HELLLO!! :D
Seriously, SUCH a wonderful week to make up for the rough start of the transfer!! Honestly, I have been amazed at how many miracles happen here at Temple Square -- and ESPECIALLY to Sister Roman & I. It's honestly so much so, that we get a little bit scared sometimes... because it realllly shows how much our Heavenly Father trusts us with His children! Ahhh! It's so crazy.
So first things first, on Sunday was our first day of Miracles of this transfer... we started with teaching in the teaching center (where we make phone calls and accept chats from people) and it was 9am and by 11am when we were done, we had already taught 4 lessons AND had a referral from a non-member!!! We were like WHOAA yayyyy! It just started off our day on the PERFECT note. That same day was filled with random people from New York, Israel, and California that came up to us asking to learn more, receive a Book of Mormon, and asked how they could speak with local missionaries. It was insane! (In the most phenomenal way). THEN we had an investigator lesson (with the missionaries from another SLC mission) and we were able to teach this family of 4 more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and were able to extend them the invitation to be baptized and they ACCEPTED! I was SOOOO happy. They were so incredibly ready and it was such a spiritual lesson! There is just nothing better. Oh, and a little side note, the entire lesson was in Spanish and Sister Roman told me that I didn't mess up on one little thing when I was talking - and you know how much I like to talk!!! Hurrrraayyy!
Sis. Roman and I had some major bonding and it made me so extremely grateful to have her as my companion. We constantly are so overwhelmed with how much we have to do - but it ALL gets done - everyday! It really strengthens my testimony on the principle of being OBEDIENT to allll of God's commandments. Our mission theme is "Obedience = Faith = Power" and I couldn't be a better witness of the truthfulness of that statement!
Speaking of obedience, reminds me of getting up on time. Sister Roman and I wake up every morning at 6:15 to go do ZUMMBAAAAA!!! :D :D Hahaha.. One of the sisters here at Temple Square used to be a Zumba instructor and so we all go into the parking garage in the morning and having a workout with her in charge. Starts out my day in such a happy, positive way. I miss salsa dancing more than I ever imagined that I would... haha. Love love love....
One really awesome experience that Sis. Roman and I had this week was when we were able to give a large group tour to Hispanics from all different parts of Latin American countries!! It was one of the coolest experiences I've had because literally they were from everywhere, Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico -- you name it! And they asked SOO many wonderful questions! We sang "Soy un Hijo de Dios" or "I am a Child of God" in the Tabernacle and some of them were CRYING by the end. We all know that I'm definitely not the best singer... but they told us that we sounded like we were angels. Again - the Spirit was SO strong in that building afterwards and it was such a marvelous opportunity for us to have.
We have a baptismal date for a man named John Fredy Escobar from Colombia!!!!! September 28th!! YAYYY!!! We met him on chat and he is AMAZING!!! Seriously, just wow! We were able to get to know him better at invited him to our Sunday services and he was able to go. He met the missionaries there and got a Book of Mormon and began reading! Okay, and honestly, talk about a miracle. He works at really big factory doing something important (we aren't exactly sure what) but he says that he reads the Book of Mormon out loud and records himself so that he can listen to the Book of Mormon when he is at work!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. So COOL! And talk about having a sincere desire to know if these things are true! The man is incredible -- the other thing is that since he works so much the only time the missionaries have to meet with him is on Sundays, but sometimes he can't even meet on Sunday's so teaching him all of the lessons is basically on our shoulders! Again, talk about having God trust us! He can't even see us, yet he is so prepared to come nearer to our Savior and his Heavenly Father!
Okay, I have like a million more stories I could tell, but you'll have to write me a letter asking me about more...
One more though...
There was this man that we met on Temple Square and he is a member, he asked if we could call one of his friends in Mexico that is a member but hasn't been very active in like 5 months or so and he is worried about her. We told him we would and called her.. her name is Maricela and she lives in Zacatecas. She answered the phone and sounded SO SAD. We started talking to her and getting to know her better. She is such a sweet lady and works selling hamburgers. She is married and has 3 children. We started talking to her about Jesus Christ and how he really is our Savior and has felt everything that we have ever felt and know our pains and struggles, and things like that. We started asking her about her relationship with her Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ and she really started opening up to us. We kept talking and then the phone all of a sudden went silent, we were like "oh noooooo" thinking that the phone lost signal or cut out of service of something and then we realized she was still on the line, but she was CRYING. Then she started telling us how what we were saying was EXACTLY what she needed to hear and that she really believes we were sent to help her. She was telling us that her husband started drinking and started to abuse her children and then started abusing her. This entire time she is crying and sister Roman and I were just dying because more than anything we wanted to be on the other side of that phone to help her. She was telling us she isn't sure why she was telling us those things because she has never told ANYONE. Not even her mom. Our hearts were literally just crushed and I personally wanted to go hunt down her husband and smush him. I couldn't believe it, and I felt SO incredibly responsible, as a missionary and representative of Jesus Christ to help her in the best way that I knew how. We invited her to begin praying again and to work up the strengthen to go back to church, at least to sacrament meeting and she accepted. We continuously reminded her of how truly precious she is, and not to feel that God has abandoned her... because he hasn't! We should never start to leave the safety of a storm cellar when a tornado is coming into view... We have to hold strong, keep moving forward, and NEVER let go of our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ.
Never in my life have I felt so responsible for so much. For people who really do NEED our Heavenly Father. Being on a mission has seriously opened my eyes in a way that I don't believe would have ever been opened otherwise. I really am, finally, beginning to understand what it means to be an instrument in the Lord's hand as I reach out to serve others. It is just amazing to feel the love my Heavenly Father has for ME as I help others remember the love He has for them.
I LOVE being on a mission. This seriously is helping me grow in so many different areas of my life. I am working on developing my Christ-like attributes, and invite each of you to do that same. Always remember to lean on Jesus Christ! Always, always, always!!!
I hope to continue hearing from each of you and your lives. I know God is with us always and care about us more than we could ever imagine. Please don't ever forget your individual worth as a child of a loving, caring, powerful Heavenly Father.
PRAYYYYY!!!
Smile :D, Be Happy :), & Remember who you are!!!
Love always,
Sister Corina Selene Cuevas
p.s. wanna know something sad..?? I didn't get ANY letters this week....
:'(
UT-TMSQ Mission
Salt Lake City, UT 84150
:D :D :D
DO IT!!
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