So warning...this is going to be short. We have a ton of stuff going on today but I love you all very much!
So this week was good, Im still learning lots from my new companion Hermana Hunter. She is a great missionary.
We had an appointment with Olivia, her son Blas and his wife Sheena. Olivia is a member who has been inactive for a year but she has now come to church 2 weekends in a row. We are teaching her son and wife. Her son is super confused about religion and she didn't grow up learning about religion at all. She was really receptive to us and she can already see how this is going to bless her marriage and family. We asked them if it was weird for them to here each other talk about God and they said yes but it was really nice.
Mario...hes progressing nice and slowly. He has a lot of fears but this week we have been teaching him about the plan and he really is soaking everything up. Slowly but surely it is helping him clear up his doubts.
One cool experience was with Jesus (we were teaching him and had to drop him a couple weeks ago). Well I had been thinking about him and Ingrid all day and we were about to go knock and I finally told my companion that I didn't know why but I had been thinking about them all day and she said she had thought about them as well so we decided to head over. We get there and Jesus is out side cooking carne asada. BECAUSE IT WAS HIS BIRTHDAY! So we were there and shared a message with him and ate with them (I had grilled corn in case you were wondering) haha. I really know that the Lord's hand is in this work and I know that he loves Jesus and is really attentive of the things going on in his life.
WE FOUND CARLOS. It was such a miracle and we were able to have an appointment with him and teach him about the gospel. He accepted to prepare to be baptized next month!!! EXITO! We are really excited. He really understands the scriptures and has desires to serve his father in heaven.
Silvia is still getting baptized on the 28th and I am just so exited for their family. I can't wait when they get sealed in the temple!! That is the goal!
Mom, I will write you my schedule next week. I got to go.
I love you all so much and I just want you to know that this is God's work and his Kingdom. I am privileged to wear the name of our Savior every day and invite people to repent and come unto him!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
ONE WEEK IN THE FIELD FOR MY BABY
Haha I decided that Im just going back and counting with Hna Hunter, we've had one week in the field. Haha. Yes my new companions name is Hna Hunter, she is from St.George Utah and is super fun. She is so excited to be a missionary and her spanish is SO GOOD. Made me feel great since of course mine isn't the best haha. Im just so impressed with her because she just gets out there and does it. IM SUCH A PROUD MOM (in the mission your trainer is your mom). We are still in the same area living in the same house with the same family. They have given her a great welcome. (photo attached)
So just a random tidbit. Did you know you can send me emails any day of the week? you don't have to wait until p day to send them. Im just not sure you know that? Ha :)
Well this week...it has just gone by so fast. Its been fun to watch her eat her first mexican bread...first puche...first tamales, ext.
We've been able to teach some great people this week. One being a older woman named Rosario. We met them in the park weeks ago and her husband seemed super interested and she just kept ignoring us. We finally found them at home like 2 weeks ago and taught them about the Book of Mormon, again the husband was the one asking question ext. So we came back and her husband was gone and I saw her Book of Mormon open on the table, she had been really studying it and we taught her the restoration. In her prayer she prayed that she could know if Joseph Smith was a prophet. It was so sweet. I was very surprised/ excited.
We also taught Silvia twice this week. The first time we taught her about tithing and fasting and then chastity. They aren't married but everything is ready to get married so we were wondering what the hold up was. We had a very spiritual lesson and he committed to go buy the license. I just love them. She is SO excited to get baptized.
Mario....oh man. So awesome. So we get to his appointment and he had SO many questions about going to church and how he wants to look nice even though he knows he can go dressed how he is he wants to feel comfortable and he doesn't have money to go buy nice stuff...bla bla bla. So first I told him that my skirt I bought for like 3 dollars and a second hand store..and then had a great lessons just peeling away his question. because it had tons of layers. Next lesson we came back and he was like "hermanas I want to show you something"....he went in his closet and he brought out CHURCH CLOTHES. He went to the second hand store and bought some. I was so pumped. I almost cried.
I know God guides his children if they are willing to be guided.
Ive got to go..time is short BUT I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! OH and did you get a campsite? Oh and I will be calling president today to see what I can do with BYUI
Here is a new years eve quote president sent us that I loved
“I think January ought to be a happy month of the year. Of all people on the face of the earth, Latter-day Saints, with the perspective given them by the gospel, ought to be happy and optimistic…January always brings a renewed hope for personal and family progress in the coming year. It is the time of the year when people tend to set goals and make commitments—resolutions, if you will, New Year's resolutions.
