Week 14

Happy Monday!

It sounds like ya'll have had a pretty eventful week! I loved your emails.

We've had a pretty good week! Unfortunately, I don't have too much to tell, but we did have a really cool lesson.

 

We have been teaching this girl and her brother (Reyna and Ian) for a little bit. We ran into them in the park and then never followed up on them. The other sisters gave us a referral and when we went to meet them we recognized them as the people in the park! It's not often you get second chances to talk to people. We were pretty excited. As we started talking to Reyna we realized she had been really prepared for the gospel. She loved everything we talked to her about. We also found out that her brother Ian, is actually a member. Apparently, we have a knack for finding people that have already been baptized but still dont know anything about the church. They are 18 and 19 so it was really fun ot teach people our age. They were reading in the Book of Mormon and really into it! We had a lesson last wednesday where we talked about faith and repentance. Woah! It was pretty awesome. They all had a really good understanding of faith but repentance was really cool. We had them imagine everything they had done wrong or that they felt bad about in their life, and then imagine it being gone. Reyna (whos a little stubborn) spoke up and said she didn't believe that it could just be taken away. She has a firm belief that if she did it, she has to pay for it. It can't be undone. I then had the sweet opportunity to explain the role of the Savior - how he takes the place for her errors and how he already paid the price. She just sat there with a concentrated look for a minute and then look up at me. As I looked into her eyes, I could just see that peace and realization. She understood it! It was the first time she had really started accepting the Atonement in her life. She told us that no one has ever been able to change her mind on that before, but the spirit did! It was so powerful and really just strenghtened my testimony of the Savior. Unfortunately, they would rather go to an English ward, so we had to turn them over to the English sisters. I don't know what's going to happen, but I hope they keep progressing. That same night we were able to teach Oscar (Julieta's husband) about the baptismal covenant and again explain the repentance aspect of the Atonement. That same look came to his face as he realized the miracle of forgiveness. I just love that look.

 

Thursday we found a cute little family. Reina and her 3 little kids. She's a single mom and wants to become Christian some day...or in other words be baptized. She is just in the beginning of discovering Heavenly Father so we take it really slow with her. It's been really fun to go a little slower and more in depth so she can understand. She's really cute. In answer to mom's question about the Gilbert temple - we are allowed to go if we have investigators. There are a lot of restrictions such as: it has to be before 6 and only during the week, and we have to have their fellowship family with us. We're working really hard to go on Thursday with this family. The first time we met them we talked about temples and I showed the little kids a picture of the SLC temple. The next time we talked to them, as soon as I got in the door the little boy was like "Can I see the pretty picture again?" It was so cute! We figured the temple would be really good for them.

 

We also had exchanges on Friday. This time I stayed in the area and Sister Taylor went to South Phoenix. It was the first time I had to take over the area by myself! Ahh! It was so scary, but I learned so much and gained so much confidence. All of a sudden I could actually understand Spanish and speak it back! I miraculously was able to find all of our investigators houses and coordinate with the members. I know the Lord was behind me every step of the way. It was a great experience for me to see that I know how to do a lot more than I think I do.

 

We rode bike a couple times this week because we are running out of miles. Wooga! I'm definitley saddle sore, but not as out-of-shape as I thought I was. It's a blast! We get to talk to sooo many people. The eloteros (guys with the Nacho Libre bikes and corn with mayonnaise) give us free soda and elote all the time. We never have money but they give it to us anyway, so we sneak a BofM on their cart. :) It's much better than money anyways, right? I feel like a real missionary now. We ride bikes and I was chased by a dog for quite some time. At least, that seemed to be the vision of missionary work that I had before I actually became a missionary.

 

Yesterday we had a charla fogonera (fireside) with our ward and the cielito ward (our roommates). It had a pretty good turn out! We had one of the councelors of the misssion presidency speak and we sang a song as missionaries. It was really fun and a good way to strenghten the membesr. I hope we'll see some success come from it.

 

Well, that's pretty much it for this week. It's been wonderful and I'm sure this next one will be too. The sunshine really does help with the attitude and I'm really grateful for it. I thought I'd just leave ya'll with a spiritual thought! It comes from the best missionary chapter : Alma 26:9. It says:

"For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God."

