Hola Mis Seres Queridos
Oh my craziness. Our ward is just full of missionaries now that there are 8 of us all serving in Houston 10. I am excited to see the ward get into gear and come out teaching with us more and be more involved in the work. We are really trying to work more with the members, we are going to talk to the Relief Society President this week to see if she will help us to organize a weekly split with us and the sisters in the Relief Society. I think this would really help the members get excited to share the gospel and be more willing to help us with the work. We shall see how it turns out!
We biked this week a little bit, the weather is slightly cooling down, but we still were sweaty and gross. Hermana Ang loves biking, probably because she has really long skirts and it's pretty easy for her to ride a bike. All of my skirts ride up while I pedal so I either have to hold it down with one hand or wear leggings underneath. I really don't like either of those options. Needless to say, I am not a very graceful bicyclist and would rather walk or use the car.
A few weeks ago Hermana Ang and I got out the map of our area and said a prayer that we would be guided to the streets that we needed to visit, ones where people are prepared to hear our message. We each wrote down 15 street names after we prayed and then quite some time later we put our lists together to see which ones matched up. There were only about 4 that matched up, but we were both super excited to find some success on those streets and trusted that Heavenly Father would guide us to those who need to hear our message. On Friday we went to go knock doors on one of those streets, Colleen Rd. (which is also the name of my wonderful mother), and as soon as we got there and look around we both realized that this was a very english speaking community. But, we decided to press on and do as the Lord as guided us to do and began knocking doors. One woman answered the door and was pretty defensive, asked us some questions about what we teach. After we answered her she said, "well y'all are the first Jehovah's Witnesses I have ever met that believe that!" So, I kindly replied that we actually aren't Jehovah's Witnesses and her reply was, "Oh, so you're Mormons!" Slam. Haha We kept on knocking and eventually spoke with this one man named Gene. He was soooo nice to us! He is a 2nd Baptist and taught us a little about his beliefs, family and background and we talked a little about what we do as missionaries and about the Book of Mormon. He said several times that he just loves our church and everything that we do and wishes there were more of us in their community, but at the end said he really struggles with the Book of Mormon. So, I asked him what he knew about the Book of Mormon and he said, "Well, I don't know much, but from what I understand it is a book that Joseph Smith wrote while he was walking around South America." This answer rather surprised me, I had never heard before that Joseph somehow got down to South America, haha, so I explained a little bit about what it REALLY is and he said the english missionaries were more than welcome to come by to talk more about it, but that they had to come soon because on Tuesday he leaves for a 3 month business trip to Singapore.
Last night we were on our way to go visit the Patinos went I felt like we should go drop by Gene's and make sure the Elders had brought him a copy of the Book of Mormon. We pulled up and I looked all over our car for an english copy of the Book of Mormon and just couldn't find one. I asked Hermana Ang if maybe we should drive home and get one real quick and come back and she said she wanted to look one more time in the trunk. The whole time she looked I was praying that there would be one, and what do you know she pulled one right out of our materials crate that is back there, haha. We knocked on his door and he answered and came out to speak with us, said he was so grateful he would have the opportunity to read it while he was on his long flight to China. Then he had his wife come out to meet us and can you believe this, she is from Nicaragua and speaks spanish!!!!! They invited us in and we learned that both of the parents speak spanish but the kids don't know much of it. They were such an amazing family! They said they loved what we do and have always been impressed with our church. We talked to them for like an hour, and we all just clicked immediately. We also learned that their oldest daughter plays soccer with a member of our ward and that Gene's wife, Alba, is the manager of that team. After talking some more and making an appointment to return tonight, I asked Gene if we could all kneel and if he would offer a prayer as head of the house, that his family may be blessed as he travels. They agreed and this was the craziest part, as Gene prayed he asked that Heavenly Father would bless us in our work, that we would have success and that we would be able to find more people to join our church. That has got to be the first and probably last time that a Baptist prays for us to find more people to join the Mormon church haha, but boy was I thrilled by their acceptance and support. I am SO excited to visit with them tonight. We are going to watch the finding faith in Christ video and begin teaching them about the apostasy of Christ's church after his death. I am sooooooo excited. Even if they don't accept our message tonight, even if they were to turn on us and throw us out of their house, I know we have been guided to them by the Lord. I know as we seek to do His will that He will bless us with all that we need accomplish His purposes.
Being a missionary is the best! There is no greater calling than that of a full-time servant of the Lord
Hermana Taets
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Weeks 41, 42 and 43
Buenas Tardes Mis Seres Queridos
We had the baptism of Elva and Erick on Wednesday and it couldn't have gone any better. Elva had expressed to us that she was very nervous because she has a fear of having her head completely below water, so as she entered the baptismal font I was praying so hard that she would be comforted and be able to be baptized without that feeling of fear. As she was lowered into the water she was just a vision of peace and didn't struggle at all below the water. After the ordinance was performed we went into the relief society room to finish with the baptism program and hear a talk by Bishop, who is also Elva's nephew. He talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost and at one point he asked me what happened the first time Erick prayed with us and his mom. I responded that he had cried, and then Elva and Erick just held each other and cried as they remembered that sweet experience we had had months ago and the spirit that was felt so strongly. I am so happy for them! Yesterday Elva's husband was at church so hopefully we can start teaching him and preparing him for baptism as well.
This week we had Pulga duty on Saturday, which wasn't too bad. A sweet old man from one of the English wards in Melbourne bought Hermana Ang and I each a root beer because it was so hot outside. We were able to talk with a lot of people and testify boldness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of Christ's church once again upon the Earth. Towards the end I talked with this older man from Chile for like a half an hour. He had said they were lots of missionaries like us in Chile and lots of members of our church there. He is moving back to Chile next month so I hope he meets up with the missionaries down there. My favorite part of our conversation went like this, except it was in spanish, I will write it in english so all of you bolillos can understand :)
Chile: Where are you from?
Me: Where do you think I am from?
Chile: Hmmmm.. Argentina?
(Huge grin from me)
Me: NoOoOo
Chile: Venezuela?
