Love Our Missionaries: "I was praying to my God!"

Written by Sister Hannah Avery, serving in the Chile Vina del Mar Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaking Spanish.

Hey guys!

How are you all this week? We had a LOT happen! Ready?? Set....GO!!!!!!!!!!

First off, we have THREE more investigators who want to be baptized! AHHH! That makes FIVE for the month of October! WOOOOOT!!!!!!!! We are reaping the blessings of lots of teaching and hard work everyday! It is so awesome.

Sofia and Catalina are still scheduled for baptism on the 26th of this month. The other three people are Maritza and Jesus (a mom, about 40 years old, and her 10 year old son), and Javier, who is about 17 years old. They are all very receptive of the gospel, and it has been amazing to watch their faith grow! What a blessing it is for me to see souls come unto Christ everyday. Really, what better life could you have?!?! haha! We haven't set dates for these three though, and we may have to do their baptisms in November. They have not attended church yet, and they can't be baptized until they have attended church at least three times.

So, super cool experience....Hermana Mori and I were contacting in the streets this week and came across an older couple (they are about 85 years old). They sell exotic plants out of their front yard (super cool!), and they talked to us in the yard literally for an hour and a half!!! Contacts in the street are usually only about five minutes, so this was practically a lesson! At the end, we invited the wife, Sara, to pray. She did, and when she finished, she said something that I will never forget..."Estaba orando a mi Dios!" This means, "I was praying to my God!" It brought me to tears. To see this woman who had just completed her first prayer to her Heavenly Father in her 85 years of life was truly incredible. This is why I am here!!...to help people feel the love of their Savior and their Heavenly Father. And to help them know that they can return to live with them again! We will be teaching them more later this week :)

Another amazing experience was the other night. We were waiting for the Branch President to get home so he could give us the progress forms for the week (for our investigators). We decided to contact in the streets again for about five minutes or so. We yelled at a house (Yes! That is what we do here, haha! We yell, "ALOOOOO!," and then the people come outside and open the gate...unless they are pretending they are not home...haha!). Anyways, this girl named Carol (about 20 years old) came out and invited us in immediately. She was super receptive of our message, and said that she was looking for truth. She said her cousin, who she was really close with, recently passed away, and that the message we had about the gospel and how it blesses families was exactly what she needed to hear right now. Amazing, right?!

Literally, the Lord has placed people right in front of us to teach this week, and He has prepared them to hear the message of the restored gospel. It is beautiful!!!! We have another lesson with Carol tonight, and we are teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and eternal families. I am going to share my experience and knowledge of eternal families with her by telling her about Jonathan (***Hannah's little brother who died as a baby). <3 What a blessing it is for me to know that my family is eternal, and that she can have an eternal family too!!!!

Ok, last experience for this week....last night, we went over to the home of a recent convert, Kathy. She is married to Ivon and has two children (ages 5 and 14-ish?) They are a beautiful family!!!! I love them so much. Kathy is amazing, and she has such a strong testimony. She also feeds us every week at least once, and she is a great cook. Anyways, we have been trying to get Ivon onboad for baptism. Last night, we taught them the Plan of Salvation lesson a little too, but emphasized eternal families. In broken Spanish, I told Ivon directly that we have to decide what is most important to us, worldly things and our personal wants, or the Lord's will that we be an eternal family. He said that he knows the gospel is true, but wants to pray to know families can be eternal too, since he doesn't believe that right now. I told him about Jonathan, and that knowing my family is eternal is the greatest blessing in my life. I told him that he had to chose his path himself, but that I would love to see his family go to the temple before I leave Chile. He said he would pray about it, so I am hoping he does it. I want so badly to see their family go to the temple together <3.

Well, my family and friends, that is all that I have time for this week. Look up the following scriptures. They are GREAT and helped me this week! (Alma 26:12, Alma 26:27, Alma 38:5 and Ether 12:4) I love you all so much and pray for you multiple times a day. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and will talk to you again next week! I LOVEEEEE YOUUUUUU!!!!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxo, Hermana Avery

P.S. HAPPYYYY BIRTHHHDAAAYYY, REBEKAH AND ABIGAIL! I LOVE YOU BOTH and miss you sooooo much! HAVE GREAT BIRTHDAYS! I am singing from Chile for you both! I LOVE YOU!

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