Week 73! 35 days left, but I'm not counting....

Are you all excited for the New Year??! I know I am! :) This new year is going to be full of good and exciting experiences! I just know it!  

I started this 6-week training called My Plan and it's really made me think of the goals that I want to have when I go home. The whole purpose of My Plan is to help missionaries keep progressing in the gospel after they go home so it's been interesting to think about.

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas full of love! We had our Christmas activity on the 23rd and it was so much fun and very spiritual! First we went with our own Zones to go caroling at different assisted living places. We didn't exactly know at first that it was supposed to be by zone though so Hermana Yost and Hermana Huhem ended up joing us too. :) 

It was really nice to sing a few songs for the people and the Marshallese missionaries even sang silent night with a ukulele in their language and it was really pretty. 

There was one woman there that was really funny! Her name is C and she was very cute and spunky! She was dancing to the songs and she even walked right up to us and sang with us. After every song she was like, "Okay, you're done." Haha! She was also making the moves on a few of the elders. Haha! While singing she kept talking to one of the zone leaders and then while some sisters where singing in a quartet she gestured at one of the sisters and asked, "What do you think of her?" Haha! All of us started laughing! It was hilarious! Then when we were leaving C was trying to hold another Elders' hand. After that she saw me and came up to me and asked me if I wanted her to get me a man. I responded, "No, that's okay, I'm fine." haha! She definitley made all of us missionaries laugh! All of the people were so sweet and thanked us for coming to sing to them.

After caroling we all met at the Kent Stake Center for the rest of the activity. Our group was one of the first to make it back and when we got there Sister E was at a table ready to serve ice cream sundaes with brownies! :) Let's just say Hermana L and I didn't waste any time getting our sundaes. We were the first to get them and as we sat down and ate them we realized that no one else was eating yet. They were all talking or checking for packages. Hermana L and I were so confused. We were like "There is a free ice cream bar what are you people doing?!" After eating, Hermana L made the comment that we were probably embarrassingly enthusiastic for the brownies. Haha!

I also got to meet the two new Hermanas. They are sweet! I also got to see a lot of other missionaries that I know like Sister B, Sister L, and Sister C so that was nice! I also got to see Elder B. He's the one who thinks we could be cousins. I told him that this is my last transfer so I could just try to find out when I'm home. 

After the dessert we all made our way to the chapel where we got to listen to a few special musical numbers that really brought the Spirit. We also watched a video with some pictures of baptisms that the mission has had this past year. It was so beautiful! Seeing one of your brothers or sisters dressed in white for their baptism really is one of the most beautiful things in the world! I love it! I know that I only have a few more weeks left to serve as a full-time missionary but even after the mission I am going to continue to help my brothers and sisters make the covenant of baptism! :) And in these last few weeks Hermana L are going work so hard to help the Hernandez family be baptized and to find prepared people! 

On Christmas Eve we were able to visit a member who hasn't gone to church in a while. I had never met him before but he and his family were so nice! He kept offering us food and even gave us some tamales to take home.  We got to know him a little bit and then we read some verses from Luke 2 and shared the Christmas video with them. We talked about the Savior and also a little bit about the plan of salvation because he mentioned that he was sad because around this time 2 years ago his mom passed away. I was able to share my testimony with him that I knew that he would see his mom again and that there was more to come after this life. You could feel the Spirit fill the room! It was so great! I hope that we get to continue working with this family in order to help him return to church and to help his wife be baptized. Sometimes we get so busy with other things that we need to do that we don't always recognize the Spirit in our lives. Or sometimes we don't appreciate it. I know though, that if we try a little harder to pay attention we will recognize the promptings of the Spirit and  see God's hand in our lives guiding our every decision. We will also strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father as we give thanks for the times when we do feel the Spirit. 

On that same night we were allowed 2 hours for dinner at whatever time we wanted but Hermana Lewis and I didn't have anywhere to go. So we had a plan to go to Safeway to buy a cake and to spend our dinner time in our own apartment from 7-9.

We didn't really think it through before but we found out that it is extremely hard to find a store open on Christmas Eve! We tried a few places and found that they were all closed so finally we went to Walmart. When we got there we only had 20 minutes before the store was going to close so we grabbed our goodies and headed for the checkout lines which were of course over flowing. Then we got a call from Hermana Z and she asked us when we were going to go to Hermano L house for dinner and to get our presents. Hermana L and I were so surprised! We had no idea that they were planning for us to go over. So then we headed over there and Hermano L, Hermana P, Hermana Z, Hermano B, and the Elders were all there. They were waiting on the Hernandez family (the same family that Hermana L and I are teaching!) to get there with the turkey. Hermana Z was so nice! She served us some pasta because she knew we hadn't eaten yet. The Hernandez family was running a little late so basically when they got there we had to leave but it was really nice to be able to spend a few minutes with the members on Christmas Eve. Our presents were scarfs from Hermano L and they are super cute! :)     

The next day on Christmas Hermana L surprised me with a gift! We had been at the drugstore one day and we were buying chocolate (by the way I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to chocolate) when I saw this cute elephant figurine. Well I don't know how Hermana L did it so sneakily but she ended up getting it for me. It was so sweet of her! :) I also got from my family a really pretty Texas necklace and a t-shirt with the mission name on it! So I had a great Christmas! Thanks mom and dad! :)

Christmas morning we had a brunch at the S's home. The B's, the C's, the L's, and Hermana Z were all there. Hermana S is like Wonder Woman. I literally don't know how she pulls off the projects that she does. Thanksgiving dinner was awesome and then for this Christmas brunch there was so much food! There was biscuits and gravy, regular and gluten free pancakes, crepes, waffles, eggs, sausage, bacon, peppers and onions, toppings for everything and fruit. It was all so delicious and then we got to do the best part which was Skype with our families! It was so great to be able to see and talk with my family! I miss and love them so much!  It was the best! It was also kind of funny just because I'll be seeing you all in person real soon! 

