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