NEWS
(INVESTIGATOR'S NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO MAINTAIN ANONYMITY)
(INVESTIGATOR'S NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO MAINTAIN ANONYMITY)
MARCH 25, 2013
Hola mi hermosa Famlia!! Les quiero mucho!!!! Y les echo mucho de menos y espero que todo vaya bien con ustedes! (look im using usted form.. It took my like two weeks to even understand what it was... amazing what reading a grammar book can teach you haha) Hola mi abuelita! Te quero muchisssssimooo! Y si te voy a escribir hoy día y lo voy a mandar a la casa a Utah así lo tienes pronto:)
Kristi your teeth LOOK SOOOO GOOD! and congrats on making the Drill team!!!!!!!! Did Justine make it again... I know that she had some... Hhaha im just kidding I know you made it! My momma would be crazy not to put you on there, and your part of the family and it would be weird okay anyway I’m done with that thought. Congrats to Both of You! Yay Lance is home! He looks so thin!! haha and I loved the story about the MTC! Hope you gave that kid a good hug for me! Mckay I haven’t had time to read your email, but I am going to write you a hand written letter later today since I have night P.day.
Papi you need to feel better! I hope you are:) and you aren’t aloud to go to Jerusalem until I can come with... I have been learning so much about it- I would love to see where Jesus walked! and I am going to write some about Christ in this next here letter that if you want you can use any of it in your talk.... I hope it works... And yes I have been thinking a lot about it actually. You all seem to be doing great! Keep it up and know I love you all! Oh and mom I still haven’t gotten the backpack..... You sent me one right??
Oh and at some point I am going to need my twin bed blanket thing the one with the polka dotted.... I have been using Sister Stevens extra blanket but when we aren’t companions I won’t have one.... or should I buy one? I would rather just use the one we have....
This week has been Amazing and it has only been a 5 day week since I last wrote you all.
First off it was Sister Stevens birthday so we had a lot of fun birthday celebrations and cake... Too much Cake! I have been so blessed to be in the Visitors Center! I have gained over 20 new best friends. We have too much all of us sisters here in the VC. I also will greatly miss when Sister Mueller goes home and I don’t have my usual Monday morning P.Day 20 minutes of Dancing! It has been so fun to make up dances in the Parking Lot!
So this week I witnessed God answering my prayers time and time again! It was sooo neat! The first one was we had a night in our area and Sister Stevens and I had a goal to find two new investigators and really fervently prayed that we would meet people in our area. Around every corner we turned we met someone and had a really great conversation about Christ and how having a belief in him can strengthen us and bring us peace as well as a purpose. We found an old potential and set up and appointment with him and met a girl on the street who was very interested in the Book of Mormon and we were able to give her one. We left that night with a new investigator and two new potentials!
The next one was our lesson with Carlos our YSA investigator who is in fact afroamerican- He is soo cool! We were teaching the Plan of Salvation and for some reason I was stressed about making sure the spirit was there. I think I went over the lesson plan probably 5 times before we sat down to teach him. And the first words out of his mouth when we asked him how reading the book of Mormon was were "I read the introduction and the witness section... there is no way Joseph Smith could make all that up- I know its true" What he only read the intro! and the lesson went great! The spirit was there and really understood it! Later that night I read in Moroni 7:31-32. Which pretty much outlines our purpose as a mission and promises that God will prepare a way for men to have Faith in Christ and to have the Holy Ghost in their hearts. If we do our part the Lord always does his!
The next one was this last Sunday. We had "bring your friend to church day" in the YSA ward. The talks in sacrament were perfect for people who weren’t members or investigating the church. I could feel the spirit so strong and Chris was nowhere to be found..... I wanted him to be there so badly because I knew this would help him. I kept praying that he would show up... the last speaker got up to speak who was a recent convert... As he began speaking he was addressing some of the concerns and questions Carlos has been having... I was going crazy- Carlos NEEDED to be there! I kept praying and about 1 minute later he walked in the door! He was able to hear at least the last speaker... and after when we talked with him he said he wished he had been there earlier because he could feel how great the last speaker was and new that it must have been a good meeting and would have helped him... He had been stuck in traffic (LA Traffic is by far the worst!)
