¡Buenas Tardes!

La semana pasada fue otra semana de milagros.  ¡Había muchos milagros
y experiencias que nunca olvidaré! Estoy muy agradecida que mi Padre
Celestial me dio la misión. Still working on my Spanish... Hermana
Crowther only had to make three small corrections in that section!
Hahaha I'm getting there... Poco a poco. But English now. I said this
week was another week of miracles. There were many miracles and
experiences I will never forget and I am so grateful that my Heavenly
Father gave me my mission!

I just wish you all could be me and meet Fidencio, he's amazing! It
has been so cool to watch him change and see him really use the
Atonement in his life. It's probably one of the biggest blessings
Heavenly Father has ever given me to be able to go on a mission and
really watch Christ come into people's lives. We met with Fidencio
every single day this week except for Friday and we spent a bunch of
time planning his baptism on that day. It's really happening he's
getting baptized this Saturday! I can't even begin to explain the joy
I have for him, and I can't even imagine the joy Heavenly Father has
for him. He's making the greatest choice in his life so far!

We went over Tuesday and gave him a virtual temple tour of the
Tijuana, Mexico temple and taught him about all of the amazing things
that happen there. It was actually probably a bad idea because now he
won't stop talking about it!! Haha every time we see him the first
thing he asks is, "When can I get my recommend?" He is sooo excited
and I love it! When we taught him about doing baptisms for the dead he
made a huge list of people he wants to get baptized for. He seriously
wants everyone to have the gospel now that he has it. He's going to be
the cause of so much righteousness! On Wednesday we met at the church
and Brother Smith came with us to teach Fidencio. We taught him about
the priesthood and again he was so excited! He said he wants the
priesthood so he can go to the temple and pass the sacrament but also
because he wants his kids to have a dad who has the priesthood. Okay
do you believe me yet? He's amazing!

Thursday we went to the Scalf home for dinner! They're awesome, and
they even invited Fidencio. So we had a delicious dinner (she makes
everything gluten and dairy free for me, how nice!!) and we had a
lesson. It was kinda a scattered lesson but it was still so good and
the spirit was still strong. We taught him how to pay his tithing and
we asked him if he would be willing to pay his tithing after he was
baptized and he said, "God doesn't need my money but it's how I can
show him I love him and how I can help build his church!" He just
understands everything, I feel like he's teaching me! Saturday we went
over and played a matching game with his kids, Sean and Daniela. They
loved it! They're our best friends and they won't stop bugging
Fidencio about his baptism either (They're more excited than he is)!
But they came to church the next day and Hermana Crowther sat up with
the translating equipment so I sat with Fidencio and his family and
Sean sat by me. During sacrament meeting Sean looked over at me and
said, "Can I get baptized too?" It was the sweetest and most sincere
thing it made me so happy! I told him to talk to his dad about it.
Well Sunday night we taught Fidencio at the church with a member but
before we started the lesson I told him what Sean said to me at
church. And we asked him if he would be okay if Sean got baptized too
and Fidencio told us that Sean hasn't stopped talking about getting
baptized too and that he was fine with it!! YAY!! We then explained to
Fidencio that he would be able to baptize Sean and he got even more
excited about it. They're such an amazing family and I'm so excited
for them and the choices they are making together!

So a couple other cool things happened this week. We had Sister Pearce
with us and we went looking for less actives in the ward. We weren't
having much luck but we felt prompted to go look for Joyce. None of us
knew her but we saw her name on the roster and felt like we should see
her. Well we got there and she let us in!! She is the sweetest old
lady and she was so excited to have company. She's been having some
health problems and recently lost her husband so she has been super
lonely and was so grateful we found her. We sat and talked to her for
a while and me and Sister Pearce were just crying like babies. She
told us everything she has been dealing with and she told us all about
her husband passing away and it broke my heart. All she needed was
some company and some friends and I'm so grateful we found her.

On Saturday Hermana Crowther and I went to a random apartment complex
we have never been to before and we went up to a random door and
knocked. A man came out with piercings and tats and we told him we
were the missionaries. And he said, "of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints?" And he said it kinda negatively so I said, "Uh oh,
it doesn't sound like you like us very much." And he started laughing
and told us he is a member!! He said it's been a long time since he's
been to church but he's been thinking lately about coming back. We
talked to him for a while and really got to know him! He told us we
could come back and his wife even speaks Spanish!! It really was a
miracle!

This week had so many amazing things but I probably also lived through
the worst experience of my life that I will NEVER forget. I almost
died! Hermana Crowther and I went over to one of our investigator's
homes to help her mop her floors and to teach her a lesson well she
insisted on making us dinner. So when we got done cleaning we went to
the kitchen to help her make dinner and when I saw what she was making
I almost died and went into her family room to mentally prepare. I
just kept praying and begging for help to eat whatever it was. Well
she made us bologna sandwiches but I think it was actually cat food...
I have never seen anything like it before and she set the table up
nice for us and the dishes were certainly not clean. She made us a
drink and poured it into our glasses that were filthy brown inside
(they probably have never been cleaned). Well we blessed the food and
started eating and I prayed the whole time. With every bite with every
swallow with every glance I was praying as I ate. There was crunchy
stuff that I had no idea what it was and brown flakes floating in my
drink. But I did it! And it actually was so nice of her to make us
dinner but I thought I was going to die. Well Hermana Crowther and I
went back out tracting and after a couple hours the bologna sandwich
struck back. We got back to our place as fast as we could and we were
both in the bathroom all night and morning getting whatever we ate out
of our systems! It was not fun but Heavenly Father definitely was
looking out for me because I guarantee you if I wasn't a missionary it
would've killed me!

Besides the Bologna sandwich this week was very special. I can't even
begin to explain the way I feel but my perspective on everything has
changed. I see life and people so differently and I feel so incredibly
lucky that Heavenly Father is willing to show me His children through
His eyes. It's so easy to love people and each person is so amazing in
their own way. I found this quote and I feel like it explains the way
I see people now perfectly! "We are sons and daughters of an immortal,
loving, and all-powerful Father in Heaven. We are created as much from
the dust of eternity as we are from the dust of the earth. Every one
of us has potential we can scarcely imagine." -Joseph B Wirthlin. We
really all do have divine worth, I hope one day all of the world can
understand that, but for now I'll just work on helping Kentucky gain
that knowledge!

I love all of you so very much. I hope you know how special you are!
Thanks for being the world's greatest family!

Con Amor,
Hermana Swapp