Yeah. The Family History Center was closed again today. Life is crazy right now. Sister Ayala and I are going to de-stress ourselves and do a little shopping. But first: the miracles.
Biggest miracle in our area this week: we went over to see our less active Hermana Delgado. She's been coming to church regularly for the past few weeks, but we hadn't seen her in a few weeks because we couldn't fit her into her schedule. She joined the church about eight years ago and has four kids - one isn't a member, one is married in the temple, and her two youngest kids are not active but still live at home. Her husband isn't a member either and every time when we come over, we invite him to our lesson but he declines and just sits on the couch nearby and watches TV. But something happened Wednesday night. We had just come from our super awesome Zone Conference (my LAST Zone Conference) and we just went over to Hermana Delgado's house for dinner and a quick message. Her husband wasn't home from work yet when we got there, but he got home 15 minutes later. We started talking to him when he came in, but the last thing we expected is that he would come sit at the table with us. When he did that, Sister Ayala and I had no idea what to do! But the Lord totally prepared the way. He had always been kind of cold and he wasn't religious at all. But without provocation, he came straight out and told us his needs. He talked about how he had seen so many deaths and trials in his life and in those of his close family members and he said he didn't care about what was going to happen after this life because he already felt like he was living in hell here. It was amazing. We were able to bear testimony that families really can be together forever and that through the Atonement, we can be free of all our pain and find true and lasting peace and happiness. The Lord prepared it all - but we were there when all the plans fell together. As missionaries, we really are the Lord's hands here and as members, we can be them as well. We're super busy so we're going to ask the elders to come over and teach him, but I'm grateful for the Lord's timing to see the rewards of our patience.
I've failed at sharing all the VC miracles for most of my mission, but now that we're in the VC every night, we're seeing miracles every night and I'm remembering them better! We had this one guy named Adam that came in - he's a practicing Catholic but he was totally open and has the biggest heart ever and he wanted a Book of Mormon! We had another Spanish family in the area that asked us why our church is different, and the dad, Vicente, wants a Book of Mormon! And he lives in our ward boundaries - not in our area but we'll get to see him at church! We had a ton of Spanish families come up to see the lights and some of them live in our area! We're excited to contact them this week and teach them the Restoration! It's going to be the best! I'm so grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has given me to learn Spanish because I just love it! I love the people and the culture and the language and everything. I'm just hoping and praying that I'll finish my mission here in Oakland! I love this city and this ward - but mostly I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father and the Atonement and the gospel. Because they make it all possible :)
Have a great week everyone!
Hermana Hunsaker
Monday, December 16, 2013
168 hours in 30 minutes
I'm going to write this email in ten minutes. But fitting in 168 hours worth of information in ten minutes is a little tricky. Thank goodness we get 8 hours of sleep every night as missionaries. So I only have 119 hours to cover. So a few of the things that happened in that time......
Well let's be honest. From those 119 hours, we had 46 of them in the Visitors' Center. It's been crazy, but there have been so many miracles and so many prepared people that have come. I can't even count how many non-members at the VC last night accepted the invitation to learn more - a lot of them were Spanish families too so I got to talk to them and answer their questions! Even though we're hardly in our area - and we haven't seen the miracles in our area YET from our sacrifices to be in the VC - the miracles we've seen in the VC this week are incredible.
One lady named Kathryn came in with her boyfriend after walking around and looking at the lights. She was two months pregnant so she saw the crib in God's Plan and wanted to watch it. She's super golden - she said she hasn't found a church that she likes but she loves reading the Bible and she had been wanting to read the Book of Mormon! She's amazing. There was another non-member that wanted to learn more and also referred her mom in NIGERIA. And so many people have come through and just had their hearts softened. It's so stressful, but it's the greatest experience. I feel so blessed to be part of the work at the Visitors' Center for yet another Christmas :)
We didn't have time for many lessons, but the awesome elders in our ward are going to help us teach and make contact with our investigators during this Christmas season. They are angels. We're going to make them pie for our district meetings. We're hoping to see more Christmas miracles and a few baptisms at the end of the month with the Ramirez and Sanchez families!
The other big miracle: we've had a lot of members come through the VC in the past week, and they have trusted us to give us referrals for their friends! It's so great to see members branching out and finding the faith and love for their friends to share the gospel with them. It's also so great to see so many families following the challenge of Elder Ballard to invite a friend to learn about the gospel before Christmas. I love the title of this talk more than anything: "Trust in the Lord". If we have faith in God, and love for the gospel of Jesus Christ and others, we can have the confidence to share the good news with others, especially this Christmas season. If you pray for God to guide you, He will help you take care of His children, even when we think we can't. That's what I'm learning, and we can all learn that as we take advantage of the month that we have to bear our testimonies of Christ.
Remember to keep Christ in Christmas this month, and help others do the same :)
Have a great week!
Hermana Hunsaker
Well let's be honest. From those 119 hours, we had 46 of them in the Visitors' Center. It's been crazy, but there have been so many miracles and so many prepared people that have come. I can't even count how many non-members at the VC last night accepted the invitation to learn more - a lot of them were Spanish families too so I got to talk to them and answer their questions! Even though we're hardly in our area - and we haven't seen the miracles in our area YET from our sacrifices to be in the VC - the miracles we've seen in the VC this week are incredible.
One lady named Kathryn came in with her boyfriend after walking around and looking at the lights. She was two months pregnant so she saw the crib in God's Plan and wanted to watch it. She's super golden - she said she hasn't found a church that she likes but she loves reading the Bible and she had been wanting to read the Book of Mormon! She's amazing. There was another non-member that wanted to learn more and also referred her mom in NIGERIA. And so many people have come through and just had their hearts softened. It's so stressful, but it's the greatest experience. I feel so blessed to be part of the work at the Visitors' Center for yet another Christmas :)
We didn't have time for many lessons, but the awesome elders in our ward are going to help us teach and make contact with our investigators during this Christmas season. They are angels. We're going to make them pie for our district meetings. We're hoping to see more Christmas miracles and a few baptisms at the end of the month with the Ramirez and Sanchez families!
The other big miracle: we've had a lot of members come through the VC in the past week, and they have trusted us to give us referrals for their friends! It's so great to see members branching out and finding the faith and love for their friends to share the gospel with them. It's also so great to see so many families following the challenge of Elder Ballard to invite a friend to learn about the gospel before Christmas. I love the title of this talk more than anything: "Trust in the Lord". If we have faith in God, and love for the gospel of Jesus Christ and others, we can have the confidence to share the good news with others, especially this Christmas season. If you pray for God to guide you, He will help you take care of His children, even when we think we can't. That's what I'm learning, and we can all learn that as we take advantage of the month that we have to bear our testimonies of Christ.
Remember to keep Christ in Christmas this month, and help others do the same :)
Have a great week!
Hermana Hunsaker
Monday, December 2, 2013
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Big news........the Ramirez family all came to church for the first time! Their dad is a less active member but both he and their mom has work off this Sunday (for once) so they all made it! And Antonio felt the Spirit there! We had to leave early to get to the VC for all the guests there but it was so so good. We talked about the Milennium in the second class so that kind of threw them off, but it turned out GREAT. Cynthia is totally living the Word of Wisdom now and they're totally getting baptized this month! Yay! They also came to the VC for a tour and came again when the lights came on Saturday night!
We had Thanksgiving at our bishop's home. This family takes care of us so much - every Sunday, they feed us and it was so great to be with them on Thanksgiving. Even though it's not quite my favorite holiday, it was nice to be in America to celebrate it, even in the Spanish program :)
The Sanchez family didn't come to church this Sunday but they did come to the VC Monday night - even Hugo! He loved the VC and even sent us the nicest text we've ever received from him afterwards, thanking us for the tour at the VC and everything we've done for his family. He's changing! He's totally going to accept a baptism date ANY DAY NOW and marry Lizeth! This family is the best, and they'll totally be ready to get baptized this month!
We're teaching one other family, the Romeros, but they're not quite progressing. Hno. Romero is all talk and says he wants to come to church and change and be free from the guilt of his mistakes, but he's not doing anything right now. His wife is studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses which makes things weird, but she reads the Book of Mormon consistently, more than he does, and says she wants to find the truth. We started teaching them the plan of salvation last week but we couldn't finish because they had so many questions, especially about what happens after this life. We're excited to answer those questions this week and help them find their testimonies!
One last miracle: Abby. I can't remember if I wrote anything about Abby, but one night we drove by her house and we had noticed it a few times before but we didn't knock it. That night, we decided to pull over and knock on the door. Little did we know that she just requested a Book of Mormon the weekend before! Her boyfriend is serving a mission right now and her family is super Catholic but she's looking for more. We finally had a lesson with her this week where we taught her about the Restoration. She already believes that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet! Her boyfriend sent her some clips from General Conference as well and she believes that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet too! And on top of all of that, she told us that she had been praying to know what to do just one hour before we knocked on her door that night. And still, no other missionaries have received the referral and tried to contact her. The system totally lost her information, but God didn't forget about her, and he sent us there to find her. Listening to the Spirit is hard and sometimes we don't recognize promptings until after we see the results of acting on those promptings, but the gift of the Holy Ghost allows us to work miracles for God in the lives of His children. This was another testimony to me that God really does love us, His power is real, and this is His church because He "show[s] forth his own works in it" (3 Nephi 27:10).
The Visitors' Center will be CRAZY this month. We're there almost every night - we had over 1500 people come Saturday night when the lights turned on and another 800 last night. And I'm staying in Oakland, in the Visitors' Center and with Sister Ayala for yet another transfer! It's going to be great! I'm so grateful to be in the Visitors' Center for another Christmas :)
Have a great week, and a great start to the Christmas season!
Hermana Hunsaker
We had Thanksgiving at our bishop's home. This family takes care of us so much - every Sunday, they feed us and it was so great to be with them on Thanksgiving. Even though it's not quite my favorite holiday, it was nice to be in America to celebrate it, even in the Spanish program :)
The Sanchez family didn't come to church this Sunday but they did come to the VC Monday night - even Hugo! He loved the VC and even sent us the nicest text we've ever received from him afterwards, thanking us for the tour at the VC and everything we've done for his family. He's changing! He's totally going to accept a baptism date ANY DAY NOW and marry Lizeth! This family is the best, and they'll totally be ready to get baptized this month!
We're teaching one other family, the Romeros, but they're not quite progressing. Hno. Romero is all talk and says he wants to come to church and change and be free from the guilt of his mistakes, but he's not doing anything right now. His wife is studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses which makes things weird, but she reads the Book of Mormon consistently, more than he does, and says she wants to find the truth. We started teaching them the plan of salvation last week but we couldn't finish because they had so many questions, especially about what happens after this life. We're excited to answer those questions this week and help them find their testimonies!
One last miracle: Abby. I can't remember if I wrote anything about Abby, but one night we drove by her house and we had noticed it a few times before but we didn't knock it. That night, we decided to pull over and knock on the door. Little did we know that she just requested a Book of Mormon the weekend before! Her boyfriend is serving a mission right now and her family is super Catholic but she's looking for more. We finally had a lesson with her this week where we taught her about the Restoration. She already believes that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet! Her boyfriend sent her some clips from General Conference as well and she believes that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet too! And on top of all of that, she told us that she had been praying to know what to do just one hour before we knocked on her door that night. And still, no other missionaries have received the referral and tried to contact her. The system totally lost her information, but God didn't forget about her, and he sent us there to find her. Listening to the Spirit is hard and sometimes we don't recognize promptings until after we see the results of acting on those promptings, but the gift of the Holy Ghost allows us to work miracles for God in the lives of His children. This was another testimony to me that God really does love us, His power is real, and this is His church because He "show[s] forth his own works in it" (3 Nephi 27:10).
The Visitors' Center will be CRAZY this month. We're there almost every night - we had over 1500 people come Saturday night when the lights turned on and another 800 last night. And I'm staying in Oakland, in the Visitors' Center and with Sister Ayala for yet another transfer! It's going to be great! I'm so grateful to be in the Visitors' Center for another Christmas :)
Have a great week, and a great start to the Christmas season!
Hermana Hunsaker
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
A time to give thanks
I have a whole bunch of things to be grateful for this week. After five transfers in the Oakland 6th Spanish ward, I'm finally feeling like my efforts are making a difference. We've got a solid group of investigators taking steps towards baptism and I've been able to see the changes in their lives, even if they haven't seen them quite yet.
At church, the theme of every sacrament meeting this month has been gratitude. The last couple of months have been pretty rough but sometimes we just have to stick it out and find the little blessings everyday that God gives us. My gratitude journal has been my saving grace, and it's helped me see how all the little things that God gives us adds up to the big things. Like Alma taught, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." I've been extremely humbled as I've watched the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of my investigators.
Hugo and Lizeth are AWESOME. They came to church this week for the second time, and Lizeth came to the Visitors' Center this past week! The members are fellow-shipping them without us asking. They aren't super solid but at least they feel comfortable at church and with the members. We're going to watch the Joseph Smith movie with them at the Visitors' Center tonight for FHE and we're going to invite them to be baptized! Yay! We'll get a picture during the day with both of their kids next week - Hugo Jr. didn't come and Andrea went home with her church friend Scarlet.
The Ramirez family is super awesome. They told us they were coming to church.......and then they didn't. There's something not clicking with them but we're going by tonight to resolve those concerns. Also, their mom might not be a member.....she can't remember if she got baptized but she's got a solid testimony and remembers EVERYTHING even though her husband was baptized over ten years ago and they went inactive soon afterwards. Bishop Torres' family went with us to one of the lessons and it was awesome. Katherine already knows Suzy, Bishop's daughter, from school and they're pretty much best friends. Also, we started teaching Cynthia again! They all have a baptism date for the 15th of December and we're just waiting for that one more miracle. Their mom doesn't have work next week so they should be at church!
We have a new investigator, Angelica! We taught her last Saturday but we gave her to the elders since she didn't live in our area, but they gave her back because she's a single woman and they can't find a member to come with them to her lessons. She has a baptism date too! And even though she's on the brink of depression, she wants it so bad. I wasn't able to help Jackie last Christmas season in Castro Valley, but I think the Lord has taught me what I need to know to help Angelica right now. And after my mission, I can go back and help Jackie :)
Our other depressed investigator, Olga, is doing really well. She didn't come to church because she was in San Francisco, but she wants to change and find hope through Christ too. I know it's possible because that's where all my hope comes from: my faith in Christ and the knowledge that I have that God loves me.
We also have a couple of spirit world referrals that we found, Rosa and Desiderio. We tried teaching them twice, but he is so old that he just wasn't getting it. They're former investigators, and Rosa totally understood the need for authority and another baptism and everything but her husband holds her back. I love this little old couple so much, and we gave them all the chances we could. I know God loves them, and He'll give them another chance to accept it :) and they will once their minds are young again.
Everything is playing out just like God wants it to. He's the one in charge of this work, not me or my companion or my mission president or the bishop or the members. He's got it all planned out and we just have to jump in and play the game! I am so grateful for the opportunity to represent Jesus Christ and offer everyone the hope of change through His love. Not everyone will accept, but as we are His hands, His representatives with His pure love for others, people will always feel it and we'll never know the impact we've made.
Last night was Porque Yo Creo, the testimony meeting of all the Spanish recent converts in the area and I saw a less active woman that I met at the Visitors' Center months and months ago. I couldn't remember her name but I remembered the situation and I can't describe how happy I was to see her there. She recognized me instantly and called me and my companion at the time, Hermana Ivey who was there also, her "angels".
I'm grateful for the opportunity to be an angel in the lives of others.
Happy Thanksgiving :)
Hermana Hunsaker
At church, the theme of every sacrament meeting this month has been gratitude. The last couple of months have been pretty rough but sometimes we just have to stick it out and find the little blessings everyday that God gives us. My gratitude journal has been my saving grace, and it's helped me see how all the little things that God gives us adds up to the big things. Like Alma taught, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." I've been extremely humbled as I've watched the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of my investigators.
