Hola Familia!
Como Estan? First of all, before you read my letter, you should go to this link and read this article. It's called "Our Refined Heavenly Home." Its amazing, and it will change your life.
http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=906f9ffc50481210VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD
I love how it really brings this life into perspective- why we're here, and the higher purpose. We want to be comfortable living with God in all aspects- not just by being clean from our sins. I love how Enos says at the very end of his short book in the Book of Mormon "And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me; Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen." (Enos 1:27). I think that is the goal of everyone that ever has lived and will live- to be able to return to live in the mansions that Jesus Christ has prepared for us, and to have Christ himself welcome us in. I love this scripture. I love the faith the Enos shows, that he knows there is something more, something that was worth devoting his life to in order to achieve it.
I was thinking about this a lot the other day when I was in the Los Angeles temple doing service. Me and three other sister missionaries were lucky enough to have the dream service job- cleaning the chandeliers in the Celestial room. It was like spending the whole day in heaven. We had to wear white jumpsuits, and our job was to carefully remove all of the individual crystals and wash them in a big tub of water and then put them back. It made me think about what our jobs will be in the Celestial Kingdom. I think that in my stage of existence I am qualified for the chandelier cleaning job, but not much else. I have to continue to prove myself with the assignments that God gives me. I think that this life is about more than just getting back to Heavenly Father so we can rest, float around on clouds and do nothing for all of eternity. i think that we are also proving to him that we will follow him, and that he can trust us to do his work. Jesus Christ is our greatest example, and we know that he has worked more than anyone- he created the earth, he completed the atonement, he did everything that his Father sent him to do. We are blessed when we are able to take part in his work.
I have had a really great week. We had the baptism of Jose Martinez yesterday and it was incredible. He is an eighteen year old boy going to community college studying computers. He was so excited about his baptism a couple days ago he said he could hardly sleep. The spirit was so strong at the baptism. His whole family was there and really felt the spirit. They're not members, and we're working with his sister Natasha who wants to be baptized too, but has missed some of the lessons and things. We thinks she has been facing some pressure from her friends. It is also hard for her, and most of the youth around her age, to understand what they're reading in the Book of Mormon. She is really smart and picks up on it when we read with her. It is really tragic how there is such a huge decline in reading. I walked in to the library today and saw a sign with "Top 10 things to do in your local library" and the number one thing was "Check your myspace page." If the Book of Mormon is our greatest tool missionaries, then one of Satan's greatest counter attacks is to stop kids from reading. There is such a difference in the homes that we go to that have a huge bookshelf in their living room, as opposed to those that are filled with just a big screen TV. It is really tragic, not just for learning about the gospel, but learning in general. People are going to lose all appreciation for Shakespeare and the greatest author of all time because they're not going to be able to understand it.
Anyways, that was kind of just a big soap box . . . but I am doing great! The work is going really well. I hope you all have a Happy Easter and learn as much as you can from General Conference. I know that Christ was risen, and that he lives and loves us. I love you all!
Hermana Dansie
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Maywood: Semana 7 Cambio Numero Dos! March 22, 2010
Hola Familia!
So, transfers came and went and nothing changed. I am still with Hermana Salazar in Maywood and I am very happy about it. I am loving Maywood. :) My spanish is improving so fast. Hermana Salazar and I made a goal to speak completely in spanish, and we have been doing really good so far. We even did all of our weekly planning in spanish, which is a pretty challenging accomplishment. I still have a long way to come though.
I don't know if you heard about it, but there was an earthquake here! How crazy is that? Well, it was only a small earthquake, but still. It was four in the morning on Tuesday and lasted for about fifteen seconds, just long enough to wake me up and then give me the craziest dreams of my life when I fell back asleep. Yes, this was one of the highlights of my week, ha ha. No, actually I think that most of the interesting things about missionary work come from the interesting people you meet. This week was pretty incredible as far as meeting interesting people goes. There was a man who calls himself "El Tigre" (the tiger) who is a store owner in Maywood. He is about fifty and was wearing a tiger skin jacket and tie, a tiger ring, and had an elvis style hairdo. He also had a huge tiger picture in his store and a plaque with "El tigre," just to make sure its clear. He and his wife were really nice and really funny. We also met a French man while tracting, which is incredibly rare for Maywood. He told us is his very strong french accent that he doesn't need to go to church to talk to god; that he can talk to God while singing and dancing in the shower. He started to dance a little bit to show us a demonstration while he said "hey god, I'm here, it's me."
Besides the random interesting people we meet, the real reward of the work has been meeting incredible people with strong faith in God that are waiting and willing to listen to our message. We met a man yesterday while tracting named Johnny. He is forty and has a cute little family and the personality of a carefree islander, and tattoo sleeves that show he had a very hard and interesting past. He told us he was into drugs and everything but he saw how it was completely destroying his life, so he changed his life around and recently he has been talking to God and trying to figure out what he needs to do. He said that he feels like we are the answer to his prayers. He was like "no, like seriously, I know its kind of crazy but I think you're here for a reason."
