Moments.

Missions are full of all sorts of moments... These past two weeks, we've experienced them all!

 

It's had the good...

 

- Last Saturday, Ordonez and I got to go to the temple with two recent converts (one is a 22 year old guy preparing to go on a mission, the other is a cute mom). We got to be with them while they did baptisms for the dead for the first time! Seriously, this was one of the sweetest experiences I have had. Both of them were so happy. It is the coolest thing ever seeing the happiness the gospel brings. And the Houston temple is SO gorgeous!

 

- One of our investigators has set a baptism date! She is so prepared and has been since we met her! Her husband passed away about two months ago. She loves and misses her husband so much. This gospel has brought her so much hope that one day she will be able to see him again.

 

- Another one of our investigators has finally started reading The Book of Mormon! This is a huge miracle!

 

- We had such a cool experience with a family in our ward and a non-member who they had met earlier that day and invited to have an FHE with us. Ordonez and I taught a lesson about God being our loving Heavenly Father. The woman (non-member) agreed with everything we said. After we finished, the Dad who had invited her, bore one of the most humble and solid testimonies that I have ever heard. At the end of his testimony, he turned to the lady and said, "I know that God loves you." The spirit was there during the entire night, but in that moment it hit really hard like a train. It was exactly what this woman needed to hear because she is going through a really difficult time. I don't think that is was a coincedence that they met that day. God is in the details!

 

It has also had some bad.. (But not really.. I'm on cloud 9 out here)

 

- I've already gone through a pair of shoes and a bag.

 

- I'm almost 95% sure that I ate fried fat. Imagine eating a dog treat (not that I ever have), but that is what I would compare it to. Luckily, I didn't know what it was until after.

 

And it has most definitely had some awkward/uncomfortable moments...

 

- Mostly everything uncomfortable happens while tracting. I can't really tell who speaks Spanish and who doesn't. It doesn't help that when people answer the doors, they just stare and don't say anything. So a lot of the time, I just start with "hola" if they look like they are potentially Latino. This usually ends really interesting because they either don't end up speaking Spanish (sometimes they don't speak English either), or if they do speak it, they just look at me like,"Who is this white girls trying to talk to me". Never in my life have I gotten so many weird looks haha.

 

- So I don't really know why this happens, but it does. People answer their doors all the time not wearing any clothes. Like they literally just hide behind the door and poke their heads out to talk to us. Some tell us that they can't talk because they aren't dressed and others you can just tell. I am still trying to figure out why people are even answering their doors then haha.

 

Lastly, after some recent experiences I have been thinking a lot about the words in one of my favorite talks. It was given in a general conference by President Henry B. Eyring and is called "Mountains to Climb". If you haven't read it, do it! There is also a Mormon Message available to watch (but make sure you have a box of tissues.. it is a tear jerker).

 

It talks about the importance of having faith in Christ. At one point, President Eyring teaches, "If the foundation of faith is not embedded in our hearts, the power to endure will crumble."

In Helaman 5:12, Helaman teaches his sons the importance of building upon faith in Christ and says,

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock‍ of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that yemust build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when allhis hail and his mighty storm‍ shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery andendless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build theycannot fall."

 

Life is so hard sometimes and all sorts of things are thrown at us, but when we live our lives with a foundation built upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, "the hardest as well as the easiest of times in life can be a blessing."

 

I know that this is true! As we put Christ first, everything else will fall into place and we will be given the hope necessary to carry on.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Rupp