Discouragement and Happiness

Dear Family and Friends,

So this last week was like the hardest week of my mission, it was also a very good one. So we have been working very hard. My new companion is really great. She struggles like the rest of us, but we are doing wonderful together. Last week, we knocked, and tried to contact so many people. I loved it.

We have a lot of progressing investigators. I really thought things were just going great. I gave a great training the other day in District Meeting over how to fight discouragement through having charity and bearing a strong testimony. Its amazing what can happen if you have charity. I really felt the Spirit and I learned so much from the Elders and my companion in this training. We were also invited to sing at stake conference with all of the rest of the missionaries. It was amazing. Right before the conference we practiced. They decided to have us sing in Spanish....there are not that many of us. I was really glad that I could do that for the ward members that came. It was a whole session on missionary work. It was great. Our mission president spoke and it was amazing. We also had a nonmember sing "O Divine Redeemer" (and I really need that song now). It was so powerful. I love the way music can invite the Spirit.

After the conference we were planning on visiting our great investigators Thelma, Felix and Esperanza. We were so excited to see them. They had already done their reading and we brought cookies for the kids. We were so excited to put them on date. I felt so good about it. We went and they thought it was Sunday that we were supposed to come by and Felix was sleeping. So we made an appointment for Sunday afternoon. Lately I have been really struggling to understand why I haven't seen any baptisms. It is not everything, but it hurts when you see other missionaries that don't work as hard get baptisms. I was so excited. We were listening to Stake Conference in Spanish (which is still harder to understand than English lol) and there was a wonderful talk. The stake president talked about the purpose of life. He said that the purpose of life is not to receive blessing (or in other words the purpose of a mission is not to have tons of baptisms) it is to prove faithful to Jesus Christ. This really hit me. It was just so true. My mission president always says I am a great missionary. During this talk Thelma called and told us that her husband doesn't want us to meet with them any more. He wants them to be Catholic (yesterday he took them to church for the first time in years). I couldn't hold back the tears honestly. I just didn't understand. Everything was going so perfectly and then it was just gone. I had spent all morning thinking about her. So yesterday was just a really hard day. I felt like I couldn't be the missionary I wanted to be. It hurt all day long.

So this morning I needed to read some things to bring me up. I read some really great scriptures.

D&C 123:17

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

This scripture changed the way I thought about my work. I need to do the work cheerfully with all of my power and then leave it up to God and wait for the miracles to happen. I really don't know why I have seen so many people get so close to baptism and move, don't want to listen or just say they don't want it. I don't know, but I really think I have a lesson to learn. I don't know God's ways and His ways are not mine, but He does work in mysterious ways for the salvation of His children.

I then read 2 Nephi 4:15-35

This gave me some much comfort because God just knows me so well. Read it!

I am still sad about Thelma, but there are other great blessings and prospects. On Friday we taught Juan and Hilda the nonsmoking program. They haven't smoked since. We went by today (yes today :) ) because Juan doesn't work today. We had an amazing lesson about baptism. Juan asked us why we needed to get baptized in water. It was so amazing how the Spirit led my words and how strong it was. They both understood so much. They looked at each other with new understanding. We put them on date for the 15th of October. I am so excited. It felt so good.

Also can I just say I love being a missionary. Today we were at the grocery store and someone asked me if i was a LDS missionary (its my favorite question). I love that I can say yes! His name was Jake. A lot of his family are members. It was so nice to talk to him and invite him to learn more. I love that.

So I am still in the work out program. Every morning....I hate it, but after eating salads and working out hard core I definitely feel better. We played soccer today and Frisbee. So my companion is super good.....and you all know me so I won't lie. I'm not that good. I did block the ball with my body a couple of times. The elders are nice and tell me good job...but I know the truth lol.

Tomorrow is Zone Conference and it is all about how to fight discouragement and I am so excited.

Funny story time!

