Teaching the Plan of Salvation on a hike

Hey y'all!

Cute river we found in Boerne TX

So this week there were a few sad things that happened, but all is well! We keep focusing on the good cause Heavenly Father is so awesome and is always eager to bless us in small ways. 

We met with Daniel two times this week, he is our only progressing investigator at the moment. Our first lesson this week we were talking about being in nature, and when we set up a time for our next lesson he said "Next time we should have our lesson outside. Maybe we can walk on a trail or something by my apartment!" Haha so that's what we did, we walked on a trail for our lesson with him and we talked all about the Plan of Salvation. It was so cool! Probably wasn't ideal cause we were in dresses and not wearing the best shoes, but it was so fun to be outside and to be teaching about God's plan of happiness :) Throughout the lesson we were mentioning baptism a few times since we just received a training in district meeting about how we can talk about baptism in any principle we teach, and Daniel kept talking about his feelings with his baptism that he recently had a few years ago. So we were kind of worried that he might say no to our invitation, but when we finished our lesson we stopped on the trail and extended the invitation to him, he said yes!! It was so cool! Except we've been really trying to get him to come to church again, and sadly he didn't come yesterday :( So we have to push his date back from what we originally planned, but it's all good! He has been reading the BofM and he knows that it is true!! 

And yeah none of our investigators or less actives that we invited came to church yesterday, so that was kind of sad. But it's all good! There's always next week, right? A lot of the people we're working with are having a hard time committing to read the Book of Mormon, so that is our big focus right now. 

Tried to get a selfie with the sunset (didn't work haha)

Also there was an inactive member we met with on Saturday. We called him a few days ago and asked if we could come by and share a message, and he was like "Sure but nothing is going to come out of it." We knew that meant he wasn't really interested, but we thought we would still go over and see how he's doing. We get there on Saturday, and it was probably the shortest visit I've had cause it was just awkward. He was not interested, he kept talking about how he believes God doesn't listen and doesn't care. He has tried to exercise faith in Christ several times in his life, especially with the decision to serve a mission. But he never felt anything good come out of it and just feels like God isn't there for him anymore. It was so sad cause we invited him to pray, and he came back and asked "Well when should I stop?" Oh my goodness it was just heartbreaking. I think I got a little frustrated at him cause I wanted to prove that God is real, and I was so overcome with emotion as I was sharing my testimony. I can't even remember all that I said (cause I know it was the Spirit speaking) But all I could tell him is that God loves him and that He blesses us in His timing. So yeah that was one of the hardest things I've seen so far on the mish. 

But good news, David is reading and praying everyday!! We had an awesome lesson with him on Thursday night about the Spirit cause he has been really wanting to feel the Spirit contstantly. He knows what is right and we're just helping him to continue keeping commitments! :)

And guess what? GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND! Aka the most wonderful time of the year! I invite y'all to tune in this week cause conference is the best :))) it is when we get to hear Heavenly Father speak to us personally through His called apostles. Seriously the coolest thing!! 

I love y'all with all my heart! I do indeed know without a doubt that God is real, He is our loving Heavenly Father. He is with us in every single detail of our lives. He sent a loving Savior to be our friend and exemplar. I'm so grateful for the life He continues to live and I know that true happiness can be felt when we walk alongside our Savior.

Weekly planning with Bluebell ice cream :) 

MUCHOS MILAGROS ESTA SEMANA!!!

San Antonio Temple

Well today I hit 6 MONTHS!
The time seriously goes by so fast, I can't believe it. I'm so excited to spend 1 more year in the great TSAM! and WOWWWW this past week was the most miracles I have seen so far in my mission! Are y'all ready for it?? 

There are too many to share this week so I'm just going to share my top 3:))) First, on Wednesday night we were able to meet Nicole! She is a less active that we have never seen at church, and we've tried knocking on her door several times but never got an answer. Sister Nalder and I were able to get a hold of her on the phone a few weeks ago and we set up an appointment with her at her new apartment, but when we showed up she didn't answer. So we thought she just wasn't interested. But this last Wednesday, Sister Bos put in our plans to knock the apartment complex Nicole lives at, not knowing why that specific place and not knowing that she lives there. So in the evening we get to the complex, and I realized that Nicole lives here too, so I told Sister Bos about her and we decided to knock her door first. We knocked the door twice and there was no answer, so we decided to leave a note for her, and as I was about to start writing on the card she opens the door! She let us in and we talked with her for a while, and she shared with us how she converted to the church with her family when she was a youth, but as time went on her whole family became inactive. We talked for a while about Girls Camp and all the fun memories she made growing up in the church, and she expressed how she wants to get back to church and come to activities. She shared with us how she knows that she needs to turn back to God because of some sad medical news she just received, and so we were able to share a message with her in the Book of Mormon and invite her to read. But super cool! It was definitely God's hand guiding us to meet with her that night. 

