Dia Del Padre!

Familia y Amigos!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY (yesterday)!! Our ward had an activity on Saturday to celebrate fathers. Us missionaries did skits for the entertainment. The elders all acted out the story of Nephi and his brothers and us hermanas did one where we dressed up as fathers. It was pretty funny. And then the primary children turned off all the lights and put glow sticks on their bodies and then danced to gangham style. It was SO cute! I think it went well. Also, I forgot to mention that last week for church, Hna Poblete and I and another sister in the ward sang a musical number! We weren't amazing, but we did pretty good. We were joking about it and realized that Hispanics don't really focus on singing and musical things, sooo we'd be alright.

We're trying really hard for people to progress and doing what we can. We have a lot of work to do. We met a man named Marc for the first time this last week and he said to us right off the bat that he wanted to come to our church. AND HE CAME! It was so exciting. He's really interested and we're going to go back and teach him more. It was a total blessing to meet him!

I especially learned a lot about the Plan of Salvation this week. We had an investigator ask about why Satan was cast out, why Heavenly Father didn't give him another chance. I had never thought about it that way, so I studied that a lot. It wasn't because Heavenly Father didn't love him, but because of Satan's own choice. He rebelled and wanted to do everything against Heavenly Father. Whatever was contrary to Heavenly Father is what Satan did. He didn't tempt Adam and Eve to eat the fruit because it was what we needed to progress, but he did it because it was what Heavenly Father had commanded them not to do. He fights against Heavenly Father and the right every moment of the day and THAT is why he was cast out and why we teach to avoid sin. Because Heavenly Father loves us, He gave us agency and the opportunity to choose for ourselves, even though He knows we're going to make mistakes. When we DO sin and rebel against Heavenly Father, we leave His presence. It's hard, but we go through it to grow and learn in this life. And Heavenly Father knew we would fall, so he gave us a way to return back. Pretty cool.

Yo les quiero saber que se que este iglesia es solamente la verdad en el mundo. El evangelio, que Jesucristo enseno cuando fue en la tierra, es restaurado otra vez. Y lo tenemos. Tenemos la autoridad para ensenarle. Se que nuestro padre celestial nos ama muchisimo. Por eso, nos da una plan para que podemos ser felizes y podemos regresar a vivir con El. Se que el Libro de Mormon es verdadero y que recibimos respuestas de oraciones por este libro. Con sinceridad, siento el espiritu y el amor de Dios cuando lo leo. Cada vez. Testifico que por medio de la expiacion y Jesucristo podemos ser y sentir limpos. El nos entiende. Porque sufrio todo que pasamos en esta vida. TODO! Que incredible! Lo quiero compartir con ustedes porque he lo visto en mi vida y YO SE que es verdad.

1) Sara the turtle. I like taking pictures with animals.

2) The skit

3) The primary kids, if you can see them.

Peaching and Preaching

Hola Familia y Amigos!

Another week here in Nampa! This week we were threwn for a loop and found out that the mission was changing how we were counting numbers. Sooo we had to start focusing on teaching a certain type of lesson and it meant that a lot of what we were doing doesn't count in our numbers. Long story short, we did a lot of things this week and were really hard a work, but when we told our leaders the numbers of what we did, it was pretty low. So that was disheartening. Buuuut, we're doing well and we know we were doing good things, so we're happy with our week.

As for exciting news for the week, we got permission and were able to go to the church orchards in Marsing this week! Our ward has their own row of peach trees (and probably more produce that I didn't hear about) that they have to take care of. So we went as a ward and us missionaries got to go too! It was really fun and really cool to see the view and everything. But the fruit isn't that big yet, it's just starting to grow. What we were doing was lightening the branches. We go through and take off a lot of the peaches to leave space between them. This will lighten the branches so that they grow bigger and better. And it'll decrease the chance that the branches will break off from weight. So we waste fruit to save the rest of the crop. Sound like a parable or something?

Other exciting news, we have this brand new investigator whose name is Nancy. She's 14. We met her family a few weeks ago, but we didn't get to teach her anything because she was out the door. But we went back and got to know her a little better and invited her to a ton of activities. And she actually came to sports night and had a good time. And then she was going to come to mutual but then they were just doing stuff for girls camp, so she didn't go. We went back later that night and told her all about girls camp and invited her to come. She wants to come and was really serious about it! And she told us about how she has a lot of friends who are members and is really interested in what we believe and going to activities. It was a really cool blessing to meet her and she has a really big desire to learn.

Speaking of activities, we also had a ward fireside/bonfire activity. We had a literal FIREside. It was really fun and us missionaries shared a message of Jesus Christ. Each companionship talked about a different aspect of the Atonement. The Atonement is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It includes His bleeding and suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, the crucifixion, and Resurrection. Those 3 parts. What Hna. Poblete and I talked about was how the Atonement lifts our burdens. The talk in General Conference by Elder Bednar about burdens helped a lot. In this life, we have to have some burdens and stresses and experiences to be able to grow and learn. We would be stagnant if we didn't go through hard things. We would never learn anything if we didn't have to test it out and try different things and stretch ourselves. With that said, the Atonement is there to help us in our burdens. Jesus Christ will make our burdens feel lighter. We will still have them, but they will be lighter because of the strength we receive from the Atonement and Heavenly Father's love for us. And through that divine help, we can make it through ANY trial or burden or experience we face on earth. That's pretty comforting to me.

