"How Great Thou Art"

Dear Family-

What a week!!!!!!!!! oh my gosh. ok so first off Rex got baptized!! it was amazing- started off stressful with planning but it all came together and was well attended and he was so full of JOY. the spirit was SO STRONG- the first counselor of our mission presidency was there for it and he said after having an interview with rex that he is one of the most, "well prepared for baptism" that he has ever had the privilege of meeting :) funny thing though! the font was having some technical difficulties so by the time it was time for him to be baptized it was drained halfway! so he had to get baptized laying down instead of standing! i was dying- but it turned out fine.  He was confirmed this sunday and it was a beautiful blessing. He is one of the most exciting amazing conversions of my mission to witness. truly- amazing.
then- this week oh my gosh- we met violet.

let me tell you about Violet. She is ELECT- we come out on missions searching for people like her- and in the last 6 weeks of my mission- God leads us to Violet. incredible. this woman is the most prepared person i have ever met on my mission and in my life. both me and my comp cried afterwards we were so overwhelmed with gratitude. She was a referral from a ward member who is her coworker. he has already given her a BOM and a D&C and she has been reading them! she is full of the light of christ!!!!!!!!! she GLOWS! her smile- my gosh, she glows. she is a special daughter of god. you can feel it. all her life she has noticed the church because of the mormon messages on family she saw all growing up- she said she always wondered why we cared so much about the family and she loved it. she said she has always wanted to know, and as we taught her, she took notes- she is truly the most sincere person i have ever met. you can feel it. as we were explaining, reading, and testifying of the Book of Mormon she was absolutely feeling the spirit- then we showed her a mormon message of the BOM and tears started streaming down her face. she has 4 kids, recently got divorced, and more than anything wants her family to be united and strong. We read 2 ne 25:23, 26 talking about how the gospel blesses families- we invited her to church this sunday. she came! she came. i prayed the night before specifically that she would hear messages specifically for her at church the next day. well all the sacrament meeting talks were on how the priesthood blesses families. I will never forget-after 2nd hour (our lesson was on the atonement) she suddenly broke down in tears. she was quiet- but she was sitting by me- and i could feel it! i could feel and see that the spirit was testifying to her of truth right before my eyes- it overwhelmed me and filled me with joy that i also  began to cry. i have never seen that or felt that so directly before- the spirit just witnessing to her- i went to hug her and she just cried on me more. she told me through her tears, "i feel something..i feel something." but she never could get it out what she felt- i told her she was feeling the spirit. then i didnt talk anymore either bc i could feel that the Spirit was still talking. I will never forget that. 

Then right after cora's lesson we get a call from Cierra telling us that her cousing Quinton just called her (the one who came to church last sunday) saying that he wants to be baptized and become a member of the church. he said he can't get the feeling he felt at church out of his mind and wants to be baptized.

Our new investigator Cora also came to church. we gave her a church tour this week to help her feel more comfortable. she has been through a lot of heartache and abuse, and overcome a lot of terrible things- she came to church yesterday as well and loved it. relief society as well.  Our investigator Alton also came to church! he too will be baptized soon. After so much work, care, prayer, study, persistence and patience- the lord is truly pouring out his spirit abundantly on us, leading us to elect- and MIRACLES ARE ENSUING! it is overwhelming! in the most beautiful amazing way. I am full of gratitude. These people are precious. 

We also got to meet with wei- from China. We had quite a language barrier- but somehow we were able to communicate and teach the most important aspects of the God head and Book of Mormon. It was a very hot day, yet all i could think was how much God loved this woman- teaching her was a joy despite the language barrier and heat. oh what a privilege missionary work is!!!!!!! what a privilege! I loved teaching wei about her savior Jesus Christ- we even brought her a chinese BOM and she was overjoyed! we are seeing her again next week. so yes- this was quite a week- my new companion is sister Holmoe for my last 6 weeks. i am excited to meet her!  the crazy part is- i knew it was going to be her. i just had a feeling :) God is good. i am going to sprint!! Love you all. so yes- to sum up my feelings of this week, it is truly, "how great Thou art."

Much Love

sister Bertoldo