1. The other day we went to lunch at a less actives house. She told me what we were eating and in my head I thought....man. So I kept trying to whisper it to Hna. Romero.....psssssstt! Pig Skin! pssssstttt! Pig Skin! Yep we ate boiled pig skin. I won't lie I didn't like it. I got a huge piece. Hna. Romero got a napkin when she wasn't looking and wrapped her food in it and hit it between her legs. I was too close to the member so i couldn't. I tried to cut it up to look like I ate more and then hid some of it in the corn husks of the tamale I was eating. It was just so funny. I can't adequately describe over email why it was so funny.

2. Yesterday we talked to a creepy old guy named Larry. It was one of the most interesting contacts. It stared out with " When God made your face, He was just showing off!" He was trying to convince me about science....luckily I could at least prove in my head he was wrong. That degree came in handy. Luckily a testimony is so much more powerful.

Family and Friends - I love the gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. I know it is true. I know that God loves us and that He gives us trials because we have so much to learn. I know that we can prove He is real, because I can test the commandments. I can test His promises. He always does what He says He will. I love being a missionary. I don't want to the time to go any faster and I don't want to ever have to not be a missionary. I love you all very much. I hope you liked this email. I am doing great.

Love,

Hermana Spencer

9/12 Mustard Yellow

Dear Loving Family and Wonderful Friends,

It has only been two days since I emailed last....so I don't have tons to say, but don't worry it will be a good email.

I have hit my 9 month mark on the mission. I can't believe time is going by so fast. I really wish that I could be here for longer. I feel like I have SO MUCH to learn. I guess that is just how things work. I am just really trying to work hard and have no regrets.

So our ward activity was FANTASTIC! We had so many members, less actives, investigators and random people there. It was incredible. I loved it. The food was great. We gave out a couple of Book of Mormons and also pamphlets and got some referrals....which are a missionaries best friend. However...they all live in the NORTH MISSION! One of them is from Mexico and practically all of her family are members. I asked her why she wasn't and she said she didn't know. She really is so excited to meet with us....but she lives less than half a  mile outside the mission.

We should be having a baptism really soon. We have found some really great people lately. We met this lady Thelma. She has two kids and the lesson we had with them was superb! This last week without Hna. Coughlen has been different, but so GREAT for me. I feel more confidence and it has made me rely on the Lord more for guidance. I really hope I get to stay in the area a little longer, but if I stay any longer I will have been here for 9 months and that is a really long time.

So random things:

We have so much fun teaching people English.

I love knocking.....I don't like it when we start, but I always love it by the end.

Yesterday we taught the youth about mormon.org and it was amazing. We watched this video about a scientist and it made me miss lab work. I almost cried. Who knows if I will ever do that again.

Today I found one of the cutest yellow jackets ever.....and it was half off at a thrift store! (Future Sister Missionaries....go to thrift stores. They are the best).

I have started working out hard core (meaning some days I can barely walk lol). Every morning I say I don't want to do it...but I always survive.

My Spanish is improving...everyone says so. Saturday after the activity, the Bishop told us that he forgot to assign people to talk (he dropped his daughter off at college last week), and asked if we could talk. So I prepared for 15 minutes and gave a talk in Spanish. A couple of months ago that would not be possible.

Also this week we are eating salads.....its not that bad especially because people fry almost everything for dinner.

I love the Book of Mormon more than anything in the world! It really is changing my life. It can change yours too!

Sometimes the elders make me go crazy!

I am training at district meeting this week over charity, bearing a powerful testimony and also not getting discouraged....we will have to see how to tie those in together.

So everything is super great here! I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Spencer

9/10 Crazy Denver 4th

Dear Family and Friends,

Holidays really throw off things. We have not really had any time this week to email. So you will be getting double emails...sort of.

I am still here in Denver 4th! BUT, with a new companion, HNA. ROMERO! Hna. Coughlen is in Grand Junction baptizing thousands....or soon will be. Hna. Romero is from San Diego and has a transfer less than me, she loves soccer, and she was like less active forever!  (she told me what to say about her)!

So I am trying to remember what happened the last week of the transfer. ... ...

