12-10-12

Dearest Family,

My final transfer phone call came last night, and... NO CHANGES!!
Woot! This officially makes for 5 complete transfers with Hermana
Dunn!! Crazy! She arrived 2 weeks into the transfer last transfer, but
we make up for that with the 2 weeks in Congreso when we started!
HAHA. I never thought that we would be so blessed. Even though I am
not actually HERE all that often, it is still really fun to be
together and we have a great time! Hermana Salazar is also doing
wonderfully. She is growing so much and we are really proud of all of
her progress.

Last night, we went to the farewell of the missionaries who go home
today, and it was WEIRD! It was strange to think that I am now the
next group to go. Yikes! There is so much more that I want to do and
be before the end comes, so I best be getting to work! I don`t even
think about the end and that helps. Just so that you know, I will most
likely be home on January 22... my flight leaves here on the 21st, but
it is a loooong trip! But don´t remind me about it, ok? If you want to
do a countdown, ok... but I don´t need to know! haha.

THANK YOU for the packages! I am so excited! I am going to buy a kilo
of grapefruit today... not going to lie, my secret hope was a
grapefruit spoon! THANKS! Also, we are on rations with the Milk Duds.
They are just so good! But they will go way too fast... especially
with three... so we made rations and they will last. And of course the
Peanut Butter and granola are ALWAYS welcome. The granola is so good!
It´s been a long time. And I love the sticky notes. They are so
perfect. Thank you for everything. And for the presents. I will wait
on those till Christmas.

Things went really well in San Ignacio 2. I was there for 3 days and
we really saw a lot of miracles. The Sisters wanted to find lots of
new investigators, so we got to work and hit the ground running. We
found a great young married couple who both accepted baptismal dates,
a part member family (Dad and 2 kids members, Mom and 1 not), who have
been to church in another city and recently moved to San Ignacio. They
had been wanting to find the church! We also found a young woman who
is the friend of one of the young women in the ward. It was a really
productive 3 days and the Sisters realized just how much you can
accomplish in a short time when you are totally obedient and
completely focused on the work. I was also able to see quite a few of
the members, and that was really special. I cried with a few of them.
It is amazing how much you can come to love the people! I am going to
miss them so much!

The investigators are doing so well! We had stake conference this week
and it was really good. We had 5 investigators there, and we were
really happy with that.

ROSANA SUAREZ changed her job and now has Sundays off!!!!! It is a
miracle! She has a baptismal date for the 29th and is so happy that
she can finally follow her kids. The Suarez family is doing so great!
The girls recited from memory the young woman`s theme the other day
and it was perfect! I felt so much joy! Rosana is trying so hard to
quit smoking and is down to about 5 a day... we have to get her
totally clean by the 19th, so please pray for her!

Ana and Nayla (mom and daughter) also went to conference. We met them
about 2 weeks ago when the little boy, Alex, threw a soccer ball over
their fence and it crossed our path. We went to return it and met Ana.
She told us that her mom is a member in Zarate and that she has been
trying to convince Ana to learn more. WOW! She is really progressing
well. They both have baptismal dates for the 23rd.

Alex is a 25 year old nephew of some recent converts. He is really
great, but it is hard for him to really believe and have faith. I know
that he will get his answer though. He just has to read the Book of
Mormon and pray to know that it is true. It will come out just fine!
He is a really good man and likes what we teach him. Now he just needs
to let it in his heart.

Alan is a 14 year old that the hermanas met while I was gone. He is
really great and has a lot of faith. He has enjoyed getting to know
the young men of the ward and he is really finding his place. His
parents are divorced and he doesn´t get very much attention at home
and was wondering if God really exists and loves him. We have seen a
lot of growth in him in these last couple of days.

We are so very blessed! I couldn´t be happier about how everything is
going and how everyone is doing. I love this work and I am going to
give my 100% every day hasta el fin. In this Christmas season, it is
my desire to gift to the Lord all that I am, give Him my entire heart,
might, mind, and strength. I want to be the best missionary that I can
be. I want to come to truly know my Savior and become like Him. I want
to do His work in His way.

Another great miracle of this week...
Christian was BAPTIZED!!! He was a contact that we made in the street
and we taught him for about a week until we realized that he lives
outside of our area. He said El Talar, but he really lives in Troncos
del Talar which is part of Pacheco. Well, he continued progressing
really well and he made the important covenant of baptism yesterday.
We were able to be in his baptism and it was really spiritual. Hermana
Dunn and I were asked to do a musical number and it was great! I am so
happy for Christian. Miracles!

Well family, I love you all so much! Thank you for your letters and
your prayers. I love hearing how you are all doing and seeing your
great progress. I love that we are all learning and growing and
sharing these great experiences. Our family has grown so much in this
year and a half! I can´t believe it. The Lord is so good to us. I hope
that we can always recognize His hand.

I love you all! Keep up the good work! Keep doing the small and simple
things. May we never weary in well doing!

LOVE YOU!
Hermana Shelley