Hermana Abbigail Harper: HEAVENLY FATHER NEVER LEAVES US SOLO....

Buenas Tardes Familia Mia,

IT'S A MONDAY.....(points to whoever emails me with the reference to that quote.) Well here I find myself sitting in a cyber once more with my mind completely blank....let's see what come out shall we...

Well firstly, the Bravo boys did not get baptized on Saturday. Miscommunications do tend to happen every once in a while when you got two gringa newbies teaching. But it's all good because now they will just be baptized this coming Saturday instead....which honestly we feel totally ok about because now their dad will be able to be there!!! He will be able to feel of the spirit and be a part of this really important and special day of their lives. And the truth is that Hna Clark and I had already been thinking about if we should wait for their dad. Heavenly Father has a plan and timing for everything. :)

Thursday the Christmas Choir tour came through Cuenca!! Had I told you about that? President set up this thing where a few weeks ago he pulled out like 8 musically talented people from their sectors and gathered them all in Guayaquil where they planned and practiced a Christmas program for a couple weeks and then toured all the zones of the mission!! The members were all invited and we all invited our investigators of course. Unfortunately the Bravo family couldn't make it cause they had a school thing that night, but the abuelita of a really active family here that we invited came! So that was cool.

Before the program, President met with all of us and gave us gift bags with candy for Christmas. Also, all the people who have completed 12 semanas got a pin of the mission logo. I felt like I was in boy scouts as the hermana leader pinned it on me. haha. It was pretty cool though and it was good to see President and to talk with Sister Torres too. She is so funny; I love her. And then the program was just absolutely beautiful. There were only 3 gringa hermanas and 1 latino elder who sang, but also a latino elder on the flute and a gringa hermana on the violin, and a gringo elder on the piano. It was seriously so awesome; the spirit was so strong. And then all the missionaries in Cuenca, so me too, opened up the whole thing singing the primary song I feel my Savior's love, and then we closed it singing I Know That My Redeemer Lives. All in Spanish of course. It was a great night.

And then Friday night was the farewell of Monica, a girl who has been helping us here. She reports this week to the Lima Central Mission. Bishop asked us 4 missionariess to arrange a special musical number so we sang God Be With You Till We Meet Again. All 4 of us sang the first verse in Spanish, the 2nd verse just us hermanas in English, the 3rd verse just the elders in Spanish, and the 4th verse them in Spanish and us in English at the same time. (there's 4 verses in Spanish.) It was pretty legit. Everyone loved it; Monicas mom even cried. One pro to South America: is they all think I can sing really well :) It's quite funny. And then on Sunday, the abuelita from the Christmas program came to church!! It's actually the abuelita of Monica, and I think with her grandaughter leaving to serve a mission, she has become more receptive. She's never been to church before and her family has been members for 20 plus years. So we shall see if she will let us teach her. I really do hope so. :)

One cool story this week....on Saturday I think it was, we didn't have much time before we had to go to the church to be picked up for lunch (cause its like a 30 min drive into the campo) We randomly felt like we should go stop by this lady's house, someone we had contacted and taught once, but she never progressed. We found her crying, full on sobbing. She couldn't even talk. She finally tells us about some family problems she's been having wither her son and we were able to comfort her. She said she was so grateful for us and felt a lot better after our visit. It was a really cool experience. She also said she was going to go to church, but she never showed up. :( And she wouldn't let us go get her because she said if her husband saw us he wouldn't let her go. This is the 2nd time she said she was going to go to church and then didn't. So maybe it's not the time in her life where she has been prepared to accept the gospel, but regardless, we were able to follow the spirit and help someone in a time of need.

Just goes to show that Heavenly Father never leaves us solo. We are never alone, and in our times of need, he will give us tender mercies so show his love. For N this day, we were her tender mercy. I challenge all of you to be someone's tender mercy. Be observant of others and help them when it may seem like they need help. Share the gospel always. You never know who has been prepared by the Lord, and if we don't open our mouths to speak, we will never find out.

So crazy that Christmas is right around the corner. Not gonna lie, that thinking about the piano recital, Fashion Island trip, and Follow The Star traditions makes me wish super bad that I was home enjoying the Christmas season with all of my loved ones. But there is a time and a season for everything, and in this season of my life it is time to be a representative of Christ, and work in his vineyard. I hope you all are remembering the true meaning of Christmas and the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I love you all to pieces....until next week....keep it real.

Christmas-time in Cuenca,

Hermana Harper