Me: Nope
Chile: Uruguay! You're from Uruguay!
Me: Haha No I am from Arizona
Chile: Where is that?
Me: In the United States!
Chile: Oh! But your parents are from what country?
Me: The United States, I am an American! Haha
Chile: Well what country did you go visit or live in?
Man: I have never left the country before, I have always live in the United States.
Chile: How do you speak spanish so well?!
He was the cutest old man and it pretty made my life to hear that my spanish is sounding really good. I really try not to sound like a gringo haha. I explained to him that I started speaking/learning spanish 9 months ago when I got to Houston, and he was just floored, he couldn't believe it. He said he had live here in the States for years and worked with people who speak english and still can't figure it out. I explained to him that as missionaries we are blessed with the gift of tongues that we may speak the new language effectively so that we can teach and do the Lord's work effectively. He still couldn't grasp that I learned spanish in nine months. It was so precious and was a huge self confidence booster in the spanish department. I love spanish so much, Addie says my english is horrible now in the letters I write..oh well!
This week I have felt so exhausted. The mission is most definitely the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I just feel drained physically, emotionally and spiritually. It's hard but the reward is sweeter than I could possibly describe.We see families become strengthened and unified in the gospel, people growing closer to the Savior and they begin to study the scriptures and pray for the first time, miracles are occurring in this area. I feel as if the mission needs to be hard so that I can deserve all of the wonderful experiences I have had and all of the growth and change I have experienced personally. My mission means everything to me and I feel so blessed for this opportunity I have to give everything I have to Lord as I serve full time in this part of His vineyard.
I love you all and pray for you!
Hermana Taets
________________________________________________________
Hola Mis Seres Queridos
This week Hermana Ang and I witnessed a miracle. This is probably the most epic story thus far of my mission (besides maybe the one week exchange in Arizona, but this is a different kind of epic!). Here goes...
This past week we were blessed by a visit from Elder Kikuchi of the Quorum of the Seventy in our mission. We had a 7 hour zone conference/training with him and it was so great! I feel like I learned so much and am so excited to implement the things that he taught us! My favorite part was when he said, "the mission is not for romance! If you get caught in romance on your mission, President Hansen, your parents, and I will all come here and kick you!" Of course he was being silly, and we all laughed hysterically, but it's true, no romance! haha. Anyways, back to the epicness.
Thursday night I received a phone call from my District Leader, Elder Inkley, saying that he had received a call that President Hansen and Elder Kikuchi had been discussing affairs of the mission and how we may have greater success and Elder Kikuchi issued a promised to everyone in the mission. He promised that if that night, Thursday night, all of the missionaries knelt and prayed to know of someone who they are teaching, who had already been going to church frequently, who could be baptized on saturday and confirmed on sunday, that 18 baptisms would come of it as we receive personal revelation from the Lord. When I first this I thought...No way..this isn't going to happen in our area, there isn't anyone who could possibly be baptized the day after tomorrow! But, we followed the counsel of an apostle of the Lord and knelt as a companionship and sought inspiration of the Lord. As we prayed with faith inspiration hit me like a brick, A name came to my mind and I knew in my heart without a doubt that this man would be baptized on saturday. Once amens were said, Hermana Ang and I both looked at each other and knew that we had both experienced the same thing, and we both knew that Hermano Arzate, whose wife and two children had been baptized a month ago, was the one who would be baptized. I was SO excited, Hermano Arzate has gone to church every sunday for months yet showed no interest in being baptized, we just didn't know what else to do other than continue teaching him and his family, hoping that one day he would decide to be baptized. This was exactly what we needed! a miracle! Before going to bed that night Hermana Ang and I began a fast, that Hermano Arzate's heart would be softened and that he would accept the challenge to be baptized on saturday.
The next day, Friday, at around 7:30 I called Hermana Arzate and told her that we needed to come over at 5 because we had received a message for her husband from the Lord and needed to tell him today, she was a little taken aback but said that was fine. We had a zone training in the morning and then as a zone we all went out to lunch, what temptation that was! Even though we all went out for wings, my favorite, Hermana Ang and I stayed strong and drew pictures in Elder Inkley's planner so we would be distracted from the food haha. After the training we went back to the apartment to prayerfully plan what in the world we were going to say to Hermano Arzate. Once we got home it came to us so easily, that we were to teach the importance of eternal families using the vision of the tree of life in 1 Nephi 8 and then challenge him to be baptized. The second we finished planning the lesson the phone rang and it was Hermana Arzate saying that her husband had to leave for a meeting for his work later and that we needed to come right now. So we pretty much ran out to the car and started driving over there, and I cannot even explain how nervous I felt! I knew what we had been asked to do by the Lord, and I knew He would prepare the way for us, but I was still nervous because I knew that once it came down to actually asking him to be baptized, that I would be the one doing, simply because Hermana Ang is still struggling with spanish. So, needless to say, I was REALLY nervous. We got to their apartment and Hermano Arzate answered the door before we had knocked, apparently his wife told him that we had a message from the Lord and was really surprised and interested to know what it could be. The younger daughter happened to be at a friend's house playing, so it was just Hermano, his wife and their 15 year old son, which made for a much for serious setting without the 10 year old girl. We started the lesson with the invitation to pay close attention to how he feels as we teach, and to listen for the promptings of the Holy Ghost, because we had a very important message that came from the Lord, not from Hermana Ang and I. We read about the tree of life and testified of the importance of eternal families, then had his wife and son talk about how they felt as they were baptized and bear their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel. Then we explained that his family had partaken of the fruit, just as Lehi had in the scriptures we had read, and that because they loved him so much they are calling out to him to partake as well of God's love and be baptized. We then said that his family is waiting for him to be baptized that they may prepare to enter the temple and be sealed for all eternity. During the whole lesson he seemed so deep in thought, he didn't really look at us much, but kept his gaze down as he thought. Then came my part, the part I had been soooo nervous about. I had explained to Hermano what Hermana Ang and I had experienced the night before, the phone call, the prayer, the answer we received, and told him that we knew that this message was specifically for him. Then I said to him that the Lord wanted him to be baptized tomorrow at 6:00pm and asked if he would do it. His response was a simple, "at 6? Yeah that sounds okay." I looked over at his wife and son and they both had tears in their eyes, although the son was trying to be a man and hide it, he had to wipe the tears from his face. I think I must have been a little tense from being so nervous, because when he accepted the commitment I yelled, "wooo hoooo" and about jumped out of my seat, and everyone else just smiled and laughed. I couldn't help it, I was so happy in that moment, I knew we had just witnessed a miracle from the Lord, that He was so aware of this family that he prepared a way for them to be an eternal family. We then made plans for the baptism, which required a lot of phone calls to President Hansen, Bishop and the Elders, since this weekend was stake conference we had to have the baptism in the Stake Center in between the priesthood and adult sessions, meaning a lot of running around getting things ready, finding rides to the stake center, etc.
