Reality of being a Missionary

So, this week was not what we expected at all.. We went from being on fire last transfer, to slowly turning into small tiny little sparks. I want to be honest with you all, my missionary friends, and my friends who will soon be going on missions. Living with someone for 24/7 is not easy sometimes, and when it's not you have to work it out. Heavenly Father wants the best for us, but he also expects a lot of work on our part.

I have been on quite the roller coaster on my mission with companions, and I want you to all know, that it WILL work out. Not everything is easy, but it's all worth it, and missionary work is only accomplish-able with the Holy Ghost. He is so extremely important to have at all times. And whenever you can't push through, you kneel in prayer and you ask for the strength, just as Nephi of old did.

17 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound.
18 And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again.

This work is SO important. What a blessing it is that we have been baptized, and that we have the Holy Ghost with us always. We MUST keep the Holy Ghost near. He guides us through everything, and if we don't listen to him and follow what he says, we will receive consequences of all shapes and sizes.
I promise that all is well.. But when problems rise up, I've kept my head above the water and never looked back.. I just keep swimming just as Dory explains.. :)

Love you all, have a great week.

Slow and steady wins the race... right?

Hi everyone! 

I hope ya'll are doing great, I've really enjoyed the work lately in White Salmon... The only problem is that our work has slowed down a great deal. We've been dropped by a few investigators, and we haven't had as much contact with Trevor as we hoped for. 

Our good news, is that we had blitz exchanges with our STL's who came down from Yakima. They are currently serving in Hermana Knight's old area and live with the sisters who are serving in my old area. It was awesome exchange to learn so much from these two sisters, one of which is heading home tomorrow at the completion of her mission, and she ROCKS!  Shout out to Hermana Anna Streuling from Utah!  The other, which I've talked a bit about in the past, Hermana Dee, rocked my socks during our exchange.  We had a lot of catching up to do while we got ready to kick back and go to bed.  We talked a lot about our good ol' Englewood Branch of Yakima.  We learned a lot over our exchange, and enjoyed the rest of our week. 

We also just got transfer calls on Saturday night... With my time left on my mission I expected to leave White Salmon and finish my last two transfers somewhere else, but fortunately... WE ARE BOTH STAYING OTRA VEZ. Yes, I may or may not finish my mission in White Salmon. which personally would be extremely ideal to me because I LOVE our area. But as the hymn goes, "I'll go where you want me to go, Dear Lord."  I've been pondering on the hymns we sing as member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints and I have come to the conclusion that I could listen to church hymns for the rest of my life... personally that's just how I feel right now.  In every moment of need that I've had, there's always been a moment when I have a church hymn going through my head that has helped me through the tough times. 

I am excited to be in White Salmon for another transfer, I love being a missionary, it's one of the best experiences I've had yet! 

Love you all!

Successful Temple Trip #3

Hi everyone! 

This past week went amazing! As a few of you know, I had my last temple trip of my mission this past week, and it was exactly what I needed at the exact right time. 

At the beginning of the week, we had our District meeting, which went better than usual!  But on our way to district counsel, we got a call from our vehicle coordinator who told us we needed an oil change AND a tire rotation that same exact day, right away.  Apparently we were over the due mileage for when we really needed it. But not too over, luckily!  So we had to stay in Hood River for a few hours while they changed our oil and rotated our tires.  It took about 3 hours when it should have taken only an hour and a half at the most... So unfortunately, we were out of our area, and we had nothing to do.. so we did some studying, and we also called some people's names that have been in our phone for quite some time, and we got some good OYM's from those people!  Later we had a lesson with Trevor, who we have been working with for quite some time, and we finally were able to get in with him again, which led to some discussion about an article in a New Era from last year.  He is still progressing so much.  It's so exciting!  He came to church again and loved it!  He's basically a member... He just can't get baptized yet..  But it's going awesome! 

