I love and miss you so much!
Ok, so we just left the apartment and realized that our house key and the car keys are locked inside...woops!
Now we can't use the car to get around!
Anyways,
we called our manager and he didn't answer so we decided to just walk
around town trying to find people to teach. We did some tracting in some
apartments nearby and found Jessica who speaks English. Jessica is 20
and she has a 7 month old baby girl named Avery. She also has a
boyfriend named Dakota but he was at work.
Anyways,
she was really nice and let us into her home to share our message. She
was also really honest with us about her feelings and her past
experiences with church. Then at the end of the lesson she asked us both
a really good question. She asked us how the gospel has changed us and
how it felt to be so devoted to the gospel. It was a really good
question that I wasn't expecting but it showed that she had a genuine
interest in our message.
So
then Hermana Mitchell and I bore our testimonies and it was so great! The
spirit was definitely there! Jessica also said that she would pray to
know if our message was true and you could tell she really meant it. She
also said she would be willing to hear more from the missionaries!
The only sad thing is that since she only speaks English we have to pass her on to the English Sisters.
We also found another Hispanic woman named Ruby that said we could teach her at another time.
We
walked all the way downtown so we were able to talk to a lot of people.
It was pretty cool because we would have never talked to any of those
people or found Jessica if we hadn't locked ourselves out of our
apartment without the car keys.
Luckily
we were able to get into our apartment around 5:30pm or so which was
great because we had an appointment with Adan at 6:00pm. The lesson went
really well.
Also we had a lesson with Juan, Rosa and their son Bryan tonight.
The
lesson was more for Bryan but it was still really good! One of the
things we talked about was the word of wisdom which we have taught his
parents before. Juan and Rosa have been living the word of wisdom and
stopped drinking coffee but they weren't aware that there was still some
in the house that Bryan had been drinking. Bryan said he only drinks
coffee on Saturday mornings. I guess it's just become part of a routine
or habit for him.
Anyways,
we asked him if he would like to receive a priesthood blessing to help
him not have the desire to drink coffee and he said yes. He really wants
to follow the word of wisdom so he can be baptized but he was nervous
about being tempted and drinking coffee. He was especially nervous
because the next day was a Saturday.
So
Brother Sugihara and Brother Corbit came over and gave Bryan a
blessing. Rosa also found the last of the coffee and threw it away so
now there's no temptation.
It
was really neat that Bryan knew that Heavenly Father would help him
keep this commandment and that he wasn't afraid to ask for help.
Then after the lesson guess what?!
Juan, Rosa, and Bryan had bought me a cake for my birthday! How sweet is that!
So then they sang me happy birthday, I blew out the candles, and we all had cake. It was great!
Also
Hermana Mitchell made me breakfast for my birthday and had all of these
birthday notes around the apartment for me to find. She also wrote me a
very sweet note and gave me a card with her favorite quote on it.
It says,
"Tabernacles
and temples are built with more than stone and mortar, wood and
glass...They are built with service and sacrifice. They are built with
trials and testimonies. If any...within the sound of my voice feel
unprepared, even incapable of responding to a call to serve, to
sacrifice, to bless the lives of others, remember the truth: 'Whom God
calls, God qualifies.' He who notes the sparrow's fall will not abandon
the servant's need." - President Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 1987
Isn't
that such a GOOD quote! I love it! And I know I have heard this and
many quotes like it before but things are tough sometimes so it's a
great reminder that with God we can do amazing and sometimes hard
things.
So even though
we were locked out of our apartment for most of the day it was still an
amazing day and a great birthday full of miracles and opportunities for
me to grow!
I've only
been on my mission for two months and I am already learning so much
about myself and how I can improve. I'm learning more about my strengths
and weakness. I'm learning a lot more about faith!
I'm
learning that I do, indeed, have some pride that I need to just get rid
of. I'm learning that I need to have more confidence, especially when I
try to speak the language.
I
just have so much to learn and do out here! I hope that through helping
others learn about the gospel that I too can grow closer to my Heavenly
Father and return home a different and a better disciple of Christ.
The
message we share as missionaries is extremely important and life
changing. As missionaries we really should invite every person we see to
listen to our message. Everyone needs the knowledge of the gospel in
their lives.
Some people
we talk to are not interested at all. Some people don't like organized
religion. Some people don't believe in God. Some people say they believe
in God and that they're "good" so we should go try to help other people
doing worse than they are. Some people don't even say anything, they
just look at you like you have some sort of disease.
However,
some people do listen. Some people have been looking for absolute truth
and peace in their lives. With some people you can just tell that God
has been preparing them to hear the gospel and then he leads us to
them.
How awesome and amazing is that?!
Missionary work is just the best thing ever!
Sending you all my love!
Hermana Soliz
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| Finally got out group pic from when we arrived on Sept 18th! |
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| HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! THANKS JUAN, ROSA, AND BRYAN! |
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