Placentero Nos Es Trabajar. El Momento de Ir Vino Ya.

Hola todos!! 

The moment has come! Well, it came. My time as a full-time missionary has come to an end. My last week as a missionary was crazy and I couldn't send my last email. But that's ok. My last p-day was the day before I went home, so I was pretty busy. And then the next day, Tuesday, May 26th, I flew home to Washington. I can't believe it. 

On the Thursday before, I was able to go to the Boise, Idaho temple with all the other missionaries who were also finishing up their missions. It was amazing. I think in that moment, it hit me that I was going home. I prayed for peace and to know that the Lord was pleased with my service. And I felt that. I expected the goodbyes to be hard and that I would be bawling my eyes out the whole time, but I was surprisingly calm. My body and heart were calm even though, in my mind, I thought I should be a mess. In the moment, I was kinda confused about what I was feeling, but looking back, that was definitely Heavenly Father helping to smooth the transition. He helped me to feel calm, confident, and unemotional throughout it all. I'm grateful for that.

Because I felt that way doesn't mean I wasn't grateful for my time as a missionary or I won't miss it. I definitely will. But I think it gives me an appreciation for all I've learned and how I've grown. It just testifies that He knows me SO MUCH better than I know myself. He knows what I need, even when I don't. When I have mixed feelings, He gives me the strength I need. He has helped me to accept change. Not only accept it, but be able to deal with it and even be excited for it. He's helped me realize that there's a process in all of our lives, INCLUDING MY OWN. That my knowledge that I have right now, I can use to face my next challenges. Those challenges will push me and stretch me to learn new things that will prepare me for even MORE experiences. So He'll never throw me into something I'm not prepared for. He knows my strength and enables me so much. That's a reason to be excited. Satan wants me to be afraid and to hesitate and not move forward. But I have everything going for me right now. I can't give in to that fear. I don't want to. 

I grew to LOVE the people in the Idaho Nampa mission, english people and my dear spanish speakers. They have literally become like family to me. They have helped me out so much and been amazing examples to me. I have learned so much from them. I am going to miss that. I think that is one reason I was called to Nampa. Not because it was where I was born, but because Heavenly Father knew I would need to be able to return and see people again. I would need them to be close so I wouldn't lose contact. And I am definitely going to stop by often throughout my life. I'm excited for that. 

I loved my mission so much and it has been the best decision in my life. It prepared me in ways I didn't think I needed preparing. It has blessed me and will bless my family, current and future. I could not imagine my life without it. 

The Boise, Idaho Temple

Saying goodbye to the Cannons in the airport

Placentero Nos Es Trabajar 

A hymn only found in the Spanish hymn book.

1. 1. Placentero nos es trabajar
   en la viña del gran Rey Jesús,
   y honroso nos es predicar
   a Su pueblo Su ley y Su lluz.
   Por Su luz, por Su luz,
   placentero nos es trabajar.
   Por Su luz, por Su luz,
   moriremos en El sin pesar.
2. 2. La palabra de Dios escuchad
   con ahínco, lealtad y fervor.
   Para siempre jamás recordad
   Su pureza, verdad y amor.
   Con amor, con amor,
   la palabra de Dios escuchad.
   Con amor, con amor,
   la bandera de Dios empuñad.
3. 3. ¡Oh hermanos, adiós, pues, adiós!
   El momento de ir vino ya.
   Si guardamos la fe en el gran Dios,
   nos veremos aún más allá.
   Más allá, más allá.
   ¡Oh hermanos, adiós, pues, adiós!
   Más allá, más allá,
   moraremos con Dios en amor.

Service, the Spirit, and a little JW Action (May 18, 2015)

Hola Familia y Amigos! 

This was a really good week! We did 2 different exchanges with sisters, so that made things exciting. It's always interesting and fun doing exchanges. I'll keep this email short because we have lots of things to do, but generally, the main themes of this week were the power of prayer, the spirit, and service. Seriously, they are key to doing missionary work and being disciples of Christ. 

