Well.... what a week!

Well I'm not going to lie...this week was a rough one...a REALLY rough one. We were supposed to have 6 baptisms this week and none of them came through. Monica unfortunatelly is having a hard time committing herself to be baptized, Johanna decided to leave to go visit her sister in Cebaco on saturday and sunday and she works all day everyday. The brother of Monica, Santos was home but when we passed by for him saturday morning to make sure he was ready...he was VERY drunk! Ya...that's not happening! We had a couple others too who were out of town AND the new investigators that we have...ya none of them came to church with us yesterday so that was really depressing. On the bright side, mom i got to sing that song you sent me in sacrament meeting yesterday. As soon as I got it I translated it into Spanish but I also would have had to change the music a little to match the rythm of the words because Spanish isn't directly translated...so I sang it in english and my comp played the piano! I prayed really hard before we got up to perform the song that the congregation would be able to feel the spirit through the tune of the song at least and that Hermana Drollinger and I would be able to bring the spirit into the room and man did Heavenly Father answer my prayer. The spirit was so strong in the room you could cut it with a knife! I have never felt the spirit that strong before when I have sung. After sacrament meeting hermana Blankita our lunch cita just gave me a huge hug, crying super hard and told me not only was the spirit strong because the song was pretty but she also said it was even more strong because two servants of God were performing it! That comment was a true testimony to me that missionaries truly are servants of God and that we have the authority to bring the spirit as long as we live as representatives of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Remember that woman we found at the bus stop whose husband just passed away! Turns out some elders that served here 5 years ago married her and her husband and baptized them. We had no idea until this week! We went by to teach her on thursday and she finally told us! We immeidiately shared the lesson of Dia de roposo and really committed her to coming to church with us and the blessings we receive from taking the sacrament every week! But...I have never had an experience like this with anyone in my life until this week. This womans name is Ada and she lives with her little 6 year old boy in a tiny little concrete house at the top of the mountain. She was working for her aunt to make it by...but her aunt decided she didn't need her help anymore and fired her last tuesday. We didn't know this until she told us on thursday when we went by. She continued to explain to us that her and her little boy had not eaten or had nothing to drink for 9 days!!! The entir time we were there talking to her, her little boy was sitting on a blanket on the dirt floor of their tiny home just repeating "mommy, water...mommy i need water"! I could not believe what I was seeing and what I was hearing. I have never felt my heart literally break like that before! All i remember from our visit with her that afternoon was when we left...we made our way back down the mountain and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I fell to the ground in the dirt and just started weeping more than I ever had in my life! I always knew there were people in this world who didn't have much...but I never EVER have experienced it like this! This poor woman was fired by her own family and didn't even have one peso to by a little tiny bag of water for her son. As missionaries we are not supposed to buy food and things for people...but we couldn't just leave them like that, so we stopped by a poparia at the bottom of the mountain and bought her and her son some water and a few things they could ration out to eat to at least get her by unti she found a job. We then took it all back up the mountain and as soon as we showed up to her door, which consisted of a rusty box spring from a mattress...she saw we had a little food and water for her and her little boy and she just fell into our arms and started crying. We told her we would come back to help her get ready for church but unfortunately when we passed by yesterday for her she wasn't home. This woman is so strong! Even though she literally has nothing, she is so happy! I have looked back on this experience a lot this week and every time i think about it I get a little teary, but there are no coincidences when it comes to inspiration. There is a reason why we found her at the bus stop and every time we see her it is reconfirmed to me that we need to have faith in this woman and just do all we can to help her come back to church and to help her realize how blessed she can be with the Gospel in her life again. I know without any doubt that this is the true Gospel of Jesus christ! He knows all of us personally and has felt every sorrow and pain that we have felt and will feel. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary, to feel the spirit everyday and to feel my Savior's love for me! I hope you are all having a great week and always remember and recognize the blessings we have in our lives! We are all children of our Father in Heaven and He is always here for us!

Hermana Dickey