dear family # 26

dear family,

well, here i am in las avenidas! in the zone san miguel, which is the farthest northern zone i believe... i'm not all that sure though. haha. My companion is from ensenada mexico, and she is absolutely adorable. the pictures of us are some of my favorites that we've taken so far. :)

She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my whole life. And we get along so well. We have the same taste in music, and we can talk about everything. I was scared that being the senior companion was going to be overwhelming, but it is actually really helping me to gain confidence in myself and learn how to work together as a team in every aspect of the work. she is teaching me to rely on her for even the smallest struggles i have, and she told me that she feels like she can be her complete self with me, which makes me feel so good. we are always laughing and smiling and the people in her ward tell us they can tell a difference in our companionship already. .)

So, on tuesday night, our first day together, we were finishing up our contacts, and we had one left to do... so i contacted a woman, and my companion contacted a family. i started talking to this woman and she didn't even look at me. she just stopped and stared straight ahead. i continued talking, and i asked her if she had faith in jesus christ. she shook her head. so i asked her if something had happened in her life to make her stop believing. she nodded. so i started to testify that her heavenly father really truly loves her and that he never leaves us alone in this life, it is us that distance ourselves from him. i told her that he is waiting for her with open arms ready to help heal her from all the pain that she has experienced in her life. and then i asked her if we could write down her address and maybe come by in another opportunity to be able to offer a prayer and share a small message of hope from our savior. she looked me in the eyes and said, ¨"a prayer? why can't you come by right now?" obviously we were taken by surprise... haha. but we asked her where she lived, and she pointed to our apartment building. haha.

 

 

 so we walked with her to her apartment, and she began to tell us that she has passed through EVERYTHING in her life. from being abused as a child to an alcoholic right now to having her husband cheat on her and her mom take away her son because she isn't fit to raise him. she spilled everything to us and told us that she has never felt that someone really has cared about her in her life because no one has shown her their love. but that she feels more love and care from us than even her own mother. and she asked us if we could come back the next day because she knows that she needs to try this path now, after trying all of the other ones. and when we went back the next day, she asked us if she could come to church with us on sunday. :) sadly, we couldn't find her on sunday morning, but we are still working with her. a lot. it just gives me such a strong testimony that there are truly people waiting for us specifically here in our missions. our very first day together, we found her. I know we have a lot of work to do with this woman, but she told us that she felt a peace in her house that she had never felt before and that she wants to continue with it. :) i loved hearing that. :) it was an incredible experience. ah. i love being a missionary!

One of our investigators who has a baptismal date is Andrea. she is 13, and we went to her house on her birthday to do a family night with her and some neighbors who aren't members. her mom, Karla, is the cutest thing on earth. She has been inactive for a long time, but recently started coming back to church when hermana fuentes and hermana lopez found her and her daughter. she is so dang loving with us, and i just want to hug her all day long because she is so sweet and always giving us compliments and always offering to walk us home or bring us food or call us to make sure that we're safe. such a sweetheart. :) and her daughter, Andrea is so excited to be baptized. we're getting everything ready for the 14 of october. :) such a sweet testimony and desire to follow christ. it is incredible to listen to her share what she knows with us, because the spirit is always so strong. .)

Then, on friday, we were contacting, and we saw a little old man walking super slow all alone. so we asked him where he was going... and he told us that he was lost. :( poor thing. we walked him to his house on the other side of town, and his wife got home just when we did... and invited us in. :) she told us that the light in the kitchen was broken, and that her husband had gone to buy a new bulb, but had been gone for a long time and she was so worried about him. we changed the light in the kitchen, and shared a short message... and they asked us if we can come back because years ago they were having lessons with the missionaries and they want to have them back. it was such a wonderful experience. i was just in awe. because everything fell into place at exactly the right moment to be able to enter their house and share the gospel and a little bit of service with them. such a cute little couple. they remind me of the cute little couple on up. haha.

 

 

then on saturday, we had our ward party for the 18th of september, which is their independence day. i made a jello salad... ya know, to be patriotic... haha. and we got to know all of the members that were there. i filmed a couple of the dances that they did, and took lots of pictures. it was really fun to be able to talk to so many people and gain their confidence. this ward is absolutely wonderful. :) there is an hermano here who was born in chile, but grew up since 5 months in utah. so he speaks english like a utahn, and when i heard him i tripped out. haha. it was fun to be able to talk football with him for a little bit. i can tell this this ward is going to be a welcome change. haha.

well, that's all i have time for today, but I want you all to know that i have such a strong testimony of this gospel. I am so lucky to be a part of this work, to have this mantel of a disciple of christ placed upon me and to be able to teach people who know nothing of true happiness how to change their lives. I feel the weight of it, but i wouldn't change it for anything. and i can only hope to become better and better every day to be more capable of carrying the spirit that i need to touch people's hearts. we would be nothing without this gospel. and i know that we, as members of the church, are truly blessed to have such a wonderful knowledge of the great plan of salvation. i love this work. :) and i love all of you.

have a wonderful week. happy 18 of september!

hermana spencer.

