Tuesday, June 28, 2016

transfers

I am now a regular missionary! We got transfer calls last night, which are basically the most stressful 5 minutes of your life. The whole zone is on a conference call and the AP's just read out everyone's new comps/areas. I am staying in Lauderhill and my new comp will be Sister Neeley! I don't know much about her but I know she has been out 7 transfers and is from California. We have transfer meeting tomorrow so I will meet her then. Sister Soza is going to Hialeah, aka the promised land because its basically all Spanish and no english #blessed. Sister Rianda will be staying in the house and "killing" her new comp and Sister Hernandez will be pinkwashing (taking over an Elders area) and training. The call was really shocking for all of us but super fun!

In other news, I hit my 4 months and cannot believe it and do not know where the time is going. We had some awesome last week transfer miracles that are going to make next transfer super great. We had an amazing lesson with Maria and Esperanza and they both want to be baptized. Unfortunately, they couldn't come to church this week but next week they said they would be there. Miracles all around. Then, on Wednesday, we got a call from someone who said we left a card in her door with our phone number and said she wanted to come to church, so we told her the time and she showed up! We were so excited and as we were talking to her, she said that she was actually a member and was baptized when she was like 9 and just went less active right after. Her husband is a non member though, so we are really excited to get over there and meet him.

The Elders in Lauderhill had a baptism on Saturday and we invited our investigator, Byron, to come. He and his member wife showed up with their new born baby. He loved the baptism and the Spirit that was there and his wife was crying because she really wants him to accept the gospel and be baptized and raise their new son in the church, the Spirit is the best.

This week there was not a lot of rain, thank goodness, and we were able to be outside talking with a lot of people. The whole mission has to use bikes and no cars starting Thursday because of an accident so that will not be fun. At least our mission wasn't affected by the dress change and we can keep the skirts and do not need to wear pants. We get to wear sunhats and sunglasses while tracting though so that is better than nothing.


We found a quote written on a piece of paper in our study room this week that I just loved. It said, "When you meet someone new, you meet a new piece of Jesus Christ." So true and so awesome. That is why we should always treat people the best that we can. A lot of times after having door after door shut on you, you could get discouraged. Or after having trial after trial happen in your life, you could be mad. One thing that I really try to remember is that eventually, everyone that rejects us now, will accept this and will be happier, and maybe say sorry for shutting the door, or yelling that bad word at us, but everyone will accept this message and even if we cannot see the fruits of our labors right now, we will eventually.

This week will be a bit of an adjustment with a new companion but everything will be awesome and we get to start somewhere fresh and new and I am taking over the area, but it is going to be amazing. The Lord will bless us for our efforts. Adios!

pic 1: we had a dart war last p-day and destroyed the Elders. It was really fun! We used PVC pipe and nerf bullets and shot them at each other... who knew?

pic 2: District picture, as well as the ZL's and AP's

pic 3: The church looked beautiful on Sunday!

pic 4: Our couch has a pull out bed that we discovered this week!

pic 5: Comp picture as usual

pic 6: "Sister Cottrell, we need to take a picture for our fans!"

pic 7: ​​Florida skies are AMAZING EVERY NIGHT​

Monday, June 20, 2016

the will of the Lord

This week, I truly learned what the will of the Lord means. Unfortunately, people have agency and Carlos decided not to be baptized this week. We met with him on Friday, he canceled the baptism and said he would contact us when he was actually ready. We went home and just kind of sat there in shock. It was not what we were expecting to hear that morning and it was hard to hear. It was honestly the only day of my mission that I 100% did not want to go out and work. It was difficult to get out and work after that tough morning, but it was a trial that both Sister Soza and I needed to go through, but we got through it and went out to work. One hard day really makes you want to work super hard the other days, but the will of the Lord is real and as missionaries it is just something that we adjust to and learn from. We can't make people do something they don't want to do.

