Hola, querida familia y amigas!
No puedo creer que yo he estado en Paraguay por casi dos meses! Increible es! Grandma Cozzens, thank you so much for the e-mail! I did get your letter three weeks ago and I have been SO slow in writing you back! P-day flies by so fast! It takes about two weeks for a letter to get to me from the U.S. Not too bad! Jon, congrats to you and Megan! I´m so excited for you both! Oh my goodness, Miss, YOU´RE ENGAGED! I´m so excited for you! I wish I could tell you this in person, but I love you so much! Please send me wedding announcements! I´m so glad that you´re happy and I´m sure Russell is wonderful! I knew when I left for my mission that my cousins (my best friends!) wouldn´t stay single for long. I´m so excited for you all, though, and the wonderful things that are happening in your lives.
We´ve had a good week. Osvaldo and Javier are still set for their baptisms on June 26th. They´re going to have their interviews with our district leader this week. It´s amazing to see the change in their lives. They tell us all the time how much happier and content they are. We love spending time with them! Gloria (their mother) is always feeding us and giving us things. Last night, we stopped by their house for just a minute. All their family and friends were there because it has been six months since their grandpa died. We were really intimidated because they´re all Catholic and didn´t really want to go in, Two of Osvaldo´s uncles came out and told us that we are practically their family, too, because we´ve done so much to help Osvaldo. We told them that it´s the Spirit and Osvaldo´s efforts that have made the change. It´s so great to see Osvaldo and Javier in church every week with their nice clothes and ties! I want to see them passing the Sacrament!
The Lord really does work miracles in our lives. On Saturday, we were doing contacts and getting a little frustrated because nobody wanted to hear our message. We knocked a door and found a wonderful family! It´s been such a long time since we´ve taught a father, mother, and kids. Duglas, Leila, and Lyla were so receptive to our message! They´re Catholic, but very receptive to other doctrines. It never ceases to amaze me how people´s countenances change when we share the First Vision. We´re going back to visit them on Saturday. Leila wants to learn how to cook, so my companion is going to teach her. People always smile when Hermana tells them she is a professional cook. We left their house with huge grins on our faces!
This morning we had a zone activity. We talked about the Atonement. One of the elders read this quote from Sheldon F. Child that I really like: ¨If all you young missionaries truly understood the Atonement of Jesus Christ, there would be no need for mission rules.¨ We were all kind of silent for a minute. It´s true, though! The Atonement is the basis of everything we do and are. Jesus Christ is the center of our doctrine. My testimony of His sacrifice has grown so strong over the past two months! I can see how the Atonement can personally apply in the lives of every person I teach. It´s amazing!
We continue to teach Chela, the wonderful Catholic woman. Last week we taught her about prophets and authority. We read lots of scriptures from the Bible and she understood! My companion and I high-fived each other when she left the room because we were so excited! She understood! We also met two women named Pablina and Teodocia. Both are single mothers with many children. They were very receptive to our message and I´m so excited to get started teaching them!
That´s about all the news here. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and letters! I love hearing from you. I know this church is true. I see the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of those we´re teaching every day. I know He knows each of us personally and loves us immensely. Only through repentance can we find peace and happiness in our lives!
Con muchisimo amor,
Hermana Cozzens
P.S. I´m attaching more pictures! Hooray! The first is Osvaldo with Hermana and I. Javier was down below taking the picture. The second is Osvaldo with Hermana and I again. He is so great! The third is Hermana and I with the elders in our zone after the zone activity this morning. The elders are so great! They work so hard and have a special spirit about them. The fourth is Hermana and I with the Paredes family yesterday after lunch. ChiChi is the young man, Roli is in back, and Dulce is the young woman. Roli is the aunt of ChiChi and Dulce and they´re so great!
No comments:
Post a Comment