Hello there!

This week has been a blast

We got to see Gustavo again this week! He has been really sick lately, but has been returning to his chipper normal self- we are so excited about it and so happy for him :)

Edyn is doing stellar- we are so impressed with her! She is preparing to do baptisms for the dead at the temple! And she is excited to start doing family history so that she can get those saving ordinances done for her own family. So excited for her- she really is amazing

Hermana Toney and I did a lot of tracting this week. Everyone we met was a "Somos Catolicos!" It was great :) And hot. We sweat a lot. But luckily after a while, we have a nice cool car to jump into and blast the AC in on our way to another appointment. You know what's really great? Is that we are not here to discredit or destroy or tell people that their faith is wrong. I'll paraphrase Gordon B Hinckley that everyone's faith and experience and belief is valuable! But let us give you something more- let us help you add upon and build and strengthen your faith in God and His son, Jesus Christ. It's so awesome that we can help people to that. And when they don't believe their faith can be strengthened in Jesus Christ, we invite them to put it to the test. Put our message to the test, because I know it can help and strengthen your faith in the Savior. The Book of Mormon talks about the same God, the same Jesus Christ, the same miracles, the same resurrection, the same gospel as the Bible! It's just a different place with different prophets and different people. It truly is a second witness of Jesus Christ that can only enhance, improve and strengthen the faith you already have that is so dear to you of your Savior.

The members here are awesome- they are always more than willing to feed us all the time! And they are so excellent in the lessons with us! Hermana Toney and I are so so grateful for the dear members who are so awesome at being willing to help us, help our investigators, help the less-actives, and support us in the lessons. It's so amazing. Every member truly is a missionary- whether you are actively involved in helping the missionaries or not, you are so important in helping us.

We have an investigator, Ricardo, who is so excited to be baptized! We are shooting for August 31 with him- it's always a lot of work to help prepare someone for baptism, but he has the desire and is so excited. It will be a busy week, but it is so worth it to bring someone that much closer to their Savior :)

So... funny and long story short, Hermana Toney and I found ourselves smack-dab in the middle of a Mexican party the other day. It was such a funny situation neither of us had been in before haha :) And let me tell you- Mexicans know how to throw a party! I love it! A potential investigator we met last week invited us over to eat. Turns out it was her nephew's 21st birthday. We got to teach him and a couple friends about the Restoration of the Gospel right before the party in his house, and he got a Book of Mormon copy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Your aunt invited the Mormon missionaries over! It was kind of a funny situation, but it was so great- we were able to help him understand more of our beliefs and talk about how the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is on the Earth today! It's amazing! And then, his aunt came back and invited us out into the backyard to eat. there was so much food and it was all so delicious. Hermana Toney and I decided that if we weren't missionaries, we could've easily stayed the whole night! These people are all unbelievably hospitable and kind and fun. But we had other appointments and had to leave- they were really sad about that. Sorry!!

One thing that I love about this work is teaching about the Restoration. My favorite part of that is telling people about Joseph Smith and the First Vision. Every time Hermana Toney shares that part, I feel the Spirit so strongly. It's the best feeling ever :) And there have been a couple different times this week where we have started teaching people about the Restoration, and they are just not happy to have us there. At all. But as we share our testimonies and the gospel with them, and the First Vision, their countenance literally changes. I know they feel the Spirit. And I know that where I Spanish falls short, the Holy Ghost can help fill in the gap. The nice thing about not knowing a language is that you know that there is no way you could see success with what you know. But you DO see success. And it's so easy to see that it's not you, it's the Lord. I am always amazed to see what Hermana Toney and I are still able to accomplish when we know so little Spanish. But it's the Lord's work. we are instruments in His hands. I love it.

The work we do is so important. I'm so grateful to be a part of it. I love being here in the south side it's an adventure every day! It's so important to always remember to have fun, find the humor, and enjoy the ride. We are human- we are going to mess up, or embarrass ourselves, and sometimes things just don't work out no matter how hard we try. It happens. It's part of life and part of being here. So just laugh and move on- it makes a great story later ;)

Love you all- I'm glad everything is going so well!! :)

Love Always

Hermana Walton