We walk by Faith, not by sight..

Hello Hello! Howdy Ya'll! (Thanks to my Texan companion)

So this past week was so awesome!  We have some amazing new investigators we will be working with this upcoming week! The Derek Family is awesome, they have 2 kids, and they have TONS of questions, they are super amazing. Their Son, Japhia, said the first prayer, and he simply asked... "Please bless me with enlightenment and knowledge of my purpose."  Mind you, he's 10 years old. #yeahdawgie  The weather has been AWESOME this past week as well, it got into the 90's already... Hermana Knight LOVED It, but I couldn't stand it... until I remembered it gets darker later in the evening, so that means we can tract until 9:00 pm in our area now. Woot woot!

I was really struggling this past week with some personal things, and Monday night I kept bottling them up until I couldn't take it anymore. I am SOOOO glad that I am with Hermana Knight because she has truly taken me for who I am. Wow. I couldn't be more happy with any other companion! After she and I talked some things out, I realized I hadn't had a priesthood blessing in over 2 months... I usually can't go a month or so without a priesthood blessing. So we called up my 2nd counselor in our bishopric and asked if he would. He and his wife are amazing! I love them to death, and the blessing was exactly what I needed. Short and Sweet!

We drove out to a far part of our area called "Carson" and contacted a referral.  We hadn't ever been up in Carson before, so that was really cool!  He wasn't too interested, but we left him a Book of Mormon anyway. Hermana Knight has a special medical condition called Insulin resistance, which is very similar to Diabetes, and she can't eat a lot of carbs, bread, etc. or sweets.  She drank some soda this past week and she was NOT doing well, so on our way up to Carson she got very car sick, and took some motion sickness pills, which made her super drowsy, and then we had to go eat at a members house and after that let her sleep it all off. It was hilarious! She was so out of it, but she's doing better now.

Here's a scripture for Ya'lls souls. 

2nd Corinthians 5:6

 5. There fore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.

6. (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

I know for sure I have not walked by sight this week, it has all been by faith.  Through it all, He has lead me with His hand, and He has never let go of me. I am so happy and thrilled to be a missionary, and it's probably never going to hit me that I am almost done... It's so strange... but I'm not thinking about it. 

Love you all, have a good week!

Hermana Knight & I!

Good morning everyone!

Wow, this past week has been a work in progress.  Monday and Tuesday we let Hermana Buss say goodbye to a lot of members, and we had some sweet time together before she left. Wednesday morning, we woke up and Hermana Buss STILL wasn't packed. I was scared for her, on the other hand, Hermana Juarex who stayed the two nights with us (her senior comp went home) was not so happy. I, on the other hand, told Hermana Buss to get in the shower while I packed her stuff. Within 15 minutes, Herman Juarez and I packed her last few things and got out the door with Herman Buss's stuff... and when I say stuff, there was A LOT.

We got to the Hood River Church when we realized how much stuff each missionary had that had to fit into a Dodge Van... I was on the verge of sweating, I couldn't believe how much stuff we had to fit into this van, and the member was completely chill as a cucumber while I looked at the van as soon as we pulled up, and I silently said to myself... 'This ain't gonna work, people!!'  But luckily, the sweet member and I packed the van with our good packing skills (Thanks to my sweet, awesome Dad who taught me how to properly pack a car for a trip!) And we headed off to the transfer site, we smushed the two elders in the back while we hermanas fit into the upper seats... (Poor elders, sorry!) We came back with even MORE things from our new companions, so we ended up having to take some of our new companions' things and have other missionaries take them to another church building, and which our member was more than willing to pick up the other missionaries' things. 

Hermana Knight is from Rockwall, Texas (Across a lake and 30 minutes from Dallas) and she ROCKS! She was born in Logan, and she's been back and forth from Cedar Hills, Utah and Dallas ever since.  She's only been 6 months out on her mission, and she's on fire! I love it!  We have lots of great plans for our area; Trevor is slowly but surely progressing, and he's growing so much in the Gospel! We've met some part member families that we will be teaching this week, and it will be amazing. I just can't wait. 

I also just FINALLY got pictures of Wendy, the teenager with down syndrome that I taught in my first area, and her baptism pictures! She just glows! (sniff sniff)  She's all grown up!

Anyway, It's been an awesome week, Change is my favorite, but this week has been great!

