This Week's Been Chaos!!

Okay so first of all, hello! Second of all, this week has been the most abnormal week of my mission. Let me tell you some things.

Monday and Tuesday: Something called MLC, or missionary leadership council. So with Sis. Waite being a Sister training leader, she had to go to this. So I spent all day Monday and Tuesday in Gallup on exchanges, while she was in Farmington with all the other leaders. Yep. So that was just weird, to be put with a new companion and then have her taken away the very next week. Crazy. But then things kind of settled down and went back to normal. We thought.

Wednesday: Sis. Waite passed out. Yep! She has hypoglycemic tendencies, and she thinks that was the cause of it. But yeah, way to stress me out! Luckily there was a senior couple with us, and it happened at a member's house. But yeah that was crazy. So then we spent most of the rest of the day resting and trying to help her not feel light headed. But we also got to teach the senior couple's Pre-Temple-Prep class, and it was so fun :) It's for less actives and recent converts to prepare them for the Temple Prep class so that they can go to the temple real soon. So Sis. Waite survived teaching that only by the grace of God, and then we went home and had to rest again.

Thursday: District meeting and recovery day for Sis. Waite. Heavenly Father blessed us to have our appointments cancel so that Sis. Waite could rest. Otherwise she would've kept going and not been as effective. So that was kind of a miracle in disguise.

Friday: Weekly planning and exploring!  Sis. Waite finally felt up to going out again, so Friday was good. Probably our only mostly normal day.

Saturday: Brandon was baptized!! I don't have nearly enough time to tell you all of the miraculous things that happened. But one thing I was reminded of is that the Atonement is real. I know it! I know that no matter who you are, the Atonement works for you, and Brandon is living proof of that. He's probably one of my favorite people that I have had the privelege of teaching, and I know it's so that I can understand the Atonement better. I really have a stronger testimony of how Christ is there to make bad men good, and good men better. It's true, and it's something we need to access everyday!! So with Brandon's baptism, everything was crazy trying to set up for that, and then clean up, and so we didn't have a lot of "proselyting time" but it was still a really really great day.


Sunday: The time changed. Our phone didn't switch, so the alarm went off at 7:30 instead of 6:30, so that was awkward. But we made it to church and watched as people realized that the time changed when they rolled in an hour late. Haha it was kind of funny.

God is always placing people in our paths that we need to meet. For example, we were walking to a less active's house this week, and she was parked in the road, like she knew we were coming (she didn't) and she was ready to have a lesson. It was neat, because had she not been sitting there, we wouldn't have been able to teach her. And then there's Betty. She made a difference in me yesterday. We had about 10 minutes before our next appointment, so we walked to the gas station next to the church and talked to some people there. Sis. Waite went and talked to somebody, and I walked up to Betty. I said hello and introduced myself and asked how she was doing, and she just said okay, not really looking at me. So I started testifying of Christ, and the power that He has in everyone's life, and she looked at me with one of those soul-staring looks and said "Do you see Him? Do you really know He's there if you can't see Him or touch Him? I've lost my faith in Him." And she started crying. This overwhelming wave of Christ-like love for Betty overcame me (and I actually had a tear prick my eye in sympathy for her) and I was able to testify that God lives! That He loves her with an infinite love, and even though her prayers aren't being directly answered at that moment, He hears her prayers. Man was the Spirit strong.

I have a testimony that this is the truth!! Never forget all of the feelings that you have and the strength that can come from our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know He lives, and I know that He loves me! I know that through His prophet that leads His church, I have been called to hasten His work....because this really is His, and not mine.

My goal this week: invite people to be baptized at their doorstep boldly and confidently. Why? Because every person deserves to have the happiness that I have, that Brandon has, that our Father is going to give. Everyone.

So your challenge is to be bold! To develop that in whatever way you feel you need to in your life. Just be bold!!

And your scripture is Mosiah 4:27.

I love you all so much, and thank you for your prayers for Brandon!! Remember, He hears them!!

Sister Courtney Garcia