Hope you all have a great week and I love you!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

1) The bonfire

2) Sometimes you just need a ice-cream-truck-treat. TMNT anyone?

3) Tried a new angle. Flattering, I know.

4) Nancy

5) Us all working on the last tree.

6) The view over the valley.

To be spicy or not to be spicy?

Familias y Amigos!

This was a reallllly good week! We got a TON done! We met our goal for lessons and some of the people we've been working with came to an activity we had this week.

On Tuesday, we contacted a referral and it was this little couple. They're Mexican and they were making spicy food. Coincidentally, I started coughing and they started laughing at me. It wasn't actually because of the spice, but I just went with it and they invited us back to eat dinner on Saturday! Then when we went back, the husband was completely drunk. He pulled out and drank 5 beers while we were there... And his friend, Jack, came over. They started ranting back and forth about the problems in the world and about the government. We just sat back and watched. SO ENTERTAINING. Then the wife came back and started talking about how she found a girlfriend for her son--my companion! There was lots of eye communication with my companion and stifling laughs. The food we ended up eating wasn't even that spicy! But Hermana Poblete is from Argentina and their food is really not spicy. So she couldn't even handle it. It was really seasoned Mole (I'm not sure how to spell it). I really liked it and we ended up eating a lot.

But as for this week, I studied and learned a lot more about the gospel. Faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. I realized that I knew what it was, but not well enough to teach it or respond to questions. So I studied the importance of specifically baptism. We get baptized to make a covenant with Heavenly Father that if we keep the commandments and always remember him and try to be like him, he will bless us with the Holy Ghost to guide us and comfort us. So we are baptized as a representation of the covenant we make, but also because we want to follow the example of Christ. And one of the amazing blessings is that we get to be clean from our sins and have the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's amazing. And it takes all that guilt off our shoulders. All because of the Atonement.

Hope you all have an amazing week!

Con amor,

Hermanita Shirley

1) I got some new sunglasses. Classic me.

2) PUPPY! (We went to the YSA Bishop's house and he had a bunch of lab puppies. I'm not sure if I sent this picture before...)

Happy Week!

Familia y Amigos!

Another very interesting week in Nampa. We did a lot of work and found 7 new investigators!! We actually met a man yesterday who when we walked up, he told us he had wanted to come to our church to learn what we believe. It helps that a lot of the people who own land and farms and dairies are members. It sparks interest. But we invited him and we'll see if he comes! A lot of times people start describing what they believe and it's exactly the same as us. We have just been trying to emphasize that our church is centered in Jesus Christ. That's the impression we want to make.

It was Hermana Poblete's birthday on Friday, so I made zebra cupcakes for her. She loves Zebra. We have a mutual love for animal print. We had sports night for our ward that night and they brought a cake and sang to her. They sang this other birthday song in Spanish that I had never heard before. She also wanted to celebrate by making milanesas. It's basically breaded beef. It was really good.

I also did exchanges that night and went with one of my favorite sisters from Kuna who got changed to Caldwell. English missionary work is very different. It made me very grateful for Spanish. Even though it's harder to know how to teach and what to say, the people are so nice and welcoming all the time. They are very open and respectful with us. I love my area and my mission!

One really cool thing I learned this week is about progression. This gospel is about progression. It's hard not to judge people for where they're at right now, but if we were able to see where people were and THEN where they're at right now, we would be a lot more understanding. But we need to remember that. We have no idea what's going on in people's lives or what they've been through, but that's what makes them who they are. Everyone has a different perspective and something to add to the world and the church. And that's my favorite thing about the church, that it's for everyone. It focuses on being better. Progressing. It doesn't matter where we're at right now. And that is one of the really cool things about the gospel. There's something for everyone. Studying the doctrine of the church will help us progress and be better in some way! And Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will help us with that.

I hope you all have an amazing week!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

1) Sunset in Nampa

2) We both wore stripes on Sunday and I had to get a last-minute picture before I changed for the night.

3) The Milanesa

4) Our matching colors at Zone Conference this week.

Viva Las Nampa!

Hola familia y amigos!

So I'm here in Nampa!! First week. We cover the whole Nampa South Stake in Spanish. There are 8 or 9 wards in the English south then we go to our Spanish ward. It's been very different than Kuna, but really good. My companion is Hna. Poblete. She's from Argentina but moved to Texas when she was 6. So Spanish and English are both her native language. It's really great. She likes to talk, but we actually teach together really well. And we're having a lot of fun.

Nampa Spanish is a lot bigger than Kuna. The ward is about 5 times bigger! We fill up a chapel. A LOTTT bigger than our little Kuna branch. Already I've met a lot of people and am starting to get the hang of how things run around here. I get to drive, so I'm learning the area pretty fast.

