Hola y'all!
This week was chock full of miracles! que wow! the Lord really does bless His servants!
On Wednesday I got to go finding for the first time!! Wahoo!!! I actually really liked it because I felt like I was actually doing missionary things. Super fun. We met Rosa Martinez and she said to please come back and teach her children when they get back from vacation. She was on a conference call and couldn't meet with us, but she was very nice! The next family was also nice and super not interested, but I still had a great time because we were finding! YAY!
This was me after knocking our first door and finding Rosa home!
She was SO nice and cute. I was really excited...
This is the beautiful area of Piedmont. It's huge and awesome!
The Fourth of July was a fiesta! We had dinner at a member of the branch presidency's house and played volleyball (a very uncomfortable thing to do in a skirt, just so y'all are aware). We couldn't go see any fireworks unfortunately, because they were out of our area, but we had a good time visiting with the members and celebrating our country.
Miracles!!!
K, let me tell y'all about Thursday. We got a call from some Hermanas down in Georgia about a referral they'd sent us. As I listened, I recognized one of the voices and it was my companion from the CCM, Hermana Wright!!! It was awesome! It was just a little tender mercy from the Lord to let me hear a familiar voice. Anyway, they sent us this family, Familia Galarza, who had moved there from Mexico. They told us they had been on date before they'd moved and were basically ready to be baptized again! We were so excited! They also told us that they are pretty terrible at keeping appointments, and aren't at home a lot. This is a problem, because they live in Asheboro, which is about an hour away and uses a lot of our miles. However, we prayed and felt like we needed to show our faith by going to Asheboro. We did, and we found their little house. We knocked on the door, and it opened!!! Glory! Anyway, Ana answered and she was SO excited to see us!!! She asked us to sit down with her on the porch and she just began telling us everything about her and her family. They are incredible. Five minutes in, she kind of stopped mid sentence and asked when our next baptismal service was. We were a little stunned, but managed to say it was on the 21 of July! She mentioned that it was close, but that she was ready!!! Oh man I love the humble people here! Her husband, Alejandro, came out and said hello and was very very nice. They have four boys who are also stellar, and we are just so glad we found them. Que wow. Ana talked to us for an hour and fifteen minutes about the Gospel, teaching me more than I'll ever teach her! She mentioned that she was excited to be a forever family and receive the blessings of exaltation as well.... She is so amazing and we were so blessed and thankful that we were able to make it down there and find this family. Right now they're working on some word of wisdom things, but they're ready and excited to be baptized! We asked them to come to church which they said they'd do, but then they all ended up sick, so that was rough, but hopefully they'll come next week!
Another miracle that happened that same day was that we went finding a little in Asheboro after talking with the Galarza's. Asheboro is a little more on the sketchy side, so we avoided some parts of the town, but then we went to one side and I got out to put a pass along on a door of one of our potentials. There was a man working in his yard next door, and he looked so curious when he saw us with pass along cards. We talked with him briefly, and he said his name was Victor and that he'd never heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the Mormons. We gave him a pass along card as well with our number and the church address written on it, and told him a little about our church. There was something about his manner that just seemed to say he needed something in his life. I think we will be seeing more of him soon! We invited him to church, but he didn't come this time. If we make it to Asheboro this week, we will definitely pay him another visit :)
...And this is how I feel when Isabell won't answer the door and I can hear her kids inside...
The whole day in Asheboro I just learned that it's so important to rely on the Lord and do what He wants, not what you think is best. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense, but then it usually comes together in one way or another :) It's kind of fantastic, the Gospel :)
I basically just laugh all day long, mostly because of a lot of the dumb greenie missionary things I do.
FOOD!
Also, we had dinner with the Matamoro family. They are SO funny and I love them (at least I think they're funny.... I couldn't really understand anything, but they were all laughing....). Anyway, this was my first dinner with members. It was an experience. The food was beyond divine. Que wow. Those banana things that aren't really bananas, what are they? Can't remember. Anyway, Hermana Matamoro fried those up and piled hamburger and mayo on top. Sounds nasty but I'm telling you, it was fantastic. It was super great until about halfway through when I figured out I couldn't eat much more and she was going to be offended.... I tried my hardest to eat all of it, and I almost did, but it was either eat another bite or lose all my food I had already eaten... I decided to not eat all of it. I don't think she was super offended, because I really did eat most of it.... Haha after we left and got in the car, we both just kind of sat there in a bloated stupor, and Hermana Powell said "My legs are sore, I feel like I'm gonna pop, and I love being a missionary." We laughed good and hard about that. Life is good.
Hermana Powell is so great and constantly patient with me. Gotta love a good trainer!
Well folks, sorry for the volumes. I just love the mission so much and the people are heaven sent, literally. If there's one thing I've learned on my mission so far, it's that it always works out. EVERY TIME. No matter what. It ALWAYS works out. The Lord is in control. He's the Gardener here :) I love this Gospel! I want to have this exhausted energy forever!! It's a wonderful thing!
Love y'all so much.
....And loving it!!
Hermana Belliston
More Pictures...
It finally rained this week and I was so excited!!!!!!!
No joke, we had to go in and get cardigans on Saturday because we were too cold and it was 73...
Classic North Carolina Sunsets
We went out to Caswell this week and I've never seen anything so pretty.
SO green and just like a perfect story book.
