Hope

6 months later...the Lord taught me Hope.

This time, Hope came in the form of an Elect que se llama Romi.

I don't deserve a miracle. But the Lord loves my companion and I enough that He blessed us with one anyway... And I can honestly say that there is absolutely nothing more incredible than watching a beautiful daughter of God, dressed all in white, descend into the waters of baptism... And then catch a glimpse of her radiant smile as she comes back up, completely free from sin and embarking on the journey of an eternity with a fresh, clean slate. 

As she so beautifully expressed in her testimony a few moments later:
"I have wanted for so long to be a member of the Church, ever since the elders invited me to pray and ask, and I received my answer...but due to various impediments, was never able to... It is an honor now to be able to call you all "hermanos" and to be able to say, "This is MY church." I want to be a faithful member, and I want to raise my daughter here. We will be here every Sunday, and we will continue faithful until we can be sealed together forever in the temple." 

She cried as she spoke, and I did, too.

I love being able to stand back and see that, really, Heavenly Father allowed us to be instruments in His hands... Romi was converted long before we ever met her, thanks to the diligent efforts of two hardworking missionaries, but I am so grateful for the chance that my Father in Heaven gave me to be able to know her and help her prepare to make sacred covenants with her Father in Heaven.

Romi was confirmed in sacrament meeting yesterday, and she is so incredibly happy. She is so incredibly clean. Her conversion renews my hope that we will find others like her...and reminds me that Heavenly Father is ever aware of and involved in this glorious work of salvation.

Our Savior is the light and the life and the hope of the world. When we invite others to come unto Him--and when we do so ourselves--that is the moment in which our lives will fill with that hope that only He can offer. Our earthly trials and experiences will fill with purpose and with meaning.

I don't want to live a hopeless life. I want to live always with my sights set on my Savior. I want to keep walking toward Him and never look away. As we cling to Jesus Christ--as we rely on His Atonement and allow Him to change us--He will work miracles in our lives. He will work miracles in our hearts. And He will mold us into the disciples that He would have us be. As we increase in our ability to recognize the everyday miracles that take place all around us on a daily basis, we will increase in hope, and ours will grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

Two everyday miracles took place in the lives of people I love this week.

We have been working with the Familia Briceño for the entire 6 months that I have been here... They have been members for many years, but have fallen in and out of activity over the course of those years. Recently, they began to attend church sporadically once again, but they only ever stayed for sacrament meeting when they did. 

Because our phone minutes ran out this week, we weren't able to call and remind everyone to come to church, but when we showed up at the chapel, there was Hna Briceño! She loved sacrament meeting and decided to stay for the next two hours (for the first time in years), which she also ended up loving. Waiting for Gospel Principles to start, she told us the following:

She has an alarm set on her phone Monday-Friday at 6:30 am to wake her up in order to help her son get out the door to school. Yesterday morning, an alarm that she had never set went off at 8:00 am, waking her up from a deep sleep. Still half asleep, she turned it off and fell back asleep...when 30 minutes later, an alarm that she had turned off and not snoozed went off again, waking her up for the second time and just in time to get ready to go to church. She took that as a sign that Heavenly Father wanted her to get up and go to the capilla, so she did so, and felt the Spirit while she was there. She committed to bring her entire family to church next week and stay for the entire 3 hours.

Hna Jimena is an angel and is so incredibly faithful and active... She strives in every way possible to keep the commandments and, especially, to keep the Sabbath Day holy.

Yesterday, in the middle of making lunch, her gas ran out, and she wasn't able to finish. She didn't want to break the Sabbath Day, but she desperately needed more... So she called the gas company to bring another one, and when she gave the gas man her credit card in order to pay, it didn't work. He said, "That's okay; I'll just come back tomorrow, and you can pay me then."

A loving Heavenly Father enabled her to keep the Sabbath Day holy, while also providing for her needs at the very same time. It was a miracle.

I know that our Father loves us. As we excercise faith in Him, strive to keep His commandments, and pray for increased hope...He will work miracles in our lives, and He will remind us time and time again how much He loves us.

I hope you all know how much I love you! Keep looking for miracles--I know you will find them, whether that be in the form of your very own Romi, or an alarm that you didn't even set, or a gas man that doesn't charge you on Sunday. I know He is in the details of our lives. Look for Him, and you will find Him. That's what Hope is all about.

Les amo mucho!
Hermana Sanford

Romi and her family at her baptism.