Saturday. The baptism was perfect. It was so much more personal that usual, the Arzate family was there, President Call from the Stake Presidency, President and Sister Hansen, and around 5 members of the ward. Hermana Ang and President Hansen played the hymns together on the piano since each of them could only play with one hand, and the 10 year old daughter led the music in front, with me at her side helping her. Hermana Arzate gave the talk on baptism and did amazing! She used the gospel principles manual and the scriptures and did a beautiful job and was in tears by the end. Looking at this family after the baptism of the father, I could see such a change from when we first started teaching them in February. They are so much more unified and the love they have for each other is so obvious to those around them. I cannot describe how happy I felt after the baptism, I am so excited to watch them continue to grow and progress as they prepare to enter the temple in a year to be sealed together as a family.
I know that God is a God of miracles. That we can witness miracles like this so long as we have faith and it is the will of the Lord. This experience has changed my mission, and my life, I have gained such a stronger faith in the power of prayer and fasting and know that we can do great things with the help of the Lord. I know that God is so aware of each of His children, He knows exactly what they need to grow and progress and is right here with us, willing to help us along the way. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I have never felt so close to them as I have during these last few months of my mission. I hope that all who read this will know and feel the same, that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them and knows them personally and they they will seek to have a greater relationship with their Father in Heaven and His Son. I know this Church is true with all of my heart and couldn't possibly express gratitude sufficient for the guiding hand of my Father to this knowledge of the truth restored.
I love you all
Hermana Taets
____________________________________________________________
Hooooooooola
Oh my lanta I have zero time because yesterday was P-day and the library was closed, and we have an appointment soon and we have to go pick up the member that is going with us, soooo I will be utilizing bullets again, sorry.
I am not getting transferred. Oh my surprise of the century, I have been in this area since I got to Houston (8 months) and will be staying here at least until October 17th. I love the area, love the ward, love Hermana Ang, so I am excited to be able to squeeze one more transfer out of Fairbanks.
The opened a new area in my ward this transfer, took a little part of our area and half of Hammerly's area and created the Longpoint elders bike area. This means that we now have 4 companionships of missionaries serving in my ward, isn't that crazy? We are the only ward in the whole mission with 8 missionaries serving in it, one other ward has 6, but that's it, so it's kind of a big deal. 2 companionships are on bike, which means a lot of driving them all around to church and to meetings by Hermana Ang and I and the Zone leaders. I am super excited to see all the success that will come as all 8 of us work as hard as we can to find and prepare those who are ready to be baptized.
Went to Zone Leader Council, again, this last week. I never thought I would have to go to that again since they only pick one or two companionships of Sisters to go each time and Hermana Ang and I went last month, but surprise surprise we went again. It was a 6 hour meetings...bah, but we learned alot and the lunch was super good ;) I feel very blessed that we have had the opportunity to go to ZLC twice and learn about how to be an effective leader in the mission.
Hermana Ang and I made honey face masks this week to celebrate the fact that we would be together a third transfer. It was ridiculous and we took really funny pictures because our faces looked like they were melting. Will send those later.
Set a baptism date with Manuel, have been teaching him since May, for Sept. 26th. He wanted to finish the Book of Mormon before he got baptized, hence why he has waited so long. This week we asked him if he had finished and he said no because he was getting confused by all of the numbers. I was so confused about what he was talking about with numbers so I just told him to keep reading. Later in the lesson I realized he had been talking about the index in the back of the Book of Mormon, I told him he didn't have to read that, only through the last chapter, but that we would teach him how to use the index in our next appointment. He is just a precious old man. So, he actually had finished it a long time ago, already prayed and knows that it's true, now we are just planning the baptism :)
Ok that's all for today, sorry! I love you all and will be better about next week's e-mail!
Hermana Taets
We had the baptism of Elva and Erick on Wednesday and it couldn't have gone any better. Elva had expressed to us that she was very nervous because she has a fear of having her head completely below water, so as she entered the baptismal font I was praying so hard that she would be comforted and be able to be baptized without that feeling of fear. As she was lowered into the water she was just a vision of peace and didn't struggle at all below the water. After the ordinance was performed we went into the relief society room to finish with the baptism program and hear a talk by Bishop, who is also Elva's nephew. He talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost and at one point he asked me what happened the first time Erick prayed with us and his mom. I responded that he had cried, and then Elva and Erick just held each other and cried as they remembered that sweet experience we had had months ago and the spirit that was felt so strongly. I am so happy for them! Yesterday Elva's husband was at church so hopefully we can start teaching him and preparing him for baptism as well.
This week we had Pulga duty on Saturday, which wasn't too bad. A sweet old man from one of the English wards in Melbourne bought Hermana Ang and I each a root beer because it was so hot outside. We were able to talk with a lot of people and testify boldness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of Christ's church once again upon the Earth. Towards the end I talked with this older man from Chile for like a half an hour. He had said they were lots of missionaries like us in Chile and lots of members of our church there. He is moving back to Chile next month so I hope he meets up with the missionaries down there. My favorite part of our conversation went like this, except it was in spanish, I will write it in english so all of you bolillos can understand :)
Chile: Where are you from?
Me: Where do you think I am from?
Chile: Hmmmm.. Argentina?
