Roller Coaster

So every week in a mission, and everyday really, is a roller coaster. I think i have already said this before in an email.. But there is just so much great and then not so great. 

We have been teaching the Alcaraz family everyday really and they love us! But they will not come to church.. And we just found out the dad, Alfredo has a drinking problem. So pray for him. But they know this gospel is true, they are just missing out on the blessings of going to church!

We tried out church tracting but nobody lets us do service for them:(

Our english classes are getting harder to teach because the students dont practice outside of class so then they dont learn as much and get discourage. Its also hard because all the people are at different levels of spanish. Its like trying to teacher 1st graders and 8th graders at the same time.

We taught Myra twice this last week. She is our only progressing investigator becuase she is reading and coming to church! I know that she is going to get baptized. In all our lessons with her we always have to bring a return missionary with us becuase she always asks really hard, good questions, that sometimes we dont know how to answer.. but we asked her to pray about a baptism date and she is!

We also taught a way awesome lesson to Jose Luis and Liliana with a member of the bishopric, Hermano Davila. we taught the plan and they believe it, but they say that they are never going to change or get baptized... its tough. 

but the absoulute best day ever was yesterday. so president told us if our investigators arent answering our calls on sunday morning, to go to their house and knock on there door! Shianna said the same thing. So yesterday morning we went the Alcaraz and they werent home, and we went to Rolando and Elaine, and they werent home, and we went to Myra and she didnt answer. I was so upset. I didnt want another sunday with no investigators at church. so we pulled into the church parking lot and one of our investigators(synthia who was our contact lesson three weeks ago and we havent been able to get in with her since) was there with her kids! We didnt even invite her and she was there. and Myra, was already at the church! Seriously, no effort is wasted! and the Lord blessed us for our work.

after church we had dinner with Myra at a members house, and then we were taking her to the temple. none of other investigators responded to our messages about the temple tour we were having, but i was happy with just taking myra! but when we got to the temple, two of our other investigators were there already! Jose Luis and Liliana! they were talking to our president and asking him questions. I couldnt belive it. The temple is gorgeous and i was so happy! 

i would love to write more but im out of time for today, but im sending lots of pictures:) 

(beware kloni)

Busy busy!

This past week so much happened but I feel like i cant remember any of it ha.

First of all I had 8 week, which is where all the missionaries that have been out for 8 weeks come and teach the lessons in front of president and the assistants and then they tell you how horrible of a missionary you are and you need to be better. Haha im totally just kidding, but basically they just see what you have learned and what you can do better. I was really nervous! And it was hard. Its just you, and then you teach a leader, and president watches you. And i am definitely so far from a great missionary. So i have some improvement! but the best part was, it was all in Spanish, and i new every word. so i know i can teach in Spanish! its just everything else i need to work on:)

Also this last week i went on exchanges with our amazing sister training leader Hna. Coley. She has been out about a year and she is such a good missionary. I strive to be like her. And she gave me such good advice on how to improve my teaching methods.

We also had a zone meeting this week and learned about family history and how to teach it. We also learned about fears. And how to overcome them through our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

When I first got out into the field, and i was having a really hard time, one of my really good friends, serving in Missouri sent me this scripture, John 16:33. Its perfect, i love it so much. I memorized it, in Spanish of course.

"Estas cosas os he hablado para que en mi tegais paz. En el mundo tendreis afliccion. Per confiad; yo he vencido al mundo." 

For you english speakers, it says that, 

"These things I have spoken unto to you that you, that in me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

We are all going to have hard times and afflictions in our life's, but there is no need to fret. Because has already overcome them. Let him help you. Use the atonement of Christ daily. It is the greatest gift we have. 

This is at our 8 week training with some of the missionaries I was in the CCM with!

Best Week Ever!

Sooooo many great things happened this last week. And they all only happened through the Lord and revelation. 

This past week i had my first contact lesson. Which just means while you're contacting, you go straight in to the first lesson and teach it. We were early to a lunch appointment with a member so we decided to knock her street. We found a mom and told her our purpose is sharing a message about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. She invited us to sit down and we taught her. It was awesome. We also had a really good lesson about the plan of salvation with our investigators JoseLuis and Liliana. It was so powerful, we read 2 Nefi 2 together with them and they accepted it and believed all of it, it was awesome! 

