Oh my goodness I am going to have to type like a mad woman to tell you guys everything that has happened this week! It was a PERFECT week to end the transfer!! But here is the Transfer news... are you ready???... okay sooooo.... this morning we got transfer calls.... and..... IM STAYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANOTHER TRANSFER!! Sooo crazy!! this means that in 6 weeks I will have been in my area for over 9 months.. half of my mission! in the same area! its a good thing that i love it and that i love this ward. our bishop actually called the mission president a few weeks ago and told him he didnt want anyone to be transferred. so, our whole district is staying another transfer! Thats 4 transfers that its been the same! DREAM TEAM. Except Hermana Bennion left today. It was so sad to see her go. and it just made me think how fast time really does go when youre on a mission. Gotta make the best of it! Im pretty happy to be staying though. It would have been nice to have a change, but I know that the Lord needs me here and there is still a lot of work to do. i mean, its a small area and not everyone is baptized yet. so theres TONS of work! :) haha so 6 more weeks in houston 9. yay!
Okay now for the week and all the MIRACLES that happened. So on Monday, after p-day we had 2 noches de hogar with la familia moreno y la familia lopez. With the Morenos we read the story of Daniel from the bible and the acted it out. It was awesome. The video is the best!! LOVE that family! And Eric, Dani's boyfriend, is really progressing! He came to church on Sunday and Dani really wants him to get baptized so she is doing everything she can to get him to church and to get him to read. He came to church with all his scriptures and pamphlets that we have given him and he was reading and studying like crazy. i kinda felt like a proud mom. Thats weird.. but its true!! Anyways we read the story of Danile with the Lopez family too! I really love that story! :) its powerful.
Tuesday, we had zone meeting! BEST Zone meeting i've ever been to! it was sooo fun! i learned a lot and we talked alot about how to teach a powerful, but 10 minute restoration lesson and how to bear testimony powerfully. And that we need to teach by bearing testimony. There really is such a difference when we teach with testimony and when we dont. Ive seen it alot and I have been trying to do a lot better with it because sometimes I just want to explain all this stuff to people but it just is going to go right over their heads if I do that! So i have to bear testimony a lot! But in the middle of zone meeting we had a nerf gun war!! We acted out that christmas story where the germans and the americans were fighting or something and then decided to not fight for christmas? i dont know! But we had an awesome nerf gun war!! it was sweet!!! And then after zone meeting i went on an exchange with Hermana Niccols!!
I really do love exchanges. They are super fun and on this exchange I really learned a lot! I went to South Houston with Hermana Niccols. We had a lot of fun! I really love that girl and she is such a great missionary!! Its so crazy though because I remember talking to her on facebook before our missions and then we were just chillin on an exchange! so fun :) her investigators are so awesome and we got fed SOOOO much!! and it was all super good food too :) I mean i'm not complaining!! But this is my favorite story of the whole exchange: So we were walking around trying to find referralsand we saw a guy putting up his christmas lights. We went over to go talk to him. He REALLY did not want to talk to us. Like he was ignoring us. But we werent going to leave. So we told him who we were and he was like "Yeah Im Baptist!! And i only talk to Baptists. I dont talk to no missataries, jehobahs witnesses.... baptist and ONLY baptist!!" HAHAHAHAHAh we were like ooookkkayyyy... well here is a card and have a great day!! SO FUNNY! we were dying laughing when we were walking away!! I love houston.
So Antonio. He has really been progressing and wants to get baptized. But this whole time we have been teaching him he hasnt accepted a date. Well, this week on Thursday night, Elder Evertson (zone leader) called us and asked us if we had any investigators we are having a hard time with. We told him about Antonio and he said he would ask President Ashton if we could stay out later to teach him because he works late every night and we cant teach him very often. So on Friday, we were in a lesson and Elder Evertson calls us and tells us that President gave us permission to be out until 10:15 on nights that we are teaching Antonio. WHAT?! sooo crazy. I never thought we would get that!! But we did!! And Elder Evertson said to set some stuff up and get him baptized! So we did! Here is what I wrote to my mission president this morning about the lesson:
he is so ready and prepared! and he finally accepted a date. that same day that you gave us permission to do that, we set it up with his girlfriend and him and we got an appointment set up that night. we taught the atonement and the spirit took it in the direction of baptism and he told us that he knows he needs to be baptized and that he wants to really bad. we extended a date and he didnt accept it at first but we were able to address his main doubt. that he doesnt want to get baptized because he is really busy right now and would only be able to come to the first hour of church every sunday and he wouldnt be able to come to alot of the activities or anything. but we explained to him that this is what the Lord wants him to do and it doesnt matter if he is busy or not! that it is his time to make this decision in his life! then we invited him to pray right there with us about the 29th of december and it was the most amazing prayer i have ever heard. his girlfriend was just bawling and the spirit was so strong. he was truly talking to his Heavenly Father and really had the desire to know. after the prayer no one said anything because the spirit was so strong. then he said, "wow. that felt really good." and told us he wants to be baptized. he still feels like he has a lot to learn but we are going to work really hard with him this week and i think he could get baptized this week! that was the highlight of the week! so thank you for doing that for us.
I was like wanting to jump and SHOUT for joy after that lesson!!! If we didnt have to race home on our bikes then I would have! It was AMAZING! The most amazing lesson I have ever had on my mission! ANTONIO IS GETTING BAPTIZED. its sooo amazing and I am so happy for him. He is going to be so blessed for this decision. And gabby is super happy because now they can get married :) I love my mission president and how in tune with the spirit he is... to give us permission to do that! So we are going to work really hard with him and get him ready for his baptism. I love it so much and it makes me so happy that He knows this is true.
Well, its time to go but I hope you all had an amazing week this week!!! remember, the Lord is ALWAYS there! No matter what. Performing miracles ALL over!! I am so grateful for the power of prayer and fasting. And I am so grateful for this Christmas season! Oh and p.s. say hello to the new ward pianist if Hermana Knopf gets a companion that doesnt play piano. Will you all pray for me? haha disaster waiting to happen. LOVE YOU ALL. MERRY CHRISTMAS!! :)
con amor,
con amor,
hermana dorian
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