September 18, 2017 Francisco's Baptism

¡Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

    This was such a great week for us. The weather has been super nice, hot, and humid so it has been fun to get some actual summer weather right before falls hits. The trees are starting to turn orange (which is my favorite color for those of you who didn't know) so that makes me so happy. One of my favorite things to do is crunch all of the leaves that are on the ground. Hermana Tietz and I recently discovered a trail that has FREE vegetables. We may or may not have passed by there a couple times last week. We love our veggies. So it's been a pretty great week.

FREE SQUASH AND ZUCCHINI = HAPPY US

 

 Francisco was baptized! He's so happy!

All of the people who came to Francisco's baptism!
We wanted to take a group picture so he could
remember all of those who came.

Hermana Anderson, hermano Celis,
Francisco, Obispo Fletcher, and us!

FRANCISCO GOT BAPTIZED! The baptism turned out to be perfect. Hermana Anderson actually surprised all of us and was able to get permission to come down to Rochester for the baptism. It was fun to see her again. After the being baptized Francisco told us that he felt like he was a little child again, pure and clean :). I was even able to see a difference in his countenance. He was confirmed in sacrament meeting yesterday! I felt the spirit testify to be yesterday that God and Jesus Christ really do love all of us so much- individually. Christ really is our personal savior  for each and everyone of us. Ahh Francisco seriously is a miracle. It has been such a blessing seeing him progress and his testimony become stronger and stronger. He has a genuine, sincere desire to do anything in his power to follow the example of the Savior. I know that by being baptized is one of the first and most important decisions that we can make in our lives. I am so happy and excited to see how his life is going to change even more, as he continues to strengthen his faith and progress in the gospel.

      Hermana Tietz and I have been trying to get creative with finding new people to teach, because we don't have too many people that are progressing right now. We went chalking with one of our favorite members, Sister Stewart. We chalked out the Plan of Salvation (or Plan of LOVE) and we were able to make some really good contacts with some people! One of my favorite things to teach people is about god's plan of happiness that He created for us. We also have just been knocking a lot of doors and talking to lots of people. We have definitely met a few promising people who seemed pretty prepared and ready to learn more about the gospel- so we are excited about them. Something that I have noticed recently is how happy we can be, even when we have several people in a row to "go away" or just shut the door without even saying anything. It may at some times get discouraging, but it has helped me grow to love the Savior even more- being able to experience a glimpse of what He did when he was on the earth. I am so grateful for his example because He spent His WHOLE LIFE serving others, and striving to be like Him everyday has made me realize how happy I can be even when things are hard.

I found a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley that I absolutely just love. He said:

 "Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people. Cultivate a spirit of forgiveness in your heart against any who might have offended you. Look to the Lord and live and work to lift and serve His sons and daughters. You will come to know a happiness that you have never known before if you will do that. I do not care how old you are, how young you are, whatever. You can lift people and help them. Heaven knows there are so very, very, very many people in this world who need help. Oh, so very, very many. Let’s get the cankering, selfish attitude out of our lives, my brothers and sisters, and stand a little taller and reach a little higher in the service of others. … Stand taller, stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ. Forget yourself."

Hermana Torres!  She is a member from St. Paul.
i served in St. Paul back in January. It was fun to see her again1

I'm pretty sure that we all want to be happy- we all want happiness in our lives. I have seen this week that sometimes it does take a little work to find real happiness, but it is so much more worth it. Life is meant to have opposition in all things, but that doesn't mean that Heavenly Father wants us to walk around being unhappy and selfish people. I know that as we follow the example of Jesus Christ, of turning outwards and not inward, we are able to find that happiness and joy that comes from serving others.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love you, but more importantly Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you all so much more!

Con amor, Hermana Duvall