On thursday this past week we had this Specialized Training for all the spanish missionaries with president and his consolers and assistants, it was amazing of course. We always learn things that we can do better and improve on. one of the assistants, Elder Abidillo, (who actually used to be my zone leader but he just got called as a assistant), is so cool. He is from Guatemala and he actually played on the olympic volleyball team there! yeah but anyways, hes like the smartest guy ever when it comes to the gospel, i swear he has the scriptures memorized. He helped train us on how to improve our language study. he said we should be memorizing a scripture in spanish everyday! so this is the one i recently did,

Esta es la vida eterna, que te conzcan a ti, el unico Dios, y a Jesucristo, quien has enviado.

If you can tell me what that scripture is, that would be cool!

so anyways, we learned lots of cool stuff at the training! also, the best thing that ever happened on my mission, I got approved to drive!!! Finally. I couldn't drive for the first six weeks because i have too many tickets on my record..awk. but president told me i could start driving now and i was so happy! because the person that's not driving, gets the phone, and i hated having the phone. and i always got super car sick. but know i drive everyday. so the second day i was approved to drive, there was like a huge rain storm. more rain then i have ever seen in my life i promise! the streets were flooding and we had to go to the mission office which is far away on the freeway. and i had to drive four other missionaries in the car. i wasn't scared because Utah has prepared me for bad driving conditions, and of course i drove so safely and all the other hermanas were so happy i didn't crash and we didn't die!

so last Friday, we had interviews with president with our district. and when you have interviews they also have training for all the other missionaries that aren't in the interview with the prez.. so it was awesome of course. our zone leaders and sister training leaders and assistants teach us and its so spiritually uplifting and you learn so much! were are doing this new thing called, "Church Tracting" where we go to other religion churches, and basically contact them. president thinks it will be really successful so ill let you know how that goes. i think its kind of scary!

We also had a really good lesson with one of our investigators on Saturday night. Her name is Myra, she is 26 single and just works and goes to school. She has a lot of questions always about our lessons and especially about repentance. we were teaching her about the Atonement and i shared my testimony with her and she started crying. it was so amazing, the spirit!

and the number one best thing about last week was I HAD THREE INVESTIGATORS COME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY. I promise i have never been so happy in my life. finally finally finally. Myra came, and JoseLuis and Liliana. I know that the Lord does answer our prayers. I am just so happy and the only thing that could make me happier is if i knew more spanish. one day..

thank you for all your love and support! les extrano!

These are two of our English classes we teach.

Driving in the storm!

3 Months Done!

I feel like so much has happened this past week! 

We're always busy of course. We have been teaching a lot of recent convert lessons lately which has been good. We have also been trying to work with less active members also. 

The Best thing about this last week is we finally got in with the Alcarez family. A little bit about them, The mom Judy, was baptized about 20 years ago and has been inactive ever since. She is married to Alfredo, and they have 4 kids. Amanda 16, Vanessa 12, AJ 8, and Joshua 6. Judy says that she wants her kids to get involved in the church. Her oldest daughter Amanda has a lds friend and she is really interested. We went to their home and Judy says that she wants her kids to be baptized! I am so excited for them. And the dad, Alfredo, is super funny. I showed him my photo album and i have a picture of my baptism and he said, his own words, "so when i get baptized i will white too??" yeah, i almost cried right there. they are so ready! They just need the lessons, and to come to church of course. And if they get baptized before April, I will be able to go through the temple with them:) 

On friday we had our English graduation. I love all the girls we teach so much. and they were all so excited to get their certificates!

The cold has passed, its 70 degrees now everyday. so today were are going to play in the park. 

Yesterday was the Mission President Fireside. It was amazing of course! They had recent converts speak and we sang and the spirit was so so strong! and all the spanish missionaries were there so it was awesome.

 

the sunrise this morning when we went running.

First Transfer Done

so i have completed my first transfer which means nothing for me because im in my 12 week training so i am still in the same area with the same comp for another 6 week transfer. which is great because i love bear creek and i never want to leave. not until i see at least one of my investigators get baptized! so but this past week i set my first baptismal dates with Elaine and Rolando! for january 31. which is great, but if they dont come to church we cant keep this date:( all i want is for somebody to come to church!!!!! geez, its so difficult here right now because seriously in texas, people dont leave their house when its cold. They just dont leave! its the strangest thing. even active members will stay home from church if its too cold

its funny because every house we go to they all offer us coffee or tea, and when we say no, they give us hot chocolate, and its funny because i hattteee hot chocolate, its makes me sick. and you cant say no to people here and you have to drink it all! ugh its horrible. a lot of lessons this week but not as much contacting, because its freezing and nobody is outside.

