August 1, 2016 Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength

Hey Mi familia y mis amigos!!!!!!!
 It was another great week here in the wonderful land of Minnesota! A lot of miracles and amazing things happened here, and yes I love being a missionary. The weather here wasn't as crazy and humid, so it was really nice walking outside and not sweating buckets haha.
We had another couple of lessons with Andy and he seems like he is progressing towards his baptism! He finally expressed that he is realizing that this gospel can actually help him. And he came to church this Sunday!! The second that he walked in, it was like the best thing ever haha. He actually participated a lot in both of the classes, and it was so awesome hearing the things that he had to say.
I went on exchanges this week with Sister Clegg! I went with her to her area, so it was all English work but it was so much fun! It is definitely different teaching people in English, like I can actually understand everything that is being said and I can talking without worrying. The people that we taught were all so great. We taught a recently married couple and the husband was just baptized. They are working towards going to the temple next year! Talking with them made me so excited, because this gospel really does change lives!!
We had a lot of contacting this week, just getting to know the people here better. And we were knocking doors because one of our appointments fell through. We ended up knocking into the Allegria Family! They immediately knew who we were, and were super nice. Jose is from Mexico and then Karen who is from Minnesota, and they have two kids of their own. BUT they wanted to go to church, because Jose wants their children to learn more Spanish. And Sunday came around and they came to church!!! WOOOOO. We didn't think they were going to come, because we called in the morning and they didn't answer. It was a miracle that they came. And their kids loved primary.
On Wednesday, we went the WHOOOLE DAY without our cell phone. And it was very, very interesting trying to figure everything and contacting the people we needed to. So, let's just say that we said a lot of prayers that day, more than usual. Heavenly Father helped us a lot. And I am so very grateful for prayer and that we have the opportunity to pray to God to receive guidance and direction every single day!

Hermana Brittner hit her 9 month mark (half way!!) so we celebrated by getting Panera on Friday for dinner. So good!!!!

 This week I was studying in a talk that is by Jeffery R. Holland, "Tomorrow the Lord will Do Wonders Among You." And this is an amazing talk, love every word of it. But there was a part that I especially loved. My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength -that's the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life. Indeed it is only with that reassurance burning in our soul that we can have the confidence to keep trying to improve, keep seeking forgiveness for our sins, and keep extending that grace to our neighbor. This is just so true!!! God loves us sooooo much! I know that knowing that my Heavenly Father loves me is a reason that keeps me going. He has given me my life and everything in it, and He has given all of us a Savior who we can turn to and through him we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again. That is just the best gift ever! All we have to do is turn to Him and he will help us. Why? The answer is simple. It is because he loves us. So, because of this great eternal love... "Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."

Thanks for all of your love and prayers! I love you all, but more importantly Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ loves you more!!!!!!!

Love, Hermana Duvall