Adventures of Hermana Jennifer Duvall: January 23, 2017 Sweater Weather

¡Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

Hey look, it's me in candy form! Just call me Hermana Duvalín :)

This was a pretty interesting week because it was soooo warm! By warm I mean it was in the high 30's all week. It's crazy to me that that temperature seems warm to me, but I guess the mission really does change you haha. I didn't wear my coat for 5/7 days of this week! I have just been wearing sweaters and one pair of tights. How exciting haha. I am loving not being freezing and having to wear a bunch of layers, but I'm sure this weather won't stay this nice for too long haha.

Watch out for turtles!

We had a lot of cool experiences with first lessons and finding some new people to teach this week! We also had an interesting lesson where this guy just laughed the whole time as we were teaching him. We still aren't able to figure out why he was laughing at us, but it makes for a funny memory!
We taught "Pollo" (Leo) this week again! He is slowly progressing in his testimony about the gospel. I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but he cannot read or write. So, it has been a little different teaching him because he didn't even know much about God before he met the missionaries. This week we had a really good lesson about how we lived with God before this life. I love teaching about this, because we are all children of our Heavenly Father who loves us so much. Knowing that I lived with Heavenly Father before this life has just provided me with a lot more meaning and purpose.
Every Saturday night, we play soccer at the church building with some of the members and people that all of us missionaries serving in our ward are teaching. We had a really cool experience with Luis after soccer finished! Luis is brother in laws with a member in our ward. He has come to play soccer almost every week, but hasn't really been taught by missionaries before. However, after soccer we were able to teach him a little bit about the Book of Mormon and answer a lot of the questions that he has had about Mormons. He also came to church yesterday stayed for all 3 hours, and he really loved it!! It's cool to see how the gospel influences others for the better. We are going to try and meet with Luis sometime this week and teach him more.

Okay, I know the lighting is absolutely horrible but this is Ketzali! I love her so much. She is one of my favorite young women here in this ward. She has so much faith and trust in God; I look up to her so much!

We were not able to meet with Eva this week because of some things that came up. We are still going to continue to work with her and help her gain a stronger relationship with Jesus Christ. Eva has such a strong desire to change and come closer to her savior, and I know that as she trusts in Him that she will be able to overcome the things that may be holding her back at this point!

A random little miracle that happened yesterday: As Hermana Warmbier and I were walking to Relief Society, a guy walked in the church building. He simply explained to us that he had been meaning to stop by for a while and he finally found a chance to come to church!! We were able to answer some of his questions and then he sat in with the Elders as they translated for him for the last hour of church. He doesn't speak Spanish, so we aren't going to be teaching him. However, some English Missionaries are hopefully going to teach him! There really are people out there who are just searching for the truth. I am excited to hear more about Zach's progression in the future.

Yesterday, I had the wonderful opportunity to give a talk in my ward! I was pretty nervous because it was my first full length talk in Spanish that I have been asked to give on my mission. Nevertheless, I loved the topic that they assigned me. I talked about the scripture in D&C 58:41 that says, "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." I love this promise so much! When we sincerely repent, Jesus Christ will not remember our sins anymore. It's a promise! Sometimes I think we forget about that promise, but the truth is that the Atonement of Jesus Christ works for anything!! President Boyd K. Packer said (talking about the Atonement):
“Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ. …
“I repeat, save for the exception of the very few who defect to perdition, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ.”
I know that this is true! I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love all of us. They do not want us to suffer in guilt or sadness, that's why God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world! I know that there is nothing that Jesus Christ cannot help us with. All we have to do is have the desire and open the door to Him! He is just waiting on the other side with open arms and a big hug. :)
I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thank you all for the love and support! I love all of you! But more importantly (don't forget) that Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, love you all so much more!!
Love,
Hermana Duvall

P.S. I can't believe that I forgot to mention in my actual letter that I went to the St. Paul Temple this week! I hadn't been to the temple since August, so it was so amazing. I love how strongly I can feel the spirit when I am in the temple. When I was in the temple I just felt an overwhelming comfort and peace and so much love for my Heavenly Father! It was really cool too, because 2 other districts of missionaries ended up being there as well! I got to see Sister Richardson which was a fun surprise. She was my STL in Lakeville so it was a good reunion because we hadn't seen each other in about 3 months! Also, the Elders (Elder Porter and Dyerly) surprised us with doughnuts after. Overall it was a wonderful experience and I am so grateful to be only 5 minutes from the temple!!