7/7/15 Week 68

I'll bet you've never seen a Book of Mormon bigger than you!  Muahaha!   And now all of you are super curious as to if or where I saw a Book of Mormon bigger than me...hehehe!  You'll have to just keep reading to find out, but for now I'll tell you about the super stellar week we had.  Haha - actually we taught practically no one this week...being an STL has perks and also its blah parts...I feel like I say this every week, but man SOOO MANY MEETINGS! It's a good thing, but at the same time I kind of miss having those days where you are just out in the heat sweating and teaching people all day. I haven't had that in so long! I guess now it's my turn to help build the mission up in a different way.  But hey, if it's what God wants, it's cool with me:)

Quality time on exchange with Sis Wells

So on Wednesday I went on an 

exchange with Sister Wells, and we had the coolest experience!  The day before we had our zone conference where we talked about how we literally are accountable for everyone's salvation.  Ahhh! No pressure right?? So like when we see a lady getting out of her car and we choose not to talk to her, we are personally responsible for that.  Not gonna lie, that thought kind of puts a pretty big weight on your shoulders....I wasn't feeling too bad until we drove past a big construction site and I saw all the dozens of sweaty workers (those are the people I'm accountable to as well.) Wow. If they never find the gospel, it could be MY fault!  

So long story short, Sister Wells and I decided that on our morning run we were going to load up on pass-a-long cards and talk to every single person we saw. We honestly didn't even know if we would see anyone, cuz it is 6am, but we were gonna run till we found someone!  Soooo cool! We ended up giving out 7 cards and even teaching a lesson!  We found Terry that had been living in Utah and has read the whole Book of Mormon and wants to come to church.  Talk about THE BEST start to your day! Even though the majority of the people just kinda looked at us like we were weirdoes (nothing new there), I hope at least one of them will one day remember the day they were semi attacked by 2 super sweaty Mormon missionaries and think "wow they really care about what they believe...I want to know why."

Other than that, we had a super-duper splendid 4th of July! Our genius zone leaders (this is the part where you figure out my opening sentence) decided that since no one ever has citas on holidays, we would do a zone contacting activity.  So we all showed up at the Flower Mound festivities, and they pull out this ginormous Book of Mormon and Bible and tell us that they are going to wear them, and we are going to pass out cards and as many book of Mormons as we can!  Got to give them points for creativity!  I personally thought it might have just reinforced the whole "cult" idea with some people....but hey you never know! I think some people definitely gave us points for dedication :)  Then later that night we were asked by a member in the 2nd Ward who was in charge to come help out directing traffic and be "gate-keepers" at the same festival....#awkward  #heywerentyouthoseweirdosinthebigbookearlier?  #noidkwhatyouaretalklingabout...  

Lessons learned from this week:  No matter how stupid you look, your dedication and diligence goes a long way for some people. If you're excited about it, even if they aren't interested at first, they will at least wonder why.  Sometimes that's all we need :)  This church is sooo true! As they say …If it wasn't us missionaries would have ruined it a long time ago...haha!  Hope yogur week es lleno de milagros! Les quiero mucho!

<3hermana bonny     

7/3/15 Week 67

Dear family and conocidos,

Up to something SNEAKY..?

This week was honestly the most EXHAUSTING week of my entire life!  Rene got baptized!!! waaahooooooooooo!!!   It was such a miracle.  Everything just worked out perfectly  Honestly when we met him (last week) and he insisted on being baptized next Sunday, I was doubtful...he had only been to our ward 1 time and we had no idea how we were gonna teach him everything in a week, especially since this week we had 3 exchanges with all of the sisters planned, but one thing after another fell into place, and yesterday the spirit was sooo strong at his baptism! And like half of the ward showed up too. whaaa?  Ok...that's maybe an exageration...but still there were tons of people and we were just praying that the bishop would come.  

I guess the biggest miracle was just how much the spirit really was teaching Rene.  I was worried that he wouldn't know everything and wouldn't be ready for his interview, but when we reviewed it with him, I just felt a wave of peace as we talked. The whole experience never really felt real until then.  I remember thinking "Wow. He's ready! This is actually happening!"  Such a great feeling!

Then after he had his completed his baptismal interview, he was glowing!  I mean the guy is 70 years old, but he was giddy!  Hehe!  I think I've said this before, but THE BEST part about missionary work is watching the spirit change people.  I didn't think I would really get to see that with Rene since we only taught him for like a week, but a week was really all it took.  He said it himself after his baptism "This is a day I will never forget.  The happiest day of my life." awwwwww!! Doesn't he just sound too good to be true?  Ya well that's another thing I've learned: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the one place where things are never too good to be true!  ...man I should make a commercial or something...

Great company, great food, and a great time!

