to president, "I really liked it. This is true." Then as President got distracted speaking to someone else, I heard B say in an undertone, "I want to get baptized." jajaja.

Good thought, B! I approve. I want you to be baptized, too. jaja. But honestly, more than anything, I know the Lord allowed everything to work out the way it did so that those 4 or 5 investigators that were there would be touched by His Holy Spirit.

A few times this week we went to a less active family`s house. And without knowing what we were to say beforehand, we would begin teaching. I could feel the Spirit speak through me as we bore testimony and asked inspired questions. It helped me to realize that the Lord must really love His children. Enough to bless us with His spirit in order to say just what they need to hear, and how they need to hear it.

One sister, "J", has been less active for over a year now with her husband. She has come to believe that god exists, but that the church is not necessary. She had come to believe that her life was better off when she left the church than when she was in it. We met with her one time before. This time, when we met with her, she had told us that "Ever since the last time you were here, you left me with a peace that I hadn`t felt in over a year. It made me reflect, and since then I have been putting more thought into my prayers."

Score. We asked her how she felt when she spoke with us. Her response surprised me. She mentioned the peace she felt, which was something she hadn`t experienced since she was in the church. Then she said, "I thought I was sure about what I believed. I was so sure that I was fine with my life and family, but now...I`m a little scared. I`m a little scared because you have stirred a doubt in me that no one has done before."

We testified that she was feeling the Spirit telling her that this is true. She agreed. In this case, the doubt she had was good, because it was a doubt that maybe what she had come to believe wasn`t necessarily true. That maybe...just maybe...this church IS true. And maybe she really does need it in her life....

I love the Spirit. It converts people. Including me.

I am becoming very frank in the way I testify...like "this is true, or it`s not" "this is black, or it`s white" and nothing in between. When I do, I do it because I truly care about these people. When I do it, it`s out of love for them. And every time I testify of Christ, I feel the spirit testify through me. What a great call to be a missionary! En serio. Somehow the Spirit has a way of opening people`s eyes and understanding. Then, suddenly they have desires to give the Gospel "a shot".

I am writing a lot today.

Tell Grandma Boston HAPPPPYYY BIRTHDAYYYYY! I love her a lot and miss reading her Lightning Goddess adventures. I am more curious than ever to know of my family`s stories, because I realize how much a part of me they are. Love you Grandma Boston!!

Also, I have a boyfriend. His name is "D". When his family (investigators) asked which of the two of us, hna D or me, was his girlfriend, it didn`t take long for him to chose ME!!! jajajaja. When we were going to take a picture of us with his family, he told them to "wait!" because he had to come over and stand by me....you know, his girlfriend and all ;) jaja.

I HAVE A BOYFRIEND! Woohoo jajaja.

Anyways. Gotta go. Love you all! Take care and remember to HOLA (Hacer Oracciones, Libro de Mormòn, Asistir a la iglesia :))

Have a great week!

Love,

Hna Fernelius

Cleaning the pila :D

"D", you know, my Colombian BOYFRIEND :)

Staring at 3-month old "A" in honor of Kylie, who is soon to come :)

Ward mission activity.....the balloon game at the end. So much fun :) Every age got involved. The bishop got aggressive (jaja - just kidding). It was great :)

Best of all: "G" GOT BAPTIZED :D :D -- "R", on the left, baptized her. It was his first time :D

...the edge of our sector looking down at the rest of the city.

I know you love my face, which is why I send it :p But oh!! Actually, I took it initially because I wanted you to see that each basketball court here (this one`s at the church) is not just a pole. It has a hoop at the top, then forks out into a soccer goal. Ohhh soccer :)