Week 51

Just like always so many things happened this past week!
We had another lesson with Danny and he ended up playing his guitar for us...it was a little strange.
We met someone new to teach and his name is Luigi! He has been taught a lot in the past and has  a ton of deep questions!
We did service for Sister Algreta Swarenson who lives across from the church. She isn't a member but she loves having us come over to clean or do yard work. Then in exchange for our service she always gives us some kind of gift card to go eat or homemade jam. We just went to go eat at Applebee's and Red Robbin this past week thanks to her kindness!
We also did service at the community dinner, food bank, and we helped our investigator, Rebecca, move out.
On Wednesday we went over to Hermana Zepeda's house for language study! It was so great! I love her! I would ask her questions about grammar or my accent and as she explained the answer to me she always connected it to the gospel. She's such a great missionary!
On Friday we had interviews with President Eaton! I was so excited! I love those! There are like Christmas! I had a really good interview with President and it just made the whole day better! He told me that I will definitely be going back to Spanish full-time at the end of the transfer. That's great news but I will miss everyone I've come to know and love in the English ward. :(  It's also sad because President Eaton doesn't know yet if I'll stay here in Auburn with the Spanish branch or go somewhere else. So if I get transferred out of Zone I have to leave both the ward and branch! But it will all be okay! I will love it no matter what!
On Saturday morning Sister Walker and I found out that our investigator Duda would be getting married that same night! She's been wanting to get married for so long and finally her fiancé said they could get married that same day! It was so crazy getting everything ready on such short notice but it ended up being really cute for only having a day to plan! Sister Dahle let us use decorations she had from her wedding and we helped Sister Scalesy make the wedding cake! Several members also brought some type of dessert, punch, or veggie tray. It was great thanks to everyone pitching in and helping! Now Duda is married and she can get baptized in the near future! :)
Sunday I had to translate all of Sacrament meeting! There was a lot of English people there to see Mirella and Lesley Valle give their farewell talks so I had to translate from Spanish to English! I felt so much pressure to do good but I think it all went well! They both gave really good and heartfelt talks and testimonies. Then after they spoke their family members shared their testimonies as well. It was such a good sacrament meeting and I was almost crying listening to Mirella and Lesley talk about how excited they were to serve and how grateful they were for the gospel.
I just want to end by sharing something I heard about this past week. A lot of people say that their mission was/is the best experience of their life. Which is mostly true, especially up until that point in your life. But after serving a mission there are still great things to experience like getting sealed in the temple and starting your own family!
So in reality instead of the mission being the best experience of your life it's the best experience for your life. I can definitely understand that! You learn and grow and change so much from the experiences you have while serving a mission that I can clearly see why it would be the best experience for your life! The skills you learn on the mission and the relationships you grow with people around you and with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will shape the rest of your life!
I love you all and will keep y'all in my prayers!

Hermana Soliz

My wonderful Auburn Zone

Relief Society came through with one day notice!

We helped bake the cake

With the happy married couple

Beautiful family

Guess who got the left overs?

Auburn Sisters

Jumping for joy!

Week 50!

Heavenly Father ALWAYS blesses us because He loves us!

Last Monday we were having an alright day but all of our plans had fallen through so we were a little sad about that. Then out of nowhere this Hispanic guy named Danny walks up to us and asks us what do we believe. Sister Walker doesn't know Spanish so I told her what he had said and then she started hitting my arm to tell him what we believed. I started talking about the restoration of the gospel and I promised him that he could know if our message was true through sincere prayer. Then he set up an appointment with us for a lesson! We were so unbelievably excited!! It's not every day that a stranger walks up to us and asks us questions to learn more. It was such a blessing! 

We ended up having a lesson with Danny at the church with a couple of other members. He loves the Bible and has a hard time understanding how the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together. Unfortunately, during the lesson it almost seemed like he wanted to bash or prove us wrong more than genuinely find out if our message is true. He did commit to read the Book of Mormon though so we hope to see some progress in the future! 

We haven't been able to meet with Omar since last Sunday so hopefully we can see him sometime this week! He couldn't come to church either because he had to work. We are praying that we can have a lesson with him this Monday though because we are going to have the chance to have a family home evening with President and Sister Eaton and we want Omar to be there! 

Our investigator Rebecca and her daughters also came to church this Sunday! They only stayed for sacrament but they came! She is the one who speaks Dinka so it's pretty hard to communicate with her. 

Another miracle we had this past week was that our investigator, Ritchey, started to read the Book of Mormon and he LOVED it!! I know that as he keeps reading he will feel the spirit testify to him that it is another testament of Jesus Christ and he will have the desire to be baptized! 

