THIS IS GOD'S WORK

Sister Tanner, Sister Green & Sister Monroe!

Wow guys, I'm always amazed at how many miracles happen in the mission field every day! It's pretty cool :) 

Sister Tanner

Miracles especially happen on exchanges. While I was in Fredericksburg with Sister Tanner, we were finally able to meet with one of the people they're teaching that hasn't met for a lesson in over a month. I met Mackenzie and she is the cutest :) She has to wait until she is 18 to be baptized because of her parents, but she goes to church and seminary and everything! She is a great example to me. Also while on exchanges in our area, Sister Monroe & Sister Green were able to meet Mesha who is dating an inactive in our area. They knocked on the door looking for Chris, and when Mesha answered the door she got so excited! "Oh Chris is not home right now! I know he would be so excited to see y'all, will you come back later tonight?" They came back towards the end of the evening, and guess what happened? Mesha invited us to come back this week for dinner & a lesson! I'm so pumped to meet them :) 

In ward council yesterday, everyone was in the middle of a discussion about a concern in the ward, and so there were like 1 or 2 little conversations going on. And all of a sudden Brother Sides looks at Brother Haight (bishopric counselor) with his laptop and ipad on the desk & says "Do you need another electronic device?" "No I'm good, thanks." And everyone else is STILL oblivious to what they just said cause they were still talking. Sister Monroe and I about peed our pants! Then bishop was laughing at us cause we were dying, haha the members here always have something funny to say :) 

Sister Monroe & I have decided to try and do our language study with members of the ward, since we have quite a few members that can speak fluent spanish. We met with Sister Rogers yesterday, and guess what? She is the aunt of Indira! What a small world. We were talking about how we felt like we've seen each other before (it was cause Sister Rogers came to her baptism in February haha :)) and based off the people I've seen on my mission so far, I've found this truth: Colombians are the NICEST people on earth. Period. :) 

Okay last but not least, Michelle & Elmer. I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They came to all 3 hours of church again yesterday, and they loved it! So many members came up and talked to them throughout church. Elmer got his church records transferred over to our ward! And we had a sweet moment with Michelle after Relief Society. We were sitting with her after church and asking her what she thought. She said that church was beautiful, and she went on to tell us about how she knows that God is leading her to be baptized, she knows that He has been leading her on this gospel path. She said that all she wants is to be sealed to Elmer and she knows that she has to wait a year to do so. All of this she said with tears in her eyes, and you could feel the spirit so strongly in the room even while everyone else was leaving after the class. I have just been so humbled to see how this is truly God's work. We have barely said anything to Michelle in lessons & at church to have her make this decision to be baptized. I know that she has definitely made this decision all on her own, because of the support of Elmer and also through the feelings she has received from the Holy Ghost & recognizing the blessings that come from this Gospel. We are so so excited for Michelle & Elmer and can't wait for her to set a date for baptism :) 

UN AÑO!

ONE YEAR

Hello everyone! I'm writing y'all a little bit late cause we changed our P-day! Since Sister Monroe & I hit our year mark today, we decided to celebrate by going to the temple! Ahh it was so good, we got to go with some of the Relief Society sisters in our ward. And it just renewed my testimony that temples truly are the House of the Lord. 

While Sister Sedgwick was here on exchanges, we had lamb for dinner! It was actually pretty good haha :) and then later on in the week when Sister Mecham came here, I ran over a squirrel. Saddest day of my life :( 

Stake Conference was this past weekend, and it was so good! The theme was ministering, and President Polley & Sister Polley came to speak! Some of my favorite quotes from stake conference: 

Sister Sedgwick

President Polley: "As soon as you open your mouth, you're successful." 
President Packard (counselor in stake pres): "How do you keep the missionary spirit after the mission? You continue to pray for God to put someone in your path." 
I definitely know that this new focus on ministering is inspired & is what helps us to become more like Jesus Christ! 

Also some exciting news! Michelle & Elmer came to stake conference, and then Michelle just texted us last night and asked us when she can be baptized! Like WHAT? We are so pumped for her, one step closer to being sealed to Elmer! :) 

Temple!

