Called to Serve in DC North: Busy Week!!:)

Hey everyone!

This week was SO great!! We stayed so busy!:) Sorry this email is so long, we had so much happen!

So I first want to talk about the Romero family! They invited us over for dinner this week. They are a part member family, so the mom is a member and the husband is not a member. Their daughter is serving a mission in Peru right now! This family is so incredible! They made us feel right at home! The dad kept saying we were his daughters! He is so sweet! After dinner we had a lesson with Sister Romero (the mom), Brother Romero (the dad who is not a member) and Brother Romero's mom (who is also not a member). The spirit was so strong. The grandma spoke little English, but at the end she called us angels and told us that God loves us and He sent us to them! We are so excited to see what happens with this family! We both felt like we were right at home when we were at their house haha. Sister Romero told us to call her mom! They left us with a ton of food for the rest of the week!

So every week on Wednesdays, we get to go to the farm in Seneca and do service! On our way there, we got lost in the middle of no where when all the sudden this man drives up to us and directs us where to go! He was an angel! So this farm is HUGE! It is used for special needs kids to come to ride the horses! It is so nice! When we got there we had to sweep and clean out the barn! Then we got to go to the Shiloh Mansion on the farm (they rent it out for people to stay) and clean it! It was so much fun! There were so many bugs though because people haven't lived in it for a long time! Funny story: So there was this SUPER STICKY spider trap. Let me tell ya, it works so good, Sister Ete and I got stuck in it!!! It was on the ground to catch spiders and there were so many spiders in it and so Sister Ete stuck her foot in it to see how sticky it was.... Yah we look back and just laugh now haha and so when she got stuck, I came in and tried to help her and got stuck as well and then our hands got stuck because we tried to rip it off with our hands.... We literary got stuck with the spiders hah!! It was so funny! We eventually got out. We learned the lesson the hard way that's for sure. Don't ever touch spider trappers.

Now I want to talk about Margaret! She is doing SO WELL! This last lesson with her, she really opened up to us and told us how she suffers really badly with depression. She said that she can't remember the last time she was happy. Wow the spirit was so strong during this lesson, I remember thinking that this was not something that she was going to struggle with her whole life and right as I was thinking this, sister Ete says, "Margaret I know that as you rely heavily on Heavenly Father and do everything you can on your part, that this is a trial you will overcome!" It was such a beautiful promise! We then called the Zone Leaders to come over and give her a blessing. My testimony on priesthood blessings grew imensly from this. The Zone Leaders have never met Margaret. They have no idea who she is or what she is struggling with, but the blessing was so perfect and so personal to Margaret! They told her that she would have strength to overcome any trial out in her path. It was such a beautiful blessing. I know that it was from God and that they were the mouthpieces of God.

After the blessing we asked her about it. I wish I could explain the happiness in her eyes. I have never seen her happy before but after the blessing she glowed with such a special spirit. She said she felt happier and more at peace. She is so excited for her baptism!

Last night we had the monthly 'Why I Believe' fireside at the Washington DC Temple Visitors' Center! This is such a special event where recent converts come and share their testimony about why they believe. We always have a main speaker as well! Sandra Turley came and spoke last night. She played Cosette on Broadway for Le Mis and is so talented! I spent the night at her house the first night in my mission before transfers... And had no idea she was famous haha! She gave a beautiful talk and testimony! One of our investigators, Paul came! He really enjoyed it and after the program, we walked around the temple. We were able to feel the spirit so strongly. We had a short lesson on the temple grounds and it was so powerful! We closed with a prayer offered by Paul. He said he could feel the spirit so strongly and that he really enjoys this church. He is so amazing! I have such a strong testimony that it is the spirit that teaches, not us. The spirit is what makes people have the change of heart. Aw I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

Love, Sister Freeman