Week 8

Sorry this is a couple days late! I hope you're not too worried...or I hope you're a little worried. haha. Either way. We had a huge 3 day mission conference this past weekend that took up our p-day and we didn't have time to email yesterday because of appointments and such so that leaves today. Yay! The conference was great! We had great speakers and food and Santa even came. It was a great time. Yesterday morning we went to the temple as a mission. Our zone went in one of the last sessions so we woke up early and did initiatory before our session. It was only the second time I have done it so I really enjoyed it. Definitley an uplifting weekend. Also, we found out that on January 11th, Mitt Romney and Elder Holland are coming to ASU for a conference. Elder Holland requested some time with the mission here in Arizona. So..the tempe, phoenix, and one other mission are getting together so he can talk to us! I'm super excited. I hope to see Korbin Kavanaugh there AND I get to hear from Elder Holland. We're pretty psyched. I really don't have much to report. We will hopefully have a baptism a week from Saturday. A lady named Julieta. She calls us her angels - like Grandma Homer! She was SO ready for the gospel. I'm really excited for her. I gave a talk in church on Sunday. Or at least tried to ;) It was a little intimidating trying to give it in Spanish, but I think I got the message across. Yesterday, we OYM'd a guy named Salvador. He had sooo many questions. The best part was I knew the gospel could answer everyone of them. Unfortunately, he's not in our area, so we have to turn him over to the elders. I really hope to see him again though. He was legit. Last night we also had a really good lesson with a lady named Domitilia. We taught her the restoration all the way through. At the end, my companion made me speak (she purposefully goes into silent mode so I have to speak...so frustrating) and I just shared a personal story about the priesthood and bore my testimony. I felt the spirit so strong. So strong. I knew it was there. All of a sudden she just starts crying! I was amazed. She seemed really distant about the church before, but we knew she felt it was true last night. We invited her to be baptized and she said she would if she knew it was true. We'll see what happens. Anyways, that's really all that is new right now. I'm excited to talk to ya'll in a week! It's coming fast! I can share more then too. Thank you for your emails! They are always so inspiring. Also, I would love it if you could all send me your testimony in a letter for Christmas. That would be fabulous! I love you all and hope you had a fabulous week!

Week 7

So..here I am in Phoenix or The lone and dreary world as I like to call it right now. I never knew being a missionary could be so hard! I had a lesson in the CCM of how our homes were the garden of eden and we were cast out into the lone and dreary world -- or the CCM. Then, the CCM became the garden of eden and the mission field is the lone and dreary world. That is where I am right now. The Lord wants to prune me a little more and teach me some more things. It's a bit difficult from this end though! Dad, I appreciate that I am allowed to feel overwhelmed. Every day it gets a little better though.

So, the trip. I made a goal to give away one BofM in the Mexico airport. I told my teacher that and when I went to our classroom to get my things I found 3 more sitting on my desk. Apparently he wanted me to give out some more - so I did! I traveld with one other girl (going to Boise, Idaho -- look out for an Hermana Clegg mom and dad) and we acted as companions and gave out 3 Books of Mormon and many Mormon.org cards. It was scary at first, especially because I couldn't understand them, but luckily Hna Clegg is really good at Spanish. I just bore testimony and handed them the book. We figured it was a great way to start the mish. I tried to call you, mom and dad, but the operator said your phones weren't collect calls and it wouldn't go through. It'll be more fun in a couple weeks anyways. The flight was super uneventful (I used that word just for Jayna). I walked out of the terminal to find this 7 foot man and his wife waiting for me. Little did I know he was my mission president. I definitely look up to him in more than one way...lets just say that. One of the elders that is an assistant to Pres. Toone is like 6'7'' too. It was strange going from the Mexico people to Americans. I was the tall white girl in Mexico, and quite the opposite in the airport. I got to talk with them for about an hour as we waited for the missionaries from Provo to arrive. That was pretty cool. I didn't realize that most missionaries don't get that much time with him, so I was grateful for the opportunity. They are amazing, definitley like my parents here in Arizona. I was pretty homesick for Mexico the whole day. I missed my district and my comp, the food, everything really. All the other missionaries knew each other so it was weird. It was really hard knowing I had just had these amazing experiences in Mexico and no one understood the transition I was having. We stayed in a members home that night and had transfers the next morning.

My trainer is Hermana Taylor. She is from Washington. She's been out for about 3 months. She's pretty cool. Hermana Gates set a high bar for my other companions, but she's growing on me every day! She knows a lot of Spanish, so that's good and bad at times. That night we taught a man named Jose. That was a little intimidating! haha. I'm so green it's ridiculous. Our zone leaders tease us about greenie blessings. We had 6 investigators show up at church on Sunday and we had like 11 member presents this week and one investigator on date. We really have been blessed. I'm definitley fine with it!

