Sept. 20th
janice i love you too thanks for being intune with the spirit thank you for the package and thank david for the note and just thanks for writing but could you print it out and mail it to me during the week. it gives me courage and strength to read mail from home. yeah its been a bit hard this week but such a blessing i think that is what i will say when i meet my savior i will say "Dearest Lord, my Savior on high life was hard but i have labored a while i have thrust in my sickle and what a blessing it has been." a mission is the strangest thing that you could ever do you become a strange animal out here your instincts are always on " who is ready who is ready?" you are always supplicating "Lord help me" "Lord help them" "spirit guide me"and it is hard and lonely, you are always accompanied but you are always alone but you are not i cant explain it but every missionary feels this way and i know that part of my work out here is to understand Jesus while he was ministering here on earth could you imagine all the knowledge he had the spirit he carried and still people received him not. i cant ever ask in my prayers to be easily received and have everyone make my day because it feels like blasphemy b/c i know the Lord son of God himself was treated more poorly than i ever will be on my mission and so all i can ever ask in my prayers to have help to bear my burden well. plus i speak the language. i know a couple of things i know that i am doing what i promised i would do in the preexistence i know that i was born to a family living the values of the restored gospel because i needed that training to do what i am suposted to do now with the lamanites here who follow the wrong traditions of their fathers. i know that i learned spanish and english and was born into two cultures and spent time in your family and in mine because all these things combined are going to aid me now because this is his work and his glory and i cant explain how i know this but i just know that i was ment for this i was ment to preach the gospel and it is the best experience, and i would not take it back for anything you learn a little bit of how the lord feels he says over and over again my arms are stretched out still and they deny my. thats how you feel knocking on doors talking to people they dont understand how another church will save them because they dont pray daily read the scriptures daily they dont know that no other church has these life saving ordinances, no where else do they have the authorization to do them no other church has a living prophet. its hard when you explain the book of mormon and people look at you glazed eyed and say i dont need another bible thanks.. you just stand there and think his arms are stretched out still. i dont know if i make any sense in my letters but anyway. i love you but i have to go please help your missionaries in your area and thanks for all your prayers i love you and i love David .
Sept. 29th
thanks for letting me know that Chris is well. i prayed to know that he got there safe and woke up knowing he got there safe. NO! no news from bolivia :( which i really had my heart set on but i just need to stop being a brat and submit my will to that of my fathers. i also decided that i would email this to chris because i dont know how long it will be until he gets mail from me. this week p day was changed to tomorrow and we are basiclly spending the whole day at the temple which is great but i like emailing you all. so we decided to come and email so you know whats going on. it has been such a crazy week i cant believe that i have been here a month! and it feels like a week and a half. why is it crazy? well i will tell you. a cop gave us 40 bucks so that all the missionaries in our district could eat as we were all hoping we had enough in our blue cards and we went over by 2 bucks. also we had a lady get married so that she can get baptized oct 16!!! and after a whole days work the last door we knocked on the lady wanted to hear more of the gospel. Also a gentlemen came to church by himself and after two lessons has agreed to pray about the truthfulness of the gospel and upon getting a a positive answer to his prayer he will be baptized the 31 of oct. Also elder davis who is from layton was surprised by his nonmember father coming down to san jose to get baptized by him and confirmed by the Holy Ghost. also we get (as they say on the streets) Hella reverenced by all the gang bangers they know who we represent and they ask us for forgiveness when they curse and they ask us to be careful and they thank us for asking God to Bless them and some get mad when people shut the door in our face we had to tell them that its okay one said "God it makes me want to jump them when they do that Sh*t to you" we just tell her God himself came down and was persecuted so why are we any different. also my comp and i have been praying for the spirit and for miracles because God can part seas right? we know that Prophets wrote their miracles so that we could have faith in asking big things from God, well we want to part the seas too and find the elect, find the people with a willing heart and humble spirit and we have been knocking and doing our creepy friendly wave ha ha and talking to everyone even when they just roll their eyes at us and just trying very hard to be diligent (as diligent as you