August 28, 2017 Trusting in the Lord always works!

¡Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

Hermana Anderson and I taking a picture
 in the midst of a knocking a bunch of doors.

      Another great week with lots rain and great weather ahah. There really haven't been many mosquitos recently and it hasn't been THAT humid. Also, happy birthday to the best momma there is! I am so grateful for you and all that you have done! I hope you had the best birthday last week. And congratulations to Amanda and Josh for their new baby girl, Chloe. She's so precious!

This week was filled with a lot of knocking doors and trying find new people to teach. We seriously knocked SO MANY doors. Nevertheless, the Lord blessed us with some amazing miracles.

Look at the beautiful sunset! 

We have been doing a lot of stop bys to people who were taught in the past. This week, we decided to stop by a guy named Francisco! We were able to set up an appointment for later in the week. When we went back on Saturday, we knocked and he wasn't home. So we were really sad at first, but then we decided to call him. So as we were walking back to the car, I saw that Francisco was walking down the street and saw him answering his phone. It was super funny and awkward, but it was a miracle because we ended up being able to teach him! It was raining, so we taught the lesson on his porch. We taught him about the restoration of the gospel and he was just soaking it all in. He said multiple times that he felt the spirit so strongly and that what we were teaching him was true. He especially LOVED the Book of Mormon, because it testified to him that God loves us all the same, no matter where we are from or what color our skin is. At the end of the lesson, he picked his own date to be baptized: September 15th! He knows it's pretty close, but he told us he likes Goals that push him. So we are going to work with him to help him prepare for this day. He also rode his bike all the way to church yesterday because he remembered that the Elders ride bikes a lot haha. He LOVED church and participated a lot in all of the classes. Francisco is literally a miracle and God just on him in our path. It's been refreshing to find someone like him who just recognizes truth. I am excited to continue working with him and watch him learn more of his purpose in this life and more of our Savior Jesus Christ.
 
   We also had interviews with President Barney this week. I am SO grateful for him and for his guidance that he has provided me. He really is so loving and caring and you can just tell that he absolutely loves being a mission President. He told me that he really is going really going to miss hermana Anderson and I so much when we leave, but I had to remind him that we still have a good 3 months left together haha. I love being a missionary and it has been so much fun working with Hermana Anderson again. I really look up to her and how selfless she is. Transfers are next week already and we can't believe how fast this transfer has gone!

      This week has definitely been a challenging one, but hermana Anderson and I have been working really hard to trust in the Lord and His timing. I have seen so many blessings come from showing faith and doing things that may be hard, but that we are prompted to do. I know that this is the Lord's work and I am reminded that everyday. It's amazing to see how things work out so perfectly as we are following God's will.

      I was studying in a talk this week called "Trust in the Lord and Lean Not" by Bonnie H. Cordon, and it says:

I photobombed her picture and
I thought it was super funny.
Here am I being my happy crazy self. 

 "When we physically lean toward one side or another, we move off center, we are out of balance, and we tip. When we spiritually lean to our own understanding, we lean away from our Savior. If we lean, we are not centered; we are not balanced; we are not focused on Christ."

I love this quote so much! If we picture someone using a crutch to stand up: as the person leans away from the crutch, there is nothing to catch them, no support. So as we lean away from Jesus Christ, there is no solid foundation that is going to catch us and be there to lift us up. I know that as we lean on Jesus Christ and we TRUST in Him, we have a much more solid foundation that will protect us against any doubt, confusion, temptation, etc. I know that Jesus Christ has the power to help us when we need it. I know that trusting in the Savior in His power and in God's plan that he has for us, we will always have a sure foundation that will lift us up. It is our decision to choose if we are going to rely on Him. He's always going to be there. I know that I have felt the Savior lift me up and carry me when I do get a discouraged in anyway, and I am SO grateful to have him as the most reliable crutch ever. I love my Savior so much.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Les quiero. But more importantly, Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ love you all so much more.

Con amor, 

Hermana Duvall

 Hermana Anderson visited Reyna when she
was in  this area before and we finally got
to see her again. We have no idea what she's doing haha.