The beginning of the week went much better, we had an awesome zone conference up in Stuart and got to hear a bunch of awesome training. They talked about being bold and doing all that we have been called to do in this work. There is a quote from President Packer that says: "if someone tells you "Are you really going to teach everyone in the whole world? That's impossible." But we will do it anyways!" Do it we will. There is nothing that will stand in our way of teaching people. There is a scripture in Hebrews that says "We are not of them that stand down." Training was super helpful and we got to hear from President and Sister Richardson and get some hurricane training. It was boring but useful. Hopefully, this year we won't need to worry about any of it.

Yesterday, we were planning for our day and I was looking out the window. Sister Soza looks at me and asks "Do you think it's going to cry?" I just kind of looked at her and then she realized what she said and said "No, rain!" Then, we got caught in the rain, but we just enjoyed it. We walked into use the restroom before our next appointment and 3 minutes later, it just started to pour. We walked into our dinner appointment soaking wet, it is what it is. This week, it was 110 degrees, plus the awesome humidity, but we just work through the sweat.

In case you are not watching the soccer tournament right now, Chile won 7-0 on Saturday. It was perfect and the members in the ward who are from Mexico were not happy with Sister Soza, but she was ecstatic so it was a good day. Also, one morning Sister Rianda woke up and her bed had mysteriously moved a foot away from the wall. She wouldn't stop talking about how someone must have come in and moved her bed, or we have a ghost. One of the two. It was ridiculous and she was then terrified to sleep the next night.

Also, when it gets really hot the iguanas come out of nowhere. On Tuesday, we were knocking and just saw a million giant iguanas. It was more like 15 but they were huge and everywhere. We cornered one of them against a house and then all of the sudden, it took off running and slammed its head into the wall and you could hear the sound it's head made. Disgusting. Then, it ran up the tree while we were running away screaming. It's stuff like that, that makes knocking sessions so entertaining.

The time we have in the mission is short, but you learn and change so much. There is a crazy change that happens when you give 24/7 to the Lord for 18 months. I am coming up on my 4 month mark this week and cannot believe that this time has flown by so fast, I don't want it to end! It's crazy, but amazing and even though there are hard times and it really sucks sometimes, it's fun and we get to change people's lives while we do it. Heavenly Father won't give us challenges that we cannot handle. This week, I felt His arms around me and it was an amazing comfort and help as we went through this trial, but he is there an he knows and loves us all so much.

I hope that everyone had an awesome Father's Day! I am so grateful for my dad and all he does for me and my family. As well for our Heavenly Father, who loves us more than we know.

1: These signs are my favorite.

2: Life saver here in Florida

3: Attack of the iguanas

4: Found a mirror knocking. Obviously, gonna take a picture

5: It was pouring, and so we took pictures instead

6: CHILE GANO 7-0!

7: House zone conference picture (Sister Hernandez, Rianda, Soza, and Me)

Monday, June 13, 2016

a baptism and a demon spider

Buenos dias! This week here in Florida was filled with a TON of rain and a bunch of fun.

It rained basically everyday this week, which just makes tracting and knocking on doors that much more amusing. We got rained on a bunch, but we got to find some people and even though no one let us inside their homes because we were wet, we got some solid potential out of it.

But, the big news this week is that Carlos is getting baptized! To refresh your memory, Carlos has been investigating the church for about 7 years and his whole family are members. He has been a little hesitant for years to get baptized because he wants to make sure that he is living everything perfectly before he gets baptized. We had a lesson with the Elders at his house on Friday, and he said he wanted to get baptized this Sunday! It’s Father’s Day and he is going to surprise his whole family! It’s also the day before his wedding anniversary so what better gift? The lesson was amazing and the Spirit was incredible. We were doing everything we can and testifying to him that he was completely 100 percent ready to do this. He has his interview tomorrow and then everything is set. He has talked with the bishop and the bishop told him that he wanted to give him a calling and work with him in the Church, but he can’t because he isn’t a member. That really pushed him and gave him the thing he needed to really commit to be baptized!

