MARCH 11, 2013
There has been a policy change! We can now email friends and Family and ward auxiliaries and recent converts!!! I am a very happy person today as you can imagine. So fill free to email me! [email protected]. I will probably just print out the emails and write letters home most likely.
Anyway this week has been a busy and incredible week as most have been her in Los Angeles California. I first want to thank my beautiful family and friends who sent me packages and letters for my birthday. While they came late today it was great because it was like having to Birthdays! You all know me too well haha! I also was able to go out to dinner last week with some of the Visitors center sisters for my birthday at California Pizza Kitchen. (yes Alexa Steed I thought of you and our many trips there!) I have been so blessed to have the friendship and opportunity to work with these sisters. They are such incredible examples to me and love doing Gods work and we have a good time all at once:) what a blessing!
So these last two weeks the temple has been closed for cleaning which means the visitors center hasn’t been as busy so it was good to catch up on media and all the resources there are here to use. I would encourage you to get on Mormon.org and check out all the different videos and testimonies of members around the world! And if you haven’t made a mormon.org profile to make one:) I would also tell you to watch the new Mormon message on lds.org called mountains to climb. The church is incredible how they use technology to teach and reach all kinds of people.
I also had the grand opportunity of eating PIG SKIN this week.... I choked it down with probably fifteen small round tortillas. It really was not good... neither was the Salmon we ate last week... Good thing I’m not in Africa eating roaches or something haha! - not just the thin skin you peel off chicken or something but the whole thick skin.... it was chewy, rubbery, fatty, and you could see the wrinkles... not to mention it was deep fried. Yum.... haha
This week we gained two new progressing investigators! we met with Carlos who is in our YSA ward and has been to church the last two weeks. He is eager to learn more and has a strong testimony of Gods love for him. He had a crazy experience where he was at a shooting and walked away uninjured. He feels like god has given him another chance and I don’t doubt it. We were able to give him a book of Mormon- I hope he started reading it. The key to happiness and truth is in there- you just have to read it and pray about it! We also had Efrain come to church for the first time! I absolutely love this women! In many ways she reminds me of my Abuelita! I sat next to her in Gospel Principles and saw how excited she was to be there and learning- she even took notes! She has been going through really tough divorce and a lot of heartache, but it has been incredible to see what a difference coming closer to Jesus Christ is making in her- you can see it in her face. She really does seem happier.
This week we visited a less active whose husband was a drug addict and may now be having an affair and have seen how it is tearing apart her family. The hardest part for me is seeing her children in that situation. I pray and hope she finds a way to get to church and bring them with her. I think we could really use full time missionaries just for less actives sometimes... The key to happiness really is doing those simple things God has asked us to do. Keep his commandments, go to church, read His words, and pray- and then he blesses us infinitely in all aspects of our lives. (Mosiah 2:41)
This week we had a man come in with his two young children (He was a member) They sat in the Christus and we talked to them about who Jesus Christ was. It is incredible to see how much love Children have for Christ. I truly believe the Veil is thinner for them. As we talked about how Christ was their older brother the little boy said he had a brother too who died... I saw the eyes of the father well up with tears. They left pretty soon and I struggled to hold back tears. There is so much pain in this world, but somehow through the Atonement of Jesus Christ everything is made right. He really can take away all our pain, all our sorrow, all our guilt and sin. I am grateful for a loving and merciful heavenly father who has given us this plan and opportunity to learn and grow. Life is not easy. I have been able to see several examples of the hardships this world brings in one short week and the only answer I have for these people who are struggling is probably the best and greatest thing we have- Jesus Christ. While it saddens me that people choose not to accept him or come to him I know he truly is the only one who can really help and make things better. Circumstance might not change but the load which we carry can be carried by him if we let him. I am so grateful for a loving heavenly father who has made it possible for families to be together forever. Life does not end- it goes on into eternity! Let yourself find peace and happiness here in this life and let Christ into your lives more. Don’t underestimate the power of Prayer and the love of our savior. There is only one road to lasting happiness and it is through him. I know my savior lives! And I know this church is true. I love you all so very much! Take care and know you’re in my prayers and that Gods in the details of our lives we just have to be willing to see it!