So we had some cool experiences this week. First of all, on Sunday, we taught young womens. Doesn't seem like it would be a big deal, but before we were going to teach, we talked to one of the leaders and she was saying that we didn't have to teach it, that one of the regular teachers could do it, but we had already been asked. Then she told us she felt like we should teach it. It was about revelation. Awesome. So as we were teaching about how to recognize the holy ghost, Hna Carrasco told me she had a prompting to sing a hymn. So we did and it seriously invited the spirit. It was perfect because we could testify about that feeling that they were having AT THAT MOMENT. And hopefully that helped them to know what it feels like and identify that good feeling. It was definitely a prompting from the spirit for us to teach that class. It was really cool to recognize that after. 

Also, we just had an experience this morning. We were driving to the family history center to email and we decided that we wanted to go to this little hat store in Nampa. It was on the way. So we parked the car and I, kinda jokingly said, "Maybe we should say a prayer." Then Hna Carrasco said she had had that same thought. So we decided to do it, even though we were just going in to a little hat store. When we went in, the man spoke spanish and started asking us about missionaries and we started a gospel discussion. We didn't actually want to buy an intense hat or boots, but there was a tiny, sequined sombrero that wasn't for sale. I wanted something little like that as a souvenir, so I asked him if I could buy it. Then he gave it to me for free! He said because I was doing a good thing, preaching the gospel. SO COOL! Hopefully we softened his heart a little bit. 

ALSO, when we were on exchanges this week, I went with an english sister, named Sister Wasden. When we studied in the morning, we ended up talking a lot about service and how it softens hearts and shows God's love for other people. Then, as we were out and about during the day, we drove by a Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witness. There were a bunch of people outside working. So we had this crazy thought to stop and offer if we could help. They said sure. (They probably didn't recognize who we were or think we were serious.) SO WE DID. We helped them pull weeds and just talked with them while we were cleaning up their flowerbeds. And we didn't try to preach or anything. This was THEIR property. But, they started asking us questions. And it was a really cordial conversation. It was pretty cool and we were able to talk about similarities between our beliefs and passions in preaching the gospel and helping and serving. It was a really fun and random experience. 

So it just showed me that those things are so important. Heavenly Father loves us and guides us. 

Hope you have a wonderful week!! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

The Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall

Weekety Week (May 11, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

Soo this week we had a lot of things on our plate. There was a relief society activity for mother's day as well as a mother's day activity for the whole ward. And, of course, we were asked to help out with both. The relief society activity was a spa night and then the ward activity was a dinner and show. We performed a Hawaiian dance for the show. (I don't know if I mentioned, the other Spanish sisters in Nampa are Hna Collins and Masiasomua. From Florida and Samoa) So Hna Masi came up with the dance and taught it to us. It was super last minute, so I didn't think we'd get it together, but we did. It was fun. 

Also, we've been seriously guided to a few people this week who are so ready for the gospel. I'm so excited, but at the same time, they're thinking about switching things up next transfer. They're going to combine our area to another one or do something so that there is more work. We're going to meet to talk about it and figure out what would be best. Things will change, but it won't take affect until after I'm already gone. Heavenly Father is guiding people to hear about the gospel. He's guiding the missionaries around the world. He's guiding the mission presidents on how to run the missionary work. It's pretty cool how everything is set up. I love it!! 

Hope you all have an amazing week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

Ward Relief Society activity--Hermana Carrasco at her finest. Yogurt and cucumbers are good to her. 

Cool sunset

We got transferred to Hawaiian speaking in Nampa. 

This is Brissa, little sister of Jesualdo. 

I gave her my camera and this is what I get

:) hehehe

Ducks and Dioses (Gods) (May 4, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

This was a really good week! We had a few random things happen and few cool experiences as well. 