On Christmas night Hermana L and I decided to go to the assisted living home to visit some of the people there. It made me so happy to be able to visit some of them and brighten their day! It was also a little sad because  a few of them were saying that they just wanted to die. A man named P just kept asking me if I could take him somewhere else and let him loose. I helped him get out into the hallway where there was light but we didn't get very far so then we took him back to his bed, tucked him in, and sang a Christmas song for him. Another man was very nice and his name was K. We talked to him about his dog Penny and how he likes cops and robbers. There was another lady that was so sweet! She talked to us as if we were her own grandchildren and told us how much she loved us. She was so thankful for our visit and when we left she told us to remember to be careful and to look both ways when crossing the street, :) The last man we visited was named Peter and he was also very appreciative of our visit. He was recovering from a stroke and hoping to return to his home soon. Even though it was a small thing it made me so happy that we could do a kind act of service for these people! :) 

Another cool experience we had happened just last night! So when I first got to Auburn I remember visiting a young man named J and his family. After that one lesson we never went back but I had thought of him from time to time. I have tried finding him since then but I couldn't find anything in the area book for him. I've even gone back to those apartments and knocked doors that I thought would be his apartment but never found him. That was a long time ago. So then he came to my mind again recently so we decided that we would go to those apartments and knock doors again. Well when the time came to go to those apartments I couldn't remember exactly where they were so we decided to go visit someone that the Elders referred to us instead. The referral lived on the second floor so after getting to the top I looked across the street and it was the apartments where I knew Jose lived! And guess what it gets even cooler! I couldn't remember his apartment number but I knew that in one of the buildings it was the apartment on the top right. So after trying the referral we walked exactly across the street to try the top right apartment of that first building. And guessed what happened? Jose answered!! It was such a miracle! God totally led us there! J told us that missionaries had come in the past and that they were Catholic but that he still listened to anyone who talked about religion. He couldn't have a lesson then but set up an appointment with us for later. I don't know what is going to happen with J but I know that God helped us find him that night and that there is a reason for it! If nothing else it helped me learn that God is always aware of us and our righteous desires. He will always help us get to where we need to go as long as we trust in Him! :) 

Love you all! 

Hermana Soliz

Feliz Navidad a Todos!

I can't believe that Christmas is already going to be this Friday! I hope you all have a great time with family and friends and that you eat lots of yummy food! Just not too much! And that you are all safe while traveling to where you are going!

Hermana Lewis and I will be having Christmas breakfast with the Sandoval family at 10 am Christmas morning and we will be Skyping soon after that. I'm so excited to see and talk to you guys! It'll be great! :) 

We had a lesson with the Hernandez family and we set up lessons with them for every Saturday until January 30th! January 30th is their perspective baptismal date. They really don't want to commit to a date right now but they are willing to work towards January 30th! They know that that is the plan we have for them and they know that they can be ready at that time! It's such a blessing that we were able to set up lessons for each Saturday because that is the only day that we can teach the whole family together! 

Hermano Arvayo also went to teach that lesson with us so that was super cool! 

Elder Oliva got transferred but Elder Gonzalez stayed. It's funny because we were in the MTC together and now we're serving in the same branch so I started and and will be finishing my mission with him. 

We made Christmas cards for some of the people we are teaching and also for some of the members. They came out cute I think. :) 

We have our Christmas devotional this Wednesday with half of the mission. I'm excited for it! 

I'm very excited for some new investigators that we will be teaching very soon! :) 

I love the teachings of the gospel so much! It is all really simple! I don't know or understand everything but I want to strive to put my trust in God. Here is a quote I want to share, 

“Only faith that He suffered for our sakes will give us the strength to endure to the end.”—Elder Robert D. Hales, “Finding Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ”

I love you all so much! Remember to count your blessings this Christmas and look for ways to build your faith in Christ! 

All my love, 

Hermana Soliz

Another transfer...and last one, gone!......

I have big news!!!!

I'm staying and finishing out my mission here in Auburn! :) This is my 8th transfer here! At the end of my mission I will have served here for about 11 months! :) I'm so glad that I get to stay here! It would've been so sad to leave all of these people that I love right before Christmas! 

Hermana Lewis is also staying here so I get to be her companion for the rest of my mission! 

The Hernandez family that we are teaching are so sweet!! They signed up on our dinner calendar to feed us and the elders so this past week they fed us all dinner! It was so nice of them to do and they aren't even members! Also, this Sunday not only did Rojelio and Lourdes come to church like they've been doing for quite a few weeks but so did Cecilia! Cecilia hadn't liked going to the youth classes because they were in English so she came and just went to the adult classes in Spanish with us and her parents! :) It was such a blessing! 

We had exchanges again so I got to visit my lovely home of Enumclaw, WA! :) It made me so happy!! :) Right when I got there Hermana Singer told me that she wanted to stop by Juan and Rosa's house to follow up with them on their missionary work. I was so excited!!!! Juan opened the door and at first he was just looking at Hermana Singer but then he looked at me and he was so surprised to see me. Haha! He went and got Rosa and then she came out and we hugged like five times! I love that family so much!!! Rosa asked my when I was finishing my mission and then I told her that I was planning on visiting in March. That's when she told me that they might get  sealed in March!!! :) I was so happy!!!!!! I hope I can be there at the temple with them on that special day! 

Then after that Grandpa Blad stopped by our apartment to see me and give me a special gift! It was a Christmas card, some candy canes, a Seattle temple key chain, and some of his smoked salmon that he knows I love! :) It was so sweet! 

I also heard that the Ayala family that was baptized in Renton might be moving to Auburn soon. I hope that it's true because I would love to see them! They will hit their year mark on the 28th of February so they will be getting sealed soon as well! :) I need to write them ans see how they are doing! 

On Saturday Hermana Perez's daughter, Addie, was baptized. We invited Hermano Arvayo to go and he went so that was awesome! It was such a nice baptism and even though I don't remember very much from my baptism it reminded me of my own. After the baptism we all went over to Hermano Lara's house to eat pasole. That was good because all of the members got to spend time together and chat. 

Yesterday we had a miracle as we used the area book. We chose a potential from a few years  back to try to visit and she didn't live there anymore but we knocked the doors of her neighbors and found two Hispanics! It was such a blessing! We have a set appointment with one and the other family said just to stop by when we were in the area. 

We also had a new family move into the branch! They are the Chavez and they are so cute! They have two cute little girls and Hermana Lewis and I are planning on visiting them soon so we can get to know them better! 

Ponderizing scripture for this week, 3 Nephi 27:20 - " Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day."

I know that as we go to church each Sunday and truly repent and partake of the bread and water we can be made clean and be spotless like the scripture says. So I invite you all to go to church this Sunday and to feel of the spirit there. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth and that as we make an effort to truly live the gospel will receive the greatest gift God has to offer, which is eternal life.

Saludos con amor

Hermana Soliz

Week 70...Blessed week!

Something that God helped me remember this week is that there is no need to worry. All we have to do is trust in Him. He will never leave us alone, even in our trials so we just need to trust in Him and keep moving forward.

Hermana Lewis and I received so many blessings this week and I am always so grateful for the guidance He gives us! I love sharing the gospel with my brothers and sisters! It makes me so happy and it helps me grow closer to my Heavenly Father.

