Happy New Year!
Sorry I didn't write last week, I was lazy and had already talked to my family on the phone on Christmas, so I went shopping instead of doing a bunch of emails :) The Holidays have been so good! We have been spoiled rotten by the members of our ward. On Christmas we went over to the Acosta home and played with the kids and ate all day. Calling home was fun, kind of weird because we mainly talked about me coming home in 3 months. Talking to my family made me a little more excited to come home, but it will definitely be bittersweet. I am sure I will miss being a full-time missionary every day of my life. Anyways, New Year's Eve we had to be inside the apartment after dark so a group of us missionaries brought some food back and played apples to apples until curfew, which was alright. My favorite part was watching all of the fireworks through the porch window. You can just buy fireworks on the street here in Texas, and it's legal, so fireworks were going off alllllllllll night. Pretty neat. On New Year's Day we went to the Acosta's again because their family and the Estrada family had some carne asada and invited us over. The food was delicious and after eating they had a Foosball tournament. I played offense with Hermano Estrada (2nd counselor in the bishopric) on my team as defense and we beat everyone! We won 5 games straight and eventually just stopped playing because we were tired and there was no one left who hadn't lost, haha. It was so much fun, especially because all of the hermanos who played were pretty competitive and didn't really appreciate losing to a sister missionary. Hermano Estrada was just hilarious, he kept telling me, "Acabelos Hermana!" which means, "Finish them Hermana!" I was just cracking up the entire time.
I am super excited to begin a new year here in the mission. I have been thinking a lot about repentance and what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to change and become better each day. There are many many things that I want to improve on this year, and I am excited to see what challenges the Lord will dish out this year to help me become more like Him. I sat down the other night and wrote out some goals to accomplish this year, and it was very strange to see that they would have to be accomplished outside of the mission. Although I am nervous to go home I know it is just the next step in my life and that it will be full of new adventures and experiences. I know that in the next few months we will be witnessing miracles here in the Texas Houston Mission. It has been promised to us that as we are obedient with exactness our baptisms will double by the end of March. I know this is true, I can just feel that we are standing on the edge of something huge here. I know I have a lot to improve on, a lot of loose screws to tighten up, so that I may be worthy to witness those miracles here in West Green.
I pray all is well back home and that everyone is excited to begin a new year!
love, Hermana Taets
Monday, February 14, 2011
week 58
FELIZ NAVIDAD!
Oh my crazy, can you believe Christmas is this Saturday? I can't. This week is going to be really epic because we have a lot of activities going on with the mission so that we don't get homesick haha. For example, Wednesday we have a mission wide service project in the morning then sports in the afternoon and then a conference/devotional at night. Thursday is mission wide temple day, yay! Friday is a zone meeting and then we have to be in our apartments by 5:00 pm for safety reasons. Saturday is CHRISTMAS! We are spending it with a family in our ward who spoils us rotten and I love them so much. I am super excited to call home on Saturday and get to talk to my mommy and seester, yay! So, crazy schedule this week, time is going to fly right on by as usual.
Now, I want to share a little thought on Christmas, in light of the season. Something that has really stuck with me is a scripture that is found in the Book of Mormon, in 1 Nephi 11, when the prophet Nephi is shown the birth of the Savior that would occur some 600 years later. After seeing the baby in Mary's arms, the angel asks Nephi, "Do you understand the condescension of God?" and Nephi says that although he doesn't know much, he knows that it is the love of God. I have been thinking a lot about that verse this month. The fact that the Savior would descend from His throne on high to be born as a helpless child in a stable greatly signifies the love that He has for each and every one of us. Thinking a little bit deeper I have wondered, what are the things that I need to do to come down off of my throne and be a little bit more humble? What can I be doing to show Him how much I love Him? Well that is a much longer story for another day. I have much to improve on and am grateful that the Lord has given me this time on my mission to grow and change with His guidance.
I pray everyone has a safe Christmas and that your thoughts are turned to the real meaning of Christmas.