So we were doing our planning outside in the backyard of where we live (with members) because it was nice and sunny. Then all of a sudden, 4 little ducklings come stumbling out of nowhere and go past us. IN THE FENCED BACKYARD. HOW they managed that, I have no idea. But I was on the phone and then, in the middle of the call was like, "Ahhhh some baby ducks just showed up and sorry I'm distracted. Woah!" Mid-sentence. And 2 of them fell down the stairs that go into our basement apartment. It was so terrifying and scary and cute all at the same time. So I finished the call and we grabbed the dog to keep him away from them. Then we got them all together even though they didn't want to be held and kept jumping out of our hands. When we collected them all from under bushes and stuff, we didn't know what to do with them because the mother wasn't there. So we brought them close to a stream-thingy in the neighborhood and just let them go. We debated a lot on what was best. But when we released them, they just hid under a tree anyways... Soooo maybe the mom will come by and find them... Hopefully. 

I also had a doctor appointment for my finger. They did more x-rays. No worries. It's solidly broken, but it doesn't hurt as much as I expected. The swelling has gone down, so it doesn't look as nasty, but there's still a bit of bruising. It should heal up pretty soon. Even when my finger is broken, my bones are strong and legit. Blessings. 

I feel like each week of my mission has had theme. There's one concept or certain thing that manages to come up a bunch each week. This week, it was about the distinction between Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We ate dinner with an english ward and they signed us up with a lady who is less-active. She goes to church every once in awhile, but she struggles with certain things. She was a sweetheart and really kind. When we went into her house, she welcomed us and we got to know each other. She told us that she goes sometimes. So we just kept talking and eventually, she actually opened up to us and asked us about some of her doubts. The main question that we talked about for awhile was about our relationships with Heavenly Father and our relationships with Jesus Christ. She didn't understand the difference. She knew they were different and had always learned about praying to Heavenly Father, but where did the relationship with Jesus Christ come in? That was an amazing question and it was actually kinda a miracle because I had JUST been studying that the past few weeks. So we explained to her about how we build our relationships with Heavenly Father through prayer and telling Him what's in our hearts. And then we gain that relationship with Jesus Christ by repenting and taking the sacrament and using the atonement. When we ACT on the atonement and take advantage of that sacrifice, we FEEL Christ's love for us. And THAT is powerful. The power of forgiveness and remission of sins and a relief from loads we have. That's when we learn that Christ is real and build that relationship. I had been pondering that lately and then when I was able to testify of that and saw it help her life-long question, it was a really cool experience. There really is a lack of this basic knowledge in the world. When we learn about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and their roles in our lives, we gain a perspective of WHO WE ARE and what's the point of EVERYTHING. There are so many people who are looking for that. We need to help them find it. 

Thanks for listening...or well, reading. Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Shirley

DUCKS!! Hna Carrasco is pretty much a professional photographer. 

ZOMBIE FIIIIINGER!! (April 27, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

This week was... eventful. First of all, I started my week last p-day breaking my finger. We had finished all of our errands and went to play sports with our zone. We actually got there early and so we just started playing volleyball with the 2 of us and a few elders. Then as people started to arrive, I turn around to keep playing and a missionary *cough cough my companion* is running at me and spikes it right at my stomach from about 3 feet away. #1 Caught me by surprise, so I didn't really have time to react. #2 My hand was coincidentally right there, pinkie toward the ball. I've been hit by volleyballs plenty of times, but never had any problems. I looked down at my pinkie and it was bent away from my hand. Woah. That doesn't look normal. It was mostly kinda numb. So I got some ice and just chilled for the rest of the time while they continued to play. We live in the basement of a member who is a nurse, so I figured I'd have her look at it when we got home. It was probably just dislocated or bruised or something. It started to swell, but that's alright. We got home for the day and she looked at it for about 2 seconds before saying it was probably broken. WHAT?! I've never broken a bone, so I don't know what it looks like. So we made some calls and then at about 9:30/10:00 at night we headed to the ER. They took some x-rays and said I needed to see a bone doctor. We ended up leaving at midnight... When I saw the bone doctor, he said it wasn't too bad and since I could move it, I didn't need a cast or anything like that. I just have to splint it to my ring finger for a bit until it heals. So it looks kinda nasty, I call it my zombie finger. But the swelling is going down and I'm able to actually use my hand. BLESSINGS! 