“[The gospel of Jesus Christ] is a gospel of repentance, and we need to be repenting and resolving. Indeed, the process of repenting, making commitments, and setting goals should be a continuous one, so there is nothing wrong with using this traditional time of the year to evaluate the past and plan the future. It is much like our personal prayers in which, while communicating with our Father in Heaven, we ponder our thoughts, words, and deeds of the day and seek help in our personal progress for the morrow. The practice of reviewing the past and setting new directions for the future is a very healthy one, a scripturally encouraging one, in which we can beneficially alter our lives. I commend the practice to you, especially if it is thoughtfully pursued and the resolutions made are made in righteousness, bringing behaviors and attitudes that truly bless your lives and the lives of others.
“My young friends, it is appropriate at this time of the year that we reflect on the past and our future and on the direction of our lives. It is worthy to make resolutions regarding our behavior, goals, or pursuits. Such resolutions become mileposts to guide our lives, now and later. They will lead us past the kind of transitory fads that evaporate like the morning dew in the heat of the sun.”
(Elder Howard W. Hunter, Address given at Brigham Young University on January 5, 1992)
Monday, December 26, 2011
soooo WHERE AM I GOING?
Welp we got our transfer calls...actually our calls started last night. We were in an appointment and we heard the little beep of our phone. We got out of the appointment and we saw that it was a random number and they didn't leave a message and it was 9 so we figured we would just call it back the next day. Then we started driving and we got another call from the same number so Hna Clark answered because I was driving. She started talking to the person in spanish and I was SOO curious who it was...finally she looked at me and she mouthed "Its Elder Bills"...who is one of the assistants to the President. He then said Hna can I talk to your companion Hna Tippetts? She said of course and put on speaker phone. He did all the little small talk and then finally cut to the chase and said "Hna you have been called by the Lord to serve as a trainer this next transfer".....BAAAAAAAAAAA. Of course I said ok and he said wed find out where tomorrow. So this morning right before studies we got a call from the zone leaders and we found out that I will be training here in Newbury Park!! Yayyy I finally get to stay in an area longer than 2 transfers. Hna Clark will be going to Taft (a little town outside of Bakersfield) and she will be white washing with an older missionary (white washing means there use to be Elders there and now there will be Hermanas). Its going to be such an adventure for her and I think that is what has given me the most confidence. I am just so excited for her and her new adventure. Im praying that my baby will be a native but we will see. I know the Lord qualifies who he calls. Hijole. We will see.
Anywayyyyyy....a quick few things because we have to go.
1. Thank you SOOO much for all the love you all have sent me. I love the CDS SOOO much and I love my spanish CTR ring. Everything is so beautiful. THANK YOU.
2.It was great hearing all of your voices even if it was just a random conversation. Haha. I just love you all so much
3. a member was so convinced that I was leaving that he gave me a tearful goodbye. HAHA can't wait to see him Wednesday.
4. Mario. He is the boyfriend of a member. He pretty much became a member because of the BOM c=CDS you sent me Dad because he has a hard time reading so has avoided the missionaries but the CD made him so excited. Anyway he's listened to it every day and loves the BOM. We've taught him twice now and we taught him about the BOM and prayers he was so touched about the fact that we just bare our heart to our heavenly father and he was very teary eyed after the prayer. He didn't come to church though so we will have to focus on that more. I loved the Restoration and it makes a lot of sense to him
5.We were knocking and found this random less active member that we didn't know existed
6.I have this random note in my agenda to say and Im not exactly sure what it means..it says joy=diligence in the work of the Lord. Im pretty sure I was studying PMG or something and I know that that is where we find joy is when we are diligently serving the Lord and his children
7. We went to a christmas devotional in wednesday with the missionaries from Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and Simi Valley. It was really spiritual and really got me thinking about how this feeling we feel during the season can last forever
8. Also at the christmas devotional I found out that a couple of people I taught in Oxnard got baptized and one is preparing to be baptized!!!!! That made my week. I love that family so much!
9. Im glad you had a good christmas and that Jed Chrissy and Jaden could come over. I thought about them during the court day. Im assuming everything worked out?
10. I can't stop at 9 soooo Silvia is doing wonderfully and will be baptized on the 28th of Jan. YAY! Along with her daughter.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND THANKS sO MUCH FOR ALWAYS SUPPORTING ME!!!!
Anywayyyyyy....a quick few things because we have to go.
1. Thank you SOOO much for all the love you all have sent me. I love the CDS SOOO much and I love my spanish CTR ring. Everything is so beautiful. THANK YOU.
2.It was great hearing all of your voices even if it was just a random conversation. Haha. I just love you all so much
3. a member was so convinced that I was leaving that he gave me a tearful goodbye. HAHA can't wait to see him Wednesday.
