Last P-Day at the CCM!

Say WAT?! That is crazy. I cant believe I am almost done! It does not feel like I've been here for that long. I am so sad to leave. It is so amazing here. However, based off the lessons we've had with our "investigators" and how much joy it brings me to teach them about the gospel, I cant wait to teach people that have never even heard this message before. 

So sad part of the email - Another one of our Elders had to leave. Elder James. He was having a hard time with anxiety, and had to go home to find the right medication and everything. He will be such an incredible missionary once he is able to get back out into the field. 

I found out last week that my teacher read everything on my blog...awkward! Now he knows what I really think about the CCM. hahaha So shout out to Hermano Romero. 

This week was crazy spiritual again. We had a lesson with our morning teacher, Hno Sylva, who is acting as himself when he was investigating the church at 16. He's always SO HARD to teach because we can never figure out what his needs are. However, this last lesson he really opened up to us and I felt so much of the love and empathy and charity of Christ for him. We ended up changing our entire lesson, and the spirit was so strong. We were teaching in the same room where all of the Elders were, but we totally forgot about everyone except him. Hermana Price was about to say the prayer, and I asked him if we could kneel. During the prayer I started tearing up, and when I opened my eyes afterwards I saw that all three of us were crying. I promised him that the Gospel would help and bless his life. We went back to our seats and saw that the Elders all staring at us. So we went to the bathroom and I cleanes the smeared mascara off my face. 

Later that same day, I was telling my companion about a weakness I had that I had been trying to fix the whole time I had been here. I told her everything I knew that I couldn't fix on my own, and I decided I needed the help of the priesthood. So we went back inside and I asked my teacher to give me a blessing. I didn't really expound on why I needed one though. In the blessing, he said I would be blessed to do the things I had just told my companion I couldn't do on my own. This made me cry again, because it was such a powerful testament to me of the power of the Priesthood. I know those words were God's and not his. How could they be? He had no knowledge of the conversation I had just had with my companion. 

I testify that the Priesthood is the Authority of God given to bless our lives. I know it is how Jesus Christ's church was restored, and it is the power that allows it to continue. I testify of the grace of Jesus Christ - the enabling power of the atonement. It is through this that I, who am weak and unable to do this on my own, am strengthened and given the power to accomplish this mission. 

 "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things...[I] will praise his name forever."

- Alma 26:12

I am so grateful for all of you and the love and support I have received. Thank you for your emails, your prayers, and every kind of support you have given me!!

To those of you that may be struggling with a testimony,or don't know if God really hears your prayers, or if this is truly Jesus Christ's church, I challenge you to take a few minutes out of your day and ask him. Ask him if he loves you. Or ask him of the Book of Mormon is true. If Jospeh Smith was really a prophet, and if Thomas S Monson is His prophet today. I promise God will answer you. And I promise that if you have faith and open your hearts, and are willing to listen to the answer, that your life will be changed. These questions are too important for Heavenly Father not to answer you. And you are too important to Him for Him not to answer any prayer or question you have. He wants you to know how much he loves you. He wants you to know that this is the true church. He wants you to feel the joy that comes from following Jesus Christ. It is so simple. Just ask. I testify that these things are all true. Now I invite you to go and find out for yourselves. 

I am SO grateful that I have chosen to serve a mission. It is seriously the best thing I've ever done. I love teaching, I love the people here, I love talking about the Gospel, and I love feeling the spirit all the time. Thank you for allowing me to do this. I cannot think of anything I would rather be doing with my life right now. 

Picnic during lunch for our final P-Day

Elder James leaving