Monday, February 6, 2017

February 6, 2017 The big 20!

 ¡Hola mi familia y mis amigos!
     First off, I hope everyone had a wonderful week. I would like to start my letter off by telling a funny story that happened last week. I backed Hermana Warmbier out (that's a rule for missionaries haha), however I decided to take the trash out at the same time. So after I backed her out, I was walking over to the dumpster. I looked in front of me and an older man fell because of the black ice on the street.. pobrecito.. I noticed that he fell and I didn't think to look in front of me to see if there was ice. So, can you guess what happened? I fell. That was my first time falling in this wonderful Minnesota winter. Hermana Warmbier and I had a good laugh. Luckily the trash broke my fall so I'm not sore! At least I am making memories right? haha

The relief society made this cookie for me for my birthday!
It was such a cute surprise.
I've loved serving in this ward with all of the awesome members.


   I can't believe that I am turning 20 tomorrow!! It's crazy how fast time has flown by. I'm so grateful for my two wonderful parents who have raised me and for my awesome twinner who has been by my side longer than anyone else!

We went out to an all you can eat sushi place for lunch today for my birthday.
It was seriously the BEST sushi that I have eaten in a while.
Definitely worth it. :) A very good start to a 🎈 birthday.

     We had a really awesome week of teaching a lot of lessons and meeting a lot of new people. I love being a missionary so much. Sometimes people do reject our message, but when that happens it just pushes me even more to find the next person who is ready to hear this message of truth and happiness. I also really love being able to work with the members here! We were able to meet with one of our members, Hna Becerra this week! We are so excited, because she wants us to start teaching her kids the missionary discussions. We have a Family Home Evening with them tonight!

Hermana Duvall and Hermana Warmbier with Hermana Elisa Becerra. We love her sooo much.
 We are going to start teaching her kids the missionary discussions
(I guess the new elders will be doing that after tonight haha).
She's awesome and has so much  faith. Love her.

EVA CAME TO CHURCH! She loved it soooo much.
She's progressing so much in her testimony.
The other Hermanas in the west side of St. Paul
are probably going to continue to teach her.

Our investigator Eva is doing soo good! She has literally become a different person this last week. Before this week, we were having a harder time seeing her, but this week we were able to see her or teach her almost every single day this week; She's on fire!! Seriously, she is a miracle. Her understand of the gospel is just growing and she is soaking in every single principle that we are teaching her. She was finally able to go to the 12-Steps Addiction Recovery Program this week and she loved it. And she came to church yesterday!!! We made some goals with her to help her along the way as she prepares for her baptism. I am so impressed and in awe with the strength that she has.  She has the BEST responses to all of the questions that we ask her. They are so sincere and simple. One of my favorite things is when she said, "Man, Jesus Christ loves all of us so much. He died for all of us. He died for me.. Wow, He loves me!!" She is just so prepared to embrace the gospel fully in her life, but we have to make sure that she is completely clean for a least 2 weeks before her baptism. We actually switched her baptismal date to March 11th. I love Eva so much and I am so grateful to have met her and help her learn about her true identity as a daughter of God. I know that Heavenly Father loves her so much, and that as she continues to embrace the Atonement of Jesus Christ that she is going to receive more and more joy in her life!!
   

Hermana Warmbier and I took a little trip
to the Cathedral in St. Paul. It was so pretty!
I'm so glad that I got to go visit it before I left St. Paul!

 Sadly, I am actually getting transferred and leaving this area. Both Hermana Warmbier and I are going to be leaving, and elders are coming to "white wash" our area. I've learned so much this last transfer and I am so grateful for everything that I've learned. I loved being STL and learning for the other sisters. I am so sad leaving our investigators, especially Eva, but I hope that I will be able to come back up for her baptism. It's crazy how hard it's become saying by to people even when you meet the weeks before. The mission really changes us haha.



Beautiful ceiling of Saint Paul Cathedral




Cathedral of Saint Paul  



 So I am going to be headed to Faribault with Hermana Dean. We are actually going to white washing that area, which means that both of us are going to be new in the area. It's an enlgish Ward, so we do both English and Spanish work. Then during church we translate for the members/investigators that only speak Spanish. I am so excited for this next transfer. It's definitely going to be different, but I know that I real,y can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! 
     I was reading in the talk "Joy and Spiritual Survival" by President M. Russell Nelson this morning. I love this talk so much; I wish I could just copy and paste the whole thing. I would like to share a snippet of it, and he says:
"My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives. When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening--or not happening--in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him...If we look to the world and follow its formulas for happiness, we will never know joy. The unrighteous may experience any number of emotions and sensations, but they will never experience joy! Joy is a gift for the faithful. It is the gift that comes from intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as taught by Jesus Christ."
I love this idea that real, pure joy can only come through Jesus Christ! I know that as we continually strive to follow His example, we will find that everlasting joy in our lives! I have seen that in my mission every day, in my life and in the lives of others. I know that real Joy comes into our lives as we let the savior into our lives and continually work on our relationship with him. I know that life can be hard at times, but Jesus Christ is always there to help us and bring us back into the light. I love my Savior SOOOO MUCH! He has become my all time best friend, and I am so grateful for that.



White Bear Lake

I love you all so much! But more importantly, Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, love you all SO MUCH MORE! Have a wonderful week :)
Love, Hermana Duvall
Hermana Duvall
Minnesota Minneapolis Mission

 Video of musical number practice ---“Fuente de la vida eterna. We sang it at church last week and at Zone conference last week as well. Sister Forbes had to take a video of us singing after Zone Conference was over haha.




No comments:

Post a Comment