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!

 

English/Spanish.....No one knows.....

I know that I still have a good amount of time left to serve as a full-time missionary here in Washington but lately I have been worrying about going home.
I had a dream the other night....
I had gotten home and I was happy to see my family but after I was released and was home I cried like a baby.  When I woke up I was so relieved that it was a dream and I was still on my mission!

Ugh...when the day finally comes I'm going to be a wreck! Haha!

Oh, crazy side note!

So we had the mission devotional this past Sunday and I sang in the choir. That was fun! :) Before it Sister Walker had told me that a member named Jose promised a long time ago that he would go to it. She had totally forgotten about it until she saw him at the devotional and she wanted to go say hi so I went with her to talk to him.

When I saw him, I started to laugh and said,

"This is the guy?! This is Jose?!"

Jose was also laughing because he already knew me. Haha! He's the same guy that Hermana Sasagi and I were visiting when I crashed our car into the wall! How crazy is that! It just made me embarrassed about it all over again. Haha!

I also had the chance to talk to President and Sister Eaton at the devotional.

Earlier that day at stake conference they had told me that President was leaning towards having me go back to Spanish this transfer but that he still wasn't sure and needed to pray about it.

The options are that I go back to Spanish speaking or I stay here in Auburn with Sister Walker and we will be an official "zebra".

 A zebra is when an English speaking missionary is with a Spanish speaking missionary. If we do become an official zebra we will work with both the English ward and the Spanish branch.

So at the devotional I told President and Sister Eaton that I would do whatever God wanted me to do and that I knew that whichever answer President got would be through revelation.

Then I said that since I was called by God through the Prophet Thomas S. Monson to teach in Spanish that maybe he could extend my call another transfer so I could make up the time I served English speaking.

I don't think I really convinced him but I was just throwing it out there. :) It was worth a shot! :)

This week has been amazing! I went on an exchange with Sister Webb and then I also went out with the Hermanas to teach in Spanish! :)

Sister Walker was sick so we had to stay in one day but she's feeling tons better!

Well, now on to more spiritual things! The miracle we had this past week was so awesome!

We had just finished going over our progress record with our bishop and were getting in the car to go back to our apartment.

That's when I saw a man across the street and he was vacuuming his car. I really wanted to talk to him so I grabbed a mormon.org card and went over to talk to him.

I kind of scared him because he couldn't hear me when he was vacuuming but then I asked him about his Dallas Cowboy cap and told him I was a fan and soon we were talking about religion. His name is Elgin and he's a very religious man and he loves the Bible.

He accepted the mormon.org card and said he would look into it. He also said it would be okay if we came back to teach him and that he would listen. It also turns out that he's already good friends with Bishop Smith so that's instant fellowship!

It was so awesome!

Also, I found this quote by Elder Bruce R. McConkie and I absolutely love it!
It says,

"I am a child of God. My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my Master and he has chosen me to represent him. To stand in his place, to say and do what he himself would say and do if he personally were ministering to the very people to whom he has sent me. My voice is his voice, and my acts are his acts, my words are his words and my doctrine is his doctrine. My commission is to do what he wants done. To say what he wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous latter-day work."
- Elder Bruce R. McConkie

That is just so powerful and I love it! I know that this is the duty that we all have! I hope you all are embracing your call to be a witness of Jesus Christ!

The picture is of all the sister missionaries serving in the Auburn Zone.

Love you all!

Hermana Soliz

Sisters in the Auburn District!

Week 46 in Auburn...

Happy Father's Day!!!

I hope all of you dads (especially mine) had a wonderful day with your families! 

So much has happened this past week!! It was awesome and full of lessons, meeting new people, getting to know the members and lots of service!!

One of the funny things that happened was that Sister Walker and I forgot that we had a dinner appointment so we ended up having two dinners one day. 

So what happened was that we had decided to go to a Mongolian grill for dinner to celebrate missionary work (just because) but then only an hour later we realized that The Sisco's wanted to feed us dinner that night. And they are investigators so we didn't want to cancel on them. After dinner with them I was so full that I didn't eat at all the next day. So bad!

The Sisco's are a young couple who have talked to the missionaries once before so they are investigators. They are super strong in their Catholic beliefs but they are so nice and respectful of our beliefs. Seriously, they are the nicest people! You could definitely feel the spirit in their home and after we had dinner with them we just couldn't stop talking about it. 

The only thing they have been taught by missionaries in the past was the apostasy....

That's not a bad thing because everybody needs to know about the apostasy but they are really faithful members of the Catholic church so Sister Walker and I decided that it would be great to teach them the plan of salvation. It's just that literally, the breaking point between Mormons and Catholics is the apostasy. 

So instead of starting with something like that which would be hard for them to accept at this time we are going to teach them about how families can be together forever! 

We also set up a family booth at the park this week with the Hermanas! It wasn't as successful as we would have hoped but it was alright! We were able to talk to some people about familysearch.org and Hermana Baird was able to draw a couple portraits of people. She is really good! I think we'll try doing it again in the future! 

I will also be going out with the Hermanas this Wednesday evening so I can teach in Spanish!!!! I'm so excited!! I need the practice! It's so hard to remember words and sentence structure when you aren't speaking the language all day. It will be a lot of fun!

Also, I went to choir today! It was fun and we will be singing at the devotional we will have this Sunday. 

Also Elder and Sister Nowlin will be leaving soon. :( They've finished their mission so they're going back home. They are so sweet and I love them both. Elder Nowlin was over the vehicles so he was the one who laughed at me when I told him about how I crashed into the wall. Sister Nowlin was the nurse so she also got to hear from me when I was sick. I'll miss them a lot! 

Hopefully when I'm married I'll be able to serve a mission with my husband! 

Speaking of husbands this past Sunday we learned a lot about the role of the father, priesthood, and marriage. I am so unbelievably thankful for the power of the priesthood and for temples! What a great blessing it is that we can be sealed to our families by the power of God forever!! I know that as we live the gospel and make and keep covenants

 that  we will receive every blessing that our Heavenly Father has for us! 

Love you all and have a great week! 

Hermana Soliz

Auburn Zone

Hermana's

Working at the park!

 

Week 45!!

Straws-voi-tea-yeh!!

That's how you sound out hello in Russian. I have no idea how you spell it but I can say it. It's so much fun to say. Straws-voi-tea-yeh!

I also know how to say hello in a few other languages but I have no idea how to spell those either.

Also my new favorite words in Spanish right now are ardilla- squirrel and steeple- aguja de torre.

It is so difficult to not speak Spanish all of the time but I am teaching Sister Walker some things! She is doing great!

 

Anyways, this week has been super great! We had a zone meeting, a special language training, and the Spanish devotional. 

One thing that I've learned a lot about this past week is that we need to discipline ourselves in order to grow. It is our personal responsibility to work hard so we can improve. When we do this we can become better leaders and set the example for others. 

So my challenge to all of you for this week is to discipline yourselves and be determined to be a leader! And the best way you can be a leader is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ! :) 

Heavenly Father is our literal father of our spirits and Jesus Christ is our brother. They both love us so much and will help us become leaders and reach our potential. 

Love you all and let us work hard to be leaders!

Hermana Soliz

I love my companion, Sister Walker!