Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Its going to be the best Christmas ever!

Dear Family and Friends,

I love you all so dearly. I love being a missionary! So I have some great news!

We had a zone conference this past week with a 70. We learned some really great things. We were also able to ask President about Hilda and her family and their situation with immigration and baptism. Well it may turn out that Hilda might not be able to be baptized until the laws change. This hurt my heart. In the zone conference we talked about having a white Christmas, or in other words a Christmas of baptisms. After hearing about Hilda and Juan and the fact that we would have to wait, the idea came to my mind that Alonzo and Jonathan could get baptized. I prayed about this and thought about it alot. I have always felt like this family needed to get baptized together. I felt like having the kids get baptized was just right. Well we went to talk to Hilda on Thursday. We told her the news and she was pretty sad. She wants to get baptized to keep progressing. She wants these blessing for her family. After this she asked, "what about the kids?" So then we told her what we had been thinking. We told her we have even thought of a date. When we said Christmas, the Spirit was just so strong. We all knew it was what the Lord wanted. So Hilda wanted to tell the kids. They are so happy! So this Christmas will probably be one of the most special days of my mission. These kids mean a lot to me. We asked them who they wanted to baptize them and Jonathan said, "Ovalle!" (He is one of the Elders that serves in the ward with us) and Alonzo said, "Bishop!" They both had already decided. Elder Ovalle is super excited as well. It will be his first time to baptize someone. This has made me so happy! CHRISTMAS = BAPTISM!

We have also seen small miracles this week with less actives. Elvia was baptized and almost immediately stopped going to church. Last week we asked her to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. She has been reading the Liahona edition about the Book of Mormon. We went by last week and it was one of my favorite sites, her kitchen table was covered with her scriptures and liahona. She was so excited to have us there. She talked about how she felt about the Book of Mormon. She said that it has to be true because of th way she feels. I really was surprised. She has had a really hard time reading the Book of Mormon. She has been praying for her answer every night and now knows that it has to be true and has the goal of going to the temple this next year. I am so convinced that if anyone will read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, that they will know its true. The Lord is so magnificent. He knows exactly when and how we need to receive this answer.

In Zone Conference we talked about what does it mean to be a successful missionary. Elder Wilson said it means to make a difference. I know that I have made a difference here. I know the ward is better because I have been here. I now am going to be able to see two awesome kids get baptized. I love the gospel so much. It is everything to me. I think one of the purposes of me going on a mission was to help me see just really how it works, why its important and how I can love people. I also think another reason is because I need to get married and have children. I feel like my love for children grows everyday and my desire to have a family grows as well.....SCARY!

After zone conference we had a small sisters meeting with Sister Wilson and Sister Maynes. We were able to ask questions and I asked something that I really didn't want to ask. I asked how to overcome the feeling of always feeling like I have never done my best, that I could always do more. It is a feeling that is hard to describe. Sister Wilson read something so great out of 2 Cor. and she said something that I will not forget. She said that Satan wants us to feel this way and get us to focus on ourselves and not on others. He wants us to feel like we are never good enough and that we can never be good enough. This has helped me so much this last week. I feel like I have been suffering from this and for a while not even realizing it. So no more thinking about Hermana Spencer.

I have also been given another opportunity to grow. Something that I can't really talk about. I am so grateful for the mission. For everything that I have and every experience.

I love you all and hope that you get something from my emails.

Love,
Hermana Spencer

Friday, December 9, 2011

Snow, Puzzles, and 1 Year

Dear Family and Friends,

This last week was insane. We had transfers which were really great. I love hearing the testimonies of the missionaries that are going home. I can see that the mission really has changed them. I only have 5 transfers left in the mission....this is crazy.

So on Saturday, I hit my one year mark since I was set apart as a missionary. This year has gone faster than any other year in my life. I am so grateful that I am here.

This last week my companion was sick and we spent a lot of time at the apartment. She was super sick! It started on Tuesday and is still not quite over. At night, I went out with members and left her at a members house. It was wonderful going out with the bishops wife. I learned so much from her. She just told me so much about her life and the gospel. She accepted it with her whole heart and you can see the testimony of obedience in her. I was very touched by everything she said. She has had hard times. I really feel like that is the only way you can gain a testimony. Yesterday, when I was out with her we went to see Hilda and Juan. Yesterday, they did not go to church (it was the first time they haven't gone since I have known them). Hilda is having a hard time. Satan is working really hard on them. Juan left for work when we got there and shortly there after, came back. He just lost his job. The only way I can describe how I felt is, I felt like they were my children and they were suffering and there was nothing I could do to help them. My heart broke. Juan's eyes were filled with despair. The bishop's wife helped me. She said that they have to gain their own testimony. It has to be hard so they can trust Him. They are really important to Heavenly Father. Satan is just working really hard. Their faith is being tested and he will probably find a better job. We invited them to the baptism of an 8 year girl that was going to happen right after.

We went to the baptism....to be honest I was a little down....and guess what I saw!?!?!?! THE MANCERA FAMILY - SO if you remember we were teaching this awesome family that was super ready to get baptized but them had to move. Well they were there meeting with the bishop of the other Spanish ward. My heart swelled with so much happiness. They were so happy to see me. The husband and older son almost hugged me....I had to refuse very strongly lol. They are doing so great. They have remembered the things that we taught them! They are going to get baptized and will be married very soon! I probably get to go because they will do it in our church building. Seriously best thing ever!

Also, it has snowed so much lately. It snowed Saturday and yesterday. We were eating dinner (Mexican bread and hot chocolate together are the best just so you know) and we got a text from our zone leaders saying that we needed to park the cars. We looked outside and three inches had fallen since we started eating. It was super hard to get home. It is supposed to get below 0. Hello Winter! I just worry about what will happen if we cannot drive. Our area is so big! I guess we will knock.

So being at home as a missionary is really hard. Luckily I found a puzzle under the sink. It really helped me. I thought I would go crazy. I also cleaned and read a lot. Also, lets just say that I would be fine if we never watched any of the church videos again lol.

Tomorrow is Zone Conference and a member of the 70 is coming. So it should be super great!

This week I also hit a year mark of entering the MTC! This year has been incredible.

I love you all and hope that you are all warm where ever you are!

Love,

Hermana Spencer