15 Minute Oraciones (Prayers)

Dear Familia,

Mission life is AMAZING! What a great week it has been! And I am soooo excited as I am sure all of you are about conference this weekend! I know it is such a special time to receive renewed strength and answers to our questions!! Oh and the weather here is crazy like Utah yesterday it was 60 degrees!!! Unfortunately it's not staying there but it has been nice to have some relief from the cold!

A milagro (miracle) this week was that Gaspar was able to switch his schedule!!!! He has been trying to get work off since December to attend church. He has been able to come once prior to this week but his schedule never permitted him to come. We took a different approach last week and asked him to start looking for another job or start looking for ways to switch his schedule and not just talk with his boss. He was able to switch his shift so he can now attend all 3 hours of church every Sunday!!!! It was so amazing to see him at church this week because he is by far the most ready person I have met out here for the gospel. He prays morning and night and continually reads in the Book of Mormon. He has the strongest testimony and a love for our Savior I strive to have. I know the Lord blesses us when we act on our faith and go out of our comfort zone, trust me it was not easy having to ask him to look for another job (especially with him being Mexican they never get good jobs like working in a restaurant as a cook) but him acting on his faith and trying something different allowed the Lord to make it possible for him to be able to attend church and ultimately change his life forever. I had so much overwhelming joy to be with him at church and see his cute smile!!! Oh and another plus he is getting baptized April 15th!!!

I have never been apart of so many different weird prayers in my life until here out in Minnesota! I think a part of that is that I am with a lot of Mexicans and Guatemalans and people like that. So this week we were teaching in the Lavanderia, the laundry mat or our "safe place" because it is in public right by the trailer park we spend a lot of time in and most of our investigators are men! Anyways, we were teaching a man named Francisco and at the end we asked him to pray for us and he said yes. So we are kneeling down in a laundry mat with Francisco and he is just praying silently away to himself. A lot of Guatemalans and Mexicans do this or they whisper or whisper when you pray...its different hahaha. We were sitting there praying for a good 5 minutes and I am just wondering what is going on if he was still praying or if he was just sitting there so I look up and he is still praying and it almost made me laugh because my comp kept checking for the same thing. So I looked down at my watch just to see how much longer the prayer would go and it went another solid 7 minutes. I almost started laughing again because Hermana Jones did the same thing. We were just kneeling in silence for about 15 mins with people all around us. It was awesome! A prayer is a prayer! Also, we prayed with Kristine this week and she asked us in the prayer if we had anything to say so both me and my comp added in what we wanted to say and then she closed it in the name of Jesus Christ amen! Hahaha we didn't know if this was really allowed or what but it felt fine and we all got out what we were feeling! It's amazing what crazy things you can experience even here in the US!

There is this middle aged man Denis and he is always outside smoking or sitting on his steps. We are always around his house because we have lots of investigators over there so we see him often! So...we taught him and his daughter once and he really doesn't like the Mormon church but he decided to read some of the Book of Mormon. So the next time we saw him he said I have a book for you! So he gave us it and went on to tell us how it was all a hoax and there is no way it could be true. That there was no evidence and that this guy was just a really smart guy who got a group of his friends together to back him up and make lots of money. And some other stuff as well...this was the hardest rejection I have gotten on my mission thus far. It was really really hard to hear him say the things he was saying about the book of Mormon and our church. I wanted to just scream right back to him you don't know the truth we do!!!! But of course I would never do that so the first thing I did was bare my testimony. The spirit was rushing through my body and even though he didn't care I knew that what I was saying was true with my whole heart. It was amazing because I still felt gods love even though we had just been torn apart. It was quite amazing because after that he started saying how well it could be true and it couldn't be. His demeanor was changed and I think his heart was softened just a little. I know that when we testify of Christ we will have the holy ghost and our father in heaven backing us up. I know that when we stand up for what we believe in and do it in a loving way we WILL change people's lives.

This week we were able to have the entire Torres family at church! They are a less active Mexican family! It was truly a miracle because they haven't been to church since I have been out here on my mission and even a long time before that. We went to their home this week and read a chapter with them from the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong. The parents weren't supposed to come this week because of work but there girls said they would. But on Saturday we called them and they decided to sacrifice and at least attend sacrament meeting!!!!  I know that this renewed desire to attend church was possible through the Book of Mormon. It has power more than I can imagine! It was so fun to see them all there sitting in church and it really adds to the people who speak Spanish!

As you can see I am doing great and becoming so close to my Savior. This month will really be great with conference and Easter and the warmer weather! I want you all to read 3 nephi 27 if you get the chance. It is amazing and the last council that Jesus gives to the people in the Americas before he leaves..i love it and know it can give you renewed strength to stay on the path of happiness. Yo se que jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y que el tiene la mas amor possible para nosotros y la amor de dios y cristo es personal para cada persona. Yo se que jesucristo vive y que nosotros podemos encontrar la mas felicidad possible mediante nuestro Salvador.

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!!!

XOXOX

Hermana Pentelute

Pictures:

1-2. Josie

3. The pictures are of Elvia one of our investigators and her daughters. The one in the pictures with us found the cameras in our bags and went crazy, her name is josie I love her :)