Otra Semana! (ha changed it! Kind of)

So this was another intense week for us, with a lot of stressful things but
probably with some of the coolest tender mercies that I've ever felt on the
mission. We have this family we're teaching, Doris and Anastacio and their
little kids, and we've been trying to go with them to the visitor's center
for a really long time to have a tour with them about the plan of salvation
on families. Man, and Monday when we were planning on doing it was just
this crazy day, my letter will honestly probably just be about that day!
Ok, so we start out the day and for hours in the morning just nothing is
happening, we're out checking on people and knocking some doors in the
rain, which while enjoyable just makes it sounds more epic. So we're going
for hours but we have this new goal to be on time to all our appointments,
an unfortunate habit I've picked up from hispanic culture is tardiness.
Anyways, we arrive right in time at our appointment after checking on Doris
and Anastacio to see if we were going to make it to the VC. They didn't
answer and we were afraid they were trying to dog us. Anyways, we show up
at the appointment and no one is there, but we were on time, and when we
look down the stairwell we randomly saw Anastacio sitting about the bottom
of the stairs! So we go down to talk to him and remind him of the VC and he
says he's going to call us and let us know. It turns out he was there
walking the dog and waiting for his wife who was randomly in that same
exact apartment building selling AVON. Then our appointment shows up and we
leave him, but we don't have a 3rd male so we can't go into the
appointment, and we go back down the stairs only to find that now Doris has
just left her AVON appointment. So we retalk to them and get it set that
we're going to go to the VC. In short, the fact that we're even about to go
to the VC is a miracle! We set up the appointment at the VC and we
magically find a member who's going to get off work just in time that can
drive them to the Visitor's Center, and then we had the appointment... Man,
it was honestly one of the most incredible appointments I have had for a
long time. The Sister did a great job, and the spirit was incerdibly
strong, God wants this family in his church. We sat in the window of the
Visitor's Center staring up at the temple, and it was just incredible. The
day had been pretty rainy, but just as we were coming to the VC it had all
cleared up and the sun was setting on the temple. Man, it was just
incredibly beautiful. The spirit just filled the room as we testified of
eternal families, of the blessings of the temple, and of the need of
baptism.... Man, they almost accepted a date, so close! They're currently
praying and discussing it as a family, but no worries, no hope is lost.
After the appointment we walked around the temple grounds, and the family
was just in awe at the spirit that surrounds the temple. Afterwards they
told us that they had never in their lives felt something like it, and they
know it's the spirit. Man, it was just incredible... After feeling and
seeing all of that there is literally no way that someone could not want to
be a part of it. It strengthened my testimony of the temple, and its
reality as the house of the Lord. There truly is no place more sacred in
all the earth than the temple. There is always a spirit of reverence as we
come near the temple, and it is a testimony that this is God's church on
the Earth, and that Christ truly does live. But it gets even better!
Afterwards we found out that as Doris looked at the temple she said that
she had a vision of them being sealed in the temple for all eternity. God
is very very very aware of his children. He can use us in every way, and he
just makes things work out right. We felt no spiritual prompting to go to
that appointment. We just went about doing the best we could do, and God
placed miracles in our path. It's just such a testimony that we do nothing,
God works, and knows every aspect of our lives, and he's working for our
good, sometimes we may just have to stop and notice the miracles. I don't
know, it was just incredible. I've learned a lot of things in the last few
days. Number one is that I've changed a ton on the mission, I've grown so
much in my ability to love others, and I really just love the Gospel. There
is literally nothing that is better than missionary work, my I just love
it! Second, I've been better able to understand my role as a leader, it's
to make sure that the missions of these missionaries, is like the
experience I'm having. That they learn to love these people, that they take
joy in the work, and that they have the experiences that they're going to
need for the rest of eternity. It was just amazing to feel. Third, I've
realized more and more what true conversion is. What it comes right down to
is just desiring the companionship of the spirit more than anything else in
the world. It's desiring it so much that we have no more disposition to do
evil because we don't want to do anything that would drive it away. I've
been able to feel that more and more this last week. I love the feeling of
the spirit, and just doing my best to help serve these people. It's
incredible to be able to serve and love these people and literally give
everything we have to them, for their benefit. John 17:19 is now one of my
favorite scriptures because of that reason. Man, the Gospel is so true
family, I love it, I literally think there is no greater pursuit than
sharing the gospel, there is nothing that could ever bring so much joy. No
amount of work, or success, or status, nothing. The Gospel literally is the
Why of life.