NEW with Photo's Oct 7, 2013

My dear family,

 

No worries at all about last week!! I wondered what was going on, but I wasn't worried or upset at all. I figured everything was just fine :) Thank you for sending the dearelder though Mom! I recieved it on Saturday and it was great to hear about the week. Oh, and the earliest time that we can get on email is 10:00am, so after that is when I'll send my weekly email.

 

Wasn't conference amazing this weekend!? I loved it. Mom, I thought of you too when he said to pray for missionaries and investigators by name. Good thing I already have an amazing mom who does that! I don't know Yolanda's other daughter's name because I've never met her, but Raul and Irene's daughter is named Valeria. She is SO cute. She has a little lisp and it's even cuter in Spanish. Thank you for praying for her too! Irene's brother lives there too and so you could pray for Enrique if you like as well. Also, this list is just going to keep getting bigger and bigger if we don't take people off....so, not that I don't want prayers for these people, but you can take off Juan because he's not our investigator. :)

 

Where did you watch conference? We watched it in the church, in the Relief Society room on the TV. Apparently in years past there hasn't been a very good turn out for conference (like 0-2 people), and so we wanted to make sure the members in the branch had the chance (and the motivation) to come listen to the words of the prophets and apostles with their families. When I gave a talk a couple weeks ago in sacrament meeting, I spoke on General Conference and shared with everyone some experiences of growing up, and how although we weren't perfect, we would watch general conference as a family and try to prepare for it and watch all of the sessions. I told them that I noticed the example of my wonderful mother and that I remember her taking notes. Although it was a bit boring as a child, I now love General Conference and I know that the Prophet and the Apostles are called of God, and that their words really are scripture for our day. I love listening for the promises and blessings during general conference.

To help the members have more motivation to come, we had a branch potluck lunch in between sessions, and it turned out to be a big success! :) We were so happy. Lots of people came and brought food and had a great time, and then stayed to watch the sessions. We had about 20 people there, which is a lot better than conferences in the past! We had a kids' table in the back corner for them to color and do conference bingo, crafts, etc. and that was the crazy part. I spent most of sunday

watching/helping the kids and trying to help them whisper so everyone else could focus on conference. It was a little crazy, but it worked out. Also, Hermana Underwood and I watched almost all of the sessions in Spanish so it was kind of exhausting to try and focus the whole time, but really good.

We loved Elder Ballard's talk about missionary work :) So, who are you all going to find before Christmas?

This week we had lots more miracles. Something that Adam O'Brien said to me in an email is that when we step out of our comfort zone, we step into a miracle zone! It is really true. The Lord blesses us as we put our faith before our fear and doubts, and try our best to trust in Him.

 

Remember me telling you about Marialena? We went and visited her this week after not being able to contact her for awhile, and we introduced the Book of Mormon to her. She absolutely loved it. She told us that she can feel that it is true, and we were able to explain about the Spirit and how it testifies of truth. We invited her to be baptized, and she accepted!! The only catch is that she was moving back to Mexico about 4 days later. However, she gave us her complete address and told us to PLEASE send the missionaries to her home there to help her prepare to be baptized. She is amazing, and so prepared by the Lord. It was sad that we can't teach her anymore, but we called in the referral to Mexico, and we are sure we made some Elders' days :) I hope one day I will be able to hear about what happens to her!

 

We were also able to introduce the Book of Mormon to Raul, Irene, and Valeria (and Enrique) this week. They loved it as well, and they were so excited to have a book of their own. We testified of how the book would bring more love and unity into their family. The spirit was strong, and we are so excited to hear how their reading has been going. They didn't come to conference, which was a bummer, and still haven't come to church, so maybe you could pray that they will be able to have the strength to come to church!!

 

Rachel and Emma, enjoy your fishies! They are so cute! I love you two!

 

Thank you so much for the blanket and shoes!!! The blanket is amazing and has been used every day since I got it. The shoes are pretty much perfect! I actually really like them!! I think my feet are just getting used to shoes with support so we'll see..

 

Also, thank you so much to the Fowers, Auntie ML, and Marissa for the mail this week!!

So exciting about Patrick too. I didn't really know him, but I remember Peter and Tara telling me a lot about him. That is so wonderful.

 

Love you lots family! Thank you for your prayers and thank you for all that you have given me! I am SO lucky.

 

Love,

Hermana Vance