Hey sir, there is a frog right there

Hola amigos!

So funny story, Hermana Clark and I had not even heard a thing about the hurricane until Sunday night on our conference call with the leaders in the mission that there was going to be a hurricane hahaha! At our mission conference they told us to make sure we had everything we needed to survive even if we need to buy it Monday night. So we go to Walmart on Monday evening and it was actually really cool because we got stopped by a less active member whose house we had knocked earlier that evening but couldn't get a hold of. We got his phone number and set up a time to meet! Then someone else stopped us and asked about English class! It was awesome :)

Yesterday, Elder Haynie of the 70 came to the mission and spoke to us. A lot of what he talked on was gathering scattered Israel and bringing them to the gospel. I know that is what we are doing and that it is a great work. He also talked about letting the mission change us and letting Christ change us. I like to think I have changed on my mission, I am not super sure haha but  I know for a fact that my testimony has and that it has gotten so strong. I know that this is the restored church of Jesus Christ and I know that everything I have is because of Him. I love my Savior with all my heart.

We had another lesson with Rosario, Miguel and their family. We start every lesson with a song and singing with them is some of the best minutes of my week. The spirit is so strong whenever we are singing. We read part of Enos with them because Miguel (the father) had not read in the scriptures yet. We had another family with us that they are friends with and it was great. We invited t hem to read and pray as a family every day and they told us on Saturday that they had done it!! they were not able to come to church this week but we have a lesson with them later in the week and we are going to teach the plan of salvation and I am so excited to tell them that they can live forever as a family.

We had a couple of exchanges this week and on one of them we talked with a man that has had a crazy past in Brooklyn, New York. He talked about how he has done some things that he is not proud of and got a little teary eyed. As we testified of the Book of Mormon you could see a change in his countenance and it was incredible. I know that there is serious power that comes from that book.

We also talked to a man that is an atheist but wants to have a belief in God but feels like  he can't because there are so many unanswered questions. Same kind of scenario. We testified of the Book of Mormon and his countenance changed. He asked us that if he should read one part, what should he read. We gave him 3 Nephi 11 and then Sister Cummings said, "if you want to read when I knew the Book of Mormon is true, just read to chapter 17" and then I told him that if he wanted to read when I got the first confirmation of the book of Mormon that he should read chapters 18 and 19 as well. It was awesome. They have an appointment with him later this week as well.

We have had some super cool contacts with people that have a hunger to learn and to read the Book of Mormon! I know they can feel the spirit when we are with them. Its awesome!

On Sunday we were knocking on a door and we saw a frog that was sitting on the outlet right next to the door.. it was pretty cool. So we talk to this guy who was not at all interested but Hermana Clark was going to do everything she could to get him to listen so she said "Hey sir, look how cool this is, there is a frog right there!!" hahahahah! This man did not think it was super cool and told us to have a good night and shut the door! It was super funny! maybe you had to be there? hahah!

I love you all and hope you have a great week! I hope you all have a chance to strengthen the faith you have in the Savior every day :)

"I Saw a Civil War Captain in my Backyard"

oh let me explain the subject line real fast hahah!

So on exchanges we had the weirdest member meal I have ever had. Its a single guy so all 4 of us went over and ate some fried chicken. He is a less active who has apparently seen a lot of weird stuff including:the 3 Nephites, John the beloved, the holy ghost, a red orb, and a civil war captain in his backyard that waved at him. super odd and the weirdest member meal I have ever had on my mission.

Hola amigos!

This week we went on two exchanges and we went finding all day every day. It was great. I love talking to people about the restored gospel and finding is the best way to do that. We gave away a lot of Book of Mormons and set up some return appointments for the sisters so that was great. :)

This week we had two appointments with Henry. He came to church and he has been reading the Book of Mormon a lot. We had an appointment with the elders in Stafford and he is going to start going there because he lives in their boundaries. It was so sad but it will be good for him. :)

We had a lesson with Rosario, Miguel and their kids this week with our ward mission leader and it was so great! We started with the song, Families can be together Forever and it was the best. The spirit is so strong in their tiny little town home. All 7 of them came to church and they loved it. Rosario has been reading the Book of Mormon with her kids and they understand it! Also, we asked if they liked church and they said they liked it a lot better than their last church so that was awesome!  They are being fellowhshipped really well and the branch loves them. Families are inviting them over and its so great.

