Miracles!!!

The Jackson and the Cuevas' families...aka...my mission parents. LOVE THEM!!!

Hello Everyone!

Honestly, i feel like each week just gets better and better and i feel sooooo blessed. I really see the Lord's hand in everything that we do and i know that this is his work. I have felt my heart be softened so much more and i leave everything up to him and just go to work. It is such an interesting time. I only have two more weeks of work and so i have been doing a lot of reflecting on my life... what i used to be and what i have become... and i have been doing a lot of thinking about my future... making goals and deciding who i want to be. I feel so close to my savior and have realized more than ever how he has taken me... with all my imperfections... and has been molding me into his disciple. So i am going to keep working hard and love every minute of this work... because i will never have it back... and i will never be the same because of it.

We really have seen so many wonderful miracles this week. I'll start with some updates. Claudia and Luis are planning on moving soon (as in they may already be gone) to san antonio... and they have just been super busy and going through some major financial problems. it is sad, but we have realized that we have done all that we could for them and now we need to focus on other people.. and if they want to change and progress than they will have to make the effort... and they have been taught and know exactly what they need to do. they know the gospel... but now they need to live the gospel... and that is completly up to them.

Cynthia is doing great... no doubt she will be baptized soon.. but probably after i am gone. Not a problem though.. i told her that i would rather have her baptized when she knew it was right and felt prompted to be baptized... and stay converted. she agreed and is working hard towards that goal... we are going to be teaching her the commandments this week.. but she is so awesome and has really come a long way. I love her. she is a saucy mom (36) and her daughter, lelialah (17), is a recent convert and comes out with us all the time... she is awesome. she'll be moving to utah in jan and so i am excited to hangout with her again soon.

Channing is doing great as well.. her husband (jesse) is an inactive member and so we have been working on activating him as well (channing comes to church more frequently than he does) they both came to church on sunday and it was so great to see their sweet little family. channing is adorable... she is 21 and has a 1 year old daughter and this is the first time in her life that she has been coming to church and learning more about God. But she has been progressing a lot and her prayers are very powerful and meaningful.

Monday night our appointments fell through and so we decided to track down jessica. we found her at her house and she let us in to have a lesson. she has been super busy and was commenting how satan always puts things in her path whenever she is trying to be good. we taught her the plan of salvation and then we extended a baptismal date to her... the spirit was so strong and she accepted and said that baptism is something that she really wants to work for. we are excited for her but she needs to come to church and she is a hard one to get ahold of throughout the week.

Remember Maria? the lady who got anti-d and didn't want us to come back but then we taught her the restoration and she prayed and said she knew joseph smith was a prophet? she is my new favorite person! we went by twice this week and she is AMAZING. she left school at about 6th grade and so she isn't very confident with her reading.. but she reads EVERYTHING... and highlights it and is just so cute. she is the cutest little 67 year old mexican lady that i have ever met. tuesday when we went over we taugth about our Savior, Jesus Christ, and invited her to be baptized in 3 weeks (september 5th). she accepted and was crying. she was so excited and really wants to have the spirit with her always. when we went back that week we sat down and she burst into tears telling us that her husband was not being supportive and was asking why we were coming over so much and was telling her not to commit to anything that we were inviting her to do. when she told us this.. we just kinda sat there in silence for a minute and then all these scriptures came to mind and we just started sharing them with her, telling her that this was a test of her faith.. that the lord would not command us to do anything except he was going to prepare a way that we could fulfill his commands... and then we read in Ether that we don’t recieve a witness until after the trial of our faith. We asked her if she knew the things we were teaching her were true and she bore her testimony right there that she knew it was all true. We then proceeded to teach her the plan of salvation and she loved it. My mission has really taught me to be a visual teacher and so we drew it out and by the end she just kept saying it was so simple and so beautiful. Maria has never come to church before and one of her concerns was that she didn't have a skirt and she was scared that people would look at her and judge her. we told her that this wouldn't happen... but tuesday after our meeting i remembered a skirt that i had that i figured she would love.. so when we went back the second time that week.. i gave her my skirt. she was soooo excited and so grateful. we got a ride all lined up for her since her husband wasn't willing to take her to church. and on sunday... i can't even describe the feeling.. my heart just melted when i saw her walk into church in my skirt. she was glowing and you could tell that she really took time to get all pretty. she told me she hadn't worn a skirt in over 30 years and she felt like she was wearing what she should in order to go and worship God... she LOVED church. she was answering all the questions in gospel principles and was laughing with all the other old ladies in relief society... it was sooo great to see. you can tell that she is so happy and that since she followed the commandment to come to church... she recieved all the blessings that God promised her she could have. we are really excited about her progress.

So as you can tell.. we have been teaching the Plan of Salvation a lot this week... probably about 12 times... which is a lot more than normal.. and my testimony of it has grown so much. each time i teach this principle i can just feel how much God loves his children and how perfect his plan is. the way to return and live with him really is so simple.. I want to live with my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I want to live with my family forever and i feel so blessed that i know how i can. More than ever.. i know exactly what i want in life and exactly what i am looking for.

I love my mission and Sister Villalobos and I are working so hard together... She really is an amazing missionary and i am making sure to teach her all that i know so that she will keep doing awesome and keep growing. It has been so neat to see the fruits of our labors... how last transfer we whitewashed the area and it felt dead... now we are teaching so many wonderful people and families. My mission has been such a blessing and has taught me so much.

So i got an awesome surprise phone call this week! the Jacksons called me! it was so good to hear sister jacksons voice again! i love them so much. they were planning on coming up with the Cuevas' to visit me before i left and to take me out to lunch with my companion... well... its lame but i am supposed to find a ride on labor day down to mcallen (4hours) for my departing interview and what not... so i asked them to just come up then... we can hangout and go bowling (they love bowling) and then they can drive me down to McAllen... they agreed.. i am so excited to see them! they are like my two sets of mission parents. they are the absolute best!

Ok... i gots to go! but i love you all! have an awesome week!

-Hermanita osborne