oh i almost forgot! this past week we needed to go on exchanges with our sister training leader, hermana diez, she is from honduras. so usually, i would go with her, and her companion would go with my trainer. because i have only been her a month and so has her companion. but hermana diez cant drive and neither can i, sooo my trainer had to go with her and me and hermana parslow were put together. both brandnew white girls from utah that suck at spanish! i was so afraid. because i had to lead the area. so basically we took a member with us to our lessons that spoke spanish and english so she could help us ha. and it ended up being alright. i was praying so hard this day. maybe one day ill be able to drive! and this next sunday me and my district are singing at a spanish fireside so pray for us ha!

well i have to go but thank you for all your prayers and support, i love you all sooooo much!

I have the best sister in the whole world and I love her:)

so awkward moment when last monday was my sisters birthday and i forgot! Sorry LonBon. hope you had a great 21st, you are so supportive and helpful i love you!

Pues, two weeks ago it was all about contacts here and finding new investigators. now its all about lessons. we found like 8 to 10 new investigators this past week. so that means i taught the restoration like a million times. its so powerful! i also invited two more families to be baptized in my broken spanish. when the spirit is there, they just cant say no! so many miracle lessons. so we have a lot of investigators right now, but no progressing investigators because none of them come to church:/ it is the most upsetting thing when you invite like 15 people to church that week and then on sunday you just wait for at least one to show up, and no one does:( so ive really been trying to study about the doctrine of the sabbath day and promised blessing from keeping this commandment for our investigators and less actives. if any of you return missionaries or active missionaries want to help me out with some ideas thatd be great, just write me:) 

with my spanish, i can understand almost everything now, but speaking is a different story. i am great with gospel words and phrases which is good for lessons. but i just need to know so much more im really impatient. But I already know The Lord has blessed me so much with the language and I am so grateful for the gift of tongues.

its still freezing here and im super over it. ive been in the mission field a month now! dont worry, it only feels like TEN YEARS.... :) i dont know why time is going by so slow, probably because this is the hardest thing i have done in my whole life. Pues, transfers are next week, which means nothing to me because when you are being trained, you stay in the area for 12 weeks, or two transfers, which im super happy about because i love Bear Creak area!

congrats to Brade for being a great wrestler and good luck to Loni at BYU this semester:) love you all! thanks so much for your support and prayers:)

Brrrr!

so if anybody tries to tell you it doesnt get cold in texas, theyre lying. it hasnt been cold since i got here until last week the day after christmas. IM FREEZING. it doesnt snow here, it just will rain all day. and your just cold and wet. so contacting is quite difficult now. but oh well. i am just grateful for the scarf, gloves, umbrella, and legwarmers that my grandma sandy and lowry sent me!

so im really excited to tell y'all about some of the miracles that have happened this past week. first with our new investigator Norma. We found her last week contacting. When we went up to her house, she had a gate. so i told hna. reese that we just shouldnt bother. but she insisted and opened gate and knocked on the door. she told "pasan, pasan" which means come-in in spanish. which was odd because strangers usually dont let you in to their homes. she said that she had been looking for a church. so we sent up a return appointment with her. we taught her the restoration, and i invited her to baptism, she said yes even though im sure she has no clue what it means. and she ask for a priesthood blessings from the elders because she is sick. it was awesome!

With Elaine and Relando, they are so great! he speaks spanish, but she speaks english. so basically we just teach in both different languages. we gave them both a book of mormon and un el libro de mormon. and they read and have a lot of questions! which is good. we just need to get them to church because he works of sundays. that is our problem with a lot of people here. they all work of sundays! but im super excited for them.

The Alcarez family. okay so i dont remember how we found them but they are a part member family. The mom was baptized around 11 years ago, and then her husband and 4 kids are all none members! we went and visited them for the first time last week. and said that she wants her kids to be in the church! and her 16yrold daughter has an lds friend and she is really interested and wants to start coming to church! i am so excited for them

On christmas i got to skype with my family which was fab. Seems like everybody is doing so good! im so pround of my two brothers. Brady is doing awesome in wrestling and Vince is such a stud serving or country! and Im so excited for my sister to go to BYU again. Kind of really upset that they are in florida right now, soaking up the sun while im dying of frostbite. i also got more packages and letters this last week! one from wendy sorensen and the other from my favorite family ever, the giles:) i am so blessed, that you guys!

ill send a couple pics. 

les amo. muchas gracias por sus oraciones y por su apoyo. Feliz nuevo ano!