We have been finding a lot and talking to some really cool people and I just love testifying of the restoration and the Book of Mormon. I know it is true and it really is the word of God. I know that Christ has restored his church and that we have the fullness of the gospel on the earth again.

I hope you have a great week! I love you all!

Family of 7!

Hola amigos!

We have a 70 coming to the mission in a couple of weeks. The week of the 10th my pday will be on a Tuesday. Just a heads up!

Also I had a meeting at 7am for the stake missionary correlation, haha I felt like I was finally experiencing what dad used to do all the time haha! How do ward mission leaders work with the missionaries in Utah?? They cover two stakes, do they still meet with all the wards every week? That sounds like a crazy amount of meetings..

Thank you so much for the prayers. I don't feel very far from you!

This week was great! Remember Rosario from last week? The lady who only has a restaurant booth as furniture? Well we went back to her return appointment and she wasn't there but her husband was and we talked with him. He is awesome. His name is Miguel. He told us to come by later that night and we would be able to teach their whole family. So we did and we came back with a member! He shared his conversion story then we set up an appointment for Friday! Well we came back and taught the family! There are the parents and  kids ages, 9,7,6,4,4 months. Rosario had read the introduction with her kids and her oldest son asked for a Book of Mormon and said he would read it to his siblings. Well the member we had with us at this lesson invited the family to church! Miguel had to work this Sunday but Rosario and the  kids came!! One of our members went and picked them up and they stayed for all 3 hours and really loved it and are planning on coming back next week! They are probably moving this week and are going through some hard stuff right now but they are amazing. We are so excited for them!

On Thursday we contacted a part member family and the wife is not a member but wants to meet with us and come to church. She was so kind and went and got her bible and Book of Mormon and read along when we used scriptures as we taught the restoration!

We had zone conference this week and it was all about personal righteousness! I really feel strongly that as we are striving to be morally clean that we will have the spirit more abundantly in our lives. It is incredible that we have the opportunity to have a member of the God head with us at all times. It really is a manifestation that God loves us so much!

I hope you  have a great week!

Convinced My Comp to go to Church ;)

Hola amigos,

We will be doing 8 exchanges in the next 4 or 5 weeks. We teach young women's every Sunday! We just teach every Sunday though, we don't do week night activities.

On Tuesday we had an another lesson with Henry (the guy from Facebook) he committed to come to church and he is still reading and praying about the Book of Mormon! He is so awesome!

On Wednesday we were in a trio with Sister Hansen! She just finished her first transfer in the mission field! That was the day of transfers and she was waiting for her new companion so she went out with us! We went tracting and knocked on this door and we talked to Pam! She said she already went to a church but after we explained the Book of Mormon and talked about Jesus Christ's earthly ministry in the Americas she was super interested and really wanted to read the Book of Mormon! We were excited to give her away as a referral :)

We also knocked into this lady, Rosario. We taught sister Hansen how to say "We are missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" so that is how she introduced us! Then Rosario invited us in... We walk in and there is a four year old girl laying right inside the door. We thought that she was dead but she was just sleeping.. The walls looked like it had been remodeled or something and the only piece of furniture was a booth thing from a restaurant pushed up against the wall. We taught her the restoration and invited her to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. She told us that they are a family of 7 who is about to get kicked out of their house because they can't pay for it and they don't have anywhere to go. Her husband just barely got a job but is diabetic so they have other things they have to pay for. But she is wanting to learn more and to come closer to Jesus Christ. We are excited to keep teaching them!

Also, we got a referral, Ingrid, from a member. This member walked us to her house and we taught her the restoration and she told us that she has contemplated many times the question, "why are there so many churches and which is true?" So we were able to help her understand the apostasy. She and her husband are super nice and are really willing to learn more! We have another appointment set up for tonight.

