Okay so I have been transferred, which is the missionary term for I moved Areas for those of you who are not familiar with the missionary lingo. I am now not part of the Sacramento zone, I'm part of the Elk Grove Zone.....super wierd! My new companera is Hermana Justiniano and she is from Argentina! I love her already. We actually knew each other before we became companions because we lived in the same apartment and we always had the feeling that we were going to be companions at one point or another. HA! We were right!
So this past week was an interesting one because most of the week we were helping Hermana Torres get ready to go home. It was probably the longest and fastest week I have had on my mission thus far....it was so weird. For some reason I felt like I was living through Hermana Torres. The closer we got to her departure date, the more I felt like I was the one going home!! HAHA! The day arrived were we had to drop her off at the Mission office and we were just so excited for her! She looked gorgeous!! Just the picture of a returned missionary. It was crazy! It didn't seem real at all! We kept laughing and joking all the way to the door of the mission office and then it hit me. This was the last time I would see her as a missionary and as my trainer. Honestly I felt like the time unpacking her bags from the trunk and pulling it into the office went by so fast...and then I had to say goodbye. That was a tough one. I had gotten so close to this amazing women and it just tore my heart to have to say goodbye, but I knew it was her time to leave. I love her with all my heart and I am glad she is safely home and with her family again. She was everything I needed in a trainer and I have defiantly grown from being her companion. She is defiantly the type of missionary I want to be.After we dropped of Hermana Torres, we went to an appointment with one of our less actives. Quite honestly we were exhausted and just trying to get through the rest of the day. The main issue with this less active is that we have been trying for weeks to get her and her children to church. They haven't come back to this point. Our plan was to try and get her to do the fundamental things first such as prayer and scripture study so we were going to talk about prayer with her and commit her to pray everyday so we quickly said a prayer and then walked into the women's house. I will admit it! I had very low hopes for this lesson because I felt like we had had the same discussion with her a million times over and we weren't seeing any progress but I knew we had to try again anyways. I half halfheartedly knocked on the door and the door just swung open. She quickly invited us in and immediately had us sit. Then she plopped herself in the coach directly in-front of us.
I was a little surprised because she seamed really eager and I really wasn't sure why. We made small talk and then Hermana Steven's asked her to offer a prayer. She said "of course!" (in spanish) and then started to pray. In the middle of praying she started to cry. Honestly I had no idea what was going on because she seamed fine a minute ago and now she was crying.
She closed her prayer and started to immediately apologize. She said that the reason she was crying was she because she had felt peace. In her own words "I always feel that peace when you missionaries come." And my heart softened. I began to feel that love for her that our heavenly father has for her. She has begun again to open her heart and because she choose to open it again we were able to testify of Heavenly Father's love and the Savior's love for her. Hermana Steven's was inspired to share this fantastic scripture about prayer that just filled the room with the spirit. She bore witness of how prayer could draw us closer to our heavenly father and we could find that peace in our lives when we are close to him. It kind of funny but sometimes I feel like the teacher and other times I feel like the student. In this occasion I felt like the student and I felt the Holy Ghost teaching me as well as teaching this sweet Hermana through Hermana Steven. My testimony was strengthened about prayer. It was such a sweet lesson.
We said good bye to this sweet member and right as we walked out the door, it began to hail! Hail! Our car was parked on the road and not near the appartments at all. So I looked at Hermana Stevens and just said "Well, shall we run?" And that is exactly what we did! We quickly got to our car and slammed the door and at the exact same time, we sighed, which made us look at each other, which made us laugh! We looked like drowned rats!! It was so bad! We probably smell like one too! Worst part..we had another appointment. Our house was a good 16 miles away or so, so there was no changing for us. Hahah! We drove to the Francos home, hopped out out, and ran again. They live in a gated apartment complex and most of the gates are always locked so we had to try three different gates that were around the perimeter before we ran through the gate, where the cars came in, just as it was closing! It was such an adventure!
We quickly maneuvered through the apartments until we found theirs and what a sight we must have been! Haha! Two very soaked missionaries!! They basically pulled us in and wrapped us in towels and had us sit down as Hermana Franco made hot chocolate. She then went into her room and found us some clothes to wear and would not let us leave till we had changed out of our wet clothes. It was ridiculous! I ended up wearing a black skirt with a Planet Fitness t-shirt with a white sweater underneath. Haha! Very cute! We taught them a quick lesson about temples because they are getting prepared to be sealed for all time and all eternity in the Lord's holy house and it was such a sweet lesson! We truly love those two. Hermana Franco is the sweetest. She made sure that we drank all of our hot chocolate before she let us leave and then she made sure we took her umbrella. Absolutely love her!!
The setting sun was just beautiful on our way back. It was lightly raining and we were just cursing down the highway while listening to good music, when all the sudden I felt a rush of gratitude. I was just so grateful to be a missionary! In that moment it just filled my whole body and filled me with warmth and the spirit. I know that I have always said I love being a missionary but I can honestly say, without a doubt, being a missionary is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Being a missionary isn't just a calling. It so much of who I am now. I love getting lost in the work! I love these people I get to teach! I love the people I serve around! Most of all, I love telling people about my savior and the great plan of happiness that we can all partake of. This has been probably the toughest four months of my life. I have been tempted to go home, but now I realize that is no other place I want to be at this time the in the Sacramento Mission.
If there are people who are reading this and are considering going on a mission. My best advice. Do it! There is no better thing you can do then bring others to Christ. If there are people who are reading this that have already served their mission or are past that time, I still say there is no better thing you can do then bring others to Christ. Be the best member missionary you can be and serve with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.
My time is up. I love you all and stay in tune for my adventures cleaning the Elders appartement...yeah not cool! haha! > > Hermana Paredes > Over and Out
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