Elder Kasey Crafts
Dear Friends and Family,
Merry Christmas!! This week was great. The Christmas season is a great time to share the gospel!
My new companions name is Elder Bradley. He is from Brigham City Utah and has been on the mission for 16 months. He is awesome! I am learning a lot from him all the time. He has no fear of man which is absolutely awesome. I am learning a lot because of that.
We have met some of the nicest people this week and also some of the craziest. On Saturday night we got a phone call from a investigator named Edger. He was on the run from some of the bandillas (gangs) from Mexico. A lot of the big gang members will move to Tornillo or Fabens and live here and then go to Juarez everyday and do all the gang stuff. Somehow Edger had gotten mixed up in the gangs and called us because he needed help. Luckily not much earlier Sister Kimble had given us a paper of all of the emergency call lines in Texas. We gave Edger some phone numbers to call so hopefully he's alright.
I also learned another amazing thing this week. It was in essence that if you feel the spirit in the lesson then that means that the investigators are feeling it as well. They may not know it, or understand it, or want to admit it, but it is a sure thing that they are feeling it. It is because the Holy Ghost wouldn't just come so that you can be edified and only you can feel the spirit, he is going to be present so that everyone that is there can realize that our message is true. That is why it is so important to help people understand the feeling they are feeling is the Holy Ghost.
I love you all and I hope you have a great week!
Feliz Navidad!
Elder Crafts
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Sister Amy King
I hope that all of you have had the chance to see the Christmas video "He is the Gift" that the church produced! If not go look it up right now! And share it to your facebook, instagram, twitter, whatever you prefer, but share it! Its a truly amazing and powerful reminder for what this season is about. That Christ is the most amazing gift that this earth has ever received. We have seen miracle after miracle from this video, from how powerful it is.
On sunday we went out harvesting, and we were with one of our youth, Shayla, who is a pretty amazing missionary already! We went to a street and parked, but none of us were really feeling that street. So we said a prayer, and felt we should go. We drove around for a minute and we all felt prompted to go to one specific street. So we started harvesting and as usual got a few doors slammed in our faces. We knocked on one door, Nancy, and as soon as we said we wanted to share a special prayer with her she immediately let us in her home. It's always such a breath of fresh air when people let us in, and we don't even have to ask! We find out there are some major struggles with her two grown children, and the family is just struggling all together. She also had no Christmas decorations up, because she wanted to remember the true meaning of Christmas this year. So we say a prayer with her, and she was truly touched by the spirit as sister Doman said the prayer. We invited her to be baptized and she accepted right away, because she knew that we were sent to her at that specific time. So we then showed her the He is the Gift video, and she cried while watching it, she loved it, and she was also soo happy and grateful for us. But she is truly amazing, and heavenly father was preparing her for us is so many ways! We are so excited to continue to teach her more!
I've had an amazing week, and seen so many miracles! All is well
Feliz Navidad from the sunshine state! And don't forget to #ShareTheGift
LOVE sister King
I hope that all of you have had the chance to see the Christmas video "He is the Gift" that the church produced! If not go look it up right now! And share it to your facebook, instagram, twitter, whatever you prefer, but share it! Its a truly amazing and powerful reminder for what this season is about. That Christ is the most amazing gift that this earth has ever received. We have seen miracle after miracle from this video, from how powerful it is.
On sunday we went out harvesting, and we were with one of our youth, Shayla, who is a pretty amazing missionary already! We went to a street and parked, but none of us were really feeling that street. So we said a prayer, and felt we should go. We drove around for a minute and we all felt prompted to go to one specific street. So we started harvesting and as usual got a few doors slammed in our faces. We knocked on one door, Nancy, and as soon as we said we wanted to share a special prayer with her she immediately let us in her home. It's always such a breath of fresh air when people let us in, and we don't even have to ask! We find out there are some major struggles with her two grown children, and the family is just struggling all together. She also had no Christmas decorations up, because she wanted to remember the true meaning of Christmas this year. So we say a prayer with her, and she was truly touched by the spirit as sister Doman said the prayer. We invited her to be baptized and she accepted right away, because she knew that we were sent to her at that specific time. So we then showed her the He is the Gift video, and she cried while watching it, she loved it, and she was also soo happy and grateful for us. But she is truly amazing, and heavenly father was preparing her for us is so many ways! We are so excited to continue to teach her more!
I've had an amazing week, and seen so many miracles! All is well
Feliz Navidad from the sunshine state! And don't forget to #ShareTheGift
LOVE sister King
Sister Karli Belnap
Hi there, everybody! What a week it has been!
First of all. The people in the south are so unbelievably nice. My companion is probably so sick of me saying that every time we talk to someone. But it is true. Everyone is so nice and talkative. It cracks me up. I have heard so many people's life stories just by asking like one question. I love it. But it makes it hard to share the gospel because they just go go go! We don't have a lot of sit down appointments. The only two we have had this week weren't home when we went over. We've had ward members come out with us twice this week and we go visit less actives. Which is pretty fun! We went tracting once in Downtown Corinth. There are some nice houses. There is one that takes up the whole block. That was pretty fun. We were caroling, and only two people answered the door! But it was still a blast! =) We also do store contacting a lot. Where we basically walk around in Wal-Mart or in little shops downtown and pass out "He is the Gift" cards and ask if we can come teach them. That's pretty fun too. I am getting more comfortable but I definitely have a long way to go.
