Tuesday, January 29, 2013

On Member-Missionaries


Hola familia!

So luckily we were able to come email today. I didn't know if we would be able to because my companion has been really sick. The last couple of weeks have been slow because both of my companions have both been sick on and off. I feel really bad for them. 

Also, I heard some sad news last night. Sister Budge, is going home from her mission because she need surgery on her knee. She hurt it while we were playing soccer last transfer with our zone and I guess it was worse than they thought it was. She says that she wants to come back to the mission after it is all taken care of though which is really good.

So the news from Orange... Jorge was able to baptize his friend about a week ago! I guess he was really nervous but it was such a great experience for him. He is still such a great missionary and always telling his friends about the Gospel. I wish everyone could be that kind of member missionary. He knows the amazing blessing he has in his life of being a member of the church and he wants everyone he knows to have the same happiness.

I went on exchanges with sister Poulson this week. We both wanted to try out a two day exchange instead of one and it was the best! We have so much fun together and got a lot done. This is the last week before transfers (Next Monday) and sister Poulson is going home then.  Sister Breitenstein has one transfer left and then I will be the oldest Spanish sister. Not this transfer, but the one after it, we have 8 new Spanish speaking sisters coming in. We only have three of us here not counting the visa waiters. I have no idea what President is planning on doing but he said that we will all most likely be training two. We will probably have to open new areas as well. There are a couple sisters who got called to English but are native Spanish speakers. They might have to come help out so that we have enough trainers.

Anyway, other than having sick companions, this week was great! We have been finding a lot of families. I don't think I have taught so many families my entire mission and I love it. Sadly no one came to church on Sunday and we had several people say that they were going to be there, but hopefully next week. Our ward is really small right now and because they started this half Spanish half English group because a lot of the kids can't speak Spanish, but their parents can't speak English. It's really weird. They can understand each other though.

Anyways, the ward needs some more families right now. I am grateful that we have been finding some. Well I don't have much more time, but one last thing... this week when we were on exchanges, sister Poulson and I had dinner with some members and it was really good. We asked at the end of dinner how she made her drink. I had tasted it before from other members but I didn't know what it was... Basically, we are going to have to have a sacrament meeting on the word or wisdom because they obviously don't know that we are not allowed to drink green tea! Ohhh man... Well, now I know what that is... Anyways, that's about it for this week. Miss and love you all! Have a great week! :)



Wednesday, January 23, 2013

It Takes All Kinds


Hola familia!

So we couldn't email this Monday because the library was closed. We have had a busy week and haven't found time to email until now, and it is going to have to be quick because we have a lot to do tonight.
Anyways, we've had a good week and things are starting to pick up again. We are teaching a couple of families right now and both of them committed to coming to church on Sunday. The lessons seemed to go well and I am looking forward to teaching them again. 

We met some crazy people this week... there was this drunk guy who was convinced I was Mexican... I've never heard that one before! My companions were laughing pretty hard. The guy started talking about crazy stuff after that and wouldn't let us leave. I told him that we had to go a few different times but he kept talking and was getting super intense so we had to just walk away. We met this other lady told us that we are aliens from another planet and that the world already ended and we are just here to leave a mark. She said that she was going to pray that angels would come share a message with us, and then we shared a quick messege with her, and then she was going on about how we were the angels... she also said that one time she turned into a light and saved people... and a lot of other stuff. It was interesting.. I hear some weird things out here! Haha!

Tonight we are going on Exchanges. Sister Poulson is coming here with me and both of my companions are going to Orange. I'm excited to spend a little bit of time with her before she goes home from the mission in a couple of weeks. This week we had the sisters meeting which was all about training. There are so many sisters coming in soon that most of the sisters in the mission will be training, and President wants to get everyone as prepared as possible. I am excited for all of the new sisters. 

That is so awesome that Alexa got her mission call to Peru! She is going to love the mission and will be a great missonary! :)

Sorry I didn't have a lot of time. Thanks for your emails. Love you all so much! Keep up the good work Eric! :)

Monday, January 7, 2013

Miracles and Blessings


Hello my dearest family!

First of all, happy birthday mom! I hope it was great! I love you!!!

Can you believe that I have been out on my mission for over a year now!? Ugh the time is going by too fast. 

We have had such a  great week and have seen so many miracles. Last night I was able to go back to my old ward for a baptism of someone I taught there and it was so amazing! Her name is Sr. Gonzalez. Next week _______'s friend who we taught all last transfer is getting baptized and so I am planning on going back again for that. He has been coming to church and doing everything that he needs to to prepare. Also, _____ is still being the best missionary and always giving the sisters more people to teach. I am so proud of him and his desire to share what he knows with everyone. They have been teaching one of his friends and their family and they all came to church on Sunday! I am glad that all is going well back in Orange. 

We have also had great things happen here in Anaheim this week. We had a lot of appointments set up because we have been doing a lot of finding. We taught _________ the restoration at the beginning of the week. She was tearing up throughout the lesson and after she said the prayer at the end she was bawling. She said that she could really feel the spirit, and it was an amazing experience. She accepted a baptism date for the 3rd of Feb. 

We also had a lesson with another man. He is an atheist but wanted to learn more about what we believed. We went back for the appointment and he wasn't home, but his younger sister invited us in to teach her. She loved the lesson but was started telling us about stuff her older brother would tell her about religion. I shared my personal experience and testimony because it was so similar to what she is going though. She said that she is going to read in the Book of Mormon and and pray to know if it was true. She has so much faith so I know that she is going to recieve an answer. She accepted a baptism date for the 3rd of feb, and I feel very blessed to be able to teach her. She also said that her mom and her brother would probably want to learn too so I am excited for that. 

Lets see what else... We knocked into a lady that asked us to come back when her husband could listen too, and so we did, and it went really well. The husband accepted the baptism invitation but not a date because the wife was a little more hesitant.  I think she was surprised that he was so open to it. They both said that they are going to read and pray every day and we are seeing them again on Wednesday. They have the cutest little baby!

Since I've been out here it has been really hard to find and teach a family so I am very excited to work with them. We had a drop lesson with a family that the sisters have been teaching for a while but they weren't progressing. It was hard because they were really close to the family, but one day down the road when missionaries come back I think they will be ready. They just need a little time. 

Lets see there are some random things that happened this week. I got attacked by a crazy cat. It ran into me like five times and then crawled up me then kept running into me. It was weird. Also we got locked into a car garage and realized that we didn't have the button to open the door so that was fun... We got a new ward mission leader. They other one was amazing but I guess he has been in there for forever. They new one seems good too. 

Well, that's about it for this week. Love you all tons! Have a great week! :)

PS the cheese ball was amazing. :)

Love, 

Hermana Layton :)