Week 24

Hello!! Wow well first it just want to start by inviting EVERYONE to please go and check out this link.
christmas.mormon.org

seriously, this video, "He is the Gift" is such a wonderful reminder of what the true meaning of Christmas is. We have this beautiful cards with the picture of mary holding baby jesus and we are encouraged to use them in every contact. Its so interesting to see how everyone is just a little bit nicer once they see that the card has a christmas message. The the change in a jolly spirit is quite evident over here in Jersey thats for sure hahah but yeah anyway, we gave this guy a card and he was like, "FINALLY someone talks about the real meaning of christmas. Its' JESUS'S birthday, not everyone else's" hahah I thought that was so funny and so true! I just absolutely love this season and love being able to share these glad tidings of great joy, thats our Savior came, showed us the way, suffered, died and resurrected just so that we can make it make to our heavenly father.

Second of all... SHOUT OUT to my mother who sent me david archulta christmas cd, wow its just makes me so happy! and makes me a little more okay with this freezing weather.

so this week has been really good. I just love my companion. when she speaks, its not something thats easy because spanish is still all so new, but its so clear when she is speaking by the spirit, because she speaks with ease and its so powerful. Here's an example. so we were with Angel. And we were talking about how he needs to ask god if the book of mormon is true and really ask with a real intent so that he could receive and answer. So we all knelt down together, in this dinky freezing staircase and he prayed so sincerely. After he prayed, he stayed there for 5 minutes after with his eyes closed. It took EVERYTHING in me not to get off my knees because i had lost feeling in my feet by that time. So finally he looked up and said, "I feel really calm, but it want a bigger answer" My comp looked up at him and said that she had never truly recieved a "big" answer from heavenly father. but she has just always known the book of mormon was true, thats part of faith! and then she said that everytime she testifies, she feels in her heart that the book really is true. I just testifed of what she said is true and you could tell his whole attitude changed. CAUSE LIKE CMON. lets be real for a second. we were sent here on earth to walk and act by faith. That means doing and obey without always understanding why. or like Alma 32 says, "faith is not a perfect knowledge!" Sometimes we want to wait until we have evidence and then act, but then we aren't even exercising faith! we talked alot about that and then he said that he wanted to prepare himself to be baptized the 14th of december. We were so happy. We were fasting that day that he would have that desire.

Also, we had a christmas fireside last night and its was all the spanish missionaries that put it on and i got to see so many people from my last area. AHHH i just love them. it was the best. also, I was maria in the nativity HOLLAA. well one of them, there was like 3 of us. Can i just say hispanics are so funny. when they say that someone gives birth, they say "ella dio luz" which means she gave light hahaha how awkward am i right? 

If i have learned ANYTHING, its that my Heavenly Father is so aware of me. I am so insignificant, yet he really does care. He also wants me to learn a lot apparently because this work hasn't been something real easy over here in Jersey. But Ive never been happier and there are miracles every day :)

Last district meeting of the transfer! just a few of us... self timer fail. 

Newark ward members came up big for me with the Maria costume hahah :) 

some princeton members!! 

all of zone 5 at the Traditions with the Taggarts. Sister philbrick and i are the only 2 sistahs in the bro zone.

Week 23

Okay so basically this week was such an emotional roller coaster I dont even know where to begin.

well first off, Thanksgiving was so great! It started with some turkey bowl with a few of nearby zones and the taggarts and APs come to play with us! (fun fact... one of the APs went on a date with my cousin Gina hahaha) OH and we had 3 dinner appts. I literally prayed before the second dinner that we would be able to eat more food. Because hipanics do this thing where you dont serve yourself. They take your plate, and give you everything. So you are eat SO much. Seriously, I was still full the day after thanksgiving. But I love how awesome the members are for letting us come over and spend the holidays with them :) 

Okay so ... THERE WAS SNOWFALL. The first day is always exciting. But walking around all day in it is less exciting. After a full day of walking in the snow, my hip was really bothering me. Like it always bothers me but more than usually. The next day it was just worse. When it gets colder outside, theres more pain. So I got really nervous. All these thoughts were coming into my head like, "but this isnt even anything yet, its gonna get so much colder, what if they send me home? what if i need surgery?" Just everything. So I asked my district leader if he could give me a blessing of health. So  he gave me a blessing and I felt so calm. In the blessing, he said over and over how the Lord is perfectly aware of what I am feeling and the pain that I have. All I have to do is learn to rely on the Atonement and everything will be okay and he will send angels on my right and on my left to bear me up. What a great blessing that was. Sometimes we forget how powerful the Atonement really is. That we can call upon the savior to bear us up and he will! I have such a testimony of the reality of the atonement. that our Savior truly did suffer for all of us, even me. All I can do is put everything I have into His work. When I feel like I cant walk another block, I just close my eyes and pray for strength and I can literally feel myself being strengthened. I feel so much better after the blessing! Im walking with ease now! The priesthood is such a wonderful blessing. 

Marisol was all set for baptism. the program was ready to go, the interview had been passed and we were in constant communication with her everyday! we saw here like almost everyday this week and all was ready to go. On friday, she was so excited and when we left, a friend came over who heard she was getting baptized and showed her a lot of antimormon videos to watch which told her many terrible false things about joseph smith and the book of mormon. We went back and I immediately felt sick. Like the spirit just wasnt in her home. the first thing she said was "no me voy a bautizar manana" and I was just like what happened? She told us about the antimormon stuff. before we said anything we offered a prayer to invite the spirit and I felt so much better. but i was heart broken. She just kept going on and on about what this video told her and about how we dont really know the true story of joseph smith. we talked about the restoration and about how Christ is the head of the church. We were asking her questions to try to get to her tell us how the holy ghost had manifested unto her, because she knows the book of mormon is true, she knows the priesthood is real because she has been healed by the blessings of health. She KNOWS THIS THINGS. but she would not even answer questions. she wouldnt say anything. She looked at me like I was silly when I said christ is the head of this church. I then said the I know he is the head of this church because, by power and authority I am his representative I testified that as members of his church, when we see his face one day, we will know him and he will say, "come, enter into the joy of the lord". I felt the spirit so strongly manifesting unto me that what I said was true. she began to cry as well. 

I know the Lord wants me to learn a lot of things out here, but the greatest thing I have learned is how involved he is in our lives. How much he loves us and how badly he just wants us to come unto him. I know that because as his representative, Ive felt the sorrow that comes when people dont do his will. 

So yeah rough week, but spiritually enriching week as well so you cant complain right? I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and I love you all!

This is on kearny ave. notice that no one is outside because freezing hahah love you!

This is right outside our chapel.