The Sisters are planning someone's wedding??

Welcome to Beaver...We're going to have a wedding!                                     ‏                            2/4/2013

Dear family,

Mom…Her name is Hermana Bojorquez (aka Sister B) J

Beaver is warming up. We have been able to go out without our jackets…woohooo!

THEN we got slammed with a storm. It snowed for two days strait! We got 5-6 inches in one day. It was awful! I almost slid the car (4WD) into a ditch and then almost T-boned another car, lost my name tag and then had all our appts. cancelled. We were hating the snow that day haha

The other day (it was warm) we were walking up and down the streets and this lady saw me without my jacket and she got so mad. She works at the hospital and she said “where is your jacket, don’t you know that the influenza is going around?!” hahaha I just laughed. We later thought….what does my jacket have to do with the flu...not quite sure haha

I didn’t get pics of the food storage…but I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. We ate so much yummy foods at her house it was awesome!

This week we found 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS!!! We got a call from a bishop that two people were coming into town and that they wanted to learn more about the church. We met them on Monday and on Saturday they were on date to be baptized. Not only are we planning their baptism date we are also having to plan their wedding! Wooohooo! We are excited! I haven’t planned a wedding yet ;) They are really, really great people who Sister B and I have come to love. Sister B and I have had our ups and downs with Beaver but no matter what we really love this place. It is starting to grow in so many ways. It’s amazing to come into an area that is dead and then see the goodness that it can have. Sister B and I have also grown so much together these past two weeks. It’s amazing what you can learn from others if you allow yourself to. Transfers are in two weeks and Sister B and I are scared they are going to change us :/ I would be really sad.

This week we saw many miracles with people as we tried to be exactly obedient. After traveling 680 miles around town and going into woods we didn’t even know existed… We now have 13 investigators we are working with. It’s awesome!  Well sorry I didn’t have as much time to write today.

I hope all is well and everyone is happy!!

Mom… I love you like all the sunshine we have been getting  and that’s a good amount! J

Talk to you next week!

xoxoxoxox

 

 

 

Sister Frog Eyes

Welcome to Beaver... Where the rains came down and the snowy flood came up!           1/28/2013

Hola!

The cheese gets old after having it every day because people just love it around here and give it to you for gifts…we still have some in our fridge. BUT I love the jalapeño ones!

(There is a cheese factory in Beaver)

The flu is ridiculous around here so I hope Leah and her family gets better soon. We are on round 3 here in Beaver. NO ONE wants us coming over or coming into their house because of it.

Ooooo…. You’ll have to teach me about the “Family History” too! We are supposed to teach people around here about it…buuuut I don’t know annnything about it sooo I don’t teach it much. 

(Sister Larsen's dad and I are attending a Family History class on Sundays for a few weeks.)

Well…not much happened this week. We had kind of a stressful week more than anything. We had Conference and learned lots of things. It was fun to see all the missionaries we haven’t seen for a while. Beaver is slowly progressing. This week I got peed on…that was fun! The poor owner was embarrassed and gave me a towel…haha I felt bad for using his kitchen towel.  (I hope she is talking about someone’s pet???)

I am also known as “guerita” around here which means “white girl” haha Sister B says it’s a good thing and a compliment haha … ;) AND this week this lady called me “frog eyes” haha She said because I have big eyes. I wasn’t sure how to respond so I just laughed. This was all in Spanish too so that didn’t help much either.  

Sister B and I went over to a family’s house last P-Day and showed them how to make homemade tortillas and then ate tacos…that was a blast and yummy too. I told Sister B I am not eating lunch anymore because no joke everyone’s house we go to they feed us. The Spanish are the worst. Even if you just came from dinner and you’re FULL they say “that’s okay just eat more. It’s not going to kill you. “ uuugh! I am constantly full… even in the mornings when I wake up! Haha We say no to a lot of stuff people give us or we stash it in our bags… but there are many times they put it on a plate and out it in your lap. Like last night, we had just come from dinner and we went over to this Spanish couples house and he kept making us eat pineapple. It was good pineapple, but my poor stomach was killin!

We are now kind of teaching a Korean family… we are mostly helping them with their English through the Book of Mormon. They are 7-Day Adventists so they are not too keen on the Book of Mormon Idea…but for the most part we are being friendly and allowing the spirit to work on them and maybe when different missionaries come around they will be ready for them…or at least just be nice to them.

We also ran into this member at her house..( No it didn’t hurt ;)  We went in because she insisted we sit down. She started talking about all this crazy stuff and how the world is going downhill and she pretty much gave us the whole world news update, anyways, we found ourselves in her secret basement and looking at her food storage. She has been working on hers for 20+ years… she have EVERYTHING you can think of dried! She has a huge bucket of apples that we got to eat, and tomatoes, and potatoes, peppers, seasons, and fruit leathers that we got to take home with us that were YUMMMY! And tons and tons and tons of bottled meats! I was amazed at what she had. We are going over today and she is going to teach us how she does it all…I’m pretty excited! She is also going to show us her 72-hour kits ha, this lady is crazy…but smart. She has so much food in her house and she said she has some in her barn! Maybe if I learn this now… I’ll have a supply like hers someday!

Things in the mission are changing like crazy because of the new age. We now have about 3 Elders that are 18…and will be getting more in Feb. It’s so crazy to see these young kids. Lot of changes coming up too!

