Crazy week!

Here I am in San Francisco!  More like Daly City, but still San Fran!  I'm
really sorry that this letter will be super short and I probably won't be
able to reply to everyone's emails because I'm on a 15-minute limited
computer.  I don't have a library card yet, so I'll have to be short.

My companion is Sis Perez and she's great!  She's originally from Mexico
but came to the mission from Los Angeles.  She's super sweet, knows the
area really well, and is really sensitive to the Spirit.  I can already
tell I'm going to learn a lot from her.

This city reminds me a lot of Taiwan, except it's freezing cold.  Like
REALLY cold.  But it's great and there are lots of people everywhere.  It's
really shocking to see how MANY people there are in such a small area.  And
they all need the gospel!   Driving here is definitely a challenge, but I
haven't crashed into anything yet. 

We have two amazing investigators right now who are preparing for baptism
on the 27th.  Their names are [G]and [L].  THey're so special and
learn completely by the Spirit.  [L] is slightly mentally disabled, so
sometimes it's hard for her to remember everything we teach, but she feels
the Spirit really strongly and has a strong desire to be baptized.  They're
truly a miracle, and very prepared.

I'm assuming that my Richmond investigator, [J], got baptized this
Sunday.  I wasn't able to go!        The baptism had to be scheduled
at 3:30pm and I couldn't go because our sacrament meeting here in SF starts
at 3:00.    I was super super sad, but I'm sure everything went well and
he got baptized.  It's hard to transition away from my old area because
another of our investigators that we taught a lot accepted a baptismal date for the 27th!  I almost cried when I got the news.  He is so, so, SO special and I can just see him serving a mission. I won't be able to go to his baptism either because of the baptism we have here.  My heart is living in little pieces all over the world--part in Utah, part in Washington DC, part in Richmond, part in SFO, etc.  It's a weird feeling.  BUT, it's good because it's evidence to me that we really are brothers and sisters.  Being a missionary is so unique because we get to experience love for God's children in a way that isn't possible outside of a mission.  Like Derek said, when we serve others, they win a piece of our hearts.  This is the work of the Lord!

Every day, people try and attack our testimonies and beliefs.  Somehow,
that doesn't matter!  My testimony of the gospel is growing stronger every
day and there's nothing that could make me deny the spiritual witnesses
I've received of the truthfulness of the gospel.

Big Changes!

So... I have lots of news this week.  I got transfered!  I
don't know if I'm happy or sad.  I love Richmond so much and I love Hermana
Camarillo too.  I don't want to leave the area or my companion.  BUT, I am
also really excited for what's coming next.  I'm going to *SAN FRANCISCO!*
Like the city itself!  So crazy.  I was kind of thinking I'd get
transferred, but I didn't think I'd be going there.  It will definitely be
a very different experience than I've had here in Richmond.  My new
companion's name is Sister Perez.  I don't know her at all, just that she's
from LA and has been out one transfer less than me.  So that makes me the
senior companion and the driver again.  Hopefully I'll be ok driving in San
Francisco!

This transfer change comes at an interesting time for me.  It was difficult
to say goodbye to the ward on Sunday.  There are so many people here that
have become so important to me over the past 5 months or so.  The members
here are amazing and I'm sure there's no other ward like them out there.
They have such a strong desire to share the gospel and help with missionary
efforts.  Their testimonies are so strong and they try so hard to
strengthen each other.  Almost the entire ward is composed of converts,
many of them having been baptized within the past 5 years.  They're
wonderful and I've learned so much from them.  The hardest goodbye was with
Jonathan and Brian, the two little boys that got baptized.  I was surprised
at how hard it was to say goodbye to them.  I hope they and their mom stay
strong in the church.  I love them so much!  I haven't said goodbye to the
Aviles yet, or to any of our investigators.  I know that will be hard too,
but it's all part of the experience.