There are great things happening here in Auburn!! We were able to see a lot of people that we haven't seen for awhile and we received a lot of new referrals so I'm excited to visit them! 

So last Sunday Hno. A went to church and made a joke about cinnamon rolls and well long story short I made him homemade cinnamon rolls. He was so surprised and we got to set up another appointment with him which we ended up having at a restaurant. It went well besides the fact that I indirectly gave him a death threat. We were talking about enduring to the end and I said "You could die tomorrow!" Hermana Lewis thought it was hilarious! But he came to sacrament meeting on Sunday! It was the best! Hermana Lewis and I were so happy that he went! 

It was also testimony meeting so he heard a lot of strong testimonies that I know strengthened his own. One of the members who shared their testimony was M. Valle. She was serving in Peru for four months and she just got home this week because she is sick. She is hoping to get better and as long as the doctors say it's okay she plans on going back out into the field. M used to be very quiet. Kind of like me. Haha! And it is amazing to see the change in her just after four months! She bore a strong testimony that brought the spirit and I am so excited to have her here to help us! 

I learned something from everyone who shared their testimonies on Sunday and I am very grateful for that! I love that in the branch  we are all like family and we try to serve and support each other. I also learned a lot from other people that we are teaching. Some of our investigators are going through some really big, hard trials and they are facing them with so much faith and hope. One of them just found out that she has leukemia and that it's spreading fast. When we visited her she talked all about the miracles and blessings God has given her and the she knows He can make another miracle happen for her. She is facing this trial that would tear a lot of people down with so much faith and grace. I definitely admire that! 

Also, miracle of the week! We finally had contact with Hermano Hernandez! :) So I had been praying that one day we would go by his house  and find him getting out of his car so that we could talk to him. Calling and knocking on his door was not working so that's why I was praying for that. Also, on the day we talked to him Hermana Z had gone to the temple and had been praying for him as well. 

So we go to try to see him and we see that the tail lights on his car are on! He's in the car! But we weren't fast enough at parking and getting out of the car so he drove off. I can not tell you how bad I felt. I was thinking, "Seriously, I prayed for this to happen and I missed my chance!" I was so sad! But I told Hermana Lewis that usually if Hermano leaves he just goes to the store real quick and comes back. So we decided to wait and ten minutes later he was back! I got out of the car and started walking across the parking lot to his car and when he saw us he looked surprised but happy! He's been having some personal problems that he's trying to fix and he's basically shut everyone out for now so it was so great to talk to him! We were so happy that we just stood there with these gigantic smiles on our faces for awhile. And it turns out he got the donuts we left him and he liked them! He told us not to worry about him and that he loves the church but just needed a break to resolve some personal things. Then he said that if it wasn't us that other hermanas would be visiting him soon. That's when I pulled the, "I'm going home in two months" so then he told us to go back in a month. So that's the plan! :)

We also had our branch Christmas party and it was a lot of fun! We changed things up a bit and had Italian food instead of the traditional Mexican food. After we had a little Christmas program for the audience so Hermana Lewis and I were able to participate in that :) 

If you haven't seen the new 2 minute Christmas video you should all check it out at christmas.mormon.org

Les quiero y que tengan un buena semana! 

La Hermana Soliz

In the choir for our Branch Christmas Party

Week #69 Empezando la Navidad!

Wow! This week was such an emotional roller coaster for me! Up, down, up, down, ALL week! It was good though!

I was so happy that we were able to teach a member who is going to start coming back to church! His name is Enrique and he came to church this past Sunday for the first time in a long time! It was so great! He even went and found and got out his scriptures that were in his garage and we believe he's reading because he had to go get them from his room in one of our lessons. He could only stay for the classes but hopefully he can come to all three hours next week! 

Then I was so worried for one of the members in the branch so I was praying that everything would be okay and it looks like everything is going to be alright. 

Then I was SUPER happy because I went on exchange to Enumclaw!! 

But then I was sad because it was only for the day and I wouldn't be staying :( It felt like I was going home and I had to mentally prepare myself so I wouldn't get attached. Then I was happy because I got to see some people I knew but at the same time sad because I didn't get to see others! Luckily, I was able to quickly talk to Juan Torres and Grandpa Blad on the phone. :)  

I was super happy because I got to see a lot of the hermanas at the Thanksgiving activity we had! I was especially excited to see Hermana Webb! :) 

So yeah lots of ups and downs but that's alright! Sigo adelante!

We spent Thanksgiving with the Sandoval family and it was so nice! Everything looked like it came out of a magazine! She had these cute and fancy dishes and a ton of food!Some of Hermana Sandoval's family and friends were there including the Barreto's and Hermana Zepeda from the branch. The family that we are teaching right now- Rojelio, Lourdes, and Cecilia also went and they really enjoyed it! They all really like the friendships they are making within the branch. :)

At the dinner everyone went around the room and said what they were thankful for. :) It was so sweet! :) I thought of many, many, many things but I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for my mission and for the people I am serving. I cannot explain in words how much true joy my mission has brought me. :) And even though the days keep passing and in a couple months I won't have a name tag I know that it won't be the end. My mission is something I will treasure forever and I am definitely going to work hard until I go home but really even when I go home I'll still be a missionary! Not a full-time missionary but my purpose will still be to bring others unto Christ! :) 

So my Thanksgiving was amazing and I hope you all enjoyed it too and ate a lot of yummy food! 

This coming Saturday we are going to have our branch Christmas party and program. For the program Hermana Lewis and I are going to sing the song "Oh pueblecito de Belen" so wish us luck!

This week was so great and I really feel like the Spirit helped me learn some important things I needed to know. This past Sunday during the second hour we were all combined and we learned about prayer! It was perfect because we just had a zone conference all about prayer! :) One thing I really liked that was said was that sometimes we ask God for answers and are expecting the answer to come in the way or form that we asked for it but many times the answer is right in front of our eyes. We just need to set aside our view and try to understand God's view so we can recognize it! 

I love you all so much! 

Hermana Soliz

  

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Our District with Brother M

Beautiful Mt Rainier

Week 68!

HOLA HOLA!!!!

To start I want to wish my beautiful sister a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I love you Brooklynn and have a great day! :) Stay warm too! I don't know how it is at home but it's cold here! 

Okay, So this week was so great like always! 

Hermana Lewis and I have been working hard to update all of the potentials and formers in our area books. We haven't exactly received linear blessings from it yet but we are definitely receiving blessings in other ways! 