We are also preparing for a baptism next week for an boy named Jose Martinez. He is really excited to get baptized and is so receptive to the spirit. He came to an activity we had Wednesday and he was asking so, is there something tomorrow I can come to? It is so refreshing when you get people that are so exciting about the gospel they are asking you what more they can do. We spend a lot of time working with people that end up not keeping their commitments, and it is so sad because you can see how much it would bless and change their lives if they would just do these simple things, but still they don't. They're too busy and they have a million excuses, and they miss out on all of the blessings and the help they could be getting from God. The only way God can bless us is if we are obedient. It is the same with parents and their children- if parents give children everything they want no matter if they follow your rules or they don't they aren't able to learn and grow. Heavenly Father really is the perfect example of a loving caring parent that knows how to raise his children. He makes sure we don't get spoiled or become prideful, and if we do he punishes us and humbles us, because he loves us. I've been learning so much more about his plan for us and what that really means, and how we are supposed to learn and grow here. A lot of people ask "If God loves us, why is there so much suffering in the world?" I've come to realize that in a strange way suffering is another evidence of God's love for us. He loves us enough to let us learn and grow on our own, without protecting us from everything. If you kept a child inside the house in a plastic bubble, how much would they learn? What kind of person would they become? And yet when we lived with God before that is kind of how it was- we couldn't feel pain, everything was good and happy, but we also couldn't learn and grow and progress. The state that Adam and Eve were in in the garden is symbolic of what we all were in with our Heavenly Father before. Also, Eve's choice to take the fruit even though she knew it would lead to suffering and death is the same as the choice we all made to leave our Heavenly Father and come to earth. This is what we signed up for- including all of the suffering and opposition. We had to have opposition to learn what happiness truly is. Every single person that has ever lived and will ever live will suffer in some way in their life- so either God loves no one, or God loves everyone and suffering is part of his plan he has for us, because "after the tribulation comes the blessings." Pain, grief, death, sorrow, are all experiences unique to this life, and this life is but a small moment, but if we endure it well we will be blessed. I know that Heavenly Father loves all of us, and he is aware of our pains and anything hard that we have in our lives, and that is why he sent us his son, the Savior, to help us and be beside us every step of the way- to bear all of our pains. I still don't understand how it works, but I know it does- if we pray and ask God will help us.
I love you all so much! I'm not sure how much sense that long tangent just made, or how doctrinally sound it is, so please don't quote me on it- just a few of the thoughts I've been having in my ponderings lately. Have a good week!
Love,
Hermana Dansie
So, transfers came and went and nothing changed. I am still with Hermana Salazar in Maywood and I am very happy about it. I am loving Maywood. :) My spanish is improving so fast. Hermana Salazar and I made a goal to speak completely in spanish, and we have been doing really good so far. We even did all of our weekly planning in spanish, which is a pretty challenging accomplishment. I still have a long way to come though.
I don't know if you heard about it, but there was an earthquake here! How crazy is that? Well, it was only a small earthquake, but still. It was four in the morning on Tuesday and lasted for about fifteen seconds, just long enough to wake me up and then give me the craziest dreams of my life when I fell back asleep. Yes, this was one of the highlights of my week, ha ha. No, actually I think that most of the interesting things about missionary work come from the interesting people you meet. This week was pretty incredible as far as meeting interesting people goes. There was a man who calls himself "El Tigre" (the tiger) who is a store owner in Maywood. He is about fifty and was wearing a tiger skin jacket and tie, a tiger ring, and had an elvis style hairdo. He also had a huge tiger picture in his store and a plaque with "El tigre," just to make sure its clear. He and his wife were really nice and really funny. We also met a French man while tracting, which is incredibly rare for Maywood. He told us is his very strong french accent that he doesn't need to go to church to talk to god; that he can talk to God while singing and dancing in the shower. He started to dance a little bit to show us a demonstration while he said "hey god, I'm here, it's me."
Besides the random interesting people we meet, the real reward of the work has been meeting incredible people with strong faith in God that are waiting and willing to listen to our message. We met a man yesterday while tracting named Johnny. He is forty and has a cute little family and the personality of a carefree islander, and tattoo sleeves that show he had a very hard and interesting past. He told us he was into drugs and everything but he saw how it was completely destroying his life, so he changed his life around and recently he has been talking to God and trying to figure out what he needs to do. He said that he feels like we are the answer to his prayers. He was like "no, like seriously, I know its kind of crazy but I think you're here for a reason."
We are also preparing for a baptism next week for an boy named Jose Martinez. He is really excited to get baptized and is so receptive to the spirit. He came to an activity we had Wednesday and he was asking so, is there something tomorrow I can come to? It is so refreshing when you get people that are so exciting about the gospel they are asking you what more they can do. We spend a lot of time working with people that end up not keeping their commitments, and it is so sad because you can see how much it would bless and change their lives if they would just do these simple things, but still they don't. They're too busy and they have a million excuses, and they miss out on all of the blessings and the help they could be getting from God. The only way God can bless us is if we are obedient. It is the same with parents and their children- if parents give children everything they want no matter if they follow your rules or they don't they aren't able to learn and grow. Heavenly Father really is the perfect example of a loving caring parent that knows how to raise his children. He makes sure we don't get spoiled or become prideful, and if we do he punishes us and humbles us, because he loves us. I've been learning so much more about his plan for us and what that really means, and how we are supposed to learn and grow here. A lot of people ask "If God loves us, why is there so much suffering in the world?" I've come to realize that in a strange way suffering is another evidence of God's love for us. He loves us enough to let us learn and grow on our own, without protecting us from everything. If you kept a child inside the house in a plastic bubble, how much would they learn? What kind of person would they become? And yet when we lived with God before that is kind of how it was- we couldn't feel pain, everything was good and happy, but we also couldn't learn and grow and progress. The state that Adam and Eve were in in the garden is symbolic of what we all were in with our Heavenly Father before. Also, Eve's choice to take the fruit even though she knew it would lead to suffering and death is the same as the choice we all made to leave our Heavenly Father and come to earth. This is what we signed up for- including all of the suffering and opposition. We had to have opposition to learn what happiness truly is. Every single person that has ever lived and will ever live will suffer in some way in their life- so either God loves no one, or God loves everyone and suffering is part of his plan he has for us, because "after the tribulation comes the blessings." Pain, grief, death, sorrow, are all experiences unique to this life, and this life is but a small moment, but if we endure it well we will be blessed. I know that Heavenly Father loves all of us, and he is aware of our pains and anything hard that we have in our lives, and that is why he sent us his son, the Savior, to help us and be beside us every step of the way- to bear all of our pains. I still don't understand how it works, but I know it does- if we pray and ask God will help us.