Hilda our awesome investigator is still doing awesome. On Sunday her and her husband went to church and to Sunday school. This class was the best class EVER! Juan, her husband, asked a question. I don't remember what the question was exactly, but he talked about being confused (just so you know we have only taught him once at this time). Him and Hilda asked lots of questions....then all of our less actives and recent converts that we visit answered. They assured them that everyone feels confused at one point and that is why we have church and they all bore their testimonies. IT was WONDERFUL. Hilda is also almost done with 1 Ne. She is loving it. Juan also wants to be baptized. We really hope that they can be baptized this transfer. They have several obstacles to overcome.

Also it has been an amazing week. I was really sad to see Hna. Coughlen go. I really do love her very much, but this week has been so great for me. I have been so blessed by Heavenly Father. My Spanish has improved, and so has my confidence. We have found some really great investigators and are just having a great time. I have really felt Heavenly Father's hand in the work this week. I was really nervous to not have Hna. Coughlen, but I realized then and now that I need to grow. I have a great goal! We have a section in the back of our planners to write down about people we talk to. I am going to fill it up and i am super excited. Yesterday I had an awesome experience with a Pentecostal! It was really fun to talk to him. I really hope that he talks to the missionaries when they stop by.

Also we have started a work out program....yep. I am so sore and every morning I think I am going to die. lol.

Also yesterday we were at a less actives house and her 19 yr old nephew was there. We were friendly with him and invited him to read the Book of Mormon with us. Well he leaned close to my companion...awkward. We invited him to an awesome ward activity and he asked if we would be there. We said yes and he said OK, I'll come. Then when we were leaving...I went to give a handshake while he was asking for a hug....then I freaked out and just said....WE can't hug! ... (Hna. Romero says that he had his arms all ready for a hug and I blocked it)...Then he shook my hand and hermana Romeros and ran upstairs. It was super funny and awkward. Poor guy!

So things are great here in Denver 4th! We have a great activity tonight Noche Latina. I am really excited to meet everyones friends and eat the food!

I really hope all is well! Love being a missonary!

Love,

Hermana Spencer

Membership Activation

Dear Family and Friends,

I am so tired. I don't know how I function some days. Before I talk about this last week, I want to share an experience. Today has been a rough day. I am feeling socially awkward and just down. Which is dumb, because then you just think of yourself and become more selfish. I have been praying that I would be the answer to someones prayers for the past couple of days.  Just now we went to Sally's to get some hair dye for Hna. Coughlen. I was just standing there looking at things and this lady named Hannah Smith came up to me. She asked "are you a missionary?" I love it every time when i get to say "yes, yes I am." She told me that she was an ex-communicated member and that she never sees missionaries. She has been looking for them a lot lately and also a church building. She can't invite missionaries over to her house because of her boyfriend....luckily there are lots of parks :) She said yesterday she was talking about this to her grandma and how much she misses the church, that she has been praying for it. I got her information and told her we would give her a call. She said we had made her day. I gave her a hug and was so happy that I could do that for something. Just being in the right place at the right time. Heavenly Father does answer prayers.

This last week was an interesting week. We are realizing more and more how to tell if people are really ready to accept the gospel. When they are not, it is so much harder to invite the Spirit. This last week we dropped one of our investigator families. It was so sad to see her with all of her knowledge reject these things. She wants to sleep in. It broke my heart a little for her children. They will not be able to have these blessings right now in their life. We are also going to have to stop going by with several more of our investigators. Sadly, this needs to happen. I talked to Pres. Maynes about this and he told me that God prepares people and so when they are ready, we can help them. I am really sad because we are going to have to drop Maricela Gonzalez. I love this lady. She is always wearing heels even if she is going to stay in the apartment. She has 3 of the cutest boys. She is a really good person, but hasn't opened her heart. We keep trying to think of what we could do to help her, but the answer isn't that sadly. I am really sad to go by this week and tell her that we can no longer come by.

Hilda is progressing a lot. I hope that I will be able to see her baptized. She has a lot of issues. She needs to be divorced ($600), get married, quit smoking and open a new case with immigration ($1500). She has already started seeing blessing. Last night we taught to keep the Sabbath Day holy. It was a great lesson for the kids and also the recent converts we had with us. The recent converts now really understand what they should and shouldn't do on the Sabbath. I love it when members also get taught along with investigators.

