Painting, Rainbows, Mothers Day, Spiders

This was an amazing week. We taught someone named José and he understood so much of the restoration. He said that he has always felt like there should be only one church that has all the truth since Jesus Christ set up one church during his life according to the bible. He has been searching for his whole life but never felt like he was going to find it so he has been attending a church that is close to him because it was easy. While we taught about the apostasy he stopped us and asked if we were still in the apostasy. It is a wonderful thing to tell someone that we are not in this state of apostasy anymore. We have the truth on the earth today. There is the authority and ordinances on the earth. We have prophets. We have apostles. And Jesus Christ Lives. He lives and directs his church. After teaching him this he was so excited to read the book of Mormon and find out for himself. We can all find out for ourselves that this message is true. And when we have found out we can find out again and again. The promise in Moroni 10:3-5 is not a one and done. We can read, ask, receive that answer and do it again. Through the spirit we can know the truth of all things. 

Another update on our recent covert José Escalante! He is the one that shredded up the Anti-church literature the week before his baptism. He is doing well and I have never seen him so happy. Since we are in a trio now I get to help with the recent convert lessons! We painted his house and we ran into him today at Walmart and he bought us subway! He is amazing and is a changed man with the gospel in his life. This week he blessed the sacrament for the first time! While we were helping him paint he sung us Spanish songs for about an hour on a large microphone. He is doing incredibly well and is already half way through the book of Mormon. The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. It brings joy and it is amazing to see! 

Also we were attacked by the largest spider. 

If you would like videos of us trying to capture it to release it safely into the wild please email me and I will share them with you. 

Also I tried to make cute pancakes for mothers day and I failed and made a mess but here you go! THAT'S FOR YOU MOM! 

TEMPLE GROUND BREAKING

First! THE TEMPLE IN PUERTO RICO HAS STARTED TO BE BUILT! This is such a blessing for this island!   https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-holy-temple-a-beacon-to-the-world?lang=eng here is a link to a talk by President Thomas S. Monson and what he has to say about the importance of temples in this world. "  The world can be a challenging and difficult place in which to live. We are often surrounded by that which would drag us down. As you and I go to the holy houses of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation. In this sacred sanctuary we will find peace; we will be renewed and fortified." Please go to the temple as often as you can and always be worthy of a temple recommend. Temples are a place to make covenants with God and to be closer to him. The people in Puerto Rico currently have had to fly to the Dominican Republic to have the blessing of the temple in their lives and now they will have their own temple on the island. It was an amazing experience. We had 3 of the 70 come and talk to our mission after the temple ground breaking ceremony and they talked a lot about Gathering Scattered Israel. This is one of the most important works on the earth today. By gathering scattered israel we are fulfilling ancient promises that Heavenly Father made with Abraham of Old. Everyone has a role in gathering scattered Israel and everyone has to do their part. You are responsible for your actions now and so make them something to be proud of. Our mission president has also pushed us to be fishers of old with nets rather than with fishing poles. He wants us to do this by contacting 10 people per missionary every day. Since I am in a trio that means that we are contacting 30 people a day (introducing ourselves as missionaries of the Church of Christ and leaving them with a commitment, invitation, and information of the restoration of the gospel) It is really hard to meet 30 new people a day. Yesterday we contacted by flagging down cars, pulling to the side of the road to talk to someone crossing the street, Calling at every house and through all that effort we were only at 25 people by 8:20 at night. We needed 5 more people in order to keep our promise with our mission president and the Lord. So Hermana Boston drove while I prayed and we saw 4 people on the side of the road talking. We pulled over and contacted all 4 of them. We shared about the book of Mormon (they weren't interested) but we did our part with the invitation. After we did our part by inviting them to Christ we still had to find 1 more person and we only had 5 minutes of contacting time left before we had to be leave to get home on time. We literally ran from door to door calling at every house and begging for someone to answer the door so we could share with them. We stood at the front doors praying that we could find that last person to reach 30 people for the day. We finally called at a house and someone came out. She was the sweetest lady and said she had taken missionary lessons before but was comfortable in her own church but agreed to listen to one more lesson on Tuesday! It was an incredibly fun night to run house to house to fulfill this goal that we had. It made me think, are we fighting to reach our goals always? Are you a little to casual with the work of the Lord? He needs you to do your part and are you doing it? It was the hardest working day of my mission and I realized that I could be doing a lot better. 

I love you all so much and I love your stories and life updates :) Please go to the temple this week and pray to ask what you could do better in your life :)

CCM Group with the temple picture

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Hermana Boston and Nelson and I

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Really cool tree that we found

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My Zone and I have my eyes closed

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Everyone in the mission. I am on the second row

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My companions and the temple

Hola!