Wednesday we had some awesome member-present lessons with a few investigators, and we had a great Practice Teach Lesson with a less active.  As the Washington Yakima Mission, we have been doing our best to become better teachers, and one of our goals as a mission is to involve the active and less active members in our areas and teach them a lesson from the missionary discussions, allowing them to feel the spirit, and for spiritual upliftment, and also for them to get a taste of what we are doing, so they'll be more excited to share the gospel with their friends.  We had a SWEET practice lesson that day, and she's excited to hear The Plan of Salvation this upcoming week! T

Thursday was our Temple day. WOW! The spirit hit me like a wall.... I truly miss going to the temple so often. While going every 6 months is nice, and it's a good pick-me-up every few months. I wish we had more opportunities to go to the temple more often, because I'm starting to really realize how much I need it and more often!  We drove to Kennewick with Sister Curtis, a sweet member in our ward. We arrived at the temple around 9:00 before the session started and got ready to be in our seats. But as I had been in the changing room, a very familiar face walked passed me... I knew this face very well at the beginning of my mission.  Hermana Heather James recently returned home for some medical problems from the Nashville TN mission, and seeing her face once again was one of the biggest sighs of relief I've had on my mission... Seeing her, hugging the tears out of each other's eyes, it was one of the best feelings ever!!  WOW!  I still can't believe I was able to see her. Unfortunately I did not see her after the session, but I did get other news from a familiar face I knew from Yakima, that told me a less active family that Hermana Aldrich and I visited is now active, and the missionaries are currently activating their son. As a family they are working towards going to the temple soon to be sealed, and we heard a bit of news of some other people as well. It's so strange to be hearing such things from familiar faces, But it was a great comfort to me this week to know that even though I don't feel adequate, through the hard work in the past that I've been looking down on, has paid off, and I feel such relief. 

As I entered the Celestial room, I was looking for many answers... to many many questions. But I soon came across a scripture that led to all my other questions and my searching. This certain chapter is now a very dear place in my heart and It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had yet to discover and find. I am truly happy to be a member of this church, to have received so many spiritual and physical blessings of having the restored gospel in my life. I can promise each of you, (my current missionary friends) that as you continue to teach people of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and also in your own work at home (for those of you at home) that the Temple has MANY things in store for us that we cannot comprehend in our own hearts and minds. I truly did not feel a bit of stress on my back as I entered the doors of the temple, And as we left the temple, I still felt the endless peace of God's love for me. 

I love you all, Have a great wonderful week! 

Feliz Dia de Madre!

Hello Everyone! Happy Mother's Day!

So this past week has been quite interesting to say the least... Trevor did not end up getting baptized, but it will need to be in a few weeks. He passed his interview on Monday Night!  It's just that there's some scheduling that conflicts with his family's schedule, so that will continue to follow in the weeks to come. This week we talked about the footnotes and study helps in the scriptures with him, and he's very excited to continue to read in the Book of Mormon and receive his own set of scriptures!

Hermana Knight and I have been able to get really close this past week. We've both been having some personal things come up in our companionship, but we are proud to say, we are SOOO thankful to be companions. Video chatting with my parents was fun and excited to hear about all the changes happening at home. I am very thankful for my parents and for all that they do for me, and I can't wait to hear more!

I don't have much to email about today, because today is not P-day for us. On Thursday we are heading to the TEMPLE!!  I am so excited to go be in my home mission boundaries and to spend the day in the temple with Hermana Knight and also with our Zone.  We will be stocking up on our Costa Vida, since we don't have one in the Yakima Mission. We only have a Cafe Rio in our mission boundaries, and it's in my first area in Wenatchee.... Costa Vida here we come!  

Anyway, I love you all! Have a great week!!

The Splashes are coming!

Hi everyone! 

Wow, this past week was definitely a struggle. We had people left and right really being just.... mean. We had some part member families I talked a bit about before, and one of these families are sooo sweet. Their Mom just is not ever looking forward to us coming over. But there's a reason for every slammed door, every rude comment to our faces, and every shrug off in the streets. But this week has also been a great progress for Trevor. HE'S GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. If you guys wouldn't mind keeping him in your prayers, that would be great! He is so ready and prepared, and I just can't even tell you guys how excited I am for him! We were getting his program ready on Sunday and asked him to invite some of his youth friends to give talks, prayers, etc. He basically figured out every thing he wanted. We have all the youth getting involved for his program and all the older men he loves will be confirming him on Sunday. This week has just been a low roller coaster for a few days, but it's getting better! This up coming week is Mother's Day, so I am very excited to talk with my parents on Sunday. I don't really have much more to talk about, but here's some awesome pretty pictures from this week. 

LOVE YOU ALL! 

 

A member gave us some Mexican sausage (Chorizo) and Hermana Knight cooked it up for us!