4. Mario. He is the boyfriend of a member. He pretty much became a member because of the BOM c=CDS you sent me Dad because he has a hard time reading so has avoided the missionaries but the CD made him so excited. Anyway he's listened to it every day and loves the BOM. We've taught him twice now and we taught him about the BOM and prayers he was so touched about the fact that we just bare our heart to our heavenly father and he was very teary eyed after the prayer. He didn't come to church though so we will have to focus on that more. I loved the Restoration and it makes a lot of sense to him
5.We were knocking and found this random less active member that we didn't know existed
6.I have this random note in my agenda to say and Im not exactly sure what it means..it says joy=diligence in the work of the Lord. Im pretty sure I was studying PMG or something and I know that that is where we find joy is when we are diligently serving the Lord and his children
7. We went to a christmas devotional in wednesday with the missionaries from Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and Simi Valley. It was really spiritual and really got me thinking about how this feeling we feel during the season can last forever
8. Also at the christmas devotional I found out that a couple of people I taught in Oxnard got baptized and one is preparing to be baptized!!!!! That made my week. I love that family so much!
9. Im glad you had a good christmas and that Jed Chrissy and Jaden could come over. I thought about them during the court day. Im assuming everything worked out?
10. I can't stop at 9 soooo Silvia is doing wonderfully and will be baptized on the 28th of Jan. YAY! Along with her daughter.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND THANKS sO MUCH FOR ALWAYS SUPPORTING ME!!!!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Smooth Move Exlax
Maybe Ill explain that subject one day. Mom, I do like snacks but I don't really need them. The only ones I would say I would want are these hershey kisses that are mint truffles
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HNA SPILLER (my companion from the MTC). Hopefully you are still forwarding these to her. Have a great 22nd!
Anyway so I did get your package...Im going to keep the shirts but the skirt didn't look right, its cute though. But maybe it would be easier if you sent the receipt here? Here we have a Kohls, JCpenny, Macys, Nordstrams, So if its one of those send it off today so I can take it back next Pday. We have transfers 2 days after christmas and who knows WHAT could happen. I think Ill stay but who knows.
OK so my week....
So there is this member Ingrid and she was telling us about a friend of hers that she wants to share the gospel with and has been talking about families ext. She didn't know her address and said she would get it for us. Well a couple days later we had like 15 minutes until our appointment so I was like lets knock for a second and we knocked on this door and she let us it. We started talking about eternal families and the Book of Mormon. It was great. Then she started to tell us that she has a friend that is a member...turns out it was the friend of Ingrid, so we totally found her on our own. We came back and taught her the Restoration and she really accepted it.
A cool thing our ward is doing for us if they are delivering a plate of goodies every day to our house so that we can give them to investigators and less actives for christmas. Its been super fun ding dong ditching them.
A cool miracle...it was late and we were walking back to our car and we here someone shouting from a truck, we weren't sure if it was at us or not but we just kept walking...they kept shouting and started backing up so we stopped for a second thinking they needed help and out jumped this white girl running towards us....it was ASHLEY...one of our old investigators that just up and moved. Anyway its a long story but she was being abused so she finally escaped and now she is going into a 6 month program to help her get over all the trauma she went through. I know the Lord answers prayers, we have been praying for her for a long time. We have her address now so we can write her.
Carlos is doing so great, he didn't come to church this week because he had to work but he is SO open. I am so happy we didn't give up on him when he told us "i think I'm still good with my church". He's come to all the activities and has just been really embraced by the members. Its wonderful.
Silvia is on track to get baptized. Her and Tomas should be married in the next couple weeks. AHHH seriously a miracle. We are so excited and blessed for this opportunity.
We also set another baptismal date, its a daughter of a member and her name is Nadia. She's a sweet girl, we have just got to get her fellowshipped
The Cano family have been AWAL this week..I don't know what happened but we are just praying all is well.
We are just working and teaching, we set some goals at the beginning of this transfer and we are really seeing results. I know the Lord loves us and that he wants us to come and live with him again. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!
Good luck branden with your wisdom teeth!!!!
Love you all so much!!!! Thanks for everything you do for me!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HNA SPILLER (my companion from the MTC). Hopefully you are still forwarding these to her. Have a great 22nd!
Anyway so I did get your package...Im going to keep the shirts but the skirt didn't look right, its cute though. But maybe it would be easier if you sent the receipt here? Here we have a Kohls, JCpenny, Macys, Nordstrams, So if its one of those send it off today so I can take it back next Pday. We have transfers 2 days after christmas and who knows WHAT could happen. I think Ill stay but who knows.
OK so my week....