As we go about the day, we try our hardest to talk to everyone. If we pass by someone without talking to them, we could have missed an opportunity to share the gospel with someone who has been prepared for it. If Ammon hadn't turned back and talked to the people again, no one else would have done it and they would have been without the gospel. It's the same with us and our friends. Sometimes we may be the only portal to share the gospel with them. If we pass by them and don't share what we have, no one else is going to do it - or they will have to wait a lot longer for it. So this week, I challenge you all to remember in your prayers to pray for someone who has been prepared to feel of your love for the gospel and I promise he will put them in your path. As I have learned time and time again, he will never leave you stranded if you open your mouth, but if you don't open your mouth you feel a whole lot worse than if you had an awkard converstaion. I hope that makes sense and I hope you take this challenge! It's a good one!

I've truly felt your love and prayers this week - thank you, thank you! Have a good one!

 

Con amor,

Hermana Homer

Week 13

Buenos Dias!

I hope ya'll have had a great week. It sounds like it's been busy - but you've been able to have some adventures along the way.

Of course life is fabulous and it's been another great week here in Phoenix. We saw a lot of blessings! It seems that all of our investigators have all of a sudden become interested in what we've been trying to teach them. That's always a good thing...

Monday we had an awesome noche de hogar (FHE) with a family we're trying to teach. Mace and Xochitl (so-chi) and their 3 kids. The mom has been angry at God for some time now and has never been open to our message, but just recently she wants to have a better relationship with Him. We had an awesome lesson about faith and they were able to talk to the Ponce's (the family we had FHE with) about some of their doubts and concerns about joining the church. The Ponce's (our ward mission leader) have only been members for 2 years. They seemed to say the exact things Mace and his family need to hear. Blessing number 1. 

Blessing number 2. On Thursday, we had an awesome lesson with a man named Gustavo. He is so solid. He knows pretty much everything about the bible and such a strong faith in God. He usually overwhelms us a little because he speaks super fast and always has so many questions, but we do what we can. We finally realized that all he really needs is the Book of Mormon. Duh! That will answer all of his questions. So, we used what we learned and taught the BofM. It was an amazing lesson! I don't know if ya'll know this, but the first chapter of the BofM is designed for missionary work. I think I mentioned it a little before, but it's pretty mind blowing so I'll mention it again. If you read the first 12 verses with Joseph Smith in mind...you'll realize how similar they are. I wish I could take 20 minutes with each of you and show you how it applies to your life, but that can be your homework. We teach our investigators about the BofM in 15 minutes - including applying it to their life. It's super hard, but so extremely powerful. This is what we did with Gustavo. He was so cute! He read verse 9 (Christ come down to Lehi) and looks up at us with this "aha" face. He got it! He got that it was like Joseph Smith. He was so excited. He said "Me voy a meter en este libro!" which basically means - I'm going to immerse myself in this book. He pretty much committed himself to read it. This new way of teaching the BofM is truly inspired. We're excited for him! 

Blessing number 3 happened that same night. We went to go visit Randy and his sister Jennifer. They were supposed to be baptized a couple weeks back, but Jennifer went to California, and Randy was the one that dropped us. As we sat down with them and just talked - a lot of his concerns came out. We were able to share a message and the member we had with us (a YSA) invited them to come to a baptism. They said they would go! The best part...is that they really did go! And they loved it! This is also part of the inspired plan the Lord has to hasten His work. As we talked about it with them, Randy said he felt the spirit. We were a little hesitant, but we invited him to be baptized again. He said he wasn't sure, but we committed him to specifically pray about being baptized on the 1st of February. Lo and behold, yesterday we received the information that he wants to be baptized! I am so happy for him! So many miracles.

It's been a great week and it went by so fast! To finish the dog story. We've still been battling our zone leaders. One of them really loves Taylor Swift and hasn't heard the CD "Red" yet. So, I bought it on Monday. I carefully opened it and switched out the actual CD for a Christmas mariachi CD I had and then put sarcastic sticky notes in the pamphlet with the lyrics. We also had to get back at his companion. One of the sisters we live with told us he was Dear Johned a couple months ago so at the back, we put a sticky note that said "Bonus Track: Dear John, feat. Elder Jacobsen." Oh man, we were so excited to give it to them. I carefully wrapped it back up so it looked as if it hadn't been opened. Their faces when we gave it to them were absolutely priceless! He was so mad and so shocked! The best was when they opened it. Elder Jacobsen's draw just dropped. He was shocked. Oh revenge is sweet. We knew they couldn't get us back after this one. However, a couple days later we walk outside to exercise and see a sign that says "Wanna play fetch?" How creepy is that?? We saw that they had made a trail of milkbones so we followed it. It took us clear around our apartment complex and when we returned to our door, there was a massive breakfast waiting for us. They said they couldn't think of anything to get us back, so they killed us with kindness. It was pretty funny. I can't believe this joke is still going. 

