Junio 6

Bueno,

The weeks fly by, don't they? I can't believe we're already in the 4th week of the transfer. I hope against hope that Sis. V and I can stay together next transfer, but 3 transfers is considered long in this mission to stay in one area and this is her 3rd. Plus she's amazing and I think she's going to train next transfer. Probably be sister leader at the jail haha.

You're right, Mom, nothing is static here. And I've actually contemplated that concept a lot this week and how Heavenly Father designed this mortal existence that way--it's impossible to be static. Even when a person thinks they're staying still, they aren't. If you sat at home all day long and did nothing, you'd be regressing. :)

But anyway, this week was, as always, a great one!

Sis. V and I are being attacked daily by mosquitoes (our legs look like we have chicken pox). It is sooooooooo hot here. So humid. You sweat the minute you step outside. And then the whole backpack-keeping-the-heat-against-your-back is always a joy lol. But we're the doing the greatest work on earth so it's ok. :)

This week in my personal study I've been learning a lot about the Priesthood (Sis. V and I have had to dig it out on our own because they never taught us this stuff in YW or RS), helping Bro. S (recovering addict) prepare to receive the priesthood and eventually go to the temple. Also, I've been learning a lot about the Spirit World and the premortal life. Our investigators have a lot of questions about those things and I've finally gotten the impetus I needed to search out my own questions about those two things as well. But I love seeing the faith and the wonder in the eyes of those we teach. It's hard for them to keep motivated to read the Book of Mormon after we leave because scripture reading is never a habit with anyone anymore, but I know that the more I study that book, the more my testimony grows of it and the more I want to share it. It's funny how I used to think of a testimony as something I could almost check off. Like... okay, I know the Book of Mormon is true... check... but I'm still not sure about the Joseph Smith thing... better get on that.....
I already know without a shadow of a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true, but my understanding of it, my appreciation for it and my understanding of (and subsequent ability to apply to my own life) the doctrine it contains grows so much. It's a privilege to be a missionary and have that extra measure of Spirit with you. Any missionary who doesn't take full advantage of that during studies.... I pity. I used to be that missionary at the beginning of my mission off and on. But it's amazing what you're able to learn when you really invite the Spirit into your study, when you study rather than read. When you ponder instead of stare.
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What a blessing the Gift of the Holy Ghost is. We are SOO blessed to have the right of Him walking with us every day, all day if we so choose. How much He, the Holy Ghost, loves us. Not just our Father. Not just Jesus Christ. But the Member of the Godhead that whispers to us, that walks with us, that teaches us, that carries consolation to us, loves us as well. And it's so comforting that He does everything He can for our well-being, as well as whispers to us for the well-being of anyone and everyone else we're willing to help.

Well, I love all of you.

Hope to hear from all of you soon.

Junio 1

iiBuenos dias!!

How awesome it is to have some info about my newest family member.
Baby Livy, hello! From a couple states up and over!

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So it's not warmed up in Utah yet? It's March in Utah, July in Texas, and it's flip-flops from April to June here in Kansas. Yesterday morning when we headed to interviews with President it was overcast and raining so we got somewhat bundled with boots and turtlenecks... and then when we came out at 2 pm there wasn't a cloud in the sky. BAH. HOTNESS and HUMIDITY. But it was okay. Because we taught V and T (GOLDEN), B (new investigator.. lesson went really well and we're going back today), and A, who now has a baptismal date. Boya. Oh! And J and M and N. Also awesome.

Soooo... President and Sister Van Komen go back to Utah in 4 weeks.... and Pres. and Sister Keyes come.... So yesterday was our last interviews with them. :(
Sis. Van Komen told me she could tell Sis. V and I not only get along great, but we edify each other, we work well together, we love each other and that she wished she could have that kind of relationship between companions for all the sisters in the mission. I have to agree. She's so good for me and she tells me the same. We've never had more trust in a companionship. I completely trust her and she completely trusts me. And we look for the good in the other, communicate what we think and feel openly and learn from each other by the hour. She's a great example to me of ... many things. She loves this work. She loves the people. She loves the Lord and is always trying to improve. She practices patience, is funny and quirky, easy to please, easy to excite, easy to make laugh, hard-working and she appreciates the trust and respect I give her.
So when President asked her if she'd like to serve in the jail and talked about the responsibilities of a trainer..... NO! Neither of us want her to leave Kaw River and go to the jail and train! BOOOOOO. Clearly I'm still working on graciously accepting the Lord's will.... at least before it happens and I know I have no other choice lol.

