Adios Independencia! 5/11/15

Hola hola! I hope you all had a great Mothers Day! I sure did. Well this week went by quickly and here we are again on a Monday morning! I have changes on Wednesday so I will be getting a new companion and a new area. So stay tuned! 

 

On Wednesday Angelita was baptized!! It was such a special day. After almost 6 months of her investigating, she now is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She shared her thoughts and feelings and expressed that she really understands that baptism isnt a game and that she is determined to endure to the end! Fun fact, Angelita was baptized in our church about 20 years ago but never was confirmed. But now we have got her :)

Angelitas son lives in San Salvador and is in a military school. He had permission to have a visit from Angelita for Mothers Day. The problem was that the visit was in the morning when she had to be in church to be confirmed. We talked through it with her and explained that she was be greatly blessed if she chose to put God first. We left it at that and felt that mostly likely she was going to go with her son. Well Sunday morning we walked into Sacrament and Angelita was sitting there. She had the biggest smile on her face and she looked beautiful. I guess she got a call from her son, he cancelled on her. It was an answer to her prayers. She knew she needed to be confirmed and the way was provided. 

On Thursday we had our last zone meeting in this change. We learned about the importance of the Sacrament. My testimony and my understanding of the Sacrament has grown so much in my mission. I now understand how the Sacrament is a spiritual and sacred experience. A time to think and ponder, to feel the Holy Ghost. It is an experience that all of us need, weekly.  

On Saturday I got to chat with and see my cute family!! Best day ever!! The amount of time to Skype goes by way too fast but I loved every minute of it. 

We ate so much food on Saturday. We were invited to eat lunch with two families and then we ate dinner with a different family. Then the fourth family brought us food to our house. So much food. At least we got out of eating the last dinner haha

We also got caught in a rainstorm with our mission leader. Two missionaries walking down the flooding streets with bright yellow ponchos and our mission leader with a bright yellow umbrella.

We have to enjoy the little things. Enjoy the journey. Make every moment count and laugh along the way. :)

Here is a little scripture for the week! "He that is faithful and endureth shall overcome the world". D&C 63:47 Be faithful and endure. 

I love and miss you all!   

May The Fourth Be With You :)

Well another week is in the book! A week full of miracles!!  

In our district meeting we talked about charity. We read in D&C 18:16. "And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"

We then read in verse 19. "And if you have not faith, hope, and charity, you can do nothing".  We focused on charity and our district leader, Elder Davidson, had us think of a time when someone had done something out of charity for us. Elder Davidson then shared an experience when he was passing through a rough time. He felt completely alone and sad. I dont remember all of the details but the point is that one day his dad came up to him and told him he had been praying to feel the way that Elder Davidon feels, to understand. Elder Davidson got choked up and teary eyed. The Spirit in that room was so strong. Charity takes patience, and a true, pure love for others. "Wherefore, my beloved bretheren, pray unto the Father with all the engery of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christñ that ye may become the sons of Godñ that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen" Moroni 7:48  Now lets all develop this Christlike attribute :)

So Katherine is 15 years old. Her dad is an inactive member, her mom is a different religion. She wants to be baptized. The mom was very closed hearted, didnt want anything from us. Things are now changing. The mom smiles at us and talks with us. It really is amazing to see the changes thanks to lots of prayers and the Lords timing. We finally got to teach this family all together. It was a quick lesson but it was special to have a family that is divided in opinion and beliefs come together with an earnest desire to better their family life and family relationships. We ended the lesson with a kneeling prayer and the dad of the family offered it. The Spirit was present and I hope that the moms heart was touched and that she can support her daughter in her decision to be baptized.

On Friday we had a meeting with just sister missionaries and it was GREAT. I absolutely loved it. A few of the hermanas with more experience gave talks. Each of them talked about our potential as daughters of God and as missionaries-represenatives of Jesus Christ. President Spjut and Hermana Spjut then shared their thoughts. The best part was a question and answer activity. All of the experienced missionaries sat in a row and everyone could ask questions.The Spirit was so strong in the room as the hermanas gave advice and shared their testimony and feelings about their mission. All of us have challenges and weaknesses but we have our Savior to lift us up and help us keep going. This is His work. He will take whatever we have to offer, and He will make it enough.

