October 28, 2013

This week was intense.  In a good way, of course.  We had a lesson with Mike and Lourdes (our investigators with a baptismal date for Nov. 9th) and taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was a good lesson and we had Hno. Taylor (branch counselor) with us.  After that night, Hno. Taylor told us, "If every missionary taught like you two, we'd baptize everyone."  That was a huge compliment, especially from a branch leader and a super intimidating ex-missionary.  Lordes has been coming to church every week, but it's been a struggle to get Mike there.  However, this week he was very honest with us.  He said something like, "I'm not going to lie to you.  I know I'm going to do it (get baptized) I'm just trying to build up the courage."  So he does want it and he does keep all his other commitments, but he's just a bit timid about coming to church.  He told us he found clothes and everything to wear and that he'd be coming to church, but unfortunately he got food poisoning and he wasn't there yesterday.  We moved his date up to the 16th, though, so we're going to keep encouraging him and focusing on the church part.  Hno. Taylor told us he would text him on Friday.  It's really awesome that the members here love being involved in missionary work and know how to befriend people.  We are having a trunk or treat on Wednesday and Lourdes said she's making flan or choco-flan, so hopefully Mike comes with her.  We'll see them tonight, and we're actually thinking of sharing some "I'm a mormon" videos featuring some "edgier" mormons, because we think he feels a little uncomfortable with his tattoos and lip ring.  He won't say that, but we're thinking it might be part of his problem.  Obviously no one's going to judge him, but we think it will at least ease him a little bit.  

The baptism on Saturday was miraculous!!!  Basically everyone in the branch showed up.  It also ended up being like 2 hours.  It was by far the most spiritual baptism I have ever attended and I'm pretty sure everyone there would agree.  We ended up having 6 baptisms, by the way.  Hugo told us on Thursday that he was thinking about getting baptized AFTER already telling us he needed more time.  We did the math in our heads and realized he already has come to church 3 times and received all the lessons, so technically he could do it.  We told him that and he was like, "ehhhh, maybe I'll surprise you."  But he was very hesitant.  On Friday we had him take the interview just in case he really did plan on surprising us on Saturday.  We saw him on Saturday morinng, too, because they all had a celebratory dinner and lunch before the baptism.  He still told us, "Ehhh, I don't know.." but when 6pm came along, he suited up with his family and was baptized with them.  It was interesting, too, because when we reset Hugo for the 23rd, Zaida was even torn about getting baptized with her sons or her husband... we were very bold with her and told her that she has received an answer and should act on that, but still we invited her to pray about it.  Literally two days later she must have prayed about it because she went from, "um...I don't know if I'm doing it the 26th yet..." to, "yep, let's get baptized right now!"  Power of prayer.  So all 6 of them got baptized on Saturday.  While Hermana Webb and I were waiting behind the baptismal font, Zaida started crying and thanked us over and over again, with kisses and hugs.  She told us that all of our blessings are going to OUR families.. because we helped her family. :)  That was probably one of the most powerful moments on my mission so far, because it's so true.  I've already seen it.  They all got confirmed the same day and at the end, Zaida went up and bore her testimony.  She was very emotional and thanked her husband.  She said that when she asked him why he suddenly wanted to be baptized with them, he told her that he wanted to do it for his family.  While she was testifying, Hugo started crying hysterically.  It was SO powerful.  And Alejandro, his son, put his arm around him to comfort him.  It's so amazing what a difference the Gift of the Holy Ghost makes.  I could see such an immediate difference in all of them, especially Hugo, the moment they were confirmed.  Suddenly, they get it!  They know what we've been testifying of all along.  It was all worth it.  The very next day Hugo, Alejandro and Enrique received the priesthood.  Hugo was actually able to give it to his sons.  And afterwards, he got very emotional again.  We didn't get to see it, but the YM president, Hno Murray, told us about it at dinner and said it was a very powerful moment.  It was seriously a night of miracles.  And Benita's husband, Ron (who doesn't speak Spanish) is going to start taking the lessons with the English missionaries.  