Hermana Lewis and I are doing so good! We have a great companionship and I am so thankful for that! We really want to work hard to find people who are ready to be baptized and we are working to help Rogelio, Lourdes, and Cecilia to make that step! :) 

On Monday we had a family home evening with them in the Sandoval's home and it was perfect! Hermana Sandoval prepared this awesome lesson on how to improve our scripture study. Hermano Sandoval and Rojelio really got along well with each other! 

Then we had a Relief Society activity this past week and we learned how to make cinnamon rolls! They were so delicious :) but what was even better was that we had five non-members there! Lourdes and Cecilia went and so did a woman named Margarita and her two daughters! :) It was such a blessing! We've been visiting Margarita's family for a while and the husband shows the most interest so it was so great that they came to the activity! 

We also had our branch dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving and Rojelio, Lourdes, and Cecilia all came to that! Then on Sunday Rojelio and Lourdes came to church! That's their third time coming!! :) 

We also had a lesson with one of the Elder's investigators this past week. His name is Enrique and he is from El Salvador. He opened up to us about his past and how he ended up in the States. The things he's gone through and the trials he has had are horrible. I am so lucky that I was born in the States. We are truly blessed to live in America! Enrique has such a strong desire to be baptized and he knows that he is here for a reason! I'm excited to see how he progresses with the Elders! 

Hermana Lewis and I were going through the ward list one day and trying to visit members that we didn't know. One of them is a man named Enrique. So this is a different Enrique just to be clear. But yeah Hermana Lewis and I are so excited to teach him and help him come back to church! 

Zone Conference was this past Thursday and it was my last Zone Conference so that means that I got to share my testimony at the end with everyone. I hadn't even realized that it was my last zone conference until that morning when I was getting ready. Yeah I can't believe it actually happened. I kept thinking, "Maybe...if I don't share my testimony then I won't really be going home..." but being in denial doesn't change things. It was different because usually there is a big group of missionaries going home and all of the elders give their testimonies first and then the sisters. At this zone conference the only ones going home were me and Sister Lee! We couldn't believe it! But it was really great and I loved the topic! 

The entire zone conference was on prayer. President Eaton had said that he had always wanted to focus on prayer but that other topics came up and he was super excited to finally be able to do it. I learned too much to say right now,
but I just want you to know that God answers prayers! I invite you all to think of how you can improve your prayers and then see how it goes. You might be more specific, or you might write down your thoughts and impressions after praying. One thing I want to do better is to prepare for prayer. I want to think through everything that I want to pray for before doing it. I love you all!! 

Con mucho carino :) 

Hermana Soliz

Sister Lee and I, our last Zone Conference. 70 days left today!!

For you Mom!!

WEEK 67

So I want to start out by first telling you about a miracle that Hermana Lewis and I had. We needed to go find some new people to teach and we had no idea where to go. We thought through some options and then we prayed for guidance from the Spirit to know where to go. We didn't feel like we received a strong prompting to go to a specific spot but we still ended up agreeing to go to some apartments we had never been to before. When we got there we started knocking doors and some people did not want to listen but even though they didn't want to hear our message they were still nice and not mean about it. We even talked to a guy that was super nice to us even though we woke him up with our knocking and he agreed to have missionaries go over and teach him. We also were talking to this teenage girl and she pointed out some of the apartments where Hispanics lived. At the first door we tried some kids opened the door and we were able to talk to their mom who let us in to teach her kids. The mom's name is C and she has three kids. A is ten, A is about to turn nine, and S is three. The lesson went really well and the kids paid very good attention. It turns out they had  had a visit from missionaries a few years back once. They still had the picture of Jesus Christ that those missionaries had left with them. They go to a Christian church in Kent so the kids were sharing some Bible stories that they knew. A had really good questions and I almost couldn't believe that they were coming from a ten year old! For example, one of his questions was if he needed to wait to take the sacrament until after he was baptized and another question he had was how often should we take the sacrament. He had read somewhere that a certain religion only takes the sacrament once a year. 

C listened as well and she said the closing prayer. In her prayer she asked to know if Joseph Smith was a Prophet and to know if this was  the true church! :) It was so great! But it gets even better! 

So then we went back a couple of days later for our return appointment and unfortunately Claudia was working but the kids were home and so was the grandma so we were able to teach them. The grandma  didn't want to listen but the kids were happy that we were there. As soon as we got inside and sat down A went to go get his pamphlet and his  Book of Mormon.

We had left the kids with their own pamphlets about the restoration of the gospel and they had both read! A was almost completely finished with it! 

Sadly, a lot of our adult investigators don't even do that and these kids did! And again they were so well behaved during the lesson!  

We went over the Restoration again and we played Restoration Jenga that way they could put a visual to it. After playing the game and explaining how everything related to the Restoration, A said that he then understood that there is only one church with the priesthood power. It was so amazing! He also said the closing prayer and gave thanks for us being there and he also said that he was thankful for the invitation to go to our church and that he personally thought it was a good idea to try it out. :) Seriously these kids are so great! Hopefully we get to teach them with their mom again soon so we can figure out how to get them to church! 

Also there is this couple that we stop by to see every once in awhile and we visited them this past week to invite them to the upcoming activities that we'll be having in the church. We talked a little bit about the importance of baptism and the husband said that he would like me and Hermana Lewis to baptize him and his wife. We then explained to him again the importance of the priesthood power and how only the men have this power to baptize. He understood in the end but it was still funny! 

Another blessing is that we were able to have a lesson with Hermano R.L!!! I was so happy! :)  He called us and wanted to feed us dinner so we met him at a Mexican restaurant and talked about how he's been doing and the Book of Mormon. I've been so worried about him because he hasn't been coming to church but he said that he knows he needs to come back and he came this Sunday! He told us that he's just been working a lot and that he's too tired to go sometimes. He's also trying to find an apartment so he has a lot going on but I'm so happy he's coming back to church! :) He also talked about how he loves people so much and that it's sad when people leave. He said it's okay when that happens sometimes but that in the church it happens all the time! He always gets sad when missionaries get moved to another area or finish their missions and go back home so that's what he was referring to. He wasn't happy to hear that I'll be going home in February. 

The mission devotional was on Sunday but we couldn't go because we didn't have any investigators going. I was sad because I knew Sister Walker would be there but she gave me the cutest elephant necklace and 3 elephant sculptures that are now on my desk. It was a late birthday present! :) Sister Loeak also gave me some elephant earrings for my birthday because she knows I like them too. It was so sweet! 

Our investigators R and L also came to church this Sunday! I love them so  much! They are supposed to be coming to a family home evening with us tonight so hopefully everything works out and they can still do it! R knows a lot about religion and he always makes comments in class! It's so cool to see! 

