Enero 3

~FAMILIA~

It was so good to hear from y'all again! Man... I'm sure glad everyone updates me on all the food they ate... It's quite riveting... lol. Actually it's just funny and makes my mouth water a little when I read the words "Salt Lick".... YUMMMMMM! Anyway, I love hearing from you mucho so thanks. This week was gooood...The holidays are fun... but it's always kinda nice when they're over too haha. Our schedules and eating habits were so off that it was nice to get back to normal.
G's living situation did end up prohibiting him from being baptized, sadly... it will take nothing short of a miracle to get him out of there before June...which IS possible! This IS missionary work after all. But we shall see how it pans out. He has been out of town for a while so hopefully we can meet with him within the next 2 days. We need to teach him tithing I think. The Es are also coming right along. Everyone but the dad came to church on Sunday, and we are now teaching 3 of the kids' friends too and they came to church too. :) We had 10 people at church. YAYA! --8 of which can be counted as investigators (one is 3 and one is 5). J, the 3yrold, was a tyrant that day tho. He's kind of always like that lol but to be honest Sunday was completely CRAZY. Sister Larson and I just looked at each other after church and everyone had left and said, "What just happened??" [That was not church! That was a circus.] Anyway, it was cool to have so many at church and all the kids went to their classes (all 3 hours) and loved primary and sang the hymns in sacrament and everything. M went with J to Primary to get him acclimatized and we stayed with them too but he adamantly refused to go to his class so we had a very disruptive RS instead. I love the kid, but you want M to get something out of church too. BUT we were very blessed to have so many come and for the members that brought them all. Our ward is STELLAR at supporting us in our missionary efforts. Honestly, the ward makes all the difference I've found. D and V should be coming back into town this week so we're excited to see them and teach them again. I've missed them. Ji....just needs to read the Book of Mormon. S...needs RS fellowship and a desire.
Man... I'm really slow at writing this... I gotta hurry it up. In answer to your emails....Yes, it's cold here. But at least we don't have a cucky inversion. Christmas in the mission is very different, yes. I wouldn't say it's hard, though. You get to refocus, which is really good. Needful, even. And I just chose to look at it in a "I'm going to have a different Christmas than I've ever had before!" way. Yes, it's not my first Christmas in the field, but it was still different. It was good, though. Please pray for the Es to be prepared to be baptized on Jan 14. M and Ji are having a really hard time quitting smoking (they're doing well, but need the faith and prayers of EVERYONE).
To be honest, a boat load of things happened this week that I will have to journal about elsewhere. But I hope you are all having a good week. I'm learning so much right now I can't even describe it... in an email at least, no. But I do my best in my journal.
I love you all so much. Have a good week and remember to study the scriptures, not just read them. (And I'll try and do the same.)

Deciembre 28

Hi again!

So the reason I'm emailing today is because the library was closed Monday and we had exchanges Tuesday. So still please continue to email Sunday night. :)

The Es and G are still doing well, and thankfully so are our other investigators. We got to take the Es to the VC last week! They LOVED it. I'll include some pics.

Our Christmas was very good overall and so many members of the Granite View ward were thoughtful and remembered me.

Oh! Here's the quote you wanted to hear again:

"Many blessings in life are missed because worldly judgment was applied to what was really a spiritual decision." -Elder Schwitzer of the 70

Here's another one:

"Reverence denotes activity of the heart, not just inactivity of the mouth." -Marion G. Romney

Some more random highlights of the week:

-Painting the house of a very interesting family. The mom is a writer and ebook editor. Her commentary on Twilight was hilarious.

-Visiting the stake RS president. She has an inactive son who's training to be a Green Beret. That night I asked him how he'd seen God's hand in his life, particularly being deployed overseas. He avoided the question for the most part, saying he didn't know if it had been God or something else that had saved him different times. Then on Christmas as we were greeting people I felt a pair of eyes on me and I looked over to see him in the church pew next to his parents and sister.

-I got my hair cut! But it was just a trim to get the ucky ends off. It's basically the same length just more layers. I'm TRYING to practice some self control here. And we can actually color our hair now out here.... but I just figure it can wait.

-Again, I'm in the middle of planning a training for Thursday morning. This one's going to be on how we invite the Spirit, how we recognize the Spirit and how we trust the Spirit [in our lives, our lessons with investigators, etc.].