Hugo and Lizeth are AWESOME. They came to church this week for the second time, and Lizeth came to the Visitors' Center this past week! The members are fellow-shipping them without us asking. They aren't super solid but at least they feel comfortable at church and with the members. We're going to watch the Joseph Smith movie with them at the Visitors' Center tonight for FHE and we're going to invite them to be baptized! Yay! We'll get a picture during the day with both of their kids next week - Hugo Jr. didn't come and Andrea went home with her church friend Scarlet.
The Ramirez family is super awesome. They told us they were coming to church.......and then they didn't. There's something not clicking with them but we're going by tonight to resolve those concerns. Also, their mom might not be a member.....she can't remember if she got baptized but she's got a solid testimony and remembers EVERYTHING even though her husband was baptized over ten years ago and they went inactive soon afterwards. Bishop Torres' family went with us to one of the lessons and it was awesome. Katherine already knows Suzy, Bishop's daughter, from school and they're pretty much best friends. Also, we started teaching Cynthia again! They all have a baptism date for the 15th of December and we're just waiting for that one more miracle. Their mom doesn't have work next week so they should be at church!
We have a new investigator, Angelica! We taught her last Saturday but we gave her to the elders since she didn't live in our area, but they gave her back because she's a single woman and they can't find a member to come with them to her lessons. She has a baptism date too! And even though she's on the brink of depression, she wants it so bad. I wasn't able to help Jackie last Christmas season in Castro Valley, but I think the Lord has taught me what I need to know to help Angelica right now. And after my mission, I can go back and help Jackie :)
Our other depressed investigator, Olga, is doing really well. She didn't come to church because she was in San Francisco, but she wants to change and find hope through Christ too. I know it's possible because that's where all my hope comes from: my faith in Christ and the knowledge that I have that God loves me.
We also have a couple of spirit world referrals that we found, Rosa and Desiderio. We tried teaching them twice, but he is so old that he just wasn't getting it. They're former investigators, and Rosa totally understood the need for authority and another baptism and everything but her husband holds her back. I love this little old couple so much, and we gave them all the chances we could. I know God loves them, and He'll give them another chance to accept it :) and they will once their minds are young again.
Everything is playing out just like God wants it to. He's the one in charge of this work, not me or my companion or my mission president or the bishop or the members. He's got it all planned out and we just have to jump in and play the game! I am so grateful for the opportunity to represent Jesus Christ and offer everyone the hope of change through His love. Not everyone will accept, but as we are His hands, His representatives with His pure love for others, people will always feel it and we'll never know the impact we've made.
Last night was Porque Yo Creo, the testimony meeting of all the Spanish recent converts in the area and I saw a less active woman that I met at the Visitors' Center months and months ago. I couldn't remember her name but I remembered the situation and I can't describe how happy I was to see her there. She recognized me instantly and called me and my companion at the time, Hermana Ivey who was there also, her "angels".
I'm grateful for the opportunity to be an angel in the lives of others.
Happy Thanksgiving :)
Hermana Hunsaker
Saturday, November 23, 2013
I don't have much time - we're going hiking today.
I don't have much time - we're going hiking today. Here's the sum-up of the week:
Monday - We spray-painted with a member in our ward. It was AWESOME. Mine didn't turn out all that great, but it was easier than I thought it would be. Once I get a camera card, I'll send a picture of what they look like. Then we were in the VC for the night and since it was Veteran's Day, lots of people came. We got five referrals! And some of them were people who only came in to use the bathroom but they accepted to learn! It was awesome.
Tuesday - We had a lesson with Lizeth and Hugo. They're awesome. They didn't come to church this week, but we're going to talk to them and help them commit to baptism by the end of the year! We also had a lesson with Antonio and Catherine - it was kind of a mess because we were talking to them in Spanish but they answered questions in English and our member only spoke Spanish.......it was strange. But we're seeing the parents tonight since they're not working!
Wednesday - We were just looking for people to teach ALL DAY. And we found some potentials, and a former investigator who wants to learn, Olga! She is awesome but suffers from depression and needs to understand how the gospel can bless her life. We're so excited to teach her, especially since we have some great fellowshippers for her who have been through similar situations.
Thursday - We went home sick from the VC. Sister Ayala just slept it off all day and I cleaned the apartment and organized the area book and watched some of the church's Christmas movie. Favorite one? Nora's Christmas Gift. It's the best - I watched it three times in a row.
Friday - We had an awesome zone meeting where President Meredith and Elder Packer, the Area 70 over missionary work, both came. We talked about finding hope and how to improve our prayers. It was definitely inspired.
Saturday - Our ward had a Thanksgiving dinner and the members invited tons of non-members! It was great - our bishop even bore his testimony in front of everyone to express gratitude for some of his blessings. It was the best. We haven't seen the fruits of it yet, but this ward is slowly starting to do missionary work! We also went over to teach our recent convert, Raquel, and her friend Angelica was there. Raquel had been telling us about her for forever, talking about how much she needs the gospel, and Angelica showed up unexpected right before we got to Raquel's house. Such a miracle - the Lord's hand is in everything. She is a widow and one of her sons was murdered here in Oakland so she's looking for peace and healing, things that only the Savior can bring us. We're so excited to start teaching her!
Sunday - Another long day of church meetings, church and the VC. But a great day to remember all the blessings that God has promised us as members of HIS church. The topic in sacrament meeting was gratitude, and as we left the meeting, I was reminded of my patriarchal blessing as we saw the most beautiful sunset over San Fran that I have ever seen.
There are so many things to be grateful for - look up and see them :)
Hermana Hunsaker
Monday - We spray-painted with a member in our ward. It was AWESOME. Mine didn't turn out all that great, but it was easier than I thought it would be. Once I get a camera card, I'll send a picture of what they look like. Then we were in the VC for the night and since it was Veteran's Day, lots of people came. We got five referrals! And some of them were people who only came in to use the bathroom but they accepted to learn! It was awesome.
Tuesday - We had a lesson with Lizeth and Hugo. They're awesome. They didn't come to church this week, but we're going to talk to them and help them commit to baptism by the end of the year! We also had a lesson with Antonio and Catherine - it was kind of a mess because we were talking to them in Spanish but they answered questions in English and our member only spoke Spanish.......it was strange. But we're seeing the parents tonight since they're not working!
Wednesday - We were just looking for people to teach ALL DAY. And we found some potentials, and a former investigator who wants to learn, Olga! She is awesome but suffers from depression and needs to understand how the gospel can bless her life. We're so excited to teach her, especially since we have some great fellowshippers for her who have been through similar situations.
Thursday - We went home sick from the VC. Sister Ayala just slept it off all day and I cleaned the apartment and organized the area book and watched some of the church's Christmas movie. Favorite one? Nora's Christmas Gift. It's the best - I watched it three times in a row.
Friday - We had an awesome zone meeting where President Meredith and Elder Packer, the Area 70 over missionary work, both came. We talked about finding hope and how to improve our prayers. It was definitely inspired.
Saturday - Our ward had a Thanksgiving dinner and the members invited tons of non-members! It was great - our bishop even bore his testimony in front of everyone to express gratitude for some of his blessings. It was the best. We haven't seen the fruits of it yet, but this ward is slowly starting to do missionary work! We also went over to teach our recent convert, Raquel, and her friend Angelica was there. Raquel had been telling us about her for forever, talking about how much she needs the gospel, and Angelica showed up unexpected right before we got to Raquel's house. Such a miracle - the Lord's hand is in everything. She is a widow and one of her sons was murdered here in Oakland so she's looking for peace and healing, things that only the Savior can bring us. We're so excited to start teaching her!
Sunday - Another long day of church meetings, church and the VC. But a great day to remember all the blessings that God has promised us as members of HIS church. The topic in sacrament meeting was gratitude, and as we left the meeting, I was reminded of my patriarchal blessing as we saw the most beautiful sunset over San Fran that I have ever seen.
There are so many things to be grateful for - look up and see them :)
Hermana Hunsaker
Monday, November 11, 2013
Investigators at church!!!!!!
After 3 months of teaching them - and even taking a small break - Dunia (well, now Lizeth) and Hugo came to church with their two kids! The kids even participated in the Primary program! It was the biggest miracle ever! The class topics were kind of strange - the gathering of Israel and missionary work - but the program at the end made up for it I think.
The other miracle with this family: we taught them the Word of Wisdom this week, just to find out that they already live it! In fact, Hugo stopped drinking coffee three months ago, just a couple of weeks before we met them. The Lord is preparing people. Now we just have to get them married and they'll practically be in the font!!!
We added Marilu as a new investigator! She's so golden. She just wants to learn about God and follow him! She's the best - and her little baby Diana is the cutest.
We went to the doctor's office in Concord this week and had lunch at In N Out. I didn't realize how much I missed going to In N Out every week in Provo until I consumed my double-double in five minutes. And I instantly wanted another one, but I also forgot how long the lines are in that place. It would've been worth it for the burger, but our lunch time was up so it wasn't worth being disobedient. But now I'm constantly on the lookout for another In N Out closer to my area.
We went to a baby shower this week for about ten minutes - we counted it as our lunchtime because there was food. There's always food in this ward. The members brought dinner after church last night too and I learned how to make homemade tortillas! It was fun - I failed a few times but maybe I'll be able to cook like the latinos after my mission! I need to keep working on this skill. Maybe that should be my new p-day activity.....cook with members......
So.....that's that. And it was a great week. Hope this next week is even better for all of you!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
The other miracle with this family: we taught them the Word of Wisdom this week, just to find out that they already live it! In fact, Hugo stopped drinking coffee three months ago, just a couple of weeks before we met them. The Lord is preparing people. Now we just have to get them married and they'll practically be in the font!!!
We added Marilu as a new investigator! She's so golden. She just wants to learn about God and follow him! She's the best - and her little baby Diana is the cutest.
We went to the doctor's office in Concord this week and had lunch at In N Out. I didn't realize how much I missed going to In N Out every week in Provo until I consumed my double-double in five minutes. And I instantly wanted another one, but I also forgot how long the lines are in that place. It would've been worth it for the burger, but our lunch time was up so it wasn't worth being disobedient. But now I'm constantly on the lookout for another In N Out closer to my area.
We went to a baby shower this week for about ten minutes - we counted it as our lunchtime because there was food. There's always food in this ward. The members brought dinner after church last night too and I learned how to make homemade tortillas! It was fun - I failed a few times but maybe I'll be able to cook like the latinos after my mission! I need to keep working on this skill. Maybe that should be my new p-day activity.....cook with members......
So.....that's that. And it was a great week. Hope this next week is even better for all of you!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
No subject because I can't think of one at the moment
I've been bit by the family history bug. My main plan is to squeeze in some time for some research right now!
We found a few new investigators this week! Last Monday, we went to see a less active and they weren't home but their neighbor downstairs just happened to be getting home from work and just happened to speak Spanish and his wife just happened to be home and they just happened to want to learn and just happened to love to read and just happened to want to read the Book of Mormon and just happened to want to be baptized when they receive an answer that these things are true. Their schedule is super crazy so we only saw them the one time but we're seeing them again this week! Biggest lesson: the less actives have told me on numerous occasions that no one in the area speaks Spanish. They just didn't think about their downstairs neighbors. If you think you have no opportunities to share the gospel, you're wrong. There are people all around you that you can help. Also, another lesson learned: there are so many prepared people. Even if you think your neighbors aren't interested, you never know until you try talking to them and inviting them to learn. Just try it - miracles will happen.
We also found another investigator, Roque, who was SUPER excited to learn and wanted to come to church but his wife was super Catholic and didn't let us come back. She'll be ready someday. We have a lesson tonight with a lady named Marilu that we found on our potential investigators list from a couple of years ago. The missionaries taught her husband and her brother-in-law once and she wasn't home but they didn't have another appointment with them. But her name had just kept popping out at me for the past four transfers that I've been here, and we finally called her. She said she has faith in God and Jesus Christ but she really doesn't know anything about them. We told her that our purpose as missionaries is to help people learn more about them and she said, "When can you come over?" We're super stoked.
We had an FHE with the Rojas family and our old investigators Dunia and Hugo and their family came! And we have another one tonight to watch the Joseph Smith movie at the Visitors' Center! After weeks of trying to get them to the VC and church, and finally dropping them, they're coming! And they came to the ward Halloween party on Thursday!
Speaking of Halloween: we cleaned all night. I thought it would be great stress relief, but I got real sick of it real fast. But it's nice to have a clean apartment, and it made today's cleaning MUCH easier.
Another miracle: we've been trying to find perfect fellowshippers for the Ramirez family - contact with them has been really hard but we've stopped by multiple times. The oldest daughter is going to church with her aunt so that's throwing everything off. But the miracle is that we brought a member family just to meet them the other day. Only the two youngest kids were home but turns out that these two families already know each other from school! And Cathryn's best friend is Suzy, our bishop's daughter! So we're getting them out with us this week too. Prayer works miracles - the Lord knows these people so much better than we do because they are HIS children. He's taking care of them and lining everything up for their success. Even though we haven't had a lesson with them this week and we don't know how much more we can do to help them, the Lord is making up the difference. And He's using the members to do it :)
So.....that's the scoop. The Lord is always taking care of all of us: missionaries, members, investigators, all of His children. I've been learning about charity. The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. And the second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. If we love God first and put His will before everything else, and in turn we learn to love ourselves, that's the only way to learn how to love others. And according to President Uchtdorf, that's the point. That's the purpose of our time here: to learn to use the universal language of Christ's love. http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/general-young-women-meeting/2013/03/your-wonderful-journey-home?lang=eng
Have a great week! I love you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
We found a few new investigators this week! Last Monday, we went to see a less active and they weren't home but their neighbor downstairs just happened to be getting home from work and just happened to speak Spanish and his wife just happened to be home and they just happened to want to learn and just happened to love to read and just happened to want to read the Book of Mormon and just happened to want to be baptized when they receive an answer that these things are true. Their schedule is super crazy so we only saw them the one time but we're seeing them again this week! Biggest lesson: the less actives have told me on numerous occasions that no one in the area speaks Spanish. They just didn't think about their downstairs neighbors. If you think you have no opportunities to share the gospel, you're wrong. There are people all around you that you can help. Also, another lesson learned: there are so many prepared people. Even if you think your neighbors aren't interested, you never know until you try talking to them and inviting them to learn. Just try it - miracles will happen.
We also found another investigator, Roque, who was SUPER excited to learn and wanted to come to church but his wife was super Catholic and didn't let us come back. She'll be ready someday. We have a lesson tonight with a lady named Marilu that we found on our potential investigators list from a couple of years ago. The missionaries taught her husband and her brother-in-law once and she wasn't home but they didn't have another appointment with them. But her name had just kept popping out at me for the past four transfers that I've been here, and we finally called her. She said she has faith in God and Jesus Christ but she really doesn't know anything about them. We told her that our purpose as missionaries is to help people learn more about them and she said, "When can you come over?" We're super stoked.
We had an FHE with the Rojas family and our old investigators Dunia and Hugo and their family came! And we have another one tonight to watch the Joseph Smith movie at the Visitors' Center! After weeks of trying to get them to the VC and church, and finally dropping them, they're coming! And they came to the ward Halloween party on Thursday!
Speaking of Halloween: we cleaned all night. I thought it would be great stress relief, but I got real sick of it real fast. But it's nice to have a clean apartment, and it made today's cleaning MUCH easier.
Another miracle: we've been trying to find perfect fellowshippers for the Ramirez family - contact with them has been really hard but we've stopped by multiple times. The oldest daughter is going to church with her aunt so that's throwing everything off. But the miracle is that we brought a member family just to meet them the other day. Only the two youngest kids were home but turns out that these two families already know each other from school! And Cathryn's best friend is Suzy, our bishop's daughter! So we're getting them out with us this week too. Prayer works miracles - the Lord knows these people so much better than we do because they are HIS children. He's taking care of them and lining everything up for their success. Even though we haven't had a lesson with them this week and we don't know how much more we can do to help them, the Lord is making up the difference. And He's using the members to do it :)
So.....that's the scoop. The Lord is always taking care of all of us: missionaries, members, investigators, all of His children. I've been learning about charity. The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. And the second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. If we love God first and put His will before everything else, and in turn we learn to love ourselves, that's the only way to learn how to love others. And according to President Uchtdorf, that's the point. That's the purpose of our time here: to learn to use the universal language of Christ's love. http://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/general-young-women-meeting/2013/03/your-wonderful-journey-home?lang=eng
Have a great week! I love you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
Monday, October 28, 2013
Two week's worth
Last week I was standing up for an hour using a computer at the Apple store and so I decided not to use any more time to write this email. I wish I could say that a lot has happened in the last two weeks, but that would be a lie. We're still working on finding new investigators but we've found more areas where Spanish people live so that's been exciting!