In sacrament meeting we were able hear from two people in the Stake so I had to translate from English to Spanish. I translated the first talk and it wasn't perfect but I think it went pretty well! Luckily, they gave me copies of their talks so it was easier to follow along. After the first talk Hemano R offered to help me so he translated the second talk which was such a blessing because there was words I didn't know how to say and it was a way longer  talk! I'm so glad he offered to help! 

Here are some scriptures I read this past week! 

This is counsel to Joseph Smith but we can all apply it to our own lives. 

D&C 3:5-10 "Behold, you have been entrusted with these things, but how strict were your commandments; and remember also the promises which were made to you, if you did not transgress them.

And behold, how oft you have transgressed the commandments and the laws of God, and have gone on in the persuasions of men.

For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God. Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and despise his words—

Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have been with you in every time of trouble.

Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but because of transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt fall.

But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work;"

I also love 3 Nephi 9:13-14 "O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me." 

We as children of God are entitled to blessings from our loving Heavenly Father and He is a always ready and willing to bless us! We just need to do our part. I love these scriptures because they remind me that there is hope and that even thought we may fall sometimes we can be made clean through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Even though we make mistakes every day because we are human God still loves us and wants us to return to Him! He still chooses us! It doesn't matter how bad we think our situation is we can turn to God and Jesus Christ and be made whole. 

This quote stood out to me this past week and it is so true! "Justification is the lubrication to damnation."-  President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Also here is a link to a 3 minute video I love! 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-08-014-daily-bread-change?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2013&lang=eng&cid=HP_TU_11-10-2015_dPFD_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-C_

Love you all! 

Hermana Soliz :) 

The Bell Lap Letter.......week 66

Well everyone, it finally happened. I received my bell lap letter. I actually received it last Sunday and completely forgot to mention it. I've had companions who have received their bell lap letters towards the end of their missions and I always thought, "Oh that's so far away!"

Yeah, I don't think that anymore. 

When I got it we were waiting for a member so we could have dinner and a lesson and since we live in the same complex  we decided to check the mail. 

Hermana Lewis handed me a letter and it was from the mission so I assumed it was a media referral or something. I also had a lot of things on my mind so I wasn't even thinking that it could've been my bell lap letter! 

I was in the middle of saying something to Hermana Lewis when I ripped the letter open and realized what it was and well, I had an interesting reaction. 

Hermana Lewis was so confused because I just gasped and shoved the letter back in the envelope and kept saying, "No, no, no, no!"

I had all of these different feelings and I didn't even have time to compose myself or anything because we were about to have a lesson. So I shoved the letter in my purse and went to work!

Then at the end of the day when I could actually read it  I didn't want to. I was in denial pretending that if I didn't read it I still had more time.   

Also more big news is that today is transfers and Hermana Lewis and I will be staying together here in Auburn! I am so happy! :) I love the members so much I might even move up here one day! 

We don't have very many progressing investigators at the moment so we need to really work hard to find new people.

We passed off our investigator, Esteban, to the Elders the other day. It was so sad but since he is a man and we aren't teaching the whole family at this point the Elders need to teach him. Hermana Lewis and I were very sad and we gave the Elders all of the advice that we could think of so they could more easily pick up where we left off. Esteban came to the first hour of church this past Sunday, which is the Gospel Principles class but then he had to leave. Hopefully he will keep progressing and find the truth that he is looking for.

Our other family that we have been teaching are planning on coming to church for the second time this Sunday! Their daughter Cecilia also said she wanted to invite her friend so that he could translate for her in her classes! We haven't been able to teach the husband, Rojelio, very much because he is always working but I'm excited to help this family progress towards baptism and the temple! 

This past Saturday Hermana Lewis and I had the opportunity to go to two baptisms! :) 

The first was at 3pm and it was for Rebecca and her daughters Atong and Ajok. They are the family that I got to know and teach while I was serving in the White River ward. :) It was so great to see them be baptized! Sister Walker was also able to go to the baptism so I was able to see her!! :)  

The second baptism was at 7pm and it was for a young man that will be attending the Young Single Adult Ward. Esteban came to that baptism so that was great!  

This week I read some scriptures I really liked! 

They are 3 Nephi 6:18 "Now they did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been taught unto them; therefore they did willfully rebel against God." This is such an important warning for us! We should always willingly follow God and if it's difficult to do we need to pray for a change of heart! 

And also, D&C 18:45 "Wherefore, the blessings which I give unto you are above all things." This is such an amazing promise that we can't even fully understand right now! :) 

Also the scripture that the whole mission is ponderizing this week is 2 Nephi 9:23 and it says "And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God." 

Bringing people to the knowledge and truth of the gospel is the most important work because it's the work of salvation. :) I am so grateful for my loving Heavenly Father and for my Savior Jesus Christ that love me unconditionally and help me learn and grow. 

Love you all!

Hermana Soliz

Auburn Zone Conference

Reunited with Sister Walker!

Week 65 in Auburn!

Hey everyone!! Hope you all had a great and fun Halloween!

Hermana Lewis and I really enjoyed the Halloween parties they had at the church! 

It was fun to be able to see the different costumes that everyone had! 

On Monday we had a Family Home Evening at the Sandoval's home. Hermana Perez and her three girls were there, and so was Hermano Moreno and his friend. Also, our investigator Esteban was there!! It was perfect because there were several members of the church there for him to meet! He also was talking for a good while with Hermano Sandoval so I think they hit it off well! 

Hermana Sandoval shared a cute poem about two pumpkins, one named Patty and the other Perry. Patty was not a nice person and Perry was. She had two pumpkins with faces on them to be Patty and Perry. The moral of the story was that we should be clean inside and out. So when you looked into Patty she still had all of her pumpkin seeds but Perry was clean. It was a cute poem and was a really good spiritual message as well! 

At the end of the lesson Hermana Sandoval asked everyone if they wanted her to include a special blessing in the closing prayer and everyone went around and said something. Esteban quickly responded to the question saying that he wanted help to be baptized!! :) It was so awesome! And he is still preparing to be baptized on November 28th! 

We were also able to have two other lessons with Esteban this past week and we had members with us for both of those as well. One of them we had just last night and he was talking about how we wants to have his insides be clean as well! So not only did he listen to the message at the Sandoval's but he wants to apply it! 

