On Friday afternoon I received a second phone call at work from Christopher. He had received his travel plans. He was very excited and again it was wonderful to hear his voice. He leaves for Honduras, Sunday, September 26. They are to leave the MTC at 4:00. They fly to LA and then Miami and then Honduras. He will be able to call us from the airport. If you want to talk to him....come to our house next Sunday a little after 4:00. He has a calling card and will be able to talk for a while.
Today is his birthday (Saturday)! Happy 23rd! We love you Christopher!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Hepatitis A Shot...$70 New Garments and White Shirts (to replace the inkblotched ones!)...$230 Hearing your Son's Voice for the 1st time in weeks.....PRICELESS!!!
Well I was at school today just getting our opening going. Our classroom phone rang, my paraprofessional answered. She thought it was Dave, and asked if I could take it....but at the other end of the phone someone said...."No this is her son!!!" I took that call!!!
We needed to replace those ink blotched white clothes. He said alcohol takes it out Mom, but I just don't have the time to do it. Our lucky day....the Lord watches over us...I got my quality teaching paycheck deposited this morning!!!
He told me it was so wierd to even be on or talking on the phone. He said "I don't even know what to say!" I told him we sent his birthday box, which he already received and opened. He loved the ties and treats we sent .... although the Durian went bad.
He said can you believe that I go to Honduras in 12 days. He is so excited! He sounds different...amazing the miracles that have come about in my Son's life. I have been so blessed!!! He said to tell everyone hello, he loves them and misses them.
We talked about Isabel, about his dad....he couldn't call him too, but wanted his Dad to know that he says, hello and how much he loves him.
He had to go...checking on details of his travel. I had to walk out of my room and cry and gain my composure just a little. I love thisboy man. I am so proud of him!
His 23rd birthday is Saturday!!! The first one we have ever spent apart! Happy Birthday Son!!! He said he will be teaching 5 lessons that day and be very busy!
On a side note my aides laughed at me...and said that they wished I could have seen my own face when I realized it was him! It must have been priceless as well.....so today is the day of priceless moments. I call them Snapshots of Eternity!!!
We needed to replace those ink blotched white clothes. He said alcohol takes it out Mom, but I just don't have the time to do it. Our lucky day....the Lord watches over us...I got my quality teaching paycheck deposited this morning!!!
He told me it was so wierd to even be on or talking on the phone. He said "I don't even know what to say!" I told him we sent his birthday box, which he already received and opened. He loved the ties and treats we sent .... although the Durian went bad.
He said can you believe that I go to Honduras in 12 days. He is so excited! He sounds different...amazing the miracles that have come about in my Son's life. I have been so blessed!!! He said to tell everyone hello, he loves them and misses them.
We talked about Isabel, about his dad....he couldn't call him too, but wanted his Dad to know that he says, hello and how much he loves him.
He had to go...checking on details of his travel. I had to walk out of my room and cry and gain my composure just a little. I love this
His 23rd birthday is Saturday!!! The first one we have ever spent apart! Happy Birthday Son!!! He said he will be teaching 5 lessons that day and be very busy!
On a side note my aides laughed at me...and said that they wished I could have seen my own face when I realized it was him! It must have been priceless as well.....so today is the day of priceless moments. I call them Snapshots of Eternity!!!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Many Letters & Inkspots!!!
So today has been a most eventful day. We received multiple emails from both Christopher and Isabella. I think they are learning to work the system just a little bit!!! :) So I will post them in the order we received them! Enjoy.........
Hola!
Also, my Spanish is improving. I had a really amazing experience this last week. I needed to somehow obtain more socks. So, long story short I found my way to what's called Missionary Services,
which is where you can order socks over the phone (at Mr Macs for instance), and there my companion and I were (my compa also happened to know the grandson of the lady that was helping us; so he also had the opportunity to do some missionary work. awesome).
Anyway, this elder walks in and stood very close to me as I was sitting down, and I instinctively responded,"Oh... hola." And he responded back in Spanish, but I didn't think a whole lot about it.
He handed the lady a letter and I could tell they weren't quite communicating. She took his letter and wondered off into another room. I asked him where, he was from, what he needed here, and where he was going -- in Spanish.
Anyway, the lady returned and I could again cleary see that they couldn't communicate. And all of the sudden, I spoke perfect Spanish and translated everything this Elder needed for this lady. It was amazing.
And then, yesterday, my companion and I were in this room of people who were playing violin, piano and cello. And my companion and another sister were singing misc. hymns which brought an amazing spirit into the room.
For an hour, I listened to the music and studied reading in Spanish out of Preach My Gospel, which I've found to be my favorite resource for studying Spanish (of which I've learned all of the tenses, grammar and what not --I'm now studying vocabulary a lot and learning preisthood ordinances and the like).