Tornadoes... HAhaha yeah. There was one day we had like 9 tornadoes within not too many miles. One was on the other side of the city (KC) and we got kicked out of our lesson and were outside on a porch, watching the sheets of rain, hearing the tornado sirens get louder and louder and getting a text from Sis. J that there was a tornado in South KC.... that was a scary feeling..... But we were lucky and the rain eventually let up and we started walking (with the thought in mind to knock like mad on a door if it got bad again) and then the clouds blew away and the sirens stopped. PHEW. But yeah there's a lot of damage over here. Joplin is getting more assistance than the city can actually hold so that's good. I actually took a family on a tour at the VC who lived in Joplin... first time I'd ever heard of it... I wonder how their house is... they have a son in eastern Europe on a mission right now...
Anyway, yeah, Sis. J briefed us on basic tornado training last week. They say go get in the bathtub and put a mattress over the top of you.... Now to me that seems scary.... but whatever-- I guess I'll do it if I have to.

A.... has a hard time keeping reading commitments even though he completely accepts any answer we give his questions that we back up with scripture and all of his questions are answered in the Book of Mormon. But he kept his commitment last night and we were able to set his baptismal date for June 18.
V.... she works more than anyone I know. And we can only meet with her once a week (BOOO) but she legitimately can't meet more often. (As in she doesn't even SLEEP) But her heart is exactly right where it needs to be and she has the right expectations from our visits (something that's actually kind of rare for the average investigator) and we met her by meeting her 14 yr old daughter first--T--whom we love. :) And their tiny little girl loves me and steals my chapstick all the time haha.
A and AJ.... AWESOME. Funny. One of the few (possibly ONLY) couple(s) in Kansas City that are actually married and bi-racial. But they are ready for the gospel. :) :)
D...... fascinated by the fact that we have a living prophet. More on her later.
W..... has been in prison the past 33 years for..... you don't want to know what. Our way of life is probably surreal for him--he's very used to "the thug life" and yet he has this glimmer of belief I feel like underneath all his armor.
J and M and N.... more on them later.
DW.... Made me laugh SO hard first time we met him. "Man... how'd I get in Kansas?? Dorothy was tryin' da git back here and I'm jus' tryin' da git out!" We actually gave him as a referral to the English elders.
B.... more on her later. Super sweet.
RL.... got shot last week. In the elbow.

So I'm kinda outa time.. I'm lucky to be here. Learning and changing so much.

Tengan cuidado

May 23, 2011

iBUENOS DIAS, FAMILIA QUERIDA!
Hay muchisimas cosas que estan pasando. Espero que todo bien con mi hermanita y su hijita y que el nacimiento fue bien.
PERO, hay algien que sabe el nombre de mi sobrina? Es Livy? Otro nombre? CUAL ES? :)

Entonces....

This past week was awesome-possum. Sis. V and I are two peas in a pod. ;) We work super well together, learn so much from each other, love each other and love this work. Yesterday we made the hand-off to the elders of the car keys so after dinner we just kinda set out down the road to visit some people. On the way, we stopped and talked to and taught and prayed with a guy named D. Kinda one of those who was ok with us talking to him, but his heart definitely wasn't in the discussion. A little farther down the road, we talked with a lady who was sweeping her porch who had just moved there 2 months ago. Long story short, when we testified of having a modern-day prophet who holds all the authority of Moses or Abraham, she was very interested. We cleared up a few concepts about wacko prophets with 19 wives (she'd seen in a movie) and talked about the actual role of prophets and apostles. She asked a lot of good questions and she's solid! She was all too happy to set up a return appt. with us (which is tomorrow) and to read some words of the prophets (we gave her the Family Proclamation) and the Restoration pamphlet. She's a single mother of 7! And like 4 of her kids came in and out of the house and talked to us during our lesson and at the end she agreed to say the prayer (after Sis. V said a 'sample' prayer)! I LOVE praying with people. I love praying period, but especially with people I just met 5 or 30 minutes ago, sometimes for the first time in their lives. So that was our miracle yesterday.