Series of Miracles for the week:
So we forgot to gas up the car Saturday night so we were completely out after church on Sunday. So we had to bike to our appointment with a man named "J". (Not part of the miracle, but entertaining none the less: we got chased by a barking dog for a block or so. So my companion was freaking out, but the dog wasn't even right at our heels so I wasn't too freaked.) But we get to the point where we need to cross the highway and she yells over her shoulder without looking back, "GO STRAIGHT THROUGH" and then takes off across the road. I panicked and stopped. She goes straight through. We were not at an intersection or anything. So I had to wait a while before I could cross. It was awful, but whatever =P ) As we are biking Sister Dillon's chain falls off her bike. And we cannot get it back on. So we decided to chain up our bikes and continue on foot. As we are walking our bikes to find somewhere to lock them we meet this man named "T" and he fixed the bike chain. We asked him if he would like a message about Christ sometime and he was very excited for that. So we set an appointment with him. Then we continue on our bikes to "J"'s house. Well when we get there no one is home. So we biked out here for nothing. So we bike down the street and these people are on their porch and we ask if they could use a message about Christ. They tell us no and we ask if they know anyone who does. They tell us a specific house down the street. We give them a "He is the Gift" pass along card and they were pretty excited about it and we told them we would come check back sometime to see what they think. Then we go to the house they told us to go to and we got an appointment set up for Wednesday there. Then we continue on to a part member family's home. On our way we talk to this man named "JB". Who tells us he knows all there is to know about Jesus. But that he appreciates what we do and to be careful on our bikes. The lady next door was outside too but we rode past. Then both me and Sister Dillon knew we should go back. So we did and she was distracted but said we could come back next week at a specific time. Then "JB" stopped us again and told us his brother had just died and his other brother was sick. And he asked us to pray for him. So we told him we would and we are going to go back over there later this week too.
Big long story I know. But I just thought it was really cool that because we hadn't gotten gas, we we had to bike. And because the chain fell off the bike we met "T. And because "J" wasn't home we were able to meet all those other people who all had a little bit of potential to hear the gospel. The things that didn't go the way we wanted them to led us to different things that Heavenly Father wanted us to do. Who knows, maybe nothing will come out of all those meetings, but it was still a really neat experience.
On Saturday I had a mental breakdown. Like major. This whole mission things is completely new to me. My companion still is in shock that I have never really even been away from home longer than a week. I am completely out of my comfort zone. I can't even really pinpoint what it is that is so hard and what caused me to freak out, but I think it was just a combination of everything. It's a lot to take on. There is a Sister in my district that I got to talk to last night, Sister Smith. She has been out three months and she struggled bad at first. She said to me, " It might feel like your whole world is crashing down around you, and to be honest it probably is. But it is doing that so Heavenly Father can help you build up a better world." And it's true. I was contemplating whether or not to write about my struggles this week, because there was plenty of good this week to make it sound like I am doing perfectly fine. But that wouldn't be true. This weekend has been hard. I have cried a lot. I wake up some mornings ready to cry again, but I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me. I know that the hard times are honestly why I need a mission. It is through trials and hard times that I have to turn and rely on the Lord. Back home, although it is comfortable, I won't experience what I need to build my testimony to where it needs to be. Sister Smith also said, "When things get hard you know it is time to learn." Things can smooth sail for a little bit, like the first few days here, but eventually I need to start learning. And that's what I need to do right now. But it sucks. I hate feeling like this. I just want to love my mission. Love everything. and do great. But that takes time. And I need to be patient, with myself and with the Lord. I am still struggling. And I probably will for a while. I'm probably going to cry a lot. But I know it's all part of the process.
My favorite scripture this week is 1 Nephi 17. It came at the perfect time. v.51- Heavenly Father isn't going to lead me out on to a mission (or to go build a boat) and then just leave me to do it by myself. I just have to trust in him to learn what I need to learn. That's the hard part.
I love you all. I say again: Please write me! I love receiving letters or emails. It's just fun.
Sister Belnap
Hi there, everybody! What a week it has been!
First of all. The people in the south are so unbelievably nice. My companion is probably so sick of me saying that every time we talk to someone. But it is true. Everyone is so nice and talkative. It cracks me up. I have heard so many people's life stories just by asking like one question. I love it. But it makes it hard to share the gospel because they just go go go! We don't have a lot of sit down appointments. The only two we have had this week weren't home when we went over. We've had ward members come out with us twice this week and we go visit less actives. Which is pretty fun! We went tracting once in Downtown Corinth. There are some nice houses. There is one that takes up the whole block. That was pretty fun. We were caroling, and only two people answered the door! But it was still a blast! =) We also do store contacting a lot. Where we basically walk around in Wal-Mart or in little shops downtown and pass out "He is the Gift" cards and ask if we can come teach them. That's pretty fun too. I am getting more comfortable but I definitely have a long way to go.