So there is this member Ingrid and she was telling us about a friend of hers that she wants to share the gospel with and has been talking about families ext. She didn't know her address and said she would get it for us. Well a couple days later we had like 15 minutes until our appointment so I was like lets knock for a second and we knocked on this door and she let us it. We started talking about eternal families and the Book of Mormon. It was great. Then she started to tell us that she has a friend that is a member...turns out it was the friend of Ingrid, so we totally found her on our own. We came back and taught her the Restoration and she really accepted it.
A cool thing our ward is doing for us if they are delivering a plate of goodies every day to our house so that we can give them to investigators and less actives for christmas. Its been super fun ding dong ditching them.
A cool miracle...it was late and we were walking back to our car and we here someone shouting from a truck, we weren't sure if it was at us or not but we just kept walking...they kept shouting and started backing up so we stopped for a second thinking they needed help and out jumped this white girl running towards us....it was ASHLEY...one of our old investigators that just up and moved. Anyway its a long story but she was being abused so she finally escaped and now she is going into a 6 month program to help her get over all the trauma she went through. I know the Lord answers prayers, we have been praying for her for a long time. We have her address now so we can write her.
Carlos is doing so great, he didn't come to church this week because he had to work but he is SO open. I am so happy we didn't give up on him when he told us "i think I'm still good with my church". He's come to all the activities and has just been really embraced by the members. Its wonderful.
Silvia is on track to get baptized. Her and Tomas should be married in the next couple weeks. AHHH seriously a miracle. We are so excited and blessed for this opportunity.
We also set another baptismal date, its a daughter of a member and her name is Nadia. She's a sweet girl, we have just got to get her fellowshipped
The Cano family have been AWAL this week..I don't know what happened but we are just praying all is well.
We are just working and teaching, we set some goals at the beginning of this transfer and we are really seeing results. I know the Lord loves us and that he wants us to come and live with him again. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!
Good luck branden with your wisdom teeth!!!!
Love you all so much!!!! Thanks for everything you do for me!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
I'm old now and falling apart...HaHa
Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I made my companion promise not to tell anyone but the Zone leaders some how found out and sand to me last night...and then we got to work outs this morning and all the elders there knew and one of the elders made me a birthday cake out of balloons. Its cute. We all took a picture. Then as we were studying I got a package in the mail from LISA! Thank you so much. Im wearing the scarf right now. I love it! We are going to buy some cheesecake and just do normal stuff (cause thats what I wanted).
Oh and mom I haven't got the package yet...but if you sent it to the Oxnard address it might take a little bit I guess they aren't opening that office until December 11th. THey will have a forwarding address at the Ventura address people just need to make sure they are writing "California Ventura Mission" under my name. But you can send them to the Oxnard address...that would be better.
Im so excited for Jed Chrissy and Jaden. I will be thinking about you all in those days. Oh and I can't call on Christmas Eve...rules are christmas and mothers day. Ill let you know next week. I would love to talk to everyone but if they can't come over on christmas I understand. Ill let you know next week or so. We have church at 9 but we only have sacrament.
This week was good. We had to drop Leydy and that was hard because I feel like she is so close to the truth but refuses to open her eyes. We've tried really hard but finally...you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Sad day, but I have faith that her name is now in the area book and one day when she is ready missionaries will find her.
We FINALLY got to teach this man named Rogelio...we were knocking when we found him and he has talked to missionaries before and has good friends that are active members. We were finally able to teach him and it went pretty well. He is totally seeking for truth and is willing to read the Book of Mormon
We had zone conference this week and it was AWESOME!!!!!!! I just felt so taught by the spirit. We had talks/lessons from Sis Castro, President Castro, the assistants, and our Zone leaders. We have the best zone leaders ever. We talked a lot about our purpose as missionaries....which is to invite everyone to come unto christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through fe in jesus christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We talked about how we need to invite ourselves to do that first and how we can be purified by the Holy Ghost. I loved it. The whole time I was just thinking about...well a lot of stuff but one thing that came to my head was soccer...and how if I played 100 percent the whole game...no matter the out come...if I knew I left my heart on the field I felt satisfied. Thats how I feel and want to always feel about my mission too.
Speaking of being purified by the holy ghost President sent us a quote this week and I loved it, I thought I would share it with you all
“If you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost today, you may take it as evidence that the Atonement is working in your life. For that reason and many others, you would do well to put yourself in places and in tasks that invite the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost works both ways: the Holy Ghost only dwells in a clean temple, and the reception of the Holy Ghost cleanses us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You can pray with faith to know what to do to be cleansed and thus qualified for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and the service of the Lord. And with that companionship you will be strengthened against temptation and empowered to detect deception.”
