Letter 3/18/13

Dear Family,
Like I said in the email, its been a great week!  There were times that we seriously regretted fasting, but the blessings for outweigh the regrets and hunger pains.

Let me tell you more about Roberto.  When we met him he was drunk and crying over the loss of his parents.  He is from Spain and his accent was really strong, so we weren't sure when they passed but he is an older man so we suspect he has been suffering from their loss for a long time.  Poor guy!  He was very respectful to us and kept calling us his angels.  We helped him find his home and when we got there Norman, his land lord was there.  Norman is also an older man who is very nice.  We suspect they take very good care of each other.  Roberto invited us back tonight to teach him about the Plan of Salvation.  Norman is from France and said he was very Catholic but agreed to sit through a "session" with us.  I can't wait to see how it goes!

We had a wonderful Zone Conference!  President Calderwood is so inspired and we are so blessed to have him as our president  He talked about the Plan of Salvation and how when we understand it we understand the Gospel and everything it entails.  He did say however that "we know just enough about it to walk back into the presence of God".  He said after that we have to rely on faith and know that our Heavenly Father wants it that way for a reason.  It was really great.  His Assistance talked about being bold, and helping the members feel comfortable in lessons.  Elder Munday said that our boldness is an expression of our faith.  He said that we are just too "sweet" and we beat around the bush but we need to realize that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  It is bold, it is the only way to salvation and we need to help people see that!  as you know, that is something I really need to work on.  Elder Ferry talked about helping members feel comfortable in helping to teach the lessons.  We as missionaries need to inform them on what is going on in the lesson, what the investigator is like, and what part of the lesson we would like them to teach.  It was a wonderful conference and we are so blessed! 

Well, I have many more letters to write, but I hope you know how much I love you!

Love, Sister Mandy Hamblin

PS  Kale sent me the sweetest letters last week.  You should ask her about them.  of course I cried!