The other big events this week were all of our MANY exchanges!  I'm sooo pooped right now.  They really are enjoyable, just also SUUUPER exhausting.  So on Tuesday sister Ertel (greenie) came here, then on Thursday I went to Denton with my old sister training leader sister Nichols, and then the next day I came back here with Hermana Yingling.  After we switched back on Saturday Hermana Taele and I were VERY happy to see each other! I always knew I loved my comp, but until you spend 48 hours apart - GASP! (That's a lot of time for us missionaries ok!)  You realize how awesome she really is.  I do love being an STL. I just wish that I was better at actually helping people with their problems.  I love listening and giving my input, but I hope that it actually helps them.  I know God called me to help these sisters for some reason, so I will just have to trust that:)  

The pic doesn't do it justice...it was massive!!

I've been reading this talk by Elder Holland called "Feed my Sheep" He is talking at the MTC to a bunch of missionaries about Preach my Gospel, and how much more is required of us as missionaries compared to when he served a mission.   He talks about how they came up with Preach my Gospel, and why.  He said it was because they were losing too many missionaries.  Too many were just coming home and going inactive, because all they had to do was recite the same lessons no matter who was listening.  This talk just really hit me hard, and I think that it can apply to everyone even if you aren't a missionary, but especially for those future missionaries (Weston...cough cough).  God doesn't want missionaries who are robots, or just part of our commitment.  This quote is kind of long, but it's from the conference talk that he gave as a summary of the one he gave in the MTC, its BEAUTIFUL!!  

       

 "To which Jesus responded perhaps saying something like: “Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.”

We are here on our missions, as well as in our lives to change!  To become his disciples. I feel like a hypocrite sometimes, because quite often I think it would be so nice to just take a break and sit down in the sun, sip a lemonade, and just forget about all the work we have to do.  It's a lot, and it can be a big burden if you let it be.  But I KNOW there is nothing more worth it, nothing more rewarding then when I push those thoughts away and remember what Christ did for me.  Then the work we have to do here just seems like the right thing to do. Why wouldn't we obey him when he did literally everything for us?  I know he is my Savior and Redeemer, and he wants all of us as his true disciples.  Who cares where you are at in your lives, I know that nothing can really make us happier:)  I love you all.  I love this gospel and most importantly my Savior Jesus Christ.  

<3 Hermana Bonny  

6/23/15 Week 66

BAUTISMO!!!...and this isn't like the other times that I've said we are having a baptism and then the week before they cancel and Satan gets them, NO this is happening!  I'm so stoked!  His name is Rene and he was the one I was talking about last week that literally just came out of nowhere and wants to be baptized THIS WEEK!  He moved here from Mexico to stay with his daughter (member) for a while because of some medical stuff, but while he was in Mexico he found the church, met with missionaries, but they never even asked him about baptism! Weird right? Ya I know. 

So then when he got here the English sisters taught him for like 3 weeks until I met him at president's fireside and found out that he literally knows no English!  Grrrrr...We don't like it when English speaking missionaries teach people that only speak Spanish...that's kind of the whole purpose of our calling.  Anyways, so ya we met him, taught him, reviewed the baptismal interview questions with him, he came to church, talked to bishop, and we are all set for the baptism this next Sunday!! Hooray!  Man, it really made all those hard months of learning Spanish SOOO worth it, when I could listen to Rene telling us "thank you for bringing me the gospel in my own language".  So awesome! His testimony is so strong. Obviously no thanks to us.  Its' been such a blessing this past week to work with him! I can't WAIT to see him make this promise with God. He is so ready! But that doesn't mean he doesn't still need your prayers por favor.   Please pray for him, and his girlfriend Teresa who is going to be baptized hopefully the week after:)

 So besides going to see Rene a million times last week, we spent literally ALL day Tuesday putting all of our teaching records on our ipads, and going on exchanges with the sisters in our zone.  So fun! Except this week we have 3 exchanges in 1 week! Ug- it's going to be super exhausting, but worth it :)

Umm what else to say....we had a super awesome moment when we were leaving Rene's house and we saw a family walking up to his door, and I thought..."hey they look familiar..."  It was the familia Martinez!  (The one that literally chased us down a few weeks ago), they just happened to be buying a dog from Rene's family that night! What are the odds?  They live like 20 minutes away and they came at the perfect time right when we were leaving! The mission has really taught me to not believe in coincidences.  God is putting these people in our path!

I love all of you, and this Gospel. Go share it k? I promise the feeling you will get it 100 times better then eating graham canyon!!

this pic is guaranteed to give you nightmares!  cool what can do with an ipad

 

<3hermana Bonny 

6/18/15 Week 65

*sorry - formatting messed up from chrome

Oh geez where to even begin with this week?  It was one of those that literally felt like a month (in a good way).  I'm just going to tell y'all about some of the highlights.