I know that this is true. That is one reason why I love the mission, I feel the spirit so strongly every day! I know its possible any where.
Also president told us we are the closest thing to Jesus Christ in our area...talk about something to make you think.
We have a good chunk of people we are teaching and they are really awesome...
Oh Juan Carlos...he was the guy we "re"met knocking and I totally remembered his name...well we've been teaching him and he came to the ward christmas party and church this week! He was like Ill be at church next week so you don't need to pass by...ha. Doesn't get the total purpose of us being there but we explained. He was so comfortable there and really just soaked it all in.
The Cano family are progressing. Hno Campos came with this week and he was really able to to relate with them and their strong Catholic background. He wants to know which church is true and I know they will know through diligent seeking.
I could go on and on but I am running out of time. Everything is good and wonderful and I am just living this up. Tell bishop I understand they couldn't come by...i doubt president wouldn't have let him haha and we are always really busy. But it would have been cool to see him and Kira.
Oh and camping of course I want to come...I will be hope like July 18th? Yeah..something like that. Don't make me talk about that any more. Yikes. Ok love you have a good week!
Oh and mom I haven't got the package yet...but if you sent it to the Oxnard address it might take a little bit I guess they aren't opening that office until December 11th. THey will have a forwarding address at the Ventura address people just need to make sure they are writing "California Ventura Mission" under my name. But you can send them to the Oxnard address...that would be better.
Im so excited for Jed Chrissy and Jaden. I will be thinking about you all in those days. Oh and I can't call on Christmas Eve...rules are christmas and mothers day. Ill let you know next week. I would love to talk to everyone but if they can't come over on christmas I understand. Ill let you know next week or so. We have church at 9 but we only have sacrament.
This week was good. We had to drop Leydy and that was hard because I feel like she is so close to the truth but refuses to open her eyes. We've tried really hard but finally...you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Sad day, but I have faith that her name is now in the area book and one day when she is ready missionaries will find her.
We FINALLY got to teach this man named Rogelio...we were knocking when we found him and he has talked to missionaries before and has good friends that are active members. We were finally able to teach him and it went pretty well. He is totally seeking for truth and is willing to read the Book of Mormon
We had zone conference this week and it was AWESOME!!!!!!! I just felt so taught by the spirit. We had talks/lessons from Sis Castro, President Castro, the assistants, and our Zone leaders. We have the best zone leaders ever. We talked a lot about our purpose as missionaries....which is to invite everyone to come unto christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through fe in jesus christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We talked about how we need to invite ourselves to do that first and how we can be purified by the Holy Ghost. I loved it. The whole time I was just thinking about...well a lot of stuff but one thing that came to my head was soccer...and how if I played 100 percent the whole game...no matter the out come...if I knew I left my heart on the field I felt satisfied. Thats how I feel and want to always feel about my mission too.
Speaking of being purified by the holy ghost President sent us a quote this week and I loved it, I thought I would share it with you all
“If you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost today, you may take it as evidence that the Atonement is working in your life. For that reason and many others, you would do well to put yourself in places and in tasks that invite the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost works both ways: the Holy Ghost only dwells in a clean temple, and the reception of the Holy Ghost cleanses us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You can pray with faith to know what to do to be cleansed and thus qualified for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and the service of the Lord. And with that companionship you will be strengthened against temptation and empowered to detect deception.”
I know that this is true. That is one reason why I love the mission, I feel the spirit so strongly every day! I know its possible any where.
Also president told us we are the closest thing to Jesus Christ in our area...talk about something to make you think.
We have a good chunk of people we are teaching and they are really awesome...
Oh Juan Carlos...he was the guy we "re"met knocking and I totally remembered his name...well we've been teaching him and he came to the ward christmas party and church this week! He was like Ill be at church next week so you don't need to pass by...ha. Doesn't get the total purpose of us being there but we explained. He was so comfortable there and really just soaked it all in.
The Cano family are progressing. Hno Campos came with this week and he was really able to to relate with them and their strong Catholic background. He wants to know which church is true and I know they will know through diligent seeking.
I could go on and on but I am running out of time. Everything is good and wonderful and I am just living this up. Tell bishop I understand they couldn't come by...i doubt president wouldn't have let him haha and we are always really busy. But it would have been cool to see him and Kira.
Oh and camping of course I want to come...I will be hope like July 18th? Yeah..something like that. Don't make me talk about that any more. Yikes. Ok love you have a good week!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
reading the chariot
Goodmorning. Sorry this letter is a little late, we had to give our car "fraisa" a little deep clean this morning. We are totally Ammon missionaries hahaha. ANYWAY.