 Saturday night we got a call from the North mission elders. One of our old investigators that moved over there was going to be getting baptized on Sunday. Well they asked us to speak....

So that was interesting. Sundays are always so crazy. We leave the house before 7:45 and then run around like a crazy person....yep only one crazy person....not two. So I gave a talk in Spanish with 5 minutes of preparation. It went pretty good. It was an extremely weird baptism. The bishop was late, it was in a different mission (we go to church outside of the mission), one of the elders from our ward baptized him and we spoke. But it was a great day! We then had a meeting with the ward council and talked about less active work. It was fantastic because Hermana Rivera bore her testimony about how better is her life now shes active. We are really excited to see the results of this work in the ward. Then the elders in our ward had a baptism. I directed the music! It was great. I was glad we were able to help.

This last week I have studied Repentance, Baptism, the Atonement and the Way.....basically the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The scriptures have truly been teaching me this week. Christ is the only way. There are a couple of things we need to do to...have faith in him, repent, be baptized, etc. When we do this we are following His commandments and are repenting or constantly changing. When we do this we receive His mercy. If we keep doing this we can live with Him again. There is obviously more that I have learned. My heart has been touched to understand just a little bit more about this great opportunity I have in this life.  I love being a missionary! I really hope that we can find the prepared.

Josh (someone get this to him) - I love you so much and am so proud of you....you should write me all about it!

Here is another story from Hna. Coughlen:

So ready for another episode of the "la vida loca de la hermana coughlen"? I woke up a little under the weather, but I usually blame that on the high grease diet and obscene amount of meat we eat (with questionable origin... for some reason the use of refrigerators is not well taught in the Hispanic culture...) but it just didn't seem to quit that day... I did not want to stay at home because there is so much to do, so many people to see, and who just wants to sit at home all day when you got nothing there but two desks and one CD... so we went to work. Hna. Spencer kept trying to get me to tell her how I felt because she knows when it comes to that I can be a dirty liar because I want to work. We were down by one of our favorite people's houses, Hilda Hernandez and since it is hard to get down to that part of town we just HAD to go. As we were sitting in the car preparing a little the urge to throw up got a little stronger, but it had been bugging me all day so I figured I would be fine. As we reached the door I looked at Hermana Spencer and said, "we gotta go home after this." "and we gotta make this visit FAST." She agreed and immediately Hilda opened the door. As we were at her table in the basement where she lives I started out good. But soon the only things I could do to comfort myself was a slight rocking motion and fidgeting of the knees. I tried to hide it the best I could but at the end of the lesson when Hna. Spencer asked Hilda is she had any questions she said, "about this (referring to what we had just taught) no, but what's wrong with her?!" (looking at me). I tried to explain and being a good Hispanic she tried to play Dr. and prescribe me something.... As she was explaining the pills she was going to give me hermana Spencer says my eyes turned black and without saying goodbye I started to book it up the stairs and out the doors (which was conveniently locked...) Right when I got out and stepped onto the grass.... HUUUUGH!!! there it went! I looked like a sick dog. After decorating her lawn 6 times with my vomit I looked up at her with sad eyes and said "lo siento". She said it wasn't a big deal and that she would just spray it down with the hose when we left... how embarrassing... at least she already wants to get baptized!! HAHA! I feel almost 100% better now. The hardest part of the day was staying inside that day because we had to follow our rule "If you are throwing up or if you have diarrhea... we don't work!"

Just so you this is a rule of the mission....Hna. Thomas and I decided this a LONG time ago... but as of yet it has only applied to Hna. Coughlen.

Love you all,

Hermana Spencer

English Class

Dear Everyone....

I have a couple of minutes to write to you!

We are doing really great here. We have two people now on date. Hilda Hernandez and Nancy Lujan. Hilda is doing incredible. She loves church and has great fellowshipppers. We had one of our recent convert families, the Palacios, give them a ride and sit by them in church. They are amazing. The other night we took them to the appointment with us and they brought pizza. We asked Hilda to be baptized and she said yes....and bro. Palacio then said do you know what that means? It was funny for some reason. They were baptized last October.

