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!

TRIO!

Hey big news!

We are now in a trio! Unfortunately one of the sister missionaries had to go home for health reasons so now Hermana Edmunds is here with us in Auburn! Hermana Edmunds is from West Virginia and she came into the field at the same time as Hermana Baird. They've been out for about 5 months.

It's so nice and convenient to be in a trio because we can teach singles too, without having to have another sister with us .

This week went by so fast! The days just all blur together sometimes! I had a dream that we had 8 lessons with members with us and I was soooo HAPPY....and then I realized that I was just dreaming. But it will happen!

Something funny that happened this past week was when we went to go visit a potential investigator named Juan. We knocked on the door and for some reason instead of opening the door he opened the window and talked to us through there. He was saying that the magnet necklace he was wearing helped his heart work. Then he started talking about how his wife didn't like the magnets but that he needed them to live. He also asked us if magnets were against our religion. There were also some cables that were attached to the ground and he explained to us that he needed to be attached to them to keep his mortal body alive. Yeah...It was interesting to say the least.

The best things of this week were of course the spiritual ones!

This past Sunday Jaime received the gift of the Holy Ghost and became an official member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! He was so happy and had a huge grin on his face! He is now preparing to receive the priesthood! He also says one day he is going to be a bishop! How cool is that?! :)

Another miracle was that we found someone new to teach! :) His name is Jose and we found him in Pacific! We don't really go there too often because there aren't a whole lot of Hispanics there but we felt like we should go on that specific day and we found Juan! He was outside working and he let us right into his home to teach him the restoration! We are so excited to go back and teach the whole family!

This experience helped build my testimony that our Heavenly Father is the one moving the work forward. We just need to keep ourselves worthy of receiving the guidance of the spirit to help us make decisions. Sometimes the decision can be very simple like this one and sometimes they are much bigger decisions. Either way it is important to have the guidance of the spirit and then to act on the promptings we get.

I love being able to be a part of these people's lives!! God is truly blessing me and blessing them every day! :)

A lot of the members are so excited about missionary work right now! A few of them have volunteered to come out with us to either teach or knock some doors. We are planning a big cultural fiesta for this Saturday so hopefully we can get a lot of people there and teach them about the gospel!

I want to take advantage of every moment I have to be a good missionary and to help as many people as I can come unto Christ and be baptized in the Lord's way!

You are all in my prayers and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Hermana Soliz

We are a trio! Hnas Soliz, Edmunds, and Baird

Hnas Killingsworth and Soliz

Week 56....

Jaime Gomez was baptized!!! :) After two years of learning and coming to church it hit him that he knew this church is true and that baptism by the proper authority is essential! It was such a happy day for everyone, especially Jaime! 

Hermana Baird and I shared a little message about the restoration at the baptism and I recited the experience that Joseph Smith had after he prayed. I love being able to do that! Each time I do, the spirit reconfirms to me that it's true! I love this gospel and I know that the fullness of Christ's teachings were brought back to the earth. I know that the priesthood authority to act in God's name was restored. I know that this knowledge blesses our lives! Because of the restoration we can fulfill God's commandments and receive eternal blessings. Because of the restoration Jaime was able to be baptized by someone holding the priesthood!  :)

I am so grateful for the priesthood! Some of the times when I have felt the closest to God have been when I have received blessings from someone who is worthy and holds the priesthood. 

Also Hermano Rosalio Lopez came to church! :) It was so good to see him! Also last week both Reyes families came to church! :)

I love the people here so much!!! Being able to serve them makes me so happy! :) Serving a mission has really helped me get closer to my brothers and sisters! 

On a side note, last night we had dinner with the Rivera family and Hermano Rivera was teasing me that I didn't have very much time on my mission left. Then he held up his little baby girl and said that pretty soon I would have one too. It was hilarious! 

Oh, also I talked in my sleep this past week...in Spanish. Haha! I'm trying really hard to relearn what I've forgotten and to keep getting better at speaking. I've been translating sacrament meeting almost every week and that's really helping me. It's hard to listen to what they are saying and then to say it in English and not get lost but God helps me do it!  

I also love the Bible videos on the church website. Here are a couple of my favorites. 