Here we are. We just had a really good week, well it started off a little rocky and we had our ups and downs but it was illuminated by all the amazing things that happened...I don't think Ill be able to describe them all because it was just so awesome. One day you'll hear all about it Im sure.
Oh and first of all thanks for all the emails and pictures. I loved seeing everyone at Thanksgiving. It looked like it was so fun!!!! Im happy. Our thanksgiving was perfect. Just the way I hoped it would be. We started off the morning running around and putting thanksgiving notes on all our investigators doors (well not all but a lot). We had traced our hands and made little turkeys and put them up every where. It was really fun. THen we had a few appointments and then at 2 we went to the house where we live and had thanksgiving dinner with them and their family. It was delicious, we shared a message and went around the table saying all the things we were thankful for, then we headed out and just worked. Thanksgiving is great and the way we show our love and gratitude for God as missionaries is working. So it was awesome.
I know Mom...7 days until my birthday.Please Don't remind me. Ill be 22.. yikes. Not my favorite thing. The only person who knows is my companion, and I made her swear not to tell anyone...but some how my zone leaders know....hmmm. Anyway its a Pday so I will be eating a red velvet cheesecake from cheesecake factory and then just doing normal stuff.
SO this week....
SO miracle number one. We were in this apartment complex visiting a few people and we had a few minutes until our next appointment so we decided to knock a bit. We were in the aisle thing and I pointed down and said farthest ones to the left. We went and knocked....nothing....knocked another....nothing..knocked again and found this Indian woman. We started talking to her and testifying and talking about eternal families. She then said "hold on let me go wake up my husband". So she invited us in and we talked and taught her and her husband. Such a sweet family, we asked if the english elders could come by and she said yes. So we left. Then a couple hours later the zone leaders call us (they are over the YSA ward) and they were like did you talk to someone named Benni in hill crest apartments? And we were like yes.....So the Zone leaders were in the area looking for a member who wasn't home so they started knocking and knocked into Benni and his family. We both talked about how we felt such a sweet spirit there! So cool!
We have this investigator Magdalena who missed an appointment this week because she got called into work. We were on her street 2 days later and our appointment fell through. We decided to go see her. We found her and taught her the Restoration. She got so emotional when we told her about Joseph Smith, the spirit was so strong and she committed to prepare to be baptized. She has work on Sundays so that will be a struggle. BUT all things are possible the with help of Christ...
Speaking of all things are possible. I translated on Sunday because all the spanish people were in the english sacrament so i wore this headphone thing with a microphone and they all had headsets. There were totally people who could have done a better job but Im grateful I had the experience because it was amazing to feel the help of my Heavenly Father. The church is TRUE! Spanish is amazing!
We found a less active the other day who hasn't been to church in a year and she let us in..we taught her and she invited us to come back the next week!!
We had an outpouring of member referrals. One set up an appointment with us immediately over the phone and she is SO excited.
I love this work. I know that when we work hard and do all we are suppose to do, the Lord will bless us...
Like with Sylvia she is another investigator and she is with a member of the church. They can't get married because they were both married in Mexico and couldn't get a divorce, but the divorce should be done ...is done...or something and she wants to be baptized with all her heart. She comes to church and we are teaching her now. Im hoping for a white christmas (white as in white baptismal jumpsuits).
Also..when I get home I am writing "Mission- the musical". Its going to be great and I am already practicing the songs. You can even ask Hermana Clark. Haha.
Thanks so much for all you do for me. You are too good for me. I don't need anything for my birthday or Christmas just love. Maybe christmas you could send something that I can give to my companion. She is just so cool and I am really grateful for her.
We have zone conference this week, I am looking forward to an outpouring of revelation and its always great to see President and Sister Castro!
Love you all, cuidense mucho y nos vemos.
You should tell Veronica and Aunt Patty to write to me in spanish. How were they by the way?
Oh and of course Hno Campos said nice things, he's just a really nice guy. Always helping us out.
OH and its far away but I guess you should start talking with the family when it would be best to get together to call.
LOVE YOU!!!!
Here we are. We just had a really good week, well it started off a little rocky and we had our ups and downs but it was illuminated by all the amazing things that happened...I don't think Ill be able to describe them all because it was just so awesome. One day you'll hear all about it Im sure.
Oh and first of all thanks for all the emails and pictures. I loved seeing everyone at Thanksgiving. It looked like it was so fun!!!! Im happy. Our thanksgiving was perfect. Just the way I hoped it would be. We started off the morning running around and putting thanksgiving notes on all our investigators doors (well not all but a lot). We had traced our hands and made little turkeys and put them up every where. It was really fun. THen we had a few appointments and then at 2 we went to the house where we live and had thanksgiving dinner with them and their family. It was delicious, we shared a message and went around the table saying all the things we were thankful for, then we headed out and just worked. Thanksgiving is great and the way we show our love and gratitude for God as missionaries is working. So it was awesome.