On Saturday and Sunday I was sick and couldn't leave the apartment but i convinced my companion to let us go to church! We went and Henry came and he stayed for all three hours! He apparently left priesthood with a huge smile on his face. Our elders quorum president explained that one day he could hold the priesthood and bless his family and apparently that made him super pumped! After church he said he wanted to meet with us on Monday and ask a bunch of questions! We are excited. We are probably going to end up passing him off to the Stafford elders because we think he lives in their boundaries but we ares super excited for him!

Then we went home and i slept because I was sick and our ac broke so our apartment was like 86 degrees... but we got it fixed! Yay!

On Friday we had a Mission leadership council and President Smith said something that really stuck out to me. He said "If our message was easily accepted or understood, it wouldn't be of God." I know that is true! God's word has been rejected throughout all of history and will continue to be rejected. Satan knows how important and true the gospel of Jesus Christ is and he does whatever he can to get people to reject it. I know that the message of the plan of Salvation and the restored gospel changes people's lives for eternity. I know Jesus Christ overcame death to redeem us spiritually and physically.

I love you all!

3 Exchanges Later

Hola amigos!!

Its been rainy and stormy here in the VA. But its been great! We went on three exchanges this week. I know that really doesn't mean a ton to everyone else but it really is a lot and I pretty much lived out of a suitcase haha. It was a lot of fun! Two of the exchanges were up in Stafford. I was there in January and February (that feels like yesterday but I realized that is like 6 months ago haha) It was so fun to be up there again! For one of the exchanges I was in a trio with two other sisters and we were tracting in an apartment complex and a lady opened the door and was pretty closed off because she is a firm believer in the bible to us but I felt prompted to ask her "If God gave more of His word, would you read it?" Well, she answered yes and as we explained the Book of Mormon she got excited and pretty much asked us to come back! It was super awesome.

The next day I was with a different sister who is newer to the mission and we knocked on a door and she explained the Book of Mormon and offered it to this man and he politely said no and went to shut the door. I pretty much put my foot in the door and asked "If you could ask God any question, what would you ask?" and he asked about how God did everything and made plan and how everything works. I told him there was a chapter in the Book of Mormon that could answer his question and he said that sounded super interesting and he would want to read it! "Questions of the soul..." they really work :)

Later in the exchange I was with Sister Ulrich and one of our lessons fell through so she felt prompted to go try this referral for the billionth time and we went and this lady was there and she is SO PREPARED. She  is going through a rough divorce and has 5 kids. Her mom is a convert as of a couple of years ago and lives in Arizona. This woman is looking to get closer to God and wants to come to church and take all of her kids. She asked for a Book of Mormon. The elders had met her a couple weeks earlier and she willingly gave them her phone number and address which she said is not normal. She was nervous about two guys coming to her house but she actually lives in the sisters area and is a lot more comfortable with that. She is so excited to start meeting with them. It was a miracle!

Transfers are this week but Hermana Clark and I are both staying here in Fredericksburg as Sister Training Leaders so we are both really excited about that! :)

This week I was reading in Alma 12:24. It says that this life is to repent and prepare to meet God and I know that is true. Repenting is making positive changes in life to become closer to God and I know that is the only way to become better. I love that we are given that chance to change. My hope is that we can all be repenting and changing every day. I know it is possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the only way to return to our Father in Heaven. I love the Book of Mormon and my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love you all!

Roxany got baptized!!!

 Hola amigos! :)
 
This week was super awesome! Roxany was baptized on Saturday and it was amazing. Everything went as planned and the Spirit was so so strong. She was a little nervous because she isn't an aquatic person but I told her neither am I and she would be okay! After she came out of the water she couldn't stop smiling and she gave us a hug and tried to get us all wet! When she was confirmed on Sunday the first thing said in her blessing was that God loved her. I got the chills and knew that God truly looks at each of us with proud eyes when we choose to follow  Him. It was such a great experience to be apart of.

