Monday, November 30, 2015

Week #69 Empezando la Navidad!

Monday, November 23, 2015

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!!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

WEEK 67

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

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!

Monday, November 2, 2015

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