Series of Miracles for the week:
So we forgot to gas up the car Saturday night so we were completely out after church on Sunday. So we had to bike to our appointment with a man named "J". (Not part of the miracle, but entertaining none the less: we got chased by a barking dog for a block or so. So my companion was freaking out, but the dog wasn't even right at our heels so I wasn't too freaked.) But we get to the point where we need to cross the highway and she yells over her shoulder without looking back, "GO STRAIGHT THROUGH" and then takes off across the road. I panicked and stopped. She goes straight through. We were not at an intersection or anything. So I had to wait a while before I could cross. It was awful, but whatever =P ) As we are biking Sister Dillon's chain falls off her bike. And we cannot get it back on. So we decided to chain up our bikes and continue on foot. As we are walking our bikes to find somewhere to lock them we meet this man named "T" and he fixed the bike chain. We asked him if he would like a message about Christ sometime and he was very excited for that. So we set an appointment with him. Then we continue on our bikes to "J"'s house. Well when we get there no one is home. So we biked out here for nothing. So we bike down the street and these people are on their porch and we ask if they could use a message about Christ. They tell us no and we ask if they know anyone who does. They tell us a specific house down the street. We give them a "He is the Gift" pass along card and they were pretty excited about it and we told them we would come check back sometime to see what they think. Then we go to the house they told us to go to and we got an appointment set up for Wednesday there. Then we continue on to a part member family's home. On our way we talk to this man named "JB". Who tells us he knows all there is to know about Jesus. But that he appreciates what we do and to be careful on our bikes. The lady next door was outside too but we rode past. Then both me and Sister Dillon knew we should go back. So we did and she was distracted but said we could come back next week at a specific time. Then "JB" stopped us again and told us his brother had just died and his other brother was sick. And he asked us to pray for him. So we told him we would and we are going to go back over there later this week too.
Big long story I know. But I just thought it was really cool that because we hadn't gotten gas, we we had to bike. And because the chain fell off the bike we met "T. And because "J" wasn't home we were able to meet all those other people who all had a little bit of potential to hear the gospel. The things that didn't go the way we wanted them to led us to different things that Heavenly Father wanted us to do. Who knows, maybe nothing will come out of all those meetings, but it was still a really neat experience.
On Saturday I had a mental breakdown. Like major. This whole mission things is completely new to me. My companion still is in shock that I have never really even been away from home longer than a week. I am completely out of my comfort zone. I can't even really pinpoint what it is that is so hard and what caused me to freak out, but I think it was just a combination of everything. It's a lot to take on. There is a Sister in my district that I got to talk to last night, Sister Smith. She has been out three months and she struggled bad at first. She said to me, " It might feel like your whole world is crashing down around you, and to be honest it probably is. But it is doing that so Heavenly Father can help you build up a better world." And it's true. I was contemplating whether or not to write about my struggles this week, because there was plenty of good this week to make it sound like I am doing perfectly fine. But that wouldn't be true. This weekend has been hard. I have cried a lot. I wake up some mornings ready to cry again, but I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me. I know that the hard times are honestly why I need a mission. It is through trials and hard times that I have to turn and rely on the Lord. Back home, although it is comfortable, I won't experience what I need to build my testimony to where it needs to be. Sister Smith also said, "When things get hard you know it is time to learn." Things can smooth sail for a little bit, like the first few days here, but eventually I need to start learning. And that's what I need to do right now. But it sucks. I hate feeling like this. I just want to love my mission. Love everything. and do great. But that takes time. And I need to be patient, with myself and with the Lord. I am still struggling. And I probably will for a while. I'm probably going to cry a lot. But I know it's all part of the process.
My favorite scripture this week is 1 Nephi 17. It came at the perfect time. v.51- Heavenly Father isn't going to lead me out on to a mission (or to go build a boat) and then just leave me to do it by myself. I just have to trust in him to learn what I need to learn. That's the hard part.
I love you all. I say again: Please write me! I love receiving letters or emails. It's just fun.
Sister Belnap
Elder Joshua Nieman
December 15, 2014
Well tomorrow are cambios which are transfers. Probably Elder Alacama is going to go somewhere else and I am probably going to stay in Andahuaylas. I might get someone that I have to train which is really freaking me out but hey that is fine. I started to think how my training went a lot this week and really I feel like it went good but I really dont feel like I am ready. haha Elder Alacama has been so good and I am so grateful to have him as my trainer. Wow time flies by when you are walking and working your butt off. It is officially 4 months and honestly this last month went so fast and the next will probably go even faster. I have been thinking a lot about time and wondering if it will go faster or slower. I finally came to an answer that it doesnt matter and all you have to worry about is serving the Lord with all your heart and forgetting yourself. These past weeks have been the toughest but happiest moments of my life and it just makes me think that this isnt so bad. I cant believe that next week is Christmas and how it is going to be so different for me. I really actually started to freak out about that until me and my companion visited this family yesterday and they had a tree up and blasting christmas songs. I started to think about you all and started to be really homesick. HAha which isnt good at all but as I started to think, I wasnt focused on anyone else but myself. For a moment I looked up and I saw this family all smiling and everyone was having a great old time. Every thought in my head of homesickness went away and I said to myself this is what it is all about. I should be more thankful for things I have and start focusing on bringing people the happiness I feel every christmas. It was a really good night and I was so happy to see the joy in peoples faces. Of course I miss every single one of you but this is going to be so good for me to focus on things like eternal families and the light of christ and how this gospel blesses so many families. My heart is filled with love right now.
