Missionary Chronicles: The One That Got Away

Hola a todos!

I hope y'all had ana awesome week! Our week was amazing here in Georgia and I'm so excited to fill y'all in!

We had an AMAZING week for finding! In total we found 10 new people to teach which is so awesome! And the people we found seem pretty solid which is even more of a miracle! Here's a couple of powerful stories from this past week!

So on Tuesday we were on exchanges with the Spanish STLs and I got to be with Hermana Broederlow again which is always a blast! We just work so well together so it's always so fun to see what the Lord can accomplish when we're working together! We had gotten a referral from the English Elders here in the area for a lady named Margarita. We went to the address that the Elders gave us and a guy answered the door and said that no one named Margarita lived there (classic lol). As we were walking away, two guys come rolling up on their bikes so we started talking to them. Their names are Salomón and José Luis. We talked to these guys for a long time and they're actually super interested! The miracle though is that these two guys live in that same apartment that we knocked on! CRAZY! If we hadn't gotten that referral we wouldn't have gone to that house! Even though it wasn't whonwe thought we'd find, we still found two awesome people in that same place!

The other amazing experience we had happened on Wednesday night. Y'all this was absolutely crazy and it really changed me. That morning Hermana Nava and I decided that we were going to go knock an apartment complex that night. As we were driving there, I made a joke and said, "Hermana you've never seen the tortilla factory before" to which Hermana Nava replied, "Let's go see it!". I was completely joking but we drove down there and decided to do some finding around the factory. We went to this one specific area where I knew member family lived. The problem with this neighborhood is that there is zero parking haha. As we were driving around looking for a place to put our car, we passed this same guy on his bike like 3 times. We didn't really think anything of it so we eventually found the members house and parked on the street. We went and knocked on the members door and they weren't home so we continued up the street. We came to a corner and Hermana Nava asked me where we wanted to go and I told her to go right. As we turned the corner we saw that same man on his bike sitting at the top of the hill. We both got the strongest prompting that we needed to talk to him. As we walked up the hill I said a silent prayer asking the Lord not to let him leave cause I really needed to talk to this guy. We eventually reach him and see that he's just sobbing. By outward appearance, this guy looks like a gangster and kind of a rough dude. We started talking to him and found out that his name is Rafael. Hermana Nava and I felt extremely comfortable, like we could say anything to him. We ended up teaching Rafael the whole Plan of Salvation while sitting on the curb. Rafael has lost everything and is so close to just giving up. As we were teaching, Hermano Martinez (the member) drives by and waves at us. Ath that moment we got the strongest prompting that we needed to introduce Rafael to Hermano Martinez. We begged Rafael to come down the street with us but he said that he'd "never gone anywhere without being hated". We took a leap of faith knowing that the Lord had this in his hands and we walked down to the members house and told Rafael to meet us down there in 5 minutes. My testimony was strengthend so much as I looked up the street and saw Rafael riding toward the house on his bike! He came and met the members and they immediately took him in! As we sat on their front porch drinking "coca" we talked about life and the Martinez's really accepted Rafael. On Saturday night we went over to the Martinez family for dinner and they had invited Rafael as well! I got the chance to play some music on the guitar and Rafael was in tears again. We asked what was wrong and he told us that he was going to be moving to Florida the next day to try and start over again. It broke our hearts that we had just found such an amazing person and that he was gone so quick, but we know that seeds were planted. We're praying hard that he'll be able to get in contact with missionaries in Florida and find what he's looking for. Please keep Rafael in your prayers!!

Sorry that was so long haha! I've been waiting all week to share that experience with y'all so I hope you enjoyed reading it. Thr Lord is in the details y'all! Commit yourself to search for his hand and you'll find it without a doubt! 

And finally, the transfer verdict...I'M STAYING HERE IN MAGNOLIA WITH HERMANA NAVA!!! I couldn't be happier or more excited to finish my mission here in this area and with this companion!! My heart is so full!!

I love y'all so much and hope you have a fantastic week! Let me know if anyone is in need of extra prayers! Thanks for your continued love and support! Love y'all big time!

Hermana Adams

Pictures:

1. Cool Mural

2. Playing guitar at Martinez house (Rafael is in the back)

3. Exchanges 

4. First time at Sonic in about a year (that one's for you mama

5. Tortilla Factory