Week #62 - Esperanza

Hello everyone!!

It was a wonderful Christmas here with the blazing sun, lots of hot chocolate and panetón!! And it was SOOO GOOOD so talk with my family through Skype!! SO crazy to see how many things are going on in my family, from meeting my sister´s boyfriend to hearing about Lucas´ success at BYU Provo and seeing Sam go through major voice and height changes....couldn´t even recognize my bro´s voice but it´s fine...

We had a Christmas conference and our zone sang! (pics below)

There were tons of fireworks on Christmas eve, and we could hardly sleep. But we had a beautiful view from our apartment on the third floor!

This Saturday is Fernanda baptism!! She´s 15 years old and lives RIGHT in front of the chapel. Her mom is Evangelist, but never had success taking Fernanda to the church with her because she never liked it. But, when we starting teaching her, her curiosity grew and she started attending Christ’s church. We are still working with her this week, and want to make sure she´s ready and understands the sacredness and importance of the covenants we make at baptism. She has had to leave behind her old self little by little, changing her way of dressing, and not going to parties with her friends who drink and smoke. She has had a lot of support from the young women, and we are praying that all will go well this week to help prepare her for her big day! We also FINALLY had an appt. with Agusto, a 50-year old single man who recently divorced his wife and has a nine-year-old daughter... I don´t know what is up with me finding single adult men who are desperately looking for the truth on the mission haha... first Freddy, then Hector and now Agusto. BUT the appointment went great! Hector is his neighbor and we held the lesson in his house since there´s no space in Agusto´s apartment. We also had Hermana Lely and Hermano Harold who live right in front of his house to accompany us! He said he felt so different, listening to the message of the Restoration. He felt something kind of weird inside him he never felt before and was so comfortable sharing his problems and we were able to gain his trust quickly. He felt the spirit so strong and is so excited to see changes in his life. He has a Book of Mormon now and promised he would read it. We are so excited to see what´s in store for him! Hector helped a TON and downloaded the LDS app on Agusto´s phone for him. When he offered the closing prayer, Hector goes: ¨Father, I am very certain that Agusto will become a new member of thy church very soon. Help him and bless him...¨hahah Hector is the best. 😆

Can´t believe we are going to start up a NEW YEAR!! I hope that you all not only set specific and reasonable goal for this year with work and school, but also that you strive to develop more attributes of Jesus Christ. The most important level of success in life, is not measured in numbers, but in the type of person we become and the service we offer to others. 

Love you all, and FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!

If you are wondering what the bowl of mysterious mush stuff is in my pics, it’s actually super gross. Not a fan haha. It’s a type of sweet squash dessert called Dulce de Chiclayo.

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Hermana Doney