Dear family # 25

dearest family and esteemed fans.

why does it always feel like i don't have enough time to tell you everything i want to tell you!! haha. gee whiz.

Well, the fears were confirmed. I am being transfered and I am going to be senior companion. Hermana Cantero is staying in the Farfana and she is going to be training. I guess our mission is receiving a ton of new missionaries and there are hundreds of changes. haha. I will know tomorrow where I am going to be and who I am going to be with. I'm going to need your prayers to be able to adapt myself to a new ward and area, because my heart is staying in La Farfana.

We got the news saturday night as we were celebrating hermana cantero's birthday with an argentine dinner... and everyone was quiet after we hung up the phone. I think we all are still in shock because the tears come in bursts. haha. Yesterday, I bore my testimony to my ward to tell them goodbye. And from there, the tears just wouldn't stop. I don't want to leave this ward. :( To think that I may not ever see these people again in my life is way too hard to swallow. They have been my purpose for living, and I love them with my entire heart. I have so many tender memories here in this sector. It's going to be really difficult to adapt to a new ward and sector. But I know that really, we are only instruments in the Lord's hands to bring about this work. Coming to love the people is just a fruit of doing the work.

The people I am going to miss the most are Noelia, who has been investigating the church for 4 years waiting for her husband to decide to marry her. She told me yesterday that she talked to the lawyers and that everything is ready to adopt me as her own daughter without permission from my parents. haha. she told me that she wants me back in her house as soon as i can be there because she has come to love me so much. We were just recently working with her husband, and he was so bummed that I wouldn't be able to celebrate independence day with them because we have come to be really good friends. Just after gaining his trust! ugh. haha.

 

 

Tatiana, who is a less active trying to find another job to be able to come to church on sunday: she couldn't have any kids, and she is like my mama here. I think of all the people here, my relationship with here is the most eternal and lasting. I know that she is so close to coming back to full membership in the church. I am never going to stop praying for her. And Yasna, who is my hero. She gave up smoking cold turkey when we starting visiting her, and has started coming back to church this past month with her daughters. She is a single mom, and her daughter has a birth defect she got when she was born. She is one of the strongest people i have ever known in my whole life, and I always drew so much strength from my conversations with her. I hope that I can be as diligent as her in the things i have to accomplish in my life. i just love her so much. And catalina, who is trying to come back to church after leaving because she couldn't be sealed to her whole family. her son doesn't want anything to do with the church, and after fighting for so long, she just got tired and angry and left. But she told me this morning that i was the one who helped her to feel again. that i was the one that touched her heart with my testimony, and that she is going to stop being lazy and just take the step to come back. :)

I still have a few families to say goodbye to, and I am not looking forward to it at all. The Spolmonn family has been one that we have been working with ever since we got here. Oliver, their son, came back from his mission after 5 days and we have been teaching him preach my gospel to help him prepare to go back in january. In the course of these months, I have come to develop an incredible relationship with hermana spolmonn. Somehow, as a new missionary, i gained her trust completely. And she was bawling yesterday as i bore my testimony.

It amazes me to see that I actually am going to leave a memory here. Someone so insignificant as me, so imperfect and young and shy, has made a difference in the lives of these people. There is nothing better than knowing that you have shared your testimony with someone and it has helped them. Even if you didn't know the language, or you had no knowledge of the lesson you were teaching, to bear your testimony with love and the spirit is enough. And I am so grateful to know that that's all that really mattered in the end.

We invited 3 people to be baptized this week: Liliana and Andres, and Eliana, our new brazilian. They are all 3 so excited to be baptized, and coming to church and are just so strong. I know that Hermana Cantero is going to help them progress so much with her new companion, and that I can help this work along in this sector with my prayers. :) Thank goodness. haha.

