Snowy Staunton = Miracles

Hola amigos!!

This week has been so so great. On Wednesday it snowed all day long. We couldn't even drive until 1:00. One of our investigators works for our branch presdient but we were just at his house and President Lagos was home so we knew our investigator would be home. So we went to his house and his brother answered. His brother's name is Arnulfo... haha! He answered the door and we started talking to him and all of the sudden he says "Do you speak English? I would rather speak in English." In a super thick New Yorker accent haha. He lived in New York for 38 years and was also a doctor! At first he didn't really want to listen to us so we were trying to explain what we believed and his brother, Jose (the one who has been coming to church) kept saying "this is what I believe". Then Jose told him the story of Joseph Smith. Basically Jose thinks he is already a member haha. Once we explained to Arnulfo why we have the Book of Mormon, he relaxed and let us talk a little more and he really liked what we had to say.  We were getting up to leave and he gave me a hug... it was so weird... Then we explained to him that we can't hug men.. haha! But he just told us that he really likes us and he likes it when we are at his house. Then we went back on Saturday and taught him the restoration and he says that whenever he reads from the Book of Mormon he gets goosebumps. Then on Sunday Arnulfo and Jose came to church and Jose asked me "what do I need to do to become a missionary like you guys and help people in other countries?" It has been really hard to sit Jose down and teach him and tell him why we keep coming to his house so I took advantage of this and told him that he needed to be baptized but before he was baptized we need to teach him and that's why we keep coming over... so before he left church he made sure to tell us to come over tomorrow! So we are excited!

Friday was full of miracles. We went to a town that is like 20 minutes away where there are more Hispanics and we found 2 new investigators! Then we were finding in Staunton that night and we had one more house that we needed to try and we were soooo tired. We didn't want to keep going and it looked like we were in a pretty not Hispanic neighborhood but we just tried the last house. We knock and this white guy answers and we tell him who we are and that we share a message about Jesus Christ. He said "let me see if you can come in" then he leaves. He comes back and invites us in and we ask where he is from and he says Peru. We were so stoked so we started speaking in Spanish to this super cute older Peruvian couple and we shared the Prince of Peace video! Then we asked if they had heard of our church before and they said yes because Yenni (the wife) has a sister who is a member and her nephew is a missionary in Peru!!! So we talked with them for a while and it was so great. They want us to come back and Yenni kept saying "God brought you to us". We can't go back for a couple of weeks because Rolando is going out of town for his job but hopefully we can go back and visit Yenni! We are so excited. They are so cool :):)

I have been studying the last week of the Savior's life and it has been amazing. President Smith actually gave us a study guide thing that has been super helpful. (I will attach a picture, Then all day yesterday we have listened to The Lamb of God. Its amazing. I have also been reading Jesus The Christ and with all of this I have really been reflecting on and learning more about the Savior. He really came and lived a mortal life for us because He love us. He arose after 3 days and because He did, we will too. He came to save us. Salvation is free for everyone but He has also given us a chance to exaltation. Through repentance and using the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can live with our families forever in the presence of God. I know that He lives.

I love you all and hope you have a great week and a great Easter. We have such an incredible opportunity to listen to and sustain Russell M. Nelson as prophet! I am so grateful that God loves us enough to give us the restored gospel.

Happy Easter! He is risen!

What is Fibula in Spanish?

Hello friends! :)

This week has been a little slow in the Spanish work of Staunton, Virginia. It was full of talking to a lot of people and being told, there aren't many Hispanics here, so good luck! They may be right but there is someone here ready to hear the gospel and we will find them.

We had zone conference this week and it was super good. We talked  a lot about how your attitude determines everything. it is a great reminder especially when we are in a place that is not filled with too many Hispanics. But we have the right attitude and we know the work is going to continue here. :) President Smith talked March Madness and I was talking to him a little later and said that was not fair haha! But he did inform me that Virginia is the number 1 seed!  Go Virginia! I was actually in Charlottesville for zone conference and that is where the university is! So that is cool :)