We also had Lordes's family come to the Halloween activity and to church this Sunday! Lordes. her husband, Rojelio and their daughter Cecilia all came to both the activity and to all three hours of church! It was the most amazing thing ever! They really enjoyed the activity and even though church was way different then what they're used to they seemed to like it! Rojelio knows a lot about the Bible and some other religions so he enjoyed the classes where we get to talk and learn from each other. It was fast and testimony meeting and all of the testimonies were so strong and special! And everyone was so welcoming to them! Hermana Perez even invited them to her house for dinner but they couldn't make it. 

It was super crazy though because never have I ever had the fire alarm go off in the church and this past Sunday something happened where the alarm went off and we all had to exit the building for a while. And it was during the sacrament of all times! Right after they had blessed the water! I was thinking, "Really Satan!" But it's okay because we still had a really nice sacrament meeting.

We are going to have a lesson with them on Tuesday so we can find out more about how they liked it and if they have any questions! Rojelio started reading the Book of Mormon so hopefully we can get them reading as a family! 

Things are kind of crazy right now because we are trying to figure out what to do about our phone. I was washing my face and when I grabbed my towel off of the counter to dry my face I knocked the phone off the counter right into the toilet...So yeah, we don't have a phone right now. We put in rice to try to dry it out but it's shot. They gave us a new battery to hopefully fix the problem but it's acting weird and we can't actually use it. Hopefully we get it figured out soon because we need to keep in contact with the people we are teaching! 

Also this Saturday Rebecca and her daughters, Atong and Ajoke are getting baptized in the English ward! She is the woman that showed up to church one day just to pray when I was companions with Sister Walker! And now she's getting baptized with her family! :) 

Also the scripture that the whole mission will be ponderizing this week is Ether 12:3,

"For he did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance lest they should be destroyed, saying unto them that by faith all things are fulfilled—"

That is some intense praying!

Have a great week and transfers are next week so pray that I stay in Auburn! :)

Love,

Hermana Soliz

 

 

Week 64! Reflections....

Through all of the ups and downs of this past week I have seen the blessings of God in my life! God lives! He loves us so much and just wants the best for us! Many times we just need to set aside our pride and remember Him. I'm in Helaman right now in the Book of Mormon and I've read a lot about how the downfall of the people was their pride. Every time it's pride that gets in the way and causes them to forget God. So I am making it a goal to be more aware of my pride so I can more fully set it aside and become more like the disciple of Christ that God wants me to be.

I just watched the new mormon message called Reflections and I loved it so much that here is the link. Watch it! It goes right along with what I've been learning in the Book of Mormon. 

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/reflections?cid=HP_TU_10-20-2015_dPTH_fMLIB_xLIDyL2-3_ 

Sunday we had the Primary Program and it was so cute! I loved seeing all of the little kids give their testimonies and sing! The Hispanic children even gave their parts in Spanish so it was really cute! Between us and the Elders we had four investigators there to watch it! It was great! 

Also...great news! We had a church tour with Esteban and he is committed to prepare to be baptized on November 28th! :) Yay!! I'm so excited to help him recognize the Spirit and his potential! Pray that we will be good teachers and help him progress! :) 

Also I hope you all enjoy and are safe on the dia de bruja this weekend! I still can't believe that it is going to be Halloween! And then before you know it, it's going to be Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years! Then I'll be home!! Yikes! 

Love you all! 

Hermana Soliz 

Week 63!

This past week was jam packed of things to do! And I loved it! Missionary work is always the best when you're busy! For the first time in a while we literally had to run to get from appointment to appointment.

We had interviews with President Eaton and I always enjoy those so much! I always come out of them with more spiritual strength to keep pressing forward! 

After our interviews President Eaton had a referral for us and she just so happened to live down the street so he walked over to her apartment with us to talk to her. On the way President Eaton started talking to this 15 year-old boy that looked way older about families and the gospel. The whole time I was thinking, "I'm contacting with President Eaton! The pressure is on!" Haha! That doesn't happen every day! 

We also had Elder Lawrence and his wife visit our mission and we were able to receive some amazing counsel from them! But before I get into that I'll answer some questions my mom sent me. 

So my biggest challenge this week was probably...eating two dinners in the same day. Haha! Yeah we'll communicate better next time to make sure that doesn't happen. 

My biggest success was probably having more members present at lessons with us! We had more this past week than we've had in a while and we plan to keep working on it! 

My favorite person this past week has been our investigator Lodes and her husband Rojelio. They are Catholic and they are just now learning about the gospel. They are not committed to being baptized but they are so open to learn and they both understand that baptism is a promise  and commitment with God so they want to take it seriously! 

My favorite tender mercy this week was when Sister Eaton sent us all the talk entitled, Becoming Perfect in Christ by Elder Gerrit W. Gong. It is such a great talk and I really needed to read it! She also sent a document about perfectionism and the healthy and unhealthy stages of being a perfectionist. It was super great of her to do! 

My goal for this week is to have a bigger focus on baptism in every lesson.

This coming week I am excited about finding people that will accept the invitation to prepare and be baptized! 

The scripture that has the biggest impact on me this past week is Alma 57:25 when it talks about how all of the stripling warriors survived the battle,  however still received many wounds. This reminded me that as long as we are on God's side we will find success and we will be saved. It also reminded me that we will all receive wounds in this lifetime. I'm talking more so about spiritual wounds rather than physical wounds. But I know that through Jesus Christ we can all be healed! 

Now, on to the most amazing part of this week! Training with Elder Lawrence! We started off the meeting by listening to Sister Lawrence talk about the House of Israel. She talked about why one of the names for Jesus Christ is the Holy One of Israel and how he preached the gospel first to the Israelites. She explained what it meant to be an Israelite and a Gentile which led her to talking about "believing blood." I had never heard of that before but it was all so interesting to me! She explained the lineage from Abraham on down, so it was a lot of history information. It totally fascinated me! I learned so many new things and was reminded of other things that I have learned but forgotten. She talked about the different tribes and how the lost tribes are scattered but predominately in the area of Russia and those countries. She also explained that before this life many of us promised to serve missions and to help gather scattered Israel. I literally have pages of notes from her talk! I loved it so much! I can't even begin to describe it all to you in detail. Because of the meeting,  I now have the goal to study more about the gathering of Israel and to learn all of the names for the twelve tribes.  I also learned that the symbol of the tribe of Ephraim is an ox! Haha! Oxen are hard working and stubborn so maybe that's why I can be so set in my ways sometimes! 