Towards the end of the hour there, this same Elder that I translated for walked in. He's from Colombia, which I forgot to mention. He's serving in Salt Lake City Utah, and I'm serving in Honduras. He said that Utah is where everyone in Sur America quieren estar! Que chevre! Yo le dije que yo pienso que estaba muy
chistoso porque estaba fascinado con Sur America, con Cacao, y muchas cosas en Sur America y las personas de Sur America estaban interesado con Salt Lake City. Las decia,"Oh, la profeta esta alli y el templo original esta alli y los doce apostales estan aqui. Los mormones!"
It's funny. And I love him. His name is Elder Edau or Egau. He looks strangely a lot like Isabel's dad, but with less hair; however, they talk the same and have the same accent. And it was a wonderful and spiritual experience because I had kind of been searching for him all week. Nonetheless, I was blessed with the gift
of tongues that day. Ironically, I told him, that same night we had an asigancio para clase en lo qual yo necesitaba ensenar sobre la palabra de sabiduria, pero para alguno razzon, no puedo hablar en espanol. Haha. Bueno. Pues.
Escribire mas en un poco mas horas. Gracis for su amor! Ciao!
Then came this.......
Hi Janice thanks for writing me you my brother joeson and crystal and of course chris are the only ones that have written me. so thank you. i have been doing well. i love my companion we get along great she says that im a beast at door aproches but really white people scare me when we are at the door, they are the meanest. other than that i teach in a very poor area of like 9 members of a family living in a two bedroom. and lots of people live in garages. any alot of young adults are gang or former gang members and i just pretend to be this 16 year old thespian that has no social sensitivity and i just reach out to people with my had extended for a handshake and say im a missionary to the church of Jesus Christ of later day saints have you heard of us before? (i have also had drunk men think that i am hitting on them but whatever gets them to hear the word of God right?) well we are also known as mormons do you know why they call us mormon? bc we believe in the book of mormon being a set of sacread scripute like the bible and we belive that the old and new testament coupled with the book of mormon which is another testament of Christ is the complete and everlasting gospel did you know that God spoke to the people here in America? they usually say no and by this time they are either interested or trying to flee. and you say with the biggest smile you have now why do you think our Father in heaven would speak to people here too and not just in europe? then thy pause they dont know oddly enough so we say bc he loves us and he knew that precious parts of the Bible where going to be lost and mistranslated to he prepared his word for us here so that none of his simple teaching would be lost. this book we testify is another testament of jesus and since not everyone knows we have left loved ones behind to share this with you this day could we come over to share more of his message for you. if they say no and they start walking away we can feel the hardness of their hearts but sis crossley still says is there anything that we can do for you? they start walking further and say no thank i have a bible so they i say okay well here is a number you can call if you ever do want to listen to more of his word for you and our number is in the back God Bless you. but the people that are of his fold dont say oh im already catholic no thanks they say wow more word of God YES PLEASE!!! they ask for a copy right then and there its awesome. please do something for me get a copy of the book of mormon and read it and in the front write your short but sweet testimony and then a favorite scripture and then find someone who you might strike conversation with and tell them you have a book like unto the bible that speaks of Christ here in the amreicas too and then tell them you would like to give them a copy then take down their first name and address and then call your missionaries in your wards and give them the information and they can go teach that person with the book of mormon you have put your testimony into and that way more of our brothers and sisters who are searching or who dont even know that they are searching will find their way to Heavenly Father i hope that you all will i hope that you are all reading your scriptures praying daily and attending church on sunday and keeping his day holy if you do these things you will find that Heavenly father will guide people to you and you will also answer the fervent prayer of a missionary that so badly wants to find people to teach. I love you i am doing well i hope i dont grow allergic to tortillas while i am here. :) again my address is 3975 Mclaughlin Ave Ste A San Jose CA 95121. Crystal please read the book of mormon and tell all your friends to give missionaries the time of day we are set apart by God and if we stop you by its for a reason we love everyone. Janice i told my companion i pray for my potential investigators all the time like i wake up and think of them and pray for them and we leave their house in prayer for them and when i go to bed i pray for them let alone when we plan for them its crazy all the love a human being can have for strangers and my companion looks at me as says yep we're creepy like that. ha ha anyway love you all please forward thi9s to chris.
Hermana Florido
Shortly after we received these:
pics of my comp and me i know i look a bit tired cuz i am!
If I could have one thing for my birthday, it would be to send her something sweet. Raw Chocolates and flowers and something cute a fluffy, like a tabby cat stuffed animal with blue eyes or something. That's what I want.
Oh- And coconuts and durian. I will eat the whole Durian in one day. No joke. Plus, I won't be able to have one for a whole two years! Which is fine. I don't get to have any kisses for two years. But durian has sounded so good since I've been here! SO GOOD. ANd I leave really soon and I have one minute to
finish this. Also, raw chocolates galor y mas peanuts de jungla.
I love you so much mom and dad. You have NO idea how much I appreciate what you're doing for Us. <3 Codo todo mi corazon. Buenas noches!
And......a little to a mother's dismay and maybe the pocketbook....tonight we received this from Chris.....