The last one was we went to Kay for a dinner appointment (she is the 8 year old who now is 9 and we are trying to get her parents to move up her baptismal date- they are recent converts) We thought we were going to have a dinner appointment but we arrived to a big fiesta for Kay´s birthday... We were there and I said a simple prayer that we would have some sort of missionary experience while we were there... but as we left we hadn’t really had one besides talking with others and getting to know their family and friends... But I felt that there must have been a reason we went.... As we got close to a car a guy walked past us and we started talking with him. He was so cool! It was probably the most fun and natural street contact I have had yet. He seemed very receptive and has been wanting to go back to church and was interested in what we had to say... His friend also passed us by and may have been drunk and said he wanted to be better too... He kept saying he has been trying to stay on the path... "today I had 3 temptations and I only gave into 1" he was funny, but we did get trip's contact information and gave him a book of Mormon! We are going to call him later today and set up a time to go teach him! I left feeling the spirit so strong knowing God had answered my prayers. He truly does listen to us and I have no doubt he loves us immensely!!
My recent favorite scripture is Alma 24:14
"And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations."
I know God loves us infinitely! and has given us the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to guide us and bring us greater happiness and ensure that we return home to him. He has given us the Plan of Salvation so that we might have hope for a better world. He gave his only Begotten Son for us.
I am so grateful for My savior Jesus Christ who gave me the opportunity to be better, who understands me completely, who forgives me for my faults, who loves me, who teaches me by examples. I am in eternal debt for the sacrifice he gave to me. Christ is the center of everything. He is my everything. He is the very reason I have so much happiness. "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me he was crucified that for me a sinner, he suffered and bled and died. I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine, that he should extend his great love unto such as I, Sufficient to own to redeem and to justify." It is truly wonderful how much he cares for each one of us. I know it is because of him and through him that we can find true happiness. I hope we can all during this sacred Easter Week can remember him and think about the eternal sacrifice he gave for each of us and the incredible mercy that he extends. His arms are open to all- He asks that we follow him and in turn he showers us with blessings. Could we all be a little better and do a little better to pause and consider the suffering of Him who atoned for our sins, our pains and our grief’s, and try a little harder to be a little better. Life is hard, but we were not the first to ask if it be too hard. Christ knows us perfectly. He understands. let him heal. and continue forward- "your future is as bright as your faith" I hope that we can all remember the true meaning of Easter and strive to be more like our perfect example and learn to Love one another as he truly taught.
I love you all! Happy Easter!
P.S. you should all watch on Lds.org- His Sacred Name-an Easter declaration.
Hola mi hermosa Famlia!! Les quiero mucho!!!! Y les echo mucho de menos y espero que todo vaya bien con ustedes! (look im using usted form.. It took my like two weeks to even understand what it was... amazing what reading a grammar book can teach you haha) Hola mi abuelita! Te quero muchisssssimooo! Y si te voy a escribir hoy día y lo voy a mandar a la casa a Utah así lo tienes pronto:)
Kristi your teeth LOOK SOOOO GOOD! and congrats on making the Drill team!!!!!!!! Did Justine make it again... I know that she had some... Hhaha im just kidding I know you made it! My momma would be crazy not to put you on there, and your part of the family and it would be weird okay anyway I’m done with that thought. Congrats to Both of You! Yay Lance is home! He looks so thin!! haha and I loved the story about the MTC! Hope you gave that kid a good hug for me! Mckay I haven’t had time to read your email, but I am going to write you a hand written letter later today since I have night P.day.
Papi you need to feel better! I hope you are:) and you aren’t aloud to go to Jerusalem until I can come with... I have been learning so much about it- I would love to see where Jesus walked! and I am going to write some about Christ in this next here letter that if you want you can use any of it in your talk.... I hope it works... And yes I have been thinking a lot about it actually. You all seem to be doing great! Keep it up and know I love you all! Oh and mom I still haven’t gotten the backpack..... You sent me one right??
Oh and at some point I am going to need my twin bed blanket thing the one with the polka dotted.... I have been using Sister Stevens extra blanket but when we aren’t companions I won’t have one.... or should I buy one? I would rather just use the one we have....
This week has been Amazing and it has only been a 5 day week since I last wrote you all.
First off it was Sister Stevens birthday so we had a lot of fun birthday celebrations and cake... Too much Cake! I have been so blessed to be in the Visitors Center! I have gained over 20 new best friends. We have too much all of us sisters here in the VC. I also will greatly miss when Sister Mueller goes home and I don’t have my usual Monday morning P.Day 20 minutes of Dancing! It has been so fun to make up dances in the Parking Lot!