It's interesting how the Lord helps people into situations where they're "in a preparation to hear the word" and how they wouldn't hear it otherwise. For example, we met and taught M this week. Well... more like listened to her sad story and tried to add some religious perspective to it and then invited her to church, put the address in her GPS and left her with a lesson 3 pamphlet. Now all of this sounds really insensitive, but just know that when we invite people to church, we do it very personally, apply it to them, and share experiences of how it has helped us and how we want to share it with them because we care about them. But anyway, she came yesterday! And ...she really liked it. :) She brought her niece and we had a young family sit next to her and the two babies just went at it and enjoyed themselves and everyone welcomed her. Awesomeness. But when we first met her, she spilled the entire story of... hmmm..... essentially think of Bella and Edward in New Moon. Edward leaves and Bella shrivels up and falls apart. Only M's Edward was deported back to Mexico and she is staying in the US for her mom. So she's torn. And probably can't see her lover for a year and is really unhappy because of it. So obviously the church isn't going to fill THAT gap, but I think that if he were still with her, she would think she had it all and wouldn't listen because she thought she already had it all. So the next lesson we plan on helping her see that maybe Heavenly Father took "mi amor" away for a while so that she could establish a more important relationship--between her and her Savior.

Basically our whole district (aka all 6 missionaries that serve in Kaw River ward) got sick last week. It looked like strep with me... but then it eventually went away. So I'm good now. Just a really plugged nose...

Anyway, I'm nice 'n safe and happy and working hard out here, exactly where I should be, getting to know and love my brothers and sisters. :) :)

Well, my dears, it should be another adventurous week. This week is another bus week!
I love you all muchly!

mayo 16, 2011

Well too bad I forgot to tell everyone that P-day goes back to normal since I was transferred back to full-pros.... (aka Mondays)... no emails for Hermana.... :( lol

PERO! ESTA BIEN!

So on Thursday, I headed out to Kaw River--aka Kansas City, Kansas--to serve with my other MTC comp, Hna. V!!
We taught an investigator, M, that evening and then had really good Hispanic food at a member's house with the Spanish elders.
Friday.... was truly a Friday the 13th. Other than being able to teach a really good lesson to the Bs, the day was slightly wacko. It was the end of our no-car week and the bus was just a disaster lol. One of the many weird things that happened... we started talking to this guy on the bus and missed our original stop (we did it on purpose because we thought talking to him was more important, but then found out he was basically nuts or at least prided himself in acting as such.)

Eventually we were able to get off the Crazy Bus and get to our dinner... with Sis. S, who used to dance for the KC Chiefs and used to coach a drill team and cheered for KU haha. She was a 50-year member of another church and converted just 5 years ago to the LDS church. Amazing faith.

Saturday we went to an all-mission conference in the Lenexa stake center and were graced by the presence of Elder Russel M. Nelson, Elder Legrand Curtis (70), Elder Clayton (president of the 70), all the stake presidents and one other 70, Elder Deschler. Spiritual feast! Elder Nelson just went into the scriptures and the sisters always sit in front, so we were a couple rows away and it was neat to just study the scriptures with him as well as hear his counsel as well as the others'.
He talked about being persistent. Don't necessarily take someone's "no". He talked about giving a friend his copy of the Book of Mormon to read and she returned it a little while later saying basically, "Thanks. It was cool. But no thanks." He said, "That is a TOTALLY inappropriate response for someone who has read the Book of Mormon! You didn't read it. Now take the book and read it this time and pray about it! And when you're done, I want my book back." So the next time she brought it back she said, "Thank you. I know it's true. I want to learn more." And as of a few weeks ago, because of her conversion, there have been 309 people brought into the church from descendants serving missions, sharing her testimony with friends, etc.
Oh, and we got to shake his hand. :) It was very neat. I felt his love and his eyes are so pure and sincere. How lucky I've been.
After the conference (which lasted only 2 hours), we went to the trailer of a recent convert (the M family, whom I gave a tour to a couple weeks ago at the VC and we fell in love with each other then so it's so neat now to serve in their ward...) to help them as they remodel their home, with the English elders. (Oh, P.S. in the Kaw River ward, there are 4 sets of missionaries, English elders, Spanish elders, and Spanish sisters, and a senior couple, the Bs, and then at least 2 "part time" service missionaries. Chya!) Oh this family is so sweet. 2 of the ward missionaries found this family (la familia F) right after the husband and father had been killed and they were going through a major financial crisis. We also celebrated Hna. F's birthday that day. :) Then we went to teach a lesson to a man with a baptismal date to see if he was really accountable and should be baptized... (we later decided no) but we were able to teach 4 different people on the porch with our ward mission leader and his son and one of them is named A.... and we are super excited about him!! He came to church yesterday, all 3 hours, and answered questions in Sunday School and every time someone brought up prophets, he'd pipe up about Joseph Smith. I'm positive he felt something strong on Saturday when we taught them all about the Restoration. He was right there with us the whole time and when we were leaving and committing him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, he indicated he already knew it was true and of course he'd read it. So yesterday at church, he said that when I called him that morning to remind him about church, he said something to the effect of something told him he needed to come. The sacrament meeting wasamazing. I heard things I needed to be reminded of and felt things I needed to feel and was so glad he got to hear the same words. And then in Sunday School (which lesson was on the organization of the church) he, like I said, answered questions and every time the prophet came up he'd mention Jose Smith. And then I dunno how Priesthood went because by the time we got out of RS he had left, but we're meeting with him again today and we're going to commit him to baptism. So please pray for him!