Also, I forgot to mention: I'm still in Oakland. And still with Hermana Ayala. So that's good. We're really going to make things happen this transfer!!!
We went lawn bowling a couple of weeks ago for our district activity. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be. I'd include pictures but I lost my camera card and all my pictures from the past year so......I can't quite do that. At least I didn't lose my camera. I'm just going to have to make up for all the pictures I lost by taking one everyday for the rest of my mission! We talked about goals this week and how they have to be attainable but also help us stretch. I'm not sure if this one is attainable for me.
We did find one new family a couple weeks ago! But then we kind of lost touch with them - they're working a lot and won't make the time to meet with us. So that's unfortunate. We've also hardly seen the Ramirez family - we haven't been able to set up appointments with them and when we do, they cancel. We've only seen them once a week for the past two weeks, and it's because we just decided to pass by. They haven't made it to church for the past three weeks even though they said they'd come, so we're just working to figure out what is going on. We stopped by Saturday night and they invited us in even though they were having a big family party. It was the craziest lesson we'd ever taught. Sister Ferguson was with me for exchanges and she didn't even know who were investigators and who were the less active parents and who had never met us before so it was all just a mess. We ended up just talking about the Book of Mormon. There were at least 8 people in the room and a few coming and going in and out. It was entertaining and the Spirit was there for a few key moments, but overall it wasn't a very effective lesson. But we'll see them tonight and figure out where Cynthia, Antonio, and Kathryn are at.
We dropped Marilu, and passed Martin onto the elders in the area. It's probably for the best and gives us a lot more time to work in our area. Marilu still came to church yesterday - she'll get it someday, she just needs time. And Martin isn't getting to church, but he has a baptism date and he's working on fixing his relationship with Guadalupe so that they can get married and he can get baptized!
Miracle of the week: We had a member scheduled to come out with us one afternoon but our appointments cancelled. We were super stressed about where to go - she brought her daughter so we couldn't bring them in our car and they had to follow us everywhere. After stopping by a couple of former investigators with no success, I felt super awful about dragging her around. We wanted it to be a good experience so that she'd want to come out with us again but we weren't finding anything! So we were just both praying the whole time to find someone and as we were contacting a former in a particular area that we'd never been to, we decided to knock on doors in the area. We happened to find a whole corner of apartments where everyone spoke Spanish! It was the biggest miracle ever. We didn't have a lesson but we found some potential investigators and our member was able to interact and get to know these people even though we were just tracting! It was the best. The. Best. A huge blessing and answer to my prayer.
Contacting former investigators has turned into our best finding tool. We found another potential, Luz, while looking for her neighbor Jose that used to live in her same apartment complex. As we talked to her, we found out that she was learning from missionaries in the past too and she didn't know why they stopped coming! She might just be ready now!!! It was super exciting - we're seeing her tomorrow. If nothing else, it's helped us to find areas where Hispanic people. It's been awesome.
One more VC miracle: I was serving at the VC this week when Jennifer came in. She used to live in Oakland and comes from a very bad background, and I had met her one other time before with Sister Ure at the beginning of my mission. And Sister Ure met her at the beginning of HER mission! Anyways, she was visiting from Santa Rosa and said she's finally ready to turn her life around and get baptized! She gave me her email address and phone number and I haven't gotten in touch with her yet but I'm super excited to teach her! I'm so grateful for the VC so people know where to go when they ARE ready, even if they don't know it yet :)
I think that covers it. We'll find a lot of new investigators next week and let you know next Monday!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
Also, I forgot to mention: I'm still in Oakland. And still with Hermana Ayala. So that's good. We're really going to make things happen this transfer!!!
We went lawn bowling a couple of weeks ago for our district activity. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be. I'd include pictures but I lost my camera card and all my pictures from the past year so......I can't quite do that. At least I didn't lose my camera. I'm just going to have to make up for all the pictures I lost by taking one everyday for the rest of my mission! We talked about goals this week and how they have to be attainable but also help us stretch. I'm not sure if this one is attainable for me.
We did find one new family a couple weeks ago! But then we kind of lost touch with them - they're working a lot and won't make the time to meet with us. So that's unfortunate. We've also hardly seen the Ramirez family - we haven't been able to set up appointments with them and when we do, they cancel. We've only seen them once a week for the past two weeks, and it's because we just decided to pass by. They haven't made it to church for the past three weeks even though they said they'd come, so we're just working to figure out what is going on. We stopped by Saturday night and they invited us in even though they were having a big family party. It was the craziest lesson we'd ever taught. Sister Ferguson was with me for exchanges and she didn't even know who were investigators and who were the less active parents and who had never met us before so it was all just a mess. We ended up just talking about the Book of Mormon. There were at least 8 people in the room and a few coming and going in and out. It was entertaining and the Spirit was there for a few key moments, but overall it wasn't a very effective lesson. But we'll see them tonight and figure out where Cynthia, Antonio, and Kathryn are at.
We dropped Marilu, and passed Martin onto the elders in the area. It's probably for the best and gives us a lot more time to work in our area. Marilu still came to church yesterday - she'll get it someday, she just needs time. And Martin isn't getting to church, but he has a baptism date and he's working on fixing his relationship with Guadalupe so that they can get married and he can get baptized!
Miracle of the week: We had a member scheduled to come out with us one afternoon but our appointments cancelled. We were super stressed about where to go - she brought her daughter so we couldn't bring them in our car and they had to follow us everywhere. After stopping by a couple of former investigators with no success, I felt super awful about dragging her around. We wanted it to be a good experience so that she'd want to come out with us again but we weren't finding anything! So we were just both praying the whole time to find someone and as we were contacting a former in a particular area that we'd never been to, we decided to knock on doors in the area. We happened to find a whole corner of apartments where everyone spoke Spanish! It was the biggest miracle ever. We didn't have a lesson but we found some potential investigators and our member was able to interact and get to know these people even though we were just tracting! It was the best. The. Best. A huge blessing and answer to my prayer.
Contacting former investigators has turned into our best finding tool. We found another potential, Luz, while looking for her neighbor Jose that used to live in her same apartment complex. As we talked to her, we found out that she was learning from missionaries in the past too and she didn't know why they stopped coming! She might just be ready now!!! It was super exciting - we're seeing her tomorrow. If nothing else, it's helped us to find areas where Hispanic people. It's been awesome.
One more VC miracle: I was serving at the VC this week when Jennifer came in. She used to live in Oakland and comes from a very bad background, and I had met her one other time before with Sister Ure at the beginning of my mission. And Sister Ure met her at the beginning of HER mission! Anyways, she was visiting from Santa Rosa and said she's finally ready to turn her life around and get baptized! She gave me her email address and phone number and I haven't gotten in touch with her yet but I'm super excited to teach her! I'm so grateful for the VC so people know where to go when they ARE ready, even if they don't know it yet :)
I think that covers it. We'll find a lot of new investigators next week and let you know next Monday!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Slow and Steady wins the race
Yes, this week was a little slow. We only saw Martin and his family once - we brought the Barragan family with us and they were AWESOME. Hno. Barragan is the ward mission leader and Hna. Barragan is a ward missionary. They have a son, Jonathon, who is about the same age as Martin's kids, Ryan and Martin Jr., and he colored with Martin Jr. at General Conference. The boys want to be baptized! But they have no idea what it means. Still, this family is slowly getting there. Guadalupe LOVED General Conference, but Martin was feeling sick yesterday so they didn't get to church this week.
Marilu's situation isn't quite improving - sometimes she accepts our help and other times she just doesn't want us to come over. We love her so much and don't want to give up on her, but we're not quite sure what to do right now. If anything, we'll keep teaching her daughter Atzidi and help her prepare to be baptized, and hopefully Marilu will follow! She needs the gospel so bad.
We didn't have any investigators at church, but Hna. Delgado and her daughter Monica came to church! It was a HUGE struggle trying to get them to return to church the last time with Sister Ivey and they went strong for a little while, but drifted off again. But we didn't let them drift too far this time! It was so great seeing them there, and it gave me the boost I needed to keep going.
We found a new family this week - the Familia Ramirez! I think I talked about them last week - they were a referral from another investigator Irma and we ran into them on the street after not finding them at home. They didn't make it to church because they went to a different church with a family member, but they'll be there next week! They're awesome - we found out that both the parents are members! They were baptized here 13 years ago but I don't think we have their records anymore because they went less-active soon afterwards and went to Mexico and then came back. They're all just so awesome - all the three kids did their reading assignment and almost everyone in the family has offered a prayer for us! Oh and I almost forgot to mention....they have BAPTISM DATES! We're just so excited - they all want to learn and they pay such close attention in all the lessons. It's the best. I'm just hoping I'm still here for their baptism on November 17th!
It's the last week of the transfer. Which always gives me anxiety. I bore my testimony in church yesterday, and right afterwards, I had this feeling like it might be my last time bearing my testimony in the ward. I'm hoping that's not true - I love this ward and this area so much, despite the challenges and setbacks. I'm so grateful for the six months I've spent here. Solo Dios sabe lo que va a pasar pero les digo en una semana!!!
Have a great week! Apply what you learned from General Conference, especially in missionary work!
Hermana Hunsaker
Marilu's situation isn't quite improving - sometimes she accepts our help and other times she just doesn't want us to come over. We love her so much and don't want to give up on her, but we're not quite sure what to do right now. If anything, we'll keep teaching her daughter Atzidi and help her prepare to be baptized, and hopefully Marilu will follow! She needs the gospel so bad.
We didn't have any investigators at church, but Hna. Delgado and her daughter Monica came to church! It was a HUGE struggle trying to get them to return to church the last time with Sister Ivey and they went strong for a little while, but drifted off again. But we didn't let them drift too far this time! It was so great seeing them there, and it gave me the boost I needed to keep going.
We found a new family this week - the Familia Ramirez! I think I talked about them last week - they were a referral from another investigator Irma and we ran into them on the street after not finding them at home. They didn't make it to church because they went to a different church with a family member, but they'll be there next week! They're awesome - we found out that both the parents are members! They were baptized here 13 years ago but I don't think we have their records anymore because they went less-active soon afterwards and went to Mexico and then came back. They're all just so awesome - all the three kids did their reading assignment and almost everyone in the family has offered a prayer for us! Oh and I almost forgot to mention....they have BAPTISM DATES! We're just so excited - they all want to learn and they pay such close attention in all the lessons. It's the best. I'm just hoping I'm still here for their baptism on November 17th!
It's the last week of the transfer. Which always gives me anxiety. I bore my testimony in church yesterday, and right afterwards, I had this feeling like it might be my last time bearing my testimony in the ward. I'm hoping that's not true - I love this ward and this area so much, despite the challenges and setbacks. I'm so grateful for the six months I've spent here. Solo Dios sabe lo que va a pasar pero les digo en una semana!!!
Have a great week! Apply what you learned from General Conference, especially in missionary work!
Hermana Hunsaker
Sunday, October 13, 2013
The best way to spend the weekend
Last week was slow, but the weekend was full of miracles! It's weird to think how I used to spend my weekends and how relaxing they always were. Despite the craziness and (sometimes) stress of weekends in the life of a missionary, I can't imagine ever going back to strolling casually to the movies on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon picnic and nap. It just doesn't compare.
We had a few lessons during the week, and a whole day of contacting in Berkeley which turned out awesome. We found one AWESOME lady who seemed really golden.....but her phone number was wrong. And so was her address. But we found a couple of young adults that we told the sisters of the Berkeley singles ward about, and a lot more. We talked to way more than 20 people and we met 7 people who wanted to learn! Only in a couple of hours too! It was pretty cool. There are prepared people, even in the crazy city of Berkeley.
But the real miracles came this weekend. General Conference was absolutely amazing and gave me and Sister Ayala just the motivation we needed. We didn't have any investigators watch it on Saturday, but I learned so much. I was so grateful for Elder Holland's talk about depression - I've taught a lot of people with depression and it's hard to understand but it's given me so much more compassion as I've seen how it really is another way that Satan limits our agency. It was particularly touching to me when he spoke about how all of these people will have perfect emotional health in the next life. We just have to support them and help them right now. President Uchtdorf's talk was spot-on as well as he talked about why people join the church and why they fall away. We all have to help ourselves AND help each other. That's the way the church works and that's why Jesus Christ established a church and has re-established this church again today, when we need it more than ever.
And right after General Conference, we worked in the VC and found a super golden family! They live in Oakland but had never come to the temple before. They decided to come with their friend Manuela that was visiting from Honduras. We showed them God's Plan and taught them a little bit about the Book of Mormon, and they immediately accepted a copy! They don't live in our area, but I'm so excited for the elders to teach them!
Guess what? That was only Saturday. Sunday was full of miracles. Sunday morning ended with exactly the talks I needed to hear from Elder Richard G. Scott and President Monson. Then we had a ward potluck with our members - I just love this ward so much. It was so fun. I couldn't focus much on the Sunday afternoon session very well - we watched it in Spanish and MARTIN AND GUADALUPE CAME! Martin Jr. was there but coloring, and Ryan was sitting in the car because he didn't like his hairdo. But Martin and Guadalupe were there for Russell M Nelson's talk about marriage (I knew he was my favorite apostle) and they were even holding hands! This family is SO CLOSE. So close to coming to church together and eventually, the temple :)
So after that, we had a whole night completely open. We didn't have any set appointments but we were really motivated and ready to find new investigators! And that's exactly what happened - we went to visit a member and they weren't home so we knocked the door of their Spanish-speaking neighbor. She immediately invited us in, we taught her, she accepted to be baptized and we're teaching her whole family tomorrow! And then, she gave us a referral for her sister who lived a block away so we took a little stroll over there. No one was home, but on the way back to our car, we ended up running into her sister's family! Without her sister. It took us a little while to figure out that it was the same family but then we decided to compare the addresses and it was! The dad really wanted his kids to learn about God, and his kids really wanted to even though they are 16 and 19 years old. But they are so awesome! We're seeing them Friday. It's going to be the best week ever.
And it STILL doesn't end there! We went to visit our investigator Marilu and found out that the woman that rented a room in their home is causing loads of problems. She's always drunk and the kids are absolutely terrified of her. But when she came home drunk the other night, Angel's first response was "We need to pray." This rambunctious crazy 5-year-old knows exactly what to do when things aren't good. It's scary but I know God will protect this family and they will learn to trust Him and His gospel. They are SO close. They watched General Conference as well at the Preciado's home but it was in English with Spanish subtitles so Marilu didn't get too much out of it. But we'll work on that - that's why it's online!!! Afterwards, we went to see the Preciado's on a whim and taught them about tithing. They've been members for more than two years but haven't made it to the temple yet because they haven't been paying a full tithe. They're working so hard and we were able to support them and help them recognize that they CAN pay their tithing. I love getting to know the members so well that they tell us what they need so we can strengthen their faith. And I'm grateful for the companionship of the Spirit that prompts us to visit members and give them the support and encouragement they need. We need each other - even other members need our testimonies and our compassion. There are situations every single day where we can be the Lord's hands here, inside the church and (especially) outside of the church.
And there's even more. Because we visited the Preciado's, we didn't have time to head to Berkeley like we planned so we had to improvise. With the Spirit of course. So right as we decided to pull over because we had no idea where we were going, we saw a Hispanic man and he walked right into the house that we were parking in front of in that very moment. We took that as a sign from the Spirit, and indeed it was! That man didn't answer the door, but his cousin did. We couldn't go in and teach because his wife wasn't there, but he invited us back on Thursday so that's what we'll be doing Thursday night! And we already know the perfect members to take with us.
