Hey everyone!
This week has been awesome and i am actually really surprised how fast is has flown by.. i feel like i was just transferred here yesterday! so this area is intense.. i know you all want to know more about it so i took some pictures of what it looks like. I went from teaching in trailors with no AC and no carpet (San Benito) to an area filled with gated communities and mansions complete with maids who answer the door.. or even better you ring the doorbell and they come on the intercom and reject you... there is nothing like being rejected through modern technology... but it has been a blast.
This week i think we have knocked more houses than i have my entire mission. Sister Villalobos is a champ and isn't bugged by all the rejection. i told her rejection was good for the soul and so now whenever we get denied thats what she says back to me and we laugh about it. she is awesome.
It is pretty crazy starting up a new area. i am not too impressed with the sisters who were here before... i think they just taught a lot of men their age and did the whole flirt to convert thing... so sister villalobos and i have been working on finding families to teach. mom it is cool that you wrote about the blessings of eternal families because that has been the theme of this week. i love that even though we are so far away you and i have the same thoughts and feelings. aren't we so blessed to have such a wonderful family?
The family who had accepted a baptismal date last week... well something happened to them and we haven't been able to get a hold of them. but to prove that God works in mysterious ways... i don't think we kept going back for them.. but for their neighbor.. Claudia and Luis. the first time we went over there it was dark.. Claudia was smoking and just swearing like crazy and not very happy and telling us all sorts of things we didn't want to hear and her poor son Luis was just chillin there too. we gave them a pamphlet to read and when we came back the next time it was completly different. they had read, Claudia had been praying, and she was really wanting to change her life. so we taught her about the restoration and it was such a powerful lesson.. they loved it and the spirit was so strong.. Claudia was glowing and you could tell that she felt the spirit and knew that it was true. when we were asking them questions she just looked at us and asked how she could ever doubt it.. she knew by looking at us and could feel that we KNEW it was true so that helped her to know it was true too. we told her that was great and we invited her to pray about it so she could know for herself without a doubt that it was true. I love being a missionary and just feeling such love for these people. they are so lost and so dark... but the lord knows their potential and so i feel like he helps us as missionaries to feel a glimpse of his love for them so we can better teach them. Claudia is "catholic" but doesn't go to church.. she doesn't like it. so it was neat that by the end of that lesson SHE was asking US when church starts and where it was. we have been having contact with them daily and it is such a difference now as we walk into their home and feel the spirit right away. we have introduced the concept of baptism and are going to invite them to be baptized the next time that we go over to their house. Claudia and Luis were both glowing as they drove into the church parking lot this Sunday and walked up the stairs and came into the chapel. wow. it was so exciting to see them, but i was even more excited for my companion because i knew that this was all a first for her.. first time she had someone at church, first time she watched someone progress and love the gospel.. it has been so great to see her excitement through it all. They loved church and Luis (12) was invited to go to San Antonio with the youth to go to the temple... he was sooo excited... i am not sure they realized he wasn't a member so maybe he can chill on the temple grounds for a bit because afterwards they are going to do some youth activites up there and it would be good for him to go. so we will see.. he is already planning on going to mutual on Tuesday. they are great.
So this week has gone by fast and it has been hot and nasty and wonderful all at the same time.. don't you love a mission?
i love you all so much and hope you have an amazing 4th of july because it is your last big holiday without me there :)
President Traynor will be coming to Texas tomorrow so hopefully we will have the chance to meet him pretty soon. i'll let you know how that goes!
good news - i heard that jazric, amelia, and martina (cristina's sisters) were baptized and confirmed on Saturday and that Ernesto went to it... how neat!
I love you all so much.. i hope you know how happy i am doing what i am doing! have a great week!
Love – Hermana Osborne
ps... i forgot to write about this is in my letter.. but i just wanted to share something that i have been learning.. because a mission/life is so hard and we have so much oppostion.. we go through so much.. but it makes it worth it in the end because we become so much more. i really have seen how the gospel.. when we actively live it.. it changes us. all the ordinances we do and the covenants we make help us to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. We start to see as He does and love like He loves.
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