This week we had an awesome zone training and got to take out a member of our ward who is preparing to serve her mission in July! She’s the best! We got to have a good knocking session with her and she came with us to the lesson with Carlos and was able to help us out in testifying because she has known him forever.

This week, we were knocking some houses and walked up to this one that looked abandoned, but decided to knock it anyway. I was walking in front of Sister Soza and had the thought to check for spider webs, looked up and saw a giant spider sitting on the web right in front of my face. I screamed, ran away and Sister Soza went up to it and then made me take a picture with it. If you know me, you know I despise spiders and it took her about 5 minutes of coaxing me to stand 4 feet away from it, but I got a picture as proof.

We ate some yummy food this week, as always. It is also super hot and rainy and we have a hurricane coming I think…? I don’t know, but I know its going to rain. Also, Sister Soza had to go back to the dentist to finish up her root canal, so I was sitting in the waiting room for an hour, trying very hard not to watch the news, but I know we have some rain coming and there’s been a lot of people killed in Miami. We heard that there was some attack in Orlando, but we don’t know what happened but keep Orlando in your prayers right now!

Everywhere we knock is pretty “ghetto,” but we never feel unsafe or anything. The bonus of knocking in the ghetto is that there is always music playing. Most of the time its not good music to listen to but its always there. We were visiting a member and their daughter was playing the new Justin Bieber songs (which I guess aren’t new now but the newest thing that I had heard before I left so they are still new to me), and we were trying so hard to teach the parents and stay focused, all with Bieber in the background.

I am super excited for this baptism this week and cannot wait to tell you all how it goes! We are going down to Fort Lauderdale for a combined zone activity so we will see how that goes, then we have zone conference this week with the Stuart and West Palm Beach zones.


1: Member who came out with us for the day, she leaves for California in July!

2: How we really feel about knocking

3: Demon spider

4: I do not like spiders. Also, I promise I am using sunscreen mom…

5: We were coming home from a meal appointment with the Elders and they “cuban fingered” me (the pointed to where they wanted to go instead of using blinkers, as is common with Cuban drivers, hence the name) and I was mad. Sister Soza took this amazing picture of Elder Wheelock, right after I yelled at them for doing it.

a trip to the dentist

HOLA HOLA! I hope that everyone had a great week!

This week went by super fast and this next week is going to fly as well. We are working hard here in Lauderhill South and it is really humid and gross. That is all I can think of to say, it’s just humid all the time.

This week we had an interesting time. On Thursday, Sister Soza’s tooth was really hurting her so we went into the dentist… turns out she needed a root canal ASAP. We had to deal with missionary medical and calling the mission nurse and our mission president’s wife and all that. They told us the price and I think we both almost fainted. By the end of the day I had a huge migraine and her mouth really hurt. At least it was just my head and I am grateful I wasn’t the one who needed the root canal. (I’m sure my parents are too). We have to go back this Saturday so they can finish it up. Fun!!

This week, we did a lot of knocking which brings a lot of interesting conversations and different people. Yesterday, we ran into a family from Mexico, and I looked around their living room and they had a family tree with genealogy hanging up on their wall. I asked them about it and the woman’s son was super into it. We told him that we had a website that could help him and he said he already knew all about it and that’s where he found a ton of baptism records and found his ancestors! It’s crazy how close people are to the truth and that they are almost ready to learn more, but they just aren’t quite there yet. But he loved family history for a reason and eventually him and his family will be ready.

On Saturday, a recent convert from Chile had family in town and it was their birthday so they invited us to come as well as the other member family from Chile. I was the only non-Chilean person in the room and it was amazing, because I left feeling like a Chilean. Also, I got to learn all the bad words from Chile because the family that was in town were not members. I also got to eat some amazing cheese, cake and listen to some insane stories. Sister Soza left the house that night super “trunky” (like ready to pack her trunk and like missing home. It’s used a lot for missionaries who are about to end their mission because they are ready to go home and what not). Also, the American Cup Soccer Tournament is going on and it’s on at every house we go into and everyone is talking about it. Chile plays tonight and Sister Soza is excited to find out what happened.