My companion and I witnessed a miracle on Saturday. I have been teaching an investigator, Angelita, for almost 5 months. We always invite to baptism but she always has an excuse. My companion and I have goals so we have been praying and fasting to complete them. On Saturday we went with Angelita. I invited her to be baptized and she told me that she wanted to be baptized and is going to do it this Wednesday. The way she normally responded completely changed and she was finally firm in her decision. This was an answer to many, many prayers. I left her house with the biggest smile on my face. There are so many miracles in this work and I am so thankful to be able to witness them. My testimony has grown so much on prayers of faith and fasting.

Yesterday my companion and I witnessed another miracle. A complete miracle. We passed by for Katherine to go to church. Her dad is an inactive member so we always invite him. Well yesterday as we picked up Katherine he told us he was going to come. He was trying to shower and get cleaned up so that he could go. The problem was that we didnt have water yesterday. haha anyway so we left and just went with Katherine. Testimony meeting was more than half way over when he showed up. It had been over 20 years since he had assisted church. BUT, that wasnt the miracle. He sat next to Katherine and then I turned around to see the people behind me. Katherines mom and sister were sitting behind us. I saw her mom and I couldnt believe it. A miracle! My eyes got teary to see her in church with us. I know that our many prayers were and are being answered. The mom, who is a little bit hard hearted and angry, came to church on her own. A song from Hilary Weeks says "Give him the Spirit to soften hearts of stone, and bring them home". This gospel blesses families and changes lives.

Another fun and unexpected surprise yesterday. As I walked into sacrament meeting, an elder that I served with was sitting there waiting for the meeting to begin. Elder Contrerras. He is the one who shared with us that he doesnt have a family and that we are his family. He is from Guatemala and finished his mission about a month ago. Well he came back to visit and is staying with a member here. It was so good to see him! A complete surprise. It made me laugh because he is the same but now he has a little bit of facial scruff and an Iphone. haha

Well this was a great week full of complete miracles. I hope you all have a wonderful week! And HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to all you madres out there. Enjoy your day on Sunday! I love you all. :)

Hello to All! 4/27/15

Well this week was good! Another week living the life. All is well in El Salvador.

On Pday we did all of our errands. We went to the Post Office to send letters. We waited for about an hour! The Post Office is so slow here. After they weigh the letters, we have to glue on the stamps one by one. Its crazy!

We had our Zone meeting on Wednesday. The elders told us to imagine while teaching that Christ was our companion. They then asked how long we would wait before inviting to repentance and baptism. Each of us as missionaries are representatives of Jesus Christ. It made me understand a little bit more the importance of always talking about the Atonement and baptism. 

We had a baptism date with Oscar. He wanted to be baptized and understood the importance of baptism. He passed his interview and then the next day he told us that he doesnt want to be baptized. We visited with him the next day to help resolve his doubts. He has had a lifetime of drinking. He is working at overcoming his addiction. Well come to find out, the missing piece to the puzzle, is that he drank again. He drank and kept it to himself so he didnt feel worthy to be baptized. He is working hard to overcome his bad habits. It is sad that he couldnt be baptized to recieve the strength from baptism but I know that one day he will.

My companion and I were teaching a guy named Carlos. He is a little bit older but very down to earth. We invited him to say the closing prayer and it was beautiful. So spiritual. He noticed the Spirit and he himself commented on how he felt in that moment.

 

We had our zone meeting which was great as usual. Everyone is concerned about the success of others. We changed it up and instead of talking about numbers, we talk about names. We talk about people. It means more and helps us be involved with the other companionships. After the meeting, we ate lunch as a zone. The elders ordered the same thing for everybody and man it was a lot of food. It was three giant things of bread filled with different things. One had a hot dog inside, one had ham and cheese, and the other had different ham and cheese. Then a donut to top it off. Can you say carbs? haha

So funny story about us not listening close enough to the Spirit. We were searching for a family with only an address. We knew the general area of where they lived and they had told us they live in a green house. In the particular area, there are only 2 green houses. We had already contacted one of the green houses earlier in the week and the lady didnt want anything. We decided to knock the other green house. The man didnt even open the door and only told us he didnt know who the people were that we were looking for. I suggested that we could knock on the other green house again. We thought about it and then said "nah.. we already have". We started to walk away and then paused and thought about going to the house again. We ended up walking away, asking other people if they knew this family we were searching for.We came across a member and she told us she knew where they lived. She walked with us to the house and guess where it was? The first green house.It made me laugh and also made me realize how important it is that we listen and act according to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. 