Also this week we invited someone to be baptized. Her name is Alysia and it was so cool cause as we were saying Do you want to be baptized she immediatly said yes and there was no doubt in her voice. It was so amazing and I love missionary work. Her date for baptism is on the 3 of January. So many things that happen in a week I cant tell you all of them. OOOh but there was this one time where we were walking pretty fast and these houses in Peru are really weird. Sometimes I have to duck to avoid them while we walk and I have to duck going through doors and just everything is so small. Well we were walking and I wasnt paying attention to what was in front of me. Well I ended up hitting this house with my head and it made a huge smacking noise. I am pretty sure I blacked out for a second cause when I opened my eyes I was sitting on the ground. hahaha That was a pretty crazy thing and probably not good cause ever since then I feel like I cant talk in spanish. hahah no just kidding but that hurt so bad. Also this week I received the package from grandpa. Woooooow I love and miss his cookies. haha Even though they were crushed I enjoyed every single one. They were so good. Other than all those I think that is all for this letter. Next week I get a pre call to you guys next monday and tell you the Skype thing. I am not sure when but I will tell you next week. Well I love you all and I hope your week is great.
Love you all
Elder Nieman
December 15, 2014
Well tomorrow are cambios which are transfers. Probably Elder Alacama is going to go somewhere else and I am probably going to stay in Andahuaylas. I might get someone that I have to train which is really freaking me out but hey that is fine. I started to think how my training went a lot this week and really I feel like it went good but I really dont feel like I am ready. haha Elder Alacama has been so good and I am so grateful to have him as my trainer. Wow time flies by when you are walking and working your butt off. It is officially 4 months and honestly this last month went so fast and the next will probably go even faster. I have been thinking a lot about time and wondering if it will go faster or slower. I finally came to an answer that it doesnt matter and all you have to worry about is serving the Lord with all your heart and forgetting yourself. These past weeks have been the toughest but happiest moments of my life and it just makes me think that this isnt so bad. I cant believe that next week is Christmas and how it is going to be so different for me. I really actually started to freak out about that until me and my companion visited this family yesterday and they had a tree up and blasting christmas songs. I started to think about you all and started to be really homesick. HAha which isnt good at all but as I started to think, I wasnt focused on anyone else but myself. For a moment I looked up and I saw this family all smiling and everyone was having a great old time. Every thought in my head of homesickness went away and I said to myself this is what it is all about. I should be more thankful for things I have and start focusing on bringing people the happiness I feel every christmas. It was a really good night and I was so happy to see the joy in peoples faces. Of course I miss every single one of you but this is going to be so good for me to focus on things like eternal families and the light of christ and how this gospel blesses so many families. My heart is filled with love right now.
Also this week we invited someone to be baptized. Her name is Alysia and it was so cool cause as we were saying Do you want to be baptized she immediatly said yes and there was no doubt in her voice. It was so amazing and I love missionary work. Her date for baptism is on the 3 of January. So many things that happen in a week I cant tell you all of them. OOOh but there was this one time where we were walking pretty fast and these houses in Peru are really weird. Sometimes I have to duck to avoid them while we walk and I have to duck going through doors and just everything is so small. Well we were walking and I wasnt paying attention to what was in front of me. Well I ended up hitting this house with my head and it made a huge smacking noise. I am pretty sure I blacked out for a second cause when I opened my eyes I was sitting on the ground. hahaha That was a pretty crazy thing and probably not good cause ever since then I feel like I cant talk in spanish. hahah no just kidding but that hurt so bad. Also this week I received the package from grandpa. Woooooow I love and miss his cookies. haha Even though they were crushed I enjoyed every single one. They were so good. Other than all those I think that is all for this letter. Next week I get a pre call to you guys next monday and tell you the Skype thing. I am not sure when but I will tell you next week. Well I love you all and I hope your week is great.
Love you all
Elder Nieman
Elder McKlayne Marshall
Alright, what an awesome week we had here in TRrujillo, Peru and tons of awesome stories!!!
We had two baptisms this week, wooooww. The first was Piero Jesus Mendez Rameriz, he has 11 years, and he is a stud. haha The before story of the bapitsm. We got to the church a little early to get everything ready and there was a bunch of people redoing the chalk boards to whiteboards and they were working where the baptizm font is, so we were like hey, we need this room. Sweet, we helped them move there stuff out of the room, and there were tons of screws on the ground so I went to grab some screws, I went down into like catcher position for basebol and RIPPPppp, they wripped from the top part of my bum to the very bottom of my bum, and oh my goodness it was hilarious, you should of seen my comps face!! ahhh it was so great. I put my baptizm pants on, finished getting everything ready, called up AnaMelba, she was planning on coming to the baptism, so she came and fixed my pants, she is the best! haha soo funnyy
The baptism of Pierito was so great, His testimony was so great and It really hit me, He said I can really feel Heavenly Father, and Jesus at myside now, they really are always with us, especially when we are keeping the commandments. He is such a stud, hes a little punk becuase he steals my plaque, and is a little minny Elder Marshall. Love the kid to death! The family is doing really great. His dad is on his way to recieve the Sacerdocio, Piero had invited a bunch of people to his baptism thats why I baptized him and not his dad in a few more weeks, His dad decided it was a better Idea to just do it. Such a great family, so excited to continue the work with them.