Some funny/cool things this week:
-We prayed with a Muslim woman from Morocco and her daughter was literally dragging Sister Soza all over the house to show her everything. It took about 20 minutes to get out. Still super cool to pray with a Muslim woman,and I got to add Morocco onto my list of “Countries I’ve prayed with.”
– During English class we kept repeating the word “from,”, and it turns out that after a while, that word sounds really weird and now I don’t like saying it.
– Last p-day, everyone fell asleep except Sister Soza and so when we all woke up she was going a little crazy because she had no one to talk to or leave the house with.
– Sister Rianda (an english sister I live with), is straight up terrified of cockroaches and we had 2 in the house this week. She ran out the door an left without someone else with her just screaming. She said “I don’t care if this is dis-o (disobedient) but I don’t mess with these nasty things.”
– There are no squirrels in Chile and Sister Soza loves looking at them. This week she thought she saw one climbing a tree, then got terrified because it wasn’t a squirrel and she didn’t know what it was. I walked back to where she was and then took off running once I saw it because it was a raccoon and I was not going anywhere near that. Then, of course I didn’t know the word for raccoon so we got to use our dictionary that we keep in the car.
– MY HAIR. My hair has gone about 3 shades lighter already thanks to the sun. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if I come home blonde.

This week I read a BOMB quote from an apostle but I don’t remember which one. He said “When I struggle, when I get cast out, when I am rejected, I am standing shoulder to shoulder with the perfect missionary.” Yeah we are! Missionaries are disciples of Jesus Christ and He is here with us every day. We are walking next to Him and doing the same things He did when He was here.



1: Weekly comp pic

2: Typical

3: Best accessory ever

4: Las hermanas

5: We took this picture and then ran to the car to beat the Elders home. We won.

6: All the missionaries and the member in our ward who cooked for us all. She has a gift and that gift is amazing food. It’s so good.

blessings come when you work hard

WOW This week was long. Probably because we had a pros Monday yesterday for Memorial Day so it really was a day longer than usual. Sister Soza and I are exhausted, but working hard. The week started off super slow, and we really hadn’t found anyone to teach, not even some potentials. By Thursday we hadn’t taught a single lesson, but we had faith and kept praying for those miracles and we found 3 new investigators by the end of the week!

We had a giant zone activity last Monday and played “Quidditch,” which basically was the Elders throwing the balls, and us Sisters got to be the “bludgers” and throw water balloons at the Elders for 20 minutes. It was super hilarious and super fun. We were all soaked and a bit sunburned by the end. It is always really fun to get all together as missionaries, especially here where we have Creole speakers, Spanish and English.

On Friday, our car had to get an oil change and we dropped it off at 12 and by 4:00 it still wasn’t done  and we didn’t have our bikes on us and we weren’t even close to our area to go knock, so we had to sit and wait at the Pep Boys. Luckily we got out by 4:45 and we got to go to Family Knock at 5, and we were able to find a family! Satan really wanted us to get discouraged, but we just went out and worked harder than ever because we were so bored of sitting and waiting to go to work. This week I also hit my 3 month mark (!!!!) and Sister Soza hit her 9 month! She is halfway done, and this transfer is already halfway done.

Also this week, a member family did the sweetest thing ever and contacted my parents to see what kind of food I liked from back home and then the recipes on how to make it. It was seriously the most amazing thing ever and they got to try some yummy American food for dinner this week! We had some amazing apple pie and ice cream for dessert. The members here are amazing and have a lot of hardships and trials being here in the States, but their faith is crazy strong in the gospel and in the Lord.

We felt prompted to go see a recent convert family because we hadn’t seen them at church for a while. Like a lot of members here they have to work a lot and they work until 5 am Sunday morning and then are too tired to come. We stopped by and talked to them and heard the mother of the family bear her testimony about how the Gospel helped her just a year ago when she came here from Ecuador. Her story is insane but her faith is even crazier. Then the next day on Sunday, they came to church! We were so happy to see them and they stayed all 3 hours, even after working all night. We also took some sick pictures on their motorcycle.