We also had one of our most solid investigators at church!  Rosie!  Hna Acosta gave her a ride.  Rosie was very nervous about church because she's had bad experiences with other churches in the past - people judging her and what not.  But she LOVED it!  And that night we had a lesson with her and set her for baptism on the 23rd.  She said yes and that she already knows Joseph was a prophet and that this is the true church.  Just going to church is what set her off the edge, too.  Seriously, prayer, reading the scriptures and church attendance are NOT just "primary answers."  They are the key steps to conversion!  I have seen so many miracles come out of people just keeping those basic commitments.  And as we have acted in faith and testified in boldness of those very 3 things, we've seen them change within days and the exact blessings we have promised them by doing those things have happened. Not to mention we've been very trusting in the Lord and his ability to touch the hearts of these people. The success we are having has nothing to do with us, really.  We are just doing what we have been commanded and trained to do and testifying of nothing but the truth.  

Right now we still have 5 people with baptismal dates, all in November.  

Oh, and presidente Rincon (branch president) is very excited.  We're about to hit our branch's yearly baptismal goal.  At the baptism he did a little happy dance like 5 times.  And at ward counsel when talking about missionary work he said, "las misioneras simpre tienen bautismos."  It's nice to have the ward's trust.  Yesterday everyone seemed to be affected by the baptism on Saturday.  Everyone was just on a high!  Miracles happen when you believe!!!            

We also had a really intense district meeting about the atonement.  Elder Dahneke had us all share our testimony on the Atonement and it was a very eye opening experience.  We're so used to asking people those questions everyday, but rarely take the time to ponder it ourselves in that way... I don't know, it was a powerful meeting.  Elder Dahneke opened up a lot, too.  He's brand new as a district leader and actually got here last December, but went home right after his training.  He came back just recently and I served with him my last transfer in ensign.  Then we both came over here together.  He shared that he knows first hand what the repentance process feels like, because apparently that's why he went home.  I respect him a lot and I've seen him grow just in the 2 and a half transfers I've served with him since he came back on his mission.  I never wondered why he left, I'm really not the kind of person who butts into people's person business like that, but the fact that he shared it with us was super big of him and it brought the spirit that much more powerfully.  

So, it was a really good week.  I love the sweaters, but the lighter one is waaaay too big for me.  I hope you don't think I gained a bunch of weight.  Haha.  Hermana Webb is doing good.  Candy's good, but the boogers gross me out...we'll pass them out at trunk or treat I think.  Haha.  I love you all so much!  

Hermano Retiz, Hermano Lopez, Claudette, Benita, Hermana Smith, Hermana Webb, Zaida, Hugo, Alejandro, Enrique, Hermano Murray

October 21, 2013

The government's back in business!  Whoooo!  Good, because we want to go to the Hoover Dam sometime this transfer. 

 

This week has gone by very fast.  Zaida and her sons, plus Benita and Claudette are all getting baptized on the 26th.  We had a super powerful lesson last night.  We went to the Retis' house again. (the one we taught the life size POS with)  As usual, they had a lot more people there than we expected, so we taught to a crowd again.  It was night time and we were all outside.  We taught the restoration, but used candles as a visual of how the authority is like a light in the world.  We lit candles for the prophets, Jesus Christ, and the 12 apostles.  We blew them out when the sacerdocio was taken from the earth, then lit them up again when it was restored..just a visual to show we have the same organization that Christ established.  Then when we went to share the first vision, we sang Joseph Smith's first prayer and on the 3rd verse one of us hummed the tune while the other one recited the first vision.  Then we sang the 4th verse together again.  We bore our testimonies and lit a candle to show how we are a part of this light in the world.  Then we invited the 5 that are getting baptized, plus hno y hna Retis to do the same.  It was super powerful.  They're so ready.  It's going to be a full blown fiesta on Saturday. 