There has been a policy change! We can now email friends and Family and ward auxiliaries and recent converts!!! I am a very happy person today as you can imagine. So fill free to email me! [email protected]. I will probably just print out the emails and write letters home most likely.
Anyway this week has been a busy and incredible week as most have been her in Los Angeles California. I first want to thank my beautiful family and friends who sent me packages and letters for my birthday. While they came late today it was great because it was like having to Birthdays! You all know me too well haha! I also was able to go out to dinner last week with some of the Visitors center sisters for my birthday at California Pizza Kitchen. (yes Alexa Steed I thought of you and our many trips there!) I have been so blessed to have the friendship and opportunity to work with these sisters. They are such incredible examples to me and love doing Gods work and we have a good time all at once:) what a blessing!
So these last two weeks the temple has been closed for cleaning which means the visitors center hasn’t been as busy so it was good to catch up on media and all the resources there are here to use. I would encourage you to get on Mormon.org and check out all the different videos and testimonies of members around the world! And if you haven’t made a mormon.org profile to make one:) I would also tell you to watch the new Mormon message on lds.org called mountains to climb. The church is incredible how they use technology to teach and reach all kinds of people.
I also had the grand opportunity of eating PIG SKIN this week.... I choked it down with probably fifteen small round tortillas. It really was not good... neither was the Salmon we ate last week... Good thing I’m not in Africa eating roaches or something haha! - not just the thin skin you peel off chicken or something but the whole thick skin.... it was chewy, rubbery, fatty, and you could see the wrinkles... not to mention it was deep fried. Yum.... haha
This week we gained two new progressing investigators! we met with Carlos who is in our YSA ward and has been to church the last two weeks. He is eager to learn more and has a strong testimony of Gods love for him. He had a crazy experience where he was at a shooting and walked away uninjured. He feels like god has given him another chance and I don’t doubt it. We were able to give him a book of Mormon- I hope he started reading it. The key to happiness and truth is in there- you just have to read it and pray about it! We also had Efrain come to church for the first time! I absolutely love this women! In many ways she reminds me of my Abuelita! I sat next to her in Gospel Principles and saw how excited she was to be there and learning- she even took notes! She has been going through really tough divorce and a lot of heartache, but it has been incredible to see what a difference coming closer to Jesus Christ is making in her- you can see it in her face. She really does seem happier.
This week we visited a less active whose husband was a drug addict and may now be having an affair and have seen how it is tearing apart her family. The hardest part for me is seeing her children in that situation. I pray and hope she finds a way to get to church and bring them with her. I think we could really use full time missionaries just for less actives sometimes... The key to happiness really is doing those simple things God has asked us to do. Keep his commandments, go to church, read His words, and pray- and then he blesses us infinitely in all aspects of our lives. (Mosiah 2:41)
This week we had a man come in with his two young children (He was a member) They sat in the Christus and we talked to them about who Jesus Christ was. It is incredible to see how much love Children have for Christ. I truly believe the Veil is thinner for them. As we talked about how Christ was their older brother the little boy said he had a brother too who died... I saw the eyes of the father well up with tears. They left pretty soon and I struggled to hold back tears. There is so much pain in this world, but somehow through the Atonement of Jesus Christ everything is made right. He really can take away all our pain, all our sorrow, all our guilt and sin. I am grateful for a loving and merciful heavenly father who has given us this plan and opportunity to learn and grow. Life is not easy. I have been able to see several examples of the hardships this world brings in one short week and the only answer I have for these people who are struggling is probably the best and greatest thing we have- Jesus Christ. While it saddens me that people choose not to accept him or come to him I know he truly is the only one who can really help and make things better. Circumstance might not change but the load which we carry can be carried by him if we let him. I am so grateful for a loving heavenly father who has made it possible for families to be together forever. Life does not end- it goes on into eternity! Let yourself find peace and happiness here in this life and let Christ into your lives more. Don’t underestimate the power of Prayer and the love of our savior. There is only one road to lasting happiness and it is through him. I know my savior lives! And I know this church is true. I love you all so very much! Take care and know you’re in my prayers and that Gods in the details of our lives we just have to be willing to see it!