Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy 7-31-2017

8:09 AM

¡Hola Familia!

First off, happy birthday Grandpa Steve! I love you so much and I hope you get your cake and eat it too! Pues hola hola todos, yo espero que todos tuvieran una buena semana. So we're going to Kentucky Kingdom again today so we don't have a ton of time to write emails, so sorry everyone if you don't get an email from me today!

The past few days have been great and we have seen a lot of amazing things happening here. We had a lesson with Miguel 1 this past week. He's one of the recent converts/less actives we've been working with and the lesson was incredible. We've been stumped on what to do for him, he really struggles living the word of wisdom and doesn't feel worthy to go to church. He's been coming to church lately but hasn't done much to change, he has the desire but just doesn't believe he can. We were planning for his lesson and we asked Heavenly Father what in the world we should teach him and the spirit told us very clearly what he needed. So we had a review of the Plan of Salvation and when we talked about our purpose in this life we did a virtual temple tour with him. As we shared the pictures of the temple and taught about family history the spirit that filled the room was incredible. At the end of the temple tour it was silent and finally Miguel talked and said, "Hermanas, I have to go there." I can't explain how powerful that moment was, my heart was so full of love and gratitude. He's since called the bishop and he's working with the bishop to be able to go to the temple.

Sister Goodspeed's party was rocking. We hung up a birthday banner when we got there, put on some party hats, blew up some balloons and then woke her up. She really wasn't feeling well but got the biggest smile on her face when she saw her room all decorated. Whenever a nurse came into her room she was so excited to show them her birthday banner. Her favorite part I think was playing don't let the balloon touch the ground. She used to be a volley ball player and she had fun showing us some of her tricks. She's the cutest thing ever. Her health is declining each day but she had a Happy 84th birthday.

Mary Beth is making great progress. She read all of 2 Nephi in less than a week and she's taking some awesome notes to go with it. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and throughout the whole lesson she was opening up to 2 Nephi to share some scriptures that applied. It was awesome, it was like she was teaching us! She's meeting with the bishop and it's incredible to watch her faith grow each day.

One of our new investigators is Catalina and she is awesome! She is the sweetest and most humble person you will ever meet. She doesn't have much but she offers us all she has each time we go over. In our last lesson she made sure we had some corn on the cob and she put the spiciest chile on the corn. Hermana Corona handled it like a Latina and my lips were en fuego! But of course she got me some water because she's the sweetest lady ever and I think she could tell I was dying a little. She's been making some good progress as well. She has 6 kids but they've all been super busy so we've only been able to teach her. She got to know us super well last time and what we believe and she loved it. She said it was something she wanted for her whole family and made sure to schedule us in when her whole family would be home! I'm super excited to be working with this family.

Lexington was another day of success, as always. We went tracting and we found our new friend Jose. He's an older guy but so sweet. We had a lesson with him on his front porch and he smiled the whole entire lesson and just said, "Gracias" over and over again. We extended a baptismal invitation to him and he said, "Si, porqué no?" The spirit was definitely present in the lesson and Jose is preparing to be baptized in September.

We tracted some more, had some greats conversations, and a couple other short lessons. Right as we were about to leave we saw a Hispanic family pull up to their house in their car. We ran over to talk to them and they had all gone inside by the time we got there except for Angel. He's about our age and we started talking to him and asked him what he believes. He told us he's not really sure if there's a God and that right now he doesn't really believe He's there. We read Alma 30:44 with him: "all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." We then showed him the Mormon Message "Earthly Father, Heavenly Father" and after the video we bore testimony and we told him he is a son of God. You should've seen his face, I think it was his first time in his life ever being told of his divine worth. And you could see it in his face at that moment that he felt the Spirit tell him it was true.

So every Saturday night the Spanish branch plays fútbol for a little family home evening and this week we finally got to go! And guess what... We had two investigators there! Vicente and Angel both came and they both had a blast! They told us they'll be coming every Saturday from here on out. We had a party and let me tell you, I worked everyone there. I would've made Cristiano Ronaldo look bad. And I bet if they would've given me one more try I would've made a goal haha.

Vicente's doing well and he even came to church yesterday! We asked him what he thought, he said it was boring, but we'll get him there haha(: he always calls us first to have lessons and he's made some good friends in the branch!

I continued to study the Isaiah chapters this week and I am so grateful for the studies I have had and the spirit that has enlightened me. It's so amazing to read about prophesies that we're fulfilled in Isaiah's time but will be fulfilled in our time as well. And of course I love the institute manual that makes it that much easier to understand. I found another quote that I love by Bruce R. McConkie who said, "We see evil forces everywhere uniting to destroy the family, to ridicule morality and decency, to glorify all that is lewd and base. … Satan reigns in the hearts of men; it is the great day of his power. But amid it all, the work of the Lord rolls on. … Amid it all, there are revelations and visions and prophecies. There are gifts and signs and miracles. There is a rich outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God." I can't even tell you how many times a day I hear somebody tell me that God doesn't exist because of all the bad that there is in the world, but I am so grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ and to have the opportunity to tell people that there is a God. That "amid it all" there is good in the world because we have a Savior. That God is real and he hasn't ceased to be a God of miracles and that we can have true happiness and peace in this life. I love to share my favorite Anne Frank quote with people when they tell me how crappy the world is, "Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy."

Well I love you all so very much. Thanks for all the love and support and for being the best family I could've ever asked for. I hope y'all have the happiest week because life is too short to be anything else.

Con amor,

Hermana Swapp

PS: "And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent hope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared." -Ether 12:32