La Conferencia General & Semana Santa

We experienced some unforseen stresses this week when my companion and Hna Rodríguez (the comanion of Hna Baker) needed to go to Cusco Tuesday, so Hna Baker and I have been living it up together!

Not gonna lie, it can be super stressful to work two sectors, no matter how easy-going we try to be. And at least for me, it`s uncomfortable to work without my other-half (aka, my companion), and to adjust to another. (Boy, am I going to have problems this next week during changes.) But no matter the incommodities, Hna Baker and I get along pretty well, and we have been giving the work our all! Even when our companion`s initial 2-day-stay has extended into a week, we`ve stopped keeping track of the days and things just feel like normal. :)

If I`ve learned something this week, it`s that I can never stop working hard as a missionary even when there are unforseen challenges - like your companion travelling. I`ll be a missionary until I get released by my stake president, and even up until then I will be searching for people to contact and teach. I wont ever have this chance again, so I am going to LIVE it UP!

We visited with Ronal & Yanet :D Can I just reemphasize how much I LOVE them? With the help of our 2nd counselor of the branch, we taught them about celestial marriage and the Family Proclamation. They seriously are good, honest, and prepared people. They`ve been practically living the góspel without knowing it, and when the Spirit testifies of this to them in lessons, they just shine! Ronal almost brought me to tears in our lesson as he affirmed that they want to be baptized and be an eternal family. Maybe I am just super emotional or the Spirit was blasting full-forcé in that moment, but I have never been more happy in all of my misión than I was when he said that. Of course, there will be challenges along the way for them - as it is for anyone who begins their discipleship - but I know that Heavenly Father will bless them to the degree of their faith and good works. Ronal and Yanet are attending Church every Sunday, creating frienships in the branch and growing spiritually. :) As far as the work we are doing to help them get married, we are getting some papers ready and have asked for the help of the branch in order to help them with some of the fees of the municipalidad that they just dont have the money to pay. Please pray for them! This family has goals to go to the temple. :)

 When I am not loving my investigatores, I am loving being used by the Spirit to teach. Our misión leader also went to Cusco this weekend for a District training, so I volunteered to prepare the Gospel Principles class this Sunday. It was on the Atonement, and during the whole process of preparing spiritually and outlining ideas for the class, I felt guided to know what to focus on. I didnt end up using everything that I prepared, but the Spirit was warmly present in that class and He told me which scriptures to use to explain the doctrine of the Atonement, why it`s important, and the blessings that come through Christ`s sufferings, death, and resurrection. The class members were making comments, asking questions, and we all learned by looking up scriptures and breaking down the meanings. When we had time at the end, several of them chose to give their testimonies. In my eyes, that class was a miracle. We all went in seeking to learn more, and left full of the Spirit. I live for moments like that!

This week I`ve pondered more about the short time it is to serve as a full-time missionary. The truth is, I take powerful teaching moments like that Sunday class and our lesson with Ronal and Yanet for granted. I dont even want to imagine how different it will be to not have the authority to preach the góspel and have the influence of the Spirit to call others to repentance. It`s more than unique! And...I just gotta make the most of it while I can!

On another note, this week is CONFERENCE. I loved the Womens Meeting, and I am getting hyped up over here about listening to the Prophet. The newest news on the misión grape-vine says that us gringos wont be able to watch it in English in a separate room like we are accostomed to, but no matter. We`ll get to watch CONFERENCE! This time of year is just so special, and I am grateful for the góspel that I have in my life. Everyday I draw closer to my Savior, and I can have an eternal perspective in everything.

I hope you all enjoy this week and take time to listen to the words of living prophets. I know that they are called of God, and they He guides us through them. I also know that my Redeemer lives, and the relationship that I have with Him is worth all of the riches in the world! Nothing else matters.

I am out of time, but make sure to enjoy this Easter and go watch ``Because He Lives``! Here`s a link:

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_watch-3Fv-3DBZqTRSVA1YA&d=BQIBaQ&c=z0adcvxXWKG6LAMN6dVEqQ&r=qrVNCddiHovBcU_4Cg7CajfHJyUGOcm8knDRbWG-sRA&m=2d0AyHXVWOLrdGJ6tVrOXdWjFrUvjCFNuimDHn72-a0&s=qerSxluYa6n22VIlmV1quIXlq55dlNy8EmLQZlCBvXU&e=

Love,

Hna Arroyo

(sorry that there`s no fotos this week! I`ll work on that, promise.)