Some funny things that happened this week:
1)  Sometimes when you and your comp don’t speak the same 1st language there are some difficulties. Especially when the dictionary does not have the word you need. Sister Soza was trying to explain what “manzanilla” is. It’s a flower, and to explain it she pulls out a piece of paper and draws literally a regular flower and said “it looks like this.” I turned to her and said, “yep, that is a flower… doesn’t really help!” We both could not stop laughing, turns out its chamomile.
2)  Also found out this week that most of Antarctica is owned by Chile and its full name is Antarctica de Chile. WHO KNEW?!
3)  We went on exchanges this week with the STLs (sister training leader) and I stayed in our area, but the english STL came in to stay with me which meant I was the only comp who spoke spanish… and we had 2 meal appointments that day and almost died knocking afterwards. TURNS OUT I actually know more Spanish than I thought. We got to see Milly (my recent convert) and they made us some yummy breakfast food from El Salvador. One thing I love about serving in Latin wards is that everyone loves avocados as much as I do!

This week was a real testimony builder that the Lord really does bless us if we are working hard and doing all that we can. If we are moving, He will put people in our path. I could easily send you my “key indicator” numbers and have you judge my mission and work that way, but it really doesn’t reflect everything that we do every single day. It is not easy to go and knock on doors, and have people slam them in your face. It is not easy to not have anyone to teach. But the miracles and the rewards that the Lord sends us for our efforts are even greater. I was reading a talk this morning from President Monson and one thing he said really stood out to me. He said “We do not need to walk where He walked (meaning Jerusalem), but we need to walk as He walked.” We need to help those around us and do as much as we can to serve those we know. As we turn outward, towards others as Christ did, we can see the blessings in our lives. Fortunately for all of us, we get credit for trying in the Gospel! (Elder Holland said that at an MTC devotional a few years ago).

I love you all and hope that you all have great weeks! Chao!


pic 1: 3 months!

pic 2: I was excited, she was not….

pic 3: The motorcycle was Sister Soza’s idea for the record

pic 4: Came across this canal while knocking

pic 5: We had a tea party last night! (no worries there was no caffeine)

pic 6: Florida sunsets are beautiful

pic 7: Accounting at District training for the end of Mucho May

miracles and president nelson

HOLA! ITS REALLY HOT HERE RIGHT NOW. Me and Sister Soza are basically dying and just cooking outside everyday, but we have fun. More on the President Nelson thing later…

So, really this week was a lot of finding. This area is amazing and the people here are great but it is kind of like a treasure hunt to find spanish speakers. We always find a couple houses of spanish speakers while knocking, but a lot of them are “bien catolicos.” They might accept the prayer, but usually the first thing they say to us is that they are catholic… so this week was filled with a lot of “formers,” people who have been taught by missionaries, but were dropped because they didn’t progress. We picked out like 10 each day and just went and knocked their doors to see if anything had changed. None of them were interested.

We have also been cleaning up the ward list and seeing all the less actives, part member families, and people we don’t know as well. There are a lot of less actives who have been less active for years now, so they really aren’t too interested in coming back, but the part member families are golden. Carlos, our investigator, is not really progressing right now. He didn’t come to church this week and hasn’t really been answering our calls, but he will answer the ward members, so we have kind of turned him over to the ward, to keep supporting him until he is really ready.

Last night we saw a big miracle though! It was about 8:00 at night and we decided to knock this one row of houses, probably about 20 houses. There were a ton of cars in the street, so we figured that there were a lot of people home. Well, we knocked every single door, and not a single person answered. We had a lot of people “blind check” us and just look out and see who we are before going away, or they just completely ignored the knocks. UNTIL, we got to the last house. While we were walking up to the house, I just thought, “okay Heavenly Father, what have you got for us here? We were just rejected by 19 other houses, so I know that you have someone prepared here for us.” AND HE DID. Pedro opened the door and told us that they wanted us to come back tonight to teach them! They have been taught by missionaries before and this family wants to learn more. We didn’t see all the kids, but based on the noise, we think it is probably a family of 6 or more. MIRACLES!

