To Believe Is To Achieve

Hola Familia! :) 

       I’m pretty sure I’ve learned more this week than in my whoooole mission. Holy crap. Being a mom is hard work! We all know how bad I am at remembering things... Yeah, well this week guess who had to remember everything? Me! I’m not going to be a forgetful person when these 12 weeks are up haha. My new companion is Hermana Arce. She’s from Paraguay. Funny story... So we´re sitting here emailing and I have just barely realized where she’s from. In Spanish Paraguay sounds like Par-uh-why and I didn’t know how to spell it, so I just barely asked her and now I actually know where she’s from. Awesome haha. Anyway, she’s 19 and is great. She also struggles with the language a bit because they speak a different language in Paraguay with a little Spanish, so maybe I can learn three languages ;) But I KNOW companionships are inspired. It’s been a rough week adjusting for her. She misses her family like crazy just like I did, so I’ve been her shoulder to cry on this week. She’s really doing so great though. She has the desire to be here, and that’s what’s important. She’s also hilarious so we have gotten along great! :) I think I’ve learned more from her this week than she’s learned from me. Wow. Stressful, but I love it. 

       Hermano Edwin was baptized this week!! My favorite baptism in my mission. Edwin was always a little bit quiet, but we had him share his testimony afterwards and it was one of the most powerful testimonies I’ve heard. He said that before, he had friends that just used him for his money, but here, in the Church of Jesus Christ, he has found a family that loves him for who he is. Now if only he can convert his wife.... :)

       And what was even better was that Cesar and Edward were at his baptism. Edward is gonna get baptized this Saturday. And no we´re not goin on a date afterwards! Haha. But Edwin´s baptism got him a lot more excited. We´ll see what happens this week :) 

       And Cesar... Well I wanted to punch him. So here we are... I got Hermana Arce to challenge him to baptism and everything and guess what? He said... NO. That’s the first time I’ve had someone here say no to baptism lol. I told her before too, "Oh don’t worry, he’s ready. He might be a little shy about it, but I bet he says yes." Really Cesar? You couldn’t lie and say yes? So Hermana Arce was a little bummed haha but it’s all good. Oh! And that same day I had my first door just slammed in my face! Most of the time they just say, "Another day" or "I’m busy" but this time the girl just smiled and BAM. And then Hermana Arce says, (and this is why I love her) "Well, at least she smiled before the shut the door..." Yep. She’s a keeper. 

       We have a new investigator this week too that LOVES everything about the Plan of Salvation... Except Adam and Eve. Said that they weren’t real people, and that he wants to read in the Bible where Jesus himself is talking about them... I should have read the Bible more before my mission... Yep. BUT! He loves everything about the Plan. We taught the Kingdoms of Glory and he was like, "So... I’m a good person, but if I don’t get baptized I can only inherit El Reino Terrestre?" (Yep... That just happened. I can’t remember how to say that in English.) But we told him yes, and then we talked about Eternal Families and Temples and he goes, "So what do I have to do to enter into this temple of yours?" Well ya see Hermano José... First ya gotta enter into our waters of baptism... So yep. We´re working with him a lot :) 

       Probably the best thing this week though... ANDREA. I found one of my friends. Probably one of the coolest experiences I’ve had. Rosita (a member) was like, "I have this girl staying at my house that I think would like to hear about the Gospel" and me, being stressed training and running from appointment to appointment, kinda blew it off. We made our plans for the next day and everything and I didn’t think about it... But the next morning, I decided we should go stop by because Rosita is always helping us. Well we did and when she opened the door I just knew! SO cool. So we start talking with her a bit and she tells me, "When I opened the door I felt a strength I’ve never felt before. It’s like we knew each other before." That’s when I remembered the blessing President Bennion gave me that said I will meet people from the pre-existence and feel an immediate connection. It was so awesome! What’s sad is that she lives in Lima. She was only here for a week, but she said she´d keep in contact. I’m still shocked at how stinkin awesome it was. 

       I’ve been too stressed to have embarrassment this week (or too stressed to notice) but I have a thought. In our Ward Council the Bishop said, "El creer es poder." Which basically means, “To believe is to achieve”, but its way prettier in Spanish. I loved it though. If we believe in ourselves we can do it. As inadequate as I’ve felt this week, I have a belief that somehow everything is going to be just fine. Not sure how, but it will be :) 

       Anyway... Love you all so much! Have a great week! Hope Ty gets feeling better and that old fart of a dad of mine has a great birthday :) 

Love,

Hermana Roper