I love you all so much! I'm not sure how much sense that long tangent just made, or how doctrinally sound it is, so please don't quote me on it- just a few of the thoughts I've been having in my ponderings lately. Have a good week!
Love,
Hermana Dansie
Monday, March 15, 2010
Maywood: Semana 6 / March 15, 2010
Hola mi familia increible!
The last week of my first transfer- can you believe it? I can't even tell you how fast the time flies here. We are working really hard and staying very busy, which I love. This past week has been a lot more successful and encouraging. I really don't know how people survive in missions with hardly any success, like in Europe. We can get a lot of people really interested here and have a ton of people to teach, it is just hard getting them to really commit. But we have found six really good investigators this past week, and one of them has committed to being baptized the end of this month and has been following through with all of his reading and came to church and loves it. His name is Jose- he's 19 and he is studying computers and the community college. He is really sensitive to the spirit and has been really touched by what we've taught him.
This week is transfer week, which means Tuesday night we will get a phone call and will find out whether or not we are being transferred Wednesday morning. It is pretty crazy that they hardly give you any warning at all, but they want to avoid going away parties and making a big deal out of being transferred. We have to have a ride and everything all planned as if we are transferring. I am really hoping I get to stay in Maywood. Hermana Salazar has been here for 4 transfers (6 months) so there is a pretty good chance of her getting transferred. I would be sad if she did- we've become really good friends.
I just realized that I've never really talked much about Hermana Salazar, except that she is an intensely hard worker. She is from Texas and was a Music Education maor at BYU before her mission. She is also 21. She loves music and has a beautiful voice, so we sing all of the time for people, even random people that we've just barely met. She is really goal-oriented and motivated, and works hard consistently no matter what. It is really admirable, and a good thing to have as my trainer. The only hard thing like I've said before is that we are so similar in some ways. We've finally been having more fun though, and also more success, and I feel like we understand each other a lot better. She is extremely smart and loves the scriptures, so she always has really good scriptures that relate to what we're teaching. I feel like I have been getting a lot better at realating to people and coming up with analogies, so with our strengths combined we've become a pretty good team. It will be interesting to see what happens Wednesday.
It was really funny the other day, we were in a dinner appointment and we ate some tostadas and Hermana Salazar turns to me and says "I am so full," and then this sweet sister from El Salvador brings out the second course- these amazing sopas, which are like another kind of tostada thing, so we had that and then the sister asks us if we wanted a yogurt, and we we told her "we're really pretty full," but she said "it will help with your digestion," so we agreed, but then she opened the yogurt and started putting things on top of it- she put strawberries, and then chocolate pudding, and hermana salazar and I started laughing- we couldn't help it- as she then put bananas, and to top it all of some maple syrup. It was like a yogurt sunday tower. It was actually pretty good, I just felt bad that we couldn't stop laughing. We explained that we were just so full and that her food was amazing. There are some really good cooks here, I think I just have to stop eating lunch to make up for it.
It is interesting how the scriptures are compared to spiritual food. I've started using the analogy with people that in the same way we need food for our bodies, we need the scriptures for our spirits, and just like how we can't eat all of the food our body needs for the entire month in one sitting, we can't read the whole Book of Mormon in two days and think we're good for the next month or so. We need the daily consistency of remembering God in our lives- remembering how much he has blessed us, remembering what the commandments are and how we will be blessed if we live them, remembering what the spirit feels like as we read and work on following it. We can't just learn something once and be good. A lot of times people also feel like it is all or nothing- well, I'll start reading my scriptures when I start exercising every morning and also start that one diet and work on that one goal and clean out that room- it is an attitude of all or nothing- and it is one of Satan's tools that holds us back from all that we can appreciate and enjoy, and the help that we can have from God. I love the scripture in 2 Nephi 9 that says something like "come buy milk and honey without price" and "let your soul delight in fatness." :D My challenge for all of you, my beloved friends and family, is to start reading your scriptures for at least five minutes every day, and especially reading the Book of Mormon. There are so many blessings you can receive from reading the Book of Mormon- it gives you a greater understanding of the eternal perspective, so no matter what is happening in the world, you don't have to be afraid. (I think I heard something about an earthquake in Chile? Sometimes it feels so weird to be so separated from the rest of the world.) Reading the Book of the Mormon will bring the spirit and more love into your homes. It really is a precious gift. We had a really sweet family that was so excited about the Book of Mormon- they were like "wow, that really happened? Jesus came to America? That's amazing- I never know that." It was so refreshing for me to realize and be reminded again that yeah-this message really is amazing. We have another testament of Jesus Christ- that he wasn't just a man, but he was actually the son of God- people saw him descending out of heaven and working miracles. He was resurrected and he lives and loves us.
