Week 73 There is GOLD at the end of the rainbow!

Yay! We had another lesson with D yesterday. It was AWESOME. We read part of 3 Nephi 11 and talked about how the voice they heard pierced them to the soul and we asked him if he had ever felt that, and he said yes, but that it goes away, and that he wanted it to stay longer. So we also talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we asked him what he thought would be the next step for him. AND HE SAID HE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING, LIKE, MAKE A PROMISE WITH GOD THAT HE WOULD FOLLOW HIM. Seriously. This guy is INCREDIBLE. :D

So. We saw the C. family, and they made us chile rellenos. :) Yum. On Wednesday we saw 4/5 people we planned to see... unfortunately 3 of those 5 were busy doing something. But. We saw them. And we had two members with us. Haha. :)

Thursday we had both our appointments cancel on us, and we still had to finish weekly planning, but we felt like we needed to go out to the area for a minute. So. The first street that came to mind was the one we selected, and off we went. We had a house in mind and on the way there we saw a young man. We stopped and invited him to the Battalion and then talked to him for the next hour. It was super cool. I KNOW that God put us in his path that day. It was a super cool experience for me. :)

One more before the road! Last P-Day!

Cinco de Mayo weekend was nothing like last year's, unfortunately. :( We only had like 300 visitors each day. This year they had most of the roads leading to the Battalion blocked off. So. That was less favorite. :/

But. Yesterday was the best day ever. Like I talked about earlier, we had a lesson with D. It was incredible! But before that - we had a mission-wide conference with Elder M Russell Ballard! That's my second one! It was so incredible. All the speakers were so inspired and inspirational. I felt so pumped to be a missionary! And here's the kicker - the night before one of the assistants to the president texted and said President asked if I would give the closing prayer. >_< 

Ummmm... so 6 people spoke, the 6th being Elder Ballard, and then we sang a song, and I closed with a prayer. I literally almost lost all bodily functions. I was so nervous I couldn't even breathe. But as I walked up, President Morgan gave me a smile, and that helped. Then I saw Sister and President Clayton giving me a smile too, and that helped. Then I saw Elder Ballard and he was smiling at me too! So I knew it was going to be okay. :) Then I tried to speak and my throat clenched again and nothing came out. But finally something did and I guess it was okay, no one booed or shouted "false doctrine!" and President didn't send me home, and I just ran down, relieved to be done. It was pretty cool though, because during it I felt the Spirit really strongly, and I felt the joy of being a missionary. I felt such gratitude and love and happiness. It was really sweet. :)

THEN at the Battalion I saw a sister taking a tour by herself so I asked if I could go with her. Sister Rasmussen said yes, so I joined, and it was so cool. It was a mom and her daughter, and they had come by the day before but they didn't have any time, so they promised Sister Baker they'd come back the next day. And they did! And she was on shift! Outside! When they showed up! :) Miracles! So anyway we took the tour.

In the end we were out in goldpanning and we were just talking to her, pretty lowkey/casual. Now, something I've struggled with my whole mission is TALKING to people. I just don't know how. I usually just straight up ask if they'd like for missionaries to come visit them. And I usually just get a 'no thank you.' But this time was different. Questions just came out of our mouths and the conversation was steered by heavenly hands and suddenly she was telling us about how her brother converted and how they were super nice to him and when he went to Afghanistan they even helicoptered him to church every week and how she's asked him about it but he always thinks she's just making fun of it and yes, she'd like a Book of Mormon and she'd love to hear more. I got to testify to her about how the Book of Mormon unites families and brings such a strength into the home. She seemed really touched and was so happy when she left and Sister Baker and I were ecstatic. It was such a miracle!

THEN. I took a tour with Sister Calderon and these two people from Jordan. They were a RIOT. So funny! Haha, then I went to whisper something to Sister Calderon at the same time that she turned to whisper something to me and we ended up bonking into each other and well she got a bloody nose and it was pretty hilarious. :) But the tour went super well and we both learned a lot and Z and M learned a lot too. :)

Things are going so well! It's going to be an incredible week this week. MIRACLES! :D

Well. I love you all!

--Hermana Harris