Sister Ayala and I are really excited for these last two weeks of the transfer, and praying for more time together!!! We're going to find a lot of new investigators through family history (she's an addict) and service projects in highly populated Spanish neighborhoods of our area (which are rare but we'll make it work). We're also starting our own MTC - Member Training Classes! More details to come! There are prepared people for us to teach, and we're going to find them and really get the work going in this area! I'm grateful for all I've learned in the past few months. Once again I'm reminded of one of my favorite scriptures at the end of Alma 32: "Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you...behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst."
And like M. Russell Ballard taught, we ALL have this responsibility as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and....mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places" and we can all feel this pure joy as we bring souls to Christ.
Next week's email will be filled with even more miracles as we visit these families and find more. Talk to you all next Monday! Les quiero!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
We had a few lessons during the week, and a whole day of contacting in Berkeley which turned out awesome. We found one AWESOME lady who seemed really golden.....but her phone number was wrong. And so was her address. But we found a couple of young adults that we told the sisters of the Berkeley singles ward about, and a lot more. We talked to way more than 20 people and we met 7 people who wanted to learn! Only in a couple of hours too! It was pretty cool. There are prepared people, even in the crazy city of Berkeley.
But the real miracles came this weekend. General Conference was absolutely amazing and gave me and Sister Ayala just the motivation we needed. We didn't have any investigators watch it on Saturday, but I learned so much. I was so grateful for Elder Holland's talk about depression - I've taught a lot of people with depression and it's hard to understand but it's given me so much more compassion as I've seen how it really is another way that Satan limits our agency. It was particularly touching to me when he spoke about how all of these people will have perfect emotional health in the next life. We just have to support them and help them right now. President Uchtdorf's talk was spot-on as well as he talked about why people join the church and why they fall away. We all have to help ourselves AND help each other. That's the way the church works and that's why Jesus Christ established a church and has re-established this church again today, when we need it more than ever.
And right after General Conference, we worked in the VC and found a super golden family! They live in Oakland but had never come to the temple before. They decided to come with their friend Manuela that was visiting from Honduras. We showed them God's Plan and taught them a little bit about the Book of Mormon, and they immediately accepted a copy! They don't live in our area, but I'm so excited for the elders to teach them!
Guess what? That was only Saturday. Sunday was full of miracles. Sunday morning ended with exactly the talks I needed to hear from Elder Richard G. Scott and President Monson. Then we had a ward potluck with our members - I just love this ward so much. It was so fun. I couldn't focus much on the Sunday afternoon session very well - we watched it in Spanish and MARTIN AND GUADALUPE CAME! Martin Jr. was there but coloring, and Ryan was sitting in the car because he didn't like his hairdo. But Martin and Guadalupe were there for Russell M Nelson's talk about marriage (I knew he was my favorite apostle) and they were even holding hands! This family is SO CLOSE. So close to coming to church together and eventually, the temple :)
So after that, we had a whole night completely open. We didn't have any set appointments but we were really motivated and ready to find new investigators! And that's exactly what happened - we went to visit a member and they weren't home so we knocked the door of their Spanish-speaking neighbor. She immediately invited us in, we taught her, she accepted to be baptized and we're teaching her whole family tomorrow! And then, she gave us a referral for her sister who lived a block away so we took a little stroll over there. No one was home, but on the way back to our car, we ended up running into her sister's family! Without her sister. It took us a little while to figure out that it was the same family but then we decided to compare the addresses and it was! The dad really wanted his kids to learn about God, and his kids really wanted to even though they are 16 and 19 years old. But they are so awesome! We're seeing them Friday. It's going to be the best week ever.
And it STILL doesn't end there! We went to visit our investigator Marilu and found out that the woman that rented a room in their home is causing loads of problems. She's always drunk and the kids are absolutely terrified of her. But when she came home drunk the other night, Angel's first response was "We need to pray." This rambunctious crazy 5-year-old knows exactly what to do when things aren't good. It's scary but I know God will protect this family and they will learn to trust Him and His gospel. They are SO close. They watched General Conference as well at the Preciado's home but it was in English with Spanish subtitles so Marilu didn't get too much out of it. But we'll work on that - that's why it's online!!! Afterwards, we went to see the Preciado's on a whim and taught them about tithing. They've been members for more than two years but haven't made it to the temple yet because they haven't been paying a full tithe. They're working so hard and we were able to support them and help them recognize that they CAN pay their tithing. I love getting to know the members so well that they tell us what they need so we can strengthen their faith. And I'm grateful for the companionship of the Spirit that prompts us to visit members and give them the support and encouragement they need. We need each other - even other members need our testimonies and our compassion. There are situations every single day where we can be the Lord's hands here, inside the church and (especially) outside of the church.
And there's even more. Because we visited the Preciado's, we didn't have time to head to Berkeley like we planned so we had to improvise. With the Spirit of course. So right as we decided to pull over because we had no idea where we were going, we saw a Hispanic man and he walked right into the house that we were parking in front of in that very moment. We took that as a sign from the Spirit, and indeed it was! That man didn't answer the door, but his cousin did. We couldn't go in and teach because his wife wasn't there, but he invited us back on Thursday so that's what we'll be doing Thursday night! And we already know the perfect members to take with us.
Sister Ayala and I are really excited for these last two weeks of the transfer, and praying for more time together!!! We're going to find a lot of new investigators through family history (she's an addict) and service projects in highly populated Spanish neighborhoods of our area (which are rare but we'll make it work). We're also starting our own MTC - Member Training Classes! More details to come! There are prepared people for us to teach, and we're going to find them and really get the work going in this area! I'm grateful for all I've learned in the past few months. Once again I'm reminded of one of my favorite scriptures at the end of Alma 32: "Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you...behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst."
And like M. Russell Ballard taught, we ALL have this responsibility as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and....mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places" and we can all feel this pure joy as we bring souls to Christ.
Next week's email will be filled with even more miracles as we visit these families and find more. Talk to you all next Monday! Les quiero!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Quick note
We had a great week! Not much progress on the part of our investigators and no luck finding new investigators, but it was great. Like always.
On Monday, we saw our recent convert and her new baby! I didn't take pictures - I'll repent and get some this week hopefully. She's doing great though - she's so amazing. Single mom with six little kids. Wow.
We tried to visit members to help them do missionary work. I think they're a little more motivated to do it. When we visited Hermana Lopez, we helped her clean up her house. It took a little bit of persistence on our part, but it was so great doing service! People don't let us help too often, but serving and getting to know the members is one of the best parts of missionary work.
We had a mini-miracle with Martin's family. We're were trying to figure out how to involve his whole family in the lessons and get them interested to learn. We got a call Thursday morning and found out that their little dog, Chocolate, was hit by a car and the doctors suggested that they put the dog down. It was really hard for his sons but we were able to go over there that night and teach them about faith. Both of the boys and Martin's wife Guadalupe, who hasn't come to our lessons in a over a month, all sat and listened. They still don't know if Chocolate is going to have surgery or if they'll have to put him down, but it helped them unite as a family and think about what they really want. They didn't come to church, but they are SO CLOSE. So close.
On Friday, we had a General Authority, Elder Aidukaitis (not sure if I spelled that right), who came to train our whole mission. We talked a lot about setting high goals and planning well so we could use our time effectively. The work's been slow, but there ARE prepared people. We just have to use our time well to find them. So....that's the plan. We have super high goals that require a lot of faith, but this training opened our eyes and helped us realize that WE CAN do this. So......here's trial week 1. Hopefully the stress doesn't kick in here. We'll just be counting the miracles - I'll have a whole email full of daily miracles next week.
Also, the General Relief Society Broadcast. So great. President Monson talked about prayer - it's something so simple but so important. I know it works - we don't always get the answers we want, but as we wait on the Lord, we'll recognize the answers. And whatever happens will be the best thing. I haven't gotten everything I've wanted on my mission, but I've learned to be humble and accept the things God wants to give me. It's all in His timing.
I'm SUPER excited to watch General Conference this weekend! Don't miss it! We CAN receive revelation through the words of the prophets. Because we have prophets, we have everything: the priesthood, the Holy Ghost, and the truth. I'm so grateful for the chance to learn from them this weekend, and to share this unique message with the world everyday!
Love you all! Have a great week!
Hermana Hunsaker
On Monday, we saw our recent convert and her new baby! I didn't take pictures - I'll repent and get some this week hopefully. She's doing great though - she's so amazing. Single mom with six little kids. Wow.
We tried to visit members to help them do missionary work. I think they're a little more motivated to do it. When we visited Hermana Lopez, we helped her clean up her house. It took a little bit of persistence on our part, but it was so great doing service! People don't let us help too often, but serving and getting to know the members is one of the best parts of missionary work.
We had a mini-miracle with Martin's family. We're were trying to figure out how to involve his whole family in the lessons and get them interested to learn. We got a call Thursday morning and found out that their little dog, Chocolate, was hit by a car and the doctors suggested that they put the dog down. It was really hard for his sons but we were able to go over there that night and teach them about faith. Both of the boys and Martin's wife Guadalupe, who hasn't come to our lessons in a over a month, all sat and listened. They still don't know if Chocolate is going to have surgery or if they'll have to put him down, but it helped them unite as a family and think about what they really want. They didn't come to church, but they are SO CLOSE. So close.
On Friday, we had a General Authority, Elder Aidukaitis (not sure if I spelled that right), who came to train our whole mission. We talked a lot about setting high goals and planning well so we could use our time effectively. The work's been slow, but there ARE prepared people. We just have to use our time well to find them. So....that's the plan. We have super high goals that require a lot of faith, but this training opened our eyes and helped us realize that WE CAN do this. So......here's trial week 1. Hopefully the stress doesn't kick in here. We'll just be counting the miracles - I'll have a whole email full of daily miracles next week.
Also, the General Relief Society Broadcast. So great. President Monson talked about prayer - it's something so simple but so important. I know it works - we don't always get the answers we want, but as we wait on the Lord, we'll recognize the answers. And whatever happens will be the best thing. I haven't gotten everything I've wanted on my mission, but I've learned to be humble and accept the things God wants to give me. It's all in His timing.
I'm SUPER excited to watch General Conference this weekend! Don't miss it! We CAN receive revelation through the words of the prophets. Because we have prophets, we have everything: the priesthood, the Holy Ghost, and the truth. I'm so grateful for the chance to learn from them this weekend, and to share this unique message with the world everyday!
Love you all! Have a great week!
Hermana Hunsaker
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Four days later.....
I have my planner today.....which also means I have two weeks to catch up on. Fortunately (but at the same time not), not too much has happened in these first couple weeks of the transfer. There's nothing to report from the past four days - it's so weird having a preparation day again already.
So instead............I'm going to put on some pictures! I haven't taken enough pictures in my mission so I made a goal this transfer to take a picture EVERY DAY. As with every goal I make, I never quite make it, but I've done better! So here are a few of them:
First day of the transfer with Sister Ayala!!! She's the best.
September 11, 2013
Doctrine and Covenants 121:4 "O Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven, earth, and seas, and of all things that in them are, and who controllest and subjectest the devil, and the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol—stretch forth thy hand; let thine eye pierce; let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us."
This picture didn't turn out quite as well as I wanted it to, but what can I say? I tried being artsy. But even amidst all the trial and turmoil of the world, His hand is over all.
And.......this email won't let me attach anymore pictures. I'll send some more separately. Try taking a picture a day this week. It's kind of fun. I'm worried I'll forget everything about my mission because there's no time to be an excellent journal-keeper (and even if there was time, I probably wouldn't be one anyways) so pictures are an easy way to do it!
Hermana Hunsaker
Favorite part of Cali: Super huge authentic burritos
We had a lot of meetings after Stake Conference. And security locked our car in the upper parking lot. Aye aye aye.
How many sister missionaries does it take to open a can of tuna? 20 minutes if you break the can opener. We just gave up on opening the corn. 5 minute meal FAIL
Stress test. Haha.
That's it for now.
So instead............I'm going to put on some pictures! I haven't taken enough pictures in my mission so I made a goal this transfer to take a picture EVERY DAY. As with every goal I make, I never quite make it, but I've done better! So here are a few of them:
First day of the transfer with Sister Ayala!!! She's the best.
September 11, 2013
Doctrine and Covenants 121:4 "O Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven, earth, and seas, and of all things that in them are, and who controllest and subjectest the devil, and the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol—stretch forth thy hand; let thine eye pierce; let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us."
This picture didn't turn out quite as well as I wanted it to, but what can I say? I tried being artsy. But even amidst all the trial and turmoil of the world, His hand is over all.
And.......this email won't let me attach anymore pictures. I'll send some more separately. Try taking a picture a day this week. It's kind of fun. I'm worried I'll forget everything about my mission because there's no time to be an excellent journal-keeper (and even if there was time, I probably wouldn't be one anyways) so pictures are an easy way to do it!
Hermana Hunsaker
Favorite part of Cali: Super huge authentic burritos
We had a lot of meetings after Stake Conference. And security locked our car in the upper parking lot. Aye aye aye.
How many sister missionaries does it take to open a can of tuna? 20 minutes if you break the can opener. We just gave up on opening the corn. 5 minute meal FAIL
Stress test. Haha.
That's it for now.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
One. year.
It's official - I never thought this day would come. Today marks the one-year mark from when I entered the Provo MTC on the first day of my mission. If I was an elder, this wouldn't be such a big deal - I'd still have another year to accomplish everything the Lord needs me to do here. But I'm a sister. And being such, I only have six more months. When you're not on a mission, six months sounds like a really long time. But when it all comes down to it, it actually just means four more transfers, six weeks each. And when weeks fly by like days, that's not enough time.
I made a huge mistake and forgot my planner today, so I don't have much to report from the past 1 1/2 weeks. Except that I love my companion Hermana Ayala. We have so much fun and we're working so hard. They totally changed up our area so now we have more time to go to Berkeley and all the way out there. It's been fun, but it's definitely presents some new challenges. Unlike Oakland, Berkeley doesn't have latinos bursting at the seams. It takes a little more work to find them, but we have been able to find a few potential families. We're still teaching Martin and Luis and Marilu even though they're outside of our area until they all get baptized (because they all will get baptized) but we've had more time to dedicate to finding families in our area.
Dunia and Hugo and Hugo Jr. set a new baptism date for next month so we're excited about that. They're coming to the Visitors' Center Saturday night, and we know it's just the kick they need to get them to church as a family. We have a couple more people in our area, Milagro and Adulio, that we're working with as well.
One miracle story that I do remember: just yesterday, we were street contacting in Berkeley. It was the middle of the day and no one was home. We tried visiting less actives and potentials in Berkeley and we got nowhere. So we decided to visit a member who lived close by. We got into the building and knocked on the door and someone answered, but it was not the member. We were confused as to why we visited the wrong address - this member was very active and we thought that she would have updated her address with someone. But the Lord led us there for a reason. We met Janet who moved here three weeks ago from Mexico with her family. She didn't have time to talk right then, but she invited us back and we're planning on going there Saturday night. A couple of hours later, we found the new correct address for our member. The Lord works in mysterious ways. In 1 Nephi 4:6-7, Nephi says, "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless, I went forth." As we do His will and ACT before the answer, even if we don't know how to do it, He will lead us to where we need to be.
Today, we went to the temple. The temple is the best place ever. I didn't want to leave. The world is hard. Missionary work is hard. But we can find peace, even outside the temple, as we do what the Lord wants. We have to be willing to change and put His will above our own, but I know that's what brings us a "fullness of joy". I've felt pieces of that joy as I've learned to love and serve His children in the past year, and I'm grateful for all the opportunities I will have in the next six months as well as the rest of my life to help others feel of the love of Christ. This is His church and the only way we can find true happiness.
Have a great weekend!