I love you all so much. :) I hope I don't seem to weird in missionary mode. I actually can feel myself caring less and less about what people think of me though, which is good, ha ha. :) Sometimes it is funny though because I can't tell if people are looking at me just because I'm a missionary, or because I am one of the only white people in Maywood. I really stick out like a sore thumb with having both combined- but its good, it just gives me more opportunities to talk to people and bring them the gospel. Another funny thing from this week was we met the cutest old man ever, is about eighty five and his name is "feliz angel", which literally means happy angel. He loves the bible and was so happy- the name suites him.
Pues, Les amo muchisimo. Cuidense mucho!
Hermana Dansie
The last week of my first transfer- can you believe it? I can't even tell you how fast the time flies here. We are working really hard and staying very busy, which I love. This past week has been a lot more successful and encouraging. I really don't know how people survive in missions with hardly any success, like in Europe. We can get a lot of people really interested here and have a ton of people to teach, it is just hard getting them to really commit. But we have found six really good investigators this past week, and one of them has committed to being baptized the end of this month and has been following through with all of his reading and came to church and loves it. His name is Jose- he's 19 and he is studying computers and the community college. He is really sensitive to the spirit and has been really touched by what we've taught him.
This week is transfer week, which means Tuesday night we will get a phone call and will find out whether or not we are being transferred Wednesday morning. It is pretty crazy that they hardly give you any warning at all, but they want to avoid going away parties and making a big deal out of being transferred. We have to have a ride and everything all planned as if we are transferring. I am really hoping I get to stay in Maywood. Hermana Salazar has been here for 4 transfers (6 months) so there is a pretty good chance of her getting transferred. I would be sad if she did- we've become really good friends.
I just realized that I've never really talked much about Hermana Salazar, except that she is an intensely hard worker. She is from Texas and was a Music Education maor at BYU before her mission. She is also 21. She loves music and has a beautiful voice, so we sing all of the time for people, even random people that we've just barely met. She is really goal-oriented and motivated, and works hard consistently no matter what. It is really admirable, and a good thing to have as my trainer. The only hard thing like I've said before is that we are so similar in some ways. We've finally been having more fun though, and also more success, and I feel like we understand each other a lot better. She is extremely smart and loves the scriptures, so she always has really good scriptures that relate to what we're teaching. I feel like I have been getting a lot better at realating to people and coming up with analogies, so with our strengths combined we've become a pretty good team. It will be interesting to see what happens Wednesday.
It was really funny the other day, we were in a dinner appointment and we ate some tostadas and Hermana Salazar turns to me and says "I am so full," and then this sweet sister from El Salvador brings out the second course- these amazing sopas, which are like another kind of tostada thing, so we had that and then the sister asks us if we wanted a yogurt, and we we told her "we're really pretty full," but she said "it will help with your digestion," so we agreed, but then she opened the yogurt and started putting things on top of it- she put strawberries, and then chocolate pudding, and hermana salazar and I started laughing- we couldn't help it- as she then put bananas, and to top it all of some maple syrup. It was like a yogurt sunday tower. It was actually pretty good, I just felt bad that we couldn't stop laughing. We explained that we were just so full and that her food was amazing. There are some really good cooks here, I think I just have to stop eating lunch to make up for it.
It is interesting how the scriptures are compared to spiritual food. I've started using the analogy with people that in the same way we need food for our bodies, we need the scriptures for our spirits, and just like how we can't eat all of the food our body needs for the entire month in one sitting, we can't read the whole Book of Mormon in two days and think we're good for the next month or so. We need the daily consistency of remembering God in our lives- remembering how much he has blessed us, remembering what the commandments are and how we will be blessed if we live them, remembering what the spirit feels like as we read and work on following it. We can't just learn something once and be good. A lot of times people also feel like it is all or nothing- well, I'll start reading my scriptures when I start exercising every morning and also start that one diet and work on that one goal and clean out that room- it is an attitude of all or nothing- and it is one of Satan's tools that holds us back from all that we can appreciate and enjoy, and the help that we can have from God. I love the scripture in 2 Nephi 9 that says something like "come buy milk and honey without price" and "let your soul delight in fatness." :D My challenge for all of you, my beloved friends and family, is to start reading your scriptures for at least five minutes every day, and especially reading the Book of Mormon. There are so many blessings you can receive from reading the Book of Mormon- it gives you a greater understanding of the eternal perspective, so no matter what is happening in the world, you don't have to be afraid. (I think I heard something about an earthquake in Chile? Sometimes it feels so weird to be so separated from the rest of the world.) Reading the Book of the Mormon will bring the spirit and more love into your homes. It really is a precious gift. We had a really sweet family that was so excited about the Book of Mormon- they were like "wow, that really happened? Jesus came to America? That's amazing- I never know that." It was so refreshing for me to realize and be reminded again that yeah-this message really is amazing. We have another testament of Jesus Christ- that he wasn't just a man, but he was actually the son of God- people saw him descending out of heaven and working miracles. He was resurrected and he lives and loves us.
I love you all so much. :) I hope I don't seem to weird in missionary mode. I actually can feel myself caring less and less about what people think of me though, which is good, ha ha. :) Sometimes it is funny though because I can't tell if people are looking at me just because I'm a missionary, or because I am one of the only white people in Maywood. I really stick out like a sore thumb with having both combined- but its good, it just gives me more opportunities to talk to people and bring them the gospel. Another funny thing from this week was we met the cutest old man ever, is about eighty five and his name is "feliz angel", which literally means happy angel. He loves the bible and was so happy- the name suites him.
Pues, Les amo muchisimo. Cuidense mucho!
Hermana Dansie
Monday, March 8, 2010
Maywood: Semana 5 / March 8, 2010
Hola mi familia bonita!
