Alive!

So I guess I should write a letter to say I'm alive. The earthquake was pretty exciting this morning, much moreso than our usual alarm. I forgot to tell you a couple weeks ago that we had a smaller one, my old compañera sat up shouting "WE'RE MOVING!" and the first thing that came out of my half-asleep self was "....LA VENIDA!" (The second coming). Neither of us thought anything was odd or funny about it til the next morning when we were conscious. But that one lasted 4 seconds of rocking and this one was serious shaking for about 30. I thought I knew just what to do after years of family home evening drills and dragged my compañerita to the doorway, but turns out in Mexico the procedure is entirely different and we're supposed to evacuate the house and go to these green box things. Good thing we didn't die. Woo!

So in more stable news, got your 4th of July package this week! Perfect timing, because two days later was the fourth of July and I got a great idea to have a party with all our investigators! It ended up being V., our soon-to-be-baptized, the F. family, our next-door member family, G.'s family, our old investigators who are pretty good at changing their minds and are now attending our scripture classes, and they invited their neighbors without us knowing! Members, investigators, old investigators and referrals all in one! We used the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 13) to talk about Christopher Columbus and how God helped to start that country to prepare religious freedom, and then with all the kids blew up balloons, glowsticks, etc., played games and the mamá, C., helped me make mac n cheese for everyone. The kids didn't like it. Everyone else LOVED it. It was a BEAUTIFUL night. So thanks for that :) Oh, also the kids of the familia L., our old old investigators from a few months ago (the family we love) came too. B. only shouts "Hermana!" instead of "Hermanas"  because I'm the only one he remembers and is always ready to report the reason they didn't come to church that week. Ah. Love those kids. 

So I'm definitely growing. The other day a contact in the street asked my companion if I was pregnant. That was awkward for everyone. Also all the misioneras here lose a TON of hair, daily. It's ridiculous. So now we all know and no one's in for any huge surprises when I come home huge and bald. 

But seriously. I'm growing SO MUCH spiritually as well. This week we saw so many miracles, found new people, had great lessons and committed everyone to come to church! And THEN.... they alllll canceled or disappeared. It was crazy. Even V. But we were just still happy and later that day it started picking up again. Today we're getting ready to head to an FHE with some investigators and less actives and we're going to attempt to make a cake-from-a-box without an oven. Pretty exciting. 

Scripture of the week is Jacob 4. I loved it. It talks a lot about our weaknesses and taking counsel from the Lord rather than counseling Him. We all know we should but sometimes in the moment, like when no one shows up at church when we've been fasting specifically for these people, we think, "but wouldn't it be better God if...?" But turns out, no, He really does know better ALWAYS and there's always something for us to learn. It takes a lot of humility to really understand that and trust in Him unconditionally. It's a process and I'm getting there slowly, but I look back and realize that I'm miles ahead of where I was a couple months ago. Those are miracles in and of themselves. 

And to finish up, this led me to the thought this week that miracles aren't rare occurrences. Miracles are happening every single day, every moment, all around us! But the "miracle" is when we are permitted to see and recognize them, and as we learn to see through spiritual eyes we will see more and more miracles and grow more and more "until the perfect day."

Love you all, happy birthday America!