Well this week has been fun

Well this week has been fun-- our investigator, Ricardo is doing awesome! We are so proud of him! He was going to get baptized on August 31, but the member who referred him had a family emergency come up, so she won't be able to make it. Ricardo wants her to be there for the baptism, so we are pushing it until September 7 (at least until the member calls us today to confirm that that works for her schedule). Just another day in the mission! :) He really is doing great- Hermana Toney and I are always so excited at the little steps he takes to move forward and progress. He really has a strong desire to have more faith, so we are trying to help him understand what faith is and how he can grow his own faith. Faith has been something I've always kind of wondered about myself! It's kind of an abstract concept to me. But one thing that I really like that's stuck with me (don't remember where it came from) is that faith is an action word. We grow our faith by acting on it. So when I read my scriptures, or pray, or go to church, or serve someone else, I am expressing and growing my faith in Christ. I like that because it a physical, tangible way for me to see and understand faith.

So yeah, Ricardo is growing his faith by going to church, praying and reading the Book of Mormon. He's doing awesome!

Edyn and her girls are doing great, as always. I am so impressed with and proud of them too. Edyn had an opportunity to share with someone her testimony of the church and how special it is to her. The lady (I don't remember if it was a friend or not) just looked at her and was like, "How could you ever believe something like that, it's so stupid". Ha as she told us later, she just smiled and said- But I know the church is still true! Go Edyn!! :) She is so solid. I am always grateful for her example

I almost sat on Ricardo in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. Oops. Awkward moments on the mission! :)

During Relief Society on Sunday, the Gospel Principles teacher found me and asked me to sing a solo at the beginning of class (ummm... what?? I can't hit the high notes!!)... in ingles! Ha so I went out into the hall to find an English hymnbook to look over the hymn he asked for, "Have I done any good?", and who did I see in the hallway??? Oh! Elder Ray! I don't know exactly what happened, but basically, I roped him into singing it with me :) HAHA That's what he gets for serving with someone who knows he did choir for years ;) The teacher wanted me to sing the first verse alone in English, and then have Elder Ray sing the second verse with me in Spanish. The first verse was roughhhh..... Sorry, guys! But then we sang the second verse together and it was a lot better! Just like the good old days in choir :) I was glad that ended up working out like that! Elder Ray and I are going to try and offer to do a musical number for the next Zone Conference. And this time, we will prepare, and I will warm up :)

It is super important on the mission to have a can-do attitude. Even if you think you can't! Do it anyway. Because it is needed and you will be blessed for your contribution. Plus it's just easier on everyone, because stuff has got to happen, and keep moving forward! Someone's gotta do it- put a smile on your face and say SURE! :) I'm turning into the queen of filling-in-at-the-last-minute and 'improv'. It certainly makes it an adventure! And I have stories to email you every week :) and your leaders think you are a life-saver, mas o menos. Haha yeah, it's great. My last-minute song with Elder Ray, Spanish-speaking in South-Side Chicago, filling in at the piano for RS and Sacrament Meeting, last minute special musical number for Zone Conference, taking care of baptismal clothes, and oh yeah... the Primary President has asked me if I could practice to accompany either 6 or 8 songs for the Primary program at the end of September...

Haha did I mention I don't really play the piano?

At least I have a heads-up! :) You get really good and doing just about anything and everything.

My Spanish has been improving quite a bit- this week a lot of people commented on it. Apparently my accent is really good! YES! I sound like a Mexican! I wanted to :) I still have a TON left to learn- a TON. But at least I'm still making progress. I love it :)

That's pretty much it for this week- we did a lot of tracting. Which meant a lot of sun and sweat and closed-doors and no's and maybe later's, and everything. I got to work on my tan, though! That consists of my ankle and fore-arm. But hey, it's more of a tan than the Elders get! :) Haha

The work here is going great. I love every minute of it. It's so cool to be able to share the Gospel with people who don't know about it! The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith was a prophet. We have a living prophet today, just like Moses and Noah and other prophets in the Bible. You read about them in the Bible, but we are living that, right now! I am so grateful for our living prophets and apostles. They truly are inspired men of God. I'm grateful for the miracles we see every day- big or small. Things don't happen by coincidence.

Love Always,

-Hermana Walton