 

 

We also went to a hospital this week to visit an investigator that has been there for 3 months named Yenny. I taught her the first lesson, and the next day when we went to find her, she wasn't there. and we found out that she was in the hospital. Finally, i had the chance to go and see her, and I know that it made an impact. She has no family here, and no one is coming to visit her. :( she cried as we bore our testimonies and left her with a book of mormon. I had a lot of really deep feelings while we were there: knowing that i lived in the hospital for 5 days and it was the worst thing ever... she has been there for 3 months and no one has been coming to see her. :( we've talked with the relief society president and the bishop, and I can only pray that the ward takes the lead in making sure she doesn't feel as alone as she has felt for the past 3 months. she is going to be going through chemotherapy... my trials are nothing in comparison to hers.

well, my time is up. way lame. But i want you all to know that i have such a strong testimony of this gospel. As i said goodbye to everyone, i shared the scripture that's on my plaque: alma 26 12. and i just want you all to know, too, that i know that god is the only way we can accomplish anything in this life. we only need trust in him, and we will see miracles brought to pass in our lives. we are his hands here on the earth, doing his work, and loving his children. He will never leave us solo, and no matter how hard the trial we are going through, it will pass if we just trust that he will help us get through it.

have a wonderful week everyone. pray that my new sector is as wonderful as this one!

hermana spencer.

p-day # 24

dearly beloved,

well, i think the most pressing news of the week is that we had interviews with president on wednesday, and he told me that i'm pretty much one of the oldest missionaries in the mission now... and that i'm probably going to be senior companion this next change. i almost passed out when he told me. haha. Nothing is set in stone yet, but changes are next week, so i don't have too much longer to wait to know. pray that i don't freak out... haha.

Viviana came to church yesterday all cute. It was so incredible! seeing that she has gone from crazy hair and the same clothes every day to a skirt and leather jacket... ah. i love this gospel! i know that it is only through this gospel that she has been able to make the changes that she has in her life. :) we are now trying harder to focus on her daughter, maureen. because she has a testimony and she wants to be baptized... but she told us yesterday that she's scared that she's going to fall like her mom if she makes this decision that will change her life... i am praying my guts out to help her. because she is incredible and has no need to fear that. at all.

sorry that this is so short today! this keyboard is super lame, and i am having a super hard time writing anything at all. my mind is all over the place. haha.

i love you all! have a wonderful labor day, and keep me in your prayers. you are always in mine. :)

hermana spencer.

p-day # 23

dear family and esteemed fans,

 

another week has come and gone like crazy! haha. But what comes with an exhausting week is lots of miracles. :)

 

So our golden investigator from Brazil, Eliana, is reading the book of mormon! and last week, when we went to teach her the plan of salvation, her daughter was there and participated in the lesson as well. It still just blows my mind that she has been searching her whole life for this church, and we are the missionaries that knocked on her door. ah. I invited her to be baptized... really lamely... haha. and she said that she wants to be baptized. :) we need to explain what it means to be baptized, and that it is making a covenant with God and that she needs to know that this church is true before she can be baptized. But she is a miracle every time we see her. we have a couple of sisters in our ward that speak portuguese, so hopefully we can get them involved and she can come to church with friends already. .)

 

So... i'm embarrassed to say this, but i have a huge fear of talking to men on the streets. i can talk to them in their doors, or in cabs or whatever, but to stop them and talk to them in the street is way hard for me because i don't want them to flirt with me, and every time i do it, that happens. haha. well, this week we were passing by a man who always speaks english to me when we pass him, and my companion decided to stop him. obviously, i was horrified. haha. and of course, he was high. haha. but he told us that he lived in new york! and that the missionaries were visiting him there! so he told us we could come over sometime. we're going to take someone with us... haha. but he's way cool! i need to find a way to get over this fear of men flirting with me... cause men are cool too. haha.

 

Maureen told us that she wants to be baptized, but that she can't do it yet because she's not reading her scriptures like she should be and she drinks sometimes when she is out with her friends... we are currently fasting that she can understand that she doesn't have to be perfect to be baptized. just trying to follow christ, and doing her best. she has an incredibly strong testimony of this gospel and this church, and last night as we started teaching her dad, she once again bore it and told him that she knows these things are true. gee whiz! it's like teaching with a member! haha. her mom, viviana is still doing so well. :) still progressing towards her baptism at the end of september, and still so strong in her resolve to conquer this addiction. yesterday, at church she was just beaming! I am so lucky to be teaching her. this is the kind of miracle that every missionary prays for on their mission. I have the strongest testimony that EVERYTHING can be conquered with the gospel because of her. Looking at how much she has changed in the past month blows my mind. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!

 

One of the little girls that i am teaching english told us this week that the mormons are weird... i don't think she knows that's what we are. haha. we asked her why she says that, and she told us that they sing in the streets... like for christmas, they knock doors and sing at people's houses... haha. i didn't know caroling was a mormon thing... ;) we laughed so hard after we left her house.