Also! Guess what?! I just took my clothes out of the dryer (whites) and I found} a pen in the dryer. And! All of my whites have inkblotches. Everything! No joke.
I might need money for them. I'm going to go see what I can find at the store. But I might be calling you!
Hearing his voice....just might be worth every penny....no call yet though! I love these two missionaries...their strength, love, commitment, and growth most often leave me without words and lots of tears.
Hola!
I just got back from the temple, and wanted to say hello for a second. I hope all is well at home. I'm sure that you're all very busy working and doing what you need to.
Also, my Spanish is improving. I had a really amazing experience this last week. I needed to somehow obtain more socks. So, long story short I found my way to what's called Missionary Services,
which is where you can order socks over the phone (at Mr Macs for instance), and there my companion and I were (my compa also happened to know the grandson of the lady that was helping us; so he also had the opportunity to do some missionary work. awesome).
Anyway, this elder walks in and stood very close to me as I was sitting down, and I instinctively responded,"Oh... hola." And he responded back in Spanish, but I didn't think a whole lot about it.
He handed the lady a letter and I could tell they weren't quite communicating. She took his letter and wondered off into another room. I asked him where, he was from, what he needed here, and where he was going -- in Spanish.
Anyway, the lady returned and I could again cleary see that they couldn't communicate. And all of the sudden, I spoke perfect Spanish and translated everything this Elder needed for this lady. It was amazing.
And then, yesterday, my companion and I were in this room of people who were playing violin, piano and cello. And my companion and another sister were singing misc. hymns which brought an amazing spirit into the room.
For an hour, I listened to the music and studied reading in Spanish out of Preach My Gospel, which I've found to be my favorite resource for studying Spanish (of which I've learned all of the tenses, grammar and what not --I'm now studying vocabulary a lot and learning preisthood ordinances and the like).
Towards the end of the hour there, this same Elder that I translated for walked in. He's from Colombia, which I forgot to mention. He's serving in Salt Lake City Utah, and I'm serving in Honduras. He said that Utah is where everyone in Sur America quieren estar! Que chevre! Yo le dije que yo pienso que estaba muy
chistoso porque estaba fascinado con Sur America, con Cacao, y muchas cosas en Sur America y las personas de Sur America estaban interesado con Salt Lake City. Las decia,"Oh, la profeta esta alli y el templo original esta alli y los doce apostales estan aqui. Los mormones!"
It's funny. And I love him. His name is Elder Edau or Egau. He looks strangely a lot like Isabel's dad, but with less hair; however, they talk the same and have the same accent. And it was a wonderful and spiritual experience because I had kind of been searching for him all week. Nonetheless, I was blessed with the gift
of tongues that day. Ironically, I told him, that same night we had an asigancio para clase en lo qual yo necesitaba ensenar sobre la palabra de sabiduria, pero para alguno razzon, no puedo hablar en espanol. Haha. Bueno. Pues.
Escribire mas en un poco mas horas. Gracis for su amor! Ciao!
Then came this.......
Hi Janice thanks for writing me you my brother joeson and crystal and of course chris are the only ones that have written me. so thank you. i have been doing well. i love my companion we get along great she says that im a beast at door aproches but really white people scare me when we are at the door, they are the meanest. other than that i teach in a very poor area of like 9 members of a family living in a two bedroom. and lots of people live in garages. any alot of young adults are gang or former gang members and i just pretend to be this 16 year old thespian that has no social sensitivity and i just reach out to people with my had extended for a handshake and say im a missionary to the church of Jesus Christ of later day saints have you heard of us before? (i have also had drunk men think that i am hitting on them but whatever gets them to hear the word of God right?) well we are also known as mormons do you know why they call us mormon? bc we believe in the book of mormon being a set of sacread scripute like the bible and we belive that the old and new testament coupled with the book of mormon which is another testament of Christ is the complete and everlasting gospel did you know that God spoke to the people here in America? they usually say no and by this time they are either interested or trying to flee. and you say with the biggest smile you have now why do you think our Father in heaven would speak to people here too and not just in europe? then thy pause they dont know oddly enough so we say bc he loves us and he knew that precious parts of the Bible where going to be lost and mistranslated to he prepared his word for us here so that none of his simple teaching would be lost. this book we testify is another testament of jesus and since not everyone knows we have left loved ones behind to share this with you this day could we come over to share more of his message for you. if they say no and they start walking away we can feel the hardness of their hearts but sis crossley still says is there anything that we can do for you? they start walking further and say no thank i have a bible so they i say okay well here is a number you can call if you ever do want to listen to more of his word for you and our number is in the back God Bless you. but the people that are of his fold dont say oh im already catholic no thanks they say wow more word of God YES PLEASE!!! they ask for a copy right then and there its awesome. please do something for me get a copy of the book of mormon and read it and in the front write your short but sweet testimony and then a favorite scripture and then find someone who you might strike conversation with and tell them you have a book like unto the bible that speaks of Christ here in the amreicas too and then tell them you would like to give them a copy then take down their first name and address and then call your missionaries in your wards and give them the information and they can go teach that person with the book of mormon you have put your testimony into and that way more of our brothers and sisters who are searching or who dont even know that they are searching will find their way to Heavenly Father i hope that you all will i hope that you are all reading your scriptures praying daily and attending church on sunday and keeping his day holy if you do these things you will find that Heavenly father will guide people to you and you will also answer the fervent prayer of a missionary that so badly wants to find people to teach. I love you i am doing well i hope i dont grow allergic to tortillas while i am here. :) again my address is 3975 Mclaughlin Ave Ste A San Jose CA 95121. Crystal please read the book of mormon and tell all your friends to give missionaries the time of day we are set apart by God and if we stop you by its for a reason we love everyone. Janice i told my companion i pray for my potential investigators all the time like i wake up and think of them and pray for them and we leave their house in prayer for them and when i go to bed i pray for them let alone when we plan for them its crazy all the love a human being can have for strangers and my companion looks at me as says yep we're creepy like that. ha ha anyway love you all please forward thi9s to chris.