When Elder Lawrence spoke to us he mentioned how he was really impressed with how all the missionaries handled themselves, so that was a nice compliment! :) He also taught about the importance of finding Israel. He said that we have been preparing for this from before this lifetime so we have no time to waste. The time we have to be full-time missionaries is so precious! He talked about having a

better focus on baptizing! We shouldn't just expect miracles, we should expect baptisms! He and the leadership of our mission met and they made the goal to have 40 baptisms in the month of November! How cool is that! The whole mission is focusing on this right now! We have all committed to pray for 40 baptisms in every prayer we say, to think about a verse of scripture about either baptism or the doctrine of Christ each week, and to prayerfully sacrifice something so that we can more fully focus on bringing others into the waters of baptism! I'm so excited about this goal because the whole mission is going to be more unified and working hard to achieve it! Elder Lawrence gave us excellent advice on having faith and being fully believing instead of doubting. If it is a righteous desire it can happen! 

There are a lot of things we need to do in order to reach our goal but I know that as we all pull together and try our best, that God can provide the rest, and we can help 40 people on their way to receive salvation! 

There was also a lot of talk about being born in the covenant at our meeting. Before, I thought being born in the covenant meant you were born in the church, but I learned, or was reminded, that it actually means that you are born to parents who are sealed in the temple. I have always wanted to get married and sealed in the temple to a righteous man for eternity and Elder Lawrence talked about how we all need to have that be our goal. Talking about marrying outside of the temple he said, "You were not prepared for that." He said that the saddest thing would be that we return home and marry outside of the temple and that is so true! We are eternal beings and we need to be sealed to our spouses for the eternity! We are the kind of people who strive our best to become like God and we do that by making promises with  Him in the temple! 

I love this church because I know that it's God's church and it provides us with the way back to Him! 

And on a completely unrelated note here are some funny pictures of us! I love the different colors of the trees! 

Love, 

Hermana Soliz :) 

 

Me and Hna Lewis

Happy Fall Everyone!

 

I am so lucky!

Just so you all know I am so extremely lucky! Life is good and I am so happy to be a missionary! :)

I love being able to serve God and serve the people here in my area! 

This past week I had my 22nd birthday and the members here made sure it was a special day for me! 

On my birthday a few of the members, the elders, and my companion and I got together for dinner at the church. We had enchiladas and rice and then cake and ice cream for dessert. Hermana Valle even bought me some socks and perfume as a gift! It was so sweet of the members to do! :) I love them! 

After I blew our my candles for "mi deseo" they all wanted me to take a bite out of the cake. Apparently it is a tradition of theirs to do that and then usually someone will push your face into the cake. 

I was so hesitant to actually do it but I finally took a very small bite of the cake. It's a cool tradition but I didn't exactly want cake all over me. Haha! 

Needless to say I had a very great day on my birthday thanks to my family and the members! 

So finding new people to teach here in Auburn has been a bit if a struggle for the past few weeks or so but we have been trying so hard to find prepared people! We have also been knocking more doors than before! And well finding is still difficult. 

We receive a lot of blessings from God each day but we just weren't finding anyone new to teach. It seemed like more so than before that every set lesson we had was cancelled. 

During this tough time of not having very many investigators Alma 26:27 came to mind and it says, 

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

This scripture brought me great comfort when I was having a hard time and I really know that God is in control of spreading the gospel to all the world! 

My spirit was lifted when we went to check on a referral we received named Esteban! He is amazing! He actually thought he knew me from before. He saw me on his door step and was like, "Whoa! What are you doing here?!" 

And well, I was so confused! But it was kind of nice because even though I didn't know him from before it was almost like we had this relationship you have with the people you teach right from the start! He already knows so much about the church and has been to Salt Lake. He still wants to learn more but in our lesson he said that he wants the spirit that he sees that the missionaries have and he has a strong desire to be baptized!!! I am so excited to teach him and I will definitely be telling you all more about how things go with him! 

I love you all and have a great week! Also thanks so much for the gifts mom!

Hermana Soliz

My tiara mom sent and cake from my companion!

 

My new companion is so great!

HOLA!!!

So I'll start by telling you all a little bit about my companion, Hermana Lewis! She is So great! She finished three years at Weber State studying accounting. She also had a scholarship to play the drums there. She plays a lot of different instruments and is super talented! She didn't want to take a picture today so sorry but I don't have a picture for this email. Haha, I tried! 

She likes to speak Spanish ALL the time! Even when we are inside the house so that has been cool! She has really good Spanish for someone who is just now learning. 

Training her has been a lot of fun! This past week was really slow so we haven't had the chance to really teach anyone yet. Training is definitely helping me to be a better leader! I'm excited to help get her involved in the work as much as possible so we can be 50/50! :) 

It is already getting darker earlier here and it is just going to keep getting worse so we hope we can set lessons for the evenings so we are not walking around in the dark. 

Let me tell you about a miracle we had the other day! 

So we chose to spend our finding hour in a neighborhood close to where we live. There aren't a lot of Hispanics in that area as far as we know but it's where we thought we should go. 

There was actually one house where I knew some Hispanics lived so we started with that house. In the past they had never answered the door so we were hoping that we'd be able to talk to somebody this time. 

A boy in a high school answered the door and told us that his parents weren't home and the he didn't know when a good time would be for us to try again. He did not seem interested at all but we left him our information and then asked if he knew of any other Hispanics in the area. He told us of one house where there might be Hispanics so we went and tried it. 

And we had a miracle! A man named Kelvin from Peru answered the door and he was super nice! We had a really good conversation with him! 

The only thing is that I was kicking myself in the butt because before when we were getting supplies out of the car I had a feeling to get a family proclamation but I just brushed it off for some reason.

Then as we were talking to Kelvin he started talking about how the importance of families is getting lost in the world we live in today...Ugh! I was so mad at myself! It was the perfect opportunity to give him a copy of the family proclamation and I didn't have one because I was in a hurry and brushed off the prompting the Spirit had given me!  

If only I would stop and listen...I'm working on it though! :) 

We didn't teach Kelvin that day because his wife was a the park with their two kids but we set an appointment to come back and teach the whole family!!! :) I am so excited!!! I have high hopes for this family! :) 

Also I just loved General Conference! Every second of it! All of the talks were so inspired and I learned so much! I really like Elder Lawrence's talk and he is the general authority that will be visiting our mission this month! I'm super excited for that! :) 

I am also accepting the challenge to "ponderize" a scripture each week! I'm starting this week with Doctrine and Covenants section 50:40-42. It reads, 

 "Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.

 Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me;

 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost."

Isn't that beautiful! :) 

Well I love you all and thanks for the Birthday wishes! 

Hermana Soliz

Change is Good!

Hey everyone!

So today is transfer day so we will all be dealing with lots of changes. Hermana Edmonds is getting transferred to Kent with Hermana Palmer and I am staying in Auburn and will be training a brand new missionary. There was some miss-communication with our Zone leaders so we thought that we were both staying here but Sister Eaton called us yesterday to let us know that I would be training and that Hermana Edmonds would be leaving. 