We also had zone conference this past week, and it was good as always! It was different this time because we focused a lot about the eternal perspective of our missions, how it helps us prepare for the rest of our lives. And we also had a deep study together about repentance, which was something I think all of us missionaries needed. Satan definitely works really hard on Heavenly Father's missionaries, but it was so comforting to have discussions about how we can know if we are forgiven, and to also know the purpose of why we remember our mistakes. 

Also, President Polley extended an invitation to us that I am SO EXCITED about! Our mission and the church members in our mission boundaries have the wonderful opportunity to hear from President Nelson, Elder Bednar, and another general authority in November. THE PROPHET IS COMING TO SAN ANTONIO! And to prepare for when he comes, President Polley invited us to read the Book of Mormon all the way through in 65 days, before President Nelson comes. It also took the Prophet Joseph Smith 65 days to translate the Book of Mormon. So President asked us to not do this challenge during personal study, but to sacrifice our free time in the morning & evening to complete this invitation. For me I've decided to focus my study this time on underlining each time Christ's name is mentioned. I have already learned so much these past few days and I can't wait to see how much my testimony grows about our Savior & living prophets by the time President Nelson comes! :) 

I have learned so much this past year of being a missionary. I can't wait for the next 6 months, and I am so grateful that I have this time to be a missionary for this church! I know that this is Christ's church restored on the earth. I know that the temples on this earth are His home, He dwells there and it is where He wants us to be. I absolutely love it here in Texas! Wish y'all could be here to see how amazing it is here ;) 

Dinner with Emma Grace and their cute dog 

Sister Mecham

Got lots of rain this week:) 

Sister Young (RS Pres)

Sister Curry (I mentioned her in my last email. We love her:) 

#whylatterdaysaint

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for so many reasons. I am grateful for my parents who raised me teaching me the principles of the gospel. But serving as a full time missionary has given me the opportunity to find my own testimony. From the bottom of my heart, I know that this is Christ's church restored on the earth today. I know this to be true because I have studied & pondered the teachings that are found in the Book of Mormon, which is another volume of scripture that is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know it is the word of God, that it inspires mankind to do good & to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that God's priesthood power has been restored also, to bless individuals & families. The covenants & promises made with God in this church are the way that we can return to live with Him again, as families. I cannot wait for the day when I can be with with my family forever, in the presence of my Savior Jesus Christ & our loving Heavenly Father. He has created a perfect plan for us, to find peace & happiness in this wicked world that often gives us trials & sorrow. I know that He hears & answers prayers. He knows us by name. He loves us so much that He was willing to let His son, Jesus Christ, perform one of the most amazing acts of love for all mankind. I am so grateful for The Atonement of Jesus Christ, for the knowledge I have of a loving Savior who already paid the price for my sins, my mistakes, and my heart breaks. And he did it for YOU as well. I love this gospel with all my heart, & as a latter day saint I will never stop proclaiming what I know to be true! #whylatterdaysaint

"What can it do...bless your life??"

Hermana Monroe

Wow first off, the weather has been so nice this week! All last week it was raining or overcast, and it's supposed to be raining all this week as well. It's been nice to not have scorching heat haha, but then there's the high humidity so we can't really win here in Texas haha :)

Exchanges this week were fun, Sister Boyer came to Canyon Lake, and we got to interact with a lot of the deer in the neighborhoods haha :) And then I also went to Lockhart with Sister Motock! It was so much fun to be with Sister Motock again & to go to her area. Our appointment fell through in the evening, and Sister Motock remembered that they were going to go deliver Bibles to this family that they had found a few days ago. So we decided to go stop by! We parked down the street and carried several bibles with us, and when we walked towards the house we saw the kids playing outside. When they saw us they started running towards us yelling "Books!" It was seriously the cutest thing :) These kids loved anything we gave them, so we brought them some Book of Mormon's as well along with some LDS coloring books, and it was so cool to see these kids asking lots of questions. They were sitting on the back of their car in the driveway with all of the books on their laps, and we ended up teaching them about the Plan of Salvation. Oh I wish I could have gotten a picture of that moment, it was so cool! 