So this week I witnessed God answering my prayers time and time again! It was sooo neat! The first one was we had a night in our area and Sister Stevens and I had a goal to find two new investigators and really fervently prayed that we would meet people in our area. Around every corner we turned we met someone and had a really great conversation about Christ and how having a belief in him can strengthen us and bring us peace as well as a purpose. We found an old potential and set up and appointment with him and met a girl on the street who was very interested in the Book of Mormon and we were able to give her one. We left that night with a new investigator and two new potentials!
The next one was our lesson with Carlos our YSA investigator who is in fact afroamerican- He is soo cool! We were teaching the Plan of Salvation and for some reason I was stressed about making sure the spirit was there. I think I went over the lesson plan probably 5 times before we sat down to teach him. And the first words out of his mouth when we asked him how reading the book of Mormon was were "I read the introduction and the witness section... there is no way Joseph Smith could make all that up- I know its true" What he only read the intro! and the lesson went great! The spirit was there and really understood it! Later that night I read in Moroni 7:31-32. Which pretty much outlines our purpose as a mission and promises that God will prepare a way for men to have Faith in Christ and to have the Holy Ghost in their hearts. If we do our part the Lord always does his!
The next one was this last Sunday. We had "bring your friend to church day" in the YSA ward. The talks in sacrament were perfect for people who weren’t members or investigating the church. I could feel the spirit so strong and Chris was nowhere to be found..... I wanted him to be there so badly because I knew this would help him. I kept praying that he would show up... the last speaker got up to speak who was a recent convert... As he began speaking he was addressing some of the concerns and questions Carlos has been having... I was going crazy- Carlos NEEDED to be there! I kept praying and about 1 minute later he walked in the door! He was able to hear at least the last speaker... and after when we talked with him he said he wished he had been there earlier because he could feel how great the last speaker was and new that it must have been a good meeting and would have helped him... He had been stuck in traffic (LA Traffic is by far the worst!)
The last one was we went to Kay for a dinner appointment (she is the 8 year old who now is 9 and we are trying to get her parents to move up her baptismal date- they are recent converts) We thought we were going to have a dinner appointment but we arrived to a big fiesta for Kay´s birthday... We were there and I said a simple prayer that we would have some sort of missionary experience while we were there... but as we left we hadn’t really had one besides talking with others and getting to know their family and friends... But I felt that there must have been a reason we went.... As we got close to a car a guy walked past us and we started talking with him. He was so cool! It was probably the most fun and natural street contact I have had yet. He seemed very receptive and has been wanting to go back to church and was interested in what we had to say... His friend also passed us by and may have been drunk and said he wanted to be better too... He kept saying he has been trying to stay on the path... "today I had 3 temptations and I only gave into 1" he was funny, but we did get trip's contact information and gave him a book of Mormon! We are going to call him later today and set up a time to go teach him! I left feeling the spirit so strong knowing God had answered my prayers. He truly does listen to us and I have no doubt he loves us immensely!!
My recent favorite scripture is Alma 24:14
"And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children; therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations."
I know God loves us infinitely! and has given us the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to guide us and bring us greater happiness and ensure that we return home to him. He has given us the Plan of Salvation so that we might have hope for a better world. He gave his only Begotten Son for us.
I am so grateful for My savior Jesus Christ who gave me the opportunity to be better, who understands me completely, who forgives me for my faults, who loves me, who teaches me by examples. I am in eternal debt for the sacrifice he gave to me. Christ is the center of everything. He is my everything. He is the very reason I have so much happiness. "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me. I tremble to know that for me he was crucified that for me a sinner, he suffered and bled and died. I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine, that he should extend his great love unto such as I, Sufficient to own to redeem and to justify." It is truly wonderful how much he cares for each one of us. I know it is because of him and through him that we can find true happiness. I hope we can all during this sacred Easter Week can remember him and think about the eternal sacrifice he gave for each of us and the incredible mercy that he extends. His arms are open to all- He asks that we follow him and in turn he showers us with blessings. Could we all be a little better and do a little better to pause and consider the suffering of Him who atoned for our sins, our pains and our grief’s, and try a little harder to be a little better. Life is hard, but we were not the first to ask if it be too hard. Christ knows us perfectly. He understands. let him heal. and continue forward- "your future is as bright as your faith" I hope that we can all remember the true meaning of Easter and strive to be more like our perfect example and learn to Love one another as he truly taught.
I love you all! Happy Easter!
P.S. you should all watch on Lds.org- His Sacred Name-an Easter declaration.