So I'm serving in Phoenix, if you didn't catch that yet. I'm in a spanish ward. It's great, just different. I really can't understand anyone yet so that's pretty frustrating. I'm ready to be good at spanish now. haha. We have dinner appointments every night with some of the best mexican food I've ever had. They definitely feed us a lot. I'm just praying my body can process it all and I don't gain wait. My companion has already gained 10 lbs and I hear the average is 15. Oh my cupcakes. We'll see what happens. The members here are amazing. We took a lady to an appt and she ended up teaching the whole lesson! They are so focues on missionary work and so willing to help us. A lot of the members are converts themselves so that helps a lot too. They're great.

Yesterday was Stake Conference for our area. President and Sis Toone actually came to our meeting and talked. For some reason I had a feeling Prs. Toone would call on me to bear my testimony...sure enough. He asked me and one other elder to come up on the stand and bear our testimony of the Savior. I was so grateful for that experience. I've never been so calm talking in front of 600 people. It was really cool and I'm so glad our investigators were there to hear it. They have translation for spanish speakers, so even though I can't tell them in their language yet, they know now that I do have a testimony of Christ and I am a representative of him. It was cool.

Anyways, my time is running out. But, I want you to know that I do have a testimony of the Savior. This has been the hardest time of my life, but I know that He has been with me every step of they way, holding my hand and pushing me along. I have never felt closer to my savior than I do now, and I am so grateful for that - especially during the Christmas season. I love you all and hope you can feel the love from the savior the way I do. Have a great week!

I Met Elder Homer!

I GOT THE PICTURE FROM ELDER HOMER. WE ARE LIKE SIBLINGS. LOVE THIS KID.

Week 6

Well, every thing has to have an end, ya? The time has come my friends.

First, let me tell you about Thanksgiving. It was a glorious day and probably one of my favorite thanksgivings. I missed you all terribly, but I was so happy to spend it with my little district family here. The elders played their own "turkey bowl" in the morning. Someone brought a football and they got their fútbol americano fix. We decided to be the cheerleaders and took pictures to support them. It was all fun and games until a teacher came out and told us we weren't allowed to play it anymore. Whoops. It was fun while it lasted. We joked that it was only because it was American. We had class after that. I was expecting it to be a normal day, but our teacher was like "You are all good teachers, we will write grateful notes and listen to Christmas music." I was totally fine with that. He brought us some paper and we started writing. We each took a piece of paper, put our names on the top, and passed it around so everyone could write something on it. My elders were sweet - it was fun to see what they wrote. We had lunch after that. I was honestly expecting the normal pollo y tortillas de maiz that we have every day, but boy was I surprised. We walked into the comedor and they had white table cloths everywhere. They had made the traditional thanksgiving meal. Ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls with butter, pumpkin and apple pie WITH haagen dazs ice cream and gravy. OH MY CUPCAKES. After a month of eating unidentifiable Mexican food, it was heaven in my mouth. Definitely not as good as a home cooked meal, but I was SO grateful for it and the expression of love from the staff to honor our holiday was really sweet. It was great.

For the rest of the day, we studied a bit and taught one of our investigators. They had  special Thanksgiving devotional for us that night. Our evening teacher (vargas) told us he would bring us churros..the authentic kind..before the devotional. We waited for him, but he never came so we just went to the auditorium. Right before it started, he came and found us, brought us out side, and gave us the greatest thing I've ever tasted. It was a churro with marmalade in the middle. Some had chocolate, raspberry, or strawberry. Dang. It was so good. He was like "Happy Holiday" in his little accent. It was so cute. It was a really good day.

Yesterday was a bit rough. We had fast and testimony meeting and our district leader, Elder Fearnley, was the first one to bear his testimony all in Spanish. As soon as he was done his companion, Nelson, jumped up and bore his. Just like that, the rest of the elders in our district bore their testimonies one after the other and then Hma. Gates and I finished. I was sobbing. It was so cool to hear all of them bear their testimonies in Spanish. I just made me realize how much we have learned here. It was a powerful meeting. We took pictures with our Bishop and the Presidency afterwards and he gave us these organic, native made bookmarks. It's gorgeous and a fabulous way to remember Mexico. Last night, the Elders gave everyone blessings. Such a great experience, again. I was inspired to ask Elder Nelson, and it turns out he really wanted to give a blessing. I love how the Lord works. We watched Legacy last night, after the blessings, and then took pictures and said our goodbyes. Gates and I actually woke up this morning at 3:30 to see them off on the bus to the airport. That's where the real goodbyes are. It was so bitter-sweet, but I'm so excited for our Elders to have a fabulous mission. They will all be wonderful. We leave tomorrow at 2:30am. Yay for no sleep! It's great, I'm way excited to meet my mission president and see the area where I will be for the next 17 months. I love you all and can't wait to talk to you on Chistmas..yes I'm already looking forward to that. I know this church is true, and I know that there are people in Tempe who I promised before this life that I would come find them and teach them the gospel. I have been so privileged to grow up with the fullness of the gospel, and I am so glad that I get the opportunity to give back a little and bring it to my friends who have been waiting so long for it. I'm ready, and I know they are too. I love you all and I encourage you to find someone who needs to hear about the blessing of the gospel this week. Have a fabulous day! ADIOS MÉXICO.