(Huge grin from me)
Me: NoOoOo
Chile: Venezuela?
Me: Nope
Chile: Uruguay! You're from Uruguay!
Me: Haha No I am from Arizona
Chile: Where is that?
Me: In the United States!
Chile: Oh! But your parents are from what country?
Me: The United States, I am an American! Haha
Chile: Well what country did you go visit or live in?
Man: I have never left the country before, I have always live in the United States.
Chile: How do you speak spanish so well?!
He was the cutest old man and it pretty made my life to hear that my spanish is sounding really good. I really try not to sound like a gringo haha. I explained to him that I started speaking/learning spanish 9 months ago when I got to Houston, and he was just floored, he couldn't believe it. He said he had live here in the States for years and worked with people who speak english and still can't figure it out. I explained to him that as missionaries we are blessed with the gift of tongues that we may speak the new language effectively so that we can teach and do the Lord's work effectively. He still couldn't grasp that I learned spanish in nine months. It was so precious and was a huge self confidence booster in the spanish department. I love spanish so much, Addie says my english is horrible now in the letters I write..oh well!
This week I have felt so exhausted. The mission is most definitely the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I just feel drained physically, emotionally and spiritually. It's hard but the reward is sweeter than I could possibly describe.We see families become strengthened and unified in the gospel, people growing closer to the Savior and they begin to study the scriptures and pray for the first time, miracles are occurring in this area. I feel as if the mission needs to be hard so that I can deserve all of the wonderful experiences I have had and all of the growth and change I have experienced personally. My mission means everything to me and I feel so blessed for this opportunity I have to give everything I have to Lord as I serve full time in this part of His vineyard.
I love you all and pray for you!
Hermana Taets
________________________________________________________
Hola Mis Seres Queridos
This week Hermana Ang and I witnessed a miracle. This is probably the most epic story thus far of my mission (besides maybe the one week exchange in Arizona, but this is a different kind of epic!). Here goes...
This past week we were blessed by a visit from Elder Kikuchi of the Quorum of the Seventy in our mission. We had a 7 hour zone conference/training with him and it was so great! I feel like I learned so much and am so excited to implement the things that he taught us! My favorite part was when he said, "the mission is not for romance! If you get caught in romance on your mission, President Hansen, your parents, and I will all come here and kick you!" Of course he was being silly, and we all laughed hysterically, but it's true, no romance! haha. Anyways, back to the epicness.
Thursday night I received a phone call from my District Leader, Elder Inkley, saying that he had received a call that President Hansen and Elder Kikuchi had been discussing affairs of the mission and how we may have greater success and Elder Kikuchi issued a promised to everyone in the mission. He promised that if that night, Thursday night, all of the missionaries knelt and prayed to know of someone who they are teaching, who had already been going to church frequently, who could be baptized on saturday and confirmed on sunday, that 18 baptisms would come of it as we receive personal revelation from the Lord. When I first this I thought...No way..this isn't going to happen in our area, there isn't anyone who could possibly be baptized the day after tomorrow! But, we followed the counsel of an apostle of the Lord and knelt as a companionship and sought inspiration of the Lord. As we prayed with faith inspiration hit me like a brick, A name came to my mind and I knew in my heart without a doubt that this man would be baptized on saturday. Once amens were said, Hermana Ang and I both looked at each other and knew that we had both experienced the same thing, and we both knew that Hermano Arzate, whose wife and two children had been baptized a month ago, was the one who would be baptized. I was SO excited, Hermano Arzate has gone to church every sunday for months yet showed no interest in being baptized, we just didn't know what else to do other than continue teaching him and his family, hoping that one day he would decide to be baptized. This was exactly what we needed! a miracle! Before going to bed that night Hermana Ang and I began a fast, that Hermano Arzate's heart would be softened and that he would accept the challenge to be baptized on saturday.
The next day, Friday, at around 7:30 I called Hermana Arzate and told her that we needed to come over at 5 because we had received a message for her husband from the Lord and needed to tell him today, she was a little taken aback but said that was fine. We had a zone training in the morning and then as a zone we all went out to lunch, what temptation that was! Even though we all went out for wings, my favorite, Hermana Ang and I stayed strong and drew pictures in Elder Inkley's planner so we would be distracted from the food haha. After the training we went back to the apartment to prayerfully plan what in the world we were going to say to Hermano Arzate. Once we got home it came to us so easily, that we were to teach the importance of eternal families using the vision of the tree of life in 1 Nephi 8 and then challenge him to be baptized. The second we finished planning the lesson the phone rang and it was Hermana Arzate saying that her husband had to leave for a meeting for his work later and that we needed to come right now. So we pretty much ran out to the car and started driving over there, and I cannot even explain how nervous I felt! I knew what we had been asked to do by the Lord, and I knew He would prepare the way for us, but I was still nervous because I knew that once it came down to actually asking him to be baptized, that I would be the one doing, simply because Hermana Ang is still struggling with spanish. So, needless to say, I was REALLY nervous. We got to their apartment and Hermano Arzate answered the door before we had knocked, apparently his wife told him that we had a message from the Lord and was really surprised and interested to know what it could be. The younger daughter happened to be at a friend's house playing, so it was just Hermano, his wife and their 15 year old son, which made for a much for serious setting without the 10 year old girl. We started the lesson with the invitation to pay close attention to how he feels as we teach, and to listen for the promptings of the Holy Ghost, because we had a very important message that came from the Lord, not from Hermana Ang and I. We read about the tree of life and testified of the importance of eternal families, then had his wife and son talk about how they felt as they were baptized and bear their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel. Then we explained that his family had partaken of the fruit, just as Lehi had in the scriptures we had read, and that because they loved him so much they are calling out to him to partake as well of God's love and be baptized. We then said that his family is waiting for him to be baptized that they may prepare to enter the temple and be sealed for all eternity. During the whole lesson he seemed so deep in thought, he didn't really look at us much, but kept his gaze down as he thought. Then came my part, the part I had been soooo nervous about. I had explained to Hermano what Hermana Ang and I had experienced the night before, the phone call, the prayer, the answer we received, and told him that we knew that this message was specifically for him. Then I said to him that the Lord wanted him to be baptized tomorrow at 6:00pm and asked if he would do it. His response was a simple, "at 6? Yeah that sounds okay." I looked over at his wife and son and they both had tears in their eyes, although the son was trying to be a man and hide it, he had to wipe the tears from his face. I think I must have been a little tense from being so nervous, because when he accepted the commitment I yelled, "wooo hoooo" and about jumped out of my seat, and everyone else just smiled and laughed. I couldn't help it, I was so happy in that moment, I knew we had just witnessed a miracle from the Lord, that He was so aware of this family that he prepared a way for them to be an eternal family. We then made plans for the baptism, which required a lot of phone calls to President Hansen, Bishop and the Elders, since this weekend was stake conference we had to have the baptism in the Stake Center in between the priesthood and adult sessions, meaning a lot of running around getting things ready, finding rides to the stake center, etc.