This week we went on two exchanges. The first one I was with Sister Schouten and she is a brand new missionary so it was fun to be with her. We went tracting all afternoon and we didn't talk to a ton of people but one of our conversations went like this.
"Hi we are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints"
Lady at the door: "Hi  I am a pagan"
Me:"can you enlighten me on what that means?"
Lady:" I  am a witch. I  practice witchcraft"
Then she explained that she just uses home remedies and stuff but claims to practice witchcraft. She is super nice and gave us water and has a friend that lives in South Jordan haha super weird. A couple of hours later we talked to a Jewish woman who was a little too friendly and proceeded to tell us why they don't accept Jesus as the Savior. Super weird... But that night we had a super powerful lesson with a less active in their ward who is going through some super hard stuff but we brought her ministering sister and it was super powerful and she committed to come to church. It was awesome!

We found a really cool lady to teach whose name is Elizabeth. She got here from Honduras 3 months ago and just got married. She was waiting for us when we came and was so happy to see us. She said she has seen a lot of missionaries in Honduras but has never talked with them and that her cousin is a member but doesn't really know what we believe. We both struggled to speak Spanish but she seemed to understand perfectly especially the apostasy. The spirit is the real teacher not us haha. She thinks the Book of Mormon is cool because the bible has so many interpretations and its hard to know what things mean and which thing is right. It was really awesome. Then she gave us tamarindo juice. :)

We had another exchange and I was with Sister Sanchez and we had so much fun! We made contact with a former person that has been taught and he is a super humble man from Columbia who remembered everything about Joseph Smith. He works a ton and it will be super hard to meet with him but he wants the blessings the gospel brings to his family and agreed to meet with us and said he would read the Book of Mormon. We also went to a neighborhood and the first door we knocked on we talked to a Hispanic man who had been baptized in California as a teenager. He didn't want anything to do with the church but said he would read the Book of Mormon. At least we now have his address for when he comes around ;) I just know that God is really aware of us and his hand is directing this work.

On Sunday we met up with a guy I had been talking to on Facebook to give him a Book of Mormon. His name is Henry and he is super cool. He has gone to several churches in his life and doesn't know what one is right. He says really wants to read the Book of Mormon. As we taught him inside the church the spirit was there and I know it was testifying to him. I am so excited to meet with him again and see what he felt while he read.

 I love you all and hope that you are seeing the miracles in your life each day!

"I am on the phone with a Mormon right now!"

Hola amigos!

This week we knock on a door and a man opens up and we explain that we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and then we hear a voice yell "I am on the phone with a Mormon right now" so they invite us in and we were talking with this family with this member from an english ward on speaker phone. It was super interesting but really funny! She then took a picture of us and sent it to her friend who we saw the next day at church and then sent it to our moms. That is how you got the picture. We shared with her 3 nephi 11 and she said she would talk to her friend about it so that was cool too!

We went on two exchanges this week. One was in a little city called Culpeper. Its this cute little country town with a lot of Hispanics. We handed out 5 Book of Mormons in an hour. It was nuts. Super awesome place that smells like pickles all the time haha!

We were taught a less active and his wife this week and they are so cool. Saul and Natalie. Saul is a radiation therapist so thats super cool and I really like talking to him about that stuff! Saul  was baptized when he was 12 but has just gotten so busy that he has stopped going to church and his wife is open to learning. They only have time on the weekends for their family time with their daughter but they are willing to make time to meet with us so that is exciting! We talked a lot about the introduction to the Book of Mormon. We are going back and we are excited!

Our investigator, Roxany is ready for her baptism this saturday! She is a shy 15 year old but she wanted to make sure to have her baptism at a time that the branch could come celebrate with her. We are so pumped. We went over last night to finalize the program and she is so pumped! She credits a lot of her conversion to girls camp and I can really relate to that. I am grateful that we have a church that is dedicated to giving people opportunities to feel the Spirit.

I have been reading the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants a lot lately and I just know that we have a prophet on the earth today to lead and guide us. I know that Jesus Christ is the head of our church and that God is in the details of our lives. I know with out a doubt that we have the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth and I am lucky enough to be spreading the word of that! I love this gospel!

I love you all! Have a great week!