August 18, 2014
Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!!!!!!
Where do I even start with this past week???? It has been
NUTS!!!
Okay so to start.....CARMEN GOT
BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My joy is unreal right now...still....the day after.
However, I will write about that a little bit later. First I’ll start with the
beginning of the week.
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| Hermana Van Wagoner with Carmen |
Soooo Monday was great, p-day, soccer and other fun stuff as
usual. Then that night I woke up at 1am
and my stomach hurt, and it was the kind of hurt where you KNOW you’re going to
throw up. So, to make the story short, that’s exactly what I did. And continued
to do the whole night, every hour on the hour. So like 8-10 times in total
during the night. It was a blast. So I didn’t even go to our district meeting
last Tuesday. Then Wednesday we had interviews with President so I mustered up
all my energy to get ready and to go by bus to the chapel. Interviews were
super awesome. I LOVE President!! Like literally there isn’t a greater mission
president in the world. Of that I’m sure. So I received super great advice and
then I went back and rested some more. Last week I had to rest a lot, which was
really rough because we were supposed to be preparing for a baptism!! Ugh, it
was rough.
Okay so that’s pretty much it for the week that I want to
say. We can now fast forward to THE BAPTISM!!! So to be honest I was on edge
all morning Sunday
morning because its like, ANYTHING can happen. Not to mention when we talked
with Carmen a little on Saturday, she told us not to pass by to pick her up and
that she was going to go solo with her family. Um okay....máteme!!!! So we were
praying super hard that everything would go well and that she would actually
show up. Well luckily she did show up!! With her whole family! But some of them
didn’t know that the baptism was at 1:00
(even though we gave them invitations) so a couple of them left early and then
one returned for the baptism. In Gospel Principles, Carmen bore her testimony
about how she knew God existed. The joy I felt was unreal as I was able to see
how I was able to be an instrument in God’s hands as she developed her
testimony. She also admitted in there that she had told her whole family to
tell us that she wasn’t home whenever we passed by. So yeah, that was pretty
funny. The perseverance that it took to get her to baptism was unreal. But not
to"get" her to baptism, but to have her want it! I
thought she was super ready in June to be baptized, but now I see that was just
me wanting to drag her. The change I see in her now is REAL. And it’s the most
incredible thing I have witnessed. I love this work!!
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| Hannah loves being a missionary! |
So, next week we have transfers (I’ll be writing on Tuesday)
and I told Carmen, Malena and Fiorela that there’s a good chance I won’t be
here next week because I’ve been here for 4 and a half months. (In this mission
6 months in an area is rare.) They were all super surprised and were asking me
if I could still visit them and what not. It was super sad. So then Fiorela
started REALLY thinking and pondering about whether or not Malena should be
baptized next week. Because she wants to be baptized while I’m still here.
Like, she is really thinking about it! After the baptism she was SUPER happy!
Like she 100% felt the spirit!! She was saying things like "These are
hermanos de la verdad" referring to the members. And she wants us to come
over on Thursday for my comp’s birthday to have a family home evening and teach
them how to do it! She also signed up to give us lunch! Ah, I could go on and
on. Basically Fiorela is REALLY changing! It’s incredible! The change the
gospel brings in people is the most incredible thing I have ever seen! I
seriously love being a missionary! Seeing the change makes all the really
really hard times worth it!! So yeah, there’s a big chance we will be baptizing
Malena next week too! Please please pray lots for her and Fiorela!!
Okay wow, this email is getting long. Ah, I wish I could
just call you all and explain it all because there’s just so much to tell! Just
know that I know this is the work of the Lord! I don’t have a single doubt. I’m
so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve my Heavenly Father and Savior
for 18 months. This work is real. I encourage you all to be apart of it! The
missionaries need the help of the members!! Together we build Zion and find the lost sheep. I love my
Savior and I know He lives. Thank you all for your support! I love you all so
very much! Remember, when we love the way the Savior does, miracles happen. And
of course, Stay Anxiously Engaged!! :)
xoxo,
Hermana Van
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