Last supper with the best zone evaa!

Like a week ago we were just walking through the trailer park as usual, listening to the lovely calming Mexican rap music (it really invites the spirit into our street contacts) when all of a sudden we hear someone calling "hey it's the Hermanas!" whaaa? So we turn around and see this 12ish year old boy running towards us! He says that he misses us and asks why we haven't come back! Haha...we say "uh sorry? We are here now!"  Then his mom comes out and she's super cool! Then come to find out they met with missionaries last year for a long time, have come to church like 5 times, their kids would go to all the activities, they have friends in the ward and they have no idea why the missionaries stopped coming over.  De ORO! (Golden) We went and met with them this past week and set up to come back tonight and do a family night.  We are pretty stoked! It's not every day a golden family literally chases you down:) 

The Zone 5k service 

Believe it or not we had another 2 investigators just kinda fall from the sky this week... A member in the other ward has parents that speak Spanish, but for some reason they have been meeting with the English missionaries for a little while, going to English ward for a few months and are preparing for baptism on the 27th of this month!  But last night we were able to meet them and they were so stoked when we told them that there was a Spanish ward!  They said they definitely want to start coming and we get to start teaching them.  Yipeeeee more miracles!!:D

The awesome familia Deloya

Last night we had a Fireside with President Ames for all the new members/investigators.  It's like a monthly thing and it seriously changes my life every time! We went with Roman and I'll just  tell you all a little of what he talked about.  He spoke about the conversion process and how it happens gradually.  He said that "the evidence of faith is a desire to come closer to Jesus Christ".  That one liner just really stuck with me.  There have been so many times on my mission that have forced me to really question my faith.  "Do I really believe this stuff?"  I've  had some times where I've felt like I really don't even have faith, and I've had investigators that have been in that similar situation.  But trust me, you can't spend every waking hour talking to people about stuff you don't even believe. . 

Now I still don't understand perfectly, but I know what Alma said is true.  Faith isn't a perfect knowledge. of anything!  We don't need that to follow Jesus Christ, that's not the point of this life.  What the President said about  that really changed the way I think about things.  When I feel down on myself.at least have desires to follow Christ then I can't be doing too bad)  I know my Savior lives and wants to help me and everyone to know what they need to do to follow him.:) It's the best feeling ever when you figure it out! I'm definitely still working on it! That's my spiritual thought for the day! :D Love yall tons! 

<3hermana bonny

6/2/15 Week 64

Aren't we photogenic??

So basically the biggest thing that has ever happened in the history of Fort Worth Texas is happening THIS week! Get excited!!.....IPADS!  Wooooooo!!  We had a 4 hour training on how to use them on Tuesday.  It was sooo fun! The whole mission got together and we listened to these important people talk about how to use them.  One of them just spoke in conference, Elder Nelson, and also this funny guy named brother Keel (I think) basically the whole meeting just confirmed my testimony on how true the church is!  Our leaders are SO inspired! What they are doing is giving us this technology and teaching us skills of how to use it for the rest of our lives.  They discussed how to help our children avoid pornography and how to have a better relationship with your spouse.   So yes, this is the last time I will email ya'll from someone else's computer :)  Oh and get excited fam, cuz when we enter "Facebook phase" next month ya'll can help me teach investigators!  Well...mostly just dad...cuz he's the only one who speaks spanish. 

In other news, this week I went on an exchange with sister Tuna (our sister training leader) and haha....It's kind of really stressful when we have English exchanges because that just means that the missionary who stays in the Spanish  area gets to teach 100% of all the lessons...yay...so that's the boat I was in. Weirdest situation I've ever been in: me, my English sister training leader, a Hispanic less active who's wearing a swimsuit, and a random hermano from our ward , all of us eating at a ritzy sushi buffet reading the scriptures together while Katy Perry is playing in the background.  ya, those are the types of experiences that you only have in the mission:) wouldn't trade it for anything! ....although I'm not gonna lie, after that lesson my brain was the most fried it has been my entire mission!

I've become a really good multitasker on the mish

We also had a pretty awesome break through with Blanca this week.   We decided that since she had told us she wasn't going to be ready for baptism for awhile we would read the whole book of Mormon with her to help her get a testimony.  This last week when we went over she said that she had been talking with her JW mom who flat out told her "if you feel good in that church, then go for it!" yyyaaaaayyyy!  Thank you Jehovah's witness mom!  So now Blanca is seriously right on the edge.   All she needs is for her husband to say the same thing and she's there.  She knows this is Gods true church.  It's the #1 best feeling in the whole world when an investigator bears their testimony to you  :)   Have I said that I know this church is true?? 

Well it is.<3hermana bonny