Here is another scripture for your Monday morning! 

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." Moroni 10:32

I hope you all have a great week! Lots of love :)

6 MONTHS!!

6 MONTHS... WHAT! 

This was a good week filled with lots of blessings :)

On Monday we ended our pday early. We began working at 3pm. It felt like a normal day because we didnt have time to do anything. Time goes by so fast. Here we are with another pday! On Monday we got caught in another rain storm. Luckily we were close to home so we ran in and locked ourselves in our room to plan and study.

We had our zone meeting and it was so spiritual. I love it because I have the chance to learn and take a break from teaching. We watched a video from Elder Holland. The part I loved most was,"If you love me, you will feed my sheep", "Then feed my sheep. And do it forever". "Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep." Mosiah 26:20 I am on the Lords errand and I love the simple phrase of "then feed my sheep, and do it forever". That is why I am here. I am here to feed His sheep and to spead the gospel to "all the world". 

On Wednesday we got to wake up bright and early and go to the TEMPLE!! It was so great. I have officially done my first session in Spanish. All temples are beautiful but the El Salvador temple is extra beautiful. It is the house of the Lord and the Spirit was so strong. As missionaries we all rode together in a small bus. It was so much fun. We laughed and laughed. And then laughed some more. I am so grateful to be here in this country with these people. 25 young representatives of Jesus Christ serving with the same purpose. 

We worked with 3 members and all 3 are return missionaries. I absolutely loved it. Each of them had different ways of helping the investigators and I learned a lot from them! We contacted many houses where the people didnt want anything. We offered to say a prayer with them and it changed everything. People cant say no to blessings. :) 

 

During one of our adventures knocking doors, we saw a little lady with bags in her hands trying to unlock her door. We went and offered to help. She finally got the door open and I began to introduce ourselves as missionarie. I could barley get out misioneras de la iglesia de Jesucristo... and whack, the door shut right in my face. hahaha it wasnt her time for our message I guess!

On Sunday I was sitting next to my investigator, Oscar. Oscar is 51 years old and has had a life full of drinking. Everyone knows of him as the drunk guy. We knocked on his door and a family member of his told us his name and that we should come back because he needed help changing his life around. Anyway, he has the desire to change. He isnt proud of his past and he is changing his life. He has stopped drinking and now he has a baptism date! Anyway, I was sitting next to him during Sacrament meeting. He asked me how to say sin in English. When the meeting ended, he turned to me and asked if he was going to be completely clean from his sins with baptism. When he asked me I seriously got chills. I explained that yes, he will be completely clean from his 51 years of sins and that Heavenly Father will remember his sins no more.

We are also teaching a 15 year old, Katherine. Her dad is a member but inactive and her mom is a different religion. She wants to be baptized but she needs parent permission because of her age. Each time we visit the mom is so angry. She barley even looks at us. Anyway, we decided to go visit Katherine and her mom with the Young Womens president who is a return missionary, Hermana Deras. I dont know what Hermana Deras did but she brought a spirit and a light into that home that hadnt been there in a long time. The mom opened up and told us her feelings. She still said no to the baptism because she wants Katherine to change some things first but I know that having Hermana Deras there was a huge blessing! As we left their house, Hermana Deras said "Ive still got it." haha

The couple who were married and baptized, the husband recieved the Priesthood yesterday and they are planning to go to this temple this weekend for baptisms. I love it. When people ask them when they are going to be sealed, they respond "March 20th". They are preparing and waiting patiently for their one year mark as members.

I absolutely love this work. I am so grateful to be an instrument in the Lords hands.The church is true people. Live it and love it. :)

Lots of love!! 

