My mission president told me “you radiate a spirit of goodness and love that is very contagious. The mission needs you, and so does the lord. Thank you for your great enthusiasm to do the work"
I MISS ya all and hope you are doing wonderful! You are ALL in my prayers! So, this week has been amazing! Coming out here, I was not to fond of Las Vegas, but now I am extremely thrilled to say "I LOVE MY MISSSSION!! ' Heavenly Father definitely blessed me by serving here! There are SO many people searching to know truth. That’s why Returned Missionaries always say there was no better job then serving a mission! They say that because it is AMAZING and so joyous to see people accept the gospel! You can literally see a light grow within their eyes. Not going to lie, Las Vegas is a Hard Core mission. But with hard core people willing to make hard core changes! It rocks! There's no gray here, either you are black or white!
About my area I am in: I live in a converted garage and live with the Andrews. They are so nice! They have a huge lemon tree in their backyard, so fresh lemons are always on the table! :) My companion and I now drive a Mazda 3. Cute little joy ride! Our "area" that we live in and are assigned to cover is only 2x2 miles, so if we do find people to teach, and they don't live by us, we have to pass them off to the Elders. Which is sad for us, but still a good thing!! When we teach an "investigator" (someone interested in the church) I feel like they are my child! Do you remember that wonderful Hispanic Woman who I got to meet in the Doctors office waiting lounge? She is taking the lessons! My child! Horray! Sister Cockrell and I got to teach her 2 times, and then passed her off to the Elders. Her home is beautiful! She is beautiful! She really loves what we teach her so I have no doubts she will want to be baptized!~ and not only her...her whole family! Look what good can do from opening your mouth??? I feel soo blessed!!!!!!!!!
Also, we have been teaching Roel, he is from the Philippians. His girlfriend is less active in the church, but she wants to come back with him. He is such a great guy! We had to pass him off too…..and we cried! He is SO cool, and he has already made So many changes! He realizes blessings come from God. Anyways, we brought along one of the elders we serve with who is also from the Philippians, to 2 of the lessons with him. (They both speak Tagalog). We watched a church movie with him in Tagalog and it was amazing!!! Such a cool experience..(His English is choppy, but still good). He invited us to his birthday and we had the best Filipino food!
We are meeting with less actives, and going tracking, and just spreading the great news about Jesus Christ! Yippee!!!! Missions have ups and downs. But of course they are mostly ups!!!!!! (The downs are having to wash dishes ha-ha! we eat a lot).
Speaking of food, the people out here are very diverse! so we are eating Filipino food, Indian food, Mexican, French, Asian, the whole yummy works! BUT when we eat dinner with a different ward family each night, they always stuff us full and WITH dessert! That’s why my body is going a little crazy. Now after this month I have put a note on our fridge that sister Cockrell and I both signed stating " I will eat dessert sparingly, and if given any, treat it like a disease!" Ha~! We got a HUGE chocolate cake this week donated to us, and 3 pies, 1-2 dozen cookies, 1 pint ice cream and that might be it...needless to say we donate them to the elders who LOVE US! HAHA! So we are definitely being fed, and the members sometimes give us the leftovers for dinner, or a bag of oranges or apples or bananas, so that is good! The Andrews leave us a bag of fruit on our doorstep each week! SO I don’t think all moths will be like this, but the Lord definitely delivered us! (Our budget is $137 each moth).
The church members are wonderful out here!!!! They are my new family! I have family in Las Vegas, and I can now proudly state that when I see the strip, I don’t say I want to burn it. There are good people all over. Just don’t live by the strip...naughty people and not a safe area (west side is much safer!) ;)
'Transfers' (every 6 weeks) are next week! We are getting 4 new sisters! We shall see what happens! In 2 transfer sister Cockrell leaves and we are getting 5 new sisters! Yikes! I might have to train! Oh, something else that is really cool, and why I know I am supposed to be here: I have connections with EVERYONE that we are teaching.
Maria (the Hispanic)- I needed Spanish help
Casey (recent convert) is a techie in his school...so was I
Burris Family (Less active and investigators) the dad hunts and so do I (he laughs and told all his friends he met a 'vegetarian hunter!' sorry!
Sis Rumel (ward member we visit) is totally into all the health stuff we do....
I love my savior and as Ammon (my hero) States "Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to His Holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever. (26:8) and vs 16 Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. vs 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my god, for in his strength I can do all things, yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."
Be strong everyone and "FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH" (1 Timothy 6:12)
Miracles are possible and I challenge you to have "Exceeding Faith." Exceeding does not merely believe, it knows. Give 100% exact obedience to the Savior and you can expect great miracles to happen. Remember, Success is a Blessing. We owe our whole lives to God, let us worship Him and praise His name and do his good works without complaint or guilt.
"The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on the alter. The many other things we "give" are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us." Neal a Maxwell
I MISS ya all and hope you are doing wonderful! You are ALL in my prayers! So, this week has been amazing! Coming out here, I was not to fond of Las Vegas, but now I am extremely thrilled to say "I LOVE MY MISSSSION!! ' Heavenly Father definitely blessed me by serving here! There are SO many people searching to know truth. That’s why Returned Missionaries always say there was no better job then serving a mission! They say that because it is AMAZING and so joyous to see people accept the gospel! You can literally see a light grow within their eyes. Not going to lie, Las Vegas is a Hard Core mission. But with hard core people willing to make hard core changes! It rocks! There's no gray here, either you are black or white!
About my area I am in: I live in a converted garage and live with the Andrews. They are so nice! They have a huge lemon tree in their backyard, so fresh lemons are always on the table! :) My companion and I now drive a Mazda 3. Cute little joy ride! Our "area" that we live in and are assigned to cover is only 2x2 miles, so if we do find people to teach, and they don't live by us, we have to pass them off to the Elders. Which is sad for us, but still a good thing!! When we teach an "investigator" (someone interested in the church) I feel like they are my child! Do you remember that wonderful Hispanic Woman who I got to meet in the Doctors office waiting lounge? She is taking the lessons! My child! Horray! Sister Cockrell and I got to teach her 2 times, and then passed her off to the Elders. Her home is beautiful! She is beautiful! She really loves what we teach her so I have no doubts she will want to be baptized!~ and not only her...her whole family! Look what good can do from opening your mouth??? I feel soo blessed!!!!!!!!!
Also, we have been teaching Roel, he is from the Philippians. His girlfriend is less active in the church, but she wants to come back with him. He is such a great guy! We had to pass him off too…..and we cried! He is SO cool, and he has already made So many changes! He realizes blessings come from God. Anyways, we brought along one of the elders we serve with who is also from the Philippians, to 2 of the lessons with him. (They both speak Tagalog). We watched a church movie with him in Tagalog and it was amazing!!! Such a cool experience..(His English is choppy, but still good). He invited us to his birthday and we had the best Filipino food!
We are meeting with less actives, and going tracking, and just spreading the great news about Jesus Christ! Yippee!!!! Missions have ups and downs. But of course they are mostly ups!!!!!! (The downs are having to wash dishes ha-ha! we eat a lot).
Speaking of food, the people out here are very diverse! so we are eating Filipino food, Indian food, Mexican, French, Asian, the whole yummy works! BUT when we eat dinner with a different ward family each night, they always stuff us full and WITH dessert! That’s why my body is going a little crazy. Now after this month I have put a note on our fridge that sister Cockrell and I both signed stating " I will eat dessert sparingly, and if given any, treat it like a disease!" Ha~! We got a HUGE chocolate cake this week donated to us, and 3 pies, 1-2 dozen cookies, 1 pint ice cream and that might be it...needless to say we donate them to the elders who LOVE US! HAHA! So we are definitely being fed, and the members sometimes give us the leftovers for dinner, or a bag of oranges or apples or bananas, so that is good! The Andrews leave us a bag of fruit on our doorstep each week! SO I don’t think all moths will be like this, but the Lord definitely delivered us! (Our budget is $137 each moth).
The church members are wonderful out here!!!! They are my new family! I have family in Las Vegas, and I can now proudly state that when I see the strip, I don’t say I want to burn it. There are good people all over. Just don’t live by the strip...naughty people and not a safe area (west side is much safer!) ;)
'Transfers' (every 6 weeks) are next week! We are getting 4 new sisters! We shall see what happens! In 2 transfer sister Cockrell leaves and we are getting 5 new sisters! Yikes! I might have to train! Oh, something else that is really cool, and why I know I am supposed to be here: I have connections with EVERYONE that we are teaching.
Maria (the Hispanic)- I needed Spanish help
Casey (recent convert) is a techie in his school...so was I
Burris Family (Less active and investigators) the dad hunts and so do I (he laughs and told all his friends he met a 'vegetarian hunter!' sorry!
Sis Rumel (ward member we visit) is totally into all the health stuff we do....
I love my savior and as Ammon (my hero) States "Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to His Holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever. (26:8) and vs 16 Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. vs 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my god, for in his strength I can do all things, yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."
Be strong everyone and "FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH" (1 Timothy 6:12)
Miracles are possible and I challenge you to have "Exceeding Faith." Exceeding does not merely believe, it knows. Give 100% exact obedience to the Savior and you can expect great miracles to happen. Remember, Success is a Blessing. We owe our whole lives to God, let us worship Him and praise His name and do his good works without complaint or guilt.
"The submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on the alter. The many other things we "give" are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us." Neal a Maxwell