A funny story about them: One time we went over there (at this time they scared me) and they were telling me some story about rain. Hna. Coughlen was in the bathroom (which when you barely speak Spanish and don't know the people is really scary). I didn't understand part of their story and they turned to each other and the wife said....she doesn't understand. (And of course I understood that part!) Now she loves us and just wants to make us food.

So they are just doing wonders with Hilda. Along with them is the Fam. Rivera. They are also from El Salvador. Hilda sits inbetween Hna. Palacio and Hna. Rivera in Relief Society in the first row. It just makes me beam!

It was really nice to be with Hna. Thomas last week. It was great to see that we both had made so much progress. They also told her how much my Spanish had improved. I really heard that like 50 times last week...which I guess is a good thing. They always start off with ....when she got here she couldn't speak for nothing...but now look at her. LOL. Even the old lady we visit in the Nursing home said it lol. Hna. Thomas is of course a fantastic missionary.

We are really glad that our ward is progressing and that hopefully soon we will have a baptism. Transfers are in two weeks yet again....and I am really nervous. Hna. Coughlen and I have been companions for so long! I am scared to get another companion, but am also so excited at the same time.

Last night a huge black man named Big....asked to take us out for a burrito. It was probably one of the funniest contacts ever. We of course told him no. He then offered to take us to get coffee so I told him about the word of wisdom lol. I ended up saying....just take the pamphlet for your salvation....its more important than a burrito!

I am so full of gratitude to be a missionary. I love the gospel so much and am learning lessons I never thought I would learn and some that I didn't think I needed to. The Lord is slowly changing my heart. Here is a thing that I learned this morning in Personal Study. I studied Repentance. Preach My Gospel says something profound:

Bringing our lives in line with God’s will through
repentance is a central purpose of our lives. We can return to live with God the Father only
through Christ’s mercy, and we receive Christ’s mercy only on condition of repentance.

With out repentance we can not live with God. The Scriptures say over and over again....why? When we repent we can have the mercy of Jesus Christ. Because of His Atonement we can have mercy and live with God again.

I love you all very much.

Love Hna. Spencer

P.S. Thanks MeeKK

The Best Ward Activity Ever

Hola,

So this week was super crazy. I don't have a lot to write about, but it was amazing.

It was a little different. We spent a lot of time preparing for our ward mission night.  We made invitations, programs, practiced and practiced. We wanted to make sure we could explain everything we needed to do in Spanish. We were given 20 minutes to present how members can invite their friends. The Elders also had 20 minutes to explain our role as missionaries and what the role of members is. President Maynes also came and spoke about retention. The activity was a huge success. The Spirit was there so strongly. We all felt that we were doing the right thing. President Maynes was fantastic. He spoke to as many people as he could....in English lol. He shook their hand. He loved them. We got a great translator for him. He asked everyone who was a convert to raise their hand. Most of the people were converts. He then asked who loves the gospel. He then said who did I shake hands with. ... He had missed a couple and said "I'll get you later!" He then talked about how he was able to be friendly with the people even though he couldn't speak their language. He then said....we need to love people that come to church...less actives...recent converts...and investigators. The way he said everything touched so many hearts. The spirit was there so strong, I didn't worry about my Spanish. The ward was friendly yesterday and more willing to help us.

Also we had president interviews on Saturday. It was great to talk to President. He told Sis. Coughlen "You both are working to the bone and seeing no results (as in baptisms)." It is true, but he gave me a lot of hope. He told me to not measure my success as a missionary by baptisms, but by obedience. We also talked about hunting the prepared. When we find someone who is prepared, it is so much easier to teach them. We really worked on finding this week and now have 12 new investigators. I am really excited about all of these people. President just gave me some comfort and we also talked about teaching skills. I am really excited to see how my teaching skills change.

Ohhh....... Sis Coughlen just reminded me. Here is a story:

"This week we also went to go visit one of the people we were teaching, turned out they moved randomly (not uncommon with illegals) and the new tenets are a family of super ghetto-south black people! It was a blast to talk to them, especially since they had a few cock-tails in them... well, one of the guys was trying to call his lady friend over away from our group but she yelled back and said "Don't get in the way of my Jesus talk!" Eventually he sauntered over and tried to do a "hand-shake" with her. They failed about 3 times and on the last attempt a baggie dropped to the floor.... the man looked at her with big eyes, eyeing the ground where it fell and pulled her in to whisper something. I just laughed and pretended not to notice so that the situation didn't get any more awkward. We should have said, "That's what happens when you do a drug deal in front of "Jesus people" (as they called us). Never a dull moment."

