Goodbye Manantiales, Hello Zarco (plus Lucia & Melany baptism)

Welp fam, its time for transfers!!

We finished up this last week strong and worked really hard. My companion yesterday said "I feel like I have just been on a happy high".. so I think things are going well. We had a really good transfer together and we both have improved a lot. She taught me a lot and I hope I was able to teach her a lot.. and I definietly feel more confident to let her become SENIOR COMPANION! Whoohoo because she is staying here in my beloved área of Manantiales and she will be getting a companion who has 3 months in the mission. I think they will do a really good job here and keep the work going cause they are both great missionaries.

Its bitter sweet to be leaving Manantiales. I cant believe 4.5 months have passed here because in some ways I feel like I just got here. The área wasnt really progressing at all when we arrived...... and now look, we had a few baptisms and more investigators with baptismal dates and are doing well! I feel content to leave here because I am leaving it better than I found it. I kind of feel like its a mini scale of Jacob 5 where it talkes about preparing the vinyard for when the Savior comes. The vinyard of Manantiales is a little more prepared than it was before :).

Given that.. I am going to ZARCO!! Which is in the center of Saltillo. I have been given a new call.. to be a LÍDER ENTRENADORA (Sister Training Leader)! I will be doing splits every week and going to meetings with all the liders in the mission and well... training I guess you could say. I am really nervous but I feel prepared. I think it will be a big but good step. However, President has personally asked for my help with certain asuntos (matters?) so I ask for your continual prayers that I will actually be able to be of help.

And... my new companion..s.... are HERMANA WALSH andddddddddd Hermana Tah!! Hahahah mission dream come true! Hermana Walsh and I are finallyyyyy companions. We didnt know if it ever really was going to happen the Lord knows even our smallest desires. Its a little twist having Hermana Tah with us, but hey, it will just be a little party all the time.

Now with this past week.... LUCIA AND MELANY WERE BAPTIZED!! It seriously was the most beautiful baptismal service I have attended. Not really for the service, but when they were baptized it seriously was spiritual. Other members commented to us that there was a special spirit there. When Lucia came up for the water, she just covered her face and cried. She later told us it was a feeling she could not describe. We met them back in the bathroom right after the baptism as they were getting dressed and they were SO HAPPY! They were like "we´re clean!!" and talked about how they are going to endure to the end and are so happy they are in the right path. Lucia started talking about how now the question is to get her husband and sons to make the covenant too so that they can be sealed.

Lucia told us the next day that she had a dream that night about her baptism and that, yes, it was beautiful, but that she knows they are more things to come. Things more sacred. She said it just so casual but so trusting and it threw us back a little... we were just like "the temple!!". She and her daughter really have been prepared to recieve this Gospel and it is so refreshing to see how much they UNDERSTAND what these covenants mean. I feel like she has that eternal perspective.

We went and taught her husband last night too (he went to church yesterday... but waitied outside the wholeeee 3 hours hahahaha... one step at a time people... hes making progress) and he seems to be more receptive now. He will probably take a little while, but I dont doubt he will come to a knowledge of the truth and be baptized also. I know this whole family was prepared, not just Lucia and Melany.

The Hernández family... well we discovered some realllllllllly difficult things that are happening in their family, which I will not write here, but will tell one day when I am home. Hopefully I will have some positive news in the upcoming weeks. We had a successful ward council this last week, which was like a going away present, where the leaders of the ward are actually on board now with the needs of this family. They are understanding the urgency of the situation, especially as some new knowledge concerning their problems has come to light. I wish I could be here to see it brought to pass, but all is well and I am just happy to know there should be some progress concerning their physical and spiritual welfare son. We passed by right before coming to write and I was able to get a picture with the whole family :).

Random fact... Hermana Valerio and I had a "movie" moment this week. We were walking home one night and it started to rain right as we left our last appointment (we were in the furthest part of our área from our house) so we were getting pretty wet, but we were happy with everything so we didnt really mind. Well, we were getting close to getting home and we saw a car coming towards us.. and you know how when there is a BUNCH of water on the side of the road and a car drives by it makes a wall of water? Well... we saw this HUGE wall of water coming towards us and there was NOTHING we could do. Hahaha we got hit HARD and were 100% soaked. We just stopped and had like that draw dropping momento where you are like "!!!!!!!seriously!!!!!" hahaha. We started laughing so hard and finished walking home. My companion was like "theyre really lucky we are happy people and that we are in a really good mood". Hahah good thing it was the end of the day too.

Well family, thats the update. Yes, Mark, I do write long letters. But just in case yall are wondering why they are longer, President granted us an 1.5hr to write now sooo I guess our mission is more obedient and successful than before :).

LOVE YOU ALL!

Hermana Roberts