Tender Mercies and Rainstorms

August 2, 2021

Hola otra vez from beautiful Albuquerque!!

We had another great week and yet again saw the hand of the Lord with some really cool people we found and some other really neat tender mercies. 

At the beginning of the week we had one of our most solid members reach out to us about a lady she met and shared a little about the gospel with, and said she was really interested in learning more. A member referral itself is a huge miracle and we were super excited. We were able to go over and meet Liz and her 12 year old daughter Natalie and immediately the spirit was really strong and we knew they could feel the difference. We've been able to teach them a few times since and they are so cool!! They came to church on Sunday, which again is a huge miracle because it seems this is alwaysss the hardest thing for our friends, and said they felt comfortable and a strong peace since we knocked on their door last Monday. We are super excited about them!! 

Another miracle referral came when we got a call from the elders that run the mission's Spanish Facebook page in Albuquerque. They said they've been talking to this guy who sounded legit so we of course went over as soon as possible. We pull up on this dirt road to this half finished trailer and there's a man in a wheelchair on the porch. Turns out that it's him, Alejandro, and he really is so elect!! He was asking us all these perfect questions about who we are, what we do, and what we believe in. He kept saying he felt like he had met two skinny gueros from Utah who spoke spanish before but he couldn't remember if it was a dream or if it actually happened a few years back. Who knows haha. At the end we hadn't even taught the restoration as we planned because he had so many questions, but we gave him a Libro de Mormón and invited him to read 3 Nefi 11. The next morning this man texted us and asked us if we could come by that afternoon instead of that evening because he wanted to talk about what he read!! We went back and had a really good lesson! Sadly he woke up sick on Sunday and couldn't make it to church as the adversary struck again working against our friends, but he is so cool and we are pumped about him!!!! 

Our last elect person who fell into our lap this last week actually is the sister in law of Jesús, who we've been teaching for a while now and him and his family are doing well. Well her name is Socorro and, you guessed it, is super ready to receive the gospel!! She said she met and talked with some missionaries a while back in México but hadn't seen any since being here in Albuquerque. She didn't remember a whole lot at first but it was neat to see how she had a familiarity of the Spirit as she felt it again in our lesson. I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but we are yet again really excited for her! 

One final tender mercy was on Saturday night.  As I started my fast, I of course had all the people we are working with in mind. But I also thought about my beloved friends from back in El Paso, especially Luis and Carmen. I had heard from them here and there on Facebook but not a whole lot, and also heard the missionaries in my last area have been struggling to meet with them so I was a little worried about them. Well we had some lessons fall that night and it actually started to rain really hard so we went back to the church and decided to call up some formers for the last 30 minutes of the night. Crazy enough at 8:45 I got a call from Luis and Carmen!!!! I was shocked and beyond excited to hear their voices again and even more so when they said they want to continue learning and working towards baptism, but for whatever reason haven't been able to meet with the elders down there. So I'm really hoping to be able to do some more from up here to get them back on track again!! They are amazing people with so much faith and I have felt a special connection and love for them since the very beginning. So incredible to see that answer to my fasting and prayers!! It definitely doesn't always work out like very often, and there is for sure work ahead with them, but I'm humbled and grateful for the way the Lord showed me He is always aware of us!! 

Just a few last random fun things from this week were we had some massive rain storms and flash floods the other day, Elder Woodhouse ended up taking off our shoes and socks running through the river in the street to get back to the apartment haha. And we did some more service for our lady Carmen which is always a great time. 

I know this is already crazy long with all the stories, but I just want to share this incredible I read this week! It talks about some themes that have really impressed me and been on my mind a lot - humility, trusting in the Lord, and His infinite mercy and love. I hope you love it as much as I do!! 

Mosiah 29:20 "But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him." 

Con todo el amor,

Elder Jackson 

1 Comp unity w the Pink ties 

2 Made a couple friends 

3 Blue skies but pouring rain