We also have 2 new sisters living with us. Sister Hernandez, is from Honduras, but moved to the states when she was 13 and went to high school in North Carolina. She is a jokester. It’s fun. Sister Rianda is from California and she is actually 25! She is completely done with school, she went to BYU-Hawaii, and is just the bomb. Living with older missionaries is super cool because they have so many hilarious life stories. She is super cute and is about to hit her year mark.

This weeks high hit 107 degrees! I don’t see how it can get hotter, but it does so I just cannot wait for summer! We see small miracles everyday when people give us water bottles, right when were are about to run out of the one someone else already gave us. The count would be up to 80 by now.

Also, President Nelson was here in South Florida this weekend for a conference for recent converts as well as one for the members, in our building. Unfortunately, he asked President Richardson not to let us go… The members all said it was super good and he gave some great talks. He was in our building, meeting with stake leaders and our mission president Sunday morning when we were at church, but we didn’t get to meet him. He did walk in as I was playing prelude though, so he heard me playing the piano! Thats the only interaction I had with him sadly, but President Richardson was there and it is always great to see him.

Que tengan una buena semana! Les quiero mucho!

1: Pday post knock death picture

2: Sunday knock!


3: Sister Soza died after the knock session
4: found a mirror, needed a pic

5: Slurpees for 12 weeks this week… we went to the park to read the scriptures we needed to and were attacked by ducks who thought we had food. Fun times.

transfer #1

WHOOO, TRANSFER 1 IS DONE! Time flew by!

We had transfer calls last night and, THANK GOODNESS, me and Sister Soza will be staying together and she will finish training me. The 2 other girls we live with are leaving, so we get 2 new Sisters in the house this week! We are just waiting to find out who it is, there a a bunch of changes in the zone too, so it will be fun to meet some new missionaries!

This week, was sort of uneventful. On Wednesday, I was on exchanges with a Sister we live with and so I was in English all day, but it was fun! We need to find people to teach, so it has been a lot of knocking. On Thursday, we were going to our knocking spot and I was in the left lane, when suddenly I just felt like I needed to make this next right turn into a neighborhood and (safely, I promise) swerved into the neighborhood. We started knocking and on the last house on the street, we knocked on this woman’s door and she just opened it in tears. I explained that we wanted to pray with her and she just broke down. She invited us in and told us that her mom had just gone into the hospital this morning because of a heart attack. We stayed in her house for about 45 minutes talking with her and teaching her little gospel truths in our answers and casual conversation. It was really cool to see how Heavenly Father puts us exactly where we need to be.

On Sunday, it was our first week with our new Bishop, and he asked if I could play the organ… uhhh not really. But I sat down and played the organ for sacrament meeting so there is always a first, and it didn’t sound terrible! We taught Gospel Principles, which is the class for the new members, which was terrifying in a way because we had like 10 minutes to prepare our lesson, but it went well. Our investigator Carlos, told the ward mission leader that he needed a lot of prayers this week and that he was finally going to make his decision to be baptized or not this week. He has known about the church for 13 years and has been going with his wife and children. Sister Soza and I want so bad to baptize another “eternal convert” and he is so perfect and ready, he just needs to make a decision.

Yesterday was proselytizing Monday. It really stinks to have to wait an extra day for p-day and everyone hates pros Monday, but miracles happen. It wasn’t as bad, but some interesting things happened. First we were driving to an appointment and saw 2 cars crash into each other in the intersection. Crazy. Then we saw the Papa John’s pizza guy pushing his stalled car off the road and jumped out to help him push it. We sent out a text to the zone that said “#sisterscandoittoo #wedoitinskirts” and everyone died hahaha. Pros Monday was filled with a lot of laughs just from knocking and running into some… interesting people. One guy like would not stop talking to us about how we are actually dead right now? That was fun. Then another guy told us about how he used to have a business in Mexico but when he moved to Texas he needed his workers in Texas and basically trafficked them in illegally. He also taught us some self defense moves.

