I didn't even feel like a missionary this week 7-17-2017

4:41 PM

¡Hola Folks!

Hace calor. This week I wasn't even a missionary... just kidding I was but it didn't really feel like it. Hermana Corona's Christlike attribute she was working on this week was patience and let me tell you, we were blessed with many opportunities to exercise patience. I guess it was the attribute Heavenly Father wanted me to work on this week too. But it's pretty amazing as I reflect on this past week because it's very evident that Heavenly Father was in control of it all and blessed us with many little miracles throughout the week.

So I didn't even feel like a missionary this week because of our 2013 Chevy Cruze. That car has been a blessing and a burden in our lives. We've been having some problems with our brakes and with like a tension belt or something like that - we all know I know nothing about cars (and don't worry mom, we are safe!). So we took it into the dealership on Tuesday and we waited in the waiting room. We had originally planned to be at the dealership for an hour but we brought our study stuff just in case it took two. Well the guy working on our car didn't communicate with us but he thankfully was calling our vehicle coordinator and working things out with him. While we waited in the waiting room we did our hour of language study, and then we contacted all of our investigators, and then we did companion study, and then we cleaned out our entire area book and then at that point we had been in the waiting room for three and a half hours. Well we ended up spending six and a half hours at the dealership and at the end of that time the guy came out and said he was going to keep our car over night...

We picked our car up Wednesday afternoon and then two days later as we were driving we started hearing the same noise that the dealership was supposed to fix. And then our brakes started smoking. So we decided to drive to the church and we got to the church and there happened to be a few members there and two of them were mechanics. Tender Mercy #1. They came out to look at the car and they were pretty upset, they told us the dealership took advantage of us and didn't even fix the problem. So we took the car back to the dealership and we've been car-less for the past few days. And also, Hermana Corona's back tire on her bike popped (and we all know I know nothing about bikes too) so we've been walking lots!

Well since we didn't have a car like none of our investigators got visited in Lexington or Frankfort, that was super hard. Luz and her sons moved back to Mexico today and we called Maribel to check on her yesterday and her husband answered and he dropped us. He kept telling us there was nothing more than the Bible and he didn't want us to come around anymore. My heart broke, I couldn't believe how sad it made me. She knows it's true and we asked him if that's what Maribel wanted too but I don't think he really cared what she wanted. Araceli was too busy to meet with us this week and Elizabeth kept telling us she's still not sure if she really believes what we teach. It was like one heart break after the other.

But it's not until "after the trial of faith" that we can receive a witness. And Heavenly Father did bless us with that witness and he gave us so many blessings. Saturday was like our first full day of actual work without any car problems or anything and we got work done. We left the house as soon as studies were done and we didn't get home until 8:30 that night for dinner. We talked to everyone, walked everywhere we could, and got a little sunburnt. It was almost like a day in Disneyland!

We were walking down a street and Hermana Corona said, "Hey, I'm pretty sure a former lives here and her name just popped in my head." So we went and knocked on her door and she was home! We had a lesson with her and she was super open and receptive and invited us back. Tender Mercy #2.

Then we walked to an apartment complex to do some tracting and right when we got there we found Guadalupe outside. We started talking to her and she invited us in (I think she felt bad for us because she could tell we were hot and sweaty haha!). But we had an amazing lesson with her! You can always tell how strong the spirit is by how well I speak Spanish. When the spirit is there Spanish is so easy but when it's absent, it's like I can't remember a word. But the spirit was so strong and we were able to communicate everything God needed us to. She was super receptive as well and we were able to establish a good relationship. Tender Mercy #3, 4, and 5.

We talked to a ton of other people and as we were about to start walking home we decided to stop by another former's house. We were looking for Alicia, she wasn't home but her husband was. He came out and took the time to talk with us. We shared the Mormon Message "A Book of Mormon Story" and he really liked it. We talked for a little while and he invited us to come back when his whole family would be home. Tender Mercy #6.

After church yesterday we stopped by Lorenzo's and he was home! We asked him if he still wanted to learn and he told us he wanted to be baptized! We set some expectations for him and told him all he needed to do to get baptized and with a big smile he agreed to it all. He even said he had already stopped smoking and drinking a few days ago so he could be baptized! Tender Mercy #7.

So yesterday we had an hour left of the night and all of our plans had fallen through. We weren't sure what to do and so we asked God and Sister Goodspeed's name came to mind. So we decided to go visit Sister Goodspeed (she's the one in the nursing home that had a bad seizure a couple weeks ago). We got there and it broke my heart, I'd never seen her like that. She was all curled up and couldn't even get herself to sit up. She looked over at us and she had a huge bump and bruise on her head. She was not doing well. She had taken a pretty hard fall earlier that morning. We asked her if she needed a priesthood blessing and she said yes so we called some members over. She just had no energy and she even said, "I know this is horrible of me to say but I just want to" and she never finished her sentence but she was crying and she had me crying too. She's really not doing well, but she was able to get a priesthood blessing and it was a miracle in itself to be able to feel of God's love for her in that moment. She's excited though, I think she told us ten times last night that she has a birthday coming up. I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am we checked on her last night. Tender Mercy #8.

Also, we had interviews with President and Sister Hughes this week. They're incredible and I love them so much. It was so fun to get to know them. It was weird though, it was my first interview that I was asked what my plans for home were... I can't believe how fast time is going out here. When President Hughes found out I'd been on my mission for 16 months he said, "Wow, you're almost done. How has your mission been?" It surprised me how emotional I got (poor President Hughes) but all I could manage to say is, "I am so grateful."

I love my mission so much and I am so grateful for it. I will never ever be able to thank Heavenly Father enough for all that He has given me. I will never be able to thank Him enough for the past week we had. He blessed us so much and I know he'll continue to do so. I'm so grateful for my mission and the mighty miracle it already is in my life. Deciding to serve a mission was by far the best decision I have ever made.

I love you all so much and I hope you know how much Heavenly Father loves you as well! I hope you have the greatest week this week and be happy. Because life is too short to be anything else.

Con amor,

Hermana Swapp

PS: "Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great." -D&C 64:33