Hermana Florido
Shortly after we received these:
pics of my comp and me i know i look a bit tired cuz i am!
Then a while later we got this email......
You guys need to get better at writing back sooner. Let me tell you a secret. I will write you once at 11 am on P-Days, but you have to write me back by 5:00 no exeptions. Otherwise this won't work, but it's cool because we can communicate in a day. Yay! Also, I saw pictures of Isabel. Send her treats.
If I could have one thing for my birthday, it would be to send her something sweet. Raw Chocolates and flowers and something cute a fluffy, like a tabby cat stuffed animal with blue eyes or something. That's what I want.
Oh- And coconuts and durian. I will eat the whole Durian in one day. No joke. Plus, I won't be able to have one for a whole two years! Which is fine. I don't get to have any kisses for two years. But durian has sounded so good since I've been here! SO GOOD. ANd I leave really soon and I have one minute to
finish this. Also, raw chocolates galor y mas peanuts de jungla.
I love you so much mom and dad. You have NO idea how much I appreciate what you're doing for Us. <3 Codo todo mi corazon. Buenas noches!
And......a little to a mother's dismay and maybe the pocketbook....tonight we received this from Chris.....
Also! Guess what?! I just took my clothes out of the dryer (whites) and I found} a pen in the dryer. And! All of my whites have inkblotches. Everything! No joke.
I might need money for them. I'm going to go see what I can find at the store. But I might be calling you!
Hearing his voice....just might be worth every penny....no call yet though! I love these two missionaries...their strength, love, commitment, and growth most often leave me without words and lots of tears.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
From Isabella's Mission President in San Jose!
Today we received this letter. It was addressed to Isabella's Mom and Dad, but with our address. We called Isabel's parents and asked if they would like us to send it. They wanted us to open it and scan it and then email it to them. So that is what we did and now I get to share these awesome pictures with all of you!
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| Isabella's traveling companions and the New Arrivals to the California San Jose Mission. |
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| The Letter from Isabella's Mission President and his Wife |
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| President and Sister Jackson & Hermana Florido |
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| Hermana Janna Crossley & Hermana Isabella Michel Florido |
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Double Letter Thursday!!!
It was an awesome double letter day. One from Chris and one from Isabel. Forgive me if there are spelling errors especially in the Spanish....sometimes Mom's need the gift of tongues to translate quickly written letters. It is so fun to finally get some details from that son of mine.
Hola Madre y Padre,
Mi espanol es yiendo bueno, pero Como son su espanol yiendo? Ustedes estan apriendo espanol, si? Porque si estan van a visitar en Honduras in dos anos. Necesitaran saber como hubler espanol. En serio. Entonses comonze a aprender, por favor.
Ingleses: I just wrote Isabel & her family. There are 21 days exactly until I leave. In fact, this time in 3 weeks I will be in Honduras. No joke.
Espanol: Tan excribe Isabel y su familia. Hoy venti-uno dias exacto hevota yo salya. En facto, esta tempo en tres semebces estare en Honduras. No chiste.
I am tired today, P-Day. Today is the first day that Isabel is not here, and I'm so excited that she's finally in the field. Also, I'm a little bit jealous that she's in the field, but you have to remember that the MTC is the field. People here need the Gospel, too. And I've had so many wonderful experiences here. Because of my experiences, my companions (District) and other Elders have been able to find comfort or take advice from my life. And I've been incredibly blesses. I love God. And I love this work.
So, I've yet to tell you a lot about my district or my companero. My district is comprised of mostly all jocks, people who loved high school and would've stayed there forever. Most of us are from Utah. The rest are from Las Vegas, San Diego, & Reno. Of all of us, I or our district leader are probably the quietest.
My companion is from Draper. He's the youngest of 6 brothers, one of which just got off of a mission. We actually got to hang out with him for an hour one day. His brother is 21. And I felt substantially younger than he. The Lord really will "quicken" you in His work.