I've decided that I could live in California for the rest of my life just for the fresh fruits and vegetables. Everyone gives us fruit and I love it. There is even a lady that for the last couple weeks has brought buckets of avocados from her tree to give away, so we've made a lot of fresh amazing guacamole. Speaking of food, I feel like I am going to become even closer friends with Angela when I come home, because I am going to want to go with her to all of the weird food places she likes. I have come to love a lot of different interesting food, some of it I even remember Angela trying to get me to eat and I wouldn't. :) I think the weirdest thing I've eaten so far is probably cactus. Well, it didn't really taste weird, it was prepared so it was kind of just like green beans but a little more rubbery. The weird thing about it is just thinking about eating cactus.
I love how family oriented and loving the Latin culture is. I noticed the other day when we were tracting and school was getting out that sometimes the whole family, mom, dad, grandparents, all go to walk to pick the kids up from school and walk home with them. There were some really cute families all walking together and holding hands. They really know how to love and enjoy life. A lot of people don't have very much, their homes are tiny- some of them just sheds really- but they are close to their family and they are happy.
This week has been a little bit sad as far as the work goes. Tony, the guy I told you about last week, decided that he wants to take things at his own pace and figure it out on his own, without us visiting him anymore. It is really sad working with people and having really amazing spiritual experiences with them and then seeing them just choose not to keep learning. All we can do is just pray that hopefully they will see the light eventually.
We also had another investigator we found named Omar, and he was so amazing. He had the missionaries before about three years ago, but then he had to move suddenly and lost contact with them. He told us when we met him that we were the only church he had felt really good with, and he also got really excited when he remembered things he had already been taught. He also really liked praying and wrote down the steps of prayer without us even asking. It was really sad though because for some reason he just dropped of the face of the earth. He doesn't have a telephone, and we've stopped by his house multiple times and don't know where he has been. We are thinking it might be because he told us last week when he couldn't come to church that he found out his friend has cancer and he had to go to the hospital with him, so it probably has to do with that. We are really hoping he will get ahold of us again soon, because we can't keep wasting time trying to track him down. You can tell that he already has a testimony of the church and wants to learn more. We'll see what happens. It is definitely more emotionally taxing than I expected, putting so much love and effort into helping teach others about the gospel. It is extremely rewarding too though.
We had a combined district meeting this week that helped me a lot as far as improving my missionary skills. We worked on tracting and how to talk to people and get them interesting in our message. I've been learning so much about how to deal with people. I love a quote that a good friend of mine sent me in a letter a week or so ago by Dale Carnegie that basically says "you can make more friends in two months by being interested in others than you can make in two years trying to get others interested in you." I have been thinking a lot about that lately and it is so true. The training we had went right along with that, and how we need to focus on them and be personable, show them we are real people and truly care about them. I have made a new goal to make everyone I meet and talk to smile or laugh. A lot of people will talk to us, but you can tell that they are just doing it to be nice, so I've been trying to make personal connections and be more friendly, because it doesn't matter what we say to them if they don't feel like we care about them. "People won't care about what you have to say until they know how much you care." This is something that I think is so applicable just to life and relationships in general, and I am glad that I have this time to work on being a better friend. I feel like I am learning and growing so much in every aspect of my life.
Something else that I have come to realize more and more is the power of consistency. As a missionary it is such a blessing to have the ability to study the gospel every day, to teach and feel the spirit and to have powerful experiences with the spirit multiple times every day. It is just like exercise. With hard work and consistent effort I am slowly but surely becoming a better missionary and a better person. This is how everything in life works- you can't just change everything all at once. You have to go through a process and embrace the process.
I was studying more about personal revelation and the Holy Ghost and I came across this in the True to the Faith book: "The soft impressions of the Holy Ghost maybe don't appear very spectacular like visions or visitations of angels, but they are more powerful and lasting and have greater ability to change a person's life. A witness from the Holy Ghost creates an impression in the soul that is more meaningful than anything you can see or hear. Through these kinds of revelations you receive lasting strength to stay faithful to the gospel and help others do the same."
I never realized that the soft impressions of the spirit could be considered more powerful than great visions or angels. I think that a big part of the power comes from the ability to consistently have impressions from the spirit. Heavenly Father knows and understands how easily we forget- even when we have powerful spiritual experiences. Our memory is so weak and unreliable. It is easier for us to remember feelings- they affect us deeper than what we see or hear. It is such a blessing to have the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us always, and to keep reminding us.
Well, I'm out of time, so I hope that makes sense. :P I love you all!
- Hermana Dansie
I've decided that I could live in California for the rest of my life just for the fresh fruits and vegetables. Everyone gives us fruit and I love it. There is even a lady that for the last couple weeks has brought buckets of avocados from her tree to give away, so we've made a lot of fresh amazing guacamole. Speaking of food, I feel like I am going to become even closer friends with Angela when I come home, because I am going to want to go with her to all of the weird food places she likes. I have come to love a lot of different interesting food, some of it I even remember Angela trying to get me to eat and I wouldn't. :) I think the weirdest thing I've eaten so far is probably cactus. Well, it didn't really taste weird, it was prepared so it was kind of just like green beans but a little more rubbery. The weird thing about it is just thinking about eating cactus.
I love how family oriented and loving the Latin culture is. I noticed the other day when we were tracting and school was getting out that sometimes the whole family, mom, dad, grandparents, all go to walk to pick the kids up from school and walk home with them. There were some really cute families all walking together and holding hands. They really know how to love and enjoy life. A lot of people don't have very much, their homes are tiny- some of them just sheds really- but they are close to their family and they are happy.