So one of our investigators is getting baptized next week!  I'll be able to
go to the baptism even though I'm getting transferred.  He'll be baptized
on May 6th.  I've loved this short experience with [J] because I've been
able to see the power of repentance.  When somebody really wants to change,
they can, no matter how many walls they've put up in the past.  Our
Heavenly Father knows us and loves us enough to let us make choices, and he
pours out the blessings when we choose what's right.  When I extended the
baptismal date to [J] and he accepted, the Spirit was incredibly strong.
I had been nervous about extending a date that was so close, but I felt
like I should, and Hna Camarillo agreed.  The Spirit confirmed that that
was the right date as soon as we began testifying to him of the power of
covenants--both the ones that he'll make on May 6th and the ones he will
make in the temple with his wife and children one year from that date.

[Jo], the other investigator I wrote about last week, is also doing
really well.  He's reading the Book of Mormon like crazy.  When we asked
him how he felt about the Book of Mormon, he said, "Well, I can see that
the Book of Mormon and the Bible both teach us the same things about faith
and repentance, and baptism."  I LOVE moments in which our investigators
teach US the principles of the gospel.  He understands!  That kind of clear
understanding only comes through the Spirit.  [Jo] is incredibly
prepared and has a wonderful ability to understand the principles of the
gospel through the scriptures.  It's powerful to see him changing as he
learns.  His barrier is that his family is strongly involved in a Christian
church and don't agree with him meeting with us.  We actually talked to his
dad this week.  He kept trying to fight Sister Camarillo, but she did a
great job and testified of the truth.  He walked away and stopped trying to
fight us.  [Jo] is going to face a lot of opposition from his family,
which is something I can't relate to.  I'm praying so hard for this boy.
He has so much potential and his faith is growing so quickly.  I hope he'll
be able to rely on the Atonement and the faith that he's gained to be able
to make the decision that is right for him.  It's so hard to leave [Jo]
behind!  Every time we talk to him I can just feel how special he is to
his Heavenly Father. I would love to keep teaching him.  But hopefully I
will get to see him at his baptism someday.

Other things from this week: I found a white hair on my head this week!  A
WHITE HAIR.  That's not okay.  But if I start getting grey hairs maybe
people will believe me when I tell them that I'm not 16.  :P  Also, we did
an awesome service project with Mormon Helping Hands.  We got to build
trellises for beans to grow on.  My companion used a drill for the first
time in her life!  I was so proud!  We also did a lady's lawn.  It was
crazy.  The grass was literally 2 feet tall.  So much fun!  We

We love doing yard work because it makes us feel "normal" for an hour at a
time.

Miracle week

In short, this week was absolutely a week of miracles.  For the entire
transfer we've been struggling to find people to teach.  We've been
struggling just to teach lessons, never mind to help people progress.
Somehow this week was entirely different.  We taught more lessons this week
than we did in the past two weeks combined.  We had an incredible amount of
teaching opportunities this week.  We were looking over our week last night
and it was like we couldn't even calculate how it was possible that we were
able to do so much teaching.  And then we had three investigators come to
sacrament meeting!  It was absolutely incredible, and we know that it
wasn't us that did it.  We've been working hard, of course, to be obedient
and do everything we can, but the magnitude of the blessings we received
this week can't be explained by anything we did.  The Lord is so merciful
and does so much for us.  It's true that we don't have to be perfect or
"the best" at whatever we're doing in order to be worthy of the Lord's
help.  In fact, the Atonement, repentance, and the gospel of Jesus Christ
are for all of us.  All of us are weak, and all of us are in need of divine
help.  And all of us can receive divine help and reach our potential if we
live worthily and have faith that He can help us.

This week we started teaching a guy named [J].  His wife is a member of
the church, and almost ALL of the women in his wife's family are active
members of the church.  He's met with the missionaries several times
before, and was preparing for baptism, but more than once, something
happened and he didn't end up getting baptized.  Something has totally
changed though and he told us he's ready to make the change.  He said that
he wants to feel what his wife feels about the gospel.  He has the "desire
to believe" (Alma 32) and we're so excited.  We'll be setting a baptismal
date with him tonight, and hopefully he'll be able to be baptized fairly
soon!