Anyways, we've had a lot of fun this week. That's what missionary work is, right? :)

I love you all and hope you have a fabulous week! Don't forget to read in 1 Nephi! 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Homer

Week 12

Hello!

Another beautiful day in Arizona. It's a high of 71 here - woot! I love January. I've been hearing about the cold weather...just know I feel bad for you!

What a week! This email might end up being a novel. So funny story. Or at least now it's funny. Tuesday night, we were driving to an appointment. I was driving (going the speed limit, a little less actually) and all of a sudden a little dog runs out right in front of me and...I hit it. Like square on. We did a little "thump, thump" and I saw it in the rear view mirror laying in the road, but I kept going. I know it was bad, but I was pretty sure it was dead and it was a busy road and I felt awful. After my companion and I stopped screaming bloody murder, I was petrified and she just started laughing her head off. Seriously?? Things are just attracted to me when I drive. It's ridiculous. To make it worse, when we got out and checked the car, the bumper was cracked in half. Whooga. I really didn't know what to do but to laugh and cry a little bit. The thing is...there are hundreds of little dogs running around all the time. Anyways, after I collected myself again, we continued teaching. Actually, we passed a girl sitting on the side of the road. I told my companion we were going to go talk to her. It was a little odd to be sitting on the road at this time and she looked a little down. So we pulled over and after talking to her for a few minutes, we got talking about mutual. She is 17. Mutual happened to be that night at that exact time and we were a block away from the church. She said she wanted to go, so we walked her to the church. As soon as she walked in the building she said "I really like it here. It's so beautiful and feels so nice." I love the spirit! We kept giving her a church tour. The church is in a big U shape. We had gone through the chapel and decided to sit down. We talked a little bit about Heavenly Father. She just opened up to us. She said we were the only ones that could really explain things to her. She was like "I really want to start coming here and I want you to come talk to my mom. She's been wanting to come back to church but we can't find one that we like and I really like this one. It just feel so good." We were so excited. As we kept going around the church, we introduced her to the young women (who were all very friendly and welcoming) and as we made the circle complete, bishop walked out and introduced himself. This was a golden opportunity. She was such a miracle. The best part was at the end. As we completed our church tour I realized that the farther we got in the church, the happier she was. She came in kind of sober, but by the time we left she was talking, laughing, and smiling. It was so awesome. The look on their face when they feel the spirit is the greatest thing ever. That night, my companion told our zone leaders about the dog incident. They are some of the biggest goofs ever and I have been mercilessly teased ever since. Not only are there bad jokes and snarky comments, but yesterday we walk out to find dog food on our car. They think they're so clever...it really quite funny though. They've come up with some great jokes and Sister Acosta, our roommate, gave me the nickname "Hush puppy." Oh the things that entertain missionaries. I think my favorite reaction was Elder Turner who is over the vehicles in the mission. We had car inspections on Thursday and obviously I had to tell him why the bumper was broken. He just started laughing too! Here I was super embarrassed and everyone just laughs. I hope you all got a chuckle out of it too.

 

Thursday we had our zone conference. It was so amazing! We have awesome leaders. We talked a lot about sustaining leaders and companions and the standard of excellence. My favorite part was the end though. President Toone got up and said he had a huge promise for us. He said everyone in the mission has a family waiting for them. As we strive to live the standard of excellence, we will find the family the Lord has prepared for us. What?! I'm so excited to find my family! It was pretty powerful.