I love you all.
Hermana Taets
Oh my crazy, can you believe Christmas is this Saturday? I can't. This week is going to be really epic because we have a lot of activities going on with the mission so that we don't get homesick haha. For example, Wednesday we have a mission wide service project in the morning then sports in the afternoon and then a conference/devotional at night. Thursday is mission wide temple day, yay! Friday is a zone meeting and then we have to be in our apartments by 5:00 pm for safety reasons. Saturday is CHRISTMAS! We are spending it with a family in our ward who spoils us rotten and I love them so much. I am super excited to call home on Saturday and get to talk to my mommy and seester, yay! So, crazy schedule this week, time is going to fly right on by as usual.
Now, I want to share a little thought on Christmas, in light of the season. Something that has really stuck with me is a scripture that is found in the Book of Mormon, in 1 Nephi 11, when the prophet Nephi is shown the birth of the Savior that would occur some 600 years later. After seeing the baby in Mary's arms, the angel asks Nephi, "Do you understand the condescension of God?" and Nephi says that although he doesn't know much, he knows that it is the love of God. I have been thinking a lot about that verse this month. The fact that the Savior would descend from His throne on high to be born as a helpless child in a stable greatly signifies the love that He has for each and every one of us. Thinking a little bit deeper I have wondered, what are the things that I need to do to come down off of my throne and be a little bit more humble? What can I be doing to show Him how much I love Him? Well that is a much longer story for another day. I have much to improve on and am grateful that the Lord has given me this time on my mission to grow and change with His guidance.
I pray everyone has a safe Christmas and that your thoughts are turned to the real meaning of Christmas.
I love you all.
Hermana Taets
Week 57
Buenos Dias Mis Seres Queridos
This week was crazy. We had the ward Christmas party on Friday and 3 families that we are teaching showed up to the activity. We have so many people we are teaching that our schedule for this week is full, and I mean full. On Tuesday we won't even have time to do our morning studies because we have appointments from 9 am to 9 pm. I know that we are having success because we are striving to be obedient with exactness, I just hope that we can accommodate for the needs of all of the people we are teaching and that no one gets lost in translation. I love being so busy, but I wish we had a little bit of time to go do some finding and knock doors so that we will always be searching for those who are prepared. Oh well, I really can't complain that we have too many investigators ha ha.
I don't have a lot of time so I am going to just tell a really cool story. Once upon a time it was Monday the 6th of December, aka last Monday, and we were leaving the house after P-day around 6:00 pm when all of our appointments called and cancelled. Boo. So, we thought about stopping by Sephora, the makeup store, because I had spaced out during P-day and forgot to buy my makeup that had run out that morning. I started driving in that direction, but was thinking about what we should do and just didn't feel good about going to the store. So, I drove right past the store and went to visit a family that we are teaching who are members but don't go to church very often. We had a really great lesson with them and then we stood outside for a really long time in the cold waiting for a fire truck that was supposed to pass by with Santa on it. Apparently they do this every Christmas, and we could hear the fire truck but eventually it came time for us to head back to the apartment for curfew so we weren't able to see it. It was about 8:30 pm and we were about to pass by Sephora again and my companion suggested we just go in and grab the makeup I need really quick. I thought about it and it didn't feel wrong this time so I figured we could just stop really quick, grab what I need and go. So, we went in, got the makeup (it was on sale 2 for 1 woo hoo!) and I went to go checkout. While I was checking out, my companion was getting a perfume sample from another associate there and when I went over there I realized that they were actually talking about the church. The sales associate, Elizabeth, was asking about my companion's name tag and then started asking about church and said that she was looking for a church to attend with her boyfriend but it having a hard time being satisfied with the ones that she has already attended. We talked to her about church, invited her to the ward Christmas party and to church on Sunday, and then I gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. It was really neat because I recently started carrying a copy of the Book of Mormon in my hand at all times to give away, so when we went to the store I didn't have anything with me except the car keys, wallet and the Book of Mormon that I carry, so we were able to testify of the truthfulness of it and she said she would read it and knew that Heavenly Father would tell her if it is true, and she was actually excited about it. This week was my first week doing this, always carrying a copy of the Book of Mormon in my hand instead of in my bag, and we have given out half a box of copies of the Book of Mormon this week. Yay! I love being a missionary!