Saturday. The baptism was perfect. It was so much more personal that usual, the Arzate family was there, President Call from the Stake Presidency, President and Sister Hansen, and around 5 members of the ward. Hermana Ang and President Hansen played the hymns together on the piano since each of them could only play with one hand, and the 10 year old daughter led the music in front, with me at her side helping her. Hermana Arzate gave the talk on baptism and did amazing! She used the gospel principles manual and the scriptures and did a beautiful job and was in tears by the end. Looking at this family after the baptism of the father, I could see such a change from when we first started teaching them in February. They are so much more unified and the love they have for each other is so obvious to those around them. I cannot describe how happy I felt after the baptism, I am so excited to watch them continue to grow and progress as they prepare to enter the temple in a year to be sealed together as a family.
I know that God is a God of miracles. That we can witness miracles like this so long as we have faith and it is the will of the Lord. This experience has changed my mission, and my life, I have gained such a stronger faith in the power of prayer and fasting and know that we can do great things with the help of the Lord. I know that God is so aware of each of His children, He knows exactly what they need to grow and progress and is right here with us, willing to help us along the way. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I have never felt so close to them as I have during these last few months of my mission. I hope that all who read this will know and feel the same, that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them and knows them personally and they they will seek to have a greater relationship with their Father in Heaven and His Son. I know this Church is true with all of my heart and couldn't possibly express gratitude sufficient for the guiding hand of my Father to this knowledge of the truth restored.
I love you all
Hermana Taets
____________________________________________________________
Hooooooooola
Oh my lanta I have zero time because yesterday was P-day and the library was closed, and we have an appointment soon and we have to go pick up the member that is going with us, soooo I will be utilizing bullets again, sorry.
I am not getting transferred. Oh my surprise of the century, I have been in this area since I got to Houston (8 months) and will be staying here at least until October 17th. I love the area, love the ward, love Hermana Ang, so I am excited to be able to squeeze one more transfer out of Fairbanks.
The opened a new area in my ward this transfer, took a little part of our area and half of Hammerly's area and created the Longpoint elders bike area. This means that we now have 4 companionships of missionaries serving in my ward, isn't that crazy? We are the only ward in the whole mission with 8 missionaries serving in it, one other ward has 6, but that's it, so it's kind of a big deal. 2 companionships are on bike, which means a lot of driving them all around to church and to meetings by Hermana Ang and I and the Zone leaders. I am super excited to see all the success that will come as all 8 of us work as hard as we can to find and prepare those who are ready to be baptized.
Went to Zone Leader Council, again, this last week. I never thought I would have to go to that again since they only pick one or two companionships of Sisters to go each time and Hermana Ang and I went last month, but surprise surprise we went again. It was a 6 hour meetings...bah, but we learned alot and the lunch was super good ;) I feel very blessed that we have had the opportunity to go to ZLC twice and learn about how to be an effective leader in the mission.
Hermana Ang and I made honey face masks this week to celebrate the fact that we would be together a third transfer. It was ridiculous and we took really funny pictures because our faces looked like they were melting. Will send those later.
Set a baptism date with Manuel, have been teaching him since May, for Sept. 26th. He wanted to finish the Book of Mormon before he got baptized, hence why he has waited so long. This week we asked him if he had finished and he said no because he was getting confused by all of the numbers. I was so confused about what he was talking about with numbers so I just told him to keep reading. Later in the lesson I realized he had been talking about the index in the back of the Book of Mormon, I told him he didn't have to read that, only through the last chapter, but that we would teach him how to use the index in our next appointment. He is just a precious old man. So, he actually had finished it a long time ago, already prayed and knows that it's true, now we are just planning the baptism :)
Ok that's all for today, sorry! I love you all and will be better about next week's e-mail!
Hermana Taets
Week 38 39 and 40
Buenas Tardes Los Que Supuestamente Son Mis Amigos
Haha, if you understand that...HIGH FIVE. I must start this e-mail with a bit of a complaint, just to get it out of the way. This week Hermana Ang got a letter in the mail everyday, AND a big fatty package filled with love, food and a new pair of shoes on Saturday. Hermana Taets received one letter this week from her good friend Chase. And when I say my good friend Chase... I mean Chase Bank..with the current balance of my checking account. 'Cause people got me got me questionin'...where is the love? That is all.
This was my first week as senior companion and I am definitely feeling the burden of that responsibility. I am trying my best to be a good trainer for Hermana Ang, but she is already amazing so there isn't much for me to do. We work so well together! I feel like she is more like a best friend than a companion. This week we really have been trying to be purpose focused missionaries, rather than activity focused. That basically means that instead of focusing on filling up our day with activities we are focused on doing all that we can to accomplish our purpose as missionaries of "Inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them to receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, the receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." We did some things this week that didn't count at all towards the numbers we report at the end of the week, yet we were helping people to come unto Christ, we were showing people that we love them and were demonstrating the love of the Savior. I want to be much less concerned about numbers and much more concerned about loving and helping people. For example, on Thursday we went to visit the Ulloa family and teach them a lesson but when we showed up Hermana Ulloa said she couldn't have the lesson because she just found out that her husband was bringing a bunch of old friends from Honduras over for dinner and she had a few hours to prepare food for all of them. So, instead of leaving to find someone to teach we stayed and helped her made enchiladas for few hours. It was so much fun and it really helped Hermana Ulloa to feel less stressed out. AND the best part is that once we were done she invited us to stay for dinner and we ended up teaching one of the people who came over for dinner :) Yay blessings! We also helped Juan Carlos paint his new apartment on Saturday and that was way fun. He went to his truck to go get some more brushes and while he was gone Hermana Ang and I painted faces on the wall and I wrote "Soy Mormon" which just means "I am Mormon". He though it was so funny, because it was so funny.