Sharon baptism was really great shes such an incredible example to me. She didnt tell anybody in her family about her baptism, her family is really sketchy, they are really acholoic, and are pretty rude to her, but she is the greatest! Every prayer she ALWAYS, thanks heavenly father for her family, she has definanlty taught me a lot, and her english is still really bad...llike she doesnt understand english at all, but its okay I Know the Lord will bless her for her decision, and with her family.
Some pretty awesome baptisms. We will have two more baptisms next week with Bruce and Anamelba! oh they are the greatest. They fed us dinner after our dinner a few times this week, Im gonna be soo fat!! haha they are the greatest.
This past week, Elder Valencia and I gave a lot of Bendiciones de Salud, Blessings for the Sick, We had a really great discussion about what we feel during blessings and how we know what to say during the blessing, Elder Valencia is such a great guy, im so greatful for him. The Power of the Preisthood hand in hand in hand with the Spirit, is so Key in the work of the church, something im starting to learn about.
OH, haha a gross story, One breakfast my mamma made us like a orange julius but with paypaaii, yum love it. I decided to serve myself first...bad decision Elder Marshall, I sipped the down the first swig, and in a lot of the drinks here, there is a lot of pulp, so there was a pulp like texture in the first sip, I was super close to sipping it down and continuing with my morning, but then the pulp started to squerm, that dang pulp wasnt not pulp it was a cucaracha...cockrouch...no se como escribe eso, in my mouth! I flipppeeddd! ewww...ahha the dang bugs here. I love it!
This Christmas season in the mission is incredible. I encourage all of you to find all the part in the book of mormon and bible where it talks about the Birth of JesuCristo and the resurrection. We are the True Church and for this we believe and rejoice and focus in the resurrecion of Chirst, el Vive!! Yo se con todo mi corazon.
Well, I love you all so much, thank you for all the emails and prayers.
Les Amo
Elder Marshall
Alright, what an awesome week we had here in TRrujillo, Peru and tons of awesome stories!!!
We had two baptisms this week, wooooww. The first was Piero Jesus Mendez Rameriz, he has 11 years, and he is a stud. haha The before story of the bapitsm. We got to the church a little early to get everything ready and there was a bunch of people redoing the chalk boards to whiteboards and they were working where the baptizm font is, so we were like hey, we need this room. Sweet, we helped them move there stuff out of the room, and there were tons of screws on the ground so I went to grab some screws, I went down into like catcher position for basebol and RIPPPppp, they wripped from the top part of my bum to the very bottom of my bum, and oh my goodness it was hilarious, you should of seen my comps face!! ahhh it was so great. I put my baptizm pants on, finished getting everything ready, called up AnaMelba, she was planning on coming to the baptism, so she came and fixed my pants, she is the best! haha soo funnyy
The baptism of Pierito was so great, His testimony was so great and It really hit me, He said I can really feel Heavenly Father, and Jesus at myside now, they really are always with us, especially when we are keeping the commandments. He is such a stud, hes a little punk becuase he steals my plaque, and is a little minny Elder Marshall. Love the kid to death! The family is doing really great. His dad is on his way to recieve the Sacerdocio, Piero had invited a bunch of people to his baptism thats why I baptized him and not his dad in a few more weeks, His dad decided it was a better Idea to just do it. Such a great family, so excited to continue the work with them.
Sharon baptism was really great shes such an incredible example to me. She didnt tell anybody in her family about her baptism, her family is really sketchy, they are really acholoic, and are pretty rude to her, but she is the greatest! Every prayer she ALWAYS, thanks heavenly father for her family, she has definanlty taught me a lot, and her english is still really bad...llike she doesnt understand english at all, but its okay I Know the Lord will bless her for her decision, and with her family.
Some pretty awesome baptisms. We will have two more baptisms next week with Bruce and Anamelba! oh they are the greatest. They fed us dinner after our dinner a few times this week, Im gonna be soo fat!! haha they are the greatest.
This past week, Elder Valencia and I gave a lot of Bendiciones de Salud, Blessings for the Sick, We had a really great discussion about what we feel during blessings and how we know what to say during the blessing, Elder Valencia is such a great guy, im so greatful for him. The Power of the Preisthood hand in hand in hand with the Spirit, is so Key in the work of the church, something im starting to learn about.
OH, haha a gross story, One breakfast my mamma made us like a orange julius but with paypaaii, yum love it. I decided to serve myself first...bad decision Elder Marshall, I sipped the down the first swig, and in a lot of the drinks here, there is a lot of pulp, so there was a pulp like texture in the first sip, I was super close to sipping it down and continuing with my morning, but then the pulp started to squerm, that dang pulp wasnt not pulp it was a cucaracha...cockrouch...no se como escribe eso, in my mouth! I flipppeeddd! ewww...ahha the dang bugs here. I love it!