My companion likes to sing, has a lot of emotion & love for his family. He misses them a lot. We're very interested in all the same things, but we sit at different sides of each perspective. Western med. Alternative med. And then he's loud and has a hard time studying and all I do is stay quiet and study. It's funny.
I'm senior companion, which doesn't mean a whole lot except that I choose who prays.
Nest week we have 12 1/2 hours of teaching appointments. 3 investigators. 5 teaching evaluations. I'm learning to be a teacher, which reminds me, when & if Isabel and I live here, I'm totally going to apply to work here as a Spanish teacher while I go to school at the same time.
Learning Spanish is very easy. I get stressed occasionally when the weight of the lack of vocabulary at times, but the grammatical principles are easy. Spanish actually makes more sense than English. And it mentally hurts me to return to English from speaking Spanish. My Branch Pres & his wife said they are impressed with how well I speak. Next, I want to learn Chinese and then Arabic!
Thank you so much for the treats, which have been delicious. In 3 days, I finished the trail mix. The coconut was THE BEST. If you want, you could send a whole box of them and a durian!!! Por favor!
My schedule looks like this:
7:00 Personal Study
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Companion Study
10:00 Class
1:00 Lunch
1:45 Class and Misc Directed Time
6:00 Dinner
6:45 Gym
8:00 Language study
9:00 Planning
I've had 3 teachers thus far: Hermano Milne, Hermana Nilsen & Hermano Keeton. Hermano Milne and our district bonded like brothers. No one really likes Hermana Nilsen that much, except me. I really like her testimony, but I think she could be better at teaching Spanish. Hermano Keeton has a different way of teaching. We all learn really well from him. And he throws markers at people who aren't listening. Also, he lets us watch The District, which some of the videos I watched before my mission are a part of the series. And the stories are amazing. If you can find any of the videos, watch them.
Whoa! My hands are tired from writing. I love you. I miss you. I like treats! Especially raw chocolate & the coconuts.
Um. Seeing Jeffery R. Holland was amazing. It felt like 2600 missionaries were sitting in his living room. He's the favorite of our district. We also saw the son of Gordon B. Hinckley speak which was really awesome as well.
Hola Madre y Padre,
Mi espanol es yiendo bueno, pero Como son su espanol yiendo? Ustedes estan apriendo espanol, si? Porque si estan van a visitar en Honduras in dos anos. Necesitaran saber como hubler espanol. En serio. Entonses comonze a aprender, por favor.
Ingleses: I just wrote Isabel & her family. There are 21 days exactly until I leave. In fact, this time in 3 weeks I will be in Honduras. No joke.
Espanol: Tan excribe Isabel y su familia. Hoy venti-uno dias exacto hevota yo salya. En facto, esta tempo en tres semebces estare en Honduras. No chiste.
I am tired today, P-Day. Today is the first day that Isabel is not here, and I'm so excited that she's finally in the field. Also, I'm a little bit jealous that she's in the field, but you have to remember that the MTC is the field. People here need the Gospel, too. And I've had so many wonderful experiences here. Because of my experiences, my companions (District) and other Elders have been able to find comfort or take advice from my life. And I've been incredibly blesses. I love God. And I love this work.
So, I've yet to tell you a lot about my district or my companero. My district is comprised of mostly all jocks, people who loved high school and would've stayed there forever. Most of us are from Utah. The rest are from Las Vegas, San Diego, & Reno. Of all of us, I or our district leader are probably the quietest.
My companion is from Draper. He's the youngest of 6 brothers, one of which just got off of a mission. We actually got to hang out with him for an hour one day. His brother is 21. And I felt substantially younger than he. The Lord really will "quicken" you in His work.
My companion likes to sing, has a lot of emotion & love for his family. He misses them a lot. We're very interested in all the same things, but we sit at different sides of each perspective. Western med. Alternative med. And then he's loud and has a hard time studying and all I do is stay quiet and study. It's funny.
I'm senior companion, which doesn't mean a whole lot except that I choose who prays.
Nest week we have 12 1/2 hours of teaching appointments. 3 investigators. 5 teaching evaluations. I'm learning to be a teacher, which reminds me, when & if Isabel and I live here, I'm totally going to apply to work here as a Spanish teacher while I go to school at the same time.
Learning Spanish is very easy. I get stressed occasionally when the weight of the lack of vocabulary at times, but the grammatical principles are easy. Spanish actually makes more sense than English. And it mentally hurts me to return to English from speaking Spanish. My Branch Pres & his wife said they are impressed with how well I speak. Next, I want to learn Chinese and then Arabic!
Thank you so much for the treats, which have been delicious. In 3 days, I finished the trail mix. The coconut was THE BEST. If you want, you could send a whole box of them and a durian!!! Por favor!