Now this is probably the best story I have told thus far. Get ready. We have been teaching a muchacho named Herby, from Haiti, who is also a missionary for the Seventh Day Adventist Church. On Tuesday when we went to the apartment where the 4 missionaries live, the boss lady of the missionaries happened to be there. She was way nice, cute little Filipino lady, who actually spoke some tagalog with Hermana Ang, which was neat to watch. Almost immediately she tried to convince us to sell magazines for their church so that we "can be rich." Haha. I explained to her that we aren't allowed to work while we are on our missions and also that our job as missionaries is to teach about Jesus Christ, and we don't charge for what we do. She insisted and handed me a magazine that said below the headline, "8 good reasons to become a vegetarian" and then she said, "See, GOOOD reasons, it's a good thing, buy them for your friends, because it's GOOD!" My response was that I enjoy hamburgers too much to give up meat. Then she moved on to her next sale and tried to convince us that we should marry her two sons.. She asked us if we were single, and then she said we need to marry her sons because they are smart and because there is one for each of us. I told her that we still have a lot of time left on our missions and we can't date or marry while we are missionaries, and her response was that they can wait for us and prepare to get married. I kept saying no no no no and finally she said, "It is much easier to say YES!" My response: "You know what? You're right! Why not?!" Hahaha, at this point everyone was just dying laughing, Herby, me, Ang, the member we had brought to teach with us. The only people not laughing were her sons, they hid in the back room the whole time and then at one point ran from the room to the front door and were gone for the remainder of the lesson. I had so much fun teaching Herby, even though he is pretty stubborn, he moved back to Mexico this weekend so we won't be seeing him anymore. He asked for our address and said he would write haha. I did leave with a consolation prize after our last visit: A picture I took while he was in the bathroom of a poster on the wall that says: "More soul, more sale." I am so glad that the message we have is free, and that we don't have to be motivated by money, but rather by our testimonies of the truth and by our love for the Savior.
I hope y'all have a great week and I hope that circumstances are different this week concerning our mailbox.
Hermana Taets
________________________________________________________
mi familia y mis amigos,
It has been an interesting week here in Fairbanks. This week we have been doing a lot of service, mainly for the Elders that live across the street. They had a bed bug attack last week, poor Elder Farnsworth, it is his first week in the mission and he is literally covered in bug bites. So, this week we have been cleaning and spraying and doing all that we can to get rid of the bugs, with the help of some of the women from the church. I hope that we have gotten rid of all of the bed bugs so the poor Elders can finally get some rest, I can't imagine biking around all day and then having to come home and sleep on the floor because they had to throw their beds away. Apparently, there is an outbreak in the whole complex, so I hope it doesn't get over to us! I already dealt with bed bugs my first transfer and I don't want to deal with it again haha.
This has been a difficult week for Hermana Ang and I, it seems like all of our investigators have just dropped off the face of the earth, so we are doing a lot of walking so we can find more people to teach. We are excited to work hard and find those who have been prepared to hear our message. We may be tired and sweaty at times, but we are not discouraged. I know that there are people in our area who are waiting for us to find them, they are waiting for the blessings that the gospel brings, so I am excited to be out looking for them, and talking to every person who crosses our path.
Now here is the story of the week, almost as good as last weeks maybe. So, after we had zone spanish study on tuesday, we were driving to our areas with the Hammerly Elders. I was driving down this road that is similar to a freeway, except without the higher speed limit. The problem with that is that I felt like I was on the freeway and may or may not have been speeding juuuuust a little bit without realizing it. As I was driving these two cops walked out of the forest and into the road and pulled me over and the car that was driving next to me. The police officer was very nice and patient as I tried to explain why my home address was in Arizona and not Texas and why it isn't even the correct address anymore haha he seemed very confused but let it go thank goodness. The guy in the car next to us was not a happy camper and was making all sorts of angry faces as we both sat and waited for our tickets. He was very entertaining to watch. The officer took a really long time, but once he got back he said, "well it is just your lucky day, my printer isn't working for some reason so I am gonna have to let you off with a warning, that guy next to you is still getting a ticket though because his printed out!" WOO HOOOO I don't know if I can say that that was a blessing, because I don't think Heavenly Father would bless me for being disobedient and speeding, but I thanked Him anyways for not getting a ticket. On the drive home I couldn't help but imagine that my Dad had somehow tampered with the printer since he always got me out of my speeding tickets before the mission, haha, I am sure he was just fuming when he saw me get pulled over.
Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers. I feel abundantly blessed and am loving being a missionary.
