COME!! See for Yourself!!

July 27, 2015

So probably my favorite part of this week: we went to get pizza because we had about 20 minutes to eat dinner quick- and so we get out of the car and the car next to us is full of teenage boys. They were smoking and whatnot and they see us get out and start yelling things-that-shall-not-be-repeated-in-this-email at us. But we get that a lot, so I just ignored it. We walk in, get a pizza, and walk back out. They start making rude comments again and then- to our dismay- feel something running down the back of our legs. And it wasn't raining. We were spit upon!!  We got back in the car and I turned to Hermana Clark and say "THAT was awesome!!!" She just looks back at me like I'm crazy. So I had to find my favorite scripture for her: Acts 5:41: "And they departed from the presence of the council [or a car-full of teenage boys], rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." All those little moments just help me to understand a little more clearly how our Saviour Jesus Christ must have felt as he was mocked, hit, spit upon, and suffered all manner of afflictions. Jesus Christ was accepted and loved by relatively few- hated by many- but that didn't detract from His divine role as the Son of God. Nor does the slamming of doors in our faces or people that yell and spit on us detract from the fact that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, called to preach His gospel to the world!

The other best part of the week was Sunday night. Every month, our mission president has something called "Come, See for Yourself." And it's something that we invite investigators to, and people can bring friends to just to get a feel for the Church. It's an hour long and they show a few video clips, they have special musical numbers (emphasis on the special!) and testimonies from a few people from the mission that have gotten baptized recently. So this month, we got a call from the APs and they asked us if Carolina would share her testimony at it!! She of course said yes, and so we went with her last night and she about passed out when she saw how many people there were! whoops! haha. But she bravely went up there and shared a beautiful testimony!! She was glowing. She said "I finally found what I have been looking for for so long. I'm now in the Lord's hands. I'm His." It was a powerful moment and she truly is becoming an instrument in God's hands to do such amazing things! We were soo proud of her and her testimony was what really brought the Spirit to the room. On the drive home, we all felt sooo peaceful. It was nice.

Especially because during church, we had an AWESOME investigator, and her 6-yr-old daughter come to church for the first time. They came with Carolina and her 7-yr old daughter. And oh my goodness. I never realized what mothers go through at church until yesterday. I was in charge of entertaining the ninas so that their moms could focus and get the most out of church. Which turned into- the peace I usually feel during the sacrament, and the things I learn from the talks- yeah, none of that yesterday. They were crawling all over the place, talking, and getting cracker crumbs everyone! And me trying desperately to rein in all the madness. We played tick-tack-toe (that last all of about 5 minutes ha), we drew minions. I just came to a new appreciation for all the moms out there who bring their kids to church! Kudos to you!  Wowzers.

Anyways...I hope you all can feel that peace that fills our hearts and souls on a regular basis! Seek for the peace the gospel brings and put yourself in the places that you will be most likely to feel it!

-Hermana Webb

The harvest of our garden!!

PIZZA!!

The munchkins!! So adorable!!

Hola!

LYLI AND ELVIN!!

Carolina as happy as can be with her new set of scriptures!!

Meet our friend Chuckie!! We got a picture with the beast! haha

Que Emocion!!!

July 13, 2015

Hola familia!!!!

This week had to be one of the absolute best. EVER. Like ever, ever.

Carolina was baptized and it was the most amazing, spiritual experience of her life and probably of mine as well!!!!!

I cannot even begin to explain how incredible Saturday was, but I will try with the little time I have. The service started and Carolina's best friend, Hermana Terry, got up to bear her testimony and started crying and bore a powerful witness of the restored gospel. She has known Carolina for a few years and helped us to teach and has been such a solid friend and support. Then, Hermana Clark and I sang "Abide with Me, Tis' Eventide." And then, we got to walk Carolina back to the font. She stopped to look in the mirror and started to cry and cry. She was so overwhelmed with so many emotions. We were the only ones to be able to see this precious moment and I was so grateful. We hugged her and she walked down into the 120 degree water (she was very adamant about the water being warm haha). President Waite did a great job and the baptism went so smooth. She came back up the steps and we were there, holding out her towel. She hugged us and got us all wet, and when we walked back into the little dressing room, the Spirit was so incredibly strong. I felt like we were only inches away from heaven. Carolina was perfectly, perfectly clean and pure and the Spirit was manifested with such power. She couldn't stop thanking us and crying, she kissed us both on the cheek and my heart just melted. It was the most sacred moment.

Then we went back out where everyone else was waiting (and writing their testimonies which we are going to put in a book for her!) and Carolina got to share her testimony. She's been wanting to share it for a while, but she really wanted to wait for her baptism. It was so powerful and you could tell her much the gospel means to her. She had been searching for so long for the true church, and when she shared how grateful she was that she had finally found it and how it filled the hole in her life. She's deeply converted to the doctrines and in her confirmation the next day, President Waite blessed her with "a testimony of all of the principles of the gospel" and he also mentioned being able to enter the temple, so that was pretty neat!! And then, Alberto was able to say the last prayer, and that just brought everything full circle for me! 

