Cinco de Mayo and I'm practically engaged- May 7

Familia y Amigos,

Les quiero mucho! Ustedes son lo maximo!

So this last week was an interesting week. I will first start by
telling you a great story.

So did you know that Cinco de Mayo is crazy here. Apparently we have
the biggest celebration in the United States. Just so you know it is
not for Mexican independence....which lots of people, even hispanics,
say.There are so many cop cars. I hate Cinco de Mayo.  For a spanish
missionary here....it is the worst. All of our appointments cancelled
and no one was home. The people that were home were all having fiestas
in their front yards. They even close a major street so people can
drive around with Mexican flags and girls in bikinis. Yep that is
Denver!

So the funny part about Cinco de Mayo is when we visited Hermana
Alcorta. She is a LA that we visit. 2 weeks ago she decided that I
should date her nephew. She even asked him to send a text message with
a picture of him. So we go to see her on Saturday. We walk down the
steps to find her super excited that we are there. Soon after we
realized why. Her brother and her sister-in-law were in town. That
nephew of hers......well these were his parents. They were there
dropping of some furniture that they made for Hermana Alcorta. They
soon realized who I was and proceeded to talk about him and I. They
got out a picture of him and keep saying "Isn't he super good
looking." "He was a great missionary. He baptized a lot of people."
"He is fluent in Spanish and English." "I want him to marry a returned
sister missionary for our grandkids." With every statement, I got more
and more uncomfortable. I was sweating for sure. They were not kidding
in the least bit. They found out that I was going home soon and were
super excited so we could get married soon. They live in New Mexico
and were excited that Lubbock was not that far. They could come and
visit.His dad even said that he would make all of our furniture...and
I could choose how I wanted it. I felt so uncomforable. Hna. Ruiz
didn't help at all. I ended up giving them my address. They just kept
talking about it. Seriously, I tried to change the conversation so
many times. We finally were able to teach the Hermana. I could not
think at all. I committed her to read a chapter. She has a hard time
praying with us in lessons and we finally got her to do it last time.
She didn't want to do it so I made her pinkie promise for next time.
Then her brother proceeded to make me pinkie promise that I would
write his son back. So we shall see if he writes me. Maybe we will get
married and have cute mexican babies. I will not miss this about the
mission.

So the rest of the week was not super eventful. We did find some new
great investigators. I feel like God is answering my prayers. I have
been praying for members to give us their friends to teach. The other
day we went to dinner and a recent convert invited her friend over so
we could teach her. She is super interested and really liked it. We
will soon meet her boyfriend. I feel really good about it.

Yesterday, the elders had a baptism and we were able to take Melissa,
our 9 yr old investigator. We invited her and her siblings to come and
the mom said it would be fine. Well we went by yesterday to get them
ready to go. Melissa was the only one who wanted to go. She is so
awesome. She has memorized 1 Nephi 3:7 and says it to us all the time.
She always does her homework, even though she has tons of school. She
got up and dressed quickly and went without her siblings. She really
liked the baptism and afterwards as we took her to her dad's car,
where he was waiting, she said this, "My dad says that you want me to
get baptized." I said, "Well we do but it is your decision, not ours."
"Well if it is up to me I say yes." This little girl loves to choose
the right. It is true that even little children can make good
decisions.

The other day we visted a LA, who has a crazy little girl named
Esther. I love this little girl. She runs around crazy but has so much
love in her heart. She is 3 years old and her mom told us that she
finds her kneeling in her room praying. When she askes her what she
prays for, she answers, "I can't tell you." She is sure that she prays
for her dolls. When were over there she said such a wonderful prayer.
Anyone can learn the gospel.

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. Before I bore my testimony,
Hermana Rivera went (she is 89 yrs old). She bore a powerful testimony
that said that she would continue to praise the name of God until her
very last day. She will continue to be obedient until her last day.
Next month we are going to sing with her in sacrament.

I love being a missionary so much. I feel like it gets harder every
day and I get more and more tired. We are working hard here. I am
getting to know so many of the people better and better and am finally
feeling like I can make a difference in this ward. I am trying to help
the members too. The other day I noticed one of my favorite members
standing off from the group and she looked sad. I went and asked her
how she was doing and she said she was fine and I just said "Well you
look like something is wrong." She then told me that she had just
found out her uncle died in Mexico. She is a returned missionary and
knows the gospel and has a testimony. I was able to help her a little
bit. I know that God helps us notice when people need us.

The gospel is so true my friends and family. I love it so much. I am
excited to always be a missionary. So watch out world!

Love,
Hermana Spencer

P.S. Go check out Mormon.org! Its great!

The land of honking, vietnamese food and all things mexican- April 30

Dearest Familia y Amigos,

 

This last week was a really interesting week.

