How Far Away Is That Plane? 3 Days!!

Yep that's right!!! Guess who got her flight plans to go to Taiwan.....THIS ONE!!! 🙌 😀

I'm leaving Thursday! I don't want to get my hopes up too much until I'm actually on the plane, but big big changes!!! 

That's the big one, but we had some other great things this week too! The days have been getting progressively busier and today we were running all around preparing for transfers and Taiwan (except everywhere is closed cause of the 4th of July...Happy 4th of July by the way!). I got a message from president saying it would be this week or next week and then I got my flight plans on Saturday. Good stuff! I'm just trying to stay somewhat focused for now haha. 

Anyway, we had some good lessons with our friend Amanda! She is super solid, already in Alma in the Book of Mormon, but she does have to make some really difficult life changes so please pray for her! She was able to receive a priesthood blessing yesterday so hopefully that helped. 

We also ended up having a drop lesson with one of our friends who has been taught everything but isn't ready to make the commitment of baptism. But he watched church yesterday, so it'll happen! 

Another miracle is that we got a referral from other sisters for this guy named Jairus, and he came to church and shared his testimony! We were a little concerned when he started going up but it was so good! We're super excited about him! Seriously this work is the greatest thing ever. We were also able to meet with our friend Chris and let me tell you there is something so irreplaceable about teaching someone to pray, and them hearing them do it correctly on a later lesson. It is just so special to experience this and just watch conversion happen. 

Spiritual thought for the week: Of all the miracles that God has and can perform, the greatest one is a "mighty change of heart." Why? Why is it the greatest miracle? Why is so necessary? Study it and find out! We are on earth to learn to follow God's ways and become His trusted heirs. To do this, a "mighty change of heart" is crucial. We must not only obey His commandments to obey Him, but because they are engrained in our hearts. A mighty change of heart is a process. It really takes a lifetime. But we can all do it, through the Savior Jesus Christ. Experience the miracle of a mighty change of heart in your own life! 

Other fun things: one of our ward members gave me a whole bunch of candy to give to kids in Taiwan :) precious! We ate at a bar; it was really good haha. The Elders gave me a weird rice pancake that had a texture like taffy and was very difficult to eat haha.

 

Hmong Dress Up Party

 

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week! I know I did! So much so that I remember absolutely nothing of what happened.

But hey big news! I got an email from Taiwan! Don't know when I'm going yet but I know it'll be soonish! Also, our Chinese friend Amy said that she was interested in learning about the gospel so we will hopefully be able to start teaching her soon! I've actually only talked to her like once or twice, I just text her for the most part. But I think I'll be here in Eau Clair for a while for her! It's exciting! 

We had lots of lessons this week, they were all good! I also met my first Bible basher (at least in person) at a library. It was exciting. My comp did a really good job of just bearing testimony and recognizing that going along with the bashing would just make things worse. It was a good experience for me, I think. 

We also were able to find two new people this week, Harmony, and Gerald! They have both been taught a little before. Harmony's lesson was good, she had lots of hard questions and I promised to study up on a lot of things haha. They weren't bashy ones though, just curious. But she was interested in the Book of Mormon so hopefully she reads it and wants to keep learning! 

Another funny thing is while we were in our lesson with Harmony a random lady came up to us and was like "Hey my friend is Mormon; can I get a picture with you?" So that was fun! 

Yesterday we had dinner at the Bishop's house and his son brought out an electric guitar and started playing rock music and the Bishop pulled out his guns to show us, it was super funny. Our bishop is awesome haha. 

Today we were able to visit a Hmong Grandma and she let us wear Hmong traditional clothes and take pictures in them! It was super fun and made her day. They have lots of layers so took a while to put on haha but it was fun! 

Spiritual thought for the week: Recently I've been thinking a lot about the state of the world. This week we have experienced protesting, all kinds of dirt on social media, and lots of people who just want to marry the missionaries. I was thinking about this and honestly fearing a little bit about raising a family in a world like this. It hurts me to think that my children will be exposed to these kinds of things. But I had a really good personal study about it, and it reminded me that those here on the earth at this time are here because they can handle it and they are needed here. Yes, the potential to go astray is ever present, but so is the potential for immense growth. Our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of His children. For those who keep a strong and unshakeable testimony, the future will be secure and hopeful. And when the hard times come, as they will, we can "count it all joy" knowing that they will be for our best good.  

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Reboot Camp!

Happy Father’s Day everyone!!! This week was so good! Last Tuesday we had district council and ate some Hmong food after which was fun, and Wednesday we had zone conference! It was great. We started out with some super fire trainings and then they had us change into exercise clothes for the "boot camp" portion. They had lots of different activities for us to do and then afterward we discussed how they applied to missionary work. It was super fun!