 

We currently have 9 people total with a baptismal date, baptizing weekly in November.  We've been maintaining a solid 10 Member Present lessons per week.  This area is booming, and it has nothing to do with us.  The Lord has prepared so many people and many of them we've found through members.  In the beginning of this week, we found a lot of new people to teach and everyone seemed to answer the door and let us in.  One man we found, cried after we asked a pretty inspired question and opened up a lot to us.  He told us he would come to church.  He wasn't there yesterday, but we'll keep working on him and get him there next week.  Hugo - Zaida's husband - is getting baptized on the 16th, because he still has to come to church a couple more times and read and pray regularly, but he's got that goal.  Luisa - Benita's mom - is getting baptized on the 23rd and even Zaida's mom came down from Mexico this past week and told us she wants to be baptized on the same day as Luisa (we haven't set her yet, though, so she's not included in the 9)... these families are awesome.  And their examples are spreading to their family members and they all want to get baptized!  Even Ron, Benita's husband who doesn't speak Spanish, has been touched by Claudette's example and change of behavior so much that he wants to meet with the English elders.  Lourdes and her son mike are set for the 9th, but we need to get mike to church, because he hasn't come yet.  He's interested, though.  

 

We also have a really awesome investigator named Rosie.  Next time we see her we are going to commit her to a date, but she already said she'll be baptized when she receives an answer.  I LOVE HER.  She's a single mom, and loves us to death.  She also cooks like a goddess and always prepares us something.  She wants to feed us dinner on the days we don't have it.  The other day she made healthy chocolate cake... don't ask me how she did it.  She's got the skills.  She's super interested, though and she's already best friends with Hna. Acosta, the member we usually bring with us.  They live in the same apartment complex and hang out before and after our lessons.  Unfortunately, we didn't see her at church yesterday even though she said she'd be there, but it's because she was with her friend who was receiving her cancer results.  Her friend's doing good and healthy apparently. :)

 

We had a meeting this morning about the Gladys Knight performances.  Let me tell you, that woman is my hero.  She tours the country putting on these performances of music and testimonies and it's all a missionary opportunity.  They expect half of the audience to be non-members and less active and the other half to be the members who are fellowshipping them.  They even have little referral cards attached to each ticket for the people to write their information if they want to hear more about the church.  At the end, the missionaries collect the cards and for filling out the card they get a packet with a CD by Gladys Knight and her Choir, a book of Mormon, and the Restoration DVD.  That woman's going to get herself a first class ticket to the Celestial Kingdom, I tell you what... what an example of taking those talents God has blessed you with and using them to build up the kingdom of God and become an instrument in his hands.  How many lives has she already changed?  It's crazy.  We got to watch a video about the performance, learn a little bit more about sister Knight and how everything would play out.  There was a man there that works with her setting up these firesides all over the country.  He said they had to sneak in one of the 12 apostles to one of the firesides and he was clapping and singing along with everyone else.  So it's going to be Baptist church style choir and everyone is encouraged to clap along and everything.  I'm so excited.  Not only to see it myself, but to invite others so they can feel of the spirit there.  During the video there were a few people who shared their stories about how they were converted though attending one of these firesides.  Even though Gladys Knight lives here in Vegas, she hasn't done a tour here since 2006.  So they probably won't do it again here for 6 years or so.   

 

I'm doing good. :)  I got your package, but I haven't opened it yet.  I will definitely take pictures of the life size POS.  You have to send me pictures first, though!  Like, printed ones maybe? ;) 

 

I love you so much!     

October 14, 2013

Wow, I'm so happy to hear that you're feeling better.  There is serious power in the priesthood.  Priesthood + faith = miracles!  Winning combination. :)  I'm sorry to hear about the car situation... life will never be perfect, we just have to recognize the blessings and keep the faith through the tough times.  Thank you so much for always being a rock.  It seems that dad dealt with the situation calmly though, huh?  

Never forget that your Heavenly Father loves you bunches and so do I!  I pray for you every day and every time I read your emails or letters, I can see that He's watching over you. I'm very grateful for that. :)

..............................................................