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Exercising Faith

I´ve got some updates on Ronal and Yanet! 

They are progressing faster than any other investigators that I think  I´ve ever had. The scriptures talk about the gift of believing that comes through the Spirit, and I am pretty convinced that is a gift that they have. Every follow up we do with their committments, Ronal makes a comment, ´´...Yes, I was read ing and studying the  pamplets, and it all just makes sense. Heavenly Father gives us commandments to bless us, and so why not be obedient to what He says? I´ve realized that we´ve had things backwards for a long time...´´

This couple is just so great! Our last lesson was about keeping the Sabbath holy, to which Ronal and Yanet readily and whole-heartedly accepted. We then talked about their baptism and possible dates for their marriage. Ronal was previously married, and so he needs to wait for a document that declares that his divorce has been finalized. We´re helping he and Yanet get all of their paper work done so that they can continue progressing. We cant officially put a date on their baptism right now, so we committed them to  pray about an answer. Ronal even said that he was going to fast and give us an answer in our appointment Tuesday - tommorrow! :)

On another note, Hna Román and I keep striving to improve. Not too long ago President Harbertson gave us new standards of excellence for contacting families (12 weekly) and asking for references (20 weekly). We´ve been contacting and asking for references like crazy women, even if it means running to catch a family that we see walking away in the opposite direction. It is really fun for us, and we reward ourselves with smoothies everytime that we reach our daily goals. 

And we are seeing the fruits of our labors! Not every family loves us or wants to listen, but there always is a diamond in the rough. Just the other day we contacted a young couple, and right from the start they  began sharing with us how they have been looking for a church to attend, how the´ve seen signs of the second coming and want to prepare for the day that Christ comes  again, etc. Meeting golden families like that one makes all our our goal-setting and crazy contacting worth it.  

This Church is true! 

One more thing, the drunk men of Quillabamba are always cat-calling us where ever we walk (that´s nothing new), but the other day one man dropped a really smooth pick-up line:

´´En la antiguedad no había enfermedad entre de todos los Incas como tú!´´ 

That pretty much made my day.  

Hope you all have a fabulous week!

Hna Arroyo

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Trials to help us grow

In this email I want to share my testimony of prayer. It has become totally invaluable to me now like never before as I strive to better apply the gospel. I know that when we pray, we are literally communicating with the Creator of the Universe, and that He listens because we are His children on this earth. His whole purpose is to help every one of us return to live with Him, but He cant if we dont pray. I make mistakes everyday, and so I am constantly praying for help to change and recieve strength to do it. And I know, that every time that I have prayed, Heavenly Father has answered me. I now cant aford not to pour out my heart to Him everyday! If I dont have a nice long conversation with Him in the morning, I wont be able to function for the rest of the day nor have the power to help others. 

This past week, before going into a lesson, I noticed that my companion was mad about something, but didnt want to talk about it. I prayed for my heart for patience, and was about to suggest that we cancel our appointment, when Hna Roman knocked on the door of Ronald and Janet, and Ronald answered and invited us in before the words left my mouth. I have enough time in the mission to know that if we dont have the Spirit as a companionship, there is no way that we are going to teach! But there was no turning back, and we entered totally relying on the Lord to help us procure the Spirit to teach. 

At first the situation seemed hopeless, but the more I prayed for myself and my companion so that we could be instuments in the Lord´s Hands, the Spirit slowly began to enter. I recieved the strength to forget about what happened ten minutes before, to love my companion and to care about how she felt. As we began teaching Ronald and Janet about the Restoration, I looked over at my companion and noticed how the Spirit filled her eyes, and we both were able to be guided by Him. The Holy Ghost filled that room like electricity, and the family that we were teaching were comprehending the doctrine and testifying of how it all made sense to them and that it is true. That was a miracle given how we felt when we entered their house!

Hna Roman and I were hugging each other as we walked out of that lesson. And the miracle came about through prayer and faith! I keep thinking back to what would have happened if we had been too prideful to allow the Spirit to work in us, and how much different would have been the reactions of Ronald and Janet. I do know that if we didnt have prayed, totally relying on the Lord, we wouldnt have been made instruments in His Hands. 

I love this gospel! Keep praying in faith and seeking to follow Christ. He lives, and I have this testimony after many prayers and listening to the Spirit. I promise you that if you pray and rely on the Lord, He will guide you, strengthen you, and fulfill all of your righteous dreams! He has done all of this and more for me so far.

Hna Arroyo

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