Hermana Webb in Washington: SUNNY SIDE UP!

September 15, 2014

I've been assigned to serve in the Sunny Side Spanish-speaking branch here in the Marysville Stake. With Hermana Weymouth as my trainer! Love her to death.

I could literally write a novel from only one week in the mission field. So much happens every day it's unreal. I've never been so busy in my whole life. But I love it. I get to teach people about the Restored truth and Jesus Christ all day every day. As Alma said in the Book of Mormon, "O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ. Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious....; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our bretheren, again unto thee." This is my prayer every day. The people that I am teaching are so precious to me and to their Heavenly Father.

Well, I left Mexico and my wonderful MTC family on Tuesday and got on a plane to a whole new unknown. Me and Hermana Frei got 3 hours of sleep and so it was kind of a struggle to stay awake the whole first day. We got to the Atlanta airport, and came up the escalator to find...FAST FOOD. Oh it had been so long. I was about ready to cry when I saw that first McDonald's golden arch. Merica. It was also super hard to speak English surprisingly. I kept speaking to everyone at the airport in Spanish! Ah.

And then I got to the mission home in Everett and got assigned to Sunny Side and Hermana Weymouth. One of the first things she said to me I'll never forget: "I'm going to train you the way my friends taught me to snowboard. Start at the top of the biggest hill and keep up." GULP. Haha. You really have to start swimming right from the start or you're gonna drown. So I'm grateful for her determination. She is AMAZING at Spanish. After 6 weeks in Mexico, I was feeling pretty good about my Spanish abilities. HA- No. I am like level 0. It's crazy how humbling this first week has been. So much to learn still.

We have 7 people on date to be baptized within the next month which I am so excited about. There is some great work going on in this area right now. I've met so many amazing people and my second day here, I got to see what a mission is all about. We drove over to Gustavo and Jessica's house and started teaching them and their two adorable little girls- Mickinzie and Madison. It was so beautiful. A whole family sitting and listening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time and feeling the Spirit with them in their home. At the end of the lesson, little 2-year-old Madison comes up and gives me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. O mi corazon!!!

And then the next day was the biggest miracle!! Hermana Weymouth had been teaching this lady named Mary. We stopped by and she wasn't home but her daughter was so we started teaching her about the Restoration. I testified that God loves us and He gives us prophets to help us return to Him. I promised that if she would ask God if the things we taught were true, she would get an answer. Then Hermana Weymouth asked her to do it right then and there. She did and after her prayer, Hermana Weymouth asked if she wanted to be baptized. She said YES! My soul was singing. Such amazing faith on this young girl, Laura's, part.

Also, I had my first authentic Mexican meal with Alejandra and her 2 little girls. She made us posole. It was actually super good. And then there was the salsa...oh boy. Me and her little girl dared each other to try it. I was chugging my water bottle and she was gulping down her Danimal for like 5 minutes. Haha. That stuff had some serious kick!!!

So now you see I was quite serious about the novel thing. Haha. But honestly, thank you so much for all your support and love! I feel your prayers for me all the time. I LOVE what I'm doing in bringing people to the joy of the Gospel. When I fall down exhausted at the end of every day, I know that every ounce of energy and effort I put in is worth it. Because the Gospel doesn't just change people's lives, it changes their eternity.

Hermana Webb