In Galatians 5:22-23, we learn that, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." 

There is so much power in the Book of Mormon and anyone who reads it with an open heart and with a desire to know if it is true will feel the fruits of the Spirit.

I love reflecting on my day and recognizing the hand of God and the Spirit leading and guiding me throughout the day! These feelings of the spirit make our lives so much better! The best way to live is to have the spirit with you! There's no better way and we need to make sure we do our part to have the spirit with us. Obedience equals having the spirit with you which equals feeling the fruits of the spirit and blessings! 

Sister Walker and I are having fun here in Auburn and we are so excited to see miracles happen! 

By the way we had a fiesta for Mirella and Lesley Valle because they are both leaving on their missions within the next week! Lesley is going to Chile and Mirella is going to Peru! I am so excited for them!!! :) 

Okay, hasta luego! 

Hermana Soliz

Mirella and Lesley are going on a mission!

Farewell celebration!

 

Great week in Auburn...

A lot of good things happened this past week! We had more lessons with a member present which was awesome! 

Also our investigator, Omar, came to see a family get baptized and also came to all 3 hours of church! It was so great!

A couple of weeks ago we were contacting on the street where Pep Boys is and we asked Nick if he knew of any Hispanics in the area. He then pointed out Omar's house and we went to go try it and we ended up having the first lesson with him!

We went back the next week and taught the plan of salvation. Then for the third lesson he came to the baptism and we had a lesson with a member who can speak Spanish afterwards! 

Then the next day he came to church!!!

Omar also brought a less active named Rene with him to the baptism and to church. That was a blessing because we don't have Rene's records so nobody knew about him! But now we know that there is a member who needs help returning to activity! 

All of the members in the branch were super nice to Omar and Rene and a recent convert, Rosalio, got Omar's number so they could get in contact. He's such a great member missionary! :) 

It also turns out that Omar already knows a member so that's instant fellowship! He also has a roommate named Jaime who has been learning for awhile and is about to get baptized! 

It's so wonderful! It's like everything is lining up so perfectly to help Omar learn more and to be baptized! 

I love sharing the gospel! 

Also this past weekend there was a little festival going on. That was fun to go to and there was a lot of people to talk to! 

I just want to leave you all with my testimony that I know that when we read the Book of Mormon each day we are blessed with strength and divine help to stand as witnesses of Christ! It doesn't matter where you are right now in life or what your situation is I know that reading the Book of Mormon will bless your life and help you to live more abundantly! The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and draws us closer to our Savior.

Love,

Hermana Soliz

I'm staying Spanglish!!

The big news for this week is that I am staying in the White River ward as an English missionary and I will be companions with Sister Walker for another 6 weeks! 

However, I will also be a Spanish missionary and we will be working with the Spanish branch too!!!! We are an OFFICIAL zebra! For real! Now I get to go to all three hours of church in Spanish every Sunday!

Also if I find Spanish people to teach I can teach them all of the lessons and I don't have to pass them off to the Spanish missionaries! How cool is that!!! I am so excited!!! I love Spanish! 

We actually just had a lesson yesterday with a Hispanic guy named Omar. We taught him about the restoration of the gospel a couple weeks ago and I was kind of sad that we would had to pass him off but now we get to keep teaching him! We taught him the plan of salvation yesterday and it was great! He has A LOT of questions though so it's hard to keep the lesson short! 

I'm basically getting practice for training because Sister Walker doesn't know Spanish so that's cool!

I hope you all had a great and safe 4th of July celebration! All of the missionaries serving here in Auburn were invited to the stake presidents house for lunch for the 4th of July and it was so good! Also, Sister Walker and I were able to see some fireworks and they were beautiful! 

I am so grateful for the country and for everyone, past and present, who have worked hard so that we could be a free nation. 

I just want to share a scripture with you all from The Book of Mormon!

Mosiah 7:33

But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

I love this scripture and I now that as we use our agency to follow God and Jesus Christ we will be given what we need. We will have strength. We will have comfort. We will have peace. We will have true happiness. 

I read a quote on a candy wrapper earlier that said, "Discover how much your heart can hold." 

Now this might sound cheesy since I got it from a candy wrapper but seriously!!!

The more you learn about our Heavenly Father and about our Savior the more we can appreciate the sacrifices they have made for us. Our ability to have charity, compassion, and love for others will grow.

Love you all and have a great week! 

Hermana Soliz

 

A little 4th of July sparkle!

We are ready for 4th of July!

Lunch with the Auburn sisters at Stake President's house

Love these sisters, gorgeous day!

Auburn District

Great group of missionaries!