I am so excited to train but at the same time a little nervous! This time last year I was being trained! I feel like I'm getting a little taste of what it feels like when parents have their first child. I just want my new companion to have the best experience ever and I want to help her start her mission off right like my trainer did for me! :) 

I want to be a good example to her and help her in any way that I can! It's a change but it's okay because changes are good and they help us grow! Hopefully, I don't stress myself out! 

Apparently the new missionaries will be getting here later than usual so I will be at transfers at 2:00 and Sister Eaton said hopefully we'll be home by 7:00. It's going to be a long day! 

Also we are getting Spanish Elders back in the area but the catch is that they will be on bike. In the past the Elders were able to cover the whole Auburn Stake which really helped since we cover Auburn and Puyallup. But now that they'll just have bikes there geographical area is going to be smaller. Hopefully they can share a car with another companionship on certain days or something.

I'm still really grateful we're getting Elders back in the area though! They'll be a big help!  The members are going to be so excited about that! 

Another change was that I had to say goodbye to Sister Walker on Sunday. :( It was so sad! I love her so much and am going to miss her! It'll definitely be harder to get to the gym in the morning knowing that she won't be there to talk to. She is like a sister to me and I am so grateful that God gave me the opportunity to be companions with her!

By the way! Didn't you just love the General Women's broadcast! It was so good! I loved all of the talks and I learned something from each one! I really liked when one of the Sisters was talking about after this life and we'll think, "Was that it? That was all I had to do?" It will be a very humbling and sweet experience.  

I know this life has difficulties and that life is hard sometimes. But just like President Hinckley said, "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." Too often we think that God asks too much of us when in reality He is giving us every opportunity He can to have us decide to come unto Him. He does not ask very much of us. We just need to be obedient to His commandments and accept His will. His commandments aren't like a fence to keep us gated in. Instead they are like guardrails to protect us from danger. I know that as we keep His commandments and repent each day we will grow to have a more Christ-like character!

I love you all! Here's a picture of our last district meeting this transfer and one of all of us sister missionaries here in Auburn! 

Hermana Soliz

The last week of the transfer!

Transfers will be happening again in a week and I can't believe it! I am so scared that I am going to get transferred. I don't want to leave! But it's okay because everything always works out! A few other missionaries think that I'll be training but no one ever really knows what's happening until transfers.

Hermana Edmunds is so funny and she also struggles with keys like I do. It always takes her a while to get the key out of the door after unlocking it.

The missionary work here is going great as usual! I love the people here and I stress sometimes because I want to do everything perfectly to help these people progress but well, no one is perfect. But everything always works out as we really try our best! 

Sometimes Satan will try to make you feel like you are inadequate and that you have no idea what you are doing. But it's not true. It's a lie. It's that simple. So don't you give up! You keep your head high and you keep trying! I promise that this isn't just a pep talk for me, LOL! You all need it too! 

Just put your trust in God and follow His inspiration! You can never go wrong when you are striving to get closer to God. Keep doing the little things to build your faith like reading the Book of Mormon every day. I love reading from the Book of Mormon every day and it has brought blessings into my life by giving me a stronger testimony of my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I'v been reading about Alma and Amulek and Ammon and I just love their examples of faith! They are so bold and full of love for God! Even in their afflictions they are so patient and love God! 

It reminds me that this life is not always going to be a cake walk but that I need to stay strong and humbly put my faith in God. 

I love you all and hope you are doing great! 

Just so you know rana means frog in Spanish. Also look at the minion! People are already getting ready for Halloween! 

Hermana Soliz

 

Ready for Halloween!

 

I love Auburn!

I just absolutely love serving my mission here in Auburn! I love the members and I love our investigators! We have amazing leaders and everyone is so excited about missionary work! There are also a lot of Hispanics in this area so we get to talk to them a lot! I just love them all so much! They're like family! :)

Hermana Baird, Hermana Edmunds, and I are all getting along great! Hermana Edmunds has a talent for cracking jokes! She is always cracking us up! She also can quote movies really well and every classic episode of Spongebob. 

One day Hermana Edmunds was looking at my charm bracelet and she said, "Why does this say velo?" & then Hermana Baird told her that it said love. You had to be there but it was so funny! So things are great with them and I love them both! We all have different strengths so we work well together! 

I have no idea what will happen with transfers in two weeks. I really hope that I get to stay here in Auburn! I wouldn't mind just finishing my mission here! 

We had Zone Training this past week and I really liked being able to review the Doctrine of Christ and what we need to do to keep the faith and endure to the end. 

One of the questions the zone leaders asked us was about how we could apply everything that we are learning here to situations we will have at home. I answered the question by saying that we should continue to have faith in and trust God and involve Him in everything. We should pray about all of our decisions. For example, where to go to school, what to study, who to marry. etc. 

And well, when I mentioned the example of who to marry it got a little quiet in the room...I was like okay everyone calm down. It's not like you all weren't thinking it! Haha! And besides it's true, you should pray for guidance in all things.

This past week we overbooked appointments so we went on our first split as a trio. Herman Baird and Hermana Edmunds went together to do visits and then I went with Hermana Zepeda and Hermano Moreno to teach people.

 Sadly, our appointments fell through but I was still able to teach a former investigator with Hermana Zepeda and Hermano Moreno. Everything always goes so much better when we have members with us! I'm so grateful for their willingness to help us! 

Saturday there was a big Stake service project but we were separated into our wards and branches. The Spanish Branch was in charge of cleaning up trash along a trail by the railroad tracks. It was a lot of fun to work together with the branch! Then that same night we had a fiesta!

It was a lot of fun! It was a cultural party so there was food from several different countries and it was all good! We had ten people who aren't members of the church at the party so that was good! We were hoping for more but ten is better than none. Everyone had a really good time! It was a success!

Also the biggest news is that Daniela is reading the Book of Mormon and she has lots of questions for us! :) At the fiesta she asked me how long I had left on my mission and after I answered her she made a comment about hoping that I would be here for her baptism! :) I love Daniela so much! She is basically already a member. She just needs a little more time to grow and she will be ready to get baptized! :) 

Love you all! Keep praying for help to overcome your shortcomings and I know you'll see the hand of God in your life! 

Hermana Soliz

A random statue of the Pope we saw...I don't know why it's there of all places.

Flowers for us from Hermano Simon

Zone Conference-Hnas Baird, Soliz, and Edmunds on the left

Service Project with the Branch, worked hard and had fun!