Hermana Taets
__________________________________________________________
Hola Mis Seres Queridos
Oh my crazy busy week! I feel like on Sunday I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off haha. Before church Elva and her son Erick had their baptism interview and so I was talking with them, getting their baptism record filled out, while making dinner appointments and planning family home evenings with the members. Sheesh, I was so exhausted by the end of the day. BUT, it is so worth it, Elva and Erick are getting baptized this wednesday! You may not remember the story of Elva and Erick because it began in January, but since then I have witnessed a miracle take place in their home and in their hearts. When I first met Elva she didn't want to listen to us because she was Catholic, but I invited her to pray to know if what we had taught was true and then we left, thinking we would never see her again. Then a few months later someone tapped on my shoulder in church and when I turned around it was Elva! She said to me, "Hermana, remember me? I did what you said, and I want you to come teach my family." Since that day we have been teaching them and working with them. They have come such a long way and climbed some mountains in the process. Elva had to quit smoking, which only took about a month! She had chain smoked basically her whole life and really struggled to quit, she was a little irritable at first and we felt the effects of that haha, but she finally did it, she said that whenever she wanted to smoke she would go out back and garden or she would start reading the scriptures. She is so amazing and her son Erick is an angel. He is thirteen and is a vision of love and obedience to his parents, he has been so great in supporting his mom and will make a great missionary one day. I am so excited for their baptism! They are so ready, they have known that the church is true since the very beginning but have been waiting to be baptized until Elva quit smoking and they could be at church consistenly. I will give all the details on the baptism next week :)
In the missionary handbook it says, "Do not keep pets of any kind," and Hermana Ang and I might be breaking this rule. His name is "Big foot" and lives in our kitchen. We bought him last week at the thrift store for $1.08 and it was definitely worth it. Still wondering what it is? Okay, when I say we have a pet...I mean we bought a chia pet. It is a dinosaur chia pet and it is sprouting like Cuhrazy! Haha, I will send pictures eventually, I lost my cord to plug the camera to the computer, but I will try and buy and new one today.
Not much else going on, went on exchanges last week with Hermana Christiensen in Bear Creek and had a lot of fun. We were walking through an apartment complex and this guy came up behind us and asked us what we were doing. I explained that we are missionaries and teach a special message about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He then told us that he is a single Dad and wants us to come over and teach him and his kids because he needs help and doesn't know how to help his kids get on the right path. The kids showed up shortly after and they are so sweet and excited to learn. I am so sad that I won't be able to teach them since the exchange was only for a day, but I will be so excited to hear from Hermana Christiensen and her companion Hermana Smart how that family is doing.
The work is great, we are doing a lot of finding, and setting a lot of appointments to begin teaching some new families. It was 115 degrees on Saturday and we walked around from 2:00p to 7:00p knocking doors and talking to people in the street. I am hoping that I sweat off a few pounds, haha, the mission is definitely not a place to lose weight. I was hot and sweaty, and I was exhausted by the end of the day, but I felt like I gave my all in doing the Lord's work. I know as we strive to do our best and forget our comfort, forget how hot it is, forget that we are rejected, and just go to work, that we will see more miracles like the ones I have witnessed with so many families already. I am willing to do whatever it is the Lord requires of me and am enjoying every moment of my mission.
I love and pray for you all :)
Hermana Taets
Haha, if you understand that...HIGH FIVE. I must start this e-mail with a bit of a complaint, just to get it out of the way. This week Hermana Ang got a letter in the mail everyday, AND a big fatty package filled with love, food and a new pair of shoes on Saturday. Hermana Taets received one letter this week from her good friend Chase. And when I say my good friend Chase... I mean Chase Bank..with the current balance of my checking account. 'Cause people got me got me questionin'...where is the love? That is all.
This was my first week as senior companion and I am definitely feeling the burden of that responsibility. I am trying my best to be a good trainer for Hermana Ang, but she is already amazing so there isn't much for me to do. We work so well together! I feel like she is more like a best friend than a companion. This week we really have been trying to be purpose focused missionaries, rather than activity focused. That basically means that instead of focusing on filling up our day with activities we are focused on doing all that we can to accomplish our purpose as missionaries of "Inviting others to come unto Christ by helping them to receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, the receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." We did some things this week that didn't count at all towards the numbers we report at the end of the week, yet we were helping people to come unto Christ, we were showing people that we love them and were demonstrating the love of the Savior. I want to be much less concerned about numbers and much more concerned about loving and helping people. For example, on Thursday we went to visit the Ulloa family and teach them a lesson but when we showed up Hermana Ulloa said she couldn't have the lesson because she just found out that her husband was bringing a bunch of old friends from Honduras over for dinner and she had a few hours to prepare food for all of them. So, instead of leaving to find someone to teach we stayed and helped her made enchiladas for few hours. It was so much fun and it really helped Hermana Ulloa to feel less stressed out. AND the best part is that once we were done she invited us to stay for dinner and we ended up teaching one of the people who came over for dinner :) Yay blessings! We also helped Juan Carlos paint his new apartment on Saturday and that was way fun. He went to his truck to go get some more brushes and while he was gone Hermana Ang and I painted faces on the wall and I wrote "Soy Mormon" which just means "I am Mormon". He though it was so funny, because it was so funny.
Now this is probably the best story I have told thus far. Get ready. We have been teaching a muchacho named Herby, from Haiti, who is also a missionary for the Seventh Day Adventist Church. On Tuesday when we went to the apartment where the 4 missionaries live, the boss lady of the missionaries happened to be there. She was way nice, cute little Filipino lady, who actually spoke some tagalog with Hermana Ang, which was neat to watch. Almost immediately she tried to convince us to sell magazines for their church so that we "can be rich." Haha. I explained to her that we aren't allowed to work while we are on our missions and also that our job as missionaries is to teach about Jesus Christ, and we don't charge for what we do. She insisted and handed me a magazine that said below the headline, "8 good reasons to become a vegetarian" and then she said, "See, GOOOD reasons, it's a good thing, buy them for your friends, because it's GOOD!" My response was that I enjoy hamburgers too much to give up meat. Then she moved on to her next sale and tried to convince us that we should marry her two sons.. She asked us if we were single, and then she said we need to marry her sons because they are smart and because there is one for each of us. I told her that we still have a lot of time left on our missions and we can't date or marry while we are missionaries, and her response was that they can wait for us and prepare to get married. I kept saying no no no no and finally she said, "It is much easier to say YES!" My response: "You know what? You're right! Why not?!" Hahaha, at this point everyone was just dying laughing, Herby, me, Ang, the member we had brought to teach with us. The only people not laughing were her sons, they hid in the back room the whole time and then at one point ran from the room to the front door and were gone for the remainder of the lesson. I had so much fun teaching Herby, even though he is pretty stubborn, he moved back to Mexico this weekend so we won't be seeing him anymore. He asked for our address and said he would write haha. I did leave with a consolation prize after our last visit: A picture I took while he was in the bathroom of a poster on the wall that says: "More soul, more sale." I am so glad that the message we have is free, and that we don't have to be motivated by money, but rather by our testimonies of the truth and by our love for the Savior.
