Technology!

   Our car broke down ... three days in a row ... we've become really good friends with the guys at the auto shop ... and we now have a new car! 

   The biggest change this week was obviously the addition of technology! It's something I really wasn't sure about at first, especially with social media being brought into it all, but we've already been seeing miracles - some people just open up a lot more on social media than in person. 

having fun with their new phones

Of course, there are also temptations associated with it, and distractions. The Church has a wonderful booklet called "Safeguards for Using Technology" that we're studying, and it's something that can benefit everyone (you can find it in the missionary section of the gospel library app). Sister Showalter and I have also come up with our own companionship "safeguards" to help keep us completely focused on our purpose. There's going to be a big learning curve with this change, but it's something we're all excited about.

In district meeting this week we really focused on talking to everyone, no matter how quickly or how awkward the situation. Well, Sister Showalter and I tried to apply ourselves to that and we saw a HUGE miracle - almost everyone we talked to was Spanish-speaking! That NEVER happens when you're just contacting people on the street, especially in the kinds of neighborhoods we were in. But we definitely felt the Lord blessing our efforts and putting people into our path so we could meet them and hopefully share the gospel with them!

Most of our investigators have hit a bit of a plateau in their progress, so we're praying for them and actively working to find other people to teach as well. A couple of them moved back to Mexico this week, which was sad, but they're going to keep meeting with the missionaries there which is all we could hope for! 

We also helped some investigators work on their homework as service. I ended up working with one of them on graphing quadratic equations. Now, solving quadratic equations I remember and love (and I did a lot when I was tutoring at Huntington) but graphing them ... I think I was more of a hindrance than a help haha.

I can now draft my emails throughout the week, which is awesome, so that's what I'm doing. I'll try not to overwhelm you with information though 😁 

I'm continuing to read through the Old Testament, and I had a profound thought this week. We read so many lists of people and the numbers of their households. But as I read one of those on Thursday, it struck me that those aren't just numbers - their individual people who are loved and cared for by our Heavenly Father. It was humbling to think about how even though we don't have all their names, the Lord knows each and every one. 

Also, in Nehemiah 8:10, I was struck annd comforted by the phrase, "for the joy of the Lord is your strength." We don't often think about not being a strength, per say, but I've definitely seen that in my life. As you all know, joy can be a hard thing for me to feel, but the Lord lends me His, which allows me to move forward.

I was also moved by the story of Esther as I read it yesterday, but particularly the miraculous preservation of Mordecai's life. It's not coincidental that the king couldn't sleep and that what he ended up reading happened to be the record of Mordecai saving his life at the exact moment that Haman came to petition the king to hang him. It was a miracle, and the Lord preserving a righteous servant's life - in great part because of that faith that Mordecai had that he would do so (Esther 4:14). 

Job 3:23 is a great scripture that helps us understand the purpose of trials. Though in this chapter Job is mourning his existence, and the day he was born, he teaches us that trials are necessary. "Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?" If we're 'hedged in' we cannot learn - we cannot receive light and knowledge. 

Love,

Hermana Garner