el 10 de Agosto

so how are things going with my companion... well great! i got  a new companion, her name is hermana liberato. she is from the dominican republic and she is fresh off the airplane from the MTC... yep! for all you ex-missionaries, or people who understand that lingo, it means that i am training hermana liberato. i am her mama, and she's my mija. it's been an adventure, something that i wasn't expecting until a little bit 

later in my mission. but here we are!

 

our greatest success, who have to be having

 six investigators in church! and an added 

bonus, two families! it was a struggle, but 

something that i am eternally grateful for. 

thank you for your prayers.

a tender mercy... this opportunity to train a new sister. not gonna lie!

for a favorite person, see the following photo taken wednesday:

a favorite scripture. one of the great things about the book of mormon, is that it answers the questions that come from the soul:where did i come from? why am i here? how can i have a better life? and one of my favorites what does christ expect of me? i had the opportunity to study in the scriptures to find these answers, and the answers that i found are something that i have been marking in the book of mormon when we give them to our investigators. i have totally spaced on where they all are right now, but i will make sure to send them to you next week!

a goal... exercise. we've been working on it, but it hasn't been completely successful quite yet. little by little.

today we visited a little diner, and the sister had the name cokes. look what one we found!

​of course we had to take a picture... granada has some great old catholic churches that we are going to try and visit next week.. the only problem with going whenever we want is that they aren't in our area. (we have to ask for permission to leave our area...) so next week... pictures!

i love you all, and thank you for your emails.

hermana graves 

el 25 de Mayo

this week passed by so quickly, and it shows in the lack of photos that i have to send this week... sorry!

my biggest challenge this week was getting into the rhythm of a new companion, and her teaching style. i love hermana carranza a lot, and am trying to find that balance between being myself, and becoming a better missionary and person.

a major concern is the divorce of a dear one here in loma linda; lots of prayers that all works out with the lawyer.

successes of the week include getting Anaí to come to church for her third time before her baptism, helping elder velasquez have a baptism and a wedding without him having a breakdown without his senior companion, and having a slumber party with the sisters of monte fresco last night because they got locked out of their house. woo hoo! lots of fun!

hermana carranza, an investigator and her two kids, and me the night of the wedding. originally we were going to have the wedding at the church, but we didn't end up having keys, so we had to have it at Hermana Gladis's house. yeah, that's a story for another day...


last night we had a slumber party, and hermana gutíerrez told us all her good stories... we may have gone to bed a little late.... shhhh!​

this week, julissa takes the favorite person prize because she actually reads the chapters that we leave for her in the book of mormon, she marks the chapters, and actually understands and retains what she reads! this week she's getting married and baptized, so pictures next week!

a great tender mercy is the realization of my setting apart blessing, that if i was obedient i would be saved from harm. there have been a lot of elders and other sisters who have had problems at night, but thankfully i haven't in my time here. thank goodness!

this week i am soo excited to finally help Anaí have her baptism, and get her firmly on the path to the temple next year. also helping Julissa, and another investigator into the waters of baptism put the icing on the cake!

something that sister carranza and i have been struggling with is sharing our time in our lessons, so we are going to work on that. go companionship unity!

matthew wrote it right this week in chapter 11, verses 28-30:

::come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest. take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for i am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.::

as missionaries, the work isn't easy. i love this quote from a return missionary, that i actually shared in my farewell talk, but it's just so powerful:

::A mission is kind of like a rosebush. It is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen from a distance. As you get closer to it, it becomes even more beautiful and all the details become more evident. Then you enter the mission and even though the roses are more beautiful than you have ever seen from afar, it is painful and the thorns prick and scratch you until you bleed. Just when you are about ready to cry out because of the pain, you exit the rosebush. You look back at the beautiful roses and think about going through the bush. Then as the distance increases and your wounds heal, this bush becomes the most beautiful bush you have ever seen. You love and cherish that bush that has become even more beautiful to you after going through it. Any time to see the roses looking back, you don’t remember the thorns, you only remember the good and the roses are even more rich and beautiful than they were before.::

the rosebush is painful, sometimes emotionally as well as physically. but that's the beauty of the contrast. all ye that are heavy laden, all of you that are in pain, come unto christ. he offers you his yoke, his burden that is light, and has taken upon himself the pains and burdens for you. the thorn pricks and sctratch marks will fade, and the scars will remain. the lessons learned will be ever etched in your heart.

lots of love, 

hermana graves