last lap...

As always we have been so blessed this week and seen so many miracles. We also have never sweated so much before so that's fun...

BUT AS THE HEAT GOES UP it not only melts us and our Book of Mormons BUT PEOPLES HEARTS.

TO RECAP THIS WEEK:

TEMPLE - We got to go to the temple today with our zone! So fun and awesome! I went armed with questions and different thoughts and definitely received some much needed direction! I love the temple and am so grateful we have one in this (the best) mission!

VIVIANA- SHE IS DOING SO AWESOME! We had a great lesson with her this week and she just opened up. She talked about how in the church she really feels the spirit and so much peace. She told us the other week she went to a different church right after and it just didn't feel the same. She has been praying about baptism the 11th and told us that she would prepare to be baptized that day although she is still looking for some answers! We have started going over the different commandments and she just accepts them without hesitation! We love Viviana so much!! Keep her in your prayers that she will be ready to be baptized the 11th of August!

EXCHANGES - I got to go on exchanges with Sister Stewart this last week! It is her first transfer and it was so fun to see her enthusiasm and drive for the work! We had a lot of fun and saw some cool miracles with finding some new people with interest! I love working with greenies!!

ANTI - Sister Shaffer and I have been trying this tactic of inviting ourselves in to peoples houses and we did it with this lady. Well she did in fact let us in and give us water but then went on to tell us that our prophets do "devilish acts" UM have you seen photos of President Nelson? The man is 93 and a saint! But anyways we kept our cool and just testified that we know that this is the true church and that our prophet has been called of God and its okay that we disagree we know through prayer we can know the truth of all things - then we bounced. She had crazy eyes but I love those moments we are given to share our testimonies and share them boldly and without apology. It is just so true.

DALIA^2 - they are doing so good! We are going to start family history work with them and get them to the temple hopefully this next week! They just love everything and soak it right up!

THE SPIRIT- Sis Shaffer is just such a great example to me! She is always trying to follow the spirit and we have seen miracles come from it! Every morning when we sit down to plan we stop in the middle of our planning and just look at all our people. The other day we had an impression to stop by this LA and caught her brother Nacho who is visiting from Colorado! He was awesome and he just started to cry(and sweat...it was superrrr hot) and they were able to teach him on exchanges - now we just have to get in contact with the Colorado missionaries! We also stopped by this referral from a while ago and when we knocked, they opened the door and within 10 secs we were sitting on their couch as the mom talked to us like we were old friends! Crazy! We have been blessed with so many new people to teach and I thank our Heavenly Father everyday because of it!

GLORIA - many many months ago I got to teach one of my favorite people - Gloria!! I was her first missionary and she was the first person I helped find to teach! We got to go and have dinner with her on Monday and it was so fun! Her daughter Ana now lives with her and she is 10 and full of energy! We were just cracking jokes and reminiscing the whole time and it was a blast. My favorite part of my mission is the incredible people I have been able to meet!

Many other cool things have happened this week but I don't remember much more!

I am just so grateful. So so incredibly grateful. When I first started to think about a mission I couldn't decided if I should go or not. Then a series of very fortunate events led to me submitting my papers. I still didn't know for sure if I wanted to go even when I was holding my call in my hands but the moment that I opened it, the spirit washed over me and I felt so peaceful.

This mission has been the hardest thing I have done. It is something that has stretched me in a lot of ways. But I have met so many people that have made every single second worth it. Gloria, Daniel, Rossy, Kimmy, the Torres Family, Carmen our little angel, Ana, Dalia and Viviana. They and countless others have made every hot day, hard day, exhausting day worth it. I have been so privileged to be here.

I know this is the only true church. It was restored by a prophet of God and he holds the keys necessary to guide and lead the church. The Book of Mormon is evidence of this restoration. I invite each and every one of you to read it, pray about it, listen to the missionaries and receive your own witness.

I love you all!

To the Moon and Back!

ps I also cleaned a boys high school locker room and I can honestly say it was one place I never thought I would be on my mission...

Hermana Showalter