Pure Happiness

Family! Friends! Loved ones!

How are you? Good? Good!

So yesterday was a little crazy, we drove to the library to email aannnnd it was closed haha so here I am today! Hi!

Boy oh boy was this last week something else. I feel like each week here just gets weirder, and by weirder I mean BETTER.

Where do I even start!?

So yesterday morning, I woke up feeling ridiculously happy. My heart was little too big to fit in my chest. Well like, not literally, but you know, figuratively. 

My companion said I was just "beaming," and I honestly can't tell you why haha I was overcome with the Spirit, and I felt God's love so strongly. Little did I know, I was about to experience a really rough day. Yesterday was really hard, but guess what? I'm okay, I'm more than okay, I'm happy. Really happy. The goodness and light that filled me up yesterday has carried over to today, and I am praying that it stays with me forever, because this feeling in my chest is just too good.

Now let me tell you about the weirdness of my week :)

1. "I dig it." So there's this family that we visit with a couple teenagers who just don't really care about what we have to say.. ever haha typical teenagers, am I right? But we love them! They are so funny! We decided to go visit them one night, and only Pepe was home. We hung outside his house with his puppy, a german shepherd/husky mix... I died... and we just talked about life. He started opening up to us about how stressed he was for this summer and all of the things he needed to get done. A scripture came to my head in 3 Nephi 13, so I shared it with him! He thought about it a bit, and as we saw the wheels turning in his head, we asked him if he would pray every single night for strength. He thought for a little bit longer and then said, "Yeah, I dig it." Which to that we smiled because that was the most enthusiasm we've gotten from him in haha it was the best.

2. "Nice and tall." This last Thursday we went on exchanges! Which means that we switch companions for a day. It was sure interesting hahah I went with Sister Allen to Fremont, which is pretty much how I imagined Nebraska looking when I first got my call... lots of nature. The best part of the day though was when we volunteered at a retirement home. Guys, I love these people. They. Are. Gems. We played dice with them, and it was just lovely. As I was getting up, one of the ladies pointed to me and said, "Well, now. You sure are nice and tall and skinny, aren't ya?" Haha what. She then continued to tell me all about her years as a nice and tall young woman, and made me swear to her that I would never shrink. It was great.

3. "Not technically married." On Saturday, we woke up real early and headed over to a families house to help them clean! They are moving and they had to be about before 10am! So after we scrubbed the house top to bottom, we were sitting with all of the kids, eating some snacks, when one of them was like, "How does it feel to not be a teenager anymore?" Both me and my companion laughed and replied, "We still are!" And one of the girls said, "Well I guess because you're 19, but only because you're not technically married." We both stared at the girl, and then stared at each other, and then slowly changed the subject because we were both very much confused by her comment haha

4. "Accent?" We were visiting such a solid family on Sunday, gosh I love them, and as we were talking, the dad asked me where I was from. To this I responded proudly, "California!" And then when he asked what part, I said, "Fresno!" Every time I say Fresno, I get, "Ohhh! Lots of Hispanics." Like literally, every time haha everyone here knows about Fresno! Anyway, he asked if I had spoken Spanish before because appppparently I had an accent. I just beamed, and said, "Nope! But thank you." Hahah it was so funny.

Don't you just love people? They're the best.

So this week was just full of so much - so much goodness and so many laughs but also a lot of tears. Every week is just so full of emotion and growing and learning, it's really special actually. I'm learning so much, I'm so grateful.

We had one day in particular that we now call, "Dia de Milagros" because it was just full of miracles. We left the house feeling pretty unsure about the whole day, but ended the night in tears of happiness.

We ended up teaching an unexpected non-member when we had dinner at a members. When we talked about baptism, she said that it felt good and that she would feel free if she were to be baptized. We then found a family while tracting who told us they always thought Mormons were so beautiful. The mom had actually read from the Book of Mormon before and she loved it. She invited US back this week! And then we were able to visit a few more members and have such solid, uplifting meetings with them, we felt like WE had been taught by the spirit more than we had actually taught. We ended the night with only having gone 34 miles... which is actually a huge miracle. And it doesn't make sense how we only went 34, but it really did happen. It was amazing.

God is real, everyone. 

Also I've been a missionary for 3 months as of yesterday :) Life is so good, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

It's amazing how much I am learning. My whole character is just changing, every day. I'm learning how to be a better human as I help those around me. I just want so badly for these people to find God, to come unto Christ, and to have eternal life. I want it so bad. 

During personal study one morning, I read this quote, and so I'm gonna share it :)

"Obedience builds faith in Christ. Faith is a principle of action and power. Consistently following the Savior's examples produces spiritual power and capacity. Without the strengthening and enabling power of the Atonement, it's impossible to stay on the path and endure."

I know this is true with my whole heart. I know that we have to constantly be trying every single day to be better. We can't just sit in a dark room, hoping the light will turn on. Get up, and turn the light on! Faith truly is action. I promise that miracles happen when you act.

I love you all so much! SO MUCH! You're the best support system.

Be good this week.

xoxo

Hermana Brie Gould