This week has been a little bit sad as far as the work goes. Tony, the guy I told you about last week, decided that he wants to take things at his own pace and figure it out on his own, without us visiting him anymore. It is really sad working with people and having really amazing spiritual experiences with them and then seeing them just choose not to keep learning. All we can do is just pray that hopefully they will see the light eventually.
We also had another investigator we found named Omar, and he was so amazing. He had the missionaries before about three years ago, but then he had to move suddenly and lost contact with them. He told us when we met him that we were the only church he had felt really good with, and he also got really excited when he remembered things he had already been taught. He also really liked praying and wrote down the steps of prayer without us even asking. It was really sad though because for some reason he just dropped of the face of the earth. He doesn't have a telephone, and we've stopped by his house multiple times and don't know where he has been. We are thinking it might be because he told us last week when he couldn't come to church that he found out his friend has cancer and he had to go to the hospital with him, so it probably has to do with that. We are really hoping he will get ahold of us again soon, because we can't keep wasting time trying to track him down. You can tell that he already has a testimony of the church and wants to learn more. We'll see what happens. It is definitely more emotionally taxing than I expected, putting so much love and effort into helping teach others about the gospel. It is extremely rewarding too though.
We had a combined district meeting this week that helped me a lot as far as improving my missionary skills. We worked on tracting and how to talk to people and get them interesting in our message. I've been learning so much about how to deal with people. I love a quote that a good friend of mine sent me in a letter a week or so ago by Dale Carnegie that basically says "you can make more friends in two months by being interested in others than you can make in two years trying to get others interested in you." I have been thinking a lot about that lately and it is so true. The training we had went right along with that, and how we need to focus on them and be personable, show them we are real people and truly care about them. I have made a new goal to make everyone I meet and talk to smile or laugh. A lot of people will talk to us, but you can tell that they are just doing it to be nice, so I've been trying to make personal connections and be more friendly, because it doesn't matter what we say to them if they don't feel like we care about them. "People won't care about what you have to say until they know how much you care." This is something that I think is so applicable just to life and relationships in general, and I am glad that I have this time to work on being a better friend. I feel like I am learning and growing so much in every aspect of my life.
Something else that I have come to realize more and more is the power of consistency. As a missionary it is such a blessing to have the ability to study the gospel every day, to teach and feel the spirit and to have powerful experiences with the spirit multiple times every day. It is just like exercise. With hard work and consistent effort I am slowly but surely becoming a better missionary and a better person. This is how everything in life works- you can't just change everything all at once. You have to go through a process and embrace the process.
I was studying more about personal revelation and the Holy Ghost and I came across this in the True to the Faith book: "The soft impressions of the Holy Ghost maybe don't appear very spectacular like visions or visitations of angels, but they are more powerful and lasting and have greater ability to change a person's life. A witness from the Holy Ghost creates an impression in the soul that is more meaningful than anything you can see or hear. Through these kinds of revelations you receive lasting strength to stay faithful to the gospel and help others do the same."
I never realized that the soft impressions of the spirit could be considered more powerful than great visions or angels. I think that a big part of the power comes from the ability to consistently have impressions from the spirit. Heavenly Father knows and understands how easily we forget- even when we have powerful spiritual experiences. Our memory is so weak and unreliable. It is easier for us to remember feelings- they affect us deeper than what we see or hear. It is such a blessing to have the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us always, and to keep reminding us.
Well, I'm out of time, so I hope that makes sense. :P I love you all!
- Hermana Dansie
Monday, March 1, 2010
Maywood: Semana 4 Mar. 1, 2010
Hola Familia!
This week has been so great! I can't even begin to tell you everything that happened, but I'll try. I was kind of depressed the last little while, even though I tried to just get over it and pretend like I wasn't, but finally this week I realized what was wrong and everything has been changing for the better. For one thing I wasn't talking to my companion about things that were frustrating me, I just kept holding them inside and trying to get over them or not think about them. I finally talked to my companion last week about some things and we have been improving and getting better ever since. I think that it partly it is because I had some really big expectations for myself coming fresh out into the field and wanting to convert the world, and then just feeling kind of squashed not being able to really help or contribute and not knowing what was going on but knowing wanting to ask and feel stupid. We also realized that we are just so motivated, dedicated, and serious that it can get really intense sometimes. I realized that I was really blessed to have Hermana Stout at the MTC to mellow me out a little bit, because we worked hard but we still had so much fun. I am really blessed to have Hermana Salazar as well, but we are just so similar in personality that we haven't really had a balance, so the work was not very enjoyable for awhile. I realized a lot of this when I went on splits with Hermana Mosher this past Wednesday, the Senior Sister Trainer. We had so much fun and it was such a good day. She gave me a lot more responsibility and I felt like I lived up to it and gained a lot more confidence in myself.
We also had zone conference this week with two zones from the mission. Hermana Stout was there so I got to say hi. She is doing really great. The zone conference was really good. President Blackburn talked about the atonement, and how if anything ever felt like it was too hard for us to handle in our lives it was because we aren't giving it over to the Lord and trusting him to help us.