Photos: The one in the house with the family that's kind of blurry is the Munoz family.  I've written about them before.  Super awesome, hilarious people.  The hispanic woman where we're outside?  I've never written about her before, but she's a super awesome hermana who always came out with us.  The Gym?  The only one I can think of is I took a picture with Hermana Zegarra and Hna. Cardenas after a Zone training meeting... they're both missionaries.  Yeah, I love the Valadez family.  They gave me gold earrings when I left. :)  When I came back for Jose's baptism, their little son, Nathan comes up to me and goes, "HEY!  I missed you!"  With his little sassy attitude and everything.  It was soooooo cute. <3  I didn't realize how much I loved everyone over there until I left.  

Yeah, my birthday was pretty great.  Haha.  The video I have of the cake thing sucks, I know.  One of the elders, elder Daneke, was filming and I think he was too fascinated with the camera to pay any attention.  I swear, every time I bust out my camera, elders swarm to it and are all like, "wooooow, it's like iron man!  sweeeet!"  Anywho, I know sister Webb has a better video of it, so I'll try to get her to send it to me or something.  And yes, the Hopkinsons did make me a farewell/early birthday cake.  I miss them, too!  Apparently as soon as I got transfered, they moved the other 2 sisters out of their house and into an apartment.  The Hopkinsons were heart broken...but apparently their thinking about moving to Virginia or something like that.  I talked to sister Veazey the other day and she said they heart attacked their house, so that's nice. :)  

Yay!  Can you take more pictures of the board for me?  Maybe one with you all standing next to it?  Yeah, it would make me happy if you sent me pictures of you, because everyone asks me and I don't really have any to show them. :(  I don't know why, but there's a picture in our photo album where mom is holding me and she looks super beautiful and I'm a baby wearing a bonnet... is there any way you can send me that picture or a copy of it?  I miss that picture.  

Ahhh, I'll remember to keep Pierce in my prayers as well.  That's alllll part of the mission.  I still feel frustrated with the language almost every day!  It's pretty painful to look back on my first few weeks, though.  But he's in Chile completely immersed in the language, so I can't imagine...you understand that better than I do.  Haha.  He'll be fine, though.  It's the best learning experience.  We had a sister luncheon/meeting the other day and sister Nieder was talking about how in a mission we struggle and grow and learn more about ourselves than we would in any other atmosphere.  So much so that when we get back, we'll have more life experience than a lot of others people our age.  And I'll be a 20 year old RM.  That's intense!  Not that that makes us better than other people for serving a mission, but just that we'll get there a little quicker than other young people as far as life lessons are concerned.  We are literally relying on the Heavenly Father everyday to give us the strength to keep going.  I still have many life lessons to learn, though!  But I'm grateful for this opportunity.  What a blessing to have been called to His work!  :)  

Our area is huuuuuge, so we actually haven't been biking.  It's kind of impossible.  We have to take the freeway to get to different parts of our area, it's so big.  So we've been having members help us with rides.  Also the other elders in our branch.  We got permission to ride with them in their car.  We all eat together everyday, so it's convenient.  We're probably going to make them brownies today or something because they've been super nice about it and also, we didn't get our car back on Friday like the man said...actually, we STILL don't have our car.  Haha.  We should be getting back today at 2:30.  

Oh, and this Sunday we gave talks in sacrament meeting.  About member missionary work.  It was "ehh" in my opinion and I'm pretty sure I rambled on in Spanish for like...I don't know...7 minutes?  Oh well.

Anyway, I love you, I'm proud of you, and i'm about to hit my half mark, so get ready for pregnant pictures to celebrate 9 months. :)      

October 7, 2013

 I got sick this past week and threw up last Monday night... like, everything I had eaten in an entire week.  On Tuesday we stayed inside all day because I had a bad stomach flu and fiebre.  I got a blessing, though and the next day we were out working again, but I was still sick.  I feel much better now, though.  Por eso, ustedes no recibieron nada esta semana pasada.  Pero les prometo que yo voy a escribir algo sobre las cosas que pasaron esta ultima semana y mandarlo a ustedes con fotos y programas bautismales.  No se preocupe!  