 

Friday was a little bit of a downer. We had a set lesson to teach Jasmine (the girl on the road) and her family. After weekly planning we did an hour companion study strictly role playing their lesson. We were determined to do it well. I have to say, it was definitely the most spiritual study we've ever had. I felt like I knew them! We really knew their needs before the lesson. It was amazing to see how much the Lord let us see. We were so excited for this lesson. We had some of the best members in the ward coming out with us and we just knew they were going to be baptized. A half hour before the lesson our members cancelled. We quick got a backup and headed to their house. As we're getting out of the car, they opened their door and we saw the mom look at us and then run in the back like she was trying to get away before we saw her. We went up and asked for them anyway. She had her kids come to the door and tell us she wasn't home. Hiding is never the answer. We were so disappointed. Mostly because we knew what the Lord wanted to give them. We were prepared! But they didn't get to hear it. Ugh. Agency is frustrating sometimes. We haven't given up on them yet. After that experience, we received a text that Elder Holland got called on another assignment and couldn't make it. Double wammy. haha. At this point we just laughed and went to go teach some more. We learned a lot that day.

 

So even though Elder Holland wasn't there we had Elder Wright from the 70. He gave an awesome address as well as all of the other mission presidents and their wives. It was very edifying. He talked a lot about converting ourselves and strengthening our testimonies. My favorite part, however, was when he talked about his son's last letter before he came home from his mission. He said "I'm really going to miss these people and this place, but most of all, I'm going to miss representing the Savior every day." That hit me hard. I've only been out for a couple months, but I'm already going to miss it when it's over. There is nothing like putting His name on my shoulder and acting as he would every single day. It really put it into perspective of how sacred the calling is to be a missionary. We each have a calling and a purpose in this life. I thank all of you for supporting me and allowing me to answer to this one. I know that this is the greatest work that we can do in this life. As I learn new Christlike attributes and come to know my Savior greater, I can think of each one of you and see these same attributes in you. I cannot express how blessed I feel to be a part of a family that is so centered on Christ and doing his work. I used to hate being the youngest and following in everyone's footsteps. But I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to follow in each one of your footsteps now as I draw closer to the Savior. I know that each one of you have already taken this path, and I look up to you, and I thank you for rooting me along as I start the journey. I love you all! You are fabulous missionaries. Have an amazing week - I know I will!

 

Con carino y amor,

Hermana Homer

Week 11

Happy 2014!!

How crazy is that? 2014?? It's weird to me. Considering I was looking forward to 2012 my whole life as the year I graduated, I thought the world ended after that. Apparently, that's not the case and life just keeps getting better.

So New Year's was pretty uneventful, actually.  We had to be indoors doing something "productive" by 8:00pm - that was pretty much it. We did have a lot of people drop appointments though. During that hour of productivity before we planned, we (my comp and our roommates) drank sparkling cider, tried to make random noises, made cookies, and put glow sticks on the fan to make it look like a fire work. It was actually pretty cool. It worked well. Then, we went to bed early - we were tired. It's funny how the world keeps going, even if you don't celebrate a holiday. It's a little weird. I kept wanting to schedule appointments for New Years, because that is my life, but then I realized that everyone else does not focus on teaching the gospel 24/7 and they weren't going to be home. Whoops! As for the Spanish culture celebrating holidays, they really don't do that much. A lot of it is just being inside with their families...or partying hard core like the rest of the world. Nothing too different. They do shoot off guns from 12:00-12:20 though. Our roomies woke up and listened to it, but because our door was shut they didn't come wake us up. So we missed it! Next year.

 

We were supposed to have 3 baptisms on Saturday...but that didn't happen. Randy and Jennifer (the brother and sister) were supposed to be baptized as well as Oscar (Julieta's husband). Jennifer left for California unexpectedly, Randy dropped us, and we found out that Oscar was already a member. What?! It was so crazy. But, I guess that's missionary work. So, now we're looking for new investigators. It's slow, but kind of exciting for me. Now I get to start off brand new with people and I don't feel like I'm just filling the previous missionaries spots. We starting teaching a lady named Ofelia. She's pretty interesting. She's been on date to be baptized twice, but still hasn't done it. She has some doubts about Joseph Smith. I decided we were the right missionaries for her and this was her time. Hopefully, the Lord wants the same thing! We haven't found out yet. We've taught her a couple times and she said she was still interested, but we'll see what happens. We've talked to a lot of interesting people, but the catch with the Hispanic culture is that they're too nice to say no. So they either ignore you, or never call you. It's kind of like a game and I haven't figured out how to best strategize it yet.

