Aloooooooooooha!

Last week we had Zone Conference, where President Warner and Sister Warner (mission president and his wife) gave us some training. One thing she shared was an article about some of the most successful business people in the world today and 5/50 (10%) of them are LDS! And when they interviewed one of them, he said that serving a mission is equivalent to a 5 year internship in the best consulting firm in the world! Which I've never thought of, but sounds about right. There are so many experiences in our mission that help us gain such important life skills that I can't even write it all down haha. We know how to live on our own, with another person 24/7, use our time effectively, set goals and plans to meet those goals, etc. It's all about of our routine now, but if I had to describe the mission experience, you just can't explain all the work and dedication that it takes! But I love it :)

Another thing that President Warner counseled us on was using family history as way to open conversation in others since family is so important to everyone. On Saturday, Sister Castaneda and I had an miracle experience. A man named Fred came in with his old father named Henry and we gave them a tour of the visitors center. Fred is a member from Nebraska and was planning to take his dad back to live with him. We showed them the Book of Mormon table and talked about how much it has blessed our lives, about the importance of temples, about the living prophet and his apostles, and the restoration of the gospel. The whole time, I felt the Spirit so strong as we shared our conversion and testimonies. His dad isn't a member of the church, and Fred later told us that they were separated for about 50 years! He found his dad again through doing family history and they reconnected. His dad has dementia so they were looking for a legal guardian to take care of him and Fred found him just in time. The Lord's timing is so perfect!

We talked to them for over an hour and Sister Castaneda was prompted by the Spirit to ask him to learn more and follow in his son's example. He accepted so happily and he said he was looking for "something of value or to hold on to" at his age. I was amazed because he had this light in his eyes that I've never really seen in visitors here (yet), and we knew Heavenly Father prepared him his whole life so he could be ready. And that Fred was guided to do family history! Henry was in the Air Force for almost 30 years before he retired and he said he was always impressed by Mormons and their discipline. I know that they will probably never know the impact they had on him, but we can always live by example, and that will plant a seed! We are so excited to call him up and he's already decided by the end of our tour that he wants to get baptized. I definitely have a testimony that the field is white and ready to harvest and Heavenly Father truly prepares His children to receive His restored gospel. We are so so happy that they found each other and I know that President Warner is inspired by God to help us be better missionaries. Who would've guessed how powerful family history would be? I sure didn't. But I definitely want to try using it more often.

Miracles happen every day if we just pay attention and count our blessings. But this one is one I'll remember forever probably (I'm so behind on my journal writing...). This week our new director and his wife came! Elder and Sister Swinton are the sweetest couple, and I know that their leadership will help us improve as VC sisters. Sister Swinton actually wrote President Monson's biography! Elder Swinton was the mission president in the London England mission (not sure when) too. Super cool. I'm excited to get to know them and learn from their examples. We already love them so much and feel their love for us as well.

 Scripture of the week: John 8:12

"Then Jesus speak again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."