Jesus Raises the Daughter of Jairus

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/jesus-raises-the-daughter-of-jairus?lang=eng

The Baptism of Jesus

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/the-baptism-of-jesus?lang=eng

Con amor,

Hermana Soliz

Week 55!

Hey everyone!!! :)

Guess what! We had a Spanish Devotional last night and I shared a little message about how we can know the truth of all things through the Holy Spirit. It made me think of the scripture in the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10:5 that says, 

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

That is the promise that we all have as long as we put in the effort to know and have a sincere desire! The Holy Ghost testifies of Jesus Christ and of truth. Through the Holy Ghost we can feel more peace, joy, and comfort in our lives. Who wouldn't want more of that in their lives!

I love the devotionals because they always bring so much peace and happiness! I was able to see quite a few people I knew as well so that was nice! :) 

I really do love Spanish!! It's such a beautiful language! 

I haven't been with the Spanish branch in Auburn full time for three months so there are a lot of new people that we are teaching that I don't know. We tried to visit some of them this past week but we didn't have much luck. So I still haven't met them but I'm excited to teach them and help them progress!

One of the families we are teaching are the Guzman family! I taught them a couple of times before but we had lost contact for a while so I am so excited that they have a desire to learn!

Even though I am not with the White River Ward anymore I was able to go to their activity this past Saturday for dinner. Sister Walker and I had invited a lot of people and a lot of them actually came! :) Algretta Sorenson, James, Zach, Ritchey, and Freedom all went! Also when we got to the church I recognized a guy on the street who I had talked to before. His name is David and I invited him to come eat and he did! It was pretty successful! :) 

My new companion is Hermana Baird and she's really sweet and a hard worker! We've been seeing blessings as we find new people to talk to for an hour each day. We had 17 potential new investigators this past week! I'm excited to see miracles this transfer as we continue to work hard! We have some really good goals that are going to stretch us! :) 

Les amo mucho! 

Hermana Soliz

This is my 5th transfer in Auburn!

Yes it's true! I'm staying in Auburn! I am going back to teaching the gospel in Spanish full time so I will be moving back down the street to be companions with Hermana Baird! :) I am so excited about it! This will be Hermana Baird's third transfer in the field. Hermana Hill just finished training her so I know she will be a hard worker!

I am so happy I get to stay here in Auburn! I am sad to leave the White River ward but I will still be able to see many of the members in the halls on Sunday! :) I am so happy and grateful that God is allowing me more time to be here with the Spanish branch! I love them all so much! Also because I will be staying in Auburn I will still be able to see Sister Walker every once in awhile! :) 

I am so happy that I get to go back to speaking Spanish all of the time! It is definitely easier to learn and remember a language if you are constantly speaking it! I haven't been doing that for three months so hopefully it won't take to long to get back into the swing of things. I want to go at this full force! There are so many miracles that God can bless us with as long as we keep pushing forward! 

As for baptisms coming up, Duda is still committed to be baptized on August 22nd, right after the ward party. Jaime has to work on the 22nd so his baptism has been moved to August 29th. They are both so excited for their baptisms and they are ready! :) There is also a new family that is committed to be baptized in September!

I love, love, love serving as a missionary!!! :) We just had Zone Conference and we talked a lot about how to help the people we're teaching progress and really understand that the doctrine of Christ. Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. This isn't just our purpose when we are full time missionaries and have the name tag. This will be our  purpose for life! How amazing is that! At Zone Conference we also talked a lot about how each one of us, individually, can endure to the end. 

I learned a lot and I felt the Spirit so strongly at Zone Conference! I know that things that we can do to endure to the end are simple. It could be so easy if only we set the natural man inside us aside and really trusted in God. 

I know that constant, not just daily but constant and sincere prayer will help us build our relationship with our Heavenly Father. I know that daily scripture study will help build our testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that as we go to church on Sundays and really give the Sabbath day back to God we will become stronger disciples of Jesus Christ! 

It will not always be easy but the people of God will always be persecuted. There are countless examples of that in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. But we can't give up. We have to keep trying and keep making progress. 

