Transfer to South Gate!

Hello my dear family!
Thank you for your sweet email, it made my day.  It has been a crazy week!  Full of so many ups and downs. First, I will start off by what you have been waiting for all week... so I am leaving Cudahy!  I am transferring to a place called South Gate.  It is one zone over (you might not want to look it up, I'm pretty sure we cover Watts).  I am whitewashing the area, and I am finishing a sister's training!  So, all in all, my thoughts are just about everywhere right now!  We got the phone call last night.  My companion said that she had never seen my eyes so big as they were.  I feel overwhelmed beyond belief!  But the sister I will be with is one of the sweetest sisters in the world.  She was in my zone this transfer, so I got to know her a little.  She is from Honduras and has the biggest heart. I am so scared, I feel like I didn't even get trained myself!  But I also feel at peace.  I have learned so, so very much out here - that everything happens for a reason.  Everything.  And I have come to accept that as well.  I am learning.  That is what a mission is for.  I know without a doubt that I am going to grow more than I ever have this next transfer.  All I really can do is rely on the Lord because there is a reason that I am doing this.

This week was pretty similar to last week.  We don't have many investigators and it is hard!  We have spent a lot of time tracking and trying to visit potentials and haven't gotten a ton from it.  But I was able to see so many tender mercies this week.  I watched as I felt an extra push throughout the day when I felt done.  Particularly on Sunday.  We were going to go to a baptism with the Lopez family, but they forgot and couldn't go.  We called so many people to see if they could go, and everyone said no.  I was at my breaking point.  I couldn't take the disappointment anymore!  I just sat there and cried for a while.  I felt exhausted and wondered what I was doing so wrong.  But we had no other choice but to go back to work.  Nothing miraculous happened, but I felt my Heavenly Fathers love for me and my companion so strong.  I am not doing this alone and that is the most comforting part of this work. 

We had an amazing miracle happen with the Lopez family this week.  They keep saying that they need to know more before they get baptized.  We read Alma 32:21 about faith.  We were getting ready to go, and say the closing prayer when she told us she had something that she wanted to share with us.  She had read verse 16 of that chapter, it talks about humbling yourself and that you really don't have to know everything before you get baptized.  She sat there and cried as she told us that she had received her answer.  I was just in shock as I sat there.  It was one of the most amazing experiences that I think I will ever have on my mission!

I have learned more than I ever thought I could this transfer.  It has been hard beyond words, but it has been one of the most incredible experiences.  I am learning so much about the way that the Savior's Atonement can affect our lives.  His hand is guiding us in every step that we take.  I have learned how to love.  Being a missionary does not help you to love everyone, as much as I wish it did!  But I have learned how to look past things and see others as they can become.  I love my companion.  I have learned so, so much from her and it is amazing.  But one of the biggest things that I have learned this transfer, is that I am supposed to be here.  I know it.  I have felt it confirmed so much.  I know that things in my life before this led to me to this point.  I am so grateful for it.

We got your package and it was AMAZING!  Seriously!  We both appreciated it so much!  It really meant a lot to my companion.   You do so much for me mom!  I am sorry this is all over the place.  But everything is going well.  I hope things at home are moving along and everyone is happy :)  You are in all my prayers and I feel all of yours!  I love you more than anything in the world!  Xoxox

Hermana Michelle