Mi Familia,
SUCH a good weekend. Conference is suddenly better than Christmas when you're on a mission. I learned so much and I can't wait to read a bunch of it over again. We did have a few investigators there, or listen to it in their own homes! Last week was good and busy as we invited everyone we knew and tons we didn't to conference. Seth went to priesthood session with a member he's close to. That was a surprise because we had invited Brother Hatch to invite him but we thought he had work. Also, the Pomeroy family invited one of our newer investigators, Rudy, over to listen to the Sunday morning session with them. He loved it and told us he was surprised that they talked about God the whole time rather than Joseph Smith. and Marilyn and Jerry, a hilariously southern couple we've taught only a couple times, watched at least one session at home. They're super Baptist but have read a little from the Book of Mormon, mostly out of curiosity. Actually, only out of curiosity. I think that's what Conference was, too. But Marilyn said that she liked it and agreed with everything they said.
I loved Conference. Probably the greatest thing I learned, or came to understand better, is Heavenly Father and Christ's pure, good love for us. Elder Ochoa said something about us not being able to do anything without the Holy Ghost. I thought about that, and thought about how the commandments are only there to help us have the Holy Ghost with us, so we can one day inherit all of God's blessings. It became clear to me. Heavenly Father isn't the God so many people in the world imagine: a old man sitting on his throne demanding to be worshiped and obeyed and smiting people left and right. He is so good. He isn't mad when we neglect Him, He's sad that our decisions are distancing us from Him and the influence of the Holy Ghost that is so vital for us to get anywhere. When we slip, He is patient. He is quick to help us back up. He is purely good. How important it is for everyone to understand this!!
Yesterday morning the Crapo family invited us over for breakfast before Conference. It was a COLD morning (we got a beautiful cold front this weekend! We were wearing cardigans and scarves and tights and everything! I think it's about over, though) and we sat cozily at the table with their sweet family, talking and laughing and eating waffles with homemade whipped cream and syrup, cinnamon rolls that were to die for, bacon, eggs, and orange juice. And Sister Crapo gave us a warm loaf of homemade bread for us to take home, because she knows how much we love her bread (it is SOOO good! I will use her recipe forever!). We felt so loved. I don't think I'll ever forget how beautiful that morning was, and how I felt. And Sister Crapo gives the greatest hugs.
We dropped Christina yesterday. She didn't come to Conference and hasn't been reading, and we basically told her that we will teach her as long as she shows an interest, but if she's not going to act we can't waste God's time. She got kind of defensive and said that she's just really busy and can't go to school and tell her teacher that she didn't do her homework but at least she read the Book of Mormon and stuff like that. But she needs to make it a priority. We've invited her hundreds of times to just read one minute a day. She won't even do that. She said she hopes things will be easier next week, and we asked her to call us when things slow down and she wants us to come back over. She said she will. My heart kind of sunk in that lesson but it had to be done. We'll keep praying for her and see what happens.
Seth's being difficult still. The branch president wants him to meet with President Garza, the mission presidency counselor who's over the district down here, before he gets baptized. But he's completely avoiding it. We saw him one time this week and had a good lesson, but he was questioning getting baptized on the 12th. We haven't seen him or heard much from him since. We think the main thing is that he's scared of the interview. We don't know why. We've talked about it several times and told him that President Garza just wants to get to know him and there's nothing to worry about. We don't know what's going on. He's just so, so busy (isn't that always the story?) and needs to make the gospel a priority. It's completely his decision. We'll see what happens.
So to change gears, this whole government shut-down thing is really hitting Del Rio hard. The majority of people here work government jobs like border control. Many people have been sent home or working without pay. Many don't know if they'll get retropaid or not. It's nuts and it's effecting everyone. I hope it ends soon.
I think that's all I've got to say. Next week I'll tell you what happens with transfer calls. I'm trying not to think about it and to live in the now. Hermana Ludeman and I made a pact that whenever we start talking about transfers, we have to start talking about ducks. It's been pretty effective since there's not a lot to say about them.
Love you all! Have a fantastic week!
Hermana Lund
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