May 28, 2008...Last Tuesday, Elder Park and I got the surprise of the week when it was announced that we would be transferred. We left San Luis at 6:30 in the morning and it was snowing, and it was coming down quite hard. As Elder Park and I hauled our bags into the bus terminal, we heard a familiar voice call our name. It was Noelia and she had come to see us off. It made me want to cry because she walked up in her little coat, her jeans and shoes completely soaked from walking in the snow and said that she just wanted to see us one last time. Later on I saw that she wasn't wearing any socks and I could see her feet through the holes in her shoes, which had turned a purplish color because her feet was so cold. She refused to leave and even when we got on the bus, she refused to go. She just looked at us through the bus window and said thank you, over and over. As we pulled away from the bus terminal and saw her waving goodbye I couldn´t help but think of the symbolism. Here is a person that two weeks ago had lost everything, her family, her job, her house, etc. and now she still hasn´t got any of those things back, but she still says that she has gained everything. As we pulled away, I couldn´t help but realize that she maybe be standing in the freezing cold, but she was no longer left in the cold. She had found the gospel and had received her testimony and now she is fueled by the loving warmth of the Lord. She now has an inner light that she didn´t have before and you can see the change literally in her countenance and it is so rewarding to see. Noelia is now warmed by the love of our Lord and she no longer fears what lies ahead, because she knows...she knows that the Lord will bless her and guide her back to Him as she continues to make the decisions in her life that align her life with the life of the Lord. It was beautiful to see and I will never forget the impact Noelia had on my life and testimony.