Week 5

Happy Thanksgiving!  What a great holiday. We truly have SO much to be grateful for in this life!

It's pretty much just been another "week on the farm." (in mom's words) Class, rice, beans, tortillas, more class, lesson, sleep. It's great! 

Thursday was my favorite day. We have something called TRC. We teach people from the city. Usually its just members that volunteer so we have more of a home teaching lesson or they pretend to be investigators. BUT, this week we had the sweet opportunity to teach 2 real investigators! It was actually pretty ironic. All day my companion and I had been complaining how much we just wanted to be in the field. Sometimes its hard to make lessons real when you are teaching your teacher and in a time rotation. I had a really bad attitude about TRC and just didn't feel like teaching. I felt like I got slapped in the face when we walked in and our teacher told us they were real investigators. The Lord seriously has sense of humor. It was pretty cool. It taught me two things. 1. I don't know Spanish at all. Actually that's a little dramatic, I do know some, but people can talk really fast. 2. Sharing your testimony is the most powerful thing you can do. The first guy we taught was a man named Miguel. His son was a member and he was interested in the church. We asked him some questions about his thoughts on God and such and he just talked and talked. He talked so fast! Hma. Gates and I just looked at each other and smiled. We had no idea what he was saying, but we knew he had a testimony! He started tearing up and it really brought the spirit into the room. We just bore testimony and at the end he asked how he could become a member! I was able to explain baptism a little bit. He was interested! He was as sweet man. The second time we taught we taught a woman named Natalie. She is actually a friend to our teacher. That lesson went pretty good. Again, we mostly just bore testimony. It was really cool to share it to someone who hadn't heard it before and didn't have their own. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but it was just really refreshing. It was amazing to me the love I felt for these people I didn't know. I can safely assume that that is the love God has for them. I feel so honored to feel that and be one to help them feel of His love. Our teacher just told us yesterday that Natalie was really touched by meeting with our district that night and has decided to be baptized! Woot. It really was for real. I count it a great blessing from my Heavenly Father. Just to get a little taste of what is coming in a week. I'm so excited! 

Saturday we had a branch testimony meeting because one of the districts was leaving. Instead of going to TALL (which is a language study program on the computer) we had a testimony meeting. We actually got in a bit of trouble. Our teachers weren't too happy to find us skipping our language time. I felt a little disrespectful, but I had to laugh! Our major act of rebellion was having an inspirational testimony meeting to build each other up rather than study for another hour. The circumstances were just really funny. Only in the CCM. It's our district's time to shine now! We are the oldest and ready to go. I got a letter from my mission yesterday. One of the elders in my district delivered it to me. He said is super sketchy like something was wrong so my first reaction was a sinking heart and worry that I wasn't going to be able to go to my mission. But it was quite the opposite. It was just a welcoming letter. My mission pres. sounds awesome - I'm excited to meet him. 

Anyways, mi familia. Estoy muy agradecido por ustedes. Estoy muy agradecido por este Evangelio y por la oportunidad a servir un mison para mi Dios. Estoy muy agradecido por los Estados Unidos y por mi mision en Arizona. 

I love Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what I will be able to do yet. One of our teachers asked what we wanted, so we made a list. He said he'd do his best to get what he could. We might be making hand turkeys and paper feathers...the elders have strange ideas. I know we have a special devotional, but that's all that is planned as far as I know. I'm still grateful to be here I wish all of you the best holiday. I pray for you every night! Be happy and spread the sunshine! As Dove chocolate once told me, "You can't bring sunshine to the lives of others without bringing it to yourself." I hope you get the opportunity to serve someone this week - that is a blessing in itself. I love you all and wish you the best!

Week 4

Another week down. Only two weeks left in Mexico from today! Este es muy loco. 

Este semaña has been so wonderful. SO wonderful. The Lord has really blessed us. We've had some amazing lessons with our investigators. We are getting more comfortable with the language and with simplifying the gospel. Hallelujah. Instead of planning for hours, we are now able to just walk in with our spanish scriptures and teach whatever the investigator needs. It is so much fun! 