Hermana Hunsaker
I made a huge mistake and forgot my planner today, so I don't have much to report from the past 1 1/2 weeks. Except that I love my companion Hermana Ayala. We have so much fun and we're working so hard. They totally changed up our area so now we have more time to go to Berkeley and all the way out there. It's been fun, but it's definitely presents some new challenges. Unlike Oakland, Berkeley doesn't have latinos bursting at the seams. It takes a little more work to find them, but we have been able to find a few potential families. We're still teaching Martin and Luis and Marilu even though they're outside of our area until they all get baptized (because they all will get baptized) but we've had more time to dedicate to finding families in our area.
Dunia and Hugo and Hugo Jr. set a new baptism date for next month so we're excited about that. They're coming to the Visitors' Center Saturday night, and we know it's just the kick they need to get them to church as a family. We have a couple more people in our area, Milagro and Adulio, that we're working with as well.
One miracle story that I do remember: just yesterday, we were street contacting in Berkeley. It was the middle of the day and no one was home. We tried visiting less actives and potentials in Berkeley and we got nowhere. So we decided to visit a member who lived close by. We got into the building and knocked on the door and someone answered, but it was not the member. We were confused as to why we visited the wrong address - this member was very active and we thought that she would have updated her address with someone. But the Lord led us there for a reason. We met Janet who moved here three weeks ago from Mexico with her family. She didn't have time to talk right then, but she invited us back and we're planning on going there Saturday night. A couple of hours later, we found the new correct address for our member. The Lord works in mysterious ways. In 1 Nephi 4:6-7, Nephi says, "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless, I went forth." As we do His will and ACT before the answer, even if we don't know how to do it, He will lead us to where we need to be.
Today, we went to the temple. The temple is the best place ever. I didn't want to leave. The world is hard. Missionary work is hard. But we can find peace, even outside the temple, as we do what the Lord wants. We have to be willing to change and put His will above our own, but I know that's what brings us a "fullness of joy". I've felt pieces of that joy as I've learned to love and serve His children in the past year, and I'm grateful for all the opportunities I will have in the next six months as well as the rest of my life to help others feel of the love of Christ. This is His church and the only way we can find true happiness.
Have a great weekend!
Hermana Hunsaker
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Transfer 8!
We're already in a new transfer. And I'm staying here in Oakland! With a new companion - Sister Ayala from Mexico. It's her third transfer and she's awesome. I'm super excited to work with here.
So today is crazy - three of the six missionaries from our district are leaving: Elder Gonzalez, Elder Hill and Sister Pena. Elder Gonzalez and Elder Hill have both been here for at least nine months so it's weird having them leave. I'm going to be the missionary in the ward who's been here the longest - and I've only been here for three transfers. So that's weird. I know the ward for the most part, but there are still some people I need to meet. Elder O'Farrell, Elder Clark and I should be able to get everyone on the same page.
It was week of mixed emotions - some days, sad tears; other days, huge smiles. Martin finally accepted a baptism date and came to church again! Without his family unfortunately - Ryan is learning but didn't come to church, and Guadelupe is lacking desire to change right now, even though she knows it will be good for her family. And little Martin is still being a pill. But this family will get it one day - maybe coming to the baptism will change Guadelupe a little bit.
Dunia and Hugo are having a tough time - we didn't hear much from them so we stopped by Friday night to get them excited to learn. Dunia's been reading and praying but Hugo still keeps saying that he'll change and he hasn't. They didn't come to church so.....we'll see what happens.
Marilu and Atzidi came to church again! And I had to keep the two little boys quiet. It was so hard. There are a few people in our ward that are inactive because they have little kids with too much energy. I finally understand that a little bit more. I didn't pay attention to anything in sacrament meeting - we need a great fellowshipper to take care of her kids so that she can focus and feel the Spirit. I can't do that every week.
The Granados family dropped us. The dad wants to go back to his Christian church, and the mom doesn't want to create confusion in her family by attending our church. She still wants to learn, and mentioned that someday they might come back to our church, but I don't know when. I just have to have the faith that the Lord will continue to prepare the people so that they will be baptized in the future. I am going to miss visiting this family so much. We're still visiting Marilu's sister Bella and her aunt Virginia (new investigator!) so when they get baptized, Marilu's family will still have that link to the church and they'll come back someday!
Luis, the Preciado's nephew, is doing pretty well. He knows the church is true, but he doesn't feel the desire to be baptized at this point. We're going to work on helping him understand the Atonement so he does feel that desire and he makes the needed changes. He went to San Fran tomorrow so he didn't come to church. Bummer.
Also Veronica, Hermana Preciado's friend who was living with her, up and moved out last Sunday. Right after telling us that she would put in the effort to learn the gospel. So that was hard. Someday she'll get it.
Anyways, it's going to be a great transfer! It's also going to go REALLY fast. We have interviews with President Meredith, and the temple, and a mission tour with Elder Aidukaitis. So.....it's going to be crazy. But there will be miracles all around and tons of revelation so that we can better serve God's children!
Life is good. The church is true. And it brings us the peace and joy we need to get through everything.
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31
Remember that :) have a great week!
Hermana Hunsaker
So today is crazy - three of the six missionaries from our district are leaving: Elder Gonzalez, Elder Hill and Sister Pena. Elder Gonzalez and Elder Hill have both been here for at least nine months so it's weird having them leave. I'm going to be the missionary in the ward who's been here the longest - and I've only been here for three transfers. So that's weird. I know the ward for the most part, but there are still some people I need to meet. Elder O'Farrell, Elder Clark and I should be able to get everyone on the same page.
It was week of mixed emotions - some days, sad tears; other days, huge smiles. Martin finally accepted a baptism date and came to church again! Without his family unfortunately - Ryan is learning but didn't come to church, and Guadelupe is lacking desire to change right now, even though she knows it will be good for her family. And little Martin is still being a pill. But this family will get it one day - maybe coming to the baptism will change Guadelupe a little bit.
Dunia and Hugo are having a tough time - we didn't hear much from them so we stopped by Friday night to get them excited to learn. Dunia's been reading and praying but Hugo still keeps saying that he'll change and he hasn't. They didn't come to church so.....we'll see what happens.
Marilu and Atzidi came to church again! And I had to keep the two little boys quiet. It was so hard. There are a few people in our ward that are inactive because they have little kids with too much energy. I finally understand that a little bit more. I didn't pay attention to anything in sacrament meeting - we need a great fellowshipper to take care of her kids so that she can focus and feel the Spirit. I can't do that every week.
The Granados family dropped us. The dad wants to go back to his Christian church, and the mom doesn't want to create confusion in her family by attending our church. She still wants to learn, and mentioned that someday they might come back to our church, but I don't know when. I just have to have the faith that the Lord will continue to prepare the people so that they will be baptized in the future. I am going to miss visiting this family so much. We're still visiting Marilu's sister Bella and her aunt Virginia (new investigator!) so when they get baptized, Marilu's family will still have that link to the church and they'll come back someday!
Luis, the Preciado's nephew, is doing pretty well. He knows the church is true, but he doesn't feel the desire to be baptized at this point. We're going to work on helping him understand the Atonement so he does feel that desire and he makes the needed changes. He went to San Fran tomorrow so he didn't come to church. Bummer.
Also Veronica, Hermana Preciado's friend who was living with her, up and moved out last Sunday. Right after telling us that she would put in the effort to learn the gospel. So that was hard. Someday she'll get it.
Anyways, it's going to be a great transfer! It's also going to go REALLY fast. We have interviews with President Meredith, and the temple, and a mission tour with Elder Aidukaitis. So.....it's going to be crazy. But there will be miracles all around and tons of revelation so that we can better serve God's children!
Life is good. The church is true. And it brings us the peace and joy we need to get through everything.
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31
Remember that :) have a great week!
Hermana Hunsaker
Let me think........
I have the worst memory ever. I don't know what it is, but I can't even remember what happened. Last week went so fast! I'll try to think of some highlights.....maybe I'll just include a few short entries from my gratitude journal and that will trigger my memory.
8-26-13: I am grateful for......the beautiful nature that gets me away from the world.
- We had a zone activity where we went on a small hike in Tilden National Park in Orinda. Orinda reminds me of home - it's only a ten minute drive from Oakland, but it seems so secluded. From this park, we can see our whole entire mission. There's a beautiful view of San Francisco and there's just so much peace. Even as a missionary, it's hard to find peace here in Oakland, especially when you teach huge Spanish families with rowdy little kids.
8-27-13: I am grateful......that Huge and Dunia accepted a baptismal date in the first lesson! And for all the things I've learned about myself as I've served my mission.
- We found Hugo and Dunia last Saturday but they were having a family barbecue so we couldn't teach them. We decided to just stop by because we hadn't gotten in touch with them over the phone and they were home! And accepted a date for the end of the month! Dunia is much more interested than Hugo and they need to get married but the Lord will make it work. Dunia's been looking for a church for a long time, and the Lord was just saving them for now!
- I've had a lot of quiet time to think this week and I've made time to write in my journal. I can't sum up everything I've learned and everything else that I'm still learning but I'm slowly uncovering more and more of who I am and who I want to become. It's an interesting self-analysis.
8-28-13: I am grateful.......for the opportunity to find and teach families.
- We went and saw Dunia and Hugo again and their son, Hugo Jr., was there and accepted a date right off the bat! The gospel is for families. And God gives us families so that we can learn to understand the gospel. They work together oh so well.
8-29-13: I am grateful......for less-than-perfect experiences teaching district meeting that humble me. A lot. And for golden Hispanic families that cry in God's Plan.
- Yes, I taught my first district meeting. It didn't go as smoothly as I hoped, but it taught us a lot. Our district is working on being more united so we can help the ward be more united in missionary work.
- I love the VC. And I love non-member Spanish families that feel the Spirit so strong that they bring their friends to come see the presentations. We got referrals from two golden Spanish families this week in Hayward and I just know that they'll accept the gospel. I just know it.
8-30-13: I am grateful......that they let Jose out of jail! Him and Bella are reunited!
- We stopped by our investigator's house, Bella, and she told us that her husband would be released from jail that day! He had been there for two weeks because of immigration problems. It had been a rough time but she thanks God in her prayers everyday that we met her right before all this happened so she could have the support. She was talking about how she's lost so many people in life due to death and other awful circumstances and she just could not have lost her husband. It was a great miracle. She said that even though she couldn't concentrate very well while reading the Book of Mormon because of everything that was going on, she felt peace as she read. She's well on her way to understanding our message - we're teaching her the Plan of Salvation today and we're so excited! It's exactly what she needs to hear!
8-31-13: I am grateful.........that because we forgot he was coming, Hermano Padilla (member) surprised us with food at the VC!
- It was SO good. There's nothing more I can even say. It was heavenly.
9-1-13: I am grateful.....that our investigator Luis came to church for the first time!
- Even though no one else came, he followed through. Helping people get to church is the hardest part of missionary work, but we'll get them all back. We had 2 families last week and we can do it again. Every family needs this gospel.
So, that's a pretty good summary of everything. There's more, but those are the big things. It would be impossible to list them all here. I'm grateful for the opportunity to see miracles everyday. This is the Lord's work - He'll take care of it as we do our part.
Love you all!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
8-26-13: I am grateful for......the beautiful nature that gets me away from the world.
- We had a zone activity where we went on a small hike in Tilden National Park in Orinda. Orinda reminds me of home - it's only a ten minute drive from Oakland, but it seems so secluded. From this park, we can see our whole entire mission. There's a beautiful view of San Francisco and there's just so much peace. Even as a missionary, it's hard to find peace here in Oakland, especially when you teach huge Spanish families with rowdy little kids.
8-27-13: I am grateful......that Huge and Dunia accepted a baptismal date in the first lesson! And for all the things I've learned about myself as I've served my mission.
- We found Hugo and Dunia last Saturday but they were having a family barbecue so we couldn't teach them. We decided to just stop by because we hadn't gotten in touch with them over the phone and they were home! And accepted a date for the end of the month! Dunia is much more interested than Hugo and they need to get married but the Lord will make it work. Dunia's been looking for a church for a long time, and the Lord was just saving them for now!
- I've had a lot of quiet time to think this week and I've made time to write in my journal. I can't sum up everything I've learned and everything else that I'm still learning but I'm slowly uncovering more and more of who I am and who I want to become. It's an interesting self-analysis.
8-28-13: I am grateful.......for the opportunity to find and teach families.
- We went and saw Dunia and Hugo again and their son, Hugo Jr., was there and accepted a date right off the bat! The gospel is for families. And God gives us families so that we can learn to understand the gospel. They work together oh so well.
8-29-13: I am grateful......for less-than-perfect experiences teaching district meeting that humble me. A lot. And for golden Hispanic families that cry in God's Plan.
- Yes, I taught my first district meeting. It didn't go as smoothly as I hoped, but it taught us a lot. Our district is working on being more united so we can help the ward be more united in missionary work.
- I love the VC. And I love non-member Spanish families that feel the Spirit so strong that they bring their friends to come see the presentations. We got referrals from two golden Spanish families this week in Hayward and I just know that they'll accept the gospel. I just know it.
8-30-13: I am grateful......that they let Jose out of jail! Him and Bella are reunited!
- We stopped by our investigator's house, Bella, and she told us that her husband would be released from jail that day! He had been there for two weeks because of immigration problems. It had been a rough time but she thanks God in her prayers everyday that we met her right before all this happened so she could have the support. She was talking about how she's lost so many people in life due to death and other awful circumstances and she just could not have lost her husband. It was a great miracle. She said that even though she couldn't concentrate very well while reading the Book of Mormon because of everything that was going on, she felt peace as she read. She's well on her way to understanding our message - we're teaching her the Plan of Salvation today and we're so excited! It's exactly what she needs to hear!
8-31-13: I am grateful.........that because we forgot he was coming, Hermano Padilla (member) surprised us with food at the VC!
- It was SO good. There's nothing more I can even say. It was heavenly.
9-1-13: I am grateful.....that our investigator Luis came to church for the first time!
- Even though no one else came, he followed through. Helping people get to church is the hardest part of missionary work, but we'll get them all back. We had 2 families last week and we can do it again. Every family needs this gospel.
So, that's a pretty good summary of everything. There's more, but those are the big things. It would be impossible to list them all here. I'm grateful for the opportunity to see miracles everyday. This is the Lord's work - He'll take care of it as we do our part.
Love you all!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
Monday, August 26, 2013
The miracles keep on coming
This week: 5 investigators at church, 6 progressing! It's so nice to see progress with our new investigators and a couple older ones. I just love all of these people so much, and I'm so excited to see them change their lives as they embrace the gospel!
Bella and Marilu - We found them a couple weeks ago. They are sisters - one of them lives upstairs and the other lives downstairs - but we knocked on their doors separately and had our first lessons with them separately. We saw them twice last week - they're Catholic but totally looking for more! Bella's husband is in jail right now for immigration reasons so she wasn't able to come to church, but Marilu came! She brought her husband (new investigator!) and her two little girls and one of her sons, Wilbur. They only made it for sacrament meeting, but it was so great to have a family there! The main speaker was the second counselor in the mission presidency, so he noticed when they walked in and totally pointed the family out in front of everyone. I wanted to die in my seat for them, but they didn't seem too uncomfortable with it. I think that's a culture thing. But their little girl with leukemia, Gisel, was singing along even though she doesn't even know how to read. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Juan - Miracle at the VC! He's not our investigator - he's not even in our ward - but he just came to the temple to pray and they sent him to the Visitors' Center. He doesn't agree with anything in the Catholic church so he's been out of church for a long time. But he feels like he needs it again. We talked to him about the Restoration and then he watched the Joseph Smith movie. He already knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet and is so ready! It was amazing! I'm excited to hear more from the missionaries that are going to start teaching him!
Anabela - I love this woman so much. She is just so sweet. We met her through English classes, and she introduced us to all the people she lives with so they could hear the word of God. She still doesn't understand why we're different or why there's so many churches in the world, but she says that any good person that teaches and testifies of God is sent by God and given His power. So....that's been hard to work with. She's going back to Guatemala next month and she has a friend there who is a member, so we'll see if she gets it now or maybe later. Because I work in the VC, I can keep in touch with her after she leaves! She'll get it someday. I know it.