I know Mom...7 days until my birthday.Please Don't remind me. Ill be 22.. yikes. Not my favorite thing. The only person who knows is my companion, and I made her swear not to tell anyone...but some how my zone leaders know....hmmm. Anyway its a Pday so I will be eating a red velvet cheesecake from cheesecake factory and then just doing normal stuff.
SO this week....
SO miracle number one. We were in this apartment complex visiting a few people and we had a few minutes until our next appointment so we decided to knock a bit. We were in the aisle thing and I pointed down and said farthest ones to the left. We went and knocked....nothing....knocked another....nothing..knocked again and found this Indian woman. We started talking to her and testifying and talking about eternal families. She then said "hold on let me go wake up my husband". So she invited us in and we talked and taught her and her husband. Such a sweet family, we asked if the english elders could come by and she said yes. So we left. Then a couple hours later the zone leaders call us (they are over the YSA ward) and they were like did you talk to someone named Benni in hill crest apartments? And we were like yes.....So the Zone leaders were in the area looking for a member who wasn't home so they started knocking and knocked into Benni and his family. We both talked about how we felt such a sweet spirit there! So cool!
We have this investigator Magdalena who missed an appointment this week because she got called into work. We were on her street 2 days later and our appointment fell through. We decided to go see her. We found her and taught her the Restoration. She got so emotional when we told her about Joseph Smith, the spirit was so strong and she committed to prepare to be baptized. She has work on Sundays so that will be a struggle. BUT all things are possible the with help of Christ...
Speaking of all things are possible. I translated on Sunday because all the spanish people were in the english sacrament so i wore this headphone thing with a microphone and they all had headsets. There were totally people who could have done a better job but Im grateful I had the experience because it was amazing to feel the help of my Heavenly Father. The church is TRUE! Spanish is amazing!
We found a less active the other day who hasn't been to church in a year and she let us in..we taught her and she invited us to come back the next week!!
We had an outpouring of member referrals. One set up an appointment with us immediately over the phone and she is SO excited.
I love this work. I know that when we work hard and do all we are suppose to do, the Lord will bless us...
Like with Sylvia she is another investigator and she is with a member of the church. They can't get married because they were both married in Mexico and couldn't get a divorce, but the divorce should be done ...is done...or something and she wants to be baptized with all her heart. She comes to church and we are teaching her now. Im hoping for a white christmas (white as in white baptismal jumpsuits).
Also..when I get home I am writing "Mission- the musical". Its going to be great and I am already practicing the songs. You can even ask Hermana Clark. Haha.
Thanks so much for all you do for me. You are too good for me. I don't need anything for my birthday or Christmas just love. Maybe christmas you could send something that I can give to my companion. She is just so cool and I am really grateful for her.
We have zone conference this week, I am looking forward to an outpouring of revelation and its always great to see President and Sister Castro!
Love you all, cuidense mucho y nos vemos.
You should tell Veronica and Aunt Patty to write to me in spanish. How were they by the way?
Oh and of course Hno Campos said nice things, he's just a really nice guy. Always helping us out.
OH and its far away but I guess you should start talking with the family when it would be best to get together to call.
LOVE YOU!!!!
Happy Holidays!!!!!!!
HOLA!!!!
Ok...first...I have to admit....my patience needs work. I got your package and when I first got it I had every intention of waiting until thanksgiving BUT we got home...and no mail (usually a daily occurrence haha) and I was like IM OPENING THIS! Cause I figured there would be a letter inside. So i opened it....and I LOVE IT! Thank you so much for the blanket! Its so crazy and awesome that they can do stuff like that. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH! You are the best dad.
Then I got a letter from chelsea the next day, let her know I loved it and will be writing her back soon.
ANYWAY. We are soooo pumped that its the holidays. Me and Hna Clark both have traditions that we love with our families but we are both so pumped to be spending this holiday telling people about Jesus Christ. I am so excited because I feel like everyones hearts will be so much more open to listening. We are planning a special christmas message that includes the BOM because we can't stray away from what OUR IMPORTANT MESSAGE IS!!! We actually didn't have a dinner on thursday but the people we live with invited us to eat with their family which is perfect because they are our family here. I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! Take pictures for me!
OH ....scary thing...next week the spanish unit will be going into sacrament meeting with the english ward and the man that usually translates will be in utah....so guess who is translating.....ME! AH! I have to wear this headset with microphone and all they spanish people will be wearing headphones. Stressful, but I can do it.