Also this week we hit a new high… prepare yourselves 105 DEGREES! YAY FLORIDA SUMMER IS HERE. So not ready for that, plus, I get 2 summers here in Florida so YAY.

I don’t know if i have mentioned this but in this mission we are only allowed to listen to music by MoTab… which would seem like a bummer but THANK GOODNESS David Archuleta has sung with MoTab because those are the songs that save me! Los pastores is the bomb. Check it out.

This week definitely had some highs and lows, but that is really what missionary work is all about. I was so nervous this morning for emailing because I knew 2 of my best friends had received their calls this week. It made me think back to when I opened my call and how I immediately knew that the FFL Mission was where I needed to be. We went to a mission call opening in our ward and me and Sister Soza are just like crying when she opened it because so many emotions just came back! It feels like it has been forever but also like I just left home. Next week I will hit my 3 month mark! There are a lot of friends I have back home who are finishing their missions too, and it seems like they just left. Missionary work is amazing.

The ponderize scripture this week was Esther 12:27. The Lord will make everything that is weak about us strong. And he knows those weaknesses we have but will make them our strengths.

I invite everyone to read a talk from the October 2012 General Conference called, “Consider the Blessings” from President Monson. I read it in Personal Study this week and was just hit with revelation. It is SUPER powerful and spiritual.

Remember I love you all and hope that all is well!








knocked and knocked and knocked...

HOLA HOLA COCA COLA!

That is Sister Soza’s preferred way of answering the phone and it makes me laugh a bit every time. This week, while maybe not having great numbers to report, was still fun, always…

On Tuesday, we had exchanges with our STL’s (Sister Training Leaders) and I went over to their area for the night. It was sort of nice to be in an English area for the night, but I missed my comp too much. It was really great to be able to get back with her Wednesday morning. Transfers are next week, and normally you stay with your mom, Sister Soza, for 2 transfers so hopefully nothing changes!

This week might sound a bit boring though, because we basically just knocked and knocked and knocked. It takes a lot of patience but we have faith to find those people to teach. We found a super nice spot to knock that is FULL of Spanish speakers so we’ll probably be going back there regularly! It is a bit scary, so we definitely go during the daytime, but we love areas like that. That is where the humble, ready people live to hear the gospel!

On Saturday we did a blitz, which is when the whole district goes into a companionship’s area and knocks all together for an hour. It was really fun and found 4 people for the Sisters to teach. Miracles! Our ward had a Mother’s Day party that night and we got to eat some yummy carne asada and listen to some awesome music! Then Sunday was Mother’s Day and we got to talk with our families, which was great!

We also got a new bishop in the ward we are in right now and hes an American! His wife is from Argentina so he speaks like her and his accent is just like hers. We are excited to see the changes that will come from having a new bishop and all the help he can bring into our missionary work.

One thing that I have learned this week is really how much faith sharing the Gospel takes. We have to have faith that people will be receptive, that people will let us in, that they will take the lessons, that they will come to church, that they will be baptized, etc. There is so much faith in missionary work, but it is so amazing when we get that “witness after the trial of our faith.” Teaching is not easy, finding is not easy and missionary work is not easy, but it is great and brings so much joy and happiness to my life and to the lives of those we teach.

The scripture for this week is in Mosiah 2:17:
“…when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”
I LOVE this scripture because it is saying, when we take time to serve others, we are serving God. Who wouldn’t want to do that? I can definitely feel as a missionary the love that God has for every single person I meet. We ran into a man yesterday whose wife died 9 months ago and he is left with his 3 young children, and the whole time I could just feel, not only Heavenly Fathers love for this man, but also that his wife was there for him. How important is the Spirit in missionary work? It is everything!


Pic 1: Before the rainstorm that pounded us for about an hour….