Yes, La conferencia general rocked my world.  And Tomas S. Monson saying that the Sunday morning session was one of the best in general conference history.  THAT was intense.  Definitely the ones you mentioned were stand out ones for me as well.  I love when Deiter Uchtdorf said, "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith."  Jefferey Holland's discurso touched my heart as well.  I was actually reminded of you and the efforts you are making to over come Satan's attempts to drag you down.  You are a great example to me of the power that daily prayer and scripture study have in strengthening our foundation in Christ, so that we can withstand Satan's blows.  Thank you for that. :)  I loved Edward Dube's(?) talk.  "Edward, don't look back!"  His talk was powerful about how we should never look back when we have a duty to do and never think our service is done once we've been released from a calling.  It was super powerful and he quoted one of the most intense scriptures of all time: No man putting his hands to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.  

The Ortiz family and Benita and Claudette are doing great.  They told us they want to get baptized even earlier than the 26th, so we have to call the member that's going to baptize them and work that out...we are currently working on that.  They are so solid, though.  A lot of the new investigators that we found together at the beginning of this transfer have kind of dropped off, there's not ready yet at this time, but there are a couple that are prepared.  Lourdes, one of our now progressing investigators came to church for the first time last week and we hadn't been able to get a hold of her since because her phone wasn't working.  So yesterday she surprised us by showing up at the chapel for general conference.  We were at the stake center, too, so we don't know how she even knew where to go.  Que milagro!  We sent out a group text with the directions, so I guess she got the text somehow.  She really loved Tomas S. Monson's talk.  When we asked her about it, she told us she loved the man who talked about his wife.  So cute. :)  We should be seeing her tonight.  We've already taught her the restoration, but we think we might either watch the restoration movie with her or read with her from the Book of Mormon.  

Yay!  Renee's drawing me pictures?  How cool.  She should send me more pictures.  And Hope and Renee should make me more comic books.  They make me happy. :)  

Yesterday I hit my 8 month mark.  Next month will be half way there... oh wow.  No, I haven't written Pierce directly yet, but that's awesome that you got pictures.  I haven't gotten anything from him.  

Still no package from Peggy... I don't really know what's going on.  Sister Holland said she sent me a package, too, but I haven't gotten anything from either of the two.  Yo no se lo que esta pasando con el correo.

Oh, I forgot to tell you like weeks ago, but we had to take the car to the shop one Monday to get an estimate, and in the office there was this HUGE dog, bigger than a great dane.  I remember thinking it must be half wolf or something and when we asked the guy he told us it was a full bred wolf.  TOTALLY intense.  Just a random update.  

You're coming to get me?!  Yay!  That just made my day. :)  You'll get to see my departing testimony. I'm so exctied!!!!! Be prepared for some serious heat, though, in August.  Right now the weather is BEAUTIFUL, but the summer is intense.  I've been telling people, though, that so far from what I've seen of Vegas weather, I would totally live here.  The spring was beautiful, the fall is GORGEOUS... sure the summer's intense, but that's normal.  Not as scorching hot as Arizona summer, though.

I will write more often, that sounds like a plan.  I'll probably make a goal of it during weekly planning on Friday.

Yes, I did know that President Neider was in the General YM presidency.  That's super cool that dad read an article by him.  How was it?  Good article?

Also, our mission is now reading the New Testament together, so we can finish by Christmas.  I already started, though, so I'm in John right now.  

I love you all very much and I hope you are all doing well and being good member missionaries.

 love, 

your friendly neighborhood missionary.  

+++++++

What a blessing that dad is okay with his job.  After I heard the government was shutting down, I was worried.  You've all been in my prayers everynight.

Oh, and here's one of my favorite one liners from Elder Holland:  "If the bitter cup is placed before you, drink it and be strong."