I've had a lot of great people that I've met and taught on my mission, but Carolina has been the most amazing conversion to witness, hands down. From the very first time we went to teach her, she has progressed and learned so much. She always extended her own invitations to study, come to church, and she was even the first to ask US about getting baptized. The other thing that's so special about her is that she's always known what her bigger goal is- the temple. The first time she came to church, it was a testimony meeting and a lot of people were talking about the temple and the temple trip they had just been on. She leans over and asks what in the world the temple is and why is everyone talking about it? haha. I whipped out the temple pamphlet and showed her a few pictures and explained how we can do the work for our families there. Ever since then, that has been her goal. She knows that baptism was the first step, but when she realized that she could seal her parents together for all of eternity in the temple, she began to cry and told us "that would be the biggest blessing in this world." And literally 3 hours after her baptism, she texts us and says "what's my temple status??" hahaha. She is fascinated with the idea of holding her own recommend and asked Presidente Waite for an interview yesterday. Haha- she CANNOT wait to go to the temple.

Remember, 98% of a mission is hard work, disappointment, and heartache, but 2% is pure joy...and that 2% makes it all worth it. This is the most PURE joy I have yet to experience in my life. It is the PURE love of Christ that purifies my heart and the hearts of all those who accept the fulness of the gospel, the fulness of joy.

HERMANA WEBB

Carolina Got Baptized!!!!!

President Waite baptized her!

I LOVE HER WITH ALL MY HEART!!

Carolina works for the guy who owns Cinnabon so we got
some free cinnamon rolls to celebrate!!

Selfie!!

I finally got corn on the cob. Tastes like home!

The Party is Back

July 6, 2015

This week was great!

Two of my favorite people ever got back!! Carolina and Lyli! Yay!!!

Lyli has been in Guatemala with her daughter for the last two months and I have missed her so much! We went over the night she got home and she gave us some Guatemalan candy and was soo happy to see us! Now we can get back on track with getting this wonderful family to the temple to be sealed forever and ever!! 

Carolina got back from a trip and was soo happy to be back. She came to church this Sunday and when they announced her baptism this Saturday to the branch, she just about started crying!! She is friends with basically everyone in the branch, haha, we don't even need to introduce her to anyone. We walk away for a sec and look back to see her talking to a new person, exchanging numbers, hugging everyone. She is the MOST prepared person I've ever taught!! She's had so many incredibly experiences studying the gospel and praying to know the truth. She told us that she had talking to her family and some friends about her baptism, and she had invited them to church and to come to her baptism. She told us that they all made fun of her and don't support her, but that it didn't sway her even a bit. Her testimony is already rock-solid!! She told us she wants us to come to her friend's wedding that she's helping to plan, and share a message so that all her friends have a good impression of the Mormons and want to come to church with her! Haha- best missionary ever! AND- oh my gosh, yesterday was fast Sundayand we had taught her about tithing and fasting already, so when she saw us paying fast offering, she asked if she could too!

And then after church, she had us over for dinner, and mad us these amazing Mexican hotdogs wrapped in bacon and smothered in guacamole, tomato, onion, and all good things. SO YUMMY! And then she pulls out this big cake with 2-0 candles on top and they start singing happy birthday!! Haha, she felt soo bad that she forgot. Me and Hermana Clark always laugh so hard because she literally thinks our names are Webb and Clark, even though the nametags clearly say "Hermana Webb" and "Hermana Clark". Hahaha, it's so funny that we don't even correct her. So when they were singing, it was "Happy Birthday dear Webbbbbbb!, Happy birthday to you!" Ok, so yeah, you get it- I love Carolina! A lot!!!!

Alberto's still doing greattt! :D When we went over to visit him, we took a selfie cause he was still in his Panda uniform! Haha- see below for pic!

Hope y'all had a wonderful 4th of July!! At church, after testimony meeting, we all stood up and sang the Star-Spangled Banner in English. Haha. All the hispanics truly love this country! We looked up to see Lyli and Elvin holding hands and Lyli was crying as she sang! By the way, she's totally got a baby-bump going on now and it is SO cute! She's due in November! :)

Love you all!! Favorite scripture of the week!: "I [Jesus Christ] am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." The gospel truly makes our life abundant and so full of joy and blessings!!

-Hna Webb

Heart attacking Carolina's door for when she got home!

Look at these crepes we made! I still try to keep
up the Saturday tradition of the Webb home!

Yum, Yum!!

The big 20!!! On my mission!!