can be for an imperfect being that is still learning each day) and yes maybe bribing the children and flirting a little so little that Crystal probably wouldnt count it as flirting ha ha (got your letter chikis i Book of Mormon is on it way to you in English la muy gringa)and also to have a prayerful heart like in Helaman 3: 35 well it has been working we get to go into peoples houses and laugh with them and testify to them and we feel prompted to go one way and so we do or we feel prompted to do certain things and to bestow blessing upon them and it has been great. like i'll give you an example i prayed to know if i was being useful as a missionary if i was doing what my Heavenly Father wanted me to do i felt rebuked for somethings and appreciation for other things i felt in my heart without a doubt what i needed to do and what i was doing right. and then on top of that when i went to an appointment the family told us that what we had shared on sunday was exactly what they needed and when we left she told us again that we had answered all the questions that she had been having lately, i still dont know what those questions are but i know that becuase i had been doing my best the best way i knew how God used me as his mouth piece and helped his daughter. what she doesnt know is that she probably felt prompted to tell me that she had her questions answered by us to help reassure me that i am a useful missionary, and thats how God works if you pay attention if you are listening you see all the many things we does for us that our dull senses can perceive sometimes. I am very grateful that in the only true church which is this church that Christ himself directs i can get answers to my prayers and whats best is that i can extend this promise to others "pray to know if your church is the church of Christ and then pray again to ask if this is the His church, no other church can guarantee you will get an answer from God himself letting you know this is His Church" now when people say im not interested i dont take it as an answer because they dont even know what they are turning down so i tell them well can i come back and share the message and then you can let me know if you are or are not interested? then i feel like i did my part. i feel love for them concern all the day long for them. thank you for your prayers on my behalf next time you pray ask that God may soften the hearts of the people we contact. ill give you another example of how prayer works chirs wrote me and told me that he had prayed that we would get three new investigators, that week we got three new investigators, prayer works because God lives and saddly many people dont know how to pray and receive answers alot of others tell us that they pray daily and when we ask them to pray it this memorized prayer or simply God thanks for giving me health thats it. i am glad i know how to pray help others learn how to pray. Jonathan help people learn to pray! Joeson teach your girls how to pray, parents in roy, mami y papi pray as a couple and pray for eachother and thank the lord outloud for each other. Gina gracias por to email ya pronto te escribo. Crystal thanks for your letter and by the way everything about your dream was dead on, and you have heard me pray if you have any questions ask missionaries because prayer is powerful. oh could i please get some music? mewithoutyou, peter brianholt, anything uplifting and Godly like folk music. Chris baby good Luck! and by luck i mean Many Blessings, muchas cosas buenas de Dios!!! i pray for you all the time and i know that if you humble yourself and have prayerful heart God will work miracles through you! tell me about your comp. and the food and smell everything i loved your package and PICs they made me all so happy and remember be bold if they say no tell them you dont know what you are saying no to may i meekly share some thoughts....
I Love you ALLLLLL
October 4th
I am so glad that you are both going to do water aerobics i had been thinking about it lately so im glad that you are doing it! i cant wait for my surprise! also i cant remember when it was daves birthday the 2nd right? i loved the letter that he sent me i will write him back soon, there isnt anything that i need the only thing is that it has been very hot here and today im going to see if anyone in the ward can shorten my skirts. i go shopping all the time at target so if anyone ever wants to send me a gift, a giftcard for there would be awesome. also i know that painting you are talking about chris and i were seriously considering buying it for both of you while we were gone but we couldnt afford it at the end but its beautiful. janice and dave thanks for all the love and prayers that you have on my behalf i can feel them bearing me up two states away. im getting a little chunky monkey like my comp says so also if you could send me sugarfree treats that would be awesome. you know how long it took us to eat the oreos? two nights TWO NIGHTS!!! it was bad my comp is a oreo fein but still i ate several it was shameful. I miss Chris i am excited for him i wonder what he is up to what his apt is like what his pres is like. Im so excited for him but everyday i miss the bear butt. You know this week we committed someone to baptism! this saturday we have Rogelio Sanchez going to the waters of baptism! i will tell you more in another letter.
