The Hand of the Lord

Dear Everyone,

Really, this week the Lord has blessed us SO much.  We have begun to see the fruits of our labor here in Paraguay.  When we found out we didn't have changes, we were kind of bummed, especially with the whole situation with the ward, but we have seen so many miracles this week.  I made a goal with myself to do something for my companion every day of this change.  And it has made SUCH a difference.  I began to make her bed, or make her breakfast when she didn't have time to make something, or little things like that, and it is so amazing to see the difference in our relationship.  We are good friends now, and it is so much easier to bring the spirit into our lessons when we testify and support each other. 

So to start off, a family that we found in Marambure (my last area) with my trainer was baptized this Saturday.   Maria Lopez and her husband were baptized, and with more of her nine children to follow.  We worked with her when I was still in training, and she and her husband were baptized this Saturday!   One thing that was cool was that she had talked with the missionaries before, but after a couple of visits just started to hide from them.  When we began to visit her again, we found her when she was very sad, and when she needed something to hold on to. So, moral of the story, even if someone is to the point that they hide from you, they always have potential, it just has to be the right moment.  We had 5 new investigators this week, and EVERY SINGLE ONE seems like they have potential for baptism.  Here in this mission, it isn't really that hard to get people to commit to baptism, but it is very rare to find someone who really feels that it is important enough to change their lives and repent of their sins.  We found a lady named Paula, who was visiting with the elders before, but when they put in hermanas, they didn't return to visit her.  We had an amazing experience talking about the Atonement, and I loved the feeling that we had while we were with her.

Another miracle was that Hilda came to church AGAIN this week!  We tried to put a date for her baptism, but she didn't want to commit, so we decided that we wouldn't visit her as much and just give her some time to think and pray about her desires and her decision to be baptized.  We honestly weren't expecting her to come, but hey, she came.  It was such a wonderful feeling to see that she acted on her faith and is ready to take more steps and progress.

A funny thing is that I went swimming!  On accident.  In a hidden hole underneath a rather large, deep, lakelike puddle.  I had invested in flipflops so that I wouldn't get my shoes as wet in the dirty water so much, so I had my flipflops so I wouldn't get my shoes wet, and my companion headed around the puddle but got to a point that she couldn't cross.  So I, being the good companion that I am, walked over to help her cross and turns out, there was a hole.  So, wearing my flipflops so my shoes wouldn't get so wet, I stepped right into a hole and went into the water up to my waist.  And on top of all of it, I GOT MY SHOES WET.   Dangit.  Well, I just thought of what my mom always told me...you can laugh or cry.  So, we laughed like nuts.  And washed my clothes REALLY well.

Anyways, all in all, it was a good week.  I was reading in Jacob 5, with the allegory of the olive tree, and something caught my attention.  Always, the master of the vineyard was doing things to help his plants to grow.  Nourishing them, pruning them, digging around them, always aware of what is happening and what the needs of His plants are.  It is the same with our Heavenly Father.  He is always with us, helping us, pruning us, cutting us down if needs be, and always aware of what we need.  I know that He is here at our side. That is His work and joy, helping us to achieve our exaltation so that we can be happy with Him FOREVER.  I am so happy to be here working, and I know that if we are worthy, He will be there, always working with us to progress and help others do the same.

With love,

Hermana Farish

Miracle of Miracles

Dear Family,

We have had a good week here in Paraguay.  Really, it is so awesome to see the Lord's hand in these things.

First off, Hilda.  Hilda is 67 years old, and has diabetes. Something is really, really wrong with her foot, and it is hard to walk.  The sisters who were here before found here, and Hilda always used her foot as an excuse to not go to church.  But now, she is so ready to be baptized.  Last week on Sunday, we were walking to bring people to church, and we had the feeling that we needed to go to get a less active (the bishop's wife), so we went, were rejected, and when we were walking back to go to church, we found Hilda walking with her grandson to go to church with us.  We wouldn't have found her if we hadn't gone to find the less active, so even when you have impressions, and you don't know why, you need to follow them , becaue who knows, just like Elder Hughes said.

On Monday Hilda told us that she had woken up on Sunday morning with so much pain in her foot, and wasn't feeling well.  She said that she prayed to the Lord that she would be healed so that she could walk to church.  She told us that the pain just left.  WWHHHAAATTTTT???  We were so incredibly happy.  The second miracle with her was this Sunday.  We tried to call her, and she didn't answer, and we didn't have time to walk and find her, so we went to church really depressed.  But at 9 am, she walked right on up with her grandson!  She told us that she woke up a little late and began to walk, even with the pain in her foot.  Then her grandson found a 2 thousand guarani bill so that they were able to take a bus and not walk so much.  This really showed me that we have to act on our faith, which sometimes is really hard, but when we do, our loving Heavenly Father will help us to bear our burdens and will bless us beyond what we can imagine.

We had a wonderful gift this Sunday.  The Sisters Linda Burton (President de RS) and Neill Marriot (2nd counselor YW) came to Paraguay!  We got a colectivo for the ward and we all went to the chapel next to the temple to listen to them. We were like 4 rows away from these wonderful women.  It was such a wonderful experience.  They really are called to bring relief to those who need it, and I want to be as loving and as humble as they are when I grow up. 

They truly have charity for every single person.

Seriously.  It was so amazing.  From Hna. Marriot, she told us 5 things that we need to do to keep our spirits from diminishing and protect ourselves from temptation:

1-Pray always:when we don't have the Spirit in our hearts, STOP what you are doing AND PRAY.
2-Read and STUDY the scriptures.  Pray for inspiration and revelation.
3-Take the Sacrament every Sunday.  When we don't take the sacrament, we lose power from God.
4-SERVE others with the love of Christ. Mosiah 2:17
5-Go to the temple often.

From Hna. Burton, she asked the question, "What kind of woman am I?  Am I prepared to meet Jesus Christ beyond the veil?"  That was SO deep.  It was like...oh flip.

The heat wasn't all that bad this week.  It is getting easier, but wow, I am getting some really, really, really weird tan lines.  LIke BAD.  We have air conditioning in the room where we sleep, and it is such a downer when we go outside the room the next morning and the heat just melts all of the protective ice that you built up during the night.  My companion is fine, we have a pretty good relationship now, and I am really trying hard to develop charity.  The conference of the Relief society last night really showed me what an incredibly powerful tool it can be in the power of conversion.

Oddly enough, my favorite thing to eat here is a salad made up of salt, cucumbers, lime, and tomatoes.  It is SO good and fresh and healthy.  There is this thing called milanesa that is like fried chicken but it is slices of beef.  It is so, so good with rice and this salad.  Something that I thought would never happen is that something really good with rice is mayonnaise, with corn and peas.  COLD.  Weird, but true.  Almost everything is better with mayo.

Anyways, that conference was such a wonderful blessing, it was like the pep talk of the century.  And I have 6 months in the mission..que en el mundo.  Time is going by WAY too fast.

I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderful week!  Stay happy and know that you have a Heavenly Father and an older brother who are at your side at all times!

Love, love, love,

Hermana Farish