This Christmas season in the mission is incredible. I encourage all of you to find all the part in the book of mormon and bible where it talks about the Birth of JesuCristo and the resurrection. We are the True Church and for this we believe and rejoice and focus in the resurrecion of Chirst, el Vive!! Yo se con todo mi corazon.
Well, I love you all so much, thank you for all the emails and prayers.
Les Amo
Elder Marshall
Sister Hannah Walker
Oh my goodness!!! I don't even know where to start!! Well, I guess I should probably start at transfers... I got moved to Phenix City Alabama :) (no, that's not Phoenix, Arizona). It's in the Columbus Stake. For starters, this apartment is absolutely palace material! The apartment complex is called Windsweep Court Luxery apartments. haha man, such a huge difference from where I came from...It's also not very southern at all...the ward is such a Utah ward due to the army. Oh well :) I am in a trio now for the next three weeks :) My companions are Sister Hathaway and Sister Baker. Sis Hathaway goes home in three weeks :( but she is absolutely amazing. She doesn't feel like she's going home which means she's working super hard and still loving the work :) Sis Baker happens to be one of my first Sister Training Leaders! So I've known her my entire mission :) we're going to finish the transfer off together and that'll be awesome :) They're both from Utah (of course) and we know how to have a good time. hmm let's see what else...oh! Another amazing miracle is that we are having a baptism this weekend! Takesha Paige is getting baptized :) She is amazing. She's 4' 11" and teeny tiny, but her Spirit radiates! She has a fiery two year old that's going on 20. I don't really know what to say about her because I've only known her for a week, but she's awesome :) Pics will come next week :)
So this week was awesome, but filled with meetings. Which were just as awesome :) We had the transfer meeting on Tuesday and let me say that that transfer meeting will go down in the history of this mission. Every single person who was getting moved got put with someone they knew. Most of the pairs are really good friends. Like, pretty much everyone got to be with the one missionary that they've always wanted to serve with. We were all amazed (president included) at the number of joyful shouts that filled the room during that meeting. It truly was a tender mercy and blessing from the Lord. The change happened not too far from Christmas, and He knows how hard these changes are. He wanted us all to be happy for Christmas:) haha it was amazing... Then we had a Zone Meeting on Thursday in which we learned tons of cool things. The real highlight was on Saturday though. We had the Christmas Conference with half of the mission. Elder Giddins from the 70 came to talk to us about getting immersed in the scriptures and likening them unto us. I could go on and on about his wonderful trainings, but I'll save that for later :) President also read us Christmas stories and there were nativity skits and christmas carols sung. Overall, it was amazing :)
A huge miracle and blessing happened to us yesterday after church.. We stayed after to talk to a less active member for a while..a bit longer than we had originally wanted, but he needed to talk to us. After the conversation, we were getting ready to leave and the Bishop caught us. He introduced us to this woman named Heather who worked with a member that he knew. She had come to check out the church, but due to mis-communication, didn't arrive in time for the actual service. Bishop was helping her out with some things and while she was waiting for him, we started talking to her. She wanted to know more about us and everything. We ended up taking her on a tour of the church building and she absolutely LOVED it! The entire time, the Spirit was super strong and we were able to teach her much about Christ's church :) She mentioned how there were so many misconceptions about Latter Day Saints and she was so happy to have them cleared up. We have a return appointment with her on Thursday :) She's super excited to learn more! Another cool little thing was that I apparently look EXACTLY like her daughter in law. She kept looking at me weird when I talked because I'm identical. She kept mentioning how much of a glow and happiness she can see in us as members and how comfortable she felt with us and in the building. She also said that the fact that I looked identical to her sister made it even easier too :) She's gonna get baptized :)
Oh! Another experience that happened this week was a lesson with Richard. Richard apparently has been taking the lessons for a while, but he hasn't been keeping any commitments or reading the scriptures or doing anything that the sisters have asked him to do. So we go visit him one last time on Friday to see if anything has changed. He's in his 80s and was just sittin on his porch when we pulled up to his trailer. As we sat down and got talking to him, it was clear that he just like the sisters coming over because they were good company. He gave cop-out answers to all of our questions and I started getting frustrated with him! Haha there was a point when I was like "Richard! How do you get to Heaven?" He responded with "By living good." I was like "And how do you live good?" his response was "Live hard and die young!" haha sister Baker said out of the corner of her mouth "Well, it's too late for that..." but I kept ragging on him and making him explain his answers and talk about the specifics of what he needs to do. We talked about how we all can improve and change, but when it comes down to it, this guy doesn't want to change right now. We asked him what could be holding him back from coming to church and he said he needed new pants. We told him to get some! He said that he doesn't have the money right now....and that he'll get it someday. haha man, I kept throwing questions at him (he's the kind of guy that you can be bold, upfront, and blunt with thank goodness..). At some point, I think he was kind of getting annoyed with me and he said "Do you want me to take my shoe off?" I said "Why would you do that?" he said "To knock you upside the head with it." haha he was messin around and stuff because that's just the way he is, but at the end of the day, we just told him that it's up to him now. If he wants to start making those changes and trying to progress, then he will call us. I was thinking about this on the car ride to the next place... There are a couple people in the Book of Mormon who don't have very much written about them. And what is written isn't very much. Just that they said something meaningful in a crowd or were part of a certain army or something. If our actions were recorded, what would they say about us? Everyone says that it's the thought that counts...and that does count for something! But it's our actions as well as our thoughts that will be recorded in Heaven. How do we want people to remember us? Do we want to be someone that just stays in place? Or maybe does one good thing for the neighborhood, then sits back and says "I've done my part." Christ's church is about progression. That's one of the biggest things I've learned on my mission. We are here to work, to progress, improves and help others to do the same. If we aren't moving forward towards God, then we're moving backwards away from him.. Don't be afraid to make those changes necessary. No one's perfect :) We all have room to improve and be better. The sooner you start, the more time you'll have to perfect. :) That was a huge lesson learned this week :)
Another family we're working with is the Howell's. The parents and oldest son got baptized in September and have integrated into the ward perfectly. The dad Tom just got the priesthood and blessed the sacrament a couple weeks ago, and he got his Patriarchal blessing yesterday. We're still working with their daughter Pearl. She really wants to get baptized for the right reasons and we've been helping her to continue to learn and grow in her Gospel knowledge. She's going to get baptized as soon as she can give up coffee and get up for church haha :) But I just wanted to make yall aware of that family. They're awesome, but not exempt from the struggles that every family goes through :)
So those are the highlights for this week! I'll attach some pictures from this week, then I'll send another one with the pics I promised last week :)
Love yall!! Hope you're enjoying this wonderful holiday season! :)
Love
Sister Walker
Me, Sis Tevi, and Sis Clause. We're awesome :) Sis Tevi goes home this transfer!! :'( :'(
our little christmas arrangement :)
PS-Hannah's new mailing address is
15 Windsweep Ct. 315 D
Phenix city AL
36870
Oh my goodness!!! I don't even know where to start!! Well, I guess I should probably start at transfers... I got moved to Phenix City Alabama :) (no, that's not Phoenix, Arizona). It's in the Columbus Stake. For starters, this apartment is absolutely palace material! The apartment complex is called Windsweep Court Luxery apartments. haha man, such a huge difference from where I came from...It's also not very southern at all...the ward is such a Utah ward due to the army. Oh well :) I am in a trio now for the next three weeks :) My companions are Sister Hathaway and Sister Baker. Sis Hathaway goes home in three weeks :( but she is absolutely amazing. She doesn't feel like she's going home which means she's working super hard and still loving the work :) Sis Baker happens to be one of my first Sister Training Leaders! So I've known her my entire mission :) we're going to finish the transfer off together and that'll be awesome :) They're both from Utah (of course) and we know how to have a good time. hmm let's see what else...oh! Another amazing miracle is that we are having a baptism this weekend! Takesha Paige is getting baptized :) She is amazing. She's 4' 11" and teeny tiny, but her Spirit radiates! She has a fiery two year old that's going on 20. I don't really know what to say about her because I've only known her for a week, but she's awesome :) Pics will come next week :)
So this week was awesome, but filled with meetings. Which were just as awesome :) We had the transfer meeting on Tuesday and let me say that that transfer meeting will go down in the history of this mission. Every single person who was getting moved got put with someone they knew. Most of the pairs are really good friends. Like, pretty much everyone got to be with the one missionary that they've always wanted to serve with. We were all amazed (president included) at the number of joyful shouts that filled the room during that meeting. It truly was a tender mercy and blessing from the Lord. The change happened not too far from Christmas, and He knows how hard these changes are. He wanted us all to be happy for Christmas:) haha it was amazing... Then we had a Zone Meeting on Thursday in which we learned tons of cool things. The real highlight was on Saturday though. We had the Christmas Conference with half of the mission. Elder Giddins from the 70 came to talk to us about getting immersed in the scriptures and likening them unto us. I could go on and on about his wonderful trainings, but I'll save that for later :) President also read us Christmas stories and there were nativity skits and christmas carols sung. Overall, it was amazing :)
A huge miracle and blessing happened to us yesterday after church.. We stayed after to talk to a less active member for a while..a bit longer than we had originally wanted, but he needed to talk to us. After the conversation, we were getting ready to leave and the Bishop caught us. He introduced us to this woman named Heather who worked with a member that he knew. She had come to check out the church, but due to mis-communication, didn't arrive in time for the actual service. Bishop was helping her out with some things and while she was waiting for him, we started talking to her. She wanted to know more about us and everything. We ended up taking her on a tour of the church building and she absolutely LOVED it! The entire time, the Spirit was super strong and we were able to teach her much about Christ's church :) She mentioned how there were so many misconceptions about Latter Day Saints and she was so happy to have them cleared up. We have a return appointment with her on Thursday :) She's super excited to learn more! Another cool little thing was that I apparently look EXACTLY like her daughter in law. She kept looking at me weird when I talked because I'm identical. She kept mentioning how much of a glow and happiness she can see in us as members and how comfortable she felt with us and in the building. She also said that the fact that I looked identical to her sister made it even easier too :) She's gonna get baptized :)