I love you all and pray everyone is feeling the spirit of Christmas and extending a hand of love and friendship at this time, especially to all those poor poor missionaries in your areas who are away from home at Christmas ;) Feliz Navidad!
Hermana Taets
This week was crazy. We had the ward Christmas party on Friday and 3 families that we are teaching showed up to the activity. We have so many people we are teaching that our schedule for this week is full, and I mean full. On Tuesday we won't even have time to do our morning studies because we have appointments from 9 am to 9 pm. I know that we are having success because we are striving to be obedient with exactness, I just hope that we can accommodate for the needs of all of the people we are teaching and that no one gets lost in translation. I love being so busy, but I wish we had a little bit of time to go do some finding and knock doors so that we will always be searching for those who are prepared. Oh well, I really can't complain that we have too many investigators ha ha.
I don't have a lot of time so I am going to just tell a really cool story. Once upon a time it was Monday the 6th of December, aka last Monday, and we were leaving the house after P-day around 6:00 pm when all of our appointments called and cancelled. Boo. So, we thought about stopping by Sephora, the makeup store, because I had spaced out during P-day and forgot to buy my makeup that had run out that morning. I started driving in that direction, but was thinking about what we should do and just didn't feel good about going to the store. So, I drove right past the store and went to visit a family that we are teaching who are members but don't go to church very often. We had a really great lesson with them and then we stood outside for a really long time in the cold waiting for a fire truck that was supposed to pass by with Santa on it. Apparently they do this every Christmas, and we could hear the fire truck but eventually it came time for us to head back to the apartment for curfew so we weren't able to see it. It was about 8:30 pm and we were about to pass by Sephora again and my companion suggested we just go in and grab the makeup I need really quick. I thought about it and it didn't feel wrong this time so I figured we could just stop really quick, grab what I need and go. So, we went in, got the makeup (it was on sale 2 for 1 woo hoo!) and I went to go checkout. While I was checking out, my companion was getting a perfume sample from another associate there and when I went over there I realized that they were actually talking about the church. The sales associate, Elizabeth, was asking about my companion's name tag and then started asking about church and said that she was looking for a church to attend with her boyfriend but it having a hard time being satisfied with the ones that she has already attended. We talked to her about church, invited her to the ward Christmas party and to church on Sunday, and then I gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. It was really neat because I recently started carrying a copy of the Book of Mormon in my hand at all times to give away, so when we went to the store I didn't have anything with me except the car keys, wallet and the Book of Mormon that I carry, so we were able to testify of the truthfulness of it and she said she would read it and knew that Heavenly Father would tell her if it is true, and she was actually excited about it. This week was my first week doing this, always carrying a copy of the Book of Mormon in my hand instead of in my bag, and we have given out half a box of copies of the Book of Mormon this week. Yay! I love being a missionary!
I love you all and pray everyone is feeling the spirit of Christmas and extending a hand of love and friendship at this time, especially to all those poor poor missionaries in your areas who are away from home at Christmas ;) Feliz Navidad!
Hermana Taets
Week 56
Buenos Dias Mis Seres Queridos
Whoa. When I typed Transfer 9 in the subject line...that was weird. When did this happen?! I wrote a letter to my trainer, Hermana Blanco, this morning and mentioned, "Remember when I would tease you all the time because you were going home soon? Yeah...now my trainee does the same thing every time I see her. I deserve that I guess." This transfer I received my "death dot", meaning that my picture that is on President Hansen's transfer board now has an orange dot with a 3 on it, because I only have 3 transfers left. So, basically all of the missionaries in my zone have made comments about how I am not officially a "dying missionary". Boo.