My schedule looks like this:
7:00 Personal Study
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Companion Study
10:00 Class
1:00 Lunch
1:45 Class and Misc Directed Time
6:00 Dinner
6:45 Gym
8:00 Language study
9:00 Planning
I've had 3 teachers thus far: Hermano Milne, Hermana Nilsen & Hermano Keeton. Hermano Milne and our district bonded like brothers. No one really likes Hermana Nilsen that much, except me. I really like her testimony, but I think she could be better at teaching Spanish. Hermano Keeton has a different way of teaching. We all learn really well from him. And he throws markers at people who aren't listening. Also, he lets us watch The District, which some of the videos I watched before my mission are a part of the series. And the stories are amazing. If you can find any of the videos, watch them.
Whoa! My hands are tired from writing. I love you. I miss you. I like treats! Especially raw chocolate & the coconuts.
Um. Seeing Jeffery R. Holland was amazing. It felt like 2600 missionaries were sitting in his living room. He's the favorite of our district. We also saw the son of Gordon B. Hinckley speak which was really awesome as well.
All is well.
I love you.
-Elder D. Christopher Hill
And from Isabel:
San Jose Here I come!
Hello Family in Roy,
I can't really write much b/c it's not prep day. But I wanted to give you my new address it's on the package. Could you just hold on to this for me till I get to Bolivia? Right now it's exceeding my weight limit. Family I love you. I will call you and my family on Monday. Sadly I can't call Chris & he seemed bummed out when I told him I would write him on pday and not before I left. :0( His patience is running out with his companion and his district. We really can't talk much at all and I haven't been able to tell him this so if you can let him know that you can't be indignant or angry or within you lies the sin. So if he feels that start to bubble he needs to seek forgiveness first for not being "long suffering" "patient" & "charitable" & PRAY PRAY PRAY to know & receive these gifts & always see your own fault before your companions and then you can through your humility & Gods blessing love him. I learned that & I so want to share it with him but my loving companions are always w/me. You know what I mean? Could you like dear elder him. B/C Satan will use something that is rightfully making you angry against you and you think I have the right to be angry, but guess what you represent Christ and you have to be like him and he being perfect is really the only one that has a right to get mad and guess what else he doesn't often he just loves us and so yeah please let him know that. B/C if not he won't feel the Spirit here and that's a shame. Also tell him I love him. And I won't ever forget that & when he feels worried about US. He needs to kneel in prayer so that Satan exits his presence. Well so much for not writing a letter. I love you. Thank you for sending me a calling card!!! Tell Ming, Jamie, Jeff, and Eugene Hey for me. Tell them their money gift cam in handy and send me their address please. Also Dennis and Sonjas'. Well XOXO Les Amo H. Florido
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Isabel's 1st Email from San Jose...Mexican Mercados, Asian Plazas, & Sister Crossley?
We received this from Isabella today. She sounds amazingly well, happy, and I am so proud of her and her braveness to just go for it in sharing the gospel!
Hola Familia. i tried calling everybody that morning but i got some voicemails. please know that i love you and that your mail means a lot to me. please also write chris, and because i mention him in my letters doesnt mean that i have lost focus of why i am here on a mission. yesterday i arrived at san jose CA met my mission president and his wife the Jackmans. i traveled with one other sister and two other elders that where all planning on going to Brazil but for right now have a visa delay like i do. Elder Arroyo was told that he could only travel with one 42 pound suitcase because where he is going in brazil every transfer will be by helicopter or canoe which i thought that was awesome. Hermana Johnson is going to the poorest part of brazil and she is part filipino and has family there and Elder Temperini is going to the city of brazil.the reason why a mention these things is because even in the short time i got to sit an visit with them i could tell that they have strengths that are very much suited for the places they were served to call. My president jackman said that he knew that i was going to be able to serve in Bolivia so i will keep in mind his promise. i met my companion sister Crossley from spanish fork and she is like 6.1 really super tall, she is very humble and kind. i like her a lot she always has gospel music going and she always tells me my qualities it gives me confidence to go out with her and contact strangers. also i love the weather here, the Chinese food here is so much better than utahs and i love that side by side there are mexican mercados and asian plazas to shop at. i know i have only been here a day and some hours but it feels like i have been here a week. i think it feels that way b/c of all the meaningful things we get done. our goals here in the mission are to extend the invitation of baptism on at every lesson, two new investigators a week, and 1 baptism a month last month the mission had 65 baptisms. my companion tells me that our mission president said that right now there are always 5 more people around us that are ready to hear the gospel. and there are 195 or so missionaries here. so i am excited... the field is white already to harvest one thing that i would like to say to chris and jonathan (please forward this to jonathan and dear elder this to chris) is that the best thing for me right now has been to write down every person i meet down meaning everyone that i spoke with in a positive manner and then when i planned and through out today i have been praying for them and ideas have popped in my head of how to help them. my companion is awesome she always tells everyone we meet, and especially the belligerent ones "is there anything that we could do for you?" and i know that that gets recorded in heaven i know that the people we meet we meet for a reason if the experience is good then there is something that we should do for them even if its just knowing that sister missionaries are kind people. and i know that the ones that