Hermana Ferre 

4/13/2015

Hola hola!

This week was just a normal week. Nothing crazy happened! However we still witnessed miracles, this work is amazing!

We had exchanges this week so I went to a different area for the day. We worked hard and had a lot of good lessons. We asked a young guy to say the closing prayer. As he prayed he sincerely asked for a confirmation that this is the true church and for guidance in making good decisions. Our mission president has told us to listen to the prayers of our investigators to know if they are progressing.

We also had a funny experience. We were visiting a little old lady who LOVES to talk. She lives alone so it makes sense that she wants people to talk with. Anyway, we told her we were going to call her right then so she would have our number. Well she is a talker but didnt listen very well so when the phone rang she jumped up to answer, thinking it was going to be her daughter. Anyway, my companion had a conversation with this little lady while in the same room as her. The lady hung up the phone and said Ï dont know who that was, Ive never heard that voice before¨. We explained again that it was us but I really dont think she understood. We were laughing so hard. Then we ended our day with a slice of pumpkin pie from Hermana Spjut.So good.

My companion and I found a young boy, Omar. He is 10 years old and wants to be baptized. He wanted to with other missionaries as well but he is afraid of water getting in his ears. He told us that he still wants to be baptized so we are going to help him overcome his fear of the water!

On Saturday we had a blood drive in the church. As missionaries we cant donate but all of us went to help. The slogan was ¨donate blood, donate life¨and ¨Jesus Christ gave His blood for us.¨haha no pressure.The different wards also danced to entertain the people who were resting.

Just a small spiritual thought for your week:

"Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith." President Monson

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Always have faith and look forward to the future! Great things are to come. Love you all!  

Happy April! 4/6/2015

Hello to the people back at home! This week was a good one. A lot of activities to keep us busy and to change the pace a little bit. 

On Wednesday we had changes. My companion and I didnt have changes so we will be together in Independencia for at least another 6 weeks. I am grateful. Another six weeks in a great ward, in a great house, and in a great area. No complaints on my end! But best news ever, I am in the same zone as my companion from the CCM, Hermana Timoteo. It is going to be such a fun change with her close by! 

A missionary in the ward left on his mission. My companion and I bought him a few little things and we went to his house after he was set apart to give it to him. His mom made pupusas for his "last supper". We all got to enjoy the pupusas as well. It brought back all of the memories and feelings from when I was set apart and saying goodbye. He only has one sister so of course they are best friends like Karles and I. It was a special moment because the family was obviously sad but also at peace because they understand why and what he is doing.  Families are the best and the gospel is beautiful.

On Thursday, we got a little bit of rain. And by a little bit I mean a flood of rain. There was thunder and lightning and it was POURING rain. My companion and I left our lesson and headed out into the rain. Within 30 seconds my skirt and my shoes were completely soaked. We went to our next lesson, they thankfully let us in. However, we were soaking wet so when we left that lesson, there was a giant puddle of water because of us. It cooled things off so when we got home, we drank some hot chocolate. :)

On Friday we went to the temple with our investigators. It was a special experience! We all gathered together in the church that is next to the temple. President Spjut then welcomed everyone and explained different beliefs and showed videos from the church. Then our investigators and the members who were with them went to different rooms in the church to learn more about the gospel from the missionaries. Plan of Salvation, what we do in the temple, orginazations in the church. Presidente and his wife both shared their testimonies about the temple and how families are forever then we ended the meeting with a special number of "Familias Pueden Ser Eternas". It was last minute but somehow we pulled it off. We sang the last chorus in English and we had to write it down because we couldnt remember it well in English. haha oops. It was a special day!

General Conference was the BEST! I was so excited for conference and when we got to the church Saturday morning the elders told me we were going to watch it in English in a different room. BEST DAY EVER.I seriously enjoyed every minute of conference. My testimony was strengthened even more that those men really are called of God and that they really are special witnesses of Jesus Christ. I love this gospel with my whole heart. It was so fun to be with a group of English speakers. The cool part was when the two speakers spoke in Spanish, we didnt have to have it translated to English, we could understand.

Some of my favorite parts of conference:

We believe in Him. We follow Him. We deeply love Him.