Enough of that nonsense. This week was AMAZING. We received so many blessings from the Lord this week as we strive for obedience with exactness. We found and began teaching 6 new investigators this week! The mission standard is 4 a week, but we have been struggling with the goal for a while, BUT this week we found 6, and they are all so solid and just amazing. We also found several members of the church this week while knocking doors who haven't been to church in 10+ years because when they moved here from other countries they didn't speak english and couldn't find the chapel, crazy! We also tried out this idea I had heard from some Elders in another zone called "zebra tracting". On saturday we went on a mini exchange with the english sister missionaries who happen to cover part of our area and we went and knocked doors for an hour. It was really neat to do because the streets we had chosen had an equal amount of english and spanish speakers, so I would talked to all of the spanish speakers and Sister Layton, the english missionary, spoke to the english ones. It was very successful and each companion found a new investigator from it. We ended up talking to this guy and I taught him a lesson about prophets and the restoration in front of his garage and at the end he asked me why the other missionary doesn't talk and I explained that she doesn't speak spanish. His response was, "Well I speak both languages! You should have said something! Haha!" He was so nice, and happens to be our new investigator, we are going to go teach him and his family next saturday, woo hoo!
Jose and Elizabeth are doing SO good! They were really struggling to understand why it is important to keep the sabbath day holy, especially because they are struggling financially and really need to work on sunday. BUT, we went over this week and were talking about repentance and while we were teaching Jose said, "So, this week I decided that I am not going to work on sundays, is that repentance?" I couldn't even believe what he had just said, and asked him to repeat it just to make sure, and once he confirmed what he had said my companion and I were both in tears. They are SO amazing, I have never met people with such faith and trust in the Lord. Jose told us that while he was working last sunday he was just having a hard time focusing and everything seem to go wrong, and it reminded him of when we talked about the Tower of Babel and how the Lord confounded the languages there so the people would stop building the tower. He said the Lord must not want him to work on sundays because he can't work effectively those days. Wow. I love them so much! They also said they didn't want us to have to leave so early, we always teach them right before our curfew, and suggested that we just move into their son's old bedroom, haha. I love being a missionary, I really wonder if there is any joy greater than this.
Love, Hermana Taets
Whoa. When I typed Transfer 9 in the subject line...that was weird. When did this happen?! I wrote a letter to my trainer, Hermana Blanco, this morning and mentioned, "Remember when I would tease you all the time because you were going home soon? Yeah...now my trainee does the same thing every time I see her. I deserve that I guess." This transfer I received my "death dot", meaning that my picture that is on President Hansen's transfer board now has an orange dot with a 3 on it, because I only have 3 transfers left. So, basically all of the missionaries in my zone have made comments about how I am not officially a "dying missionary". Boo.
Enough of that nonsense. This week was AMAZING. We received so many blessings from the Lord this week as we strive for obedience with exactness. We found and began teaching 6 new investigators this week! The mission standard is 4 a week, but we have been struggling with the goal for a while, BUT this week we found 6, and they are all so solid and just amazing. We also found several members of the church this week while knocking doors who haven't been to church in 10+ years because when they moved here from other countries they didn't speak english and couldn't find the chapel, crazy! We also tried out this idea I had heard from some Elders in another zone called "zebra tracting". On saturday we went on a mini exchange with the english sister missionaries who happen to cover part of our area and we went and knocked doors for an hour. It was really neat to do because the streets we had chosen had an equal amount of english and spanish speakers, so I would talked to all of the spanish speakers and Sister Layton, the english missionary, spoke to the english ones. It was very successful and each companion found a new investigator from it. We ended up talking to this guy and I taught him a lesson about prophets and the restoration in front of his garage and at the end he asked me why the other missionary doesn't talk and I explained that she doesn't speak spanish. His response was, "Well I speak both languages! You should have said something! Haha!" He was so nice, and happens to be our new investigator, we are going to go teach him and his family next saturday, woo hoo!