I hope y'all have a great week and I hope that circumstances are different this week concerning our mailbox.
Hermana Taets
________________________________________________________
mi familia y mis amigos,
It has been an interesting week here in Fairbanks. This week we have been doing a lot of service, mainly for the Elders that live across the street. They had a bed bug attack last week, poor Elder Farnsworth, it is his first week in the mission and he is literally covered in bug bites. So, this week we have been cleaning and spraying and doing all that we can to get rid of the bugs, with the help of some of the women from the church. I hope that we have gotten rid of all of the bed bugs so the poor Elders can finally get some rest, I can't imagine biking around all day and then having to come home and sleep on the floor because they had to throw their beds away. Apparently, there is an outbreak in the whole complex, so I hope it doesn't get over to us! I already dealt with bed bugs my first transfer and I don't want to deal with it again haha.
This has been a difficult week for Hermana Ang and I, it seems like all of our investigators have just dropped off the face of the earth, so we are doing a lot of walking so we can find more people to teach. We are excited to work hard and find those who have been prepared to hear our message. We may be tired and sweaty at times, but we are not discouraged. I know that there are people in our area who are waiting for us to find them, they are waiting for the blessings that the gospel brings, so I am excited to be out looking for them, and talking to every person who crosses our path.
Now here is the story of the week, almost as good as last weeks maybe. So, after we had zone spanish study on tuesday, we were driving to our areas with the Hammerly Elders. I was driving down this road that is similar to a freeway, except without the higher speed limit. The problem with that is that I felt like I was on the freeway and may or may not have been speeding juuuuust a little bit without realizing it. As I was driving these two cops walked out of the forest and into the road and pulled me over and the car that was driving next to me. The police officer was very nice and patient as I tried to explain why my home address was in Arizona and not Texas and why it isn't even the correct address anymore haha he seemed very confused but let it go thank goodness. The guy in the car next to us was not a happy camper and was making all sorts of angry faces as we both sat and waited for our tickets. He was very entertaining to watch. The officer took a really long time, but once he got back he said, "well it is just your lucky day, my printer isn't working for some reason so I am gonna have to let you off with a warning, that guy next to you is still getting a ticket though because his printed out!" WOO HOOOO I don't know if I can say that that was a blessing, because I don't think Heavenly Father would bless me for being disobedient and speeding, but I thanked Him anyways for not getting a ticket. On the drive home I couldn't help but imagine that my Dad had somehow tampered with the printer since he always got me out of my speeding tickets before the mission, haha, I am sure he was just fuming when he saw me get pulled over.
Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers. I feel abundantly blessed and am loving being a missionary.
Hermana Taets
__________________________________________________________
Hola Mis Seres Queridos
Oh my crazy busy week! I feel like on Sunday I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off haha. Before church Elva and her son Erick had their baptism interview and so I was talking with them, getting their baptism record filled out, while making dinner appointments and planning family home evenings with the members. Sheesh, I was so exhausted by the end of the day. BUT, it is so worth it, Elva and Erick are getting baptized this wednesday! You may not remember the story of Elva and Erick because it began in January, but since then I have witnessed a miracle take place in their home and in their hearts. When I first met Elva she didn't want to listen to us because she was Catholic, but I invited her to pray to know if what we had taught was true and then we left, thinking we would never see her again. Then a few months later someone tapped on my shoulder in church and when I turned around it was Elva! She said to me, "Hermana, remember me? I did what you said, and I want you to come teach my family." Since that day we have been teaching them and working with them. They have come such a long way and climbed some mountains in the process. Elva had to quit smoking, which only took about a month! She had chain smoked basically her whole life and really struggled to quit, she was a little irritable at first and we felt the effects of that haha, but she finally did it, she said that whenever she wanted to smoke she would go out back and garden or she would start reading the scriptures. She is so amazing and her son Erick is an angel. He is thirteen and is a vision of love and obedience to his parents, he has been so great in supporting his mom and will make a great missionary one day. I am so excited for their baptism! They are so ready, they have known that the church is true since the very beginning but have been waiting to be baptized until Elva quit smoking and they could be at church consistenly. I will give all the details on the baptism next week :)
In the missionary handbook it says, "Do not keep pets of any kind," and Hermana Ang and I might be breaking this rule. His name is "Big foot" and lives in our kitchen. We bought him last week at the thrift store for $1.08 and it was definitely worth it. Still wondering what it is? Okay, when I say we have a pet...I mean we bought a chia pet. It is a dinosaur chia pet and it is sprouting like Cuhrazy! Haha, I will send pictures eventually, I lost my cord to plug the camera to the computer, but I will try and buy and new one today.
Not much else going on, went on exchanges last week with Hermana Christiensen in Bear Creek and had a lot of fun. We were walking through an apartment complex and this guy came up behind us and asked us what we were doing. I explained that we are missionaries and teach a special message about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He then told us that he is a single Dad and wants us to come over and teach him and his kids because he needs help and doesn't know how to help his kids get on the right path. The kids showed up shortly after and they are so sweet and excited to learn. I am so sad that I won't be able to teach them since the exchange was only for a day, but I will be so excited to hear from Hermana Christiensen and her companion Hermana Smart how that family is doing.
The work is great, we are doing a lot of finding, and setting a lot of appointments to begin teaching some new families. It was 115 degrees on Saturday and we walked around from 2:00p to 7:00p knocking doors and talking to people in the street. I am hoping that I sweat off a few pounds, haha, the mission is definitely not a place to lose weight. I was hot and sweaty, and I was exhausted by the end of the day, but I felt like I gave my all in doing the Lord's work. I know as we strive to do our best and forget our comfort, forget how hot it is, forget that we are rejected, and just go to work, that we will see more miracles like the ones I have witnessed with so many families already. I am willing to do whatever it is the Lord requires of me and am enjoying every moment of my mission.
I love and pray for you all :)
Hermana Taets
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)