Here people honk at me all the time for nothing.

We ate some really great Pho on Saturday.

Our area is full of Hispanics and Mexican things :)

 

I would like to share a couple of things that I learned/felt.

 

1. P-Day last week - We decided to have a district BBQ. We met at a park. We had all the food ready. I made jalepeno popers (ummm....). And the elders brought things for Carne Asada (also delicious). Well the elders, were all are almost eagle scouts, could not get the coals to be ready to cook. So it was mostly a BBQ of waiting. We then called a member from our ward and asked if we could use their BBQ gril. Elder Rosario made most of the food. I helped. While waiting I asked everyone what was a typical day before the mission for them (because I feel like I don't know anything about anyone). I realized several things from this day. First, how important it is to give thanks when someone does something nice for you (I've realized this before :) ), like Elder Rosario. Second, that missionaries are all normal people who make mistakes (something I also knew before). Third, patience and felxiblity lead to happiness.

2. The day of rejection - We had a day just full of it. We went knocking/tracking in the late afternoon. It just seemed that even the nice people did not want to talk to us. "I'm catholic." "I work alot" ...... etc. Then at the end of the day we stopped by one of our investigator's houses. We saw Jaime. We went by just to see how his reading was going. He had not read and as we mentioned reading it with him, he began to talk. He talked to us about why he didn't think he needed the Book of Mormon. He thinks that our church is good and that it is very organized. He loves when we come by, but he just will not read the Book of Mormon. It was sad to hear this. The Book that I love so dearly, just rejected by someone who never took the time to read it. As we went home that night we were quiet. Hna. Ruiz and I talked about it. We realized that getting rejected is sad because we understand what the people will not have. I just wrote my mission president about this. I told him that it is a priviledge to get rejected. I feel like I understand a little, tinny, smidge bit more what Christ felt as he was rejected by people who did not even know what He was doing, by people who saw miracles and ultimately He was crucified. I think of when He prays with the Nephites in 3 Nefi. He prayes for those in Jerusalem, the very people that just crucifed Him. I am so glad that I know that God doesn't give up on the people we teach. Just like He says, "My arms are outstreched all the day long."

3. Lately we have had a hard time doing several things. 1. Getting people to church. 2. Getting appointments with investigators so we can invite members (which as a missionary is one of the most improtant things). 3. Getting new investigators. So the other day I prayed super hard that we could find someone when we went knocking. The second door that opened, almost immediately let us in. I asked her why she let us in and she said that she just liked us. It made me want to laugh. Hopefully we can help her come to know that these things are true. Also on Saturday we went to a return appointment with a lady we met several weeks ago. Her husband was also there. They are from El Salvador. They had so many questions. I just felt so good talking to them. They met with a Visa Elder (someone waiting on their visa for Peru). Well he got his visa and left them for us. They wanted to understand the story of Joseph Smith and I really felt that they wanted to know that it was true. I really hope that this weekend we can go back and have a super awesome lesson with them. So God answers prayers of missionaries again and again.

4. So as you know, or most of you know - I have not seen many baptisms on my mission and it just seems like other people get them so easily. Denver 4 sisters have two baptisms this transfer. Sometimes I wonder: "Why do other missionaries get them, Why not me?" or "When will I be blessed to see baptisms?" or "Do I not have enough faith?" Etc...... Yesterday as I was sitting in sacrament meeting, the speaker talked about prayer. Sometimes we ask for things that are not "just" and some things that are not in God's plans for us. I felt like this was a great talk for me. Maybe Heavenly Father doesn't want me to see lots of baptisms. Maybe I need to realize that my efforts have not been wasted. Maybe they will come my last transfer. Maybe they will not come. Maybe I need to learn patience. Maybe I need to learn that God's blessing don't always come in this life. Whatever the answer is, I feel a little bit better. God is listening to my prayers and He will answer them in the way that they need to be answered.

5. I love being a missionary so much. I am so glad that Heavenly Father allowed me to come here and try to help others. It is hard. It is a million times harder than college. I feel like so many people talk about all the huge miracles that have happened on their missions and I think the biggest and most precious things to me are: 1. Feeling the Spirit speak to me. Sometimes its words that come so clear. Other times it is feels of comfort when no one even knows that I am struggling, but Heavenly Father does. 2. Loving others. Yesterday, Hna. Ruiz wasn't feeling well and so I called Yazmin from Denver 4th. I only said her name and she said "Hermana eSpencer." She was so excited to talk to me. She wants me to meet baby Allyson, so she is coming to church here on Sunday.