That was when I trying to explain the Plan of Salvation....

I also got a blessing from President Maynes after the activity. I haven't had one since I was set apart. It was so wonderful to hear that Heavenly Father loves me and that He is pleased with me. So many of the same blessing were promised that were in my setting apart blessing. I am so grateful that these things will happen.

So I love my mission. Every time I realize how fast time is flying....I get scared because I don't want to leave. I have been studying the Book of Mormon alot. I will finish today marking every reference to Jesus Christ. It has changed the way I look at the BOM. I love it so much and am so grateful I can always study it.

I am going to go on exchanges with Hermana Thomas tonight and tomorrow....so it should be fun!

I love you all so much,

Love Hermana Spencer

The Craziest...

Dear Family, Friends and Strangers,

This last week was so crazy. Literally crazy.

1. La Familia Mancera (our rock star investigator family) got kicked out of their house last week. So we helped them look for boxes, apartments and storage. We were having such a hard time finding an apartment because they don't have papers. I don't know how they all do it, but they get jobs and find apartments. Sadly, the family moved out of the mission. All five of them were on date for the 27th. They live less than a mile outside the mission. I won't lie we were devastated, but we feel much better about it now.

2. Our other investigator, Yeni, decided to go to Mexico randomly....hopefully she will get back soon. She still is great. We met with her on Tuesday and she is just so great. She is already half way through first Nephi with lots of questions. She even prayed that she could be ready for her baptismal date.

3. Church....As a missionary, church is so exhausting. We have a meeting at 7:45 with the bishop. Afterwards we made copies and confirmed rides for our investigators. We had a lady with 6 children come. I felt like a mom. Luckily we were prepared with crayons and coloring pictures of Jesus. Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. President has asked us to have at least one missionary bear their testimony every month. I really wanted to share my testimony yesterday. I went up there and the people ahead of me took a while. A member of the bishopric got up and closed the meeting before I could share my testimony.....all the ward members were looking so confused. It was the weirdest thing.....so I just sat up there and sung the hymn. Also we are having our huge activity about missionary work this next Saturday. We are doing so much work for this. Next week, we are also staring our English classes.....or we think so. We are having a hard time organizing it with the stake and the ward. So wish us luck. We had a less active, Yazmin, bear her testimony about las hermanas and the BOM. I was so filled with joy! She is reading every night and it is changing her. I then went to primary...with all of our investigator children. I love primary lol!

4. Rivera Family! They are totally changing. La hermana called us this week and told us about her reading from the scriptures. She really is increasing her testimony. She wants to start FHE now. Yesterday we went to visit another family in the ward and they were there. We visited the Fam. Palacio. They also love us. Hermana Rivera called me Mija....lol...crazy El Salvadorian lady :) Both of these families are growing the gospel.

I really love being a missionary. Its been 8 months now! Sorry this is a short one.

One more thing. This week I had a really hard time, personally, loosing investigators...etc. Heavenly Father really taught me a little about the Atonement. It is so real. He wants us to us it so much more than we do. Also there is power in going to the temple. I went on Wednesday and it was so amazing. Remembering our covenants really gives us power.

I love you all!

Hermana Spencer

P.S. Cathy - in Bro. Merrill's institute thing from last fall....is stuff from my mission president...Alan Maynes. Its about questions....could you find that for me and send it? I love you!

Will you marry me?

Dear Family and Friends....

This week was an interesting week. I felt exhausted...and so did Hna. Coughlen. This week we put Yeni on date for the 20th of August! We are super excited. She is doing well. Also Fam. Mancera are great! Maria "proposed" to Alfredo. . .She asked him to marry her and he said can I have a week to think about it. lol.  We are making plans for their wedding. She wants to go look for a dress to wear and Freddi said "I'm not marrying a dress...we've been together for 23 years." They are just really funny. I told them I would make them a cake for their party. So we called some English Elders and asked them if they knew anyone who would have the pans and it turns out that they have 3 people in their ward that make wedding cakes. . . so now we are getting a professional wedding cake done for free! Yay. Another member is also taking pictures. So things are going well.