Last week I talked a little bit about how amazing the ward was. We have an investigator named Felicita. She was the one that needed a ride every week to get to church but wasn't sure she wanted to be  baptized. She went to church last week and was approached by all the members who made her feel really welcome. We had a lesson with her that night and she said that she knew this was the true church because of the love that the members have in their hearts. She wanted to be baptized. We were preparing her to be baptized when she did not show up for church the next week. There was some strong objection in her family about  her joining the church and so we could use some prayers to get over this road block. 

Also I love the people here! There is such a fun culture of giving the missionaries things when we come over to teach and there is always a pack of dogs following us when we street contact. Also Hermana Boston and I are growing our own sprouts for our sandwiches because our local store stopped selling sprouts and YOU HAVE TO HAVE SPROUTS!

1. All the bananas that people have given us

2. One of our investigators loves to give us random things and this week included toilet paper, orange juice, paper towels, soap, detergent, and one can of soup. I am so sorry for my face! The flash was really bright

3. All the dogs that follow us

4. Hermana Boston and I and our sprouts

5. Shoutout 

Easter

I wanted to write a little bit about being a missionary. It's an interesting thing. You may at times think, "This is what we should do" and then you get a feeling of "no that's the wrong thing to do" and then you just don't understand. But I will say that I know that this is Heavenly Father's work and not mine. He knows the people that I teach 10,000x better than I do. There have been many times where I have felt like I needed to share something that did not fit into the lesson or make any sense but is exactly what they needed to hear. I am also very thankful that I have been sent into a Spanish speaking mission. This has forced me to listen to the spirit more because I CANT listen to my investigator half the time and come up with my own ideas of what to do. I am so grateful for that. 

We had 4 people come to church this week which is 4X more than I have ever gotten before. They loved it and they loved how reverent the ward was at the beginning. The ward here is incredible. The members are the definition of meek. My definition of meek includes "Spiritual Receptivity, Righteous Response, Willingly Submissive, And a Strong Self Restraint." The ward here did an incredible job with the "Righteous Response" when Elder Holland called for a more reverent environment during sacrament. The bishop stood at the microphone silently calling for reverence until it was perfectly still. The spirit was incredibly strong and the members knew what they needed to do. This ward is wonderful. After church one of our investigators, Felicita, was approached 6 times by the members. After word got around that she had no car and would need a ride each week to come these 6 different members offered their help. She left her first church attendance with 6 numbers to call when she needed a ride anywhere and a feeling of love in her heart. Missionary work is not possible without the help of the members.

I love you all and I hope everything is going well! Here are some random but fun pictures for all of you that only look at the pictures :) LOOOVE YYYOOUU! 

I never run out of funny pictures of Hermana Boston. This week she got gum stuck in her hair!

And being in a trio is basically the best thing! We had a spa night and we all looked like the mood emoji :) LOOVE YOU! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

TRANSFERS (Hint I am staying)

Hello Beautiful people of the world! Transfers were this week! President Smart decided to send out the information at 10 at night a day early! So all 4 of us in our house went to bed at 9:30 after a hard days work and woke up to 6 missed calls from our district leader at 10:25 that night. We finally answered the 7th call when He let us know that we would be serving a trio now! So Hermana Nelson (My current trainer) and Hermana Boston (the one wearing a green bucket hat) are my companions for the next six weeks! 

We are also saying goodbye to our beloved Hermana Cordova. She is headed back to Utah this week :) Show her some love out there my Utah Friends :)

On a more mission related note :) Our district had two baptisms this week and it was an amazing experience. Jose and Gloria. I am so proud of both of them for the decision they have made to become closer to Heavenly Father by keeping commitments with the Lord. It has been full of ups and downs. Jose at one point was about to stop taking the mission lessons because he found a lot of anti-church literature on the internet. The other sisters came to the lesson ready to teach him more when he pulled out a stack of anti-church documents and pointed at them to explain all these questions that he had. The sisters took a moment to breathe and then asked Jose a very important question that we should all ask ourselves. "Are you going to listen to the words of angry men and words of people who do not know all things or are you going to listen to your Heavenly Father?" We don't know everything and the people in the world don't either. We have resources to learn more but we have the most important resource and that is prayer. Heavenly Father knows everything. Trust in the words and advice and testimony he has and will give you at every moment of your life. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. After hearing this question and seriously reflecting on it Jose decided to continue his search for answers through prayer and inspired resources. He wanted to listen to the words of his Father in Heaven over the words of men. In silence Jose stood up and tour the documents of anti-church literature into the garbage can. Jose has been baptized this week and in his own words, "This is what I have always been looking for without knowing it" 

The Church is True and Joseph Smith is a Prophet. If you struggle to know or believe then search the scriptures and get on your knees to pray. Heavenly Father will answer you. 

