Hola mi familia y mis amigos!!!
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me smiling because I'm so happy families are forever
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I hope you all had a great week :) this week was super awesome filled with lots of little miracles like always!! The weather last week was seriously SO NICE, I think it was a joke, because it is now in the forecast that we are going to be getting snow! I am excited because the snow is beautiful, but scared because that means it's going to get real cold real fast. I thought that I was used to the cold because I survived one Minnesotan winter, but I feel that I am going to have to readjust haha. Anyways, Hermana Tietz and I are still super grateful that we are able to stay together one more transfer!
Due to the amazing weather this week, we went chalking multiple times throughout the week. "chalking" is just when we draw something with chalk and talk with people around us, and hopefully teach something! We had a couple of really cool experiences this week as we were doing so. One of the days, we decided that we wanted to draw a temple and focus on how families can be together forever. As we were drawing, this super cute little dog came running up to us and wouldn't leave our side. The dog's owner came running over (because the dog wouldn't listen to her or go back to her) and she wanted to make sure her dog wasn't bugging us. She right away asked us what we were doing and why we were doing it! We were able to talk with her about temples and family history! She was super amazed and in awe and kept saying "wow, that's amazing." So it was a really cool experience to have her just walk up to us and ask us what we were doing. Also, I am pretty sure that animals can sense the spirit and her dog wanted to talk with us too lol.
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Do you like the leaf in my hair?
Captured by the amazing hna Tietz
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So other than all of the chalking this week, we had some good lessons and we were able to talk to a lot of people. We were able to meet with our investigator Maryola this week! She was the one who moved and we ended up accidentally knocking on her door. Luckily she laughed and thought it was a sign from God that she needed to keep meeting with us! We've also been meeting with a super sweet lady named Jill! We started meeting with her a little while back and we had a really great lesson with her about how families can be together forever! The spirit was super strong and she wants to continue learning with us. We are teaching various people and it's been fun! Francisco is still doing super well!! We had a lesson with him and his nephews this week and we were able to teach his two nephews about Jesus Christ! It was honestly so amazing to see Francisco testifying and teaching his little nephews. I have realized that this is something that really has brought me so much joy throughout my mission. I love teaching people the simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so they are able to do the same :) it's the best and makes me SOO happy. Love being a missionary, like i've said a billion times.
I've been studying in the Topical Guide about Jesus Christ and I'm going through all of the scriptures that are about Him. Yesterday morning I came across this scripture that I absolutely love in the Bible. In Hebrews 12:2 it says, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Now, I feel that I've always read this scripture focusing on the "author and finisher of our faith" part. Although I know that as we look unto Jesus we are able to have the faith we need to endure, the part that talks about joy really stuck out to me. I love that even through all of the mocking and suffering Jesus Christ went through, He focused on Joy. I'm sure He focused on the joy He would receive, but also the joy we all would received because of what He was doing. So, I also found this wonderful quote by President Russell M. Nelson from the October 2016 conference that I think really expounds upon this scripture:
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I know families can be together forever!
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"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.
He taught us how to have joy. When we choose Heavenly Father to be our God and when we can feel the Savior’s Atonement working in our lives, we will be filled with joy. Every time we nurture our spouse and guide our children, every time we forgive someone or ask for forgiveness, we can feel joy" ("Joy and Spiritual Survival").
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I love that the stick figure is actually adjusting the sails
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May we choose to find Joy in Jesus Christ, to hold onto that Joy, because I know it is SO MUCH more worth it than trying to seek for fake joy from the world.
Love you all! More importantly, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you all so much more!
con amor,
Hermana Duvall
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One of our amazing members here- Monica!
She's from Africa and has so much faith.
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