Also the ward really trusts us here. We might be going shopping with some of the YW today and help with dress more modestly. The ward just loves to see us. We were also surprised attacked to teach sharing time in primary. It was really odd....she stopped me in the hall and asked if I could help a little in primary. We soon learned it was all the missionaries and we were not just helping we were teaching. Luckily we were just helping the kids talk about the temple. I really do love primary. We are trying to memorize more songs to teach to children.

We are worried that we might have to drop one of our favorite investigators, Maricela. She is a great person and I love her kids. She just is not progressing the way she should. She has been meeting with us for almost 6 months and still does not want to read the Book of Mormon as much as she should. Really that action of reading the Book of Mormon is so important. We fasted for her this last weekend because we really have no idea how to help her progress. I remember meeting with her one time and just feeling like she would get baptized. Hopefully something will change soon.

Also some great news! One of our almost active less actives blessed the sacrament for the first time yesterday. He was so cute. I was praying so hard that he would get the words right. Later on we went by with his family and read the Book of Mormon. I asked him how he felt. He said he was super nervous but was glad he got to do it. They were also asking about buying the FHE manual and also nice scriptures. The teenage daughter, Ana, said....they're buying church books? What more do you want from us? LOL. They always say that we could move in with them. They just love us so much. They can't see how much their home has changed, but we can. They are all more happy and their is so much more love in that house. The gospel really does change families.

Sorry this is a shorter letter...I don't have a lot of thoughts today. I am planning on taking my first nap today :) Hopefully I will be able to.

Love,

Hermana Spencer

The Big 55!

Dear Family and Friends!

This last week was insane and amazing. Sorry I am writing late....a lot of crazy things have happened. First, I did not get transferred and neither did Hermana Coughlen. By the end of this transfer we will have severed together 6 months...or a 1/3 of our missions...crazy! We were happy because we really want baptisms together. So I still live at the same address and everything.

So last week we did it! We broke the mission record and got 55 lessons in one week. It was so rough, but great. We knocked and had some time in between appointments. We are really working on having smaller more powerful lessons. It was great. All of the leaders got a shot out from President about us...so we must not be doing that bad. Our district almost averaged 40 lessons! Also we have a family on date for next month, August 27! We are super excited. We will also be having a wedding before that so they can get married. All of the kids are excited. This is so much better than 55 lessons. They are a family of 6 - 5 of them will be getting baptized and the little one in November. They already want to go to the temple! Yay Fam. Mancera!

Also we have a rock star investigator. Her name is Yeni! We met her brother when we didn't have a car. The first time we met with them was two weeks ago. It was a super awkward lesson. The brother, Ramundo was cooking on the grill and the family was on the porch. So....they fed us (side note...it was a great hamburger). It was just a difficult lesson because we didn't know what to expect and the brother was cooking. Yeni was the most interested. Last week when we went by with them she was home. She was so glad we had come back...and we just thought "I hope one of them is interested." Almost two weeks ago...her friend's mom died. She remembered what we had said about families being together forever. She wanted to know how and invite her friend to learn. She had already told her friend about us. We taught her a little of the plan and committed her to be baptized next month. She already uses the Book of Mormon....prays with her friends and she went to church this last Sunday. She was so cute. She was worried about what skirts she could wear and was super nervous all through church...but she loved it. She can't wait to go back. She just wants it so much.

None of the Spanish sisters moved this last transfer. So next one will be crazy.

We have seen so many miracles. Just small ones. I really am so grateful that they still do exist. One is Hannah...I think I wrote about her a little. We found her. She is a less active that is gay. Yesterday we went and helped her clean her moms house. Her mom is a hoarder and the house was very dirty. It was so great to help her. We both felt so great about what we had done. She was also so grateful. Afterwards, she prayed for the first time in a long time. It was so great to hear her prayer. I found a talk I really like that says..."Love them today so you can teach them tomorrow." I feel like I can do a lot of loving. It is so wonderful to know that you have answered a prayer or followed the Spirit. I am slowly learning that God really is never that far from us. He was us all back.

