Book of Mormon Stories

I can't believe school and college is all started up again. We live right across from the USF campus and I forgot what a pain college students are sometimes haha. When we are on bikes we have to ride through them and every single one of them has head phones in with music all the way up so no one hears us! This means we awkwardly have to wait behind them until they realize they are being stalked by strange people biking in skirts and actually wearing helmets. Its a wonderful thing.
- Sister Gibson had her birthday this week! I used all the cooking skill I have and made her a good breakfast and birthday cake. I swore I had gotten some brownies or something to make her but the morning of I realize I hadn't and had gotten blueberry muffin mix instead. I put the muffin mix in a cake pan though and played it off like I'd created this fancy new blueberry cake masterpiece- turned out pretty well. Sister Gibson's a great missionary and friend though, we got transfer emails this weekend and we are staying together here for at least another transfer so I'm excited to keep working with her.

- So this week I really got to witness the power of the Book of Mormon. A week ago at our zone conference, I decided to set the goal for myself to always carry the Book of Mormon in my hand no matter where we are or what we are doing and to give out at least one Book of Mormon every day for the rest of my mission. Every since I made that goal, I have been able to keep it and see a lot of miracles. There were several occasions when we would meet with a potential investigator, they would see the Book of Mormon out and say hey! I have that book! some missionaries I met in my country gave it to me years ago! It's so amazing when you meet someone who has already had contact with it. It makes me want to do even more to get the Book of Mormon into every ones hands because it just means they are one step closer to being able to receive the fullness of the gospel-- even if it just sits there in their book shelf.   One 17 year old we met though said that he still had the Book of Mormon some missionaries gave him once and he still tries to read it every day because it helps him learn about god. so cool. Throughout my mission I have really seen how the Book of Mormon helps us build our faith in Jesus Christ, and is a tool by which we can receive revelation. There was a lady named julissa that we met with in the hospital this week who is going through so much with her husband and kids, the court, drugs...you name it and she is going through it. She was absolutely defeated when we saw her. We weren't able to have too much time to talk to her, just enough to mark some chapters in the Book of Mormon and promise her that if she read them she would be able to start feeling the love and light of Christ in her life again. She texted us the next day saying how she had read and it had helped her a lot. Another woman that is from honduras named alba we are teaching we briefly introduced her to the bom in like 10 minutes, saying we would come back the next day to explain more. We came back and she had read all the way to 1 Nephi 4-- including all the introduction and the witnesses in front. She was so amazed how everything she was reading was in exact accordance with what the bible taught her. We teach her purely by using scriptures from the Book of Mormon and bible and she is so cool because we share with her one scripture, and then she won't stop reading to listen to what we were going to say about the scripture because she loved the scripture so much that she just wants to read the whole chapter right there.  She said she couldn't wait to get to Ether to see what happens with the Jaredites! hahah its so rare that you meet someone who truly comprehends the Book of Mormon and the divine role it has. I started the Book of Mormon again in spanish a few weeks ago with the goal to finish it in 3 months. I'm already half way through and I can say this time through it there are things that are clicking that have never clicked before. This book is truly amazing. The stories and experiences that the prophets and families and missionaries went through can strengthen and inspire us. I have never felt that so much before as I have felt it going through the Book of Mormon this time. Its amazing how much we can read it but still learn new things every time. Do everything you can to strengthen your testimony of this inspired book, I know it was translated from plates of gold to paper--but its still gold. Love you all, have a great week
hermana Va