-JD, the 12 or 13 yr old in the E family is excited for the "responsibility and privilege" of holding the priesthood. (!!!) I'm giving them a book that Ervin sent to me that has 52 nights of FHE. M, the mom, is on 1 Nephi 10 and they're going to begin reading as a family. We've also set 4 of them with a date--January 14!--and we're making "baptism jerseys" with them. What are baptism jerseys, you ask? They are a Sister L creation. Lots of times people need something visual to remind them of their goal and preparation to be baptized. We got them all white shirts and they're going to put their name on the back and their number will be the date they're going to be baptized. :)

-I've gotten some sweet tours this week. I took a guy and his family who just got his doctorate in biochemistry! And he got to tell me about his post-doc work he's doing in Cincinnati. He actually spent some time at USU and loved it. :) Then an anesthesiologist came through who lives in Overland Park and works near one of my old areas and we got to talk about schools. His brother then came around the corner and met Sister P (we were on exchanges) and they grew up together and hadn't seen each other in like 9 years! And last, but not least, yesterday I took a family through that was visiting from Jordan (the country). But he's actually from Sandy! He now works for the US embassy over there. His next assignment is in Kenya. Really nice family.

Have a great week! Remember to study the scriptures even on vacation!

Deciembre 19

Querida familia,

iCuan asombroso es! . . . que ustedes estan en Texas esta Navidad. :)

Well, good news, we recovered from the stomach flu. That bug went around (is still going around) like CRAZY! I think no less than 25 people have contracted it so far.

Zone conference last Wednesday was awesome! Of course. Zone conferences now are very fast-pace. You look at your watch after half an hour and realize you've actually been there 3 hours. Then you look again and it's been 7 and you never would've guessed that. Lots of practices, lots of different speakers in different rooms.... it's good. It was a little bit of a repeat from the training the APs gave at the last interviews, which is fine because it was good and useful.

So yesterday G got called into work, V went to Alabama and J was sick so the people who came to church consisted of the females in the E family plus some friends. (Last week it was all the males plus some.) Now we just gotta get ALL of 'em there! Anyway, still a blessing. M (the mom) was really touched by a certain talk in Sacrament Meeting. She was crying. It was on the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Super neat. And M is partially paralyzed and she walked [with her walker] all over that church... she was exhausted, but she was a trooper.

She and her husband accepted baptism the other day when we invited them, but they do not yet have a date. We have a feeling the Word of Wisdom may be an issue. But they have seen a transformation in their family since we started coming and they openly acknowledge that. And then the other day Elder H had a brilliant idea of offering to M a priesthood blessing to help her with her recovery and physical therapy! The ward has been awesome with our investigators. They are offering to help out with Christmas for both the Es and G. Sad news, though. G's roommate is a woman so we're praying hard for him to find other living arrangements. He and his roommate have never had a sexual relationship and there isn't an ounce of chemistry between them and he was already planning on getting out of there asap after the lease was up, but his kind heart hesitates I think at pushing too hard at this point considering it's not just him that will face a financial challenge, but her as well. They live together for financial reasons. Just pray for them, please.

Last night was also President's Devotional where recent converts come and give their conversion story and testimony. I had to call half the mission and it was a lot of stress, frankly, putting it all together, but in the end it turned out really well and the people that came to speak were so neat! Their stories were all awesome. I also love these meetings because I know it helps them to have the chance to bear their testimonies and hear those of other people in their situation. RCs very rarely will get up in Sacrament or anywhere else to say what they know to be true...and yet your testimony is so strengthened by doing so... so I love giving them that chance with these devotionals. I notice that their words get stronger as they speak, like the Holy Ghost bears record to them once again that they really do know it's true as the words come out of their mouths... Super cool.

I'm so glad Christmas is on Sunday this year. Man. Best day it could've fallen on.

Have a wonderful week, and have so much fun together doing Christmasy things and remembering the Savior, His birth, His life and His sacrifice.

Deciembre 13

Howdy folks!

So... surprise! I'm emailing on Tuesday. And actually I'll be emailing on Mondays in the future. Our pdays are Monday now. The reason I'm emailing today is because I kind of died yesterday. Being in so many people's houses, around kids, the wet weather, etc. makes it easy to get sick, no matter how good I try to eat and how many vitamins I take and oranges I eat. So I got a cold and a cough last week and congestion but then Sunday night about 3/4 of the way through our missionary correlation meeting I got super sick to my stomach and at about 2 am I had to run to the bathroom and that (vomiting) continued for 2 hours. In the morning I was drained. I'll spare you the details of all of yesterday, but I don't know if it was food poisoning or the stomach flu or what but I WANTED TO DIE. This happened in my first area.... Anyway, I feel like it was food poisoning cuz my body would not rest until every last bit of what had been dinner was OUT. Anyway, today was kind of a recovery day and we're not going to be able to email for the next few days so yeah.

On a better note!....