So working with Sis. V again has been AWESOME.We are really similar and yet funnily different. It's interesting working with 4 other elders in the same ward and keeping sane. Funny little dynamics within the elders keeps us laughing and wondering and impressed (and sometimes rolling our eyes).

Oh, by the way, this is my first area living with members... or member, I should say. We live with Sis. J, an older single lady, in her tiny little house. We have prayer with her at 6:15 a.m. and she's very particular about her kitchen, haha, but she's great. :)

Well, I love my new ward, I love my companion, and I'm loving learning about a new area once again. Different things are difficult (like mastering myself and learning the things the Lord wants me and needs me to learn for myself as well as in order to more effectively bless His other children)


Hasta la semana venidera.....

Mayo 11, 2011

Well this week has been a little bit of a roller coaster. But a good one, nonetheless.
I've seen the Lord's hand in protection.
I've felt the joy and happiness in helping my sisters and in feeling their love, support and friendship.
I've realized certain things that I want to improve in myself that are currently weak.
And much, much more.

BUT
I'm actually headed to Kaw River as of tomorrow. Kaw River area is Kansas City, Kansas. So no more Visitor's Center for a while.... and really there's no promise that I'll even go back. Kaw River is "full-pros" and you're up to your eyeballs in Spanish and it'll just be great! And sweetest of all, I get to be companions with Sis. V again! I'm lucky to be able to serve with my 2 MTC comps again--back to back even.

Yes, we receive the Ensign. That'd be kind of silly to have us out preaching the importance of modern-day prophets while not allowing us to read their words ourselves! One of the HUGE focuses the Brethren have with regard to missionaries is our personal study time. "If we can get it in YOU, you can figure out how to teach the investigator..." essentially. So I love studying the conference talks.

In Kaw River there are 3 sets of missionaries! Spanish sisters, Spanish elders and English elders. Kind of a party.... ;)

Well... I'm sad to say goodbye to Riverview. We have a lot of investigators...

I got to see H ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday. I love him. So much.

Well I love you all.

Have a great, safe, fulfilling week.


P.S. Weird. My half-way mark is is in like... a couple weeks. Ick.

Mayo 4, 2011

This past week has been ..... diverse!
On Sunday we travelled to Honduras and Mexico (as usual) and then to Iraq and Cambodia and then back to America.
We taught our Iraqi family and then taught a part-member/less-active Cambodian family... with some help from translaters. :)
hahahaha and people who got foreign-country mission calls thought THEY were getting a cultural experience.... ;)
But it was neat. Yes, the Iraqi family (the Ks) are Muslim. No they do not speak Spanish. Weird, I know. Actually they for some reason speak Arabic instead. BUT here's the hard part. They don't read either Arabic OR English. Eek! Being able to read is basically vital as an investigator. So we're working on getting the BoM on tape in Arabic... yeah... we'll see.... But yesterday we had a convert from another ward come with us to meet them who converted from Islam and speaks Arabic. He helped and is going to bring the dad (and hopefully the whole family) to church this Sunday. So if that does actually pan out, we'll be going to their sacrament meeting as well. T (the member helping us) explained a little bit of the culture to us and the Lord has helped us understand them beyond what we could have otherwise.

We also are teaching J and M and F & L, and SP reappeared and we're teaching her again today! But yesterday we had a really powerful lesson with M. He felt the Holy Ghost. I could see it. And then after the lesson he verbalized it... in the way someone would say who wasn't used to it. He feels a certain way when he meets with us, he says. And he wants to change. He has a little boy, J, who's really funny too and who was there for parts of our lesson yesterday.
Oh! And A! I have VERY high hopes for him. His heart is in the right place. Both M and A we found while trying to contact other people but ended up seeing them and talking to them.