Marilu - We were about to drop Marilu and her 9-year-old daughter Atzidi, but then the elders ran into her as they were tracting in her area and so we went back Wednesday night. She prayed and she was just crying and crying. She still has a lot of doubts about religion, but she's looking. And she came to church! And Atzidi is pretty much ready to accept a baptism date. This week! We'll see what happens!
Luis - Hna Preciado is the best ward missionary ever. We're teaching four of her friends, including Marilu, and her nephew is staying with her until December so we added him as a new investigator after stopping by her house randomly one day. He's young and interested in learning - and he said he'll be baptized when he knows when it's true! He's seen the difference it has made in his aunt's life and he wants that! Members are SO important in this work!
Noemi - We stopped by and after talking to her for awhile, we found out that she was learning from the missionaries for THREE YEARS before without getting baptized! She knows Joseph Smith was a prophet, she knows that the Book of Mormon is true - it's crazy! So we're not sure why she stopped and what held her back. We'll work on that. She wanted to meet with missionaries again so she's definitely looking for something.
VC - We got 7 referrals on Wednesday and another 7 on Thursday. Miracles. Members are SO important! And Visitors' Centers are really inspired. I mean, really. Especially this one - everyone can see it and the Spirit prompts people to come here. They know that there's something here that they need. And even if they're not ready for it right then, it's the best seed planter in the world. Every fourth Sunday, there's a fireside called Porque Yo Creo where Spanish recent converts come and bear their testimonies for people learning about the gospel. A lot of the recent converts from our ward spoke and came over afterwards. I also saw a lot of people I've worked with on exchanges that are still investigating and just so many members that bring their friends to the VC to share the gospel. I am so grateful for their hard work, and I just felt so grateful this past Sunday for the opportunity to work with these wonderful people. They have such huge hearts. So many of them are converts to the church, and they have such strong testimonies. I am so inspired and strengthened by them.
The Lord is hastening His work, and EVERYONE needs to be a part of it. Everyone can share their testimonies. Every single person is a child of God, and every single person has trials. Every single person needs the peace of the gospel. One of the recent converts in our ward, Grisel, said that her husband left her shortly after she met the missionaries. Without the gospel and how everything happened, she wouldn't have the hope and the joy that she has right now. As missionaries, we don't know the needs of these people right off hand, but as their friends, you all do. They NEED you to share this message with them. Just do it - the Spirit will help you and your faith in Christ will grow.
Have a great week, full of missionary moments! I love you all!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
Bella and Marilu - We found them a couple weeks ago. They are sisters - one of them lives upstairs and the other lives downstairs - but we knocked on their doors separately and had our first lessons with them separately. We saw them twice last week - they're Catholic but totally looking for more! Bella's husband is in jail right now for immigration reasons so she wasn't able to come to church, but Marilu came! She brought her husband (new investigator!) and her two little girls and one of her sons, Wilbur. They only made it for sacrament meeting, but it was so great to have a family there! The main speaker was the second counselor in the mission presidency, so he noticed when they walked in and totally pointed the family out in front of everyone. I wanted to die in my seat for them, but they didn't seem too uncomfortable with it. I think that's a culture thing. But their little girl with leukemia, Gisel, was singing along even though she doesn't even know how to read. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Juan - Miracle at the VC! He's not our investigator - he's not even in our ward - but he just came to the temple to pray and they sent him to the Visitors' Center. He doesn't agree with anything in the Catholic church so he's been out of church for a long time. But he feels like he needs it again. We talked to him about the Restoration and then he watched the Joseph Smith movie. He already knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet and is so ready! It was amazing! I'm excited to hear more from the missionaries that are going to start teaching him!
Anabela - I love this woman so much. She is just so sweet. We met her through English classes, and she introduced us to all the people she lives with so they could hear the word of God. She still doesn't understand why we're different or why there's so many churches in the world, but she says that any good person that teaches and testifies of God is sent by God and given His power. So....that's been hard to work with. She's going back to Guatemala next month and she has a friend there who is a member, so we'll see if she gets it now or maybe later. Because I work in the VC, I can keep in touch with her after she leaves! She'll get it someday. I know it.
Marilu - We were about to drop Marilu and her 9-year-old daughter Atzidi, but then the elders ran into her as they were tracting in her area and so we went back Wednesday night. She prayed and she was just crying and crying. She still has a lot of doubts about religion, but she's looking. And she came to church! And Atzidi is pretty much ready to accept a baptism date. This week! We'll see what happens!
Luis - Hna Preciado is the best ward missionary ever. We're teaching four of her friends, including Marilu, and her nephew is staying with her until December so we added him as a new investigator after stopping by her house randomly one day. He's young and interested in learning - and he said he'll be baptized when he knows when it's true! He's seen the difference it has made in his aunt's life and he wants that! Members are SO important in this work!
Noemi - We stopped by and after talking to her for awhile, we found out that she was learning from the missionaries for THREE YEARS before without getting baptized! She knows Joseph Smith was a prophet, she knows that the Book of Mormon is true - it's crazy! So we're not sure why she stopped and what held her back. We'll work on that. She wanted to meet with missionaries again so she's definitely looking for something.
VC - We got 7 referrals on Wednesday and another 7 on Thursday. Miracles. Members are SO important! And Visitors' Centers are really inspired. I mean, really. Especially this one - everyone can see it and the Spirit prompts people to come here. They know that there's something here that they need. And even if they're not ready for it right then, it's the best seed planter in the world. Every fourth Sunday, there's a fireside called Porque Yo Creo where Spanish recent converts come and bear their testimonies for people learning about the gospel. A lot of the recent converts from our ward spoke and came over afterwards. I also saw a lot of people I've worked with on exchanges that are still investigating and just so many members that bring their friends to the VC to share the gospel. I am so grateful for their hard work, and I just felt so grateful this past Sunday for the opportunity to work with these wonderful people. They have such huge hearts. So many of them are converts to the church, and they have such strong testimonies. I am so inspired and strengthened by them.
The Lord is hastening His work, and EVERYONE needs to be a part of it. Everyone can share their testimonies. Every single person is a child of God, and every single person has trials. Every single person needs the peace of the gospel. One of the recent converts in our ward, Grisel, said that her husband left her shortly after she met the missionaries. Without the gospel and how everything happened, she wouldn't have the hope and the joy that she has right now. As missionaries, we don't know the needs of these people right off hand, but as their friends, you all do. They NEED you to share this message with them. Just do it - the Spirit will help you and your faith in Christ will grow.
Have a great week, full of missionary moments! I love you all!!!
Hermana Hunsaker
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles, and now 12 New Investigators!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes. That's the biggest news of the week. We found 12 new investigators! I'll try to sum up how we found all these people and hopefully they all start progressing this week! We're super excited.
Monday - Miracle VC shift! We found an former investigator! Her name is Leticia - she came to the VC with her daughters. Some other sisters gave her a tour and they didn't fill out a referral card, but then Hermana Pena recognized her. Hermana Pena served her for one transfer back in March, and she found this woman! They taught her a couple times and then lost touch, but we ran into her and asked if we could come back! She cancelled our appointment this week unfortunately, but we'll keep trying!
Tuesday - We found three new investigators! Our appointments in the afternoon cancelled so we were just walking by. And right as we walked by the house of Bella, she opened the door. So we asked if we could teach her right then and there, and she invited us in! We only had a few minutes, but her husband Jose came home during the lesson so we taught both of them! It was awesome. Our third new investigator's name is Raul. We met him street contacting and he invited us back. He doesn't have any religious background and just split from his wife/girlfriend. Like, the first day we met him, she was in the process of moving out. And when we met him, he said he was thinking about doing something out of revenge. But when we started talking to him, he stopped thinking about those things. We literally may have saved a life. But he's so willing to change and be baptized!
Wednesday - Zone Conference. There are no words to describe how great Zone Conference was. We talked a lot about finding new investigators and asking the right questions to help our investigators understand our message so they can choose to act on it. It was just so great. President Meredith also talked about stress management which was much needed. And then right afterwards, Elder Felt, who worked in law enforcement for 32 years, taught us about personal safety. So....that kind of stressed us out again. But it was a great Zone Conference.
Thursday - We found four new investigators on Thursday. Two were referrals that we FINALLY contacted, and then there were two more that we added when we taught the Familia Gomez, Anabela and her brother Antonio. Anabela was actually the person who put us into contact with the Gomez family because she came to the English classes. Mario is going back to the hospital for two weeks so we'll see what happens with this family.
Friday - We saw Guadelupe on Friday and added one of her sons, Ryan, as an investigator! The other son still doesn't want to learn, but we'll see what happens. They were supposed to come to church - and they didn't - but I can't give up on this family yet. A couple more weeks.......We added two more investigators, Noemi and Antonio. Noemi is a referral from one of our less active members. She is Catholic but her husband Antonio was baptized in the Evangelist church. They have a lot of family in the area, and some that are members, so we're really excited for them.
Saturday - Full-pross exchange with Sister Ferguson! Our whole day was planned out, but almost everything fell through. But it helped us find one more family! We knocked on the door of Marilu, the sister of Bella who we found on Tuesday. She invited us in and we found out that her 5-year-old daughter has leukemia. She was crying as she talked to us - her faith has been strengthened through this trial but she doesn't go to church or anything like that. Marilu is Catholic and her husband is Christian. So, another family with different beliefs. The gospel really is to bless families and unite them!!! We're really excited. Oh, also we had lunch AND dinner with members. And for lunch we had these AMAZING sandwiches. I can't remember what they're called, but the bread is grilled in chile. It's the best. I need to find out what they're called again so I can have them again after my mission.........
Sunday - Super busy at the VC after church. No investigators at church. Or at the baptism afterwards. But we still have hope! And faith. And charity. And with charity, we can't fail.
Have a fantastic week! I love you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
Monday - Miracle VC shift! We found an former investigator! Her name is Leticia - she came to the VC with her daughters. Some other sisters gave her a tour and they didn't fill out a referral card, but then Hermana Pena recognized her. Hermana Pena served her for one transfer back in March, and she found this woman! They taught her a couple times and then lost touch, but we ran into her and asked if we could come back! She cancelled our appointment this week unfortunately, but we'll keep trying!
Tuesday - We found three new investigators! Our appointments in the afternoon cancelled so we were just walking by. And right as we walked by the house of Bella, she opened the door. So we asked if we could teach her right then and there, and she invited us in! We only had a few minutes, but her husband Jose came home during the lesson so we taught both of them! It was awesome. Our third new investigator's name is Raul. We met him street contacting and he invited us back. He doesn't have any religious background and just split from his wife/girlfriend. Like, the first day we met him, she was in the process of moving out. And when we met him, he said he was thinking about doing something out of revenge. But when we started talking to him, he stopped thinking about those things. We literally may have saved a life. But he's so willing to change and be baptized!
Wednesday - Zone Conference. There are no words to describe how great Zone Conference was. We talked a lot about finding new investigators and asking the right questions to help our investigators understand our message so they can choose to act on it. It was just so great. President Meredith also talked about stress management which was much needed. And then right afterwards, Elder Felt, who worked in law enforcement for 32 years, taught us about personal safety. So....that kind of stressed us out again. But it was a great Zone Conference.
Thursday - We found four new investigators on Thursday. Two were referrals that we FINALLY contacted, and then there were two more that we added when we taught the Familia Gomez, Anabela and her brother Antonio. Anabela was actually the person who put us into contact with the Gomez family because she came to the English classes. Mario is going back to the hospital for two weeks so we'll see what happens with this family.
Friday - We saw Guadelupe on Friday and added one of her sons, Ryan, as an investigator! The other son still doesn't want to learn, but we'll see what happens. They were supposed to come to church - and they didn't - but I can't give up on this family yet. A couple more weeks.......We added two more investigators, Noemi and Antonio. Noemi is a referral from one of our less active members. She is Catholic but her husband Antonio was baptized in the Evangelist church. They have a lot of family in the area, and some that are members, so we're really excited for them.
Saturday - Full-pross exchange with Sister Ferguson! Our whole day was planned out, but almost everything fell through. But it helped us find one more family! We knocked on the door of Marilu, the sister of Bella who we found on Tuesday. She invited us in and we found out that her 5-year-old daughter has leukemia. She was crying as she talked to us - her faith has been strengthened through this trial but she doesn't go to church or anything like that. Marilu is Catholic and her husband is Christian. So, another family with different beliefs. The gospel really is to bless families and unite them!!! We're really excited. Oh, also we had lunch AND dinner with members. And for lunch we had these AMAZING sandwiches. I can't remember what they're called, but the bread is grilled in chile. It's the best. I need to find out what they're called again so I can have them again after my mission.........
Sunday - Super busy at the VC after church. No investigators at church. Or at the baptism afterwards. But we still have hope! And faith. And charity. And with charity, we can't fail.
Have a fantastic week! I love you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Estoy de vuelta
I took a week off from emailing - kinda - because there was a lot going on last week. So I have double the things to talk about but once again - no time. We're already two weeks into the transfer - it's flying by so fast and there's so much to do! I'm already hoping to have another transfer here but I feel like my mission clock is ticking a little faster and I still have to get out of the VC and go full-pross for a little while. We'll see what happens - I feel like there will be a lot of changes this next transfer. But no need to worry about that right now!
We had a few investigators drop us these past two weeks which was a little heartbreaking. But the investigators we have right now are AWESOME. And though it's taken some time for them to really understand the importance of our message, they're all right on the brink of developing their own testimonies of the gospel.
Martin and Guadelupe: We found out this past week that Guadelupe is a member!!! We've been teaching this family for two months and we had no idea that she was a member! We knew she had taken the missionary lessons in the past but she didn't say anything else about it and we never asked her if she got baptized so she never told us! So......that was kind of crazy. Also by a miracle, their whole family came to the Visitors' Center! We didn't have many nights available to have lessons so we invited them to the VC to have a tour given by Hermana Ivey and her new companion. A member family met us there and it was simply magical. The whole family came and their sons, who have literally ran from us when we get to the house to teach, loved it! They actually wanted to come to church! There were a few things that got in the way so they didn't make it, but we have high hopes for next week! After watching God's Plan for the family, Guadelupe even expressed the desire to return to church and teach these things to her son! She's been hot and cold for the last two months but she's so ready! I just remember the day we knocked on that door - it was pure guidance from the Spirit and every little thing that happens confirms that we were led to this family. I'm just praying that I'm here to see the day when Martin and the boys get baptized.
Marilu and Atzidi: They're back from their trip to Los Angeles!!! Marilu is still very skeptical about religion, but having her member friend Hna. Preciado living right across the street will help her get there. They came to the ward picnic this past Saturday and then they came to the VC while we were working! We were the only Spanish sisters available so we gave them a quick tour. Atzidi is still doing awesome. She's reading the Book of Mormon picture book and sharing it with her Christian friends! I love this family so much and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to teach them the gospel.
Veronica and Jenny: Veronica was better last week, but got sick again this past week so we haven't seen her much. She was so sick that an ambulance came over to bring her to the hospital. She almost accepted a baptism date, but she wants to give it more time and she wants to do it with her whole family. We have a lesson set up to see all of them on Friday - each one of her kids needs the gospel so bad. She's kind of given up on her two oldest sons even though they live with her but that's why we have repentance through the Atonement of Christ! She's most thinking about her two girls. Jenny is 15 and she opened up to us last night a bit. She's going to start praying and change her life to express her gratitude for keeping her mom alive. It's so great having them living in the home of the Preciado's. We literally couldn't do missionary work without the members in this ward.
Familia Gomez: We added three new investigators this week! I met this family through a lady that lives with them, Anabela, who started attending our free English classes. We tried teaching Anabela and she was interested in our church but wasn't interested to learn more. She is going back to Guatemala at the end of the month - she just came to the States for a few months for the experience but she has a friend who is a member back in Guatemala. She introduced us to the family because one of the sons has leukemia so she asked that we come visit him in the hospital. We did and we gave him a Book of Mormon but it's been hard to get in touch since. Sunday morning was a little crazy and we got out of the house earlier than planned before our Sunday meetings, so we stopped by the Gomez family. We taught three of the five members of the family and met another woman that lives with them, Monica. We talked about the Restoration and though they initially didn't want to change, they invited us back to teach the whole family this Thursday night and anyone else who is home! It's going to be great!