Jose and Elizabeth are doing SO good! They were really struggling to understand why it is important to keep the sabbath day holy, especially because they are struggling financially and really need to work on sunday. BUT, we went over this week and were talking about repentance and while we were teaching Jose said, "So, this week I decided that I am not going to work on sundays, is that repentance?" I couldn't even believe what he had just said, and asked him to repeat it just to make sure, and once he confirmed what he had said my companion and I were both in tears. They are SO amazing, I have never met people with such faith and trust in the Lord. Jose told us that while he was working last sunday he was just having a hard time focusing and everything seem to go wrong, and it reminded him of when we talked about the Tower of Babel and how the Lord confounded the languages there so the people would stop building the tower. He said the Lord must not want him to work on sundays because he can't work effectively those days. Wow. I love them so much! They also said they didn't want us to have to leave so early, we always teach them right before our curfew, and suggested that we just move into their son's old bedroom, haha. I love being a missionary, I really wonder if there is any joy greater than this.
Love, Hermana Taets
Monday, November 29, 2010
Week 55
Hola Mis Seres Amados
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Here in the West Green ward we celebrated with tons and tons and tons and tons of food. My companion and I and the Elders that also serve in our ward went to 5 homes on thursday to eat. I know, right? Bah, I felt so sick after the second one I don't really know how I survived. This was our schedule:
9:00 am-11:00 Taxi-ed the Elders over to a nearby middle school to play football with the English congregation, Katy 1st Ward. Hermana Martinez and I just watched and were halfway entertained.
1:00 pm Dinner #1 at the Relief Society President's home. Traditional Turkey and all the sides, lots of food
3:00 pm Dinner #2 at the Acosta family's home. What a blessing that their turkey wasn't done yet! We ate some homemade fudge, which was delicious, and nachos. After eating some we played the Elders a round of foosball, they won the first match 10-9, BUT we dominated them the second round 10-5, woot woot. Girl Power.
5:00 pm Dinner #3 at the deAlmeida family home. SO CUTE. The two little girls were all dressed up and they had this long table all decorated. It was the fanciest Thanksgiving dinner I have ever seen, and probably the most delicious. We had a traditional turkey meal again, it was way good, but the mom made homemade pineapple and apple empanadas with ice cream. Oh man they were so goooooood.
7:00 pm Dinner #4 at the Flores family home. We promised them that we would just stop by on the way home to say hi but they tried REALLY hard to make us eat again. We each drank a soda and then denied food about 80 times. Eventually Hermano Flores said, "Just eat ONE green bean that is all I ask." Haha So we each ate one green bean. Rule #1 Hispanics really don't like it when you don't eat their food. We took a bunch of food to go and it made a delicious lunch on Saturday.
8:00 pm Dinner #5 at the Lopez family home. Another family whom we promised to "just stop by". They didn't force us to eat but packaged up some traditional sandwiches from El Salvador, and they were super good as well.
Friday was District meeting and after all of our meetings we had a big zone pot luck and it was super fun! Elder Lang cooked a turkey, I don't know how he did it but it was the most delicious turkey I have ever eaten, and it was made by an Elder during my mission, weird. Elder Lemley, my district leader, MADE a pinata that looked like Mater from the movie Cars, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching my companion beat the trash out of it.
Saturday, we had a soccer game that was supposed to be the West Green ward versus the Bear Creek ward, BUT only like 3 people showed up from Bear Creek so we did all the members versus all of the missionaries instead. So, it was like all these youth from my ward versus 8 missionaries, and those kids actually know how to play soccer. I am still sore all over haha. I had so much fun playing soccer, and the best part was that after we played this guy go out of his car, came over to my companion and I and tried to draft us to a women's soccer league for the city. HAHA. I could not believe it, I don't know how to play soccer! I just run around like a crazy and try and get the ball! But, apparently I have a natural skill and he said with a little trainer, "no one would be able to get past me while I am on defense!" Haha. He gave us the coach's phone number and I taped into my journal, just because it was so unbelieveable.
