A week of miracles

I am absolutely exhausted.

But happy. :)

This week has felt like a century.  I cannot believe only one week has passed.  

Well, this week has been all over the place.  As we were walking home one night, and random couple stopped in front of us.  I was delightfully surprised to discover it was Gabriel and his wife, an investigator from my last area!!!  He was very excited to tell me he had been baptized and now lives here in Puerto!  It was a testimony to me that no effort is wasted. :)

Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day!!!  One of our investigators, Tiara, got baptized!!  Truly, Tiara and her family are such a blessing.  They are changing the ward!  Our ward is becoming more and more animated and involved in the work of salvation.  It is a lovely thing to see.  Hermana Luna and I sang "A Child's Prayer" for her baptism.  One of my favorite parts of the day was a little before Tiara's baptism.  She had just changed into her white clothes and felt so nervous, so we decided to kneel down and say a prayer.  Tiara offered it, and it was so sweet and pure.  Another favorite memory would be right after the ordinance, when Tiara entered the bathroom and started jumping up and down saying "!!!ya me bautizé!!! ¡¡ya me bautizé!!" (I got baptized!!)  Her joy radiated from her.  It was awesome.

Yesterday was her confirmation, and we waited not so patiently for her to arrive.  They came late, but they came.  The bishop confirmed her and gave her the sweetest blessing.  I love them so much.  Her face glowed when he finished!   Hermana Luna and I gave talks as well.  It went MUCH better than last time.  I spoke on the talk "Ye are no More Strangers" from the October 2013 General Conference, and I enjoyed it immensely.  I even got to talk about Les Mis!  Plus, Yolany, Tiara, Holly, Jorge, and Hna Luna sang a song and I accompanied them.  It was marvelous. :)

We went to Young Women's yesterday with Yolany and her mom (the mother and abuela of Tiara) because the presidency was going to present her with the torch medallion.  Well, they decided to do it at the end, so we sat in on their lesson.  One of the YW taught the class on Priesthood keys.  The class was prepared quite well, and towards the end, Alejandra (la jovencita teaching the class) asked if anyone had an example or experience they wanted to share.  Hna. Yolany raised her hand and asked if she could share something.  She then proceeded to share the experience we had last Saturday, when the bishop went to give a blessing to Rodolfo.  She testified of the power and reality of the priesthood and also testified that it was by this authority that her daughter, Tiara, was baptized the day before.  We were over the moon.  Yolany has a baptismal date for the 20th of June. :)

Well, Saturday night as we were planning, we realized we would need to work some serious miracles to reach our goals for the week.  Besides a large number of lessons, we also needed to find 7 new investigators.  I looked at the numbers and said, "We can't do this.  It's impossible to achieve this on a Sunday."  Hermana Luna just looked at me and said "Never say 'I can't' or 'we can't'.  Have faith".  Well, we put our fears and doubts aside and and prayed fervently to do the Lord's will the following day.  Well, not only did we acheive our goals, we surpassed them.  We ended up doing very little of what we had planned, but I know we did what the Lord wanted, and I know it was because of our faith.  Faith is powerful and works miracles!  Coupled with our determination to work and be diligent, it has brought many miracles to our area.

Funny story: We were trying to take pictures before the baptism, and I completely biffed it!!  I'm still not sure exactly what happened.  

OH!  Also, we have found a man that sells real milk!  From real cows!!  It is Oh so delicious!!!

Here is a joke I learned yesterday:

So, there once was a turtle who was queen of the animals, and she made a new decree.  All of the animals had to present themselves before her and tell a joke, and if she did not laugh, they would be beheaded.  

Well, first came a monkey.  He told his joke, and.....nothing.  They carried him off to the guillotine.

Next came a squirrel.  But his comical impressions did not bring a single chuckle from the queen.  So he was executed.

Third came a puma.  But the turtle remained completely emotionless.

Finally came a lion.  After his joke, the turtle began to laugh very slowly: ha ha....ha ha.....ha ha

"Phew!! I'm saved!!" thought the lion.

" I like the monkey's joke!" said the queen turtle.


ahahahahaha!  Because turtles are slow!!!  hehehehe, I think I overly enjoy this :)

Anyway, I love you all so much!! 

LOVE,
Hermana Grondel :)

P.S., so sorry, I cannot send photos.  HOpefully next week!!