reject us have a hardened heart to God and thats not our fault. yesterday when i got on the plane i spoke to 3 people and couldnt get very far so i simply said that i represented Christ and his church the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. then when i got here i saw a man with his family and i felt prompted to contact him and i thought okay well his with his family and you know... then i thought why am i making excuses to myself im afraid. and this is about his salvation. so like my teacher at the mtc said i put my fear on the alter of sacrifice and i thought i need to just let myself be guided by the spirit bc if i dont listen and worse if i dont act upon the promptings that i get then i'll prove to be a bad tool in the lords hand and he just wont use me. and i walked up to the man and shook his hand said sorry for interrupting his lovely meal and asked him if he'd be so kind as to help me with my luggage and he smiled to my surprise and said yes of course and he helped me i was so happy but then i thought okay now how do i tell him about the gospel? and as soon as i thought that he said are you Christians and i smiled huge and said yes yes we are and there it began. turns out he has to friends that are members and i think we could have a family home evening lesson with him and his wife. also yesterday i felt promted to tell this lady that i knew that heavenly father knew her and loved her and therefore knew what she stood in need of and if she needed a job then we could help her develop her faith and teach her how to pray and that with those two thing her father in heaven would bless her with a job. i am so humbled by that experience because the lord told me what to say and it poured out of my mouth. and then i cant explain it but everything we do feels like a huge stretch but so possible does that make sense like i told my companion lets go knock on doors she said yeah lets go we went and the first house we knocked i told the lady look thank you for opening the door this is my first day in the mission and the first try at this i get to share this ever so important message with you and when i was done speaking i thought what! why did i say that did that make any sense? and instead she said with a smile yeah i dont even know why i came to open the door i was heading to bed and when i asked who it was no one answered so i was going to ignore it but i opened instead. !!!!!!! like that, that to me seems like such a stretch but at the same time so possible b/c this is the lords work. anyway i have to get going but i love you and please pray for me and all missionaries including the ones without the tag that this work may go forth and all men can come to know Christ, Mami te quiero much ya pronto te escribire. jonathan cuidese busque trabajo y dele un beso a mechas, joeson lo quiero consejos ayudan papa tambien mandamen experiencias, gina un abrazo. janice please give me a hug in your prayers, david send me more cookies :) and say hi to saddie may. please write chris.
Love you
one more thing... im at LAS COLINAS (the hills) ward spanish speaking. address is:
3975 McLaughlin Ave. Ste. A San Jose CA 95121 oh also my companion jana crossley is bishop crossleys cousin somehow i showed her the pic of him and she knows who it is. :) please also send the last email and this to crystal. and i would like jonathans address.
Hola Familia. i tried calling everybody that morning but i got some voicemails. please know that i love you and that your mail means a lot to me. please also write chris, and because i mention him in my letters doesnt mean that i have lost focus of why i am here on a mission. yesterday i arrived at san jose CA met my mission president and his wife the Jackmans. i traveled with one other sister and two other elders that where all planning on going to Brazil but for right now have a visa delay like i do. Elder Arroyo was told that he could only travel with one 42 pound suitcase because where he is going in brazil every transfer will be by helicopter or canoe which i thought that was awesome. Hermana Johnson is going to the poorest part of brazil and she is part filipino and has family there and Elder Temperini is going to the city of brazil.the reason why a mention these things is because even in the short time i got to sit an visit with them i could tell that they have strengths that are very much suited for the places they were served to call. My president jackman said that he knew that i was going to be able to serve in Bolivia so i will keep in mind his promise. i met my companion sister Crossley from spanish fork and she is like 6.1 really super tall, she is very humble and kind. i like her a lot she always has gospel music going and she always tells me my qualities it gives me confidence to go out with her and contact strangers. also i love the weather here, the Chinese food here is so much better than utahs and i love that side by side there are mexican mercados and asian plazas to shop at. i know i have only been here a day and some hours but it feels like i have been here a week. i think it feels that way b/c of all the meaningful things we get done. our goals here in the mission are to extend the invitation of baptism on at every lesson, two new investigators a week, and 1 baptism a month last month the mission had 65 baptisms. my companion tells me that our mission president said that right now there are always 5 more people around us that are ready to hear the gospel. and there are 195 or so missionaries here. so i am excited... the field is white already to harvest one thing that i would like to say to chris and jonathan (please forward this to jonathan and dear elder this to chris) is that the best thing for me right now has been to write down every person i meet down meaning everyone that i spoke with in a positive manner and then when i planned and through out today i have been praying for them and ideas have popped in my head of how to help them. my companion is awesome she always tells everyone we meet, and especially the belligerent ones "is there anything that we could do for you?" and i know that that gets recorded in heaven i know that the people we meet we meet for a reason if the experience is good then there is something that we should do for them even if its just knowing that sister missionaries are kind people. and i know that the ones that reject us have a hardened heart to God and thats not our fault. yesterday