Ola Familia!

Ok seriously, I cannot believe all of this crazy weather you guys are having! What I would give to go lay out in a field of snow! It was over 100 F this week here and we can really feel it when it we are outside walking all day. I want to try to fry an egg on the sidewalk because I´m thinking it really could work here. A few places like the Church have air conditioning though so we are really trying to take advantage of that. Our apartment complex just sent us a note this week saying they were thinking about installing air conditioning in our apartments! That would truly be a miracle.

But the happiness and success of missionary work is completely outweighing the difficulties of the weather. We are teaching like crazy! I have never found so much joy and happiness in missionary work. Sister Hoggan is so great and easy to work with. We work hard every day and come home super exhausted but super happy. We are teaching a lot of different people and having awesome contacts. We have a great unity in our companionship that I haven´t had with any other. We have had similar experiences in the past on our mission and have similar goals and hopes for the work in the future. I love teaching with her and feel very confident and safe to talk to anyone and teach any principle with her as a partner. The work is going strong and we can work as hard as we want.

Our biggest challenge these two weeks has been helping people come to Church. We have great, super spiritual lessons with people and have had 5 or 6 people promise to come to Church on Sunday but then no one shows up. We are doing our part and trying to go pick them up to take them to Church though so I don´t know much more we can do. I am learning all over again about the importance of agency and how we need to repect the agency of others no matter how hard you want to make them choose the right! Agency is a very important part of God´s plan and we should never try to take that away. We did have some less actives that we are working with come to Church though. That was exciting and two of them seem really pumped up and ready to become active again. We are seeing miracles everywhere.

This week has been a week full of the Spirit. We have still had hard moments and have had a few great investigators drop us, but we have had some amazing lessons. I feel the Holy Ghost speaking through me every day and have never felt the Spirit so strongly in one condensed period of time in my life. Even if we don´t have many or any baptisms, I feel like we are being successful missionaries and really bringing others closer to Christ. I love this work! It feels so good to have the Spirit with you and testifying of your words. I can know we are doing the right things when the Spirit is so strong. I am truly coming to love this people and want all of this happiness and peaceful feelings for them too.

Our highlight investigators of the week are Jonatos and Jessica and Iara. Jonatos and Jessica were a contact we made in the street that we marked an appointment for the next week. We taught them the first lesson on Saturday and the Spirit was super strong. We saw them again on Sunday, and although they didn´t come to Church (but they only had about 12 hours notice) Jessica said she had already read the chapter we gave them. It will be hard to meet with them because they work a ton and are only available Saturday nights, but we think they are really going to progress. Iara is a single Mom with a super cute baby girl and a 10 year old son. I knocked into them a few weeks ago with Sister Jales and it has been hard to get in contact with them again, but we have always felt a pull to go back there anyway. These past two weeks we have had the chance to meet with her twice and have had some really powerhouse lessons. She has been through A LOT in her life and we will have to explain things slowly and tenderly, but I am starting to see the beginnings of the evangelho de Cristo changing her life. I know she can be healed of everything and that she can know for herself that this is the true Church of Christ led by a prophet of God. Oh, we have such good news to take to everyone! I wish we could teach every person in this city.

Life is great and filled with good things! Be grateful for every blessing you see!

Love you forever,

Sister Marchant