Well mom…we got lots of things to do today. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense.

I love you like alllllll the dried apples and peaches I ate this week (more to come today too) J …..staying healthy too ;) haha

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Speaking Spanglish! :)

Bein Venidos a Biber...‏                                               1/21/2013

Hola Familia....

GUESS WHAT?!?! I have been praying in Spanish! ahhh I had to pray in a district meeting and in an investigators home. I have been so nervous to speak and I am afraid to say things wrong because I say things wrong alll the time and Sis B just laughs... but I am working on the courage to speak in front of people. haha But I have been saying my personal prayers in Spanish and it’s so crazy! I don’t know how to speak anymore because all my words get jumbled and I start to speak in English and then end in Spanish with all a mix of hick. I say "was" alll the time and I don’t notice it until sister starts laughing... my brain doesn’t know what to do anymore.

OK so back to _______ uuuuuuh! teeeeearrrs! Sister B and I has been studying about the temple and also baptism and we talked about how powerful the "square" really is and people don’t quite understand how powerful that gesture really is. Wow wow I got chiiilllls reading what you told me. Satan is powerful...he gets into our life slowly inch by inch and then there comes a point where he attacks and it’s hard to come out....BUT Heavenly father has ultimate power and he gives us things like that to help us out. I am soooo glad her dad felt he needed to use his priesthood power. I loooove the priesthood. The more and more I study it and experience with it... the more and more I can’t wait to have it in my own home.

Tell _______ I love her and I am so happy to hear she is going back to church and getting back on the straight and narrow... she will find sooo much freedom in doing what is right. She reminds me of all the people we are working with here in Beaver. They are all in the same similar situations and want out and change but just don’t know how...the Gospel is how!

Speaking of Priesthood... this week I was having a hard time. I’m frustrated with not being able to speak to 50% of our investigators and I am just having a hard time figuring things out... I think too much, you know that....anyways... I asked Elder Captain if he could give me a blessing... and it was so crazy... that day we had a morning meeting so I asked him if he could do it afterwards... well afterwards he forgot :( so Sister and I went on with our day. We went to go pick up her skirt from the dry cleaners and we met this lady. She looked tired, I asked her how her day was going and how she was doing. She said she is on job 2 of 3 for the day and my heart just sank...I thought of you and how you felt all the time working couple of jobs and what I imagined for her. I asked her if we could help her with anything and she just started crying, she told us her life story and why she had several jobs and why she was tired. I asked her if we could keep her in our prayers and told her to never forget that she can pray anytime anywhere anyplace.... she just started crying more...I knew that Heavenly Father sent us to go talk to her and uplift her...we needed to take care of her and her needs first...after we walked out of there...Elder Captain called us and said he forgot but he could help us right then if we wanted. I learned a lesson with that. I know that I need to forget myself more and more and I need to focus on other people. I’m not here to worry about my struggles but I am here to worry about others and their struggles. I did get the help that I needed but from now on I need to forget myself and just think about Beaver and the small things I CAN do for it and just try my hardest. I have been praying more and more and I asking for a soft heart so I can just love these people.

Beaver is a difficult place because evvvveryone knows about the church and yet they don’t want it. They don’t understand it fully or they got offended and they don’t want it anymore. It comes with this small town and everyone knows your life and what’s in it....but I wish these people could see how blessed their life could be without the drugs and the drinking.

Sister B and I have had some amazing experiences here in Beaver and I know that I was sent here to learn from these people.

I’ve been thinking a lot about life and how things have been for me. Wow, I am so spoiled. I have everything and I even get spoiled on my mission. Life is so amazing if you look around for one second. I’m sorry for ever saying I didn’t have anything or "good enough" things. I know that things in this world don’t matter. Mom I know that you did all you could to get us what we needed...BUT you also tried your hardest to spiritually protect us and took us to church so we could remember who we really are.  

Sorry if this is a rant but I have just been thinking about all this and how I am so grateful.

I really don’t know why the Lord called me on a mission...but I think this is part of it. To just see what I have and how much I can give. I need to be more giving.

 Family...I know that this Gospel is what is going to get us through this hard life! We need something stable to keep us afloat and this is it! We must study and pray and through it all Heavenly Father will help us. It’s because of Jesus Christ we can be better and change our ways, it’s because of Him we can be happy and have all we need. I hope that someday everyone will see that it’s not about the people in church, it’s about ourselves and how we can draw closer to our Heavenly family. The scriptures teach us so much if we dive into them... make it a priority...you won’t regret it :)

 I love being on a mission, I love helping people even when it’s tough, I love being able to learn and better myself. I have been thinking a lot about school and what next for me and I know I shouldn’t be thinking about that right now. But I have no idea anymore.....haha

 I’m also learning...

P ositive

A ttitude

C hanges

E verything

Well that was my week in a nut shell....crazy emotions and full of learning... I know that these times are what matter most...live your gospel lifestyle.

 DONT NEED A NAMETAG TO BE A MISSIONARY! :)

Mom, I love you...I love you like alllllll the vitamins I have been taking to stay away from this Flu bug that is now hitting its second round here in town. We haven’t talked to very many people for two weeks because of it. Gottttta love my protective bubble Sister B and I are in :) ...and Vitamins :) hahaha

 

PS I took out names in this email to keep the information private. But I think the experience is worth sharing.

Mom