WEEK 44 "MJ is actually from Cuba"

Buenas Tardes! Como han estado? 

"This week we took a look at the man in the mirror and asked him to make a change."

THE REAL Michael Jackson showed up in white this weekend to be baptized. Haha there is no words to describe how I felt when he showed up in his newly bought outfit. I died. The man who has done a complete 180 with his life this past year took a leap of faith this weekend and the spirit was so strong.

Yohendris has never had any supportive family in his life and it was so precious to see him finally have the family that he has been looking for his whole life. After he came out of the water he was on cloud nine. The appearance in his face completely changed as well! On Sunday when he received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands he was glowing. I am so proud of my best friend Yohendris and all that he has accomplished and will soon accomplish in the future. 

Yohendris is the most dedicated and driven friend I have in Miami. And the reason why he is so driven and dedicated to reaching his goals is because he allows his faith and love for the Savior to motivate him in all that he does. When we first met him he was already living the word of wisdom; however, he thought he would take it one step further to be healthier and so he decided to stop drinking  all soda... we told him he didn't need to but he wanted to show God he was willing to sacrifice soda to show his willingness to keep this commandment and treat his body like a temple. At the end of the first lesson, we also mentioned that we needed to be home no later than 9:30 as missionaries. Thus, we ran out of his house after the closing prayer to not be late.

The next day Yohendris called us and told us that he had a question. We were a little nervous to hear what he wanted to ask us... however to our complete surprise he wanted to know why we all needed to be home by 9:30pm. We burst out laughing and explained to him that it was only a rule that the missionaries have. He thought this was a rule that all the members lived by and so that night he was home by 9pm. Yohendris is such an incredible example to me of obedience and overcoming trials with faith in the Lord.

As the prophet last night asked us to reevaluate our desires in our life I immediately thought of Yohendris and his desire is to overcome his weaknesses through Christ. His desires are to accept Christ and all the blessings that are available through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Yohendris has truly helped me realized the depth of the Atonement. Last night we learned from the prophet that Repentance means a changed mind, knowledge, spirit, and breathing. I know without a doubt that Yohendris has obtained this noticeable light within his countenance through the source of all light. And the way that we grow that light within us only comes through yielding our hearts to God and his Son Jesus Christ through the act of repenting and changing. 

Because of Yohendris I have learned what true desires mean. I have learned that it is only through Christ and through coming unto him that we can find peace comfort and joy. I am so grateful for my Savior and this time of year that we have to share His light with others. I hope that we can all find new ways to spread that light of Christ within the world, our communities, homes, and within our hearts. 

I love you all so much. Have the best week ever!!

Con amor, 

Hermana Richards

Highs:

-We had the funnest chocolatada (chocolate party) and watched the Christmas devotional with the coolest members in the world. Our cute friends Jorge and Marisol came out to it. -Also a random family was walking by and decided to come in and join us. They were sooo cool and We will be teaching them this week... talk about a miracle

-The Primary program left everyone in tears. Sister Rolfson and I had the chance to play the piano and violin while the ninos sang

lows:

- We were completely out of food all last week because we forgot we wouldn't have a p-day due to the temple trip so we had to get real creative with the hurricane food that was stored in our cabinets. We survived off of tortillas, ramen, cereal, and when it got really bad we decided to call our amazing members to come to our rescue. lol only on missions does this happen

- IT hit 55 degrees this week and we were all big babies and were literally frozen... yeah i know its pathetic