So I think I told you a little about the E family... We found them a few weeks ago. We began teaching M, the mom, and the 4 kids and then when I was on exchanges with Sister B the husband was there suddenly and they said they were trying to work things out. At the end of the lesson when we committed them to do certain things to improve their family life, he said he'd prayed for something to come into their lives to help guide them that morning and that he didn't think the prayer would be answered so quickly. (Super cool!) So Sis. L and I went back and when we walked in there was so much tension and arguing and impatience..... We ended up basically having a therapy session with them based on gospel principles. We had them tell each other what they loved and appreciated about the other, we established their "hot button" (what sets them both off to the point where they don't listen to each other they just yell) and committed them never to bring it up (because it's stuff in the past no one can change) and committed them to read the Book of Mormon, read the Family Proclamation and to pray nightly with each other and the kids. By the time we left, the climate in their home was much better (thanks to the Spirit) and they acknowledged that bringing the Lord and the Word of the Lord into their home helped a lot. When we went back we weren't sure what we'd find... but when we walked in it was astonishing the change. The apartment was clean, the husband was coming back from doing laundry, the kids were playing together and they HAD read the BoM, they had prayed together and were even having family councils to find out what the kids were dealing with, etc. And M and J were so much kinder to each other, gave each other the benefit of the doubt, laughed with each other, etc. and it was amazing. So cool. And then J and his 2 sons and one of their friends and M's brother came to church on Sunday! J is so open... It's awesome. I just hope that the family continues to recognize us as servants of the Lord. They have so much potential.

G, D, V and S are also progressing beautifully.

G is set to be baptized on the 31st of December and confirmed New Years Day!

V is so excited for her baptism but we're going to continue teaching them until D feels like she has more of an understanding of what baptism entails. They were able to come to the ward Christmas party and the ward is so good with bringing them in and giving rides, etc. I am sold on the fact that members make all the difference and Sister L's and my testimonies have grown so much with regard to the fact that getting them to church produces baptisms. We've been so blessed to have had investigators at church every Sunday since I've been in the area. We really need to find new investigators, though. We've been focusing on helping the investigators we already have progress but we need to be constantly finding. It's just hard having very limited time in our area. All our time in the area is already filled just with the people we already have. And what with being sick and zone conference this week... Anyway, I love being a missionary. :)

Well'm, I love you all dearly and hope to hear from you next Monday.

In the meantime read Moroni 7. I'm convinced there could be an institute class all about Moroni 7. It's PACKED and definitely means more to me having learned the things I have out here. I'm currently on Moroni 10. :( I hate finishing the BoM. But I love it too. I just love that book period.

Deciembre 7

The work in our area is going well. I feel like we have SO LITTLE TIME in our area, though. G and A are great. G still has his baptismal date. We might have to change it to a different day but maybe not. V also has a baptismal date now! She will be baptized on the 17th if all goes according to plan. We moved hers up because she'll be going out of town to visit her dad after school gets out for Christmas break. And then hopefully with the new year will come the possibility for her mom and cousin to change their work schedules to be able to come to church and then be baptized. They're all progressing like crazy and want to be baptized, but as of right now V's the only one who doesn't have to work Sunday mornings. It's really hard when work is so hard to come by and so much depends on it. But they have the faith to believe that if the God of the universe gives them a commandment, He's going to provide a way to keep it. :) I love them so much. The night of the stake Christmas celebration I talked with some Chileans in our ward and the wife told me I had a Mexican accent hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Anyway, back to D, V and S. V is super excited for her baptism and talks about it with all the members. I love it because the members know both V and G because they come to church consistently and so they're excited with them. We have a great fellowshipping ward and I really think that makes all the difference. The ward has really stepped up in giving them rides to church and activities and coming to teaching appts with us. When we went to our appt on Monday, they were all reading the Book of Mormon and El Libro de Mormon. :) (V reads better in English but we teach in Spanish.) The Spirit's always so strong with them and S has really blossomed in her interest and keeping of commitments. When we ask questions they give the neatest answers. Very well thought out and they all just have this inner faith that is so sincere. I feel like these women will not only accept the gospel but run with it.

We're also teaching another family, the Es. They have 4 kids and we've just had some really neat teaching experiences with them. Their marriage is SUPER rocky right now and the husband comments on what a difference it makes when we come to their home and when they read the stuff we give them--it's an entirely different feeling in their home. And the kids love us. :) And we love them back. Those aren't all our investigators, but yeah.

I have really done a lot of growing this transfer. It's written down much more in my journal (yes I actually write in my journal these days... shocker, I know.) I'm thankful for my companion who has taught me a lot and helped me learn about myself. As time winds down you really reflect on your work and just want to iron everything out that you can. This gospel is so true and this Work is so full of miracles. If you don't believe it just read the book of Alma!! (mi favorito!) I hope you all take the opporunity to cherish the gift of scripture every day and to strengthen your testimony. Remember 1 Nephi 10:17-19. I hope you sincerely want to know the mysteries of God--mysteries of God not meaning deep doctrine but simply the things of God (Truth) that you don't happen to know right now but that we need to know in order to progress. What a gift we have at our fingertips...

Make this week everything it can be and I will try and do the same.