Well, that ladies and gentlemen, is how Thanksgiving is celebrated in the the West Green Spanish ward. I had a great time, even though I almost died from overeating, and am grateful for the kindness of all the members in taking us into their homes for the holiday. I love you all and hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Here comes Christmas! Crazy!
Con Amor y Paz
Hermana Taets
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Here in the West Green ward we celebrated with tons and tons and tons and tons of food. My companion and I and the Elders that also serve in our ward went to 5 homes on thursday to eat. I know, right? Bah, I felt so sick after the second one I don't really know how I survived. This was our schedule:
9:00 am-11:00 Taxi-ed the Elders over to a nearby middle school to play football with the English congregation, Katy 1st Ward. Hermana Martinez and I just watched and were halfway entertained.
1:00 pm Dinner #1 at the Relief Society President's home. Traditional Turkey and all the sides, lots of food
3:00 pm Dinner #2 at the Acosta family's home. What a blessing that their turkey wasn't done yet! We ate some homemade fudge, which was delicious, and nachos. After eating some we played the Elders a round of foosball, they won the first match 10-9, BUT we dominated them the second round 10-5, woot woot. Girl Power.
5:00 pm Dinner #3 at the deAlmeida family home. SO CUTE. The two little girls were all dressed up and they had this long table all decorated. It was the fanciest Thanksgiving dinner I have ever seen, and probably the most delicious. We had a traditional turkey meal again, it was way good, but the mom made homemade pineapple and apple empanadas with ice cream. Oh man they were so goooooood.
7:00 pm Dinner #4 at the Flores family home. We promised them that we would just stop by on the way home to say hi but they tried REALLY hard to make us eat again. We each drank a soda and then denied food about 80 times. Eventually Hermano Flores said, "Just eat ONE green bean that is all I ask." Haha So we each ate one green bean. Rule #1 Hispanics really don't like it when you don't eat their food. We took a bunch of food to go and it made a delicious lunch on Saturday.
8:00 pm Dinner #5 at the Lopez family home. Another family whom we promised to "just stop by". They didn't force us to eat but packaged up some traditional sandwiches from El Salvador, and they were super good as well.
Friday was District meeting and after all of our meetings we had a big zone pot luck and it was super fun! Elder Lang cooked a turkey, I don't know how he did it but it was the most delicious turkey I have ever eaten, and it was made by an Elder during my mission, weird. Elder Lemley, my district leader, MADE a pinata that looked like Mater from the movie Cars, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching my companion beat the trash out of it.
Saturday, we had a soccer game that was supposed to be the West Green ward versus the Bear Creek ward, BUT only like 3 people showed up from Bear Creek so we did all the members versus all of the missionaries instead. So, it was like all these youth from my ward versus 8 missionaries, and those kids actually know how to play soccer. I am still sore all over haha. I had so much fun playing soccer, and the best part was that after we played this guy go out of his car, came over to my companion and I and tried to draft us to a women's soccer league for the city. HAHA. I could not believe it, I don't know how to play soccer! I just run around like a crazy and try and get the ball! But, apparently I have a natural skill and he said with a little trainer, "no one would be able to get past me while I am on defense!" Haha. He gave us the coach's phone number and I taped into my journal, just because it was so unbelieveable.
Well, that ladies and gentlemen, is how Thanksgiving is celebrated in the the West Green Spanish ward. I had a great time, even though I almost died from overeating, and am grateful for the kindness of all the members in taking us into their homes for the holiday. I love you all and hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Here comes Christmas! Crazy!