Doubt not, be not afraid.

Always keep an eternal perspective and be engaged in the work of salvation.

On THAT day, my life changed. Your life changed. The sinless, pure, and holy man rose from death.

Death has no sting. The grave has no victory. Satan has no lasting power. 

I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Christ is leading His church through President Monson. I know that because of my Savior, Jesus Christ, I can be forgiven of my sins. It is through the Atonement that we may find peace and comfort.It is through the Atonement that we have the chance to begin again. It doesnt matter who we are or who we have been, we can start over and follow the Savior and the path that leads to eternal life and eternal happiness. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of us. If we follow the Savior, His teachings and His example, we will one day return to live with our Heavenly Father. 

Anyway, I love you all! Have a wonderful week. And Happy late Easter. :) I Know That My Redeemer Lives.

Lots of love,

Hermana Ferre 

3/30/15

Well this week was a little slow, nothing crazy happened. 

We had our last zone meeting of the change. We ate cake to celebrate a birthday and the service of the 4 missionaries in our zone who are going home! We ate the cake with our fingers and on a napkin because that is how we do it here in the mission. 

On Wednesday, every single one of our appointments had fallen through. We went from plan to plan and we kept being rejected. We were knocking at a door that wasnt going to open haha so this nice lady began talking to us to let us know. It just so happens that she lives close by so we asked to visit with her. She knows English so she asked if we could talk in English. It was my first lesson in English and I felt weird! Anyway, we got talking and she began to cry and told us that she knows that God put us in her path because she needed us. You never know who is in need of a small chat or even a smile.Then we continued on with our day. Our very last lesson was with a couple, Carmen and Carlos. They have been married for 50 years. My companion and I werent going to go because we only had a small amount of time and we were far from home but we decided to go. They let us in and the husband begins to tell us that they had been fighting and having problems. He told us that he said a prayer and then we showed up at his door. He said the closing prayer and called us angels. It strengthened my testimony and I know that we were guided to them at that time to help.

A drunk guy came up to my companion and I while we were talking to two elders on pday. I was the only american in the group and he wanted to speak in English. Anyway, he wouldnt leave us alone and kept following us so my companion and I entered into a pharamacy with armed guards haha and the man left quickly in the opposite direction. Then a different drunk guy came up to us and asked my companion for a handshake then he turns to me and asks me for my eye because he had a false eye.Its true, he had a false eye but never before have I been asked to lend my eyeball. Oh and just a fun fact, almost every drunk guys knows a little bit of English and wants to chat.

Well, the rainy season has come. On Friday we were in the house of a member visiting her for her birthday and the rain began. We werent prepared at all. Thankfully she gave us garbage bags to put our scriptures in, then we headed out in the rain. When we finally made it to the next appointment, we were soaked.I just laughed because who wouldnt laugh at being soaking wet and wanting people to let you into their homes to listen to our message?

On Saturday we had a fun stake activity. People had different types of typical food here in El Salvador and we got to go around and try all sorts of things. My favorite was of course just some simple beans on a tostada. It was a fun activity! After the activity, we had the Womens Conference. It was good to see a familiar atmosphere and to hear a few hymns in English. 

We ate dinner with some members. They both served here in El Salvador and met in the mission. They told us some of their mission stories. Back in their day, they baptized every Sunday. If they didnt have a baptism on Sunday, they didnt get pday that week. And as a district of three companionships, they baptized 65 people in one month. That is crazy talk! But so cool. 

So yesterday in church, the bishop announced that ward council meeting was right after sacrament. So my companion went searching for the meeting. We went to the room where we thought it was, it was full of people. We finally entered and asked if we needed to be in this room. Everyone welcomed us in so nicely and jokingly said [all we talk about is marriage[. The bishop is always joking around so we continued in and sat down. It didnt take us 5 minutes to realize that we didnt belong in this class. It wasnt the ward council meeting, it was the young single adults class. I seriously was laughing so hard. My companion and I finally left the class, everyone there was laughing. My companion and I were just getting a head start in the young single adult life. hahah so funny.

All is well here in El Salvador. I hope you all have a great week! Love you lots! :)

Hermana Ferre