I know God lives. I know God knows me personally. Because I know that I know that He knows each of you personally as well. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. Only through Him will I be able to return to my Heavenly Father. I know that I have weaknesses and short comings but that God can make them my strengths. He just needs a willing servant. We need to be willing to change like King Lamoni when he said,

 "O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day."- Alma 22:18

I invite you all to ponder in your hearts and choose just one thing that God wants you to do better. Then pray for help and guidance as you try to make that weakness a strength. I know God will bless you as you do so! He is eagerly waiting to help us. All we have to do is ask and have faith enough to act. :) 

I love you all and hope you're all safe! 

Hermana Soliz

I'm going to miss Sister Walker! She is the best!

Selfie with Algreta Sorenson, she is the cute lady we do service for.

Sister Duffield, she is a sweetheart!

With Nick at Pep Boys, he taught us how to change a tire.

With Hermana Zepeda

Week 53.....in Auburn

Hola y buenos dias!
No puedo creer que ya estamos en el ultimo semana de este traslado!
Last preparation day Sister Walker and I went to the Flaming Geyser State Park with the Marshallese Sisters and it was nice to get out and do something different! It was a pretty easy hike into the park and we were able to walk by the river. It was really pretty!
Also, here in Washington black berries grow everywhere! So we got to pick some of those too!
The actual flaming geyser wasn't that impressive. It's pretty small actually. Apparently it used to be a lot bigger and some guy thought he could make it even bigger by blowing it up with dynamite...so because of that it's a lot smaller now.
But the weather was nice and it was good to spend dome time with Sister Peterson and Sister Loeak! :)
Lately in the mission we have been inviting all of our investigators to read all of first Nephi in the Book of Mormon in ten days. We had a lesson this past week with a former investigator named Dana and we gave her the challenge! She was super open to the invitation and accepted the invitation! I'm excited to see what she thought about the reading!
On Thursday I hit my year-mark! Yikes!!! We celebrated it with a princess cake! We also took our neighbors dog, Delis, for a walk. She is so cute and I just love her!
We also had a lesson with Duda and confirmed that her baptism will be August 22nd at 7! :) It was a great day! Also Jaime who attends the Spanish branch will be getting baptized August 22nd too! I am so excited for him! I most likely won't be serving here in Auburn by August 22nd but I'll get to come back for both Jaime's and Duda's baptisms!
We also have a couple new investigators that are really wanting to learn more! Their names are Zach and James. I really loved being able to teach them both! They were just asking very sincere questions and the Spirit really helped them to understand our message! :)
Although this week was a really great week the highlight was definitely Sunday when we heard Austin Tew give his farewell talk in Sacrament! He will be serving his mission in Santiago, Chile and he leaves tomorrow. His talk was so GOOD and everyone could feel the spirit! He talked about the plan of salvation and he quoted scriptures and talks from general authorities and it was just so great! Sister Walker and I were crying it was so good! I love feeling the spirit like that! During one part of his talk he was saying that he was nervous about learning the language not because he didn't think he couldn't learn it but because he was nervous for the amount of time when he wouldn't be able to fully express himself and tell people how he felt about the gospel. Then he talked about how the gift of tongues is real and how knowing that gave him comfort! I can totally relate to that!
There was a lot of people in sacrament to hear him speak and there was even some non-members. So then after church we were able to go the Tew's home and we had the chance to talk to all of their non-member friends! They seemed to be really open and interested so hopefully we can start teaching them! :)
Today at choir practice President Eaton came over to talk to me and he asked me if I was ready to go back to Spanish full time and I said of course! :) He also said he's pretty sure where I'm getting transferred to but he still needs to pray about it.
Well I love you all! Keep reading the Book of Mormon! I am so grateful for the restoration and for the teachings in the Book of Mormon! They are precious!
As I have hit my year mark I have been taking a lot of time to reflect on how much I've grown and what things I can do better. I'm re-evaluating my goals and making plans to get to where I want to be! I invite you all to do the same! If you want to read the Book of Mormon make a plan and do it! If you want to go to church make a plan and do it! If you want to serve a mission make a plan and do it! If you want to prepare to go to the temple make a plan and do it! If you want to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints make a plan and do it! :) You can start by asking the missionaries! :) I know that as we make plans for the future God will bless us! Love you all!