We did “bop it” where we all had to do the action and pass it down, one where we had to race to find things in PMG and Standards, one where we did archery, one where we had to cross the gym on wooden planks and had to constantly be touching them, charades, transporting buckets of water that had holes in them, 3 legged kickball with our companions, and so on. It was super awesome and very well thought out! It reminded me of Father's Day Flee!

Afterward we shot off our rockets (these are extremely fancy rockets that break open and have parachutes and everything) and that was super fun. We learned a lot too about the different ways to "act well our part" and that was super fun! And I got to talk to my last companion a little too, so that was really nice. It was a busy and kind of chaotic but fun day! 

Thursday we were able to meet with our friend Amanda and set her on date for July 30th whoooo! We're super excited for her.  Friday, we did weekly planning which is always great. Saturday we were able to go to the Farmer’s Market which was super fun! We had a fun conversation with a member during dinner, he's a character but he's super fun. 

Sunday was so good! We were able to get 5/4 sacrament attendances which is more than I've ever gotten so whooooo! Also, I invited Amy, our Chinese friend, and she came!! And we have another friend (we haven't decided if she's ours or the Elder's yet) who came and wants to be baptized! Miracles!!! I also spoke in church and that was fun! I shared my testimony in Chinese at the end but gave absolutely no preface to it and didn't mention anything about my original assignment in my talk so I think people may have been a little confused. But luckily the guy conducting (who served in Taipei) mentioned it afterward. 

After church we got to go to some Hmong Grandma's houses, and they gave us Hmong names! But the only catch is that you have to eat a spicy pepper. My comp and I both had to eat a Thai Chili Pepper, it was quite exciting. I almost ate the whole thing! My insides regretted it later though haha. But my Hmong name is Paj Ntsais (pronounced Ban Jai) and it means triangular flower. Pretty fun!  

We live right next to a Masonic temple, so we are going to be taking a tour of it today which I'm excited for! Should be good!  

Spiritual thought for the week: One big emphasis at zone conference was the Fall. The reason things get so hard, and we have so many weaknesses, is because we live in a fallen world! Is there any wonder it's hard? It is like gravity, because we live in a fallen world we try to jump, but it always seems to suck us back down. That was why we had the emphasis on rockets because we are trying to escape the pull of this fallen world little by little. It requires momentum. Momentum comes from singular steps, and small things that help us, like fins or the nose cone on a rocket. Everything the Lord gives us; every commandment and the church offers is designed to build our faith and momentum so we can keep trying to overcome the fall. But we can't do it without the Savior. 

 

Week 387

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a lovely week! Mine was busy busy but it was fun! Everything feels like it was so long ago haha. 

Last Monday we had a dinner with a member and her family, it was a little chaotic but good! There was a little 4-year-old boy who was basically climbing on me as we were trying to eat dinner haha. He was grabbing at my necklaces and nametag and stuff, it was exciting haha. I did not know what to do with myself.

Wednesday, we had a bunch of lessons, and we were able to call a gray dot named Alfonso and teach him! We haven't been able to find a ton of new people since I've been here so that's exciting! We haven't been able to get in contact with him since though, so we'll see what happens! 

Thursday, we had exchanges! I was with Sister Moyes for the day. She's a great missionary and it was good to be with her! It turns out some of our questions and concerns are really similar so that was good for me, I think. Thursday was super busy, we had service and a whole bunch of lessons, and they all went over, so we ended up having to do comp study during Facebook time haha.

We taught a guy named Brandon who is like a Christian hippie, it was a little interesting but he's a cool guy! There were a bunch of homeless people who he's apparently pals with, and they kept coming over and talking to us during the lesson. We're not sure if he'll actually progress, but we're meeting again tomorrow and will be able to gauge it a little better. It was a good day though! Kind of draining, by the end I was like exhausted and forgetting to do everything which was a little frustrating, but it's all good.

It was a good Saturday, we had dinner with the Yang family. It was a little interesting because they are all Hmong, and so they were going at it with the Elders in Hmong during dinner, and afterward we did the spiritual thought. The mom knows more Mandarin than she does English, so for the lesson Sis. Carter would speak in English, and I would translate in Chinese. But also, like half of it was in Hmong haha because she said she doesn't really know mandarin religious words. It was fun, quite the reality check on my nonexistent Chinese ability. Although I have been texting one of the Elder's friends who is Chinese and that's been fun!

Also, on Saturday we were able to go to a member's work party which was super fun! They had an artist there doing free caricatures, which was super cool, so you know we got them. We also had a lesson (if you could even call it that, we couldn't get a lot of words in and they basically toured us around their yard) with a lost sheep, and they had this really old car that they took a bunch of pictures of us in. Kinda fun! Although, like previously stated, it wasn't really a lesson. It was a fun day though! 
Yesterday was church and lots of meetings so it was crazy but good! Our friend Amanda came to church but felt sick halfway through and had to leave. She still isn't feeling good today so we can't meet, but hopefully soon! 

Another cool thing is that I found out a guy in Duluth who I found on FB and sent to the other sisters there is totally golden! They said that they've already had like 3 lessons with him, so that's super cool! 
This week we have zone conference and it's going to be set up like a boot camp. We were given rockets to build, it'll be fun! 

Spiritual thought for the week! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the gift God gives us to allow us to be successful in life. It is simple. Straightforward. And incredibly, incredibly important. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints allows us to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the organized way the Lord has provided for us to receive the ordinances of Salvation. Every appendage in the church is used to help us fulfill and keep our covenants. Everything. And it is by keeping our covenants in this way, by using the resources provided by God through the church, that we can retain a remission of sin. It must be consistent. It doesn't need to be big. But by being intentional about the things we do in church, and always striving to keep our covenants, we are living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and will therefore have the most fulfilling life possible.
Anyway, I love you all and hope you are doing well! Let me know how you are doing ;)

 

Miracles!!!

To quote the mission call letter, "...more joy than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children." 

Guess who felt that joy this week? THIS ONE. Why? Because last Monday we had a lesson with our friend Scott. They had taught him a few times but had struggled meeting with him because he always reschedules. He had told us he had been pondering about baptism though! And so, when we met, he came in, sat down, and said "I want to be baptized in two weeks." What??? We were gonna teach him the Law of Chastity, and he already knew about it and asked about the Word of Wisdom. So, we quickly covered both of them, and he still wanted to know more, so we taught the Law of Tithing! The big three all in one and he took it in stride. And I felt so much joy for him in that moment. While we were testifying, I just felt so much joy I couldn't even contain it. I was like getting a little choked up and I'm not a cryer! I was like what is wrong with me?? It was amazing to sit back and witness it! 

On the downside, we haven't been able to meet with him since (he keeps rescheduling) and we texted him and were like "bro we have 9 lessons to cover and 13 days to do it" (and actually right now he just texted to push it back two weeks). But it's exciting! We also have a friend named Chris who is on date as well and we are kind of having the same problem with him. We'll see what happens!

Another miracle for the week, a few days ago we got a media referral for someone named Amanda. We called her up and she told us she had been thinking about baptism!! And then she came to church and said she wants to be baptized!!! Unfortunately, her ride came so we couldn't do a lesson after church, but heeeyyy!!! The work is moving here in Eau Claire, and we just get to watch it happen. Heavenly Father just dropping people into our laps. It's amazing! 

This week was really busy, and I don't really remember what else happened. Lots of service, stop bys, dinners with members that took way longer than they were supposed to, and such. The days are full of ups and downs and go by incredibly quickly. 

Spiritual thought for the week! Richard G. Scott said, "Character is woven patiently from threads of applied principle, doctrine, and obedience." Lately we have been talking a lot with ward members a lot about CPR (Church, Pray, Read) and how small and simple actions lead to a testimony. Consistency is everything. You see experiences like Laman and Lemuel, who saw an angel, and it didn't give them a testimony! They never bothered to work for one and even if they did, it wasn't consistent effort. A testimony requires small, but regular, actions. That is how we come to know. It shows the Lord our faith in Him. Just to finish off, here is another quote from the same talk: "If you have determined to live righteously, don’t become discouraged. Life may seem difficult now but hold on tightly to that iron rod of truth. You are making better progress than you realize. Your struggles are defining character, discipline, and confidence in the promises of your Father in Heaven and the Savior as you consistently obey Their commandments." 

 Anyway, I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week! I want to hear from you, let me know how things are going!

 

There's No Green Like Wisconsin Green

There's a hint for ya about transfers! Wisconsin? Maybe? Maybe not? 誰知道？

But let me start earlier than that! Tuesday and Wednesday Siste Martinez and I decided to hike a little in the woods behind our apartment. It was super pretty! There are tons of interconnecting trails and we definitely ended up in a very different spot than we thought :) and it turns out there used to be a cabin for nuns and we found a clearing with a big statue of Jesus! So that was really cool! 

Anyway, on Tuesday we went to Silver Bay to help a member with some yard work, and we were pulling literal tree roots out of her flower bed, it was an adventure. Then she had us clean up and she invited two nonmembers over for dinner so that was cool! Wednesday, we had a lesson with a lost sheep, and Wednesday night we had a little movie night watching church videos and reloading our emails to see if transfer boards came out, which they didn't until the next day. It was fun though! 

Kay so a little context on the transfer situation here, Sister Martinez and I both whitewashed (both new to the area) into North Shore (Sister's area in Duluth) and had both been there for three transfers. So, we assumed one of us would stay a fourth and one would leave, because President wouldn't whitewash it again so soon, right? Wrong. Thursday morning, we got our transfer boards and found out that we were both leaving, Sister Martinez to St. Paul South and me to Eau Claire, Wisconsin! So, my first transfer! 

I love it here in Eau Claire, my companion's name is Sister Carter and she's super awesome! She is really great at talking to people and connecting with them which I need. But there are lots of people we're teaching and lots of members feeding us so it's just a party all around haha. The Elders here in Eau Claire speak Hmong, and so there are lots of Asians here, but they are all Hmong haha. They might have actually found a Mandarin person though who I could teach!! Fingers crossed :) 

Saturday, we went to a baptism that the Elders had, and it was good! My comp spoke at it. We have a friend on date named Chris and we taught him the word of wisdom yesterday, and he took it really well! We were a little worried cause before this lesson he had brought up the fact that he didn't want to quit some of the things, but he actually committed super easily. Blessings! 

A cool experience (slightly interesting) that we had yesterday was while we were doing some contacting at a park, and Sister Carter said hi to a man passing by on a bike. He immediately pulled his bike over, asked if he could sit by us, and started crying and telling us about some really hard things he was facing. It was really sad. We prayed with him, and he told us of an experience he had with God, who he believes is a woman. And it turns out he has read the Book of Mormon and knew who Joseph Smith was and that he saw God, but that he saw God as a woman. It was a little confusing, but he really appreciated talking to us and said he would come to church! To me it was just a testimony that God loves all of His children and wants to show them that, and often it is through other people. God is aware of all of us, even those who might be a little confused. It was a really cool experience to play that part in God's plan for him and hopefully make his day a little better! 

Spiritual thought for the week: I may have talked about this before, but something that I loved during the mission tour was emphasizing "who" we are and "whose" we are. We are the Savior's. He paid the price for us. Because we are His, because He gave us hope and a chance at Salvation, we should be His tools! After all, He bought us. We can choose to be His tools and instruments. We can choose to be His hands. By remembering "who" we are and "whose" we are, we can know of our purpose here. He paid the price for you and gave you life. What will you give Him?  

 

No Green Like Minnesota Green!

This week was so fire! Lots of ups and downs :) Unfortunately the downs involve the finding and teaching this week...basically all of our people are facing really hard things and kind of dropped off the face of the earth except for Edward. He's still doing great though! We had to push his date back again, but we were able to go over the interview questions yesterday and get a good idea of where he is at so that's nice. 

Ups for this week though: we had a MISSION TOUR! By Elder Gifford Neilson! Ahh it was so good. Thursday, we woke up bright and early at 4:45 AM to head down to Bloomington for our zone conference meeting with him. He shook all of our hands and asked us a few questions as we came in. Later he said that he had done a five second interview with each of us, and he could tell that there were about 85% of missionaries that knew why they were here, and the rest are still wondering. It was crazy! He told us a whole bunch of experiences he has had with the prophet and told us about assigning missionaries (If you want to know more about that just ask me)! It was so so good! At our last meeting he invoked a really incredible blessing on all of us. It was amazing. We also focused a lot on repentance and how the gopsel of Jesus Christ is there for everyone, because we all feel guilt and shame for our mistakes. They weigh on us. It is through Jesus Christ that those mistakes can be lifted, and we can be free and healed. It was so so good!

One thing Elder Neilson invited us to do was to put our "Purpose into practice" and just find find find for the next 24 hours! He told us to pray and have faith like we never have before! We were so hyped. Unfortunately, Sister Martinez and I weren't able to find anyone, and all of our potentials fell through, but it really left me wondering why I'm not as focused on finding or making my prayers super sincere and concentrating my faith all the time! I think that was the point haha, I definitely will be better at putting my purpose into practice now and I know that miracles will come from it!

On Saturday we went to Silver Bay and did some yard work which was fun! Right now I just have to say, MINNESOTA IS GORGEOUS. Seriously, being on the edge of Lake Superior and now with all the trees, it's seriously breathtaking. I've heard that "there's no green like Minnesota green" but I didn't believe it until the grass somehow turned green overnight, greener than I thought grass could ever be haha. 

This week is transfers which is so wild! Sister Martinez and I have been together for 3 which is not common (the term here is "going eternal"), so one of us is probably going to leave. Kinda stressful! It'll be exciting though! 

Spiritual thought for the week: Something Elder Neilson told us that President Nelson had said was about recognizing the real meaning of repentance. He said that in Hebrew repentance is "Shub" which means to turn. In Greek the word for repentance is "metamoeo" (or something like that, I can't read my own handwriting) which derives from metamorphasis, and ultimately means to change. Then the word continued to evolve. In Latin it is "poenitere" which means to punish. The idea of repentance has changed and evolved in meaning. But let us remember that repentance is to change. That repentance is one of the most hopeful words in the Christian vocabulary. That through repentance through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can have sight restored to our stinging eyes and healing to our pained souls. Love you all and hope you have a great week!