Hello Family!

How is everyone doing? I have to first note that the computer I am using is very hard to type on so that with the combination of learning spanish-my spelling probably will not be the best :)

It is always so good to hear how everyone is doing. I love hearing about things going on and how peoples lives are being affected for good. This last week was amazing! I think every week is amazing depending on how you look at it. Hermana Reed and I worked as hard as we possibly could. We are both really excited about this coming week. We have a lot of teaching apoinments set up with new people we've met who have an intrest about learning more about the gospel. We also are meeting with or trying to meet with a lot of less-active members as well. Guess what?! I can hardly believe it, actually I can't believe it. This week, tomorrow I will be able to go to the Temple in Manhatten for my half way mark! Wow! I didn't think I would be going until September. I can't believe it. I will continue to tell people I'm new on my mission and haven't been out very long because that is how I feel. I am so excited to be able to go to the Temple. There is so much peace there and I am looking forward to the spiritual boost/fill that I will need for the rest of my mission. It is such a blessing to be able to go to the Temple and feel the our Father in Heaven has for us. The Temple is such a sacred place. It is amazing to be walking down a busy road and then be able to enter the Temple and be completely separated from the world and feel of the love our Savior Jesus Christ has for us.

This last week really was amazing. We talked to a lot of people that seem to truly have a desire to learn more about the Restoried Gospel of Jesus Christ. This last week we've talked a lot about how this is the same church that Christ Himself astablished when He was on the earth and that it has been restored by a profit who prayed to God to know truth. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the power and authority given to man from Christ Himself. Increadable. There are many people who are searching for the truth. Hermana Reed and I both feel that this area getting ready to boom. The members are becoming more missionary minded and talking to us about how they can help the work move along as well. The member here are seeing us working. We are working as hard as we can. There have been many days and moments that I think it will truly take a miracle to get done what we have planned and what we need to do. I testify that miracles continue to happen. THey may be big or they may be small, regardless they are miracles and they come from God.

Yesterday we had the great opprotunity to eat lunch at a members home after chruch. We always seem to be tired mentally after church because we are working so hard to speak spanish and understand everything we can. We ate with the Palaes Family. They have a lot of cousins, sisters, and family in this area. When we went over there were a bunch of people there to eat with us. We had such a great time and the food was amazing! I have gotten use to eating spanish meals but Hermana Reed is not use to being feed that much yet :) She told me after lunch that she was praying hard to be able to eat everything they feed us :) She's doing really good. She is a great missionary and I am so excited she has such a strong desire to work hard, be obidient, and be the best representitive of Jesus Christ that she can be. At the end of eating (they also fed us TWO dessert, we walked home a little slower than usual) we sharred a spiritual message as we normally do. Yesterday was one of the members birthdays as well. We shared Alma 7:15-16 and talked about some of the gratest gifts we have been given from God, comparing those gifts to gifts we receive on our birthdays. One of the people there was not a member of the Church. Hermana Carney had told me that missionaries had taught her before but she really did not have an interest at the time. I could feel the spirit so strongly as we talked about the gift of baptism and I truly believe that this woman felt the importance of baptism more in her life and saw baptism differently. The gift of baptism is truly an amazing gift from our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ. Because the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored again to the earth through Joseph Smith we had the power of Chirst given to man, the priesthood, to perform this gift, baptism once again. My heart swelled with love for our Savior and for the Gospel. I feel and know that I am increadable blessed to be a member of the Church and not only a member right now but a missionary. I feel so humbled that I would be called by a Profit of the Lord to preach about the restored gospel, expecially in the Spanish language.

Last week we had two full days of training meetings. There are 8 new lessons which I have mentioned before that we are being trained on. Lately the importance of praying, reading from the Book of Mormon and church attendance have really stuck out in my mind. Those are three basic but vitally important things that people must be doing to know if this is the true church and to be baptized along with feeling of the Holy Ghost. Hermana Reed and I have been working hard at teaching people how to pray, how to feel the Holy Ghost, and the importance of church attendance. We have seen great changes in the power of our teaching. I know I have so much more to improve upon. There are so many days it is easy to get discourages and see all of my faults. That is the challenge, to recognize our faults, be humble, do our best to improve, and apply the Atonement to our lives daily.

I hope all of you truly know how much our Father in Heaven Loves you. I am excited for this next week. We have SO much work to do and it will truly take miracles to be able to do it all. My spanish is...I hope getting better. Honestly it is pretty bad, I think, but I know with the guidance and help of the Spirit I will be able to speak when and what I need to. It is so humbling, I can not even discribe. This truly is the work of the Lord. I know my time spent here is sacred and the the Lord will continue to guide us as we have faith and do all we can. People are being prepared to listen, we just need to keep working hard and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love all of you so much. Your support and prayers mean the world to me. I can feel them here and need them continually. I pray for all you every day as well.

With Great Love,

Hermana Banaszewski