Week 20- Fruits of our Labors

This week it happened. Hermana Teresa was baptized. On November 8th. Happy birthday, dad! For your present, I'd like to present you Hermana Teresa. One more soul in the celestial kingdom. Happiness!

Oh, it was soooo special. She is amazing! and she was sooo ready! So, her daughter who is 17 years old sings beautifully and so Hermana Nunez and I talked to her about singing a special number in her baptism. She's been at the house when we've taught Hermana Teresa, but was always doing other things. She accepted, and we taught her the "I see the mother kneeling, with my family each day...." song from the primary songs. Then Hermana Nunez and I sang a little arrangement we made of "A Child's Prayer." Oh, it was so special. Especially beause Hermana Teresa had no idea that we were going to do it, much less that her daughter, Maria Jose was going to participate in her baptism service.

About an hour or two before her baptism, we were practicing with Maria Jose (her daughter) and we started having a lesson. We could feel that she was feeling pretty down, and we.... could feel that it was about her dad, who passed away 3 months ago. We started teaching about the Plan of Salvation, but in a way that was so natural, so normal. So.... calming.Not a rigid lesson at all, but more of a conversation with friends. It was in that lesson with Maria Jose that I really realized (maybe it is late to realize this. better late than never, right?) that really, the gospel is more than pretty words. More than baptism statistics. This is about healing a broken heart of a girl who misses her father desperately. This is being able to promise her, without doubts, without fears, that she WILL be with her father again, that he is on the other side of the veil, watching her. So proud of the covenant of baptism that his wife, Teresa, made. So hopeful that his daughters will follow the example of their mother and come to know their Savior. This gospel isn't about convincing someone their church is wrong. This is about promising innumerable blessings thorugh the Truth. The full truth, if they will but come and see. Come and learn. Come. Feel how it heals. Feel the power in that Heavenly Father never will abandon His children, and for that He restored the gospel through His Son, through a prophet.

Then, in teaching Teresa about temple work, and that she can be baptized for her family that never knew the gospel... it was like a light went on. She started talking of her mother, her aunt, her grandma, her husband.... and I started thinking of the... difference... of my enthusiasm for family history. It was always a big task of something I "should" do, but never... wanted to. But seeing her excitement, I thought more in it. That really, we are linking family to family to more family. To more family. And I can feel my love for my family increasing. LOVE YOU all! The words "the gospel blesses family" are more than just words.

Well, this is quite the novel, isn't it? This week was jam-packed of goodness. The last of all being that... today they announced who has transfers. Tomorrow is the last day Hermana Nunez and I have together.

If I didn't trust so deeply that this transfer is EXACTLY what Heavenly Father wants, I think I would cry. Okay, cry more than I did. In this last week, we knew transfers were coming. And we talked about it a lot. That we both felt that we are working too well together. That in our learning curve together, if you will (and I will), we have slowed drastically. That we learned so much at the beginning, so much, so much, so much... and now in these last weeks, we have found a pattern. And for that, Heavenly Father has other lessons for us to learn. Other places to go. Other companions to have. So, Hermana Nunez will have transfers, and I will stay here in Galeras, come Wednesday morning. I don't know how to adequately describe how I feel. In the mission, your first companion is your "madre" (for hermanas-- "padre" for elderes). And really, I feel like I'm getting ready to bid adieu to my mother. We have so many memories here, so many experiences together. I can't imagine a new companion, but I know it is inspired. I know there is work here for me to do. And whoever my new companion is... she needs to be here.

We saw the fruits of our labors, and they were not few. Not only the baptism of Hermana Teresa. Our growth together. The opportunity to learn together. The fruits that maybe in this moment, we can't measure like we can a baptism. But I can see that we have seen great changes in ourselves, in this area.

Love you all!