 

I love the gospel so much. It is the best thing that we could ever have. Here is part of 2Cor. 6

 1 We then, as ^aworkers together ^bwith him, beseech you also that ye receive not the ^cgrace of God in vain.
  4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ^aministers of God, in much ^bpatience, in ^cafflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in ^atumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
 6 By ^apureness, by knowledge, by ^blongsuffering, by ^ckindness, by the Holy Ghost, by ^dlove unfeigned,
 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the ^aarmour of ^brighteousness on the right hand and on the left,
 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
 10 As ^asorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as ^bpoor, yet making many ^crich; as having nothing, and yetpossessing all things.
I feel like the last one is the mission. I feel like I sorrow, am poor and really do not have anything materially and sometimes anything to give, but I rejoice because I get to make people rich in the gospel and help them to have all things.
I love you all and will love you more if you write me - you only have 2 months left!
Hermana Spencer

April 23

Dear Family and Friends,

 

This week was an interesting week....that I can't remember. Just a note....we now write in the family history center and all the missionaries are here and we just end up talking...so sorry if this is a little random.

 

So here are some stories.....

 

1. We have these investigators...Hilda and Jaime (boy's name in spanish). Jaime really likes to joke with us and offer us coffee every time....well this time he offered us tea. So me trying to go along with his joke said yes. We were laughing and then he brought us two big glasses of tea......lol. It was just funny because he didn't realize that I was joking, becuase he thinks I'm a 'serious" person. We had a great lesson with them. Jaime likes to talk alot. We invited them to church and he said that he wasn't going to be able to go because h was just too tired. So I was able to promise him blessings. Then he mentioned that he wanted a new job. He has been looking for a new one for a year. So Hna. Ruiz promised him that if he would go to church he would get a job. It was so powerful. They went to church yesterday and it seemed like he liked it. Hilda loved it the last time and loved it again.

2. Yesterday at church a family from Denver 4th came and can I just tell you all how happy it made me. I feel like that was forever ago. It just made my heart feel so happy. I love those people so much.

3. The other day we went to visit an investigator and she said to come back later. Her neightbors were outside and we decided to go talk to them. One of them is actually an investigator of the Zone Leaders that we all are praying for her. The other one will hopefully be one of our investigators soon. Well the little girls were playing hopstoch and well me being me decided to play with them. So in the words of my companion, " You were doing so good and I was surprised." So I was doing great untill.....SMACK! I hit the stairwell super hard. I hadn't realized that it was there because it wasn't a problem for all of the kids. So yep....Hna. Ruiz will just start randomly laughing......because of this.

4. Ortiz Family. We went to visit the parents of the children we teach. The mom is a less active and the dad is not a member. We went to ask them if they could get baptized. They both said that whatever they decided would be fine with them. So the kids are thinking about it! We are really excited for them. I love teaching them. They have so many questions.

 

Sorry this is so short....the elders kept distracting me. More next week!

 

Love,

Hermana Spencer

Snow, Rain and Sunshine April 16

Dear citizens of Texas, California and New Mexico, (and others who read this)

 

So I just finished my second week in Denver 1st and I still feel pretty weird. I love getting to know new people and love them. I really hope that I can love them just as much as I love the members of Denver 4th.

 

So a couple of stories for you:

 

1. Cori - She got baptized last year with Hna. Thomas and is awesome. We went to teach her about callings and VT. It turns out that that was an answer to her prayers. She had prayed earlier that week that she would be able to know how to serve God better. She struggles in a lot of the same ways that I do. Satan works on her in a way that makes her think she is not doing enough and that she is not good enough. It was so great that we were able to help her :)

2. Hna Loera - She is a less active lady that has been sowing since she was12 years old. She is really nice. We talked to her about gaining a vision of going to the temple. I felt strongly to ask her to pray for a date specifically and then to promise her blessings. As a missionary, we really do have the power to promise blessings. I love every time that I know Heavenly Father told me something specifically to help someone. I love being a missionary.

3. Hna Rivera - She is going to turn 90 this year. We go and sing to her....well I play the piano ..... remember how I don't actually play the piano....well thats how it goes. She is so sweet. This last week she cooked for us without telling us, but we had just eaten alot. So we told her we would take it with us this time. Hna. Ruiz told her that I could cook and so she just said she wasn't a good cook. We told her not to say that and she just said "Its not bad to say that you are bad at things that are actually true." I thought about that alot and realized I can be honest about the things that I am not good at and not be talking bad about myself. Example: I cannot park next to a curb to save my life....Hna. Ruiz always laughes at me for it.

4. President Interviews - They were really good and really helped me. I wish I had more time to tell you about it....cross my fingers next week!

 

Well things are great and I love being a missionary. I hope all of you are great. Please write.....I haven't gotten one letter at this apartment yet. :(

 

Love,

Hermana Espencer