June 16, 2016

Week 5

Familia y Amigos!

In all honesty this week was quite depressing... Our wonderful, amazing, golden investigator Nelly couldn´t be baptized. To make a long story short, she has a unique living situation with her ex-husband, and while she is living every commandment faithfully, our mission president said that she has to wait. Ouch. On Friday Nelly had her interview with our district leader, and passed with flying colors, but we warned her that we were going to have to ask about the living situation just to verify that all was well. So all of Friday night my companion and I were anxiously awaiting the call from President Carmack, and the news was not good. He had to confirm with the Area presidency as well because it was such a unique situation, but the verdict came back as "no". Worst day ever. My companion and I called her and told her that we would be stopping by to talk with her about the answer, and she just asked "is it good or bad news"... All our hearts ached when we said "Bad". There were a lot of tears and a lot of questions... and just to sum it up this weekend was really, really sad. BUT here's the cool part. Despite the fact that she can't be baptized yet, despite the fact that she was hurt and her heart was broken, Nelly was at church on Sunday. She showed up on time, brought her entire family, and stayed for all three hours. That is what I call a convert. Her faith and trust in the Lord blows my mind, in a very humbling and amazing way. This week was so hard for my companion and I to deal with, and while it was undoubtably hard for Nelly as well, she remained faithful and strong, and taught my companion and I something in the process. Sometimes things happen that we don't expect, and can't understand. In those moments it is really easy to question "Why?"... but that's not the right question. The right question is "What?"... What does the Lord want me to learn from this? What can I do to follow the example of my Savior, and look outward? The Lord doesn't want us to suffer, he wants us to learn. So in those moments, Don't you DARE lose your faith. Our Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of us, and it is perfect. Our Savior knows exactly how we feel, and we can overcome any and every difficulty through his Atonement. This gospel is true, it is perfect, and it is the only way we can return to our Father in Heaven. Don't lose your faith. Trust in the Lord!! 

Overall a tough week, but a good week of learning. My testimony has been strengthened, and I know that some day soon Nelly will enter into the waters of baptism and participate in the sacred ordinance. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful, fantastic week!! Remember in whom you have trusted! 

Hermana Van Deusen

Sorry, I failed again with the pictures this week... but there's a couple more, so progress(: 



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