Noviembre 30

How is everybody doing?

How was Thanksgiving? Did anyone battle Black Friday?

This week was super neat.

I included a picture of the Lighting Ceremony held at the VC on Saturday. The Mormon Chorale sang and Pres. Keyes spoke and they lit all the Christmas lights at the VC. We brought an LA and it was sweet! Afterward, we stopped into Subway for dinner and met C. He's a young dad who lost a baby boy a little while back and who just recently lost his wife due to complications in childbirth of their 23-week preemie baby girl who is currently in the NICU. He was upbeat, however, and talked about how God was helping him through these hard times. He agreed to let us teach him! We're excited to see him again--he seemed very receptive and prepared.

On Monday we met with G, one of our investigators, and we set a date for him to be baptized! He's preparing to be baptized on Christmas Eve! What a perfect gift to give and to receive from Heavenly Father. He has attended all 3 hours of church for the past 3 weeks and likes the way he feels at church, wants to have this for his daughter, loves that there is a prophet and that he will be able to hold the Priesthood, and likes learning from the Book of Mormon. He's a very good guy. He's the kind of person to run across the street to help his neighbor out with his elderly father. He quit drinking alcohol, tea and coffee and quit smoking a while ago and doesn't use illegal drugs. iPerfecto! But we still have lots to teach him. I think sometimes missionaries feel like the only mountain is getting them to feel that this is right and to set a baptismal date and get them there, but really there are many more things an investigator needs to understand before they are baptized, not just "The Restoration", "The Plan of Salvation", and "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" as outlined in the pamphlets and PMG. Being baptized means you are promising to come to church and partake of the Sacrament every week. It means you are promising to serve others in your future callings. It means a high level of commitment to priesthood responsibilities. Etc. That's what's so exciting about G to us. None of that seems like too much of a stretch for him. He has a faithful heart. And it's neat because we found him completely on our own. We had 5-10 minutes before our dinner appt and so we went around the neighboring apts and a lady was coming out of an apt and we tried to talk with her but she just directed us to knock on the door, which we did and G was behind it. He was talking about it to us and how he could've just said no, not interested, but how something told him not to, but to listen. So neat.

We've been seeing miracles with our other investigators as well. I don't remember whether or not I told you about the man we taught last Wednesday, which lesson was spiritually exhausting but so good. He asked to be removed from the Church's records about 30 years ago because he realized he couldn't say he knew it was true. He always kept the commandments, but felt hypocritical saying he knew it was true when he didn't. Fast forward years and years and a whole lot of family drama... We saw him again at the Lighting Ceremony and learned he's the great-grandson (great-great-grandson?) of George Q. Cannon. Anyway, he is a miracle because he now knows it's true. I remember our first mtg with him. The scriptures I needed to assign him came so clearly to me. And he called a few days later saying it was like reading them for the first time and that he really knew they were true, that we were servants of the Lord inspired according to his needs, that the Book of Mormon is true and everything that goes along with it. His mountain, however, is something else entirely now... which I won't go into... but that whole experience was very interesting.

Sister V and I just finished planning our last Thursday Morning Training for this transfer. Crazy. I emailed President asking what the possibility was for extending my mission.... Extensions are rare and so that's why I asked what the possibility was, but it's weird to me that the other sisters I came out with will stay in the mission until April and May, since we were in the MTC for so long. Spanish/VC sisters have 11 transfers in the field; English/VC have 12; English full-pros have 13. We'll see what he says.

I'm currently reading in Ether in the BoM and I've been learning a lot. The whole so-and-so rebelled against his father and stole the kingdom gets a little tedious, but when it talks about prophecy and what unbelief causes (Ch 4) it's very insightful. I loved Ether 4:11.

Anyway, I hope that you are all enjoying the beginning of the Holidays and gearing up for Christmas.

Noviembre 23

This week was yet another good one. :)

It keeps hitting me how amazing this life is--to be involved in so many miracles every day and be able to see them, know the people they happen to, be instrumental in them, etc. Missions are a tender mercy. And that's so neat but I can't say it's surprising that your manager attributes her leadership skills to her mission, Mom.

We had 3 investigators at church on Sunday! Our 2 Spanish investigators were able to come as well as G! He didn't have A last weekend, but she'll probably come with him this coming Sunday again. G has a roommate, however, who is opposed to him learning from us and who steals his reading materials....

Anyway, G and D and V are doing well. D is struggling with a job, though, and we hope to help her.

About the temple opening out here, it's getting close to finishing! We had our devotional next door 1.5 wks ago and it was super neat. They make sure not to announce any dates and only say "Spring 2012" so your guess is as good as mine. All I'm concerned about is that when the Ks get sealed in it, I wanna be there! We're still writing strong.

Happy Thanksgiving! (I will eat ONE Thanksgiving dinner, thankyouverymuch)