Today I am just really happy. The past few weeks I've been really struggling to have "animo", or "desires" in English. It's been hard for me to "emotionally buy into" Ceres. But yesterday I fasted for 5 families here that really have a lot of potential to be baptized but they need help. This morning I woke up and just felt so happy! And then I started a new Purification Challenge this morning. I meant to do one last transfer, but my companion advisded me to wait because so much was already going on that she didn't want me to get overwhelmed. But now I'm starting one and as I was reading the Purification Challenge, I just felt happy and at peace, I felt like Heavenly Father was smiling at me. So I'm really excited!!! Lot's of revelation and miracles are on the way to Ceres 3rd!!!!
I really do love Ceres. Nothing compares to your first area, but I love the people here. I LOVE hispanic culture. I just got a taste of it in Kerman, but here everyone just loves you immediately. Hugs and kisses from all the women, even if they don't know you. It is so awesome. They all just love you and support you. And feed you a ton. Really I just try not to eat anything during the day because I know I will die from the amount of food you are expected to eat at dinner haha!
We are working with several families as I said earlier. We are seeing miracles with one family in particular, the Ruiz family. They have been investigating for a LONG time. Sister Johnson worked with them before she was a Coordinating Sister! Well Sister Ruiz and her son went to Disney World last week so we got to meet with just Brother Ruiz a couple times. He's the one who is more spiritually open. So we talked with him and we helped him to set a date for May 25th and then to fast last Sunday. We fasted with him. We told him that when we make promises to the Lord and follow through, he will help us the rest of the way. So we asked him to fast and if he didn't get his answer we could cancel the date. Well the three of us fasted and Sister De La Cruz got a very clear answer from God that He would help Brother Ruiz recieve his answer. Well we went over like two days later and he mentioned casually that his recently disceased father came to him in a dream and asked Brother Ruiz to help him and Brother Ruiz didn't want to. Brother Ruiz said that was really weird because he and his father had always worked together and Brother Ruiz had never turned him down. Well we jumped on that as a clear answer... His father wants to be baptized!!! So this week we've been focusing on the temple and on explaining dreams by having him read about Joseph of Egypt. It's been really great. We're close. But we are praying and fasting and we're not giving up on them! I think they know in their hearts they will be baptized eventually, it's just a matter of getting them to do it.
I really do love Ceres. Nothing compares to your first area, but I love the people here. I LOVE hispanic culture. I just got a taste of it in Kerman, but here everyone just loves you immediately. Hugs and kisses from all the women, even if they don't know you. It is so awesome. They all just love you and support you. And feed you a ton. Really I just try not to eat anything during the day because I know I will die from the amount of food you are expected to eat at dinner haha!
We are working with several families as I said earlier. We are seeing miracles with one family in particular, the Ruiz family. They have been investigating for a LONG time. Sister Johnson worked with them before she was a Coordinating Sister! Well Sister Ruiz and her son went to Disney World last week so we got to meet with just Brother Ruiz a couple times. He's the one who is more spiritually open. So we talked with him and we helped him to set a date for May 25th and then to fast last Sunday. We fasted with him. We told him that when we make promises to the Lord and follow through, he will help us the rest of the way. So we asked him to fast and if he didn't get his answer we could cancel the date. Well the three of us fasted and Sister De La Cruz got a very clear answer from God that He would help Brother Ruiz recieve his answer. Well we went over like two days later and he mentioned casually that his recently disceased father came to him in a dream and asked Brother Ruiz to help him and Brother Ruiz didn't want to. Brother Ruiz said that was really weird because he and his father had always worked together and Brother Ruiz had never turned him down. Well we jumped on that as a clear answer... His father wants to be baptized!!! So this week we've been focusing on the temple and on explaining dreams by having him read about Joseph of Egypt. It's been really great. We're close. But we are praying and fasting and we're not giving up on them! I think they know in their hearts they will be baptized eventually, it's just a matter of getting them to do it.
Yup. So there it is. I have really changed a lot. Looking back, I just feel so much happier with who I am. I have a lot of work to do still, but I'm getting there.
Fun stuff, I'm telling people I'm from Jalisco (Ha lees ko).... a state in Mexico. Haha. People are just shocked with my Spanish. Still not perfect, but I'm getting there. At church yesterday someone heard me speaking Spanish and hadn't met me before and he stopped me and said "Where are you from? You are not from the United States. Where did you learn Spanish?" (All fo that was in Spanish when he asked me). So that was pretty awesome. Granted Spanish was his second language, he was white. But still. He new good Spanish. So that was pretty awesome. And the Elders have named me Honrary Mexican. So that's pretty cool too. Haha.
Other funny thing, a lot of people here canNOT say Zollinger, so they are starting to call me Hermanita Solly (Sister Zolli). That is pretty funny. Our ward mission leader is starting it haha, and the Elders didn't know that I'd ok-ed that becasue he just couldn't say it, so at the Elders baptism yesterday I played piano (I play for literally EVERYTHING) and he said "And we thank hermanita solly for playing piano" and all the elders just flipped their heads at me like "what the heck?!" haha but it's cool. They introduced me and Elder Cook as the new missionaries last week... "We welcome our new missionaries, Elder Cook and Hermana..... ah...."... hahaha!
Well there you have it. I love it here. I love being a missionary. It's the best!
Love you so much!!!!
Hermana Z
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