Sister Motock

One night after we had dinner with Sister Curry, we asked her if she wanted to come out on visits with us. At dinner she shared with us how she joined the church & some of the trials she's gone though, and seriously like we had the most crazy contacts with people that evening! But it was great cause Sister Curry has a rock solid testimony and was so positive about everything. There was one lady we were trying to find, and when we knocked on the door the kids behind the door asked who it was. We told them it was the missionaries, and then they said "wait there! Our dad is in the shower!" Hah so a minute later the father answers in only his towel, and he went on telling us how he's not interested. So we leave and as we pass the window on the side of their house the kids tap on it. So we look over and they are laughing & give us the loser sign hahaha :) After every contact we had with people Sister Curry would keep talking about how people are missing out on the gospel haha, it was making us laugh so hard cause she is so cute. Favorite quote from her: "What can it do...bless your life??"  

Dolores

The highlight of this week was definitely seeing Dolores go to the temple. And want to know something really cool about it? One of the people that attended Dolores's baptism in August was there too! The San Marcos sisters took their recent convert Shane to the temple as well, and they barely overlapped us, so Dolores got to see Shane perform a few baptisms being a newly ordained Priest. It really touched her to see that, but I think it touched me even more honestly. It seriously is the COOLEST thing to see new members enter the temple and to feel of God's presence there. Dolores is already looking forward to the next time she goes to the temple :) 

If any of y'all haven't gone to the temple this week, I invite you to pick a date & time this week and GO! I promise you will not regret it. Satan is a punk and will put things in your path, making you think you don't have time. But what better place to be than the House of the Lord?? 

Love y'all with all my heart

"Maybe next time..."

Hermana Monroe

First we'll start with the bad news... Carol dropped us. Which sad to say it's not a surprise because she's done it several times the past few years, but she told us she doesn't see herself joining the church. She said she'll still come to church every so often and come to Sister Young's bible class haha :) and we're still going to keep in touch with her. But yeah it's still sad, cause she was making a lot of progress this time. 

On Tuesday we had interviews with President, and it was different this time cause President & Sister Polley joined us for our district councils. And no joke, whenever interviews roll around I am always chosen to give a training ;) but it turned out good, and it's always so fun to see President and his wife! We also got to go to MLC this Friday, and the biggest theme was talking about how we can make dinner appointments & working with members finding opportunities. MLC is always held at the UTSA building (which was in my last area) and I got to see Brianne there! She was one of the members in my last area, it was so much fun to see her :) 

Sister Green

I went on exchanges with Sister Green in her area in Fredericksburg, and it is so pretty! They cover a branch and their area is the cutest german town ever. And I just love exchanges cause I get to know more sisters and see more areas of the mission :)

So on Thursday we had a lesson with Michelle, and one of the first things we asked her at the beginning of the lesson is what she feels Heavenly Father wants for her in her life in the future and after this life. She sat there for a moment and got emotional, then talked about having an eternal family. It was so amazing to see the things that Elmer has been teaching her about the church, and to see how her heart has opened up the past few months. It was a perfect start to the lesson cause it was the central message of the Plan of Salvation lesson that we taught. Throughout the lesson we kept promising her those blessings of how she can make it to the Celestial Kingdom, and her & Elmer came to church on Sunday! Dang the members who know them were so excited to see them, and they loved church :) the next step is getting Elmer's records moved into the ward! 

Ok so also when Sister Monroe was on exchanges in our area she stopped by the Castaneda family (active but the wife hasn't come for health reasons), but it was a bad time to come by, so they told us to come back on Friday. We came back Friday evening and they were so excited to see us. We talked with the father for a while and found out he hasn't been sealed to his wife, so we invited him to start making a plan of how he can get back to the temple. We were getting ready to leave and Sister Monroe puts out her hand for a handshake. Brother Castaneda rubs his hand on his nose and says "My nose is running." She was like "Oh okay...maybe next time!" It was so hard for us not to laugh in front of the family, they are just the cutest :) 

In my studies this past week I have been reading about the events leading up to Christ's appearance in the Americas. This morning I came across these verses in 3 Nephi 9 of when the people can only hear Christ's voice:

13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

I LOVE these verses! It is so simple, all we have to do in order to have eternal life is to follow the example of our Savior. And the way we do that is by humbling ourselves and repenting of our sins -- giving our mistakes, burdens, and shortcomings to Christ and allowing Him to support us during our mortal journey. His arm is extended towards us, but we have to choose to come unto Him in order to partake of His blessings. 

Con amor 

 

Greetings from Canyon Lake

Hermana Barlow & Hermana Monroe