i love you both and thanks for the little car he will be going places with me:)
October 4th (2nd Letter)
Hola mi familia querida! how are all of you. so i will not be able to send you all pictures today because my companions usb cord doesnt work on my computer. so I have the greatest news to share! well this weekend was general confrence i hope we all watched it because God was talking to us his children through his prophet and apostles. and that was our door aproach this past week. we had maps to the building and invited people to come and hear the word of God through his only prophet. three people came! our goal was 6 so it was good. one important man came Rogelio Sanchez. he is from mexico his 5 foot tall he is so funny, humble as can be and has been searching for God for the longest time. he came to church by invitation of a member friend. Members do your part invite friends to come unto Christ! Rogelio said that he grew up in a very small town of very catholic people and that he saw missionaries before and he felt prompted to seek them several times but he was afraid of what others might say because many would tell him that "mormons" worshiped the devil they didnt believe in God or Christ. they hated the virgin Mary. i was astonished to hear how satan has worked so hard against the church of Christ by spreading lies among the people (its so amazing how similar it is in the book of mormon) and so he never did attend church or invite the missionaries in now he laments because he says i could have really used this light that you share with me today decades ago. when he was growing up his father was a drunk and beat his mother sometimes almost to death. his mother stayed with him because she couldnt afford to leave him with her 6 children. Rogelio being the oldest would get in between them all the time. his mom started to have business as a tailor and her business started to flourish well his dad didnt like this independence and Rogelio's aunt started to tell his father that his wife was cheating on him and would probably leave him. Rogelio cried last night as he told us of how much charity his mom had for his dad to take care of him always. he said that two years before his dad had gotten into a fight at the bar and someone stabbed him in the lower stomach causing all his insides to come out and that his mom would beg for money to give him the medical attention he needed. two years later he is better his alcholism getting worse and the beating getting worse and Rogelio's aunt saying that his mother was cheating on him. she had a little money saved and decided to leave before he killed her. Well rogelio told us that we came one night to his parents fighting and his dad shot his mother before his eyes, his youngest sibling only being a year and half in the living room crying. the others hiding. he held his mom she begged him to not hate his father because he was not in his right mind, she asked him to look after his siblings. rogelio was barely a young adult then and had to explain what happened to his siblings later that night he finds out that his father had fled but his uncle had caught up to him and being drunk as well shot him to avenge his sister and then shot himself. Rogelio feels remorse for not keeping the family together, guilt for not keeping his word to his mother and holding anger against his father, and saddness that all this time has passed and he still doesnt know how to be healed of the loss of loved family members and a broken home. we asked him if conference had helped him. he wiped his tears and said i was marveled because it did i felt like an innocent child after hearing the prophet. i feel joy and a perfect hope in my bosom after i speak to you both. i know i want to get baptized. we said Rogelio your mother and your father are still alive but in spirit alone. and they are learning about this plan of salvation and we are here to tell you that you are ready to be baptized so that eventually you can be baptized for them and rebuild your family again. he said he would be baptized this saturday. i met him a week after i came to San Jose, less than a month and he feels peace by praying and reading the scriptures and attending church. the second day we saw him we asked him do you know the book of mormon is ture?(now my mind was like why would you ask him that he probably hasnt read but my heart was guided by the holy ghost so i asked him anyway) and he answered yes i know that this book is true i have read the chapters that you asked me to read and i know that if this book is ture so is the church and i also know that Joseph Smith must have been a prophet of God. i asked him so you prayed to heavenly father to know? he said of course. Chris i pray for expericens like this for you. always pray in your heart before contacting peopl well i have to leave i have been emailing for too long i think i am breaking rules!
les quiero BYE!!!
October 11th
Hello im sending pictures today hope that you like, also i we had two baptisms this weekend and my companion and i taught them and we were so happy to be able to extend the love that Christ offered us to them we sung I Stand All Amazed and i couldnt get thruogh the hymn i kept crying it was wonderful the legacy that these people are leaving for their kids and future family
-the mustang is for David i thought of you when i see them now.
-my favorite family Griselda the one with the glases cant get married because her man wont marry her and ruin his legalization here in the USA
- my district you gotta love them except when you dont
-sweet tan line
-tiny little Rogelio trying on baptismal clothes
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