We also had a young guy named [J] come to church this week!  He's 18
and he's so awesome.  He's been reading out of the Book of Mormon, and when
we went by his house to have him follow us to the chapel on Sunday, he was
in a dress shirt and slacks and he had his Book of Mormon all ready to go!
He went to young men's and introduced himself, met tons of people in
sacrament meeting, and stayed for all three hours of church!  We were so
excited.  He hasn't accepted a baptismal date yet, but he's progressing
really well and is committed to doing the work required to understand what
God wants him to do.  So great!

Funny story of the week... we taught a lesson in the company of a rooster
this week!  We met a little girl (4 years old) whose rooster ran away, so
the member that came with us decided to give her a NEW rooster!  She
brought the rooster to the lesson, and then we spent a good 10 minutes
trying to catch the rooster, put it under a crate, clean rooster poop off
the floor, etc.  What great fellowshipping!  The little girl was more than
delighted, and don't worry, the lesson got taught and we were able to go
back for another appointment later in the week 

time flying by

This week was pretty good!  We had an investigator,[L], accept a baptismal date.  She doesn't have a lot of background knowledge about the gospel or scriptures, so we'll have to move really slowly with her, but she has real intent and understands the importance of baptism.  She's very humble and very sincere, and she's always willing to listen and learn.  She has a baptismal date for May 12, so hopefully everything goes well!  This week has brought a lot of interesting experiences with teaching. There's a part-member family that we've started teaching recently and we saw them yesterday.  Their daughter was baptized when she was 8 years old, but she hasn't been to church since because her family are not members and they didn't make it a priority to help her stay in the church.  They're really complacent and have been "waiting" for like 10 years to receive a sign that God wants them to change.  I think I've mentioned them before... anyway, as we were teaching yesterday the beginning of the lesson was kind of...bleh.  The Spirit just wasn't there and they weren't listening.  There were so many distractions and they didn't seem to care we were there.  But it's amazing how powerful testimony can be in bringing the Spirit.  I asked our member to bear her testimony about the blessings of prayer.  You could feel the Spirit start to come in, and people started paying attention.  We read some scriptures about prayer and repentance, and then we invited the family to begin coming back to church again.  By the end of the lesson, the Spirit was definitely present and you could tell something had changed.  It made me think about how we invite the Spirit into our own lives in general.  We really do have to get rid of the distractions and focus ourselves.  Hearing testimonies, bearing testimony, reading the scriptures, and committing to make changes are all things that allow us to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost.  And that's so important!  When we're lead by the Spirit and we feel the Holy Ghost in our lives, things are just so. much. better.  We're happier and we have more of a desire to follow the Savior.  I've been doing lots of thinking about maintaining conversion in the church.  So many people become inactive or complacent after they've been baptized, and they end up falling away in so many different aspects as they stop keeping the commandments.  And it's not that they're breaking giant commandments like murder or blasphemy or anything... it's more that they don't build the testimony they begin to gain when they prepare for baptism by reading the scriptures, praying, and going to church. If our testimony isn't constantly growing and becoming deeper and stronger, then we're not really fulfilling our purpose in this life, which is to repent and become like our Heavenly Father.  It's so important to be constantly pushing ourselves!  Our Heavenly Father loves us so much!  I've had so many moments this week where I've just been overpowered by the love that He has for us, and the many ways in which He's so merciful with our mistakes and shortcomings. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of love!  God loves us enough to let us make our own decisions, and then He blesses us more than we deserve when we show our love to Him through obedience and sacrifice. 

One more week gone! Whaaaat????