Hermana Soliz

Delis, love him!

Love this girl!

                                                                

Week 52...

Duda in the White River English Ward is getting baptized August 22nd!!!! And Jaime in the Pioneer Spanish Branch is getting baptized August 29th!!!!

That's so exciting!!! Depending on what happens with transfers in two weeks I'll still be here for the baptisms or I'll have to come back for them. Either way I am going to be at both to support them! :) 

This past week we were able to have a family home evening at the mission home with President and Sister Eaton! It was so amazing! 

Originally, we wanted Omar to go but he cancelled last minute on us. :/ We were supposed to be starting at 7:30 and he cancelled on us at 6:30. And it takes 20-30 minutes to get to the mission home. 

So then we were running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to find someone to go to the lesson! It was CRAZY and we didn't want to cancel because this was a chance to have a lesson with President Eaton! That's like a chance of a lifetime as a missionary! 

Literally, I'm pretty sure we tried everyone! We even tried Algreta Swarenson who is this cute old lady we do service for. We also tried our upstairs neighbor who we have been trying to talk to. His name is Noah and he has the cutest Dog named Delis. He couldn't come with us to the lesson that night but he said he'd like to do it another time so that was good!

Anyway, so like I said we tried everyone and finally we were able to have a less active family go to the lesson with us! Their names are John and Ruth Hembree and they've been less/inactive for a long time. The lesson we had with them was all centered on the temples and then we committed them to prepare to be sealed in the temple for eternity! The spirit was so strong and they said yes! Sister Hembree was crying and Brother Hembree said the closing prayer which was a miracle! He's never done that in our lessons before. He also asked in his prayer for help and guidance to prepare to be sealed in the temple! It was so sweet and sincere! I'm excited to follow up with them!

This past Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and everyone bore such great testimonies! One recent convert bore his testimony and it was just great to see how much he's grown! In the Spanish branch I translated again. Translating is hard but I do it and I love doing it for testimony meeting! The kids in the branch always get up to bear their testimonies and it's the cutest thing! 

Also in Relief Society Hermana Sandoval gave an amazing lesson on faith! It was so prime time! I loved it and all of the women were crying!

Hermana Sandoval talked a lot about having the faith to not only believe in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ but to have the faith to trust Them. We can't say that we believe in God and then turn around and say that we can't do something that He's asked of us. That's not true faith because we don't believe that He will help us. We can't say that we have faith in Jesus Christ and then turn around and say that we have gone to far off the path and can't be forgiven of our mistakes and shortcomings. That's not true faith because we are denying the power and gift of the atonement to cleanse us from sin. 

She also went on to say that each and everyone of us needs to have the faith that we are a child of God and that we have a purpose in this life. 

I really enjoyed her lesson and I learned a lot from it. I also know that if you feel like you don't have faith or that you need "refill" of faith you should pray. A new member to the church once said that if you want to feel the spirit you need to pray. In her own words she said, "He gives free refills!" So I know that if you pray for more faith God will bless you with it and you will grow stronger! 

Here are a couple of things I love on faith! 

In Alma 32:21 in the Book of Mormon, it says, 

"And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

In the Bible Dictionary it says under faith that, "The Lord has revealed Himself and His perfect character, possessing in their fulness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in Him without reservation. Faith is kindled by hearing the testimony of those who have faith (Rom. 10:14–17). Miracles do not produce faith, but strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ; in other words, faith comes by righteousness, although miracles often confirm one’s faith....

"Although faith is a gift, it must be cultured and sought after until it grows from a tiny seed to a great tree. The effects of true faith in Jesus Christ include (1) an actual knowledge that the course of life one is pursuing is acceptable to the Lord (see Heb. 11:4); (2) a reception of the blessings of the Lord that are available to man in this life; and (3) an assurance of personal salvation in the world to come. These things involve individual and personal testimony, guidance, revelation, and spiritual knowledge. Where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, dreams, healings, and all the gifts of God that He gives to His saints."

I love you all so much! On Thursday I will hit my year mark! Missions are the best! 

Hermana Soliz :) 

Silly in shades