Our whole mission is really focusing on finding families to teach because families really are so important to the plan of God. The gospel helps everyone, but as it is specifically applied by every single member of the family, that is how we find happiness and joy. I've heard it said before that when we make Christ and His gospel the center of our families, we can experience a little bit of heaven on earth. Those perfect happy moments with our families....that is what heaven will be like. If we can't learn to have moments of that joy here, how do we expect to have it for eternity?
Anyways, just some thoughts. We have Zone Conference this week so I'm super excited for that. We have a lot of appointments set up with potential investigators and tons of time - two whole full pross days - to teach them, to teach our other investigators, and to find more! I feel like I'm waking up out of a coma every morning, but it's all so so worth it. I'm also eating GREAT/healthy despite the fact that I'm in a Spanish ward and the grocery store of choice is usually Grocery Outlet where the fruit doesn't even last a week. Sister Pena and I are staying fit and active running and playing sports every morning - even though she leaves me in the dust. And I'm truly learning to love Spanish even though my perfectionist self has a hard time dealing with making mistakes. But I try to hold that part of me back unless I'm cleaning the apartment or the car. There are miracles everywhere and I'm learning from the Lord every single day. Being a missionary is the best calling ever and sometimes I just never want to leave.
Good luck with everything this week! I love you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
We had a few investigators drop us these past two weeks which was a little heartbreaking. But the investigators we have right now are AWESOME. And though it's taken some time for them to really understand the importance of our message, they're all right on the brink of developing their own testimonies of the gospel.
Martin and Guadelupe: We found out this past week that Guadelupe is a member!!! We've been teaching this family for two months and we had no idea that she was a member! We knew she had taken the missionary lessons in the past but she didn't say anything else about it and we never asked her if she got baptized so she never told us! So......that was kind of crazy. Also by a miracle, their whole family came to the Visitors' Center! We didn't have many nights available to have lessons so we invited them to the VC to have a tour given by Hermana Ivey and her new companion. A member family met us there and it was simply magical. The whole family came and their sons, who have literally ran from us when we get to the house to teach, loved it! They actually wanted to come to church! There were a few things that got in the way so they didn't make it, but we have high hopes for next week! After watching God's Plan for the family, Guadelupe even expressed the desire to return to church and teach these things to her son! She's been hot and cold for the last two months but she's so ready! I just remember the day we knocked on that door - it was pure guidance from the Spirit and every little thing that happens confirms that we were led to this family. I'm just praying that I'm here to see the day when Martin and the boys get baptized.
Marilu and Atzidi: They're back from their trip to Los Angeles!!! Marilu is still very skeptical about religion, but having her member friend Hna. Preciado living right across the street will help her get there. They came to the ward picnic this past Saturday and then they came to the VC while we were working! We were the only Spanish sisters available so we gave them a quick tour. Atzidi is still doing awesome. She's reading the Book of Mormon picture book and sharing it with her Christian friends! I love this family so much and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to teach them the gospel.
Veronica and Jenny: Veronica was better last week, but got sick again this past week so we haven't seen her much. She was so sick that an ambulance came over to bring her to the hospital. She almost accepted a baptism date, but she wants to give it more time and she wants to do it with her whole family. We have a lesson set up to see all of them on Friday - each one of her kids needs the gospel so bad. She's kind of given up on her two oldest sons even though they live with her but that's why we have repentance through the Atonement of Christ! She's most thinking about her two girls. Jenny is 15 and she opened up to us last night a bit. She's going to start praying and change her life to express her gratitude for keeping her mom alive. It's so great having them living in the home of the Preciado's. We literally couldn't do missionary work without the members in this ward.
Familia Gomez: We added three new investigators this week! I met this family through a lady that lives with them, Anabela, who started attending our free English classes. We tried teaching Anabela and she was interested in our church but wasn't interested to learn more. She is going back to Guatemala at the end of the month - she just came to the States for a few months for the experience but she has a friend who is a member back in Guatemala. She introduced us to the family because one of the sons has leukemia so she asked that we come visit him in the hospital. We did and we gave him a Book of Mormon but it's been hard to get in touch since. Sunday morning was a little crazy and we got out of the house earlier than planned before our Sunday meetings, so we stopped by the Gomez family. We taught three of the five members of the family and met another woman that lives with them, Monica. We talked about the Restoration and though they initially didn't want to change, they invited us back to teach the whole family this Thursday night and anyone else who is home! It's going to be great!
Our whole mission is really focusing on finding families to teach because families really are so important to the plan of God. The gospel helps everyone, but as it is specifically applied by every single member of the family, that is how we find happiness and joy. I've heard it said before that when we make Christ and His gospel the center of our families, we can experience a little bit of heaven on earth. Those perfect happy moments with our families....that is what heaven will be like. If we can't learn to have moments of that joy here, how do we expect to have it for eternity?
Anyways, just some thoughts. We have Zone Conference this week so I'm super excited for that. We have a lot of appointments set up with potential investigators and tons of time - two whole full pross days - to teach them, to teach our other investigators, and to find more! I feel like I'm waking up out of a coma every morning, but it's all so so worth it. I'm also eating GREAT/healthy despite the fact that I'm in a Spanish ward and the grocery store of choice is usually Grocery Outlet where the fruit doesn't even last a week. Sister Pena and I are staying fit and active running and playing sports every morning - even though she leaves me in the dust. And I'm truly learning to love Spanish even though my perfectionist self has a hard time dealing with making mistakes. But I try to hold that part of me back unless I'm cleaning the apartment or the car. There are miracles everywhere and I'm learning from the Lord every single day. Being a missionary is the best calling ever and sometimes I just never want to leave.
Good luck with everything this week! I love you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
Monday, July 29, 2013
New transfer, new challenges
The last official picture of the district
I'm heading into into my SEVENTH transfer this week. Hermana Ivey is leaving me to go to Castro Valley, my old area! I've told her all about it, and she's going to love it. It's so celestial. As for me.....I'm staying in the Oakland 6th Spanish ward and I'm going to have a native companion! Her name is Hermana Pena, and she came out on her mission just one transfer after me. She's from Ecuador but her family moved to Utah when she was 12 because they won some type of visa lottery. So her English is really good, but we're going to speak Spanish 24/7! I'm also the driver again, and I'm the senior companion for the first time - which is a bit overwhelming considering we have tons of investigators right now and not enough time to see them all twice a week. It's going to be an important teaching time to help them feel the Spirit testify of the truth of our message so that they can make a choice. We've added quite a few investigators this week, and we have a lot of other investigators that haven't been progressing for awhile. It's going to be a long but very important week for us to find those who are prepared.
So yeah, lots of miracle finding opportunities. So many that I can't write them down here. We have to get Hermana Ivey all packed up today so I don't have more time today, but I'll report on all of them next week. I'm grateful for all the opportunities that the Lord has given me to stretch and grow, and I'm grateful for the ones He's giving me now. I'm grateful for the trials that have tested my faith.
I've spent a lot of time contemplating this week as I've made time to write in my journal and really evaluate all that I need to do to improve every single day. I've run across a couple of quotes that I'll share and that will be my little thought for the week.
Look around and count your blessings this week. I promise they are there because our Heavenly Father loves each and every one of us so much. And keep these things in mind:
"Life is hard, but the gospel is simple."
"Prayers answered are faith-promoting. Prayers unanswered are faith-perfecting."
Hermana Hunsaker
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Investigators
Veronica - We had FHE with them Monday night while teaching the message of the restoration. We played Telephone to illustrate the Great Apostasy and then watched the 20-minute Restoration movie. She prayed at the end of the listen and all her kids were there and she invited her sister and her kids to come too! She's moving in with one of our member's this week, Hermana Preciado, and she even came to church! Everytime she prays, she feels the Spirit and feels so much peace. We're working on helping her two kids, Ramses and Jenny, to progress. We're so excited to help this family.
Martin - Martin hasn't been able to make it to church because of work, but he has been teaching all of his co-workers about Joseph Smith - he's not even a member but he's sharing the gospel with everyone and totally understands why Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet! His sons still don't want to learn, and his wife has been avoiding us, but we know he's ready. It's hard for him to move forward without his family, but they'll come around someday. This family needs the gospel SO MUCH - no matter what we sometimes assume, every family needs the gospel. Every family has its own problems and concerns and the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can truly help and have a lasting impact.
Maribel - Maribel is having a hard time getting to church, but she's AWESOME. She has stopped drinking coffee since we taught her the Word of Wisdom last week, and she even taught her husband so he's drinking less! She's already seen the blessings of the gospel in her family, even though her husband doesn't want to learn right now. The biggest problem is that they are moving to Illinois next month to the middle of nowhere - Hermana Ivey and I searched online for a Spanish branch in that area and there's NOTHING. So......we'll see.
Sonia - Sonia wants to come to church so bad. She almost made it - her husband is very devoted to his church, but he said he would bring her. But of course, he didn't make it home on time and she didn't tell us. But she really is looking for the truth and reads everything that we give her. We started teaching he 15-year-old daughter Vanessa this week too who also doesn't want to be baptized in her dad's church. We only see them once a week usually, but they're great and we've found some great fellowshippers for them.
Marilu and Atzidi - We didn't have a lesson with Marilu this week, but her 9-year-old daughter Atzidi is reading the pamphlets we've given them and came to church with Hermana Preciado! And they live right across the street from the new house of the Preciados and Veronica! Such a blessing, such a miracle.
Mario - Mario is a referral from Anabela, a lady from our English class. I absolutely love her and we tried teaching her a couple weeks ago, but she wasn't getting it and wasn't interested in learning more. She did read a little bit of the Book of Mormon though. She's here for a few months and she's going back to Guatemala next week but she's living with Mario's family. Mario has leukemia so she asked us to visit him in the hospital. We're going back there this week to give him a Book of Mormon and teach him some more - he has a lot of faith but we can know the Book of Mormon will give him even more hope and strength in the future.
And now.......Miracle referral stories.
Familia Campillo - Referred by a recent convert who didn't even know the name of these people. She only knew that they lived in her building. We showed up and they immediately said "Oh we're Catholic" and acted like they didn't want to talk to us. But as we kept talking to them, we found out that Hna Campillo is meeting with the Jehovah's Witnesses and they don't go to church or read the Bible. At first they told us that they were on their way out, but we ended up talking for ten minutes at the door. By the end of that, we had their phone number and found out that they're interested in English classes and the VC and church. And they told us we can pretty much stop by whenever we want. We're going to set an appointment for Friday when we're in Berkeley again. We NEVER would have found this family in Berkeley without the help of this random recent convert neighbor - we can't do this work without the members!
Familia Rodriguez - We've only met Hno. Rodriguez, but his wife is just as excited to listen to us. Hno. Rodriguez works in Concord at the apartment building where some of the Concord missionaries live. During his lunch break, they started talking to him and he asked about Adam and Eve. They gave him a Book of Mormon and he's really interested to understand it better and learn more. We're seeing them tonight and we're super excited!
Another tender mercy from the Lord: exchange with Hermana Garcia in Hayward. After being in her area for the first year of her mission, this was her first exchange staying in her new area in Hayward. Not too much happened, but we taught a miracle investigator - her husband is a very less active member of the English ward, and his home-teacher set it up for the sisters to go over. She's soaking it all in and doing so great. I love Hermana Garcia so much - it's nice to have companions that are also great friends.
Quick summary for the week, but there were literally miracles all around. It's the last week of the transfer and I'm just hoping and praying that I get to be here for all these baptisms that will happen soon!!! Our mission president told us in an email today that this next transfer, more than half of the missionaries in our mission will have been out for 6 months or less. There's a lot going on, but it's exciting and we never know what will happen. All we can do is have faith that the Lord knows better than us and He'll take care of everything.
Have a great week! Love you and miss you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
Martin - Martin hasn't been able to make it to church because of work, but he has been teaching all of his co-workers about Joseph Smith - he's not even a member but he's sharing the gospel with everyone and totally understands why Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet! His sons still don't want to learn, and his wife has been avoiding us, but we know he's ready. It's hard for him to move forward without his family, but they'll come around someday. This family needs the gospel SO MUCH - no matter what we sometimes assume, every family needs the gospel. Every family has its own problems and concerns and the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can truly help and have a lasting impact.
Maribel - Maribel is having a hard time getting to church, but she's AWESOME. She has stopped drinking coffee since we taught her the Word of Wisdom last week, and she even taught her husband so he's drinking less! She's already seen the blessings of the gospel in her family, even though her husband doesn't want to learn right now. The biggest problem is that they are moving to Illinois next month to the middle of nowhere - Hermana Ivey and I searched online for a Spanish branch in that area and there's NOTHING. So......we'll see.
Sonia - Sonia wants to come to church so bad. She almost made it - her husband is very devoted to his church, but he said he would bring her. But of course, he didn't make it home on time and she didn't tell us. But she really is looking for the truth and reads everything that we give her. We started teaching he 15-year-old daughter Vanessa this week too who also doesn't want to be baptized in her dad's church. We only see them once a week usually, but they're great and we've found some great fellowshippers for them.
Marilu and Atzidi - We didn't have a lesson with Marilu this week, but her 9-year-old daughter Atzidi is reading the pamphlets we've given them and came to church with Hermana Preciado! And they live right across the street from the new house of the Preciados and Veronica! Such a blessing, such a miracle.
Mario - Mario is a referral from Anabela, a lady from our English class. I absolutely love her and we tried teaching her a couple weeks ago, but she wasn't getting it and wasn't interested in learning more. She did read a little bit of the Book of Mormon though. She's here for a few months and she's going back to Guatemala next week but she's living with Mario's family. Mario has leukemia so she asked us to visit him in the hospital. We're going back there this week to give him a Book of Mormon and teach him some more - he has a lot of faith but we can know the Book of Mormon will give him even more hope and strength in the future.
And now.......Miracle referral stories.
Familia Campillo - Referred by a recent convert who didn't even know the name of these people. She only knew that they lived in her building. We showed up and they immediately said "Oh we're Catholic" and acted like they didn't want to talk to us. But as we kept talking to them, we found out that Hna Campillo is meeting with the Jehovah's Witnesses and they don't go to church or read the Bible. At first they told us that they were on their way out, but we ended up talking for ten minutes at the door. By the end of that, we had their phone number and found out that they're interested in English classes and the VC and church. And they told us we can pretty much stop by whenever we want. We're going to set an appointment for Friday when we're in Berkeley again. We NEVER would have found this family in Berkeley without the help of this random recent convert neighbor - we can't do this work without the members!
Familia Rodriguez - We've only met Hno. Rodriguez, but his wife is just as excited to listen to us. Hno. Rodriguez works in Concord at the apartment building where some of the Concord missionaries live. During his lunch break, they started talking to him and he asked about Adam and Eve. They gave him a Book of Mormon and he's really interested to understand it better and learn more. We're seeing them tonight and we're super excited!
Another tender mercy from the Lord: exchange with Hermana Garcia in Hayward. After being in her area for the first year of her mission, this was her first exchange staying in her new area in Hayward. Not too much happened, but we taught a miracle investigator - her husband is a very less active member of the English ward, and his home-teacher set it up for the sisters to go over. She's soaking it all in and doing so great. I love Hermana Garcia so much - it's nice to have companions that are also great friends.
Quick summary for the week, but there were literally miracles all around. It's the last week of the transfer and I'm just hoping and praying that I get to be here for all these baptisms that will happen soon!!! Our mission president told us in an email today that this next transfer, more than half of the missionaries in our mission will have been out for 6 months or less. There's a lot going on, but it's exciting and we never know what will happen. All we can do is have faith that the Lord knows better than us and He'll take care of everything.
Have a great week! Love you and miss you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
Thursday, July 18, 2013
So blessed
I have no time today but we have seen so many miracles this week - so many in fact that after being an awful journal writer for my whole mission (well actually my whole life) I am BOUND AND DETERMINED to write in my journal regularly. That being said, this email won't have too many details, but I just feel the need to share all these miracles with you all.