Pic 2: …and after

Pic 3: ahhhh, flowers!

Pic 4: KILLA


faithful and #fearless

WHAT A GOOD WEEK!

On Monday we had a zone activity and played beach volleyball, which is the only sand we are allowed to touch here in Florida. BOO, but we had fun and then had a great rest of our p-day. We had dinner with our investigator Milly, Monday night, and it was a crazy good lesson. The Spirit was crazy strong and we planned her baptism that night.

Tuesday we knocked a lot. Our investigator pool is at a minimum right now, so we have been knocking, contacting formers and getting referrals from everyone we talk to. Stressful at times, but interesting. We ate dinner that night with a Mexican family in our ward, and it was probably my favorite thing out here because it tasted like home!

Wednesday we knocked all day and talked with some formers, none of which were interested. But Wednesday night Milly had her baptism interview. Talk about the most stressful moment of my life, WOW. I knew she was going to pass because she is just golden but it was so nerve wracking! She came out and said, “Sorry,” Sister Soza and I were confused and the DL (district leader) said “yeah shes not ready yet…” So we just stood there… but then they both laughed and said it was a joke, not funny. She passed and we were all set for Friday night! Still a terrifying experience though. As we were filling out the baptism record we needed her full name, and found out it was Milagros, which means miracle in Spanish! So true, she really is our little miracle. Sister Soza met her with her last companion and said that she would never be baptized… jokes on her.

Thursday we knocked all day, and the Friday FINALLY CAME. The baptism was AMAZING. Milly had all her member friends there who had introduced her to the church and when she came out of the water she smiled so big. It was like an overwhelming peace came over her. As a missionary, baptisms are super stressful because you have to make sure everything goes right. All of the stressors that came in right before we started the baptism, were all worth it for that. The friend’s husband who was supposed to do the baptisms, was late. We were just praying they got there on time and with a little help from the WML we stalled just long enough for him to make it. It was such an amazing experience to have my first baptism, on my first transfer! It is really rare to have, but I know that Milly was prepared for this time and for Sister Soza and I to baptize her.
The rest of the weekend was normal missionary work. Saturday we did have a house disaster though. Our sink disposal was clogged up in the whole apartment building and so it was like throwing up the stuff out the sink. Then the water flowed over the sink and all over the floor and a pipe burst all over the place, it was a disaster. Me and Sister Soza had to stay home and deal with that because the other sisters had appointments and service they needed to do. Hauling buckets of nasty water that smelled like vomit was not how I wanted my Saturday morning to go, but now I know what to do if it ever happens again! Sister Soza said: “You know I am a little glad we have to deal with this because WE HAVE NOBODY.” Sadly it was true. Sunday, a part member family came to church and stayed all three hours. We are meeting with the husband tonight, who is the non-member to see whats up. We’re really excited about that because he’s another eternal investigator who has been taught the lessons 2-3 times already and seems ready finally.

It gets really hot here at about 2-6 everyday and we ran out of water while knocking on Thursday. So we said a quick prayer that someone would have compassion and give us some water, and the next 3 houses we knocked offered us some water! The same thing happened Saturday. Just small miracles like that happen everyday and those small miracles make up for all the people who slam the door or who are rude to us.

Our district started a new “game.” While out knocking, biking or something, if your comp says #fearless, you have to go talk to the person, chase them down or do whatever but you HAVE to talk to them. I beat Sister Soza to it every time so watching her chase people down, it has been a blast honestly.

We are super ready and pumped to go out and find people to teach! I know that this is the Lord’s work and that I am in His hands. All we need to do is turn ourselves over to Him as missionaries and we will be blessed with people and miracles.


#1: yummy El Salvadorian enchiladas (excuse the hair- it was hot)

#2: I found a shirt that says “you’re killin me smalls” and obviously it was needed

#3: milly!!

#4: selfie with milly

#5: hit my 2 month mark last week… The sunsets are amazing every night.

#6: sink disaster pt 1 w/ Sister Evans