Yesterday was my first baptism! Her name is Ariadne, and yesterday was also her nine year old birthday. Her family lives in Mexico and in December she came with her Grandma to live at her aunt's house to go to school here. Her aunt is inactive, but her grandma is extremely active and is such a sweet lady. Hermana Salazar started teaching Ariadne before I got here. She is extremely smart and mature and would always study and write things in her journal. She is also very patient with my spanish. It has been fun because we have come up with a lot of good analogies and activities to teach her the lessons, like drawing, making collages, etc. The baptism service itself actually turned out to be kind of chaotic. We decided to have a convert from the ward perform the baptism, he is 22 and just turned in his mission papers, so this was his first baptism. He was doing really good and didn't seem nervous, but then he was doing the baptism and he couldn't pronounce her name. It literally was at least two minutes, he kept saying "adriana," and the family and the rest of the congregation starting saying back to him "Ariadne," and then he finally got it right but she didn't go down all the way because she was a little afraid. It all worked out in the end though. Ariadne was just laughing about it, which was good. My companion and I also sang a musical number, but we hadn't really practiced it so we made some pretty big mistakes. Plus a lot of other random things went wrong throughout the day, but in the end, it definitely was a very memorable experience for me. Despite everything I really could feel the spirit and Heavenly Father's love for Ariadne. Her Grandma gave a talk and she thanked us for helping to teach Ariadne. Her grandma was always there with us in the lessons helping teach and bearing testimony. They are such a cute family.
I also gave my first talk as a missionary yesterday. It was in the english ward, and I had to talk for 15 minutes on how Preach my Gospel has helped me prepare to be a missionary. It went a lot better than I expected, considering I didn't really have time to prepare very much. I feel like there is always so little time for everything we need to do, but I love that we are busy and working hard.
We ended up dropping the brothers, or they dropped us because they've been too busy to meet with us. Ivan said that when he prayed he felt really motivated and inspired, like a new man, and that it helped him realize that he wants to change his life and pursue his dreams of becoming a pilot, so he is too busy to study about the church anymore because he needs to focus on his classes and school. It is interesting how the Lord work though, because last week they fell through on an appointment, so we went tracting instead and met their neighbor as he was pulling into his driveway. We talked to him for a minute and set up another appointment. When we came back to see him he told us "I don't know why you talked to me that day, but I had just decided that I need to change my life because I feel stuck in a rut. I don't know if its a coincidence or it was a sign from God or what." We had a really incredible lesson and both me and my companion felt the spirit helping s immensely. We taught in perfect unity, which is something we usually struggle a little bit with, and I even realized something new about the gospel as I was teaching that I had never thought about before. A lot of people look at the vision that Joseph Smith had and they expect that they should be able to have an incredible vision too. They feel "if he got that answer, why can't I get that answer?" I realized that we all can have that answer, because if we pray to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he had a vision, and if we feel that it is true, then in a way we take part ownership of the vision that he had, and that vision becomes our vision too. It wasn't just for him, it was for all of us. It is the proof that God loves every one of us, that he still speaks to us today, and that he answers prayers. We don't need something great, impressive, or astounding, and if we feel like we do then it is a little bit prideful. Joseph Smith himself was not asking to see God and was not expecting it to happen, but it did because it was necessary for all of us. We were teaching Tony about how to know that this is true, and it was such a reaffirmation of my testimony to feel the spirit working through me to teach and also teaching me at the same time. It is so incredible the way the Lord works through "small and simple things."
Tony also shared an experience about a hike he had as a marine, where everyone was passing out and he thought he was going to have to give up, but he prayed and God gave him the strength to finish. It made me think a lot about James. James, you are so lucky to have the gift of the guidance and strength from the spirit- it is something that will help you, as long as you are worthy to have it. I know that you will be and you will be such a good example for all of your fellow soldiers.
We had a funny experience eating at the Relief Society President's house. After we ate she gave us a big talk about how we really need to eat the food to not offend people. It was interesting to me because I really have been eating everything and loving it, but I guess in the past there have been sisters missionaries that haven't so some of the sisters in the ward are offended and don't want to feed us anymore. I think there is a bad reputation from the white sisters that aren't accustomed to eating the latino food, and so they are kind of lumping me into that category. I have been doing everything I can to break out of that reputation, because I want to show the ward members that I love and appreciate them. The only unfortunate thing is that I probably am going to gain a bit of weight while I'm here in Maywood. I've been exercising as hard as I can every morning, so hopefully it will be ok. The Relief Society president even said "you are going to get fat, but its ok, you can get skinny again after your mission. The most important thing now is that you show the sisters in the ward you appreciate them." There have been a few times where they give me so much food, and it makes me feel so sick to eat it all. They really are so sweet though, and the food is amazing. Some of the older sisters in the mission joke about their "mission babies" because they've gained some weight. I don't think they exercise as hard as I do though. Another hard thing is just like another sister said "food is our only worldly pleasure." Ha ha, in a way it is kind of true.
I have found so much more joy and happiness from really relating to the people, and also not being afraid to be myself. I am so happy to be here. I love you all so much!
Hermana Dansie
This week has been so great! I can't even begin to tell you everything that happened, but I'll try. I was kind of depressed the last little while, even though I tried to just get over it and pretend like I wasn't, but finally this week I realized what was wrong and everything has been changing for the better. For one thing I wasn't talking to my companion about things that were frustrating me, I just kept holding them inside and trying to get over them or not think about them. I finally talked to my companion last week about some things and we have been improving and getting better ever since. I think that it partly it is because I had some really big expectations for myself coming fresh out into the field and wanting to convert the world, and then just feeling kind of squashed not being able to really help or contribute and not knowing what was going on but knowing wanting to ask and feel stupid. We also realized that we are just so motivated, dedicated, and serious that it can get really intense sometimes. I realized that I was really blessed to have Hermana Stout at the MTC to mellow me out a little bit, because we worked hard but we still had so much fun. I am really blessed to have Hermana Salazar as well, but we are just so similar in personality that we haven't really had a balance, so the work was not very enjoyable for awhile. I realized a lot of this when I went on splits with Hermana Mosher this past Wednesday, the Senior Sister Trainer. We had so much fun and it was such a good day. She gave me a lot more responsibility and I felt like I lived up to it and gained a lot more confidence in myself.