Lunes - Preparation day. Mmmm.....not much happened, except our haircuts but I think I talked about that in my email last week.
Martes - We had an awesome training from Elder Bradford during our district meeting. We practiced how to receive revelation and teach according to needs. We all took a section from the lesson of the Restoration in Preach My Gospel and taught it to the other missionaries. It was a powerful experience and helped me remember just how important it is to have the Spirit in every facet of the work. We also had a lesson with Martin and Guadelupe - he came to church last week and is so solid, but she lacks the motivation. She opened up to us and told us that she fills her life with her kids' sports and so many things in the effort to find peace but she's still searching. I know the gospel is the only source of true, sustaining peace and we're trying to help her understand that.
Miercoles - This was a special day. We had interviews with President Meredith in the morning. Those interviews always come around just right when I need them and he knows exactly how to help us do the work. For everyone that knows me, I've always been a perfectionist, and sometimes it's hard to accept the fact that you literally can't be a perfect missionary. We have so many goals that we're working towards and so many things we want to accomplish and so many people we want to help and it's just exhausting. But my interview with President Meredith helped me remember that I don't have to be perfect - I just need to keep improving. That's when we see miracles and that's when we can recognize our growth.
We served in the Visitors' Center that night, and a man named Alfredo came in. Sister Ivey was in the bathroom so I talked with him for a few minutes and he said he would bring the rest of his family in. After ten minutes, I just knew they weren't coming back in - the friends that were visiting Alfredo and his family were avoiding us like the plague. So........what did we do about it? We just went outside and found them. Turns out, Alfredo wanted a Book of Mormon! So we got his address to send missionaries and went back inside. They didn't come in again, but I know the Spirit prompted me to go out and find Alfredo.
We also had an English class miracle. English class was cancelled this week but the elders brought in a family who we met at English class last week. They came to watch Finding Faith in Christ and we started the tour without the missionaries because they were running late. The woman, Dominga, totally opened up to us; she talked about how sometimes they go to the Catholic church, sometimes to the Evangelist church, sometimes no church at all. Through tears, she told us that she prays every single day for God to help her find the true church. It was just another testimony to me that even as missionaries with the spirit of discernment, we never know who is truly ready to receive the gospel. But there are so many people, and we all have to give them the opportunity to hear it.
Jueves - Wow. It was an awesome day. We had VC training in the morning where we practiced for our new exhibit that's coming (it actually got here today!) and it was so great. Then we worked in the VC where a miracle happened. A man and woman came to the temple, not knowing that it was closed. It just so happens that this man served his mission in Russia - and there was a non-member couple visiting from Russia on the grounds that day. They ran into each other outside and this member brought this couple in and showed them EVERYTHING. At the end, they exchanged phone numbers. We need members so much in missionary work - we can't do this work without them! It was quite the miracle - when we listen to the Spirit, we are put in the path that the Lord needs us to be in.
THEN. We had THREE member present lessons and added three new investigators! One is Sonia - her husband recently was baptized into another church but she's not sure if it's true. She was raised Catholic but after her study of the Bible, she realized that it wasn't the true church. She's looking, and we have a recent convert who lives in the same apartment complex. We're really excited to see what happens there. It will be hard with her husband, who is deeply committed to his new church, but Sonia is so ready for the gospel.
Then we had a lesson with Veronica and her daughter Jenny. Veronica is the friend of Hermana Preciado, who is a recent convert and one of our ward missionaries. Hermana Preciado brought Veronica to the Visitors' Center three months ago, before I even came to the area, and Sister Ivey has been trying to get in touch with her ever since. It finally happened and we really focused on prayer. She prayed at the end of the lesson and said that she felt something for the first time. She has a lot of baggage but I know the Atonement can heal anyone. We're really excited to work with her.
Viernes - We did weekly planning, and then we went to the Visitors' Center so we didn't go to our area at all. BUT a non-member family from Mexico came in and referred themselves AND a few of their friends! It was amazing! We'll see what happens there, but the daughter is already assisting institute with her friends down in Mexico. This family is so ready!
Sabado - Saturday was a long day with very little success. But we did advertise English class and 10 people signed up! Then we went to see Anabela, one of our English class students, to bring her the movie Finding Faith in Christ. We tried to add her as investigator, but she didn't really get it. But we shared a little bit with her and gave her a Book of Mormon and she has a friend back in Guatemala who is a member. I absolutely love this lady and I just hope to stay in contact with her - she'll understand one day. She goes back to Guatemala in one month, but Sister Ivey and I are going to stay in touch with her through the Visitors' Center.
Domingo - We didn't get any investigators to church today, but Patricia and Hna Delgado both came to church again! So that was great - they're both doing so well. I just love helping less actives prepare for the temple. We had a lesson with Hna Delgado and her daughter Monica and Monica expressed her desire to start coming to church again. Martin had work so he couldn't make it, but he wanted his family to go so bad - we stopped by twice but they were not interested in coming. We'll keep working with them.
That's a pretty big list of miracles, but it just keeps getting bigger! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to serve here in Oakland all these wonderful people. It's tough, but the Lord is shaping me and helping me to love a little more and a little better everyday.
Thanks for all your love and support! Have a good week!
Hermana Hunsaker
Lunes - Preparation day. Mmmm.....not much happened, except our haircuts but I think I talked about that in my email last week.
Martes - We had an awesome training from Elder Bradford during our district meeting. We practiced how to receive revelation and teach according to needs. We all took a section from the lesson of the Restoration in Preach My Gospel and taught it to the other missionaries. It was a powerful experience and helped me remember just how important it is to have the Spirit in every facet of the work. We also had a lesson with Martin and Guadelupe - he came to church last week and is so solid, but she lacks the motivation. She opened up to us and told us that she fills her life with her kids' sports and so many things in the effort to find peace but she's still searching. I know the gospel is the only source of true, sustaining peace and we're trying to help her understand that.
Miercoles - This was a special day. We had interviews with President Meredith in the morning. Those interviews always come around just right when I need them and he knows exactly how to help us do the work. For everyone that knows me, I've always been a perfectionist, and sometimes it's hard to accept the fact that you literally can't be a perfect missionary. We have so many goals that we're working towards and so many things we want to accomplish and so many people we want to help and it's just exhausting. But my interview with President Meredith helped me remember that I don't have to be perfect - I just need to keep improving. That's when we see miracles and that's when we can recognize our growth.
We served in the Visitors' Center that night, and a man named Alfredo came in. Sister Ivey was in the bathroom so I talked with him for a few minutes and he said he would bring the rest of his family in. After ten minutes, I just knew they weren't coming back in - the friends that were visiting Alfredo and his family were avoiding us like the plague. So........what did we do about it? We just went outside and found them. Turns out, Alfredo wanted a Book of Mormon! So we got his address to send missionaries and went back inside. They didn't come in again, but I know the Spirit prompted me to go out and find Alfredo.
We also had an English class miracle. English class was cancelled this week but the elders brought in a family who we met at English class last week. They came to watch Finding Faith in Christ and we started the tour without the missionaries because they were running late. The woman, Dominga, totally opened up to us; she talked about how sometimes they go to the Catholic church, sometimes to the Evangelist church, sometimes no church at all. Through tears, she told us that she prays every single day for God to help her find the true church. It was just another testimony to me that even as missionaries with the spirit of discernment, we never know who is truly ready to receive the gospel. But there are so many people, and we all have to give them the opportunity to hear it.
Jueves - Wow. It was an awesome day. We had VC training in the morning where we practiced for our new exhibit that's coming (it actually got here today!) and it was so great. Then we worked in the VC where a miracle happened. A man and woman came to the temple, not knowing that it was closed. It just so happens that this man served his mission in Russia - and there was a non-member couple visiting from Russia on the grounds that day. They ran into each other outside and this member brought this couple in and showed them EVERYTHING. At the end, they exchanged phone numbers. We need members so much in missionary work - we can't do this work without them! It was quite the miracle - when we listen to the Spirit, we are put in the path that the Lord needs us to be in.
THEN. We had THREE member present lessons and added three new investigators! One is Sonia - her husband recently was baptized into another church but she's not sure if it's true. She was raised Catholic but after her study of the Bible, she realized that it wasn't the true church. She's looking, and we have a recent convert who lives in the same apartment complex. We're really excited to see what happens there. It will be hard with her husband, who is deeply committed to his new church, but Sonia is so ready for the gospel.
Then we had a lesson with Veronica and her daughter Jenny. Veronica is the friend of Hermana Preciado, who is a recent convert and one of our ward missionaries. Hermana Preciado brought Veronica to the Visitors' Center three months ago, before I even came to the area, and Sister Ivey has been trying to get in touch with her ever since. It finally happened and we really focused on prayer. She prayed at the end of the lesson and said that she felt something for the first time. She has a lot of baggage but I know the Atonement can heal anyone. We're really excited to work with her.
Viernes - We did weekly planning, and then we went to the Visitors' Center so we didn't go to our area at all. BUT a non-member family from Mexico came in and referred themselves AND a few of their friends! It was amazing! We'll see what happens there, but the daughter is already assisting institute with her friends down in Mexico. This family is so ready!
Sabado - Saturday was a long day with very little success. But we did advertise English class and 10 people signed up! Then we went to see Anabela, one of our English class students, to bring her the movie Finding Faith in Christ. We tried to add her as investigator, but she didn't really get it. But we shared a little bit with her and gave her a Book of Mormon and she has a friend back in Guatemala who is a member. I absolutely love this lady and I just hope to stay in contact with her - she'll understand one day. She goes back to Guatemala in one month, but Sister Ivey and I are going to stay in touch with her through the Visitors' Center.
Domingo - We didn't get any investigators to church today, but Patricia and Hna Delgado both came to church again! So that was great - they're both doing so well. I just love helping less actives prepare for the temple. We had a lesson with Hna Delgado and her daughter Monica and Monica expressed her desire to start coming to church again. Martin had work so he couldn't make it, but he wanted his family to go so bad - we stopped by twice but they were not interested in coming. We'll keep working with them.
That's a pretty big list of miracles, but it just keeps getting bigger! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to serve here in Oakland all these wonderful people. It's tough, but the Lord is shaping me and helping me to love a little more and a little better everyday.
Thanks for all your love and support! Have a good week!
Hermana Hunsaker
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Miracles at church
Time flies in the mission - especially on preparation day. Lots of things have happened this week, but I only have time to talk about the miracles.
4th of July - I was up for the fireworks! We were in our apartment doing daily planning so we didn't get a great view, but we saw a few of them on the way home from the Visitors' Center that night and we heard them all throughout our planning. Despite that, it was the best 4th of July EVER. We had tons of people come in to the Visitors' Center that night and a lot of them spoke Spanish. We contacted four solid familias and they were all interested in learning more! It felt almost like Christmas again.
Clase de Ingles - We taught English class for the second time! It was so much fun - I really love doing it. The first time was rough because we didn't know what we were doing, but we improved a lot and it was tons of fun. We have a few regulars that come to the class, and it's been so much fun to work with them! It's amazing how any kind of service, not just missionary work, helps us love all those around us and gives us so much joy.
Iglesia - WOW. Words don't do justice to express how great yesterday was. We had two less actives come to church, and an investigator! Usually only Paul comes, but he's going to be out of the picture for a few months because his father is staying with him from Mexico - we'll see what happens there. But Martin came! His wife Guadelupe and two sons didn't make it with him so we'll have to pray about how we can help them. But Martin loved church. He was there all three hours and said afterwards that he feels like this is the true church that he's been looking for! We are going to invite him to be baptized at the end of this month, and he's so ready to set that example for his family. His faith is so strong. Our less active Hermana Obregon came to church too. She doesn't have transportation so it's hard for her to get to church, but a friend gave her a ride and she talked to the bishop so that she can come back and get active in the church again.
Hna. Delgado - This story is part of the miracles at church, but it's more than that. After our correlation meeting, we went to see Hna. Delgado. Her husband is not a member and most of her kids aren't active (they were all baptized eight years ago) and she has depression. She had a really strong testimony but hasn't been to church in over a year. We decided to stop by her house and share 2 Nephi 4 with her. We read the end of the chapter and talked to her. It was such a Spirit-led lesson. When we arrived, she said that she didn't have any desire to go to church. After reading from the Book of Mormon and asking heaven-sent questions, she opened up and told us that it was just too hard for her to go to church by herself. Hermana Ivey shared her story about how everyone in her family is inactive but she knew that she needed to go to church so she never gave up on it. We told her that she can be the rock to strengthen her family, but she has to do something. And without us asking, she said she would get ready and come to church! She showed up at church an hour later and one of her daughters decided to come with her! You may not understand if you haven't served a mission, but the Lord helps us so much in this work. He knows exactly what we need to say to help His children, and He gives us those words as we keep His commandments and serve those around us. I'm not a perfect missionary - I've had very few lessons like the one with Hermana Delgado. But as we rely on the Lord, we can be instruments in His hands to bless His children. I'm so grateful for that calling and opportunity to bless people every single day as I listen to the Lord.
Hermana Ivey found this scripture this week, and we truly have seen it come to pass this week in 2 Nephi 29:
....my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.
Miracles have not ceased. Look for the miracles in your life this next week. Love you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
4th of July - I was up for the fireworks! We were in our apartment doing daily planning so we didn't get a great view, but we saw a few of them on the way home from the Visitors' Center that night and we heard them all throughout our planning. Despite that, it was the best 4th of July EVER. We had tons of people come in to the Visitors' Center that night and a lot of them spoke Spanish. We contacted four solid familias and they were all interested in learning more! It felt almost like Christmas again.
Clase de Ingles - We taught English class for the second time! It was so much fun - I really love doing it. The first time was rough because we didn't know what we were doing, but we improved a lot and it was tons of fun. We have a few regulars that come to the class, and it's been so much fun to work with them! It's amazing how any kind of service, not just missionary work, helps us love all those around us and gives us so much joy.
Iglesia - WOW. Words don't do justice to express how great yesterday was. We had two less actives come to church, and an investigator! Usually only Paul comes, but he's going to be out of the picture for a few months because his father is staying with him from Mexico - we'll see what happens there. But Martin came! His wife Guadelupe and two sons didn't make it with him so we'll have to pray about how we can help them. But Martin loved church. He was there all three hours and said afterwards that he feels like this is the true church that he's been looking for! We are going to invite him to be baptized at the end of this month, and he's so ready to set that example for his family. His faith is so strong. Our less active Hermana Obregon came to church too. She doesn't have transportation so it's hard for her to get to church, but a friend gave her a ride and she talked to the bishop so that she can come back and get active in the church again.
Hna. Delgado - This story is part of the miracles at church, but it's more than that. After our correlation meeting, we went to see Hna. Delgado. Her husband is not a member and most of her kids aren't active (they were all baptized eight years ago) and she has depression. She had a really strong testimony but hasn't been to church in over a year. We decided to stop by her house and share 2 Nephi 4 with her. We read the end of the chapter and talked to her. It was such a Spirit-led lesson. When we arrived, she said that she didn't have any desire to go to church. After reading from the Book of Mormon and asking heaven-sent questions, she opened up and told us that it was just too hard for her to go to church by herself. Hermana Ivey shared her story about how everyone in her family is inactive but she knew that she needed to go to church so she never gave up on it. We told her that she can be the rock to strengthen her family, but she has to do something. And without us asking, she said she would get ready and come to church! She showed up at church an hour later and one of her daughters decided to come with her! You may not understand if you haven't served a mission, but the Lord helps us so much in this work. He knows exactly what we need to say to help His children, and He gives us those words as we keep His commandments and serve those around us. I'm not a perfect missionary - I've had very few lessons like the one with Hermana Delgado. But as we rely on the Lord, we can be instruments in His hands to bless His children. I'm so grateful for that calling and opportunity to bless people every single day as I listen to the Lord.
Hermana Ivey found this scripture this week, and we truly have seen it come to pass this week in 2 Nephi 29:
....my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.
Miracles have not ceased. Look for the miracles in your life this next week. Love you all!
Hermana Hunsaker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)