This week was pretty good.  We're still kind of in a rut, but this morning we had a great companionship study and we found a lot of things that we can improve upon and change to be able to reach our goals.  Like Derek said, sometimes we fall into selfish patterns that don't really help us accomplish our purpose as missionaries.  Even though we all make sacrifices for the Lord, as missionaries and just as members of the church in general, we've got to remember that we're doing HIS work, and this is an opportunity we've been given.  Our own experience--good or bad--should never be the focus.  If we're not having success, then there are things we can focus on changing in order to bring our will in line with the Lord's, rather than just beating ourselves up and getting depressed and distracted.  Derek's right--blaming ourselves can turn into a form of selfishness!  We should try and think outside of ourselves and focus on doing the will of the Lord, not on how bad/awesome/hardworking/stupid/whatever we are.  When we're focused on truly doing what the Lord wants, and in the way in which He wants it done, other things naturally follow and our hard work brings forth fruit and we feel of His approval.  This week we had exchanges, which is always a good experience.  I got to go to the Other Side (of the bay)!  It was my first experience outside of the Richmond/Concord area and it was really interesting.  It's so strange to me that our mission is so tiny geographically, but culturally it covers nations.  I was in San Mateo for a day with Sister Wakefield, Sister Osborn's companion.  I always learn a lot from Sister Wakefield.  She's a missionary that's dedicated and focused.  I learned a lot from her on this exchange about being bold and not worrying so much about what I'm doing "wrong."  We all have weaknesses and things that we need to improve, but that should never distract us or keep us from accomplishing our purpose as missionaries.  We talked a lot about the power and authority of a missionary's calling.  We have been called and set apart for this work. The Lord is on our side, and if we're diligent and obedient, we really can't go wrong!  Sometimes success doesn't come in the forms we want it to, but we can always feel satisfied if we've truly done all that we can. That's something I struggle with--and I think our whole family does really, haha--but it's true that really trusting in the Savior means trusting that He will help us overcome our weaknesses and imperfections.  That's why we have the Atonement!  Of course we need to do all we can, but then we need to depend on Him to really utilize and appreciate His sacrifice.  We had to drop one of our investigators that we've been teaching for about 8 weeks. This breaks my heart because I know he knows that the Book of Mormon is true and that everything we've shared with him comes from God.  He has very deep Catholic roots and he's just not ready to change.  There are some things that he just doesn't want to give up.  We've been running around in the same crazy circle with him for a while now and it's time to let go.  He's not coming to church and he's not allowing himself to grow beyond the point he's reached. This man will be baptized someday!  I feel like I can literally see the day when he'll enter the waters of baptism.  I feel a really special love for [E] and his wife.  I feel like I've known them my whole life and I know we are the missionaries who were supposed to start teaching them. [E] might not be baptized now, but he'll be baptized when he's ready.  In other news, [J] and [B] received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday!  They showed up late to sacrament meeting, and then the bishopric forgot completely that they were supposed to be confirmed (sometimes telling people 2 weeks, then 1 week, and then 1 day, and then 1 hour in advance just isn't enough, hahaha :P ), so they were confirmed in the bishop's office afterward.  The things that happen on a mission are so interesting!  This morning I was thinking about my mission and I thought about how REAL this all is. There's nothing more important than sharing the gospel, whether we're full-time missionaries or not.  Sharing the gospel is always a refining experience.  It shows us our weaknesses and our fears, and it makes us turn to the Lord!  That's what this whole existence, and the missionary experience within that existence, is about--a time to repent and serve God.  What a gift!  The plan of salvation is real.  We have a Heavenly Father, and He loves us!  That's why we have everything--the Savior, the scriptures, our families, this earth--because He loves us and has prepared great blessings for us. 

Baptism! And I've been a missionary for 5 months!

