Hi Family whom I
love so very much! You are so great! Did you know that? Don't forget it,
because I do just think you're wonderful. Wow, this week has been so crazy.
Where to start? First of all, I haven't gotten the package yet, but we haven't
gotten mail in a week and a half, so that's probably why. We'll pick it up
today at Transfer Meeting, so hopefully I'll get everything this evening. Thank
you again! You're amazing.
So are you
wondering about transfers? Well, I'm not going to tell you...Just kidding J Hermana Ruiz is leaving (no surprise there), but
it IS surprising that she is going to be whitewash training in English work!!
Crazy! (White-washing just means that neither of you have been in the area
before.) Yep, there are too many English missionaries so for her two last
transfers she will be in English work. Isn't that so sad? She's accepted it
though, even though nobody wants to work with gueros, hehe. So she will
find out where and with whom tonight at Transfer meeting.
The other big news? No one is going to be
joining us for the ride back! Yep! I will be finishing Hermana Jones'
training on my own. Yeah, it's crazy. I still can't really grasp
it, but I guess it's happening. So we will be going to transfer
meeting just to send Hermana Ruiz off, and also because I will be
conducting the music (fun stuff). Hermana Ruiz and I went to the Trainer's
meeting on Friday (it was sooooo good! I love President Cook, he is seriously
amazing) and Hermana Jones stayed here with Hermana Connors and did some
English work. She said she learned a lot, but was also grateful and more
appreciative of Hermana Ruiz and I after her experience, and especially the way
we work J so I guess that's comforting.
Even though I know
that I'm a little under-qualified to train, I think Hermana Jones and I will
work well together. We went on splits the other day because we had two
appointments at the same time, so Hermana Ruiz went with Hermana Reyes (Branch
Missionary) and Hermana Jones and I stayed together. Our lesson ended up canceling
so we checked up on some Potentials and did a little bit of finding, but it
went well J We tend to speak more Spanish
without Hermana Ruiz around (weird, huh?), so hopefully she (and I) will learn
it even faster this transfer.
Yes! The baptism! It
happened! Man, we had some miracles there. I hope I can type fast enough to get
it all in J On Wednesday, we were actually
thinking that it wasn't going to happen...again. They had gone to Mexico on
Monday and were supposed to be back on Tuesday and we had a cita with them on
Wednesday. Well, Wednesday came around and they weren't back yet and we had no
way to get ahold of them. Thursday we called and texted, but no response. Well,
Thursday was a crazy day. We were going to go on splits again to teach Maria
and also Rafael and Nancy and it was going to be great, we were all excited.
But we called and called everyone and their dog and we could not find even one
member for the evening. Of course, you can't go on splits without a member...so
we were a little stressed.
Well, we call to
confirm with Maria and she canceled. So that was okay, we figured the reason we
couldn't find a member was because we all needed to be with Rafael & Nancy
that evening. But then, we couldn't confirm with them either. It was so frustrating!
So we get out of our cita with Patricia (I love this lady! Have I told you much
about her?), and we had an unplanned half hour because the splits didn't end up
happening and other things fell through. So my thought was to check up on some
Potentials, but Hermana Ruiz wanted to at least drive by Priscilla's to see if
their car was there. Man, I love Hermana Ruiz and how sensitive she is to the
Spirit! So we go by, and there was their car! We knock on the door and they
were like "How did you know we just got back? We missed you!" It was
awesome.
So we talk to them
about the baptism and Priscilla says that she's not feeling ready and we should
do it the next week. Well, Hermana Ruiz wasn't going to have that. So we sat
down with them, talked about their concerns, shared a spiritual lesson, and
taught according to their needs. And yes, she changed her mind and we set up
for the baptismal interview for the next day so they could get baptized the
next! Rafael & Nancy never confirmed and it's a good thing because we
needed to be there with Priscilla, Oscar, and Rene. They had their interview,
stayed for part of General Conference, and Priscilla and Oscar were baptized
the next day. J It was so hectic because everything
was so last minute. The program got put together all wrong, but we didn't care,
we just went along with it anyway. Afterwards, Oscar gave me a big hug and said,
"I was crying because I just felt so happy! I feel great!" Aww, man,
melts my heart. I love that kid! We had so much branch support and even
President Cook came (which was kind of scary but awesome). It was the first
convert baptism in this branch since September, so we had a lot of support and
excitement - we even had a brunch afterwards. Their dad chose not to come and
Rene is still learning, but he is praying about baptism and we are still
working with this awesome family J Oh yes, and they will be confirmed
this Sunday in church.
Patricia is a new
investigator that we found, and she has a pretty awesome story too, but I don't
think I have time. Sorry, I opened my email and had 22 messages in my inbox!
Don't worry, I didn't respond to all, but I did some, and that's why I'm almost
out of time. I didn't hear from Ariana though. Tell me about her experience, or
tell her to write me please. I hope everything goes well with the move! Oh, we
invited Maria to baptism again last night, and she says she still doesn't want
to pick a date, but she is praying and told Hermana Ruiz before we left that
she would be invited back for a baptism "very soon", she said "I
have a feeling it will be very soon" - awesome! Man, I love missionary
work. Working with members can be frustrating, finding can be scary, and
teaching can be exhausting, but I love it all.
Man, I had a great
story about a woman named Patty, but I'm out of time and I want to throw up the
pictures from the baptism real quick. Sorry I didn't respond as much this time.
I love you! You're the best! In every way! Seriously mama, I love you. Oh yes,
I LOVE General Conference! Or at least the parts I got to see. I'll tell you
more next week.
LOVE YOU!!
Hermana Alyssa Nicole Escalante
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