Mom, I have a question, do you remember any of the missionaries who taught you?? I actually had an experience that reminded me of something you wrote me not too long ago. You said that every time you were invited to be baptized you felt the spirit. Well we are teaching Jesus (boyfriend of Ingrid) and the spirit was really strong and I asked him to prepare to be baptized for the first weekend of Jan. and it was quiet and he says Wow.... My heart stopped, the spirit was strong...and then he says..."Ive already been baptized by someone who has authority"....AHHHH. I wanted to cry, for like 2 seconds I swear he was going to say yes...and I think he WAS going to say yes...but he didn't. After the lesson my companion said the same thing...she was like I FELT IT, YOU FELT IT...he HAD TO HAVE FELT IT. Its crazy..but I really have faith that we are suppose to be patient with him. I told him flat out that I would never stop inviting him to be baptized because I love them and I know that is the best thing for them.
Lets see...what else. We got dropped by this wonderful woman Jasmin. It was a bummer BECAUSE she wants to study SO BAD, but she recently got a new job and she is literally working every day from 7 in the morning unit 830 at night...but it was really cool how the spirit totally instructed us on what to do. We taught her effective ways to study the Book of Mormon and made goals with her about studying and praying. We def. will still drop by from time to time. She says in like Feb she will start working like normal again. BUT if you read in the scriptures when Alma goes to preach to the apostate Zoramites and his heart just hearts...BUT it was swallowed up in the joy Christ.
We have a vision for our area and we have goals. We have wonderful leaders that support us and we are just teaching like Crazy! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the mission.
Ok Im going to keep this short because I have a few other people I need to email...like Chrissy.
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR EMAILS OF SUPPORT!
Ok...first...I have to admit....my patience needs work. I got your package and when I first got it I had every intention of waiting until thanksgiving BUT we got home...and no mail (usually a daily occurrence haha) and I was like IM OPENING THIS! Cause I figured there would be a letter inside. So i opened it....and I LOVE IT! Thank you so much for the blanket! Its so crazy and awesome that they can do stuff like that. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH! You are the best dad.
Then I got a letter from chelsea the next day, let her know I loved it and will be writing her back soon.
ANYWAY. We are soooo pumped that its the holidays. Me and Hna Clark both have traditions that we love with our families but we are both so pumped to be spending this holiday telling people about Jesus Christ. I am so excited because I feel like everyones hearts will be so much more open to listening. We are planning a special christmas message that includes the BOM because we can't stray away from what OUR IMPORTANT MESSAGE IS!!! We actually didn't have a dinner on thursday but the people we live with invited us to eat with their family which is perfect because they are our family here. I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! Take pictures for me!
OH ....scary thing...next week the spanish unit will be going into sacrament meeting with the english ward and the man that usually translates will be in utah....so guess who is translating.....ME! AH! I have to wear this headset with microphone and all they spanish people will be wearing headphones. Stressful, but I can do it.
Mom, I have a question, do you remember any of the missionaries who taught you?? I actually had an experience that reminded me of something you wrote me not too long ago. You said that every time you were invited to be baptized you felt the spirit. Well we are teaching Jesus (boyfriend of Ingrid) and the spirit was really strong and I asked him to prepare to be baptized for the first weekend of Jan. and it was quiet and he says Wow.... My heart stopped, the spirit was strong...and then he says..."Ive already been baptized by someone who has authority"....AHHHH. I wanted to cry, for like 2 seconds I swear he was going to say yes...and I think he WAS going to say yes...but he didn't. After the lesson my companion said the same thing...she was like I FELT IT, YOU FELT IT...he HAD TO HAVE FELT IT. Its crazy..but I really have faith that we are suppose to be patient with him. I told him flat out that I would never stop inviting him to be baptized because I love them and I know that is the best thing for them.
Lets see...what else. We got dropped by this wonderful woman Jasmin. It was a bummer BECAUSE she wants to study SO BAD, but she recently got a new job and she is literally working every day from 7 in the morning unit 830 at night...but it was really cool how the spirit totally instructed us on what to do. We taught her effective ways to study the Book of Mormon and made goals with her about studying and praying. We def. will still drop by from time to time. She says in like Feb she will start working like normal again. BUT if you read in the scriptures when Alma goes to preach to the apostate Zoramites and his heart just hearts...BUT it was swallowed up in the joy Christ.
We have a vision for our area and we have goals. We have wonderful leaders that support us and we are just teaching like Crazy! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the mission.
Ok Im going to keep this short because I have a few other people I need to email...like Chrissy.
LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR EMAILS OF SUPPORT!
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