We had a  lesson with our friend Jose, the guy from church last week. It was so awesome. He said that the two churches that have always stuck out to him were the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses. He has been reading and listening to the Book of Mormon. As of Saturday, he was on 1 Nefi 7!  He loves it. We had a really powerful lesson with him as we taught him the Restoration. He is a little bit older and suffers with gout. So he has a lot of pain in his knees. Our branch president offered to give him a blessing so we explained the priesthood. It is so cool to tell people that we have the same power and authority that Christ had when He was on the earth. I love to tell people that, because its true! The next day Jose came to church and said the pain in his knees was gone! How crazy is that? He thinks its so cool. Sadly he came to church and hour late because he didn't know about daylight savings.. haha! Something cool about Jose, he was a doctor in Cuba. Sometimes its hard to connect with older Hispanic men and build a relationship but Jose is so cool and he teaches me anatomy. :) He pulled out his phone and got an app out and explained about the pain in his knees. So I am learning the bones in Spanish. A lot of them are the same haha but some are different like fibula is el peroné. Still getting my anatomy fix:)

There are so many churches in Virginia. Not like Utah were they are all Mormon but it feels like there are just as many churches here in Virginia haha.

 As I learn more about the Savior, I learn more of His atonement and how necessary the sacrifice was. There is a quote from The Infinite Atonement I really like. It says "He took upon him infinite suffering, but chose to defend with only mortal facilities, with but  one exception--his godhood was summoned to hold off unconsciousness and earth that would otherwise overpower a mere mortal when he reached his threshold of pain. For the Savior, however there would be no such relief. His divinity would be called upon, not to immunize him from pain, but to enlarge the receptacle that would hold it. He simply brought a larger cup to hold the bitter drink." I love this quote. I feel like it shows the kind of love the Savior has for us. His Godhood could have defended Him from the pain but he chose to not use that power so that we could be Saved. But he did used his Godhood to stay awake and alive so that he could be sure to feel of every pain, affliction and sorrow that would ever come to mankind. That is infinite love. I am so grateful for a  Savior that was willing to do that for me. He is why I am in Virginia. I want everyone to know of His love.

I love you all and hope you had a good week :)

Staunton, where there are as many churches as there are people

Hola amigos!!

So I am in Staunton, Virginia. My companion is Hermana Ashcraft. She just got out of training which means she has been out for about 4 months. We are in an area that has never had spanish missionaries before, so we don't have much to work with. Its super exciting. Only two active members live in our area and all the rest of the active members live about 30 minutes away. There are so many churches here. We were told that there are over a hundred churches here and its only an 11 mile radius of the town...

Mom, will you look up how many churches there are in Staunton? and the population? The mountains here are hills compared to Utah but they are still pretty mountainy. It is super windy here. Its not terrible, like our power hasn't gone out or anything but we did get a warning on our door saying that it might. The branch is so small. I am pretty sure only like 30  people were at church. There were 9 people in Relief Society, 4 of which were missionaries. My new apartment is awesome. It is sooooo nice. We live on the top floor and we have a pretty awesome view. There are two bathrooms and and its just super roomy.

The first thing we did when we got here was meet with the branch president's wife. We wanted to meet with him but he was working. He has been the branch president for almost 9 years so they know a few things. We were talking and she gave us a referral so we decided to go try the referral the next day. Well we went, and we found her!  She is really sweet and has lost a son in a car accident so she is a little bit sad right now but we have an appointment with her this Wednesday! We are really excited!

We found another investigator, Tato, in a trailer park. He thought the Book of Mormon was super interesting and he told us he wanted to come to church! We have a part member family we are working with. The Elders were working with them before. They have two girls and the mom that aren't members. The mom isn't super interested which makes it hard but the girls want to be baptized. So hopefully more on that next week :)

MIRACLE ALERT.  So we went and tried the potentials in our area book (which is a solid 5 people). We tried this guy and he wasn't home so we left a card and didn't think anything of it. Well the next day we were at church and the branch president points to a guy who I totally thought was white and said "hey he is from Staunton, go talk to him." Well, he wasn't American, he is from Cuba. He works for our branch president and the branch president had invited him to church... well we had also left a card at his door yesterday!!!  He came with that card.  We asked if he was a member and he said "no but what do you have to do to become one?" So we got his information. He then told us that he used to live in New York and always thought the story of Joseph Smith was interesting. He was reading the Book of Mormon during the sacrament and he loved the hymns.  He loved church so much. The testimonies were so awesome because they had just gone to the temple. Jose, the investigator cried and said he wanted to go and testify too because he felt the Spirit so strong.

So yes. Staunton is awesome. Its hard work but its awesome. I love this place already so much.

I love you all lots!