We got to volunteer at the Temple Run on Saturday! They did a big publicity/get-excited-for-the-temple event that the missionaries helped out with. It was super fun! We cut up food and joked around with other missionaries and stood on the side of the road as people ran their race and joked some more and cheered people on and took pictures and cleaned up...

I'm glad to hear how well your study of the scriptures has been going. You're so right about the pondering and searching and praying being what takes our scripture study to the level it needs to be. It's incredibly more meaningful when we search with purpose, when we pray with faith, and when we ponder with both.

You're welcome for sending you a letter. :) It was good to actually have time to THINK about what I was writing lol. A lot of times I feel like these emails are just splatterings of nonsense lol.
And in answer to your weather questions, ha, it has been chilly here lately. Not snowing. No tornados like in St. Louis. Just windy and chilly. But as the day goes on it usually warms up to about 65ish and then it'll be 40s - 50s or so in the mornings.
Welp I gotta go email Pres.
Love you so much!

Abril 27

Buenos dias, familia mia~

First off, your emails were... hilarious.
But I'm going to talk about MY week for a minute... :)

WOW.
I can't really describe the things I learned this week. As I'm sure you all have found out, the truths the Lord communicates to you through the "unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost" are extremely hard to articulate accurately. Once again we learn how sight and sound are simply not the best way of conveying things, but through the heart. But I'll do my best to describe them. :)
I've been learning and practicing opening my heart when someone speaks. I mean really opening my heart to what they're saying. We're so used to picking and choosing what we think is worth listening to and what automatically connects to us that we almost never truly hear what people are saying. From practicing this--having faith in people and having faith in the Spirit teaching me--I have been able to glean a goldmine of truth. Not that I've hit some sort of jackpot or that I'm perfect at listening and understanding--definitely not. But church and lessons and conversations are never boring or empty anymore. And in fact when my heart is open and "spongy" if you will, that's the only type of soil the Spirit is even able to work with. And boy, He does! Once again, as I've said in past emails, I know that getting out of the Spirit's way and letting Him do His job is SO important. It's so difficult for us because frankly, we're dense, but when we really yield..... it makes all the difference. Like it says in Helaman 3:35, sanctification cometh from yielding our hearts to God. And that leads me to another thing I learned or had reinforced. That yielding is exhausting. It's SO hard--really, truly yielding or giving ourselves up to Him. Because it's forever. You are never the same afterward. It's when you start to ascend the mountain, if you will. Speaking of Elder Holland's description of the mountain of discipleship and how it gets steeper and steeper. John the Baptist felt this when he said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." I have to rely more and more on the Atonement as I keep hiking. It gets steeper, but also I realize much more now how much I need the Atonement in every action. But one of the instances that taught me this was on Saturday when we did some practices at the VC. When the sister was role-playing (or real-playing), and I had to rely solely upon the prompting of the Holy Ghost to discern her needs (because heaven knows I didn't know them, only He did), I realized it takes ALL of my concentration and focus to teach and invite by the Spirit. And it's exhausting. ( but not nearly as exhausting as Joseph Smith's experiences... ;) )

We've been learning how to become master teachers. And master planners. Ugh, I hate that I literally do not have the capacity of telling you all what this means or how master planners plan and how master teachers teach. But I encourage you to go to the scriptures and really study how Jesus taught and how the prophets in the Book of Mormon taught and preached. And invite the Holy Ghost.

So how did the looking for someone to invite to FHE go? Did anyone even do it?
Mom, I loved your comments about loving the people before you preach to them. What a mandatory lesson we all have to learn! And how we can't have the Spirit with us unless we love people.

A VERY brief overview of the week:
We went to Liberty Jail and Far West and Adam ondi-Ahman and the KC temple site on Friday and got our own history tour! SO neat!
On Easter Sunday we found an Iraqi family that is extremely nice and wants us to come back with Arabic pamphlets and Book of Mormon. The oldest daughter translates for the Mom. They're amazing and we're very excited to go back!
We're doing our best to ensure H's well-being within the Church. He does have friends, he is well on his way to receiving a calling and the Priesthood, going to the temple, receiving a Patriarchal Blessing and we've taught him how to be nourished by the good word of God. (but a lot of that is learned privately)
We had a training meeting yesterday on the 8 Lessons (further training on PMG that the Brethren deemed necessary), which was.... perfect.

Well, I'm most assuredly out of time and I love you all so very much.
And I hope you'll take the challenges or invitations I sent. I sent them because I love you.

Tengan cuidado


P.S. I LOVE my companion!!!