7 Miracles on my 7th month mark

Sister Crawford has a selection of favorite lines, and recently she shared in a special interview with my companion and I, "No comfort in the growth zone, and no growth in the comfort zone." My mission has been nothing, but rapid bursts of growth. I always knew that I was going to serve a mission, but the "when" was always a little fuzzy. Would I take a year off of school or would I wait till after I graduated. I chose the latter, really depending on faith. It's a scary thought to think that when I go home, nothing waits for me, no school, no job, the unknown! But, I know that this time is the time that I was supposed to serve a mission. When President Monson announced the age change for sister missionaries, it was only a confirmation of my thoughts. Now was/is/and will forever be the time that I was supposed to serve a mission. 

   The concept of a "mission" is changing completely. I trained as soon as I was done training, I was extremely "young" in terms of time being out in the field, I was inexperienced, but I grew so much from the experience. In a recent sit down with President Crawford, he told me that he has been pondering on having me train two missionaries at once. Kind of unheard of, but if you recall, I was trained that way, by a super experienced missionary, who I will forever love and be grateful for. Nothing is set in stone, but the possibility has been expressed. 

   Over the weekend, the Church announced that missionary organization is being adjusted with sister leadership positions. It was a change that my companion and I had just days earlier been joking about, expressing our disbelief that it would ever happen. And yet, here we are just days later with this change staring at us in the face. The work is hastening, of that I'm sure, and I am so grateful that NOW amidst all the change is when I am on my mission. I was able to see the evolution from the very beginning, and I know without any doubt that at this point in my life, this is where I need to be, this is what I need to be doing. 

  On Friday, we had exchanges with the South Houston Hnas, it also happened to be my 7th mark on the mission! I was companions for the day with Hna Fox, who came out to the field with me at the same time. It was the first time that I was working with someone who had the same amount of time as I did out in the field, and we saw miracles! 7 of them to be exact. 

7 Miracles on my 7th Month Mark. 

1. The mail arrived before 10 a.m. The mail has arrived at our apartment everyday at around 6pm for the past 5 weeks. There was one letter, a letter for me from my beloved mother containing a Sailor Moon sticker which made me laugh, and a letter written on a paper, made to look like a book. The letter contained words of wisdom and grace that I needed exactly at that point in time. 

2. I received a letter containing copies of my grandparents patriarchal blessings. After zone meeting, Elder Jensen (ZL) told me, "Hna Flores somehow a letter of yours got left behind in the trunk of our car. It's from the Church History Library...?" The Zone Leaders had previously handed out all mail. The blessings were beautiful, the promises contained there helped me to feel an even stronger desire to uphold my family legacy.

3. A stranger gave us a $20 bill. We were at chick-fil-A post zone meeting, and a woman (mid 20s) dressed in black clothing with red hair, walked up to the table that we were sitting at, and said, "thank you for all that you do." Placed $20 on the table and walked away. 

4. I've been asked to help out with the creation of a blog for the mission. Hna Fox and I spent some time working on said blog that will help to connect President Crawford with ward and stake leaders in the boundary of our mission. I'm so happy that I still get to use and put into practice all the things that I learned at school even while being out here serving the lord. Above mentioned blog can be found at helpthemission.blogspot.com

5. Carlos understands that he has to pray to receive confirmation from the Holy Ghost that the LDM es verdadero! Hna Fox and I taught him that it's great that he knows the LDM is true because it contains things from the Bible, but that it will be even better if he receives confirmation from the spirit, undeniable confirmation that it is true. 

6. The most natural contact. We walked up to two women, two bffs, and had the most seamless contact ever. We talked about the importance of families, how the gospel blesses families, etc. Unfortunately, the woman we were really excited about lives in the Pasadena Zone Leader's area. Yes, I'm still giving investigators away to them. :]

7. I taught the BEST lesson of my mission.  Hna Fox and I were talking in the car about how we feel as though we haven't seen the success we thought we would. We talked about how we are working with the faith for 50 baptisms, we have changed our teaching, we are pushing ourselves to talk to everyone. We were talking about this as we pulled up to our final appointment for the day. We said a prayer, humbling ourselves before the Lord, telling him that we would continue to work hard till the end of our missions, that we knew 50 baptisms a month, a baptism a month for us was possible, but only with his help. That prayer proceeded the BEST lesson I have taught on my mission. It was a How To Begin Teaching lesson. This was the first time Hna Fox and I had met this sweet couple (Pedro & Victoria). On Pday Hna Fox and I had been talking about how we had yet to have a lesson like the lessons on the district videos. This experience was our lesson. We hit every HTBT point, we asked inspired question, and there was no denying the spirit was there, because we inspiredly asked our investigators to describe how they felt. We even remembered to leave them a trailer preview! It was WONDERFUL! and Heavenly Father knows I needed that. 

I know that our Father in Heaven is so mindful of everyone of his children, I know that my Redeemer lives, I know that I am where I am supposed to be. I love you all!

Te amo times a millz, 

Hna Flores