We also had zone conference this week with two zones from the mission. Hermana Stout was there so I got to say hi. She is doing really great. The zone conference was really good. President Blackburn talked about the atonement, and how if anything ever felt like it was too hard for us to handle in our lives it was because we aren't giving it over to the Lord and trusting him to help us.
Yesterday was my first baptism! Her name is Ariadne, and yesterday was also her nine year old birthday. Her family lives in Mexico and in December she came with her Grandma to live at her aunt's house to go to school here. Her aunt is inactive, but her grandma is extremely active and is such a sweet lady. Hermana Salazar started teaching Ariadne before I got here. She is extremely smart and mature and would always study and write things in her journal. She is also very patient with my spanish. It has been fun because we have come up with a lot of good analogies and activities to teach her the lessons, like drawing, making collages, etc. The baptism service itself actually turned out to be kind of chaotic. We decided to have a convert from the ward perform the baptism, he is 22 and just turned in his mission papers, so this was his first baptism. He was doing really good and didn't seem nervous, but then he was doing the baptism and he couldn't pronounce her name. It literally was at least two minutes, he kept saying "adriana," and the family and the rest of the congregation starting saying back to him "Ariadne," and then he finally got it right but she didn't go down all the way because she was a little afraid. It all worked out in the end though. Ariadne was just laughing about it, which was good. My companion and I also sang a musical number, but we hadn't really practiced it so we made some pretty big mistakes. Plus a lot of other random things went wrong throughout the day, but in the end, it definitely was a very memorable experience for me. Despite everything I really could feel the spirit and Heavenly Father's love for Ariadne. Her Grandma gave a talk and she thanked us for helping to teach Ariadne. Her grandma was always there with us in the lessons helping teach and bearing testimony. They are such a cute family.
I also gave my first talk as a missionary yesterday. It was in the english ward, and I had to talk for 15 minutes on how Preach my Gospel has helped me prepare to be a missionary. It went a lot better than I expected, considering I didn't really have time to prepare very much. I feel like there is always so little time for everything we need to do, but I love that we are busy and working hard.
We ended up dropping the brothers, or they dropped us because they've been too busy to meet with us. Ivan said that when he prayed he felt really motivated and inspired, like a new man, and that it helped him realize that he wants to change his life and pursue his dreams of becoming a pilot, so he is too busy to study about the church anymore because he needs to focus on his classes and school. It is interesting how the Lord work though, because last week they fell through on an appointment, so we went tracting instead and met their neighbor as he was pulling into his driveway. We talked to him for a minute and set up another appointment. When we came back to see him he told us "I don't know why you talked to me that day, but I had just decided that I need to change my life because I feel stuck in a rut. I don't know if its a coincidence or it was a sign from God or what." We had a really incredible lesson and both me and my companion felt the spirit helping s immensely. We taught in perfect unity, which is something we usually struggle a little bit with, and I even realized something new about the gospel as I was teaching that I had never thought about before. A lot of people look at the vision that Joseph Smith had and they expect that they should be able to have an incredible vision too. They feel "if he got that answer, why can't I get that answer?" I realized that we all can have that answer, because if we pray to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he had a vision, and if we feel that it is true, then in a way we take part ownership of the vision that he had, and that vision becomes our vision too. It wasn't just for him, it was for all of us. It is the proof that God loves every one of us, that he still speaks to us today, and that he answers prayers. We don't need something great, impressive, or astounding, and if we feel like we do then it is a little bit prideful. Joseph Smith himself was not asking to see God and was not expecting it to happen, but it did because it was necessary for all of us. We were teaching Tony about how to know that this is true, and it was such a reaffirmation of my testimony to feel the spirit working through me to teach and also teaching me at the same time. It is so incredible the way the Lord works through "small and simple things."
Tony also shared an experience about a hike he had as a marine, where everyone was passing out and he thought he was going to have to give up, but he prayed and God gave him the strength to finish. It made me think a lot about James. James, you are so lucky to have the gift of the guidance and strength from the spirit- it is something that will help you, as long as you are worthy to have it. I know that you will be and you will be such a good example for all of your fellow soldiers.
We had a funny experience eating at the Relief Society President's house. After we ate she gave us a big talk about how we really need to eat the food to not offend people. It was interesting to me because I really have been eating everything and loving it, but I guess in the past there have been sisters missionaries that haven't so some of the sisters in the ward are offended and don't want to feed us anymore. I think there is a bad reputation from the white sisters that aren't accustomed to eating the latino food, and so they are kind of lumping me into that category. I have been doing everything I can to break out of that reputation, because I want to show the ward members that I love and appreciate them. The only unfortunate thing is that I probably am going to gain a bit of weight while I'm here in Maywood. I've been exercising as hard as I can every morning, so hopefully it will be ok. The Relief Society president even said "you are going to get fat, but its ok, you can get skinny again after your mission. The most important thing now is that you show the sisters in the ward you appreciate them." There have been a few times where they give me so much food, and it makes me feel so sick to eat it all. They really are so sweet though, and the food is amazing. Some of the older sisters in the mission joke about their "mission babies" because they've gained some weight. I don't think they exercise as hard as I do though. Another hard thing is just like another sister said "food is our only worldly pleasure." Ha ha, in a way it is kind of true.
I have found so much more joy and happiness from really relating to the people, and also not being afraid to be myself. I am so happy to be here. I love you all so much!
Hermana Dansie
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