This was a good week!  We had more rain, which was an adventure, and also some cool finding experiences.  We've been struggling to find investigators this week, but we added two investigators who were both investigators a couple years back.  One of them has been investigating the church for literally 12 years!  We tracted into her on a day when it was pouring buckets.  It's interesting, because I've seen her teaching record in our archives several times, but I always passed over her and we never went to visit.  Then the other day we were knocking on doors in the pouring rain and we found her!  She was the only person who let us come inside.   It's interesting how the Lord works.  He knew we'd never go and visit this sister because I'd seen her teaching record a bunch of times and never planned on going to talk to her.  So then we knocked on doors in a monsoon for an hour and a half, and found her in that way instead!  And who knows--maybe she wouldn't have let us in if it hadn't been pouring and we didn't look like drowned rats wearing black nametags.  She says she's never been baptized because she's been looking for a sign, and like Sister Camarillo said, "The missionaries have been coming to visit you for 12 years.  That's a sign!"  We'll see how things go with her.  A lot of our other investigators have been sort of fading away and have stopped keeping commitments.  The ones who came to church last week didn't come this week.  It's so frustrating!  To quote The District (those movies we watched before going into the MTC) "Just come to church!!!!"  This morning I was reading in Jesus the Christ, thinking about why these investigators are just not ready to make changes.  I read about the parable in Mark 4:25-29 when Christ describes a sower, who after he plants has to wait for the blade, then the ear, then the harvest.  Every seed that we plant has to grow!  We can't expect to always sow a seed and then harvest the fruit in the same moment.  Some seeds grow faster than others because they've been planted on ground that has been cultivated and well-prepared with experiences and a desire to receive the truth , and others need more time.  So it may be that with some of these investigators, we've sown the seed, and they'll need some time to grow. They've felt the Spirit and they know what they need to do.  So now they have to decide to do it--to nourish the seed that's been planted (Alma 32)!  Like the sower in the parable in Mark, we might rise night and day for many days and not know what will happen to these seeds we've planted, and maybe we'll have to go and work in other areas before these seeds are ready to bring forth fruit and be harvested.  Sunday we had a baptism!  [J and B] were baptized. It's been interesting teaching kids, especially little boys.  They're kind of crazy and sometimes struggled to pay attention in lessons, but they have learned a lot in the past little while.  They were baptized on Sunday, and it was so good to see them starting on a path that will bring them so much happiness.  Their mom just recently started coming back to church, and I know that having her sons in the church will help them to grow in the gospel as a family.  And nobody panicked during the baptism!  That's been a problem with a lot of the little kids in the ward--they're super scared of water!  But everything went well for [B and J].  J's toes came up so we had a redo, but it was fine. He'll remember it better now!   

Beginning of the transfer!

Update on my health:  I'm good!  I didn't have to go to the doctor or anything, although I had a continuous stomach ache for 8 days.  EIGHT. Blegh.  But I feel better now!  Thank you for checking up on me.  This week was a good week.  It was the end of the transfer.  Sister Camarillo and I will be staying together in Richmond again this transfer, thank goodness!  I still feel like there is a lot of work we need to do here in this specific area.  We've seen lots of miracles this past transfer, and we are expecting to see many more as we work hard this coming transfer.  Highlight of the week for sure was having 5 investigators in sacrament meeting!  We had a whole family come--mom, dad, two little kids--and then one of our investigators that has set aside church in favor of baseball for 3 weeks, but who finally committed and came to church! [J and B], the two kids we're teaching, also came.  What a blessing!  Sister Camarillo and I could barely contain our happiness.  The Lord is so merciful and blesses us so much every day.  Last night we had an awesome first appointment with a brother named [B].  We taught the first lesson and invited him to read the Book of Mormon and pray to receive an answer, and he said, "Claro que si!  Si ustedes me dicen que han recibido una respuesta al leer y orar, yo lo hare tambien, porque quiero una respuesta!" ("Of course!  If you tell me you've received an answer by reading and praying, I'll do it too, because I want an answer!)  Such amazing faith!  I sometimes wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn't grown up with the gospel in my life.  I'm not sure I'd be able to exercise that much faith.  It's more evidence to me that our Heavenly Father knows what we need and knows the things we'll be able to handle in our mortal experience here.  The other highlight of the week lasted the whole week long--rain!  It rained buckets and buckets for about three days straight.  It was crazy! There are lots of hills here so the water was rushing down like rivers everywhere we went.  We went tracting in the rain though! Every day!  We even took a member with us one day!  It's weird how as a missionary, I do things that I would never normally do, like walk around in the freezing rain for an hour... and it makes me happy!  But it's not just walking around!  It's working to find those who are ready to receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  It's amazing how much of a difference it makes when you work with a clear purpose in mind.  I'm really excited for this next transfer.  I feel like every day I'm coming to understand my purpose as a missionary a little better.  Sometimes when I think about what I've been called to do--invite others to come unto Christ--I feel overwhelmed.  But when I think about who's there to help me, and everyone who wants to share the gospel, missionary or not, I feel relief.  The power of the Holy Ghost is truly an amazing thing.  As Derek said, it's astounding to see how much change can occur through the Holy Ghost.