From Left to right: Hermana Cordova, Hermana Boston, Jose and Devon 

GENERAL CONFERENCE

General Conference is such an amazing opportunity to have. While inviting people to come to general conference I would say things like, "if you had the opportunity to listen to Moses speak and reveal the ten commandments would you want to go?" and they would always say of course! Conference is a time to hear what we need as a church and individuals at this time.  Some of my favorite talks were Elder D. Todd Christopherson's about Zion who said "Christ is the seed of the Ultimate Hope"  and Elder Ronald A Rasband who spoke about being spiritually prepared. We should be so spiritually prepared that we surprise Satan with how prepared we are. That all starts in the home. I learned a lot in my home and I had a great opportunity to have parents and step-parents who were strong in their testimonies even during hard trials. They taught me of the gospel and they showed how to in their actions. I am eternally grateful for the home I grew up in and the friends, young womens leaders, and members who have all helped me grow my testimony and strengthen my commitment to stay close to the gospel. As we strengthen our homes we strengthen our spirits and become closer to Christ. With spiritual strength we can go forth with confidence with the Lord by our side to declare the gospel without fear. Continue to strengthen others during this time of spiritual war. Start in your home and INVITE all to come and hear of the Goodness of Christ and his Gospel.

Why is Christ called Alpha and Omega? This has been one of my questions and if anyone has some answers that would be great. I Learned that he is called Alpha because he was the first. The first to rise from the dead. The first born of God. The first and same which looked upon the wide expanse of Eternity and all the seraphic hosts of heaven before the world was made. And he is Omega because according to the bible dictionary he is our end Goal. Christ is the beginning of our change and Christ is the final goal of all creations. 

We finished our English fast this week and celebrated with some high quality smoothies! The Guayama Llamas are doing well with our Spanish and well with our frozen treats! 

We visited our dear loved Martita who is an amazing member missionary who is leaving this week to go serve in the DR Temple! We made her tacos and salsa as a goodbye!

Locked out, Coconut, Zone Conference

What an amazing week. This week has been on of small but simple miracles. The biggest miracle we have seen has been our people reading the book of Mormon with an incredible desire. The book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion and is the convincing evidence of the truth of this church. If you believe that we are all of God's children and that God speaks to all his children then you are already on your way to believing the truths in the Book of Mormon. While teaching this week we had one woman named Jacklyne who read her assigned reading and then continued to read 13 chapters between our next visit. She was a street contact and was leaving to the store so when we gave her the book of Mormon we didn't have time to tell her where it came from. But when we told her about the Restoration of Christ's Church and how the book of Mormon is apart of that she had such a desire to learn more. Half way through my companion talking I looked over at Jacklyne who was just reading her heart out in the middle of us talking about where the book came from. Every piece of our knowledge usually starts with a desire to know. It is very rare that you just "happen" upon knowledge. You must go out and search for it and have that desire to know first. My invitation is to be curious. Be curious about things at school and church and have a desire to learn and understand them better. It is hard to work with someone who doesn't want to know.

SPANISH UPDATE: We are on an English Fast this week in our apartment to get ready for General Conference. For the past 4 days our apartment has only been speaking Spanish with exceptions of teaching English speakers and calling family home. At the beginning of the fast we had a "family" prayer for help. We asked Heavenly Father for a miracle, for the gift of tongues, for the interpretation of tongues as we gave up our native language for 7 days. I was ready for a really hard week. I was ready to cry and get frustrated at not being able to communicate. But the best part of this fast has been that God has made it easy. Not the Spanish per se but the completing of fast. This has been one of the most fun weeks because I have talked the most in Spanish this week. I make a lot of mistakes but I don't feel the embarrassment or worry with the language at all this week. Heavenly Father didn't make me fluent in one week nor will he. He did make learning more fun though. I have learned more this week about Spanish than I have in my past weeks. As you prepare for General Conference try giving something up for the next couple of days. Give up social media. Give up an extra show. Give up just a little more of your time everyday to turn to the Lord in scripture, thought, and prayer. I love you guys!

FUNNY UPDATES: We got locked out of our house and we found a coconut because of it. We go running usually in the morning and no one remembered the key to the house. So we had to kind of break in through the window. Nothing was broken and we are ALL GOOD! But while trying to get in through the back door we FOUND A COCONUT! THIS WAS A BIG MIRACLE! It isn't a miracle for any particular reason other than it was fun to try and get it open while waiting for our turn in the shower. It is always good to take an "animo break" every once in a while and enjoy a little bit of fun. Here are some pictures of us trying to open our house and then the coconut! Also a pic of the "Guayama Llamas" at Zone conference! AND A GIANT AVOCADO!!