Sister Costilla and I got to go to our second in person baptism and it was just amazing. We got to teach Rodrigo on Temple Square in Spanish. Not going to lie, I was really scared to do that but it turned out so well and we love Rodrigo so much. He even asked me to give a talk about the Holy Ghost at his baptism! Sister Costilla had to translate the whole thing for me but hey it was still super cool. He has been so prepared by the Lord. He had read and prayed and even though he had questions, he knew that the Book of Mormon was true and he told us that his questions wouldn't keep him from moving forward because he couldn't deny what he knew. I think my favorite part of being a missionary is watching people change. To see the light and the joy that have come into Rodrigo's life in just a few short weeks has blown my mind. There isn't a more important work in the world and I am just so grateful to get to be part of it for 18 whole months. What a blessing.
On a more sad note, Sister Costilla and I are getting split. This woman is a fully trained missionary and is moving on to bigger and better things! We get officially transferred on Wednesday and my new companion will be Sister Johnson! She is from Arizona. I don't really know her too well but this next transfer I am really hoping that we will become good friends!
For our last Sunday together, Sister Costilla and I decided to go out with a bang and be Mexican together. On the way to church, she told me "I mean you always had a Mexican spirit but now you finally look like one too" I have loved my time with Sister Costilla and she has taught me so much. I am so grateful for her and her example and friendship. I am going to miss her! It is a good thing that I will literally see her every day because our mission is pretty small, tender mercies.
Have a great week everyone!
Sister Moran
p.s. we went to East High for Pday!
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Mom and Dad,
This week was so good! We had this fun tour with two families and when we were in the Assembly Hall explaining the Sacrament, this old lady got triggered because we didn't use wine because Jesus used wine. So I explained that water back then was no good and dirty and she just kinda scoffed but then there was another family on the tour that weren't members and the mom just like really quietly to me said "that was a good answer" and it made my day! We worked hard to even get the kids involved in the tour and asked fun questions and it was just an all-around good time. At the end we explained the Book of Mormon and it seemed like no one wanted it but then the little boy of the one family was like "I would like a copy" and you could tell his parents were like ???? what? And so I was like, "are you okay with that?" And they were like why not sure and so I gave the little boy a copy and I said you guys can all read it in the car together on your way home. It was too cute and that little boy was in tune with the spirit for sure. We then gave the old lady who was salty about the sacrament a copy and she and her husband gave us big hugs and said we did so good on the tour. It was sweet and only slightly awkward when we hugged the old man.
We had our final lesson with Rodrigo this week and it was AMAZING! We taught him about tithing and then lesson five. He had some questions about the word of wisdom and the "church for only white people" in the Book of Mormon and he also thought the church was sexist so we cleared all that up for him. He told us though that he knew the church was true and the Book of Mormon was true so none of his questions would stop him from getting baptized this Saturday. That is what we wanted to hear. We were teaching him then in lesson five about the priesthood and I was like wow this is hard with trying to explain and visualize and translate (because Sister Costilla didn't feel comfortable explaining the priesthood so she had me do it) and then the spirit was like "hey, why don't you go to the priesthood restoration monuments?" And then I was like "hey, why don't we go to the priesthood restoration monuments" and it was perfect #thankyouholyghost. It made so much more sense to him and made it more real to see it there and explaining it really strengthened my testimony of the priesthood. Plus, it was so cool to see how Rodrigo would be able to get the priesthood in the next few weeks and he was so excited because when his daughter eventually comes to visit, he would be able to baptize her!
Speaking of Rodrigo, his baptism was AWESOME! There were barely any people there but afterward he was like "wow so many people came I didn't expect there to be so many" and it was so cute. He asked Sister Costilla to give a talk on baptism and then he asked me to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. I thought that was strange because I don't speak Spanish but I was so happy that he still wanted me to be a part of the program. Sister Costilla translated my talk as we went and she was an absolute champ. We also gave the restoration in Spanish (well her translating for me) after he was baptized and was getting changed. He is so prepared and he has such a strong testimony. He told us that he always wants to feel the way that he feels right now and he loves having the Holy Ghost. He promised us that he will keep praying and reading and everything and we love it. For me, his baptism wasn't the highlight because it is just the beginning, I just love seeing now how happy he is and how he will be going to the Temple and how he will be getting the priesthood and how excited he is to progress. He even asked us what he could do to keep progressing after he goes through the temple and we said just keep going and doing the work for his ancestors and learning and serving in the church. He is awesome and I love him a lot. I don't even really notice the language barrier at this point because it doesn't matter. The spirit is a universal language and that is what we connected over. I LOVE RODRIGO!
Sister Costilla's birthday was this week and I went BIG for her. We had cake the night before with our district and then I made her a surprise package! We have a table in the South Visitor's Center where people get packages and Sister Costilla always looks but she never has anything but I wanted for her birthday to have something there so I had the people in our district help and trusty old Sister Broadbent contributed some stuff and then we used one of the boxes that you had sent me and taped it all up with a paper on top with her name. She almost screamed when she saw it sitting there it was so cute. We went and got pizza for dinner per her request with the district and Sister Broadbent and one other companionship that we are friends with and of course I paid for her. We then got to go home and Sister Barcellos made a Brazilian dessert and we had that too and then we had ice cream the next day because we forgot the day before. She loved it though. Like ten times she said wow this is so awesome thank you so much I love you so much. And it made my heart feel warm. It isn't every day that you turn 20 and I knew that if I didn't do something, no one would because she is still rather new and doesn't have too many friends. I think that it was a success.
I met a nice guy named Jeff in the South Visitor's Center who is here for a foot doctor convention. He was interested and I gave him a Book of Mormon and three pamphlets and he was like oh thanks. I taught him how to repent and like half of the plan of salvation and invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I got his phone number too! I almost invited him to be baptized right there because you could just tell that he is special. I texted him yesterday and he said it wasn't likely that he would convert but this is interesting but I know that he felt something so we are going to go with that.
Also, we had a really good lesson with this guy named kola. He had so many questions about the Bible and the Book of Mormon and he quoted the classic anti scriptures about not adding to the Bible and stuff like that but he was sincere! So we gave him some scriptures to read in the bible and in the book of Mormon and he is going to read and pray and then we will call him again pretty soon. I cried on the call with him because I could feel the spirit so strong and just because I love being a missionary. I don't know what happened to me this week but like three times I have just cried because I love what I am doing. It is the most important and worthwhile work on the earth and I am just grateful that Heavenly Father is letting me be apart of it.
Also, I have a new companion starting on Wednesday!!! Her name is Sister Johnson and she is from Arizona. I have talked to her all of two times but she is really nice. She is also super chatty because both of the interactions I've had with her involved me saying that I was so sorry but I had to go. Anyways, it will be good. Sister Costilla is going to be with Sister Forbush who was one of our disobedient roomies our first transfer together. When she heard we just decided to leave the big reveal party at our zone leader's apartment and go home and she was just crying because she didn't want to be with someone like her. To be fair, I really feel like it was Sister Forbush's companion more than it was her but I guess that we will see. I am praying for her for sure because if this how she is feeling before the transfer, I can't imagine what her transfer will look like, especially because it is seven weeks long. Awkward.
I am so excited for you to come this weekend! You will get to meet my new companion whoop whoop! I am like switching between dread to be with her and excitement so please pray for me and for her because I know that I can sometimes be difficult to get along with. Love you both and I AM SO PUMPED TO SEE YOU!!!!
Love
Em
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