My Riverside Stories: He hears me!! 2/20/17

Buenos diassssss!!!

Truly a joy and a pleasure for me to share a few things that happened this week because it was really great.

To start off, we have been working really hard with our dear, darling, and sweet GOLDEN investigator Olga. She is such a trooper because she has been SICK AS A DOG 🐕 the entire week. We organized members to bring meals to her and her 7 children throughout the week, ensured that she got a priesthood blessing, and also found members to take her to the emergency room on Saturday night. You can imagine our concern that she would not be able to come to church when she was diagnosed with bronchitis at the doctors late Saturday night. However, we prayed and prayed and lo and behold, Sunday morning before sacrament meeting she walked in with one of her daughters. QUE FUERZA?! She stayed for the whole three hours, loved it but was suuuper drained by the end of Relief Society. I am certain that she was enabled by the Lord because she was so determined to be there on Sunday. She is learning everything so fast and loving all that we teach her. March 12 cant come fast enough. Her daughter also agreed to baptism yesterday as well and so she will be baptized the week after her mother. BLESSINGS GALORE. I know that Heavenly Father heard our pleas for help and also know how anxious we were to finally get her to church.

If the successful church experience wasn't enough, Hermana Hernandez and I experienced another miracle after church. We had received about 6 referrals earlier that week from the English Elders and after calling all of them, all but one rejected the message. We set an appointment with the one for Sunday after church and were anxiously hoping that he had a family and that we could teach them all. (De hecho, we have been praying and fasting to baptize a family of 5 for several months and I know they are waiting for us somewhere!!) After a few complications of streets, house numbers, and a few phone calls, we found ourselves seated around a big family table with a father, mother, a son and two daughters. (5...!!!) We taught a short and powerful lesson of the Restoration and we see SOO much potential in them. There will be a few hurdles but I KNOW that the Lord gave us that family and that we were able to build up our teaching pool so much this week. I dont know if it is THE FAMILY OF 5 of which we are searching, but I know that the Lord heard our prayer.

As if the day couldnt get better, I got to go back to Jurupa and see the baptism of Erick Jimenez, the oldest son of a family I was working with when I was there last summer. WOW it was such a great baptism. The spirit was really strong and I got to see SO MANY beloved faces of members that are so dear to me. What a rewarding privilege it was for me to go back for that. Erick has made SO MUCH PROGRESS and I am so grateful that as missionaries we have the chance to see people come unto Christ and repent. Seriously nothing more beautiful. I dont know how I will ever be able to find something more fulfilling after this!

As far as personal spiritual progress... I came to know the Savior through revelation this week at multi-zone conference. I had a strong spiritual experience with the training that President Mullen gave about afflictions. He talked about how afflictions are good, important and necessary for our growth and how we can come closest to the Savior the best during our times of affliction. The source of our afflictions can either be because of our own sin, or just our loving Heavenly Father testing us. I have been beating myself up over things that are sometimes out of my control, letting my afflictions consume my focus. However, I learned in the training that in order for me to overcome these afflictions I must first examine myself personally and repent of all the errors, faults and mistakes that I am making to cause these afflictions, then I take the remainder of my burden and lay it at the feet of the Savior. He has already carried this pain and if it isn't a sin that we need to repent of, we need not worry. Our afflictions can truly be but a small moment if we give them to the One who has descended below them all.

Oh the icing on the cake this week was face timing home to see my baby sister OPEN HER MISSION CALL. She will be serving in the Ohio Columbus mission I will get barely a month of her presence before she leaves. What a blessing.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful week and take care.

Be Safe&God Speed.
Love, Hermana Tobler