 

This week will hopefully bring more success. We have our zone conference on Thursday and Saturday we get to be with Elder Holland. I'm way excited for it. Thank you for all of your prayers and support - I feel it every day! Happy 2014!

Pictures

These are pictures of me with a jug of water which I frequently buy at the gas station and carry around with me everywhere, and Hna. Taylor and I at the temple, along with the baptism pictures. The last one is a fort that me, my companion, and the other two sisters built in our apartment.  We pulled out our mattresses and slept in it. 

Week 10

It was SO great to talk to you on Christmas! I was just grinning all day. Loved it. Thank you for your patience with the technology...some day it'll work. I hope you all had a fabulous day!

We've had an awesome week. It was Christmas, we ended up having a baptism, we had our prayers answered, AND we had a baptism. That was pretty much the greatest part.

Okay, so Thursday was the prayer answer day. Of course, our prayers are answered pretty much everyday, but this one was special for me. I really wanted to find some new people to teach. I read that one way to find people is to look for the unplanned opportunities on the way to your appointments. So, I decided to pray that I would find someone "unplanned" during the day and know that I needed to talk to them. We had a great day and around 8:00pm we were driving back from an appt. I had gotten so caught up in the day, I had forgotten to look for the opportunities! However, we passed this man walking on the side of the street, and I had that impression to go talk to him. My companion was a little hesitant because we thought he was holding a beer bottle, it was in a little sketchy part of town, and at 8:00 at night. I almost pushed it aside, but then I got that feeling again. So, I told her to pull over and we casually walked back so it didn't look like we were stalking him. When we approached him, he kind of kept walking passed us, but we started talking so he stopped. It turns out, he just had a pop bottle and he was super cool! He seemed a little interested and we got a return appointment. I don't know if anything will come of it, but it was super cool to see how the Lord had answered my prayer. I was happy.

 

The baptism. This amazing lady is Julieta. She is an angel and probably the most prepared person I've ever seen in my entire life. Everything we teach her she already has a testimony of it. It's amazing. We thought we were going to have to baptize her next Saturday, but we worked it out enough so we only had to push it one day back. So yesterday we had the baptism! It was sooo good. We had such a good turn out from the ward (25-30) and she was so touched by it. We had her bear her testimony after the ordinance. Through tears she said how much she felt the Holy Ghost. She said when she got in the font the water was cold, but as soon as she came up out of the water she was warm. It was the sweetest thing ever. She was so overwhelmed. UGH. It was soooo good. I can't even describe it. We had everyone there write their testimony on a card for her. We're going to put it in a book with some pictures and give it to her. I also played the song "Redeemer" as a special musical number. It felt so good to play for people again. I was thinking as I played it, that I've only played that song for some of the most influential, or important events in my life. Grandpa's funeral, Jake's farewell, and my first baptism. It just keeps getting better.

 

We also had exchanges from Saturday to Sunday. I went to south Phoenix. It was interesting to see a different area and to see how a different companionship works. I learned a lot. Plus, the dinner appointment we had was casserole! And we had ice cream. It was so American - I loved it. I was also the only one who could play the piano in their ward, so I played during church. It's a handy talent to have. Mom, I have to laugh when people ask me to play - I just remember you wanted me to learn how to play the hymns so bad when I was taking lessons. Well, now I can assure you it is coming in handy. I play all the time. So thanks :)

 

Anyways, it's been a wonderful week to see the Lord's hand in my life, and the lives of others here in Phoenix. I hope you've been able to see His hand in yours! Maybe you can start the year out by giving someone a book of mormon, ya? Just a missionary thought. I hope you have a fabulous week, and...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Week 9

I won't write a lot this week because I get to see you in 2 days! But I just wanted to say hello and I'm excited to see you! I was able to be a part of a special MLC meeting on Friday. Usually it's just for District and Zone leaders, but they invited a few other people, myself and my companion included. They called it "the meeting." haha. Some representatives from SLC came down and did some special training. It was MIND BLOWING. I was so grateful to be a part of it so early in my mission. It totally changed my perspective on how to teach people and being a missionary in general. There was only one other girl my age in the meeting. (mission age, 3 weeks old). We talked about how lucky we felt. I can tell you more details later. That was pretty much the highlight of the week. We also got a man named Oscar to committ to baptism. He is the husband of Julieta, our investigator who is getting baptized on Saturday. We were pretty excited. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve.