Email #49 (Gilbert, AZ) ~ Hermana Lattin's Adventures in Arizona

July 28, 2014

HOOOOLA!!!

First of all, the pictures, I LOVED them! They made me so happy and it was so crazy to see how big and old everyone is... so weird! Don’t worry about sending so many pictures of both family reunions. They didn't make me sad at all, just happy that y'all were happy. Plus, the beach will be there when I get back, and so will my amazing family so it didn't make me homesick or sad at all. ELIANA AND OLIVIA ARE SO CUTE!!!!! Seriously one thing that is hard about a mission is that I see all these cute babies that make me think of my little sisters at home and all I want to do is hold them, but I can't! That's okay. It'll all be worth it in the end, right? Anyways, sounds like it was an awesome vacation and everyone had a great time!!!

Our week was pretty great! We taught quite a bit and are seeing great progression with our investigators. We had a lesson with our Asian friends, Tony Li, Anthony, and Raymond last week at the Bowler's house, and we taught them the Plan of Salvation. It was very simple and quite slow, but the Spirit was definitely there and I know all of them felt it. Tony had a lot of questions, and Raymond and Anthony (they have a more solid understanding of Christianity than Tony) accepted it all. We asked them to pray about it and they said they would! It was very cool. They are definitely coming along, slowly but surely! Also, Tony brought a friend, Mike to church! So now we're teaching four Asians! hahaha pretty soon we're going to teach all their roommates [there's at least 15 of them because they all live in different rooms)! That's our goal at least. I'll let you know when we start our YSA (Young Single Adult) Chinese ward:)] haha they are awesome though. So humble and very willing to learn. Our new investigator Mike, when he showed up to church with Tony one of the first things he told us was (in broken English) "I am very curious to learn more about your church."

Also, MILAGRO---- TIM CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!!! We did everything we possibly could to get him there, we made personal daily contact, read the Book of Mormon with him and gave him a church tour and he came!!! I was so happy I teared up a little when I saw him sitting there with his shirt and tie:) he is the best and I know that he will receive an answer to his prayers about the truth as he comes to church, reads his scriptures daily and prays often. This week we are going to get him on date to be baptized. That will be one of the greatest days of my life seeing him get baptized.

ALSO (ayer fue un dia de Milagros), Sony and Phanuel came to church as well!!! It was actually really funny because we were doing weekly planning and planning to do a drop lesson with them because we just didn't feel like they were progressing at all, and as we were discussing it, Sony called us and told us they wanted to come to church! Heavenly Father obviously was telling us not to give up on them yet! And it was perfect because the Gospel Principle class was on Baptism:) They said they enjoyed it and are excited to meet with us this week... we will see how it goes!

ALSO (I'm telling you, dia de Milagros), Alejandro (a recent convert in Pueblo) brought his non-member wife to church because it was his birthday and she agreed to go to sacrament meeting! We have been teaching her the past few weeks but have not seen a whole lot of progress with her. She is very quiet and doesn't say a whole lot. She wasn't super happy about Alejandro joining the church because he basically told her that he wants to be sealed in the temple and have an eternal family, and if she didn't want to join him on that path, he would have to find someone else.... yeah no wonder she isn't a huge fan of us:) haha but he has such a strong testimony and he has a dream of his whole family going to church together on Sundays, doing family prayer every night and family home evening, just being united and strong in the church together. We promised him we would do everything we could to help his family, and we promised him that with faith, miracles can and will happen with his wife.

So yeah, yesterday was a good day. We also had dinner with the Asians at the Bowler's house and they cooked authentic Chinese food for us! And I ate with chopsticks! It was a great time.

Here are the answers to your questions, Mamita!

1. Here are the names of our Asian investigators: Tony Li, Raymond, Anthony and Mike

2. Georgina is.... well she's Georgina. She always tells us she wants to get baptized but doesn't act. She didn't come to church yesterday, but we're going to talk to her and see why she is struggling with that commitment. Hopefully we will understand and be able to help her so she can be baptized!

3. Hermana Carvalho is good! She actually told me something really funny this week... So, Mom I talk about you a lot, of course and sometimes I imitate you when I talk about how great and crazy you are!! This past week I was describing how much I love a certain song (with a lot of animation apparently) and she goes "Oh my goodness, I don't even know you're mom but you sound just like her sometimes!" Hahaha it was pretty funny. Also I said something like "Okay, we'll finish this conversation after dinner" and she goes "Okay, Becky!" hahahahahaha You're gonna love her when you meet her! She's the best.

4. Just keep on praying for our investigators! We can definitely your prayers over here! Especially pray for our Pueblo area this week, it's still struggling. The Book of Mormon classes start next Sunday! They are going to be AWESOME!

Okay, well I love you all so so so so much!

Seriously, you are the best family an hermana could ever ask for. Have an amazing week! Moroni 8:3

Con mucho MUCHO amor y todo mi Corazon,

Hermana Lattin