Monday, July 25, 2016

July 25, 2016 It's very hot here, but I'm very happy

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

    Well, I made it through the heat wave this week in Minnesota alive- so that is great! But really, the weather here is so strange haha. It got up to 109 degrees plus humidity, so the second I would walk outside I was automatically sweating!  I am grateful that we have a car that we can drive around in, and that we don't have to ride bikes!! Then the next day there was a huge storm. And don't let that fool you, because it was still REALLY REALLY hot. The trees looked like they were all going to just snap in half! But later that day, we went and played soccer at the park and it was nice and sunny and beautiful! I am grateful that we have a car that we can drive around in, and that we don't have to ride bikes!!

    This week was so awesome! Every day I am just loving being a missionary more and more. I don't even know where to start because I feel like so much has happened and I feel like I have so much to say!

    Every Tuesday we volunteer at this place called Prince of Peace. It is kind of like a DI/Bishop's storehouse kind of place. It's owned by another church, but the missionaries in our zone volunteer there every single week.  There was a group of kids there, who were all from Wisconsin. They were on a mission trip, and were stopping by different places to volunteer at.  They were all super funny and we had a good time getting to know the differences between Wisconsin and other places... did you know that they call a drinking fountain a "bubbler?" I think calling it that is so much more epic haha.

   We taught a lesson with this amazing lady named Guadalupe. Hermana Brittner and Hermana Hughes (her companion before me) knocked on her door right before transfers, but this was the first time was had a lesson with her! She was literally like a sponge. She was just soaking everything that we were saying in, and wanted to know more and more. She is super excited to know more about the gospel, and committed to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and pray about it. She just has a light in her eyes, and it makes me so so happy to think of how much happier she is going to be with this gospel!  We are teaching her again tomorrow!!!!

   On Thursday, we were just doing some finding and knocking on doors of previous investigators; and despite the fact that it was so hot outside, we decided to walk around the trailer park from house to house instead of driving.  So that's what we did!

We were in a trailer park, and thought that this looked kind of like a jungle.. So we took a picture!!!


We didn't end up being able to contact any of the previous referrals; but, we ended up meeting a really nice girl named Kylie! We talked with her about Prophets and about prayer. And she was so interested to hear that we have a living prophet on the earth today who receives modern-day revelation. She also said that she feels the need that she needs to pray more! We have an appointment set up with her later this week! Before we started walking around, we set a goal to talk to 7 people outside of our plans, and we did it! Even though there were a couple people who just were like "no" and shut the door on us. Those experiences can seem sad, but honestly I just think "If you only knew what message we wanted to share with you...if you only knew." And that's the things! So many people don't know! So it is our job to go out and share this joyful news!

   We had a really cool experience with prayer! Hopefully I will be able to explain it in a way that does it justice. We were going to meet with lady named Maria, and were wondering if we should bring a member with us to the lesson.  We weren't sure so we decided to say a prayer. We ended up calling the member, but she couldn't come. So as we were getting out of the car, Maria was walking out of her garage (which is on the back of the house). We would have missed her if we hadn't taken the time to stop and say a prayer! Perfect timing!

   Andy, our investigator who is getting baptized is doing pretty great! We are teaching him about two times every week.  We had to change his baptismal date because there is a wedding that is being held at the church building that day, but Andy is still really excited to be baptized!

    I was reading in Ephesians 3 the other day and I came across a verse that I absolutely just love (although that whole chapter is pretty great so I suggest that you all should read it).  Verses 11 and 12 say:
           "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access by the faith of Him."
This scripture just gave me a lot of comfort; and I know that through Faith in Jesus Christ that we can do all things! I also read a talk this week called, "He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I really love this talk because it talks about how the Savior is literally always going to be there to help us, we just have to turn to Him!! Read it, it's amazing!!

     I am so very grateful that I have been called to serve in this mission! I already love the people here so much, and I love speaking Spanish too! Although it is difficult at times to communicate, I have definitely been blessed with the gift of tongues and the strength from my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary!!

Love,
Hermana Duvall
July 23, 2016 Just look at the sun rays. SO PRETTY. GOD IS REAL.  I took this on Saturday night after our ward activity at the park (where only two people showed up besides us, the elders) haha. We played soccer and it was so fun! I remembered how much I missed playing!!


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