One Step at a Time

 Hey everyone, I hope you're all doing good and you're in my prayers! This email ended up being long but I don't want to shorten it so.. sorry! But all my emails are long anyways so shoutout to anyone who reads them all the way through haha!

Sooo a lot of things happened this week, and sadly a lot of those things were disappointing. But, like my mission prep teacher at BYU said, "A mission consists of a series of disappointing events, interspersed with moments of indescribable joy." Even though things didn't go as planned, I know God's hand was in it all and I'm just trying to see it. We all just have to take one step at a time. And the biggest disappointments always come before the biggest miracles, right?!

On Wednesday, Hermana Buhrley and I went to MLC, and I'm always grateful for the Spirit in those meetings! At the end of MLC, the Assistants told Hermana Buhrley and I that there had been some car complications and basically asked if we could car-share with the other Hermanas who live near us (because some other missionaries needed to use our car). It wasn't the best news and it wasn't the best timing haha but here we are So we've been switching off every-other day with the Hermanas between the car and being on bikes! It hasn't been too bad, and usually I would LOVE being on bikes, but our area is outside of where we live, and the church is the opposite direction of our area. So biking to the church = 45 minutes, and that's a little tricky with our lessons and scheduling! Other than that issue, biking is a partyyy. I live the glamorous life being a missionary in California so I definitely can't complain!

Our friend Antonio was supposed to get baptized this Sunday, and he was so ready! Sadly, on Friday night he texted us and told us he doesn't want to be baptized and was just nervous to make that promise, and now he's not answering us. It's really sad to see amazing friends like him choose not to continue learning with us. I get really attached to them so it's hard to see them go! Just pray for him that in the future he can come back, because he's awesome!

So now that the sad news is out of the way, here's the good stuff! Our friend Gisela is on baptismal date and is super excited to be baptized! She's been taught for a while now and is just extra busy because she's a truck driver. But as long as her work schedule fits, she should be getting baptized this Saturday!!!

We had a super cool lesson with our friend José! We testified about faith and about the Book of Mormon. He loved the lesson and said he wants to read the book for himself. The Spirit was so strong and after the lesson he kept texting us and thanking us for it!

I had exchanges with Sister Myers on Saturday and she's the CUTEST! I love exchanges! We had the best day found some cool people! Got the yummiest ice cream from La Michoacana AND the best member dinner with our new member Santiago (the one baptized a few months ago)!! It was at this really nice restaurant at the mall sooo that was awesome. Sister Myers said something I really liked. She told me about this one really stressful day she and her companion had. She said that it ended and she felt pretty down about it all. But then, as she was writing in her journal, she looked back and saw all the miracles that had actually happened that day. It was a good reminder for me that I need to WRITE IN MY JOURNAL, because sometimes we miss spiritual experiences in the moment. Even just writing out this email, I'm realizing there was a lot more good in my week than I thought.

Shoutout to my compie, Hermana Buhrley! When some sad things happened this week she was the most selfless, service-oriented friend EVER anytime I needed her! She's the best!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

This week I listened to THE MOST amazing BYU speech and if you have the chance to listen to it PLEASE do it!! It's called, "There Must Needs Be a Christ" by Elder Kyle S. McKay. I just want to share a quick quote from it.

"We are taught that for those who do not repent, it is as though no redemption had been made. Consider the converse. For those who do repent—truly repent—it is as though no sin had been committed. 'I, the Lord, remember them no more,' not because He has some godly power to forget but because there is simply nothing to remember. In His world, the eternal world, it is gone, its effects are canceled, it is undone. President Boyd K. Packer taught: 'The Atonement [of Jesus Christ] leaves no tracks, no traces. What it fixes is fixed . . . , and what it heals stays healed.'"

My invitation for you all is to listen to this talk! I know Christ lives and we all need Him!

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt