hello friends and family!
this week was full with a ton of service, 25 hours to be
exact. but not with the flooding actually but different service projects that
we did. the flooding service projects will be comin up though!
it is getting warm here in Texas and my tan lines are comin
through. I have some awesome ones on my feet and from my rings on my fingers.
we were outside a lot this week with all of the service and also we tried to
find more people outside in neighborhoods too. we had a really cool experience
that grew our testimonies a lot with that. after we visited a less-active (someone who doesn’t
come to church very often) , we
decided to find (look for new people to teach) in
that neighborhood. there are a lot of Hispanics there so we decided to approach
them with the English class we teach. we knocked on the door of houses that
kind of looked Hispanic and asked them if they would be interested. we knocked
4 whole streets and people weren't very interested or they would be bilingual
already. it was a super hot day, we were really thirsty and our feet were
tired. we were pretty discouraged. (sounds like a stereotypical mission day)
but we were on the last street and the last house. we knocked on the door and a
lady opened it. we asked her if she would be interested in an English class and
she said she would love to but she cant afford it. she said she has been
looking at so many different classes but they all cost too much. we told her
that ours was free and her eyes got huge. she couldn't believe it. we explained
that as missionaries we also teach about Christ and how we can become closer to
Him. She was super interested in that too. we taught her a little bit about the
Restoration and we have an appointment with her this week. she has a lot of
potential and we are really excited. her name is Maria and she has 2 little
kids. we love her already!
also with English class, our little students
"graduated" this week from Level 1 of our program! YAY! it was the
best. they were so happy to get that little piece of paper saying they did it.
we explained to them that with this they can get a lot better jobs and be a lot
more successful. but the funniest part was this. we had pizza at the end to
celebrate and after that they wanted to take pictures with Hermana Reeder and
I. I am not kidding when I say this, they got in LINE with their phones to take
pictures with us. I felt like a character at Disneyland. standing in a certain
spot for 20 minutes and having people come up and take pictures with you. that
is what it was like! we felt like celebrities and they expressed to us how
grateful they were for helping them. but this isn't the end of it! there are
about 40 different lessons and that was just Level 1..so we
"graduate" a lot of times. but it was such a happy night!
we are teaching Oscar the new-member lessons and it is
awesome. we are going to the temple with him on Saturday to do baptisms! we are
actually going with all of the hermanas in our branch and Oscar and us. we are
so excited! this is our purpose! to "begin with the end in mind". the
"end" is the temple. also, we ate breakfast with Hna. Peralta (Oscar’s wife) this week and she made her famous
hot chocolate for me because she knows I am obsessed with it. I love my mission
mom.
this weekend was Stake Conference weekend! (a meeting where 8-9 congregations meet together to
listen to talks and receive inspiration) and WOW did I learn a ton.
Saturday night adult session was all about families and it made me miss mine a
little bit. but it also made me realize how great my parents are. Pres. and
Sister Hall (Megan’s mission president and his
wife) talked also about families and they centered it on Jesus Christ.
The read Helaman 5:12 and related it to our
family life. (Helaman 5:12 is a scripture
from the Book of Mormon that is one of my favorites! It says: And now, my sons,
remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the
Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send
forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his
hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you
to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon
which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men
build they cannot fall) How we WILL have those trials and hard times, not
IF. WHEN we do, we need to rely on the Savior. Pres. Hall said,
"Opposition is the way we grow and the way we recognize that we NEED our
Savior" I love him and his counsel! also on Sunday I was strengthened SO
much by the love of Heavenly Father that I felt. all of the words and speakers
were for me.
So....Leslie. We didn't have the opportunity to teach her
this week because she couldn't pay her phone bill so she didn't have a phone.
we couldn't contact her. but a member contacted her and she told us that she
wasn't ignoring us and she would still love to meet with us. so yay! we will
see what happens this weekend with her.
"service" projects we did:
-English class (is our
life)
-we went
"churching" with Pres. Allred. us, the other hermanas in the branch
and the branch president (Pres. Allred) are going down to Texas City, where
they switched the boundaries and we are meeting all of the members down there.
we are trying to make sure that they still live there/they aren't less
active/etc. we met the SWEETEST family. they have a son on a mission who is
coming home in May and the Spirit in their home is incredible. they offered us
fruit and juice and they said the Hispanic dicho "Mi casa es su casa"
we love them and hope they will be in our area in the future. they are familia
Aguirre.
-on Friday we went to a
less-actives house with some English elders. I mowed the lawn, Hna. Reeder
whacked some weeds and the Elders painted part of their house. Dad- you would
be pretty proud of me. I got a lot of compliments on the lawn and how the rows
were even and everything :) youre an awesome teacher and thanks for making me
pay the phone bill that way! haha.(Troy and I have
our kids mow the lawn to help pay for their phone bill – it’s nice she now
appreciates that. Sierra is not quite to the appreciation stage yet – we’re
still waiting!)
-also on Friday we did
the Food Truck! such a fun thing, we love doing it. we love making people
happy!
-on Saturday we went to a
race held by another church. it was a mile, 1k and a 5k. all the
missionaries (there were a lot) were at different points in the race telling
the runners where to go and to cheer them on. lets just say I was pretty
humbled and I felt really out of shape watching people run. I was so inspired
by the people who were pushing strollers on the phone and the people with 1
leg. I ran with some old people and I loved it more than life.
Everyday I am just amazed at the little miracles and tender
mercies the Lord puts in our life. this week when we were knocking on doors a
little 4 year old boy answered the door and with his big blue eyes said
"you girls wanna come in and visit?" or when a family from Kenya
bears their testimony about the power of families in Stake Conference. Or when
Hna. Peralta and Oscar have a pillow fight when we are teaching and when Hna.
Reeder loses her nametag and finds it in a Goodwill garbage. Heavenly
Father knows this work is hard and knows we need these little blessings to keep
going. I am humbled everyday about how much I really do need my Brother, Jesus
Christ. He wants to help us and listen to us, we just have to do our part and
reach out to Him. I love Him!
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| this was a part of our celebrity experience at the English class graduation! |
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| some of our English class students! they were so excited to have that paper. |
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| Oscar is and will be forever one of my favorite people. |
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| the race we did service at was sponsored by NASA so casually the Star Wars crew was present. |
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