 

On saturday, we went to another sector to do a mini mtc with the members in their ward. we went on splits and i was paired with a 40 year old woman who has been a member for a little over a year. and it was incredible! one, because i understood her and could talk to her and get to know her and be confident in what i was saying. :) my spanish is coming! and 2, because as i listened to her talk about how she was converted, I was just so overwhelmed with a gratitude that i am in the same work that brought her to her life how it is now. :) It was such a rejuvenation, and I have so much more confidence in myself after that experience. :)

 

then, as hna cantero and i were leaving to go back to our sector, there was a man standing outside the church on the corner. hna cantero started to talk to him, and he was like, "did you guys just come from this church?" we were like yes... and he was like i want to go to this church. do you know when i can come? we were like well actually there are people inside right now, if you would like a tour! he agreed, and we took him inside, introduced him to his missionaries, and bishop, and he told them that he was going to go to church yesterday! can you believe that? haha. i am so bummed that it didn't happen in our sector! well, the elders there are really awesome, so i hope things go well for him. haha.

 

i'm out of time, but i want all of you to know how strong my testimony is of this gospel. I know that it is only through this plan that god has made for us that we can return to live with him, but perfectly. and that jesus christ is the only way we can do it. i know that this work will roll forth until it has touched every end of the earth, and i am so grateful to be taking part in just a sliver of it. This is what true, eternal happiness is. :)

 

 

hermana spencer

p-day # 22

dear family,

 

Well, another week has flown by... weird. haha. This week was super strange too, because we had a ton of meetings and traveling to do.

 

I had to go to get my visa stuff done on friday, so we left our house at 7:00, which is earlier than we usually wake up. haha. and it was raining. awesome, right? actually, it really was awesome that it rained, because there were less people trying to get their visa stuff done! The first place we went, I had to get a sticker in my passport that is my visa. I got the address of the woman who was working with me. :) how many missionaries has she worked with and none of them have asked for her address. she was super prepared too. i hope the missionaries where she lives go by soon! haha. Then we went to get a paper that had all of the information on it for my carnet. and then, we went to the last place where they took my picture and got my finger prints. normally, it takes like 11 hours to get everything all done. we finished in 5. haha. It was fun. I got to chat with some elders that I hadn't met before and get to know them. One of the elders told us a story about how he and his companion were contacting in the plaza when they heard a man behind them yell, "hey! you are the missionaries from the church of jesus christ of latter day saints!" they turned around to see a man with a sombrero that said i love jesus on it. haha. and they ended up inviting him to be baptized and putting a date! crazy things happen as missionaries. haha. it reminded me a lot of carlos from when we went contacting in guatemala.

 

Our miracle contact Eliana was one of my favorite lessons of the week. Like i said, she's from brazil, and she doesn't speak very much spanish. we walked into her house to see her bible open on the table. how many houses do we walk in and see that? um... none. haha. when we would ask her to read scriptures from the bible during our lesson, like james 1:5, it was like she couldn't get there fast enough. The spirit was so strong as i shared the first vision and invited her to read the book of mormon. we are looking for one in portuguese because that will be so much more effective for her. But I am just amazed at how prepared she is for this gospel. :) ah. this work is incredible.

 

And our miracle family, Canales Flores, was one of my other favorites. :) as we walked up, all of the little girls were waiting outside for us. It's like we're famous, because they all ran to us from super far away to give us hugs and hold our hands to walk us to their house. I LOVE them. :) The oldest daughter, Belen, is 12 and had a tumor in her lung last year so she missed school and never learned any of the english material. I am trying to teach her what it is she missed. But she did so well on her test the next day, so I am super happy that I am working with her. :) Her mom, Paola is an angel. although, she told us on saturday, as we passed by to see if we could help her with anything in her house, that she's not married and doesn't want to be. It put our dreams of them in the temple a little farther down the line... haha. but we're hoping that her "husband" opens up because we're serving them so that we can teach them as a family. :)

 

Viviana is doing really well. :) she came to church with maureen yesterday without us going to pick her up. and last night, we watched the testaments with her family, and her husband told us that he wants to start receiving the lessons and reading the book of mormon to know what it is all about! ah. To think about where she was a month ago and see her now is like looking at 2 different people. I can literally see a light in her eyes when i look at her now, and I know that nothing could be doing that but the spirit. :) and the gospel filling her spirit. It is incredible to me that people can change their lives when they come to know their savior. :) i love missionary work!

 

to finish, yesterday we went to lunch with a sister in the ward who's husband isn't a member that we've started teaching. and her 3 year old is a FLIRT. haha. he had a billie jean on his mom's phone, and started dancing like michael jackson! it was the cutest thing ever. haha. his name is rafael. we're going to try and have a talent show for a family night soon, so i'll record it. :) pablo, the husband that we are teaching, is on the show "my name is". i've never heard of it, but i assume he must be a pretty dang good singer if he's on there... i can't wait to hear him sing too. :)

 

i just love missionary work so much. :) time goes by way too fast, and there is not enough of it to spend with the people that i love so much here. :( but i am so grateful for the time that i have, and I can only hope that as my spanish gets better and as i become a better missionary that my relationships will get even better. :)

 

muah! i love you family and fans. ,)

 

hermana spencer.