Miracle May!!

Hola Familia!

I hope that everyone is doing great, I love reading about how everyone is doing. I can't believe that Jenna is about to graduate, I can't believe that it has been a year already since I graduated....time really does flies!

I am glad that the Jason Lee Carnival went great, that was always really fun! And Grandma....she better enjoy that cruise for me, that sounds like the best thing ever!

So my companion's name is Sister Gonzalez and she is from Tocopilla, Chile. She was originally in the English assignment of our mission but now she is in the Spanish assignment with me :) She is really enjoying it. Of course, whenever there is a change in companionship it is always an adjustment at first. People always do things their own way and it is hard to get used to but we are having a great time together. She is so humble and relies on God for everything. We are always praying during the day, which is a great reminder for me because this is God's work and we are just His instruments.  Mom...she isn't related to Edith Gonzalez, Sis. Gonzalez is a convert to the church. Her testimony is so strong and she always brings the Spirit with her. We work really well together and we are having a lot of success in our area, just in this last week!! I will tell you the coolest story in a little bit.

i agree with mom, when we keep things simple and we practice, we find lasting happiness. I read that in the April Ensign. I really believe that is true.

I like the blog, you can do whatever you want, I would probably change the picture though, it is not my favorite :) hehe

I am so excited to read about mom and dad's mission experiences, I love hearing about those and stories from other missionaries. 

Well, I hope that everyone is enjoying life! I miss you all so much but I am really loving it here on a mission. 

Ok, I want to talk about some AMAZING experiences that I had this week.

So......first of all, I love being with a new companion because it is a 50/50 companionship. It was a little bit stressful at first because she didn't know the area and I had to talk with everyone and make the phone calls, but I know that this is helping me to be a better missionary and to be a leader. I feel more comfortable talking in Spanish and talking with people. She is so fun and I love being with her. She is exactly obedient and I have seen blessings for being exactly obedient.

So, probably the coolest experience I have ever had happened last night. So here is the WHOLE story:

About a month and a half ago, our district leader challenged us to pray and pick a former investigator in out area book to pick back up and teach. Sister Merrill asked me to pray and look through the area book and to pick someone that Heavenly Father wants us to pick back up, who is ready to accept our message. Of course, me being the new missionary and not knowing anyone and not knowing how to listen to the Spirit yet, I prayed and looked through the area book. I asked sister merrill about a few and then I saw this family, the Perez Family. Since I love teaching families, I asked Hermana Merrill about them and she said that they weren't very interested in accepting a date but that we can try teaching them again. So, I picked them and then later that week, we tried calling the mom, Magaly. She answered the phone and we said Hi and that it was the sister missionaries and then she hung up on us. We tried calling back and stopping by but we never were able to talk to them again.  Kind of disappointed, we put them on the back burner and then we forgot about them for the last month. About 3 weeks ago, while I was on exchanges, I got a call from Magaly! I answered the phone and she gave me a referral for her brother who lives in Salt Lake City. I was so surprised because she isn't even a member and she gave us a referral! I told Sister Merrill about it the next day and she was so surprised! Then, about a week and a half ago, while I was on exchanges again!, one of the English-assignment sisters needed to use the bathroom and so I wanted to ask maybe an investigator if we could use their bathroom, so we could get in. Sneaky, huh? and we passed the Perez Family's house and I decided to ask them. Magaly opened the door and let us in. I talked to her about her brother and asked if I could share a message. She wasn't able to take the time then because she was really busy but we set up an appointment for next week. So the appointment was set for after transfers, so me and Sister Gonzalez stopped by for the appointment and no one was home ;( We called her and she said sorry and she said she would call us to set up another appointment. So the Perez family has been coming more and more into the picture but they still weren't on the top of our priority list. We had 4 people on date for June and we were focusing on them more. Then, yesterday is when everything happened. We had a horrible morning, with people being really rude and yelling at us and slamming the door in our faces. We had been praying for the last week to find more investigators, me specifically praying for a family to teach. In the after noon, we were talking to some spanish people in the street, when I got a call from someone in the East mission. She told me that a member of the ward had a Spanish non-member friend that he works with. This spanish man wanted a blessing and since he is in our area and were spanish missionaries, she wanted us to find someone to give the blessing and possibly teach this man and his family after the blessing. I asked the name of the spanish man and she said, ALBERTO PEREZ!!!! She told me the address and I KNEW that this man was the father of the family Perez. I arranged everything and got permission to do it. We called our Elder's Quorum president and the member friend and we all met at Alberto's house at 8 last night. We went in and the entire family was there, so we sat down and started with a prayer and then we started into lesson one, teaching about authority. We had 8 members there at this lesson, all bearing testimony about the gospel. The Spirit was SO STRONG and then, when they gave him a blessing, I almost started crying, my heart was pounding as I prayed that we could put this family on date. After the blessing, we bore our testimony and the Elder's quorum Pres. bore his testimony and the member friend did too. Then we invited them to be baptized and the dad said yes, the mom and kids were more hesitant but said yes as well. I was so happy and the members were telling them that this is the step they need to make as a family. The support from the ward members was amazing! We got in the car with Sister Egan and I said a prayer of gratitude and just started crying. It

was so amazing at how the Lord has a plan and how the Spirit guides us to people without even knowing it. I was in shock and I couldn't sleep last night as I thought about the experience. I am just amazed and I have a testimony of faith, diligence, and hard work. If we rely on the Lord and work hard and do all we can, he will make up for the rest and guide us to those who are ready for the Gospel. Yesterday was the best day I have ever had as a missionary. GOD HAS A PLAN! GOD KNOWS HIS CHILDREN!

I thought it was funnier NOT to act silly!!

So that was the experience this week, God blesses us with miracles when we involve him in this work. 

I love being a missionary, I love being here in Salt Lake City. I love my family. I love my companion. I love my Savior. 

Thanks for being an amazing family, I miss you all and with talk to you soon.

SLY!

Hermana Warren