when i got on the plane i spoke to 3 people and couldnt get very far so i simply said that i represented Christ and his church the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. then when i got here i saw a man with his family and i felt prompted to contact him and i thought okay well his with his family and you know... then i thought why am i making excuses to myself im afraid. and this is about his salvation. so like my teacher at the mtc said i put my fear on the alter of sacrifice and i thought i need to just let myself be guided by the spirit bc if i dont listen and worse if i dont act upon the promptings that i get then i'll prove to be a bad tool in the lords hand and he just wont use me. and i walked up to the man and shook his hand said sorry for interrupting his lovely meal and asked him if he'd be so kind as to help me with my luggage and he smiled to my surprise and said yes of course and he helped me i was so happy but then i thought okay now how do i tell him about the gospel? and as soon as i thought that he said are you Christians and i smiled huge and said yes yes we are and there it began. turns out he has to friends that are members and i think we could have a family home evening lesson with him and his wife. also yesterday i felt promted to tell this lady that i knew that heavenly father knew her and loved her and therefore knew what she stood in need of and if she needed a job then we could help her develop her faith and teach her how to pray and that with those two thing her father in heaven would bless her with a job. i am so humbled by that experience because the lord told me what to say and it poured out of my mouth. and then i cant explain it but everything we do feels like a huge stretch but so possible does that make sense like i told my companion lets go knock on doors she said yeah lets go we went and the first house we knocked i told the lady look thank you for opening the door this is my first day in the mission and the first try at this i get to share this ever so important message with you and when i was done speaking i thought what! why did i say that did that make any sense? and instead she said with a smile yeah i dont even know why i came to open the door i was heading to bed and when i asked who it was no one answered so i was going to ignore it but i opened instead. !!!!!!! like that, that to me seems like such a stretch but at the same time so possible b/c this is the lords work. anyway i have to get going but i love you and please pray for me and all missionaries including the ones without the tag that this work may go forth and all men can come to know Christ, Mami te quiero much ya pronto te escribire. jonathan cuidese busque trabajo y dele un beso a mechas, joeson lo quiero consejos ayudan papa tambien mandamen experiencias, gina un abrazo. janice please give me a hug in your prayers, david send me more cookies :) and say hi to saddie may. please write chris.
Love you
one more thing... im at LAS COLINAS (the hills) ward spanish speaking. address is:
3975 McLaughlin Ave. Ste. A San Jose CA 95121 oh also my companion jana crossley is bishop crossleys cousin somehow i showed her the pic of him and she knows who it is. :) please also send the last email and this to crystal. and i would like jonathans address.
Monday, September 6, 2010
2 Phone Calls and Isabel is on her way!
On Friday Isabel called us! Love talking to that girl! She has been temporarily assigned to the San Jose California Mission. This morning she called again from the airport...and dang the new cell phone did not ring as I expected. Oh well I now have a message saved on my phone. She sounded great and was hoping she could call again when she arrives at the mission home! Hope she can and I hope I hear the new ringtone which is much louder!
On a Christopher note...today's is email day so stay tuned!
On a Christopher note...today's is email day so stay tuned!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
"A Hundred Fold" from Isabel
We received a snail mail letter from Isabel today. It sounds like she is doing so well now....you can hear it in the tone of her letters. Our strong girl is back!!! Gotta love the pictures she took of Chris and his companion above. Isabel explains the pictures in her letters. It is fun to see Chris with his "Elder Hill" name tag on!!! Here's Isabel's letter:
Aug 31, 2010
Next time I'll send a pic of me. I saved these for you both. Thank you for the goodies. Especially the pictures. Also I didn't know this but I can't email Chris so if you can forward to each of us what the other said that would be awesome. I didn't know I was breaking mish rules. So this is Chris' companion & the older one is his older brother who just came back from his mission from Mexico. The hilarious thing is that they could all pull off the "I'm his cousin" thing. They look similar to me. Also can I just say that I learned to love my companions and now that I learned how they are gone. Isn't that funny. You pass the test your on to something different. It took prayer & fasting :0). It makes me smile b/c every time in the scriptures you hear about "much prayer & fasting" its talking about getting rid of demons & such. haha! But that's one of the cool things here at the MTC is that you can't call your mom up anytime or your boyfriend you have to kneel & pray. And usually what happens is that you realize your faults & vices & then you report to the Lord & that act of humility changes everything. Like I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but if ever your not getting along with someone point out your flaws in prayer with the Lord instead of focusing on the other persons flaws & if you do it with sincerity of heart & asking to be forgiven he will show you how to fix the problem & make it feel fixed like magic like 123abc. No joke. Its amazing, but if you victimize yourself your just wasting a good lesson and as a perfect teacher that he is he'll make you start over. I gave Chris the maca bar he was so happy & asked is there gogi & I said no just maca, but still it made his day, which made mine! I love the boy. Also, Jeffrey R. Holland promised that all that we sacrificed now for the service to the Lord and brethren would come back to bless us a hundred fold so I think we made a good investment. :0) Also I will email you soon to let you know about Bolivia.
Love XOXO H. Florido
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