:)

Buenas Tardes!!! Here's another weekly update from Hermana Mitchell! It's already the last week of the transfer, and I can't believe how quickly it's flown by here with Hna. Ferguson. Hayward is sunny and beautiful and FULL of missionary experiences. This last week has been HARD. all week after the Torres family happily committed to baptism, It has been IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of them. None them answer their phones, and when they do, it's to cancel with us... they wouldn't give us the time of day at all and it was so frustrating. We FINALLY found Angelica at home this last Saturday night, like, 8 or 9 days after she committed to be baptized and as we were talking to her outside, her son Brandon came around the corner on his bike and when he saw us at the door he BOLTED! It was so sad! We don't really know what happened, but we need to do SUMTHIN to eliminate this awkward barrier that has suddenly come up. It's not looking like the baptism date will stick, Hna Ferguson and I are praying to know if we should give them a break for a while and come back later or keep up trying hard now to support them in preparing to make this life-changing step! siiiigh. 

We had a Zone Conference on Friday and it was so AWESOME! the theme was "Finding" and it was definitely inspired. We've been working with the same bunch of investigators all transfer (and long before too) and even though they have good intentions, they're not taking the time out of their busy lives for the Lord. It's like we just keep on going in circles with them and we've taken the initiative and counsel from the Mission President to practice and improve our finding skills to broaden our teaching pool. We have seen miracles as we have focused on this over the past few days! last night we were contacting a former investigator to see if she's interested in learning again and on the way back to the car we ended up knocking on a door. A very nice English-speaking lady opened to us, apologized and said she was a Jehova's Witness but wished us luck and safety. Before she shut the door we asked if she new any Spanish-speakers in the area and she pointed to a door right across the street and mentioned that the family living there is probably Catholic. So we gladly went right over!! They were SO awesome! Gillermo, Magdelena and 4 energetic kids ranging from ages 2 to 13! They were all ADORABLE. The parents said they were Catholic by tradition (which was obvious by their giant painting of the Virgin Mary kissing the Pope on the head right inside the door) but aren't active in any church. After talking at the door for about 5 minutes about our missionary purpose and the love of God, they invited us in and we ended up having a great time with them--learning about their lives and sharing about ours and how the gospel has blessed us and why we're even on missions in the first place! Magdelena vends tamales every Sunday and she even gave us some--the best EVER! We shared part of the message of the Restoration with them and they said that over the 12 years they'd lived there they've had missionaries from different churches come to their door, but but all they would ever do is open the window for them and talk through to share their message--they've never actually invited anybody to come in, but they invited us in and It was so special how the Lord put them in our paths. We are SO excited to see them again this week and talk more about they way God has reached out again in love to us, His children by calling a prophet to lead and guide us in this difficult life.

I LOVE being a missionary, I'm happier than I've ever been and I know that it's the light of the true and restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't take it for granted if you have it. Reach out to those around you and share it with those who don't! And if you're looking for it, find the missionaries! We love to teach it :) I love you ALLL!
Have a beautiful week.
Hermanita Mitchell

********Note: Pictures from Kristin's BIRTHDAY have been added to the January 29th post!********