And then on St Patrick's day we had 2 MIRACLES! The first one, we met a girl named Cindy who was so nice and friendly and let us in (We knocked on a less actives door, and so she told us that the less active doesn't live there anymore). She has a strong faith in Christ and says she has also gone on a mission as part of her faith. As we were talking and introduced her to the Book of Mormon, she said that she already had a copy! Apparently she ran into some Elders a few years ago, but there were only a few visits. She agreed to let us come back next week, and when looking through our area book we were wondering why her lessons didn't continue with the Elders. We searched for her name on the area book, and turns out she already had a profile but under her old address. The Elders recorded that they had several lessons with her but that all of a sudden they couldn't find her anymore. But 2 years later we found her, just in a different apartment! And we were led to knocking on her door because of looking for a less active! So amazing. 

Our last huge miracle, on Saturday also we were trying to contact some less actives in the evening. A few months ago when we took a member out on ministering visits, she gave us a referral of a less active named David that was just in the ward a few months ago and was a returned missionary, but who fell away cause of old habits and several other reasons. She told us what his car looked like and the times that he is usually home, so we stopped by several times that week but he was never home. We tried again a few more times during the next few months with no luck. So Sister Bos and I decided to try again on Saturday, even though we were kind of worried that he would have been gone somewhere for the weekend. But we saw his truck in the driveway and knew that that was our chance to talk to him! For a second we were second guessing ourselves to go talk to him cause we saw him sitting in his truck smoking. But we knew that we had to go talk to him and push off the thoughts that Satan was making us think that "we shouldn't bother him". We introduced ourselves, and he was so friendly and we had a great discussion about some issues and questions he has had regarding feeling the Spirit. He finally agreed to let us come back in a little over a week. We walked away from that contact kind of confused, because we could tell that he still had a really strong testimony but is just struggling with old habits. In the evening, we checked our phone, and he had texted us just a few minutes after we had left his house, and in his text he asked if we could come by sooner! He explained that he has been trying to figure things out on his own but he know that it isn't working. He wants to get back to where he was before and said how he was really grateful that we stopped by. Sister Bos and I just starred at the phone in awe and in tears!! We couldn't believe that that one little visit we had with him had a big impact on him. SO CRAZY! 

I know that this gospel truly can bless our lives if we let it. We have to be willing to do our part and follow God's commandments, but I testify that as we continue to look to Christ and make God a priority in our lives, He will guide us and bless us in every aspect. This gospel truly can heal us of our mistakes and any trial that we face. It is the gospel of happiness and it is meant to be enjoyed by all of God's children. 

I love y'all with all my heart and I know that this gospel is meant for YOU! 

Mi nueva compañera es mi favorita!

Hermana Bos

HOLA! 

Wow this week was pretty crazy, but super fun! First off, I "killed" my trainer which was super sad and hard to see her go, but I am so happy that she is home now with family :) so I was with Sister Holt for a few days until transfers came, and then I met my trainee Hermana Bos. She is from Kaysville UT and also went to the Mexico CCM! AND SHE IS THE CUTEST! I love her con todo mi corazón! She pretty much is training me haha, I have learned so much from her already, and yeah I just love her a lot :))) 

The work is going a little bit slower right now, spring break is this week and we don't have as many investigators as we used to since I first got here. So we have been doing a lot of finding and it's been great! Also, we had a lesson with Daniel this week. Sadly he didn't come to church cause he's starting to go back to his church, and he's still a little hesitant about keeping commitments, but he loves meeting with us! He is so so close to baptism, just got to motivate him a little bit more :) 

Not much else has happened this week, besides that the warm weather is starting to come back, so yay!! That means that more people will be outside, perfect finding opportunity ;) haha i love y'all so so much! Hope y'all have a great week! 

STAYING IN THE YSA!

West Zone -- Best Zone!

GUESS WHAT??

I am staying in the YSA ward for another transfer! AND I am TRAINING!!!

On Thursday I will meet my compañera Hermana Bos and will be finishing her training. I am so so excited and I'm so happy to be staying in the best ward for another transfer :)

On Friday some of the missionaries in our zone got together and we picked up trash on the side of the road (there are some areas around San Antonio that are horrible with littering) and it was so much fun! Lots of cars were honking at us and there was even a guy named Steven that came up and said he wanted to help! Which was actually perfect cause he drove a truck and we needed a place to put all the trash haha :) but perfect finding opportunity! We all talked to him about the church a little bit and some of the elders that he drove home gave him a Book of Mormon! 

We also had Tim's baptism this weekend! It was sooo good, his parents even came! And we also have a recent convert moving into our ward from our District Leaders area, so my new comp and I have lots of converts we will be working with the next few weeks! 

Since Hermana Nalder is leaving this week, we got pics with some of our favorite people :) I love this area with all of my heart. Some of the most amazing people I have ever met and I am so grateful that I get to spend some more time with these lovely people. 

I love y'all! God's work is the best work to be a part of! Loving every day of it! 

Indira (Recent Convert)

Elizabeth (Recent Convert)

Jessica (Member)

Sadie (Member)

Service

Tim and Keiki

Brother Hernandez (Bishopric Counselor)

Tiffany (Member)

Emma (Investigator)

Mae and Alix (Relief Society President)

West Zone -- Best Zone!