September 11, 2017 "yo soy mini-misionero!" with some thoughts on my Grandma Smith

¡Hola mi familia y mis amigos! 

 

Hermana Anderson and I (the amazing Hermana López
took this picture after we ate some delicious pannekoekens) 

 This week was one with lots of expected changes and lots of unexpected changes!! Hermana Anderson left Rochester and now Hermana Tietz is my companion. I already love Hermana Tietz so much and I really look up to her. She is a champ when it comes to all of the hispanics trying to pronounce her name correctly haha.

We finally remember to take a picture of Francisco!
We took this right after we showed him the
 Baptismal font. He says he's not super photogenic haha

 okay, so FRANCISCO IS DOING SO GREAT!!! I don't feel like I can fully express how amazing it has been to teach Francisco. He is simply just so prepared and is making it really easy to teach him. This week, we were able to teach him about various commandments! By the end of each lesson, he was practically bearing his testimony to us of that specific commandment and how much he knows that it is of God! He had his baptismal interview this last Saturday and he passed. After walking out of the room, he kept telling us over and over again how happy he was and how he felt so much peace and love from God.

 Just a casual pic of me at Transfers

It has been amazing to here the change that has taken place in his life. He said that about a month ago he would've never thought he would be at this point, but that he is so very grateful. He said before, he wouldn't stop to help someone or he would be embarrassed to talk about religious things, but now he says he smiles a lot more and wants to help all of those around him.  He also has a desire to share the gospel with his friends and family and he loves calling himself " mini misionero " and he brought his cousin to church yesterday! Woo. His baptism is scheduled for this Saturday afternoon! We are so excited for him!!! I was studying the other day and I found this quote that really reminded me of Francisco it says- "If you haven't chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead."  I know that the decision that Francisco has made to be baptized is one of the best decisions ever. I know that as we choose to be on God's team, everything will always work out.
   Other than Francisco, we are visiting and teaching various people here and there. I have definitely seen the Lord's hard every day as we are out working. I am grateful to know that he is the one in charge of this work and I am so incredibly grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ. It makes me so happy to be able to follow in His footsteps every day.

      As some of you may know, my Grandma Smith passed away this last week. The knowledge of the Plan of Salvation- that I will see her again and that families are forever-- has really, really helped me this last week. I am sad that she is no longer here on this earth, but I am also filled with peace and comfort knowing that she is no longer suffering from Alzheimer's. I know that she is now one of the angels watching over me. My mom sent me a scripture this week that I wanted to share with you all. It's in Alma 24:14-15. And it says:  "And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has

made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations. Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged..."

I am grateful that my mom sent me this scripture because it brought me a lot of comfort. I really am so grateful to know that God loves us all so much. I have felt the love God has for me Specifically time and time again as I have turned to Him in prayer and turned to helping those around me who are also having a hard time. I am so grateful to know that God prepared this plan of Salvation so that we might have Hope and light in our lives. I know that Jesus Christ is the center of this plan, and I am ever SO grateful for His sacrifice. God knew that we wouldn't be able to return to live with Him again with Jesus Christ, which is why He sent his son to come to this earth.  What a wonderful, marvelous gift that we have been given. I love Jesus Christ so much!!!!! I couldn't imagine going through life without Him always by my side cheering me on or carrying me in the times where I feel like I can't go forward. I hope you all can rely a little more on our Savior this week.
love you all so much! More importantly, our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, love you all SO MUCH MORE
con amor,
Hermana Duvall

