Week 10 (5/7/18): "We're in the Empire Strikes Back phase of the plan."

Said by the Bishop in Ward Council. (Referring to the Plan of Salvation.) 

This week's been pretty good. It's gone by very quickly. 

First, tender mercies from this week. The last three days have been so full of tender mercies. On Saturday night, I met someone new from the ward, (her maiden name is Jennifer Barber) and when I said that my family was from San Jose, she asked if I knew Vincent Cate, and that's my uncle!! She gave me a big hug (which I really needed) and said that my Uncle Vince was one of her best friends from high school! Then we talked for a while about my family and what had happened since she left high school (a long time ago). 

Then yesterday, Sister Vazquez asked us as we were leaving church, "How's your dinner calendar looking? Do you have dinner tonight?" And we didn't have dinner. Then she said that she'd made an extra casserole, so we had dinner, which was a huge miracle, since I'd been praying that someone would sign up for tonight, and I'd gotten this peaceful reassurance that it would be fine. So after getting the calendar back without someone signing up, I was wondering how the Lord was going to make this work, but He did. And she doesn't normally ask us that. 

Then last night, we stopped by this former, and she said, "I'd been wondering where you were." She'd been sort of dropped by the sisters before Sister Hicks and Sister Grammer, and she kind of got lost when they were doubled in. But we've sort of picked her up again. We're going to send her a scripture every day, or every week at least. 

The coolest was probably when we were tracting yesterday, and we met this lady named Valerie who welcomed us in. She had all these pictures of Jesus up in her house, and she told us her story of how she came to know God, and it was so cool. She really had a testimony of the power of God and prayer in specific. She was actually cleaning when we came because she had surgery this morning, and we invited her to receive a blessing. She said yes, and the elders were there in less than 10 minutes! It was really cool, and we're planning on checking in on her in about a week. 

Then we also met a Spanish family, and talked to them for a bit (the gift of tongues is real!) and we talked about how Jesus Christ is the center of the Plan of Salvation. Then we gave them a Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and the dad was reading it as we drove away!!

So we've gotten very familiar with the car repair shop. We've gotten two flat tires in two weeks. One part of our area has a lot of nails and screws that have fallen out of truck beds. It's bad. So thank you Dad for teaching me how to change a tire! 

Love you tons! 

Becca