Hermana Mary DeWitt: Becoming Akateko-Speaking Missionaries!

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas! Here are just a few highlights of the week:

We had Zone Conference on Wednesday! It was super fun and we learned a LOT! Afterwards, Hermana Shumway and I got to take pictures outside the Fort Collins Temple, since the church we had the conference in is just right across the street!

Saturday was Christmas Day! And it went by so fast! It's so crazy how quickly the whole Christmas season went by, and I'm sad that my one Christmas as a missionary is already gone... I called my family in the early morning (so we could open presents "together" ) and then had a District dinner with the Dory family, which was super fun! Afterwards, the whole mission got on a Zoom call to watch "The Witnesses" (about the three witnesses of the gold plates!), which came out this summer. It was really well done and I loved it!

On Sunday, Chantal finally got confirmed! We're so happy that Xochitl, Chantal, Evalet, and Jennyvive have ALL been baptized and confirmed and are official members of the church! We're super happy for them and are going to start helping them get to the temple as soon as possible!

Fabiola also came to church again! We're super happy that she's coming consistently and is excited for her baptism! That morning, she told us, "Satan was telling me that I didn't feel good and that I shouldn't go to church - that I should just stay home and sleep...but I told him, 'No! I have to go to church!'" We're SO proud of her!

We also visited Jose Lopez and Eulalia (his wife) on Sunday! We taught them about the Restoration (again) because we know that their comprehension level with Spanish is very low. We taught them how / invited them to pray, but Eulalia still seemed very hesitant. We began asking "How do you say ____ in Akateko (their native language)?". They would tell us and then we would use those words to help them pray on their own in Akateko! I think they really appreciated our effort to learn their language and truly understand them. Long story short, Hermana Shumway and I are learning Akateko!

On Monday, we went and visited Xochitl and her family - we asked if Juan was there, and she said "yes, but I don't think he'll want to join us...". She went and told him that we were here, came back and said "maybe he'll come, but I don't think so...". Not a minute later, Juan walks in and sits down! We were so excited to talk to him and figure out where he's at; he told us that he doesn't have anything against the church or us, but that he wants a little bit more time before deciding to be baptized, because "I know it's a promise with God, and I think making a promise with Him and then NOT keeping it would be pretty bad...". So, he still wants to learn and progress! He just wants to make sure he's ready to make baptismal covenants, which is awesome!

Here's my Personal Study excerpt of the week:

D&C 101:7-9 - "They were slow to hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God...In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me. Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them."

--it's easy to forget the Lord when life is going smoothly - we remember to pray more earnestly when we're going through a hard time, but our prayers are more half-hearted when things are going well...

---never forget the Lord during times of peace!

--even if we DO forget sometimes, the Lord will still have mercy on us.

Love you all and have an amazing week!!!

- Hermana DeWitt