Where I Need to Be - July 25, 2016

Buenas Tardes Hermanos, Okay so this week was one where we continued to see the small miracles in everything that we did. Ill get right to the point to let you all know what happened. Anyways so at the start of the week we were talking to a Recent Convert named Juana. She told us that she had met a young mother recently that had been through a lot of emotional problems and that she wanted to talk to us. We were super excited for Juana to take us there to talk to her the next day. So the next day we stop by Juanas house and we pick her up and start walking. It ended up being a 45 minute walk to get there (about 3 miles). Anyways when we got there we found this reference named Adriana. We started talking to her and she told us that she had talked to about every religion that you could imagine and that she didnt want to join any of them because everyone is a hypocrite. Anyways we talked to her and we were able to share a scripture with her in Moroni 8 that talks about how we are all spiritually sick and we need the power of Christ through his only true church. She started grilling us on super hard questions and I know we were guided by the spirit in all of our answers. In the end she ended up sharing an experience that she had recieved and she asked us to interrpret the experience. She said that she had asked each religion what it meant and that they couldnt answer. When she told us I looked to my companion expecting him to answer and he looked back at me and was like "youve got this" I paused there for like 30 seconds and that was when the spirit took over my words and thoughts and I answered in a way that I knew wasnt of my own capacity. I saw the look on her face change and we finished with a prayer and left. 2 days later we came back and we sat down and we asked if she had questions. She said "what did you eat for breakfast?" I told her a bowl of Fruit Loops and she got mad and said that we needed to eat a proper breakfast and so she fed us! We taught her afterwards and she completed all of her commitments and afterwards told us that it was all clear and true to her! We witnessed a mighty change of heart with her which was a huge miracle for us to witness firsthand. This experience has been a driving force for us reminding us that there are others who need this change within themselves. And it can only come through the spirit of the Lord. We worked to prepare by our studies and the spirit reminded us of what we needed to say that had already been confirmed and spoken by the prophets of Old and by Christ himself. It has been a week where I have felt the spirit take over my life and all that I do and I have felt a change of heart as well within myself, one where I can feel the joy of the gospel. This morning we had the opportunity to experience Oaxaca in an awesome way by going to the Guelegetza! It is a cultural celebration where they have each region of Oaxaca come and they do their regional dance and presentation. Each region has their own dresses and costumes and there is a big stadium that we went to. We had to wake up at 4 this morning to be able to get seats but it was fun to see the amazing culture that I get to be a part of and that I get to serve. Here are the pictures of what it was like and you can see some of the Oaxacan culture!! Anyways I am so blessed to be here to be able to experience this mighty change of heart for myself. It is such a joy and happiness to be able to do so. Thanks for all of the support, Elder Peterson

The Guelagueztza is a huge cultural celebration that takes place each year in Oaxaca the last two weeks of July. Since the dance festival is held on Mondays (P-Day), those working in Oaxaca are allowed to attend the morning performance.

Guelegetza!