Hola familia y amigos!

Como estan?

So to start off this week I would like to quote Elder Timothy J. Dyches: "Do you remember when your faith and joy were full to the brim? Remember the moment you found your testimony or when God confirmed to you that you were His son or daughter and that He loved you very much--and you felt whole? If that time seems lost, it can be found again." 

One of my favorite parts about missionary work is helping people find that joy that fills hearts to the brim. I know that as we teach and help one-another as members and as friends we can bring others to remember that they are children of their Heavenly Father.

This past week we had exchanges, again! Back-to-back 48 hour exchanges! Crazy right? Except this time I was the one who stayed in Largo and Hermana Duong went up to Hudson. I realized during that exchange how grateful I am to have Hermana Duong! Haha, it's really stressful to work the phone, GPS, plan the lessons, drive the car, schedule all the appointments and teach the whole lesson all by yourself.

I'm not saying Sister White didn't help me, it's just that she doesn't know as much Spanish, so it was a little difficult. I had a lot of fun though. We were able to contact a lot of people and set up appointments with them. We also taught several amazing lessons in which sister White bore testimony in Spanish (I was so proud of her)!

We started teaching this new guy named Juan who is super ready for the gospel. He asks all the right questions. We're really excited to start teaching him. We also started teaching one of our investigators sisters who is also really into the gospel. We are starting to get more people to come to church as well. Manny is still coming and loving it, he's progressing so well. All is going pretty good.

One thing I've learned this weekend is that being a missionary is more than just finding people and baptizing them. I realized that I have found the most joy helping others (less-active members) come back to the church. There is this one woman in particular named Venus and her testimony has grown so much since we started teaching her. She told us the other night that we were her favorites to learn from. I get all teary-eyed thinking about it. I love these people. I don't want to leave them, thank goodness I still have another transfer here in Largo!

I love bringing the ward unto Christ. I didn't really consider them my ward for the longest time, actually, until yesterday, when it hit me, this is my ward! I then realized that what I had really been doing all along with reactivation and member-present lessons had all been helping my ward grow stronger. Part of being a missionary, I realized, is being an overly active member in the ward! 24-7 visiting teaching! Haha. I love it. I love seeing our investigators learning in the church. It is such a powerful joy, one that I can't say I've experienced before.

I hope all of you have a good week.  

Sincerely,
Hermana Mathis