It is official...I will be coming home the 27th of June. I talked to President yesterday and its done! So yay!

I have been thinking a lot of about my mission lately. It feels like I just started and everything. I know I am learning so many lessons. Yesterday one of the Elders who was going home said "Sometimes your mission isn't the best two years of your life, but the best two years for your life." I feel this way. I have hard times so much. Sometimes a day is really up and down. I feel like I used to find it easier to be happy...BUT I know that this is where I need to be and am so glad I am here. The Lord is truly blessing me more than I realize. My Spanish is progressing. My ability to teach is also progressing. I feel more comfortable as a missionary and honestly wish I had more time. We have a challenge from our mission president to change our attitudes and I want to be more happy, just more excited. I want people to still know me as the girl who always smiles.

I hope you all are enjoying the long email today. It feels good to use this time for yall!

Funny story about a coupon. I went to the dermatologist last week. She gave me a coupon for a face cream that she said was kinda expensive. When we went to pick it up.....it was over $400 dollars. Seriously that much for a face cream....is it made of gold? Well with that coupon it was free! It was the best coupon ever!

Seriously - I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! Everyone should do it! The Lord is so mindful of us and wants us to be happy. He wants to have everything....and one day we can have everything, but we have to learn first to follow Him first!

I love you,

Hermana Spencer

Shout outs!

Garrett - Happy Birthday! Enjoy Chile!

Hna. Ruiz - I loved your letter and expect a letter soon. You will love it!

Sam - Can you get Ally's address for me?

Cathy and Katie - I love you and was surprised....very surprised!

I'm 23!

Howdy Yall

So this last week was crazy. We were so busy! We taught 49 lessons! Sadly I do not have that much time to email because we had to help someone move.

My birthday was awesome! We taught 10 lessons. I made 2 cakes for other people and someone gave me cake....It was a lot of cake. I also got lots of texts from random missionaries. Thank you so much to everyone who sent mail. It was fantastic. It is a little weird to be 23. Also all of the packages and letters arrived perfectly! Thanks!

This last week I learned a little about miracles and how the Holy Ghost works on us.

1. We decided to go and knock this random apartment complex one night. The next day we were debating about what to do. We ended up going to it and the first door we knocked an old man answered and told us it was a horrible time to come because the whole first floor got flooded (it has been raining a lot). So we thought about leaving. Well luckily I have a brain and thought, maybe we could go to the second floor. So we did. We found this lady named Hannah. She is white/native American and is gay, but she also turns out to be a member of the church. We were able to be an answer to someones prayers. Her grandmother died recently and she has a horrible family. She has been praying a lot. We were able to testify to her that God loves her. She knew that we were sent by God.

2. Yesterday we had some down time...because no one was home. So we went knocking. We both thought of this purple house we had passed by when we didn't have a car. We usually go a way to get up there, but yesterday I had the thought to go up Willams....well we were on Willams and Hna. Coughlen sees a random less active that we haven't seen recently. And guess what it was her! We walked down the street and she was really happy to see us! We were able to teach her about priesthood blessings on the street :) Then we went to the purple house area....and we learned something. Some people opened when we knocked on the purple house and they said the lady only speaks Spanish and that they were leaving (perfect). Then they asked if she wanted to talk to us...she didn't. I noticed something inside - it was one of those ribbons for funerals. Then we saw lots of people come by and bring food. It was just a small thing, but we know we need to go back.

So in these circumstances we didn't feel the spirit really tell us anything, but we later learned we were doing the right thing. I have so much to learn.

The mission has a record for the most lessons taught in one week....54. We might be teaching 55. We have been focusing on shorter lessons more frequently (according to our mission president) and just have lots of new people.

Next week is transfers. I really hope we both stay here. I don't feel like I am moving, but we shall see! I think we will be having several baptisms this next transfer :)

I love you all,

Hermana Spencer