Week 22 - Hot, Hot, Hot & Working Smarter & Patience

January 11, 2016

Familia!!!!

All of my zone doing service moving dirt!

Sounds like you are all still enjoying the snow in some way or another!

This week was probably the hottest week of my life!!! I have probably said that in other letters, but this time it was for real. There was one night that I drenched myself before getting in bed and turned a fan on to my wet clothes to cool me off...I had always heard of people doing that, but I thought they were crazy! Not so crazy anymore :)

I had a visita de trabajo (work visit) this week, or when our sister leader switches our companions for a day. So my sister leader came and worked with me in my area for a day and it was so cool to see the different ways she teaches and the things she has learned in her mission. She goes home in March, so, she doesn't have much time left! She really has developed so many attributes of Christ and it gave me a greater desire to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength.

Me with my sister leader Hermana Reyes

This week was also super cool because we had a visit from Elder Uceda, a member of the seventy (general authorities of the church).

He taught us a lot on how we need to be working with the members...not working harder, just smarter! And also on really how to help people progress...not in what really we say, but our actions and what we do to help them go to church or have a spiritual experience through praying! 

So a consequence of having Elder Uceda come is that our time was cut shorter to work in our area. We didn't get to go teach a new investigator we had till yesterday, but when we got there she had been reading in the Book of Mormon and praying and really is progressing!!! God is so merciful to help those that are ready for the gospel even when his servants are weak and don't always do everything perfectly. 

My comp and I in the plaza de la apuna...
this giant tree!!!!

We did divisions with members this week so we could visit more people and I went with  a 16 year-old girl from our ward. It was super intimidating for me to teach because I really had to carry the lesson, but I realized how much Spanish I actually knew! And she really was a great help and backed me up on the things I was not saying perfectly. 

I am so grateful for the power of prayer this week! It is incredible to see how merciful God is in our lives when we are asking for His help. I know God hears us and answers every one of our prayers; just maybe not in the way we might think. I am so grateful for patience too...my companion is so patient with me and that is really something I don't know what I would do without it. Alma 38:4-5 is my focus this week.

I love you all so much!! Thanks for the pictures and the cute stories! I love hearing it all!

Thanks for giving Faith my blog! She wrote me a letter this week and it made my day! 

Love
Hermana Briggs