Some Thoughts on Grandma Smith

On Tuesday night things seemed to work out perfectly so that I was able to receive a phone call from my mission president telling me that Grandma was going to be passing away soon. We had various appointments set up but they seemed to fall through. We found ourselves at the church waiting for a phone call from our investigator so that we would be able to have a Skype lesson. I know that God worked it all out so that I would be available to be able to  call my parents and talk to Grandma for one last time. I really wanted to sing grandma a song one last time and so I tried my best to sing "I know that my Redeemer Lives!" over the phone to her. It probably sounded a little pathetic, as I was crying at the same time. But, as I sang, I really felt that my testimony of the Savior seemed to grow a little stronger. I felt peace and comfort. I am grateful to know that the savior suffered for me and knows how to succor me personally.  After getting off the phone, I went into another room so I could say a pray by myself. I prayed for a good amount of time. As I prayed I felt the peace and comfort of the Savior lifting me up, telling me that grandma was going to be okay and so much happier. After saying my prayer, I saw the painting of the First Vision of Joseph Smith seeing God, the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. I sat there looking at the picture, feeling so much gratitude for the sacrifice Joseph  Smith made to be an instrument in the Lord's hands of restoring His church. I have felt much comfort from the knowledge that has come from the Church of Jesus Christ being restored back to the earth. I felt so much love from our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ.  As I stood there looking at the painting and zooming in on Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, I felt as if they were going to be waiting really soon, along with many other family members like papa and randy, for grandma to go back home into their arms.

     There are so many things that I love about Grandma and so many things that I am going to miss about her. I am grateful for all of the laughs that we had together. I am grateful for her laugh and her smile. I will miss that funny sound that she would make with her throat and how funny she thought she was when she did it. I will always remember the countless number of frozen yogurt runs that we had with grandma. She sure loved her frozen yogurt. I treasure the walks that we had outside when the weather was nice and sunny. I am grateful for music and for all of the many times that I was able to play the piano or guitar and sing for grandma. I especially loved when Grandma would hum or sing along to the song. I am grateful for all of the many conversations that we had as she would hold my hand and squeeze it every once in a while. Even when she wasn't able to respond back with words, I always knew that she was listening and that she loved me very, very much. I am grateful for all the little tender mercies where Grandma managed to say "I love you too" or something simple like "be happy."

      One of the things that I will always hold near and dear to my heart is how strong Grandma's faith and testimony is. I will always remember how much she trusted in God to stay on this earth, even so long after her body and mind wasn't able to function to it's full capacity. Thinking about this, how much faith it would've taken Grandma to continually submit to His will. It makes me happy to think that she is now pain free and she doesn't have any disease holding her back. Every time I visited grandma, I remember always feeling the presence of angels (D&C 84:88 -I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.) I am grateful to know that Grandma is now one of my angels that will be there, round about me, to bear me up. I am grateful that Heavenly Father kept her on this earth for all of us to learn so many wonderful lessons from her. From Grandma, I learned what it means to fulfill the measure of your creation and fulfill God's will. This life isn't about simply fulfilling our own desires or worldly wants, it's about aligning our desires with God's will. I know that I will always treasure her example, faith, trust and patience. I am grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. I cannot wait to see her again, to hug her again, and to thank her again for her loving example to all of us. Until that day comes, I am grateful to know that she'll be one of the angels watching over me specifically and helping me return back home to live with our father in Heaven again.

    I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that because of His atoning sacrifice, that we all will live again in perfected bodies. I know that we can all repent of our sins, so that we can live in perfected, pure bodies- like unto Jesus Christ. I know that Families can be Together FOREVER. I know that it is our choice to fulfill God's will in this life, and I know that as we do so we will be blessed with happiness that will not only last in this life, but through the eternities. I know that this time that we don't have with grandma in this life, is going well to made up for and even more. I look forward to spending all of eternity with my family.

The Bergesens! He makes some really amazing smoked ribs.

The cute Howard Family!

 Los Meneses y Los Lascanos!
 Some of my favorite people here in Rochester!

 Brother Johnson, who is the ward mission líder, and his family! 

Most of the Hermanas at Transfers- plus Sister Barney
(who just happened to put on a Spanish name tag that day

 Hno José Castillo.
We had a lesson outside and the weather was absolutely perfecto