We had our first district meeting with our new English district on Friday. It was really different. Our district is bigger and there are now more elders than sisters. But they seem really great. It'll be fun to get to know the English missionaries in the area and work with them.

We had a really cool experience yesterday. We went to contact this referral we actually had from when I was in Kuna/Melba. I had found this family in Melba only to find out after that it was in the South Stake (where I am now). So I got to go back with H. Poblete. Their names are Maria and Carlos. They weren't there, but we had driven all the way out there, so we decided to just knock on the neighbors' doors. It's a good thing that we did, because we met this really nice guy named Miguel. When we first asked, he said he was atheist and I got kinda nervous, but he was just kidding and was really willing to listen to us. We're going to come back again next week. Then we realized that they actually lived close to other investigators who we hadn't been able to visit because they were so far out there. So we went and visited them all and had really good visits. There's a whole group of open people out there and we can just take a day and visit them all out there at the same time. It's really convenient. The Lord blesses us in little ways like that. I love being here and being able to recognize stuff like that. Heavenly Father is in this work and willing to help us out if we reach out and show Him we're willing to act.

Have an amazing week, everyone!

Con amor,

Hermanita Shirley

1) Hermana Poblete. She likes to take selfies.

2) Selfies with all the girls in our ward.

Nampa or BUST!

Familia y Amigos!

Yes, it is true. I'm headed to Nampa. Transfers were this week and I'm leaving Kuna! It was a great place to be born (mission lingo for our first area) and there are amazing people! I will miss it, but I'm excited to come to Nampa. Hermana Barnes and Turner are staying in Kuna and will take good care of it! This morning, when we were leaving to go to the transfer spot, our gas light was on, but it hadn't been on for very long. So we debated on getting gas in Kuna and being late or just trying to make it to Nampa. What did we do? Of course tried to make it. And what happened? Wellllll, we ran out of gas. So we just sat on the side of the road for awhile while we waited for Sister Fisher to come give us some gas. 2nd time in my life. haha

More big news, they're dissolving the Spanish zones. All the Spanish missionaries are going to be in the English districts. That's going to be so weird! But it'll really help the work. English and Spanish will work together a lot better and more. I'm excited!

This last week we had our branch Cinco de Mayo party. It was a blast! People were swimming and playing volleyball and there was tons of food! And most importantly, a ton of our investigators and non-members showed up! It was a huge success! We had it at the home of Mike Christensen. He owns a lot of potato farms and other things, so he has an indoor pool and a barn with horses and everything. It was the perfect location for the party.

Another thing that happened is we went to El Gallo Giro for the last time and I decided that I'd go all out. I tried lengua. That's tongue. Yep! I did it. It really wasn't bad. It wasn't really that delicious, but it was alright. Tasty because it was a taco (my favorite). We had to eat really fast because we had to leave for a baptism. It wasn't of people we knew, but we had invited Frances to come. AND SHE CAME! Yeah! Sharon Shultz, a lady in Frances' ward brought her. They're basically the same person, it's so cute. And Sharon's the perfect person to bring with us to lessons with Frances. She really understands and relates to Frances, and she's not afraid to testify of things. Stuff that she knows, even if it's really simple. And it means a lot to Frances. So we were crazy excited to have her come to the baptism. It answered some of her questions and made her more excited for her own baptism. She's really close and is really progressing. I love her and am really going to miss her!

And that kinda relates to a big thing I learned this week. It's basically the impact of little things. Alma 36:6-7 is basically the motto of my mission and my life. It's not always the big things that make a difference. Especially in missionary work. It's HOW we talk to people and show them love in little ways, not necessarily in the big, fancy words or being really eloquent. And it's when we do things with sincerity that it makes the biggest impact. That's how it is with Spanish. Because I can't say too too much, I have to show in some way how much it means to me and teach really simply. And I know that makes a big difference. The church is true. Jesus Christ is at the head of it. That's why I'm here and I love it.

Have a great week and take care!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

1) Us on the side of the road. Waiting for gas to arrive.

2) Brother Christensen has the setup for homemade fries on the spot! Let's just say, fries bring a party, especially for Cinco de Mayo.

3) My plate at El Gallo Giro. One of those tacos is lengua!

4) Sharon, me, Frances. I love those ladies.

5) Another sunset.

Gasoline and a Troll

Hola Familia y Amigos!

This week was really good. Progress is happening! It's really slow, but we're doing what we can to help this work roll on. A new branch mission leader was called and we have a big activity today for Cinco de Mayo! So a lot of this week was spent going around and making contact with people we haven't seen in awhile and inviting them to the activity. We probably invited a hundred people! There were a few days where we got invitation happy. HA! But if that means more people come and have a good experience, GREAT!

On Wednesday, we came up with the idea to print out maps of different neighborhoods that had a high concentration of Hispanics and then knock on all of the doors. Straight up tract! It was kind of cool to get to experience that. That's not normally what we do here in Spanish Idaho. We work almost solely on referrals and people who know Spanish speakers. So it was really different. But we ran into some very interesting people. First of all, we met a really great lady named Grace. She grew up in another religion and then things happened in her life where she basically got disowned. So she really had to turn inward and have a relationship with God. AWESOME! That's exactly what we teach! Another interesting character we met was Troll. Yep. That's his name. He is a high priest of Bell, the Irish god of the sun. He told us all about his "conversion" and how he came to know Bell. He was in a military graveyard, searching for paranormal activity, when he saw a bright light/firey ball that was "unmistakably Bell." I've never heard of anything like that and we never would have met him if we hadn't tracted. It was a fun day.

Also, we went to the Kuna stake president's house yesterday, President Beus. They are an amazing family. He owns the dairy we went to last week. We were meeting and talking about how we could help specific people in Melba. Somehow at the end, we mentioned that our gas light came on again. It's kinda a joke with us that our gas light ALWAYS manages to turn on Sundays. But when we mentioned that, President Beus offered to give us a little gas. I was picturing a little red gas can and they'd give us enough to get home safely and drive to the gas station this morning. We pull up and turns out they have a full on gas station (pretty much) and three 500(?) gallon tanks of gas. We couldn't take very much because it would throw off the numbers of our gas log. Then the son who was helping us just went at it! We said, after about 5 seconds, that it was enough. But he just kept going! Hna. Barnes started panicking about how much he was giving us. But he said that his dad had told him to fill it up. Uhh. Not ok. So he stopped at 5 gallons. We laughed/freaked out about it as we were driving home. Mixed feelings. We were just amazed at their generosity but also trying to figure out what we should do. We're just going to tell the office what happened. It'll be alright. I love people who are just so giving! That defines the Beuses.

The last experience that happened this week is with Frances. We're teaching her and since I've been here, I have really seen a change in her. When we emphasized the Book of Mormon and how it's the evidence of our religion is when she really started to read it and put effort into learning. She is amazing. She has a hard time reading, but will read it multiple times to understand it. (I'm getting her the Book of Mormon on CD!) Well, we've been talking to her about baptism and what she thinks about it. She was really hesitant because her parents baptized her in the Baptist faith and she felt like she would be going against their wishes if she was baptized somewhere else. We taught about the plan of salvation and how her parents are in the spirit world, being taught the same things she is. And that they have the opportunity to accept the gospel there. That really comforted her. At that point, we asked her how she was feeling and pointed out that the good feeling she had was the Holy Ghost. That's what it feels like. And we taught that we can temporarily feel the Holy Ghost before we're baptized but we can have Him with us always and feel that good constantly after we're baptized. And that's when I realized how much of a blessing it is for us to be able to have the Holy Ghost with us ALL THE TIME. It was a testimony to me of how amazing it is to be a member of the church and how much Heavenly Father loves us to give us the gift of the Holy Ghost. It really is amazing. It's through the Holy Ghost that Heavenly Father tells us things are true. It's how He keeps us safe. It's how He comforts us. Best gift EVER!

Anyways, I love you all and hope you're doing great!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

Photo: The gas setup.

So this is me putting the milker on the cow last week. Whoopee!

We all wore coral! Couldn't resist the photo op.

Cows and Russia

Familia y Amigos!

How is everyone? Hope you had a great week! I'm still plugging along in Kuna. A few cool things happened this week.

We got a new branch mission leader. He's super excited about missionary work, so things are going to really pick up.

This morning, we milked cows. There a ton of dairies in Melba, and I asked the stake president, President Beus, if we could come today and check it out and help him out. It was super fun. We didn't milk cows all close and personal, like you might think. We pretty much went in and attached the machine to them. Bada bing, bada boom. But it was still fun. We walked around and looked at the cows and saw where all the milk goes. I can cross it off my life and mission bucket list!

We had an experience earlier this week that was really cool too. We were just walking in this neighborhood and had already knocked on the doors that we had been told about, so we had some time. We decided we would just walk around the neighborhood and knock on houses that seemed like they might be hispanic. So we just walked. And it was kinda a curvy neighborhood. But we were coming across nothing. None of the houses seemed like they would be Spanish speakers. So we reached a point where we stopped and just looked around and thought about what we should do. We decided to go to the corner of the neighborhood, where this house was central and might know a lot of neighbors and most of the people around. We walked up to it and actually got the vibe that they would be members. When we knocked, this lady, Melissa answered the door. She is a young mother of 3 girls. She told us she's actually non-denominational Christian and was actually, right at that moment, writing an essay for her church about Christians who act on their faith. She was specifically studying Jehovah's Witness and Mormons. She had been writing this and JUST thinking why she hadn't had any mormons knock on her door. She had been waiting for us! No, she didn't speak Spanish, but we were guided to that door. It wasn't coincidence. It was really awesome. She is so legit and has a ton of faith. So we talked with her for awhile and after we left, we told the english missionaries in that area about her. YAY! SO COOL!

Also earlier this week, we got permission to watch the Seratov Approach at an activity. It's about missionaries in Russia who get kidnapped. It was intense, but amazingly inspirational. Especially watching it as a missionary, it changed my perspective on why I'm here and what my purpose is on my mission and in life. It really all is up to the Lord. We have a reason for being where we are and in the situations we're in. It taught me about love and light and how it can overcome darkness. Really, any person can change. The Atonement can overcome anything. Heavenly Father has a purpose for all of us and loves us so much. When hard and bad things happen to us, it's for a reason. It's so that we can learn and grow, but also to show His power. I found this verse in the Book of Mormon that is appropriate. Alma 60:13. It's true. And I love this gospel.

Hope the Lord keeps you safe and watches over you all this week!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

 

1) Sunset/cloud thing

2) Us at the lecheria (dairy).

This week. Yep.

Familia y amigos!

Well, last Monday we went to Kuna caves. They're one little exciting thing about Kuna. They are literally a deep hole in the middle of a field that connects to a few little crawl spaces. But we had a blast and crawled all around in there last week. Then, we think it was something about the dust or being underground or something, but that night, both Hermana Turner and Barnes got super sick. Sooo Monday and Tuesday weren't too productive. It was super fun to explore down there, but the repercussions... probably not worth it.

This morning, we ran out of gas. Completely. We were driving out of the driveway and it puttered and died. The gas light turned on yesterday, but we couldn't get gas and we had a lot of places to go. So we drove around and made it home last night. We thought we'd for sure have just enough to make it to the gas station, but nope. It was super funny and we felt like classic sisters, running out of gas. We DIDN'T put water in our tank, though. Don't worry. The members we live with had an extra gallon that we used. We put in just enough to make it to the gas station. WE MADE IT!! We were praying that we wouldn't die on the way there.

Then yesterday I had a great Easter! We had a stake conference meeting, then our church meetings, then we went and visited a few people, sharing the Easter video. Then our dinner appointment was really nice. We ate with the Pierces (M&D: they told me they met you!) and when I first walked up, they greeted me, "Sister Shirley, let me guess, you're from Vancouver, Washington." I racked my brain for any idea of how they could know. I just went with it. We walked inside and they had their whole family there. It was kinda crazy but mostly really nice. Being surrounded by people is what I'm used to for holidays. They made us feel really welcome and even gave us little bags of candy. Then after, we went over to our president's house. They had family too. They also had confetti eggs. Long story short, we got into a big fight and their house was covered in confetti. Super fun.

We also were able to go on Facebook this week. I realized that I don't love spending time on Facebook. It's awesome for sharing things, but it takes a lot of time. Plus, it felt weird being on there. But I actually did see some awesome things happen because of it. First off, the video was amazing and I still get chills watching it. Second, being able to remind people that they are cared for and that they're important to me was really good. And realizing how much good can come because of facebook was awesome.

I took this week before Easter to REALLY think about Christ and how I have been, am, and will be blessed as a result of Jesus Christ. I've never thought about it that way, how the Atonement of Christ personally affects me, past, present, and future. It's really cool. I know I have been strengthened, physically, mentally, and spiritually by Him. And I'm overwhelmed with peace and comfort when I think that Christ is how we can be perfect. I'm hard on myself sometimes and especially when I think of all the responsibility I have and the promises I made with Heavenly Father, I know that I haven't been perfect and I make mistakes. To think, though, that when I try my best and humble myself to repent, He will cover when I fall. That's amazing. That's what Easter is about and that's why I'm here. This knowledge makes me so happy. And I want to share that with others. I want other people to make changes for the better and know that they can be happy. Even if they think they're happy, they can be even happier. Even cleaner. Even more at peace. All because of Him.

Love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

1) I look kind of mentally insane, but I had a good easter.

2) Using the emergency gas this morning!

3) This is a house. We just saw it as we drove by and we HAD TO take a picture.

4) In Kuna caves.

5) Us on Easter!

Killer Weeeek!

Familia y Amigos!

How are you all doing?? This was a super good week. We got a TON done! We almost doubled our number of lessons taught! Maybe we're just really starting to get the hang of how we can work together to be most effective.

And we've been doing a lot of service for people. We actually were talking to Frances about all her animals and how she always has so much to do, so we offered and insisted that we help her with her irrigation system and with the animals. It was super fun! She has probably 20 different types of birds and a ton of chickens. So we collected eggs and helped feed them. I can cross off "collect an egg JUST laid by a chicken and still wet" off my bucket list. Hah! Then after, she fed us lunch. You could tell she had just gone shopping and bought a bunch of food to make this special for us. She even bought each of us a chocolate bunny for easter! She is such a sweetheart. She collects broaches and pins, so we got her one from the thrift shop in Kuna. You could tell it just made her day!

A huge part of missionary work is showing people love in any way possible. But not just through being an example. By ACTING. And when you love the gospel and have a desire to share it (and not let excuses get in the way), the acting part will become natural. That is one huge thing I've learned this week. Being an example isn't enough. It's a big part, for sure, but that's not all. EVERYONE can be a missionary. Showing love and caring about others is where it's at. DOING things for people. And another thing is sincerely praying for missionary opportunities and for the missionaries. I totally have a testimony that prayer works. When we need something, and ask for it, Heavenly Father will bless us.

ALSO, this week we got permission to go on facebook because of an AMAZING easter video that the church has come out with. If you haven't heard of it already, it's called "Because of Him." It's on mormon.org. It's truly beautiful. And please repost it on any social media. Everyone needs to see it. :)

You all are awesome and I hope things go well for you this next week!

Con amor,

Hermanita Shirley

 

PS Sorry no pictures this week. Our hookup isn't working.

...And stuff.

Familia y amigos!

This email is dedicated to a little lady named June who we've been talking to lately. She turned 93 this last Friday. She isn't Spanish, but she's the neighbor of one of the people we teach. So we stop by and say hi when we make it out there. She's still up and kicking. She tells us if she sits down and stops going, she'll stop indefinitely. So she's very stubborn, but even since we first met her, she's softening. And she says "and stuff" before and after every sentence she says. It's a trademark June-thing. We love going by there and seeing how she's doing. We're planning on coming and helping her with her yard and other things this next week. We are just being her friend and showing her how much we love her and the gospel.

There was a talk in General Conference about loving our neighbors and showing them how much the gospel means to you and that that's what they need sometimes (I forgot who it's by... Elder Scott I think). It is so true. June is a perfect example of that. Everyone is ready for a friend and wants to feel loved and appreciated.

We have a senior kid who we're teaching who is really interested in the church (I think I actually told you about him maybe). He actually works at a local famous restaurant, El Gallo Giro. We've talked about going to see him when he's at work, but we never did until this week. We had about 40 minutes left in the day before 9:00 (when we have to be home) and we had to figure out something to do because our appointment fell through. So we actually felt like that would be the perfect time to go see if we could run into him. As we were walking up, he actually came out and had to sweep outside. PERFECT TIMING. Not a coincidence! So we just got a few desserts (fried ice cream), talked to him a bit, and talked to another senior kid who works there and is a member. Anyways, it was a really cool experience. We felt kinda like we were slacking, but we had a purpose and saw the blessings that confirmed it's where we were supposed to be.

That's what Heavenly Father does. He gives us little blessings. Little ways to show us if we're doing the right things. Little "tender mercies" and feelings of comfort. That's one thing I've learned through this whole process of deciding to go on a mission and since being here. Heavenly Father doesn't normally answer in huge, fantastic ways. It's the little things. And feelings that you get when you do things. That's how I know the church is true and how the Book of Mormon is true. And Joseph Smith. If I try to think about it logically, it's kinda crazy and technical. But when I think about what I know and how I feel when I read the Book of Mormon or testify of these things, THAT'S when I know it's all true. The spirit testifies of truth. And that's how we can know ALL things. That was one of the big themes of General Conference, TRUTH. Or at least, that's what I got out of a lot of talks. THE HOLY GHOST TESTIFIES OF PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. That is so cool! I love the gospel. I know it's true.

Con amor,

Hermanita Shirley

1) June!

2) Our district this last transfer. More hermanas than elders!

Here we go again!

Familia y Amigos!

We had transfers again this week and for the first time, I'm staying with my companions!! Weird. And I'm staying in Kuna. They're not dividing it, so our trio is staying together covering the whole area still. Allllright! Here we go again!

As for things I've done this week, I made homemade tortillas!!!! That was one thing on my mission bucket list and I already did it! It was so easy, too. And I was dubbed the roller because mine were most round. HA! And they were delicious. I'm actually going to make those again!

Another monumentous thing that happened this week is I basically went to a visit all in Spanish, all by myself. Not by myself, but with a Sister in Melba who doesn't speak very much Spanish at all and I actually speak more than her... We were on splits. So I was talking the whole time. I didn't teach a lesson, but she had a ton of questions and I answered them!!! In Spanish. The lady we visited knows the Bible forward and back and had a lot of questions basically trying to prove us wrong. I didn't answer all her questions perfectly because I had never even encountered them before and didn't know what to say, but I brought it back to doctrine and just said what I could. It was intense! When we were leaving, I couldn't believe I had just done that. And I wasn't even nervous for it or anything! It was kinda an out of body experience that blew my mind a little. To give you a concept of this, my Spanish is pretty iffy. I can figure things out of how to say it in Spanish, but just knowing what to say is what I struggle with. That'll all come with practice and experience and study. I just have to have patience with myself.

Our little branch also had an activity on Friday. It was a sports night and we played volleyball. It was super fun and people came!!!! A lot of people, actually. People were really good and got really into it. In general, things are really really good. And I feel so good about the work we're doing!

This week, I studied more about action. Faith has to lead to action or there's no point in having it. And we do this when we have a purpose for doing it. When we know the purpose of life and that there's a reason for all things, it motivates us to act. This life is a time to prepare to meet God (Alma 34-study it.) and to always work to be better. It gives us a goal for life even when we feel like we're stuck or in a rut. And when we are working to be better and change every day, Heavenly Father will help us and strengthen us. I love that SO MUCH. He gives us purpose and then helps us to accomplish that when we show that we're willing to try and to act on what we know. It's amazing. The gospel is amazing and I know it's true.

Love you all! Have a safe, fantastic week!!

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Shirley

1) The puppy that Brother Zeyer bought.

2) We were given clothes and we couldn't pass up the photo op. of these lovely polka dotted dresses.

3) They're pretty thug, I know!

4) My perfect tortilla!

5) Maria Guttierez, who taught us to make tortillas! (She's a hoot!)

6) Whenever we help our branch president with his new house, he feeds us, whether we like it or not.

7) Let's just say this is not the first time this has happened. We have the exact same color schemes.

 8) KARCHER MALL!

 9) The seagulls have started to attack the fields.

Welll yeah.

Familia y amigos! 

The subject of this email basically describes this week. It was one of those weeks where you do SO much but there isn't anything to show for it. No fruits. Yet! It was kind of ironic how things worked out. We'd start out the day and be excited for how much we had planned and then things would fall through left and right. Ridiculous timing and everything. And that's not normal for this area. People are usually good about keeping appointments. So we did a LOT of contacting referrals. Which isn't always very successful in the middle of the day. But worth the try and a few times we did actually catch people. Plus, it was nice and sunny a few of the days, so we enjoyed the opportunity to just walk outside. Through contacting, we actually ran into a few people that really needed our visit. One of which is Jesus Garcia. He's a senior in high school, and when we first met him, he said he's heard of the church through friends. Believe it or not, that doesn't actually happen too often. But we were reallllly excited about that. Being a friend missionary WORKS! Good examples to other people makes a difference and blesses people's lives. That was really cool to see! 

On to what I learned this week. We have a lot of investigators who are really open to us visiting and teaching but who don't see how our church is different from others or why it's important. Because of that, I studied about how to have a desire to know the truth and how to know that this church and this gospel is the one truth on the earth. With the restoration of the gospel, part of that was the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. It really built my testimony to remember and learn that the ONE true way to know if our gospel is true is by reading the Book of Mormon and praying. The Book of Mormon is the cornerstone of our religion. It really is true. It has the fullness of the gospel in it. What Jesus Christ taught is all in there! I know it's a true book, the most true in all the world, in fact. And TRULY, reading it will bless your life in so many different ways. I have seen that in my life and especially since I've been here. 

Hope you all stay safe and have a great week! 

Con amor, 

Hermanita Shirley

PS

1) My favorite street so far in Idaho. 

2) We went to a little Mexican bakery while on exchanges. "Anything with pink is good" -H. Barnes

A Bunny and a Puppy

Familia y Amigos!

How are you all doing?! I hope life is good and you're all staying safe.

I feel like as we get busy and do things, we have more funny experiences. Or maybe I just notice them more. This week was very eventful and a few things happened that I will never forget.

The first is the sleep talking that has happened. Hermana Barnes and I share a bunkbed and I sleep on the bottom. So every once in awhile, I half-wake up in the night to her sleep talking. She legit sleep talks. Full on sentences and conversations. Sometimes in Spanish. It is suuuuper entertaining. This week, apparently, I started sleep talking as well. I have always kiiinda sleep talked, mostly mumbles or words here and there, but not really sentences or anything too inteligable. But this week, as I'm told by Hna. Turner, Hna Barnes and I had a sleep conversation. I don't know what we really talked about, but we went back and forth and she responded to my talking. HA! So funny.

Another thing that happened was at a Melba scout auction. For those who aren't familiar, it's a ward activity fundraiser for boy scouts where they make cakes and other things and they auction it off to fund their campouts and other things. Usually people are really generous because it's just going to their boys in their ward. Awesome, huh? Anyways, so it was really fun being there and we went because some of our investigators were asked to make the food--to make genuine, delicious tacos. We saw them and talked to them and then stayed for part of the auction. They started with the cakes. We were sitting with Brother Zeyer, the ward mission leader in Melba. We were joking around about this one cake that was shaped like a rabbit. Then he bought it! AND he gave it to us. HA! Then later on in the auction, they has this basket full of puppy stuff--dog food and a bowl and toys, etc.--that they started telling everyone about and then out of nowhere, one of the littlest boys walks in carrying a golden retreiver puppy about the size of him! THEY WERE AUCTIONING A PUPPY! After the initial excitement died down, they started actually selling it. Everyone's attention was on this, but no one was ready to have a puppy. Then, the auctioneer started pointing to people, "You want it? You want it? Will you take him home?" sort of thing. He pointed out Brother Zeyer and he actually agreed! He got a beautiful puppy and all this stuff for $90!! All the little kids gathered around, of course. We couldn't believe he had just done that. We asked him about it and what he was going to do with it and he said he would give it to the Melba elders (they live with the Zeyers). HA! So he bought animals for both of us missionary sets: a bunny for us and a puppy for the elders!! Kinda ironic. The elders left partway through and we couldn't see their reaction. We'll have to see what they think next time we see them!

Then another funny thing that happened was with our little Joanna. We were contacting referrals in her neighborhood, so we decided to stop by and say hi. We went in and she was eating a chunk of cheese that looked like a slice of cheddar. She offered us some, so we said sure. Then she pulls out this huge block of American cheese slices and rips off a very significant chunk of the slices and gives them to us. Alriiight. What were we going to do? I would not be able to eat that much American cheese. So I start nibbling on it as we're talking and I'm just waiting til we're done so I can get rid of the extra. Then Hna Barnes asks me to hold the rest of hers as she shares a scripture. She gave me this look of "HA!" as she gave it to me. Then we finished up and I got the brilliant idea to just slip it in the trash as Joanna was giving the others goodbye hugs. And of course right as everything gets quiet, it hits the garbage sack. Joanna hears it and asks, "What did you do with her cheese?" I'm pretty sure I said something about accidentally dropping it in the trash but was suuuuper embarrassed and felt rude. Joanna offered Hna. B more cheese, but she just said, "Oh, no. You already put it away..." Sooo yeah. We got out of there pretty fast and had to keep ourselves composed as we walked down the street to our car. Then we burst out laughing. Ridiculous.

Last Tuesday, we had zone conference. It was all day and surprisingly really good. We read a talk by Elder Holland about the Atonement. He gave it at the MTC. It was SOO good. He talked about how the Atonement is so sacred and so necessary. And just about how amazing it is. It was really powerful. I can't even do it justice. Maybe next week I'll bring it with me and send some quotes from it. But truly, the Atonement and Jesus Christ's sacrifice is what this gospel is all about. It's why I'm here. Because I know that it's the only way we can feel clean and real joy. I know how it's changed my life and I want to share my love for Jesus Christ with others. A few scriptures I found as well are:

2 Nephi 22:2

Alma 26:12

Moroni 10:32

Truly, we can get physical strength through Him. I know this and have felt this in my life.

Con amor,

Hermana Shirley

 

PS No pictures this week because my camera couldn't connect with the computer I used.

"Y" vs. "And" (Week 9 in Kuna?!)

Familia y Amigos!!

It's hard to believe I've been here so long, but it still seems like I just got here. The reason for my subject is one of the times I laugh-cried this week was because of this little Spanish word: Y. It means "and" in Spanish and when talking in English, it is an infamous word for Spanish missionaries. Being here in Idaho, we talk a lot of English, whether we want to or not. So we have to make sure to turn off the Spanish thinking and words. Sometimes that doesn't completely happen. One specific time was when we were at a less active member's house and we had talked and shared a scripture and were about to leave. We were closing with a prayer and Hermana Barnes was saying it. She was saying it in English when she says "y" and then paused for just a split second when she realized what she had said. That split second was JUST enough time for us to let out a giggle/chuckle/breath of air and it just went downhill from there. She was trying really hard to compose herself to finish the prayer and to contain the laughter until after. Then it was released. We all had a pretty good laugh from that. Of course I was crying with laughter. But I love those moments.

Another thing that I wanted to tell you all about is one of the Ward Mission Leaders in Melba. He is legit. This last week, we got to Melba (it's about half an hour away, so we try to carpool with a member) and he had a little map with red dots on it. The dots were houses we should stop by. We were amazed that he had found all these Spanish-speaking houses and asked him his secret. He told us how he had actually gone around to houses that looked like they might be Hispanic and actually knocked on the door. When the person answered, he would just ask if a random thing in their front yard was for sale. It wasn't threatening for them, and he found out if they spoke Spanish. PERFECT! It saved a lot of time and was really funny.

Also, I wanted to tell you about one of our little investigators here. She is the sweetest 72-year old lady and is super spunky. Her name is Joanna. She actually speaks English, but because she is married to a Spaniard, we were told to visit them and that's how we originally met them. When we first walked in to their home, they were both smoking and Eduardo was drinking up a storm. I was a bit hesitant, but still talked to them. Who knew where it would go! That was just a few weeks ago, but we've gone back and helped them paint their ceiling as a service project and we've been able to just visit them and get to know them. Nowadays, we go back mostly to visit Joanna because Eduardo is always drunk. I love this lady. She is one of the kindest, most open and loving people. And her smile and love just makes me happy. On one of my hardest days, we had an appointment with her and she just made me feel so much better. She has an amazing spirit and you can tell that she cares. So this last week, we had an appointment with her and we actually taught her the first lesson. And I invited her to be baptized when she finds out for herself that it's true. She straightup said no. The reason was because she felt like she couldn't change. She had been smoking her whole life and it was a part of her. And she didn't want to be a hypocrite Mormon who smoked and did bad things while pretending to be someone else. That's amazing. Even though she agrees with what we teach and can feel the Spirit, she knows that she wants to be honest to decisions she makes. She really is close to the spirit even though she doesn't recognize it. And I can't wait for the gospel to help her through her health problems and other things she's going through. We're going to visit her this week and talk to her about hope and change. She is going to need a lot of prayers and faith, but she can do it. She already knows her habits are bad, she just needs a reason to quit.

This made me think a lot about change and how it's hard, but it brings joy. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings about change for the better. And when we're striving to be better while staying strong to what we know is true, we can feel fulfilled while having motivation to keep going. And that perspective brings joy. That is why people need the gospel. When we understand this, it's crazy how it can help us through the hard times and give us purpose in everything. Super cool.

I'm loving it here and hope you are all doing well.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Shirley

1) Another sunset. :)

2) When we had our bonfire, we were wearing the randomest clothes to stay warm.