This week has really been a week for service. On Friday, we had planned to teach our investigator, Carlos, about the Restoration. We were so excited and so prepared! We get in there and he starts off with asking us a question about the tree in Lehi's dream. Right then I knew we weren't going to say anything about the restoration, but I was SO excited! I could teach that one. I had no idea how I was going to say it in spanish, but at the moment that really didn't matter. I had shared my thoughts on this with Hma. Gates earlier so she just looked at me and urged me on. I started explaining how the tree is the love of God. The scripture John 3:16 says "For god so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son." Therefore, we can concur that the tree (being the love of God) is really Christ and the fruit is the Atonement. Therefore, our journey on this earth is really to partake of the Atonement and to know God. Oh my cupcakes. I didn't think my heart could feel that much joy. The look on his face when he understood it was priceless. All of a sudden, we weren't teaching Carlos, we were teaching our teacher. Man it was just really awesome. The spirit was there and the spanish just came. The gift of tongues is real. We left that lesson feeling so good. Later that day, I found out that one of our elders was having a really tough day, and was really considering going home - I didn't know that at this time. His companion came and told me he was having a rough time so I wrote him a note to help. Hma. Gates and I went outside to study the scriptures and of course, began with prayer. I just felt really strongly we needed to go in and talk to him. I wasn't sure about what, but we went in anyways. When we got to our classroom, only the two elders were there, (which was perfect) and I suggested we all read Alma 26 together. We sat in a little circle and started reading. A little side note, I absolutely LOVE reading the scriptures as a missionary. I learn something new everytime I read. Anyways, the spirit was super strong and that chapter pretty much outlines our whole mission experience. It was pretty cool. Half way through, the rest of the elders came in the classroom. I expected them to be super rowdy, but instead, they pulled up a chair and our reading circle grew. We all chimed in different comments and thoughts. It was so powerful. At the end, this elder that was struggling just broke down and told us what was going on. It was so cool to feel the love we all had for him. We spent another 30 min boosting him up and telling him he was loved. These boys are seriously like my other family. We are all there for each other. This elder wanted a blessing so they gave him one. It was the most powerful, spiritual, experience I have ever had in my life. What a sight to see 7 worthy preisthood holders surround this missionary as he called on his companion to give the blessing. We were all bawling by the end. I have never felt the spirit so strong. All but 4 of us ended up getting blessings. I loved how each one that asked for a blessing, asked their companions. It was just really cute. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to be surrounded by these angels. I love them and I know they love me. It was so cool to have all of them around me. I didn't really think I needed a blessing because we had had such a successful day, but boy was I wrong. I think because I wasn't preoccupied with something that was bringing me down, or that I needed help with, the Lord took advantage of it and told me what I needed to hear. I asked Elder Backus to offer the blessing because his blessing remind me the most of Dad, Jake, and Dustin. It just felt right. The Lord truly had a lot to tell me. I received answers to prayers I offered years ago. It just strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers. I would count that blessing and experience as my conversion. It was pretty cool. 

That was really the highlight of the week for me. Ever since then our district has just gotten closer. It kind of scares me because I have to leave them in two weeks, but it's so fun. 

I'm getting a little nervous thinking I'll be in the field so soon, but with these experience I've had this past week, I'm so ready to go find people. It's time to storm the castle. (in Dad's words.)

I love you all, and am so, SO, grateful to be an eternal family. Hma. Gates and I starting talking about our families and we both ended up sobbing. Our elders were a little worried when they came back and saw our faces. It was funny. But really, the love I feel for all of you has only grown more and more with each week. You are all my inspiration. 

I know that this church is the true, restored church here on the earth. I know that my Savior, brother, and friend, Jesus Christ, lives. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us to return to him and to become like him on this earth. I know that prayer is real, and the Lord will answer in His own time, when you are ready for it. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, knows me, and helps me. I love this gospel. En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen.

More Pictures...

Mi compañera y yo with our teacher Hermano Vargas and he is also Luis and José, two of our investigators. I love him so much - such a good teacher!

Random picture of Mexico...

 

That one is of today. We were driving back from the temple and a guy was selling bananas. I ended up having some pesos with me so I bought some for our district. They were so good! It was awesome to be on a bus in the middle of Mexico just chillin with some bananas.

We were super matchy matchy that day.

The FUNNIEST Latinos ever. Hands down. They always joke around with us. It's fun to practice our Spanish with them while they try to practice their English with us. 

Our teacher leaves us our homework on the board and draws the hermanas to look like me and my compañera. Just thought it was super cute.

Our district!