WEEK 77 "Adventura en Los Keys"

Wow! we have reached the last stretch. My heart is so full. I love my mission more than words can describe. Right now we are currently racing home from the Keys to make it in time to get back to proselyting. The Keys were a dream. If this view wasn't proof that God exists I don't know what else is. We went to Key Largo and also Marathon!! It is breathtaking down here. The ocean is bedazzled with so many different shades of blue and the water is glass. The keys are super well known for their key lime pie. And yes, we did try it and it lived up to its high reputation. Elizabeth even bought us cute rings and we surprised her with her very own quad of scriptures!! It was such a sweet moment. She loved it so much! She also received her temple recommendation this week and the bishop is already getting her busy with a calling. She is progressing well!

Well, I don't have much time but I just wanted to share two of the other highlights that we experienced this week...

The first being Karen and her sweet prayer of forgiveness. We are teaching her again!! And wow, it has been quite the rollercoaster. One evening we asked her to give the closing prayer and shyly she accepted. Half way through her prayer she went silent and teared up, she pleaded for forgiveness and in that moment I knew that she was speaking the mind and will of Christ. Those words were no longer hers. The spirit was so strong and pure and it reminded me of a scripture in doctrine and covenants 18:13 "And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth." It's soooo true! Karen is walking proof of this. She told us that God put those words in her mouth and told her that she needed to come closer unto Him

The other highlight was following the promptings of the spirit to a cute new family from Spain! Every morning I love to ask God where he needs us to go and who needs us to visit. Without fail he always puts a name or place in my mind if I stay on my knees with faith and patience. This morning, in particular, Heavenly Father put "Amelia" in my head. I looked for her name in our records and she was a Book of Mormon referral that was never taught. I actually tried visiting her a couple transfers earlier and someone told me she had moved. However, what we didn't know was that there was an efficiency in the back. When we found her she was sooo excited to learn more about the Book of Mormon and had been waiting patiently for our visit for more than 7 months. She immediately invited us in to share a message with her and her two cute 8-year-old daughters. After the video, both of them were crying because of the spirit. We talked about how much Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to return to live with him forever as an eternal family.

I love how God has a perfect plan for every one of his children. Christ lives and His church is on the earth again with the fullness of His priesthood and covenants that allow us to fulfill the measure of our creation. The spirit truly instructs and sanctifies us to become more like Christ and our loving Heavenly Father. Life couldn't get any better than sharing pure happiness and bliss with my sweet Latina family that like to sometimes even climb palm trees to get us cocos. I have never met a more humble people.

I love you all and I know the atonement of Jesus Christ is real and will change us into the best versions of ourselves if we let it. 

Cuídense mucho. Les quiero💕

Hermana Richards