Con Amor y Paz
Hermana Taets
Week 54
Mis Seres Queridos,
Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias! That means "Happy Thanksgiving" for all you Bolillos ;) Haha. I am super excited to experience a Hispanic Thanksgiving, even though I have a feeling a lot of them will just make turkey like Americans do. As of now we have 4 dinner appointments scheduled for Thursday, all with families we are pretty close to, so it will be a really nice, chill day. We aren't allowed to knock doors on Thanksgiving and I don't think our investigators will be busy, so we will be spending the whole day with families in our ward. I have so much to be grateful for...I think this is a prime opportunity to start a list...
1.My amazing family. I love them so much. They have been so supportive of me during my mission and that means so much more to me than I think they understand. I know it must have been difficult to understand why I chose to serve a mission, or even what serving a mission even meant, but they have supported me while I have been here and that means the world to me. They are also ridiculously cool. One thing I am looking forward to as the end of my mission draws near is being able to just hang out with my Mom and my sister all of the time. Before my mission I definitely put too much on my plate and didn't spend much time with them, but I know that after my mission things will be different and I plan on strengthening the relationships I have, not only with Mom and Alli but with my Grandparents, uncles aunts, cousins. Something I have realized on the mission is that no matter what your family will always be there for you. I love them all so much for their love and support and hope one day I will be able to repay them for all they have done for me.
My testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel. In the last few years I have really come to know who He is, what He did while He was in the Earth, and who He is to me personally. I cannot fully express the gratitude I have for my Savior Jesus Christ. In the Book of Mormon, in the book of Alma, Chapter 7, verses 11-12, it reads, "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." I know without a doubt that this prophecy found in the Book of Mormon was fulfilled by the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. When my dad passed away and no one could have said a single word to bring me the comfort I need, I found peace in knowing that the Savior experienced exactly what I was going through. He did that because He loved me and wanted to know how to help me overcome that experience. The reality of my dad's death is still something I struggle with but I have found peace and comfort that could only come through the power of Christ's atonement, power to lift up my head and "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love for God and all men."
The opportunity that I have had to serve a mission. As I have said countless times before, my mission means everything to me. I have experience and learned things on my mission that could not have been learned under any other circumstance. During zone conference this last week I notice something as we listened to the testimonies of those missionaries who have recently arrived and those who will be returning home before the next zone conference in March. Those missionaries who have recently arrived seemed so excited for the journey that lies ahead of them, yet nervous and unsure, but those departing missionaries had a certain glow about then. You can see that they have experienced a mighty change during the course of their missions. I not only realized that I would be one of those missionaries giving their "dying testimony" during March zone conference, but that I have experienced that mighty change on my mission. I have thought about who I was before my mission and who the Lord has helped me to become and the difference to me is huge. No one will ever be able to fully understand or comprehend what my mission has meant to me personally. Yes, those who have served missions have had their own experience and testimony of the miracle of the mission, but no one's could possibly compare to what mine means to me. I am so grateful for the privilege I have to be a full-time servant of the Lord and dedicate my time to teaching, serving, and loving His children here in Houston/Katy Texas.
For lack of time I continue without explanation, because the other 3 missionaries are waiting on me so we can go grocery shopping and then go play Socccccccerrr woot woot.
2.Friends
3.Our investigators
4.My present, past, and future companions
5.President Hansen and his wife
6.All of the missionaries I serve with and all they have taught me
7.The car and not having to bike around like the Elders
8.Support and love of Ward members
9.Our nice apartment with a gym
10.SPANISH oh I love spanish so much!
and 100 more things that I don't have time to mention, bah
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Pray for Jose and Elizabeth, they are doing amazing but need help getting work off on sundays.
Hermana Taets
Feliz Dia de Accion de Gracias! That means "Happy Thanksgiving" for all you Bolillos ;) Haha. I am super excited to experience a Hispanic Thanksgiving, even though I have a feeling a lot of them will just make turkey like Americans do. As of now we have 4 dinner appointments scheduled for Thursday, all with families we are pretty close to, so it will be a really nice, chill day. We aren't allowed to knock doors on Thanksgiving and I don't think our investigators will be busy, so we will be spending the whole day with families in our ward. I have so much to be grateful for...I think this is a prime opportunity to start a list...
