Miracles are so real.....

 

 

 

 

 

My most favorite person in the entire world! Hermana Argueta!

 

 

This phrase means the work carries on!
 And yes it sure does here in Cuenca with awesome missionaries :)

Hola!

I have had such a good week and I sure hope all of you did as well. I can´t even begin to explain how crazy things have been here. I cannot believe you guys are on your way to California. SAD. I wish I could be there. Seriously though. So jealous. But then I remind myself that I am in Ecuador and then I am okay haha.

I am glad that you guys still have the missionaries over every once and a while. Crazy to think that Elder Dearing is a zone leader right now. How crazy.  Time blows by way too quickly. Sister Millis told me that the elders are getting ipads. NUTS. I cannot even imagine that. I know for a fact that if we had ipads we WOULD get robbed. haha without a single doubt.

Dad I love all of your letters and I don´t want you too feel like you need to change anything. I just like knowing how the real world really is. Especially about the family. Your letters always make me laugh. I realized how lucky I truly am to have you guys write me every week. You guys are such a great support. Thank you! I live in a house with three other girls and all three of their families didn´t write them this week. This just broke my heart. So thank you for writing every week! Sorry my letters are occasionally so short.

I would just like to bear my testimony that truly when we are obedient we are given miracles. Miracles are so real and it just blows my mind. Last week I don´t know if I wrote about this but we fasted to have a miracle in our branch because we both have gone almost one month without a baptism and this is a huge deal. Not good for our mission. We should be having at least one every week. This mission is one of the highest baptizing missions in the world and it really is a sin not to have a baptism every week. haha! SO anyway, we fasted to have a miracle in our branch Totoracocha. And a girl came to church all on her own (which is beyond rare) because her mom lives in New Jersey and was recently baptized and told her daughter that she needed to find the church. Anyway she found us and came on her own. She lives with her husband and baby girl and her brother who is 20. Her name is Priscilia and she is adorable. So anyway she is preparing for baptism this 22 of March with her husband and her brother for the 29th. Anyway this was not yesterday but one week before but now I would like to tell you all about true miracles from my experience Sunday. In the morning I walked out of the house with full hope and faith that we would have many people in church. We had a list of people to pass by to wake up and then later pass by to pick them up with members. We passed by 3 houses and nobody answered. Then we eventually got to Priscilia and her family and she told us that her husband had a change of mind and couldn´t make it but that she still wanted to go. And that her brother wasn´t there either. At this point my heart was a little broken, but I thought awesome, don´t give up hope. We still had one more house left. Then we passed by a boy, Mateo, who is 14 years old, who we only met once, and only invited to church. This was the start of our miracle. Mateo walked out of his house and asked if it was okay if his brother could come too. Awesome! Of course he could come haha. So then at this point we were pleased because we knew we would have at least three people in church. Then we felt inspired to call the husband of  Priscilia and remind him why we go to church and how the gospel really can change his life. So the conversation really just ended with him saying. Gracias Hermanas, but I don´t think I can make it. So then we headed into the church just as the same time as Prisicilia with some members. And in walked a boy who we have invited many times to church but never was able to make it and he walked in all by himself. It was a miracle. Then started the meeting and halfway into the meeting calls Mauricio, the husband of Priscilia, and he said he was in the parking lot waiting to come in. and to our surprise he had Johnny the brother of Priscilia as well. We now had 6 people in church! What a miracle. I was so grateful. I know that I truly am just a working tool of the Lord and he will make happen all that he wants to happen. I really am grateful to be here in this new branch. It is much more difficult than the last ward but I truly believe that when we are obedient we will have success. I know that the Lord has huge plans for me and that this is the best decision of my life. There is not anywhere else I would want to be (Not even California) haha. But I do miss you all and love you tons! Remember to keep living the commandments and God will bless you! Love you all from the beautiful country of Ecuador.

Emily