Oh! Another experience that happened this week was a lesson with Richard. Richard apparently has been taking the lessons for a while, but he hasn't been keeping any commitments or reading the scriptures or doing anything that the sisters have asked him to do. So we go visit him one last time on Friday to see if anything has changed. He's in his 80s and was just sittin on his porch when we pulled up to his trailer. As we sat down and got talking to him, it was clear that he just like the sisters coming over because they were good company. He gave cop-out answers to all of our questions and I started getting frustrated with him! Haha there was a point when I was like "Richard! How do you get to Heaven?" He responded with "By living good." I was like "And how do you live good?" his response was "Live hard and die young!" haha sister Baker said out of the corner of her mouth "Well, it's too late for that..." but I kept ragging on him and making him explain his answers and talk about the specifics of what he needs to do. We talked about how we all can improve and change, but when it comes down to it, this guy doesn't want to change right now. We asked him what could be holding him back from coming to church and he said he needed new pants. We told him to get some! He said that he doesn't have the money right now....and that he'll get it someday. haha man, I kept throwing questions at him (he's the kind of guy that you can be bold, upfront, and blunt with thank goodness..). At some point, I think he was kind of getting annoyed with me and he said "Do you want me to take my shoe off?" I said "Why would you do that?" he said "To knock you upside the head with it." haha he was messin around and stuff because that's just the way he is, but at the end of the day, we just told him that it's up to him now. If he wants to start making those changes and trying to progress, then he will call us. I was thinking about this on the car ride to the next place... There are a couple people in the Book of Mormon who don't have very much written about them. And what is written isn't very much. Just that they said something meaningful in a crowd or were part of a certain army or something. If our actions were recorded, what would they say about us? Everyone says that it's the thought that counts...and that does count for something! But it's our actions as well as our thoughts that will be recorded in Heaven. How do we want people to remember us? Do we want to be someone that just stays in place? Or maybe does one good thing for the neighborhood, then sits back and says "I've done my part." Christ's church is about progression. That's one of the biggest things I've learned on my mission. We are here to work, to progress, improves and help others to do the same. If we aren't moving forward towards God, then we're moving backwards away from him.. Don't be afraid to make those changes necessary. No one's perfect :) We all have room to improve and be better. The sooner you start, the more time you'll have to perfect. :) That was a huge lesson learned this week :)
Another family we're working with is the Howell's. The parents and oldest son got baptized in September and have integrated into the ward perfectly. The dad Tom just got the priesthood and blessed the sacrament a couple weeks ago, and he got his Patriarchal blessing yesterday. We're still working with their daughter Pearl. She really wants to get baptized for the right reasons and we've been helping her to continue to learn and grow in her Gospel knowledge. She's going to get baptized as soon as she can give up coffee and get up for church haha :) But I just wanted to make yall aware of that family. They're awesome, but not exempt from the struggles that every family goes through :)
So those are the highlights for this week! I'll attach some pictures from this week, then I'll send another one with the pics I promised last week :)
Love yall!! Hope you're enjoying this wonderful holiday season! :)
Love
Sister Walker
Me, Sis Tevi, and Sis Clause. We're awesome :) Sis Tevi goes home this transfer!! :'( :'(
our little christmas arrangement :)
PS-Hannah's new mailing address is
15 Windsweep Ct. 315 D
Phenix city AL
36870
Elder Kyler Olsen
So this is just news. Cause the Happy cancels out the sad. Mostly. And the good cancels out the bad. I have cambios. transfers I guess in english. I leave today at 1:30 to Chiclayo. How dare they malograr our sacred pday with a 5 hour bus ride!! I will find out where I go and who i am with tomorrow. And our pdays are gonna be the 25th and the 31st, so i wont be writing next monday. Ya so thats the news. But idk I am happy cause I feel like I have put a good effort into this ward and area and have truly made some great friends, which unfortunately I have to leave, again, and shared and grown my testimony. Sorry this is gonna be short. We didnt really have a spectacular week. We did have a few awesome lessons where you walk out the door and just laugh and smile and sigh, cause the spirit testified. And that is all you can do, its up to the people to accept it. Always look for the whispers of the Spirit to learn. be attentive. Put all your effort into it. Cause Pres Uctdorf said that your testimony is the most important thing that you could ever have. Strenghen it. Share it. Love it.
I sure love you all so much and hope that everything goes super well this christmas, that you learn and love a lot!
Elder Olsen
So this is just news. Cause the Happy cancels out the sad. Mostly. And the good cancels out the bad. I have cambios. transfers I guess in english. I leave today at 1:30 to Chiclayo. How dare they malograr our sacred pday with a 5 hour bus ride!! I will find out where I go and who i am with tomorrow. And our pdays are gonna be the 25th and the 31st, so i wont be writing next monday. Ya so thats the news. But idk I am happy cause I feel like I have put a good effort into this ward and area and have truly made some great friends, which unfortunately I have to leave, again, and shared and grown my testimony. Sorry this is gonna be short. We didnt really have a spectacular week. We did have a few awesome lessons where you walk out the door and just laugh and smile and sigh, cause the spirit testified. And that is all you can do, its up to the people to accept it. Always look for the whispers of the Spirit to learn. be attentive. Put all your effort into it. Cause Pres Uctdorf said that your testimony is the most important thing that you could ever have. Strenghen it. Share it. Love it.
I sure love you all so much and hope that everything goes super well this christmas, that you learn and love a lot!
Elder Olsen
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