I'm The Pencil

Yesterday was the best day ever. I have seriously never had such an amazing day. Well, I probably have, but you know what I mean. It was so good. WE had invited all our investigators to church and we had four of them come! It was such a good feeling.

Our investigator, Fern, came for the first time since she was 14 and she loved it. She told us, "There will be nothing stopping me from coming next week." I asked her, "So is this the church for you? The one you have been searching for?" And she smiled and said, "YES!" It was so amazing! She was so excited to go all week! And yesterday she was glowing. She met so many people and just loved the feeling she had being in Sacrament and all the classes. I'm so happy! She's so happy! It's been a huge miracle! She's getting baptized on Aug. 1! 

Jacob also came to church and he's also doing really well. He's planning on being baptized on Aug. 1 with Fern and he seems to be pretty excited. WE scheduled an interview for him with the bishop so he could get to know him a little bit better. He's so awesome. 18 years old and he knows already what he wants to do with his life and, most importantly, he knows that he needs God in it. It's just been a month full of miracles for us. I really am shocked at how much the Lord has blessed us and our area.

John, Minor and Jon, our recent converts, all passed the Sacrament yesterday for the first time. It was incredible. I honestly sat there and watched them smiling so much. Bishop asked me after Sacrament, "How were you feeling knowing that you played a part in each of their conversion stories" and I really had nothing to say. I was speechless. I started to tear up. It's so special to me. I really can't describe it in words or even begin to try, but it's what has changed me. I really love the people we teach and baptize. I love them too much that I will do anything for them. I'm very proud of who they have become and I know that it was all Heavenly Father. I'm just the pencil.

Savannah, John's daughter, will be baptized next Monday! And he's baptizing her! He's really excited and so is she! She'll be baptized on her birthday. Isn't that so cool? They're my family away from home. This whole ward is. The thought of having to leave anytime soon kills me ... I'm going to be one big mess. But thankfully I still have another transfer, so that keeps me sane.

We're going to the temple this week with John for his first time and we're taking some of our other recent converts! He's so excited. We introduced him to family history and he LOVES it. He said he stayed up doing it the other night and he went to the family history class on Sunday, too. It's so fun! He's going to be taking his mother and father to the temple to do their work and then any others that we can find. It's going to be so great!

Okay, huge miracle story. So a while back, about 3 months ago, Sister Robinson and I went to go get some Taco Bell for lunch. I was ordering and the cashier's name was Dustin. He was really nice and so after I ordered, I thought, why not talk to him about the church. I did and he proceeded to tell me that he's Jewish, but I still gave him our church pass-a-long card so he knew where the building was and what time we meet. Well, last week, our bishop contacted us and told us that this boy named Dustin came to the church looking to speak to someone about the Book of Mormon. I didn't recognize the name since I hadn't seen him again in 3 months, but Bishop told us that he invited him to church and that he would be there, so we needed to keep an eye out. So we did, and when I saw him, I TOTALLY RECOGNIZED HIM, but I didn't know from where. I honestly thought I was just recognizing him from the pre-existence or something ... ha, ha, but then he says, "Hey, you were the one that talked to me at Taco Bell." THEN IT HIT! I remembered! It was so crazy! And he actually came to church! We got to talking and he ended up living in the other ward's boundary so I told that ward's elders and they've been teaching him. He's getting baptized in three weeks. ISN'T THAT INSANE!? So yes, I testify that sometimes the fruits of our labors don't show until later on, but if it's God's will, they'll show. Such a cool experience. I really loved being a part of that.

Anyways, we're so happy! Loving the work and loving the people daily. I cannot thank y'all enough for supporting me. I wouldn't want or need to be anywhere else.

Brother McDowell spoke on Sunday and after his talk he said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Brother McDowell, OUT." Ha, ha, ha, ha, I thought of dad always saying "Papi, OUT" It was so funny!

Love y'all tons!

Sister Sanchez

Chick-fil-A day!

Bathroom Selfie

Grape challenge!