Oh it is Wonderful...

Hello everyone!

So as I've talked about since I've gotten here to the Dalles area, I've been having some struggles with my companion. Everything is going back to normal, but we also have transfers this Wednesday. I will be staying in White Salmon and I will be receiving Hermana Knight, who was one of my greenie's MTC companion. What a coincidence! Hermana Buss will be transfered to Othello. This is something  new, and I'm pretty torn between how I feel about Hermana Buss leaving. We've grown so much together, and we've seen miracles. But having Hermana Buss as a companion was probably one of the most growing times for me on my mission. We've both learned so much together and I am excited to see where her mission will take her next. 

I realized this whole past transfer, I was letting myself be pretty selfish in the midst of helping my companion. I never realized how much she was struggling until she finally opened up to me last week about how she wasn't looking forward to leaving her first area on her mission. I felt sorry, but a bit rough at the same time, thinking to myself, "Well, you've got a ton of time to spend on your mission, and I've got zip-zero time. So enjoy it." There were times I had to be blunt with her, and take the lead in our companionship, and in a way, take the lead in everything we did. I felt no motivation, and turned very inward to myself when I was trying to get her motivated and help her out with her problems. Finally, I found my way through serving her. I found ways to relax, and to not become so anxious and stressed about every little thing. I especially learned through prayer, that Heavenly Father truly, completely, and utterly knows EXACTLY who I am. Though I struggle with finding a balance in my stress, and despite all the noise and struggles happening around me, I turned so inward this past transfer, and I didn't see it until we had a special tender moment this past week.  

When she confided in me about leaving her first area, I first had that thought that I mentioned earlier, but I decided I was done with being this way. I told her stories about when I left my first area, and how nervous I was, but how I became so excited to go somewhere new. I even told her the struggles I had as a missionary, and how the struggles I've had with my self confidence, and trusting in the Lord, every SINGLE trial has made me who I am, along with Jesus Christ and his confidence in me. I LOVE being a missionary, but the ways I've personally struggled have held me back in my potential, and I finally dropped the gloves to the mat, and I loved her with every part of my small, ignorant heart. We both struggled a lot this past transfer, but I became more hard on myself until I truly turned my heart to him.  

What happened next was a complete surprise. I don't know where the words came from, but they just simply spilled out of my mouth. It went something like this...

"Hermana, I know you're missing home, and family, but Heavenly Father wants you to know how much He loves you. You're doing great, keep being productive in every way possible" 

Later, I told her about every single member of her family and why she needs to be a missionary right now. Everything I said, was completely, and utterly from our Heavenly Father. On her end, she cried until I was done. On my end, I teared up while I told her about how proud her Dad is of her.  THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON!

Christ is my Savior, He truly felt everything that I feel and that we each feel every day, and He is key to our salvation.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.

Confused at the grace that so fully, He proffers me. 

I tremble to know that for me He was cruficied.

That for me a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died.

Oh it is wonderful, that He should care for me, enough to die for me.

Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me. 

I know this past transfer was so needed for both she and I. I will never forget the experiences we had together. I love her.  She will always be one of my favorite companions.

So, Wednesday morning, I will have a new companion!  I will keep ya'll updated on our hard work next week. Love you all, I feel the power of your prayers!! 

Our zone conference was this past week, I was asked to give a training on working with members, and it went awesome!

General Conference, Lesson learned...

Hi everyone! 

Wow, I haven't had a week like this in a long time... probably not since Toppenish.  So, this week, in a gist, I've learned so much about companionship responsibility.  A LOT.  I've really enjoyed helping Hermana Buss with the things she's working on, and it should be getting better... anytime soon, but I have really learned that I truly can't carry on the work by myself.  And when things happen, you roll and go with the flow.  That's all you can do folks, just get down on your knees, and say an out loud personal prayer and He will listen to you. He IS There, and I know without a doubt that He is listening, and that He knows me!

I have LOVED listening to conference, we watched one session completely in Spanish.  I couldn't understand a lot of it, but I hope to understand it more soon!  I loved it all, especially the announcement of the new temples. We will have 175 temples once all the temples in the world are built. WOW!  What progress!

I invite you all to ponder the things you've learned in conference, and to apply it TODAY! 

They all talked about good habits we MUST build right now, so find one and work on it. 

Love you all!