Monday, September 30, 2013

Milagros y Chonies! (Miracles and Chonies!)


Hello!
 
It has been another wonderful and crazy week as a CFM missionary. I finished out my transfer in Hanford with some more wonderful experiences.  Brother Austin took Hermana Gneiting and I to Superior Dairy for a farewell "lunch". I mistakenly ordered a double scoop hoping to have two different flavors, not really thinking about how huge the scoops there are. That goblet was as big as my head... I felt sooo sick by the time that I finished that icecream. I couldn't even taste those last bites haha. Then our last night in Hanford we had a church tour with the Maldonados. It was crazy because it was youth activity night, but it was also great. When we finished the tour Brother Maldonado (Abuelito) and I made a deal: I will come back and teach him all the lessons in Spanish so he can be baptized and before I return he will read the whole Book of Mormon. I LOVE that family. I can't wait to come back and visit with them all again.
 
Transfers were a little crazy this time and somehow I spent a whole day running errands in Fresno with Sister Melling. So I missed the baptism that I was supposed to do the halftime show for (it was "our" baptism that the sisters before us had set up & taught). So I didn't make it to Modesto until 9:00 wed. night. The members (the Grimes) that we live with are amazing! And I am also glad to report that Modesto water does not stink of sulfur. There are 6 missionaries in our little branch. That is a LOT, but there is enough work it seems for everone and the branch is fantastic. The sisters before us developed such strong trust with the members that they have welcomed us with open arms and complete trust. All in all Modesto 12 East doesn't feel like just another place, it really feels like another home.
 
We have had a lot of paperwork here the last few days. However we were also able to help out with another half-time show for one of the English Wards here. (We sang three songs in Spanish.) My funny moment of the week was language related. During the Relief Society Broadcast Dinner discussing the needs of a family I thought the sisters in the branch were saying chonies but they were saying colchon. So basically I thought they were saying underwear, but they were saying mattress. Needless to say my Spanish still needs a LOT of work. But the broadcast was wonderful, and I even got to listen to it in English.
 
MIRACLE of the week was Julio's Baptism!! When we got here he had a tentative date set for Saturday but it wasn't very solid at all. So when we went over with the Davila's to teach him and Raul he said that he would let us know next weekend how he felt about baptism. Then after sacrament he came up and told us that he had a dream the night before and that he need to be baptized and it was now or never. Thing is it was already 2pm and he had to be somewhere at 4. So basically we filled the font while he got his interview. Then we got permission for him to be confirmed early so he wouldn't have to wait two weeks for the gift of the Holy Ghost. And in the end Julio was baptized and confirmed with just moments to spare. What a great way to start a transfer!
 
Ecclesiastes 7:3 "Sorrow is better than laughter: for by sadness of the countenance the heart is made better."
 
Love,
Hermana Miller


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