Awesome as always!

Hola mi familia!

This week was awesome! I don't think I have yet to have a week that was un-awesome... Haha. That's mission life for ya!

Some highlights from this week…. (p.s. the best is the last one!)

Thursday night we went over at about 8:30 pm to check on Juana. Last Sunday we snuck up on them and found her husband, Noe, and Jose her cousin home as well.  That was our first lesson with Noe.  (I don't know if I already told you his story, so if I did, here is a recap... Haha) He told us he believes in God and that he wants to live with our Heavenly Father again in Heaven. We asked him what he was doing to reach that goal. He told us that honestly at this point, nothing. He said he is seeking for some enlightenment on how to do it.  BOOYA.  Guess who just came knocking?! Enlightenment. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read.

Sadie with her zone (minus T, who was on splits)

So back to Thursday.  Thursday night at 8:30 pm we showed up outside the door, but you could tell from the peephole that it was pitch black inside the house. We thought maybe the kids had gone to sleep, so we knocked quietly. No answer.  A second time, no answer. We got out paper to write a note, but felt like knocking one more time. So this knock, here comes Juana! Turns out their power had been out all night, so her and the boys were just playing with flashlights. We asked if we could share a Book of Mormon story with them.  She invites us in and we sat down on the couch.  We then shared the story of when there were three days of darkness because of the death of Christ, along with the coming of Christ to the Americas. There was a peace as we showed pictures (thank goodness for our iPad, random wifi at Juana's house, and the children's Book of Mormon stories on Gospel Library!!) and testified of the coming of Christ and the peace that Christ brings into our lives. Just when we started showing the part of Christ coming, Noe walks in the door from work! And that is when we witnessed a miracle. Instead of walking in, putting his stuff away and going and doing his own thing, he walked in the door, sat right down on the couch and started listening and participating in the lesson. The spirit was so strong as we testified of the moment when people felt the prints of the nails in Christ's hands and feet.  Juana was crying (but it could or could not have been allergies... But we will call it the "Spirit" ; ). It was a big step for the whole family, and we hope to see a baptism next month, and a temple sealing in 13 months : )

"We dressed as the dolls! Except more stylish…..haha"

We had an awesome fireside from President Morgan on Sunday about member missionary work!! That man is definitely inspired. He created a list of 25 things members can do to share the gospel more. I will attach it, and definitely invite everyone to read it and pick a few to do. We can't do our work without members!! (Sadie forgot….so we are all off the hook until she remembers ;)

On Friday we have a general authority coming!! Elder Stephen Snow will be joining us here in NYNYN. He is super awesome and I am pumped to hear from him.

Saturday we had a giant sports day in Stamford! We basically invited all the town here, then went to a park and played soccer, volleyball, and basketball. We didn't have a whole lot of people show up, but the elders got a new potential who went to church from age 8-18 in Ecuador, and we had an awesome future member show up too. It was soooo much fun. And just awesome to get to play sports for 3 hours. The weather was perfect too. Also I found my new calling in life: soccer goalie. Didn't see that one coming, did ya? Hahaha. Just tell Emmy she better watch her back ; ) I guess all that fist punching from the elders trained my reflexes pretty well... Haha.

We had to ghetto fix the bumper of our car. Sweet!

Saturday we had a baptism of a family from Norwalk. The dad was baptized when he was young then went inactive. He became reactivated about a year ago, and his wife and two of his four daughters were baptized. He baptized the youngest who just barely tuned 8. The other one is 4 years old, and the oldest will be baptized in the coming months. It was so amazing to see a family with four girls be baptized and now prepare themselves to become eternal. The spirit was soooo strong. Another brother was baptized too by the Stamford elders. Right after his baptism, his 9-year-old son started freaking out. Let's just say June is going to be a huge month for baptisms here in CT :)

To top off everything this week, this morning I saw Nani and Papa at the temple!!!! A member from the English ward drove us down so she could do a session and we could play in the city. When I told her my grandparents were serving there and who they were, she slammed on the brakes and started tearing up. Apparently she was proxy sealed to Papa on Monday.  It was a tender day for her because it would have been her 42nd wedding anniversary with her deceased husband. 

Anyway, when we got there, I just went in the temple and asked the recommend peeps if I could see my grandparents and they like ran to go get them... Haha. Sister Tirado didn't have her recommend with her (because we weren't planning on attending the temple) so we couldn't go in, but we just had a reunion in the entryway!  No pics though, because I didn't think I could take a picture there…..But holy cow we were crying like babies... Hahahahahah

Here's a video of Sadie at Central Park. Enjoy!

Love you all! The Church is definitely true :)

Sister Dodson