1.My amazing family. I love them so much. They have been so supportive of me during my mission and that means so much more to me than I think they understand. I know it must have been difficult to understand why I chose to serve a mission, or even what serving a mission even meant, but they have supported me while I have been here and that means the world to me. They are also ridiculously cool. One thing I am looking forward to as the end of my mission draws near is being able to just hang out with my Mom and my sister all of the time. Before my mission I definitely put too much on my plate and didn't spend much time with them, but I know that after my mission things will be different and I plan on strengthening the relationships I have, not only with Mom and Alli but with my Grandparents, uncles aunts, cousins. Something I have realized on the mission is that no matter what your family will always be there for you. I love them all so much for their love and support and hope one day I will be able to repay them for all they have done for me.
My testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel. In the last few years I have really come to know who He is, what He did while He was in the Earth, and who He is to me personally. I cannot fully express the gratitude I have for my Savior Jesus Christ. In the Book of Mormon, in the book of Alma, Chapter 7, verses 11-12, it reads, "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." I know without a doubt that this prophecy found in the Book of Mormon was fulfilled by the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. When my dad passed away and no one could have said a single word to bring me the comfort I need, I found peace in knowing that the Savior experienced exactly what I was going through. He did that because He loved me and wanted to know how to help me overcome that experience. The reality of my dad's death is still something I struggle with but I have found peace and comfort that could only come through the power of Christ's atonement, power to lift up my head and "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love for God and all men."
The opportunity that I have had to serve a mission. As I have said countless times before, my mission means everything to me. I have experience and learned things on my mission that could not have been learned under any other circumstance. During zone conference this last week I notice something as we listened to the testimonies of those missionaries who have recently arrived and those who will be returning home before the next zone conference in March. Those missionaries who have recently arrived seemed so excited for the journey that lies ahead of them, yet nervous and unsure, but those departing missionaries had a certain glow about then. You can see that they have experienced a mighty change during the course of their missions. I not only realized that I would be one of those missionaries giving their "dying testimony" during March zone conference, but that I have experienced that mighty change on my mission. I have thought about who I was before my mission and who the Lord has helped me to become and the difference to me is huge. No one will ever be able to fully understand or comprehend what my mission has meant to me personally. Yes, those who have served missions have had their own experience and testimony of the miracle of the mission, but no one's could possibly compare to what mine means to me. I am so grateful for the privilege I have to be a full-time servant of the Lord and dedicate my time to teaching, serving, and loving His children here in Houston/Katy Texas.
For lack of time I continue without explanation, because the other 3 missionaries are waiting on me so we can go grocery shopping and then go play Socccccccerrr woot woot.
2.Friends
3.Our investigators
4.My present, past, and future companions
5.President Hansen and his wife
6.All of the missionaries I serve with and all they have taught me
7.The car and not having to bike around like the Elders
8.Support and love of Ward members
9.Our nice apartment with a gym
10.SPANISH oh I love spanish so much!
and 100 more things that I don't have time to mention, bah
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Pray for Jose and Elizabeth, they are doing amazing but need help getting work off on sundays.
Hermana Taets
Week 53
Mis Seres Queridos
We had an extremely busy week, met lots of great people who we will begin teaching this week, set baptismal dates with Jose and Elizabeth for the 5th of December and they are doing AMAZING.
I am not going to send my usual update today but will leave you with a scripture that really impacted me this morning during personal study that is found in the Book of Mormon in Moroni Chapter 8, last sentence in verse 16, "Perfect love casteth out all fear."
Hermana Taets
We had an extremely busy week, met lots of great people who we will begin teaching this week, set baptismal dates with Jose and Elizabeth for the 5th of December and they are doing AMAZING.
I am not going to send my usual update today but will leave you with a scripture that really impacted me this morning during personal study that is found in the Book of Mormon in Moroni Chapter 8, last sentence in verse 16, "Perfect love casteth out all fear."
Hermana Taets
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