Also this week, we've been teaching this kid named Jesualdo. We've been wanting to talk to his whole family and teach them all for awhile, but it just hasn't worked out. Then this week we had a REALLY good lesson with them. FINALLY. And we brought a member with us who was one of his past teachers. It was perfect. The family all listened and we had a really good discussion with them. THEN, after, they told us they were making tamales the next day. So they invited us to come help. So we helped make Mexican tamales! It was really fun and it took a bit to get the hang of it, but we got pretty good at spreading the masa. They've been a lot more open since these two experiences, I'm so excited how things are finally working out. I KNEW it would. 

Heavenly Father comes through with His promises and we worked really hard to have the faith and trust Him. 

Speaking of which, I also learned a lot this week about the spirit. We had a leadership meeting about the Holy Ghost and then at zone meeting, we were asked to train about how to find new people to teach. We were super nervous about it, but we just focused on the Holy Ghost and how we need His help in finding people who need the gospel. We did this activity where we walked around the church, blindfolded and silent, and just told them to think about their path along the iron rod and being sensitive to the spirit. Then we taught about Lehi's vision in the Book of Mormon and how there are tons of people who are in the midst of darkness and searching for that iron rod. Then we gave everyone maps and invited them to pray right there. In their prayer, we said to ask specifically for Heavenly Father to tell them a neighborhood or street or area that had a prepared person for them to find. Then we just gave them time. We were standing there and then we decided to pray too. We just knelt down and prayed that the Spirit would be there and would guide them. At that moment, we could feel the spirit SOO strong. It was amazing. I KNOW that Heavenly Father was guiding us at that moment. I hope that good things come out of it in the missionaries' different areas. I know it will bless ours. Heavenly Father is in this work and hastening it all the time. I LOVE IT! 

Hope you all have an amazing week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

I was taking a selfie of us at a stop light and our neighbors wanted to be a part of it. 

My monster-swollen pinkie. 

I went to give a thumbs-up, but it turned into this. #attheER

You tell me. How much pain was I in?

Shhhhh and Some Bigotes (Mustaches) (April 20, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

This was a great week. First week of the transfer and I realized I forgot to tell you about my new companion. Because Hermana Hernandez Ruiz left, I got a new companion. Her name is Hermana Carrasco. She was born in Argentina, but her family moved to Utah when she was 5. So she grew up in Utah. That seems to kind of be a trend with my companions. They were born in another place, but live in the US. But I'm ok with that. Hna Carrasco is AWESOME! She speaks with an Argentine-Argentine/Mexican accent. It was a little bit to get used to. So basically, she says certain sounds different, like the "y" or "ll" sounds she says like "sh." Don't ask me why, but it's just how it works in Argentina. It has more of a European influence, I guess. We get along super well. She's a selfie-sister, so there may be a lot of selfies coming to you this next transfer. :) 

As for our week, it started off funny. We went to dinner at the Lopez in our ward and Leovi, the daughter, gave us these mustaches. We took lots of great pictures with them, then we had plans to go meet the bishop, so we decided to just go with them on and then pretend like there was nothing out of the ordinary. Conversation starter, ya know? It was SO FUUUNNY! He totally pointed it out and we were playing it off like everything was normal. Then we couldn't hold it in anymore. We all just laughed. Then his kids were eyeing us all weird, so we gave the mustaches to them. They loved it! 

Also this week, we found a family that is SO ready for the gospel. The dad just called the teacher of the english classes, but he couldn't get ahold of him. So the teacher gave us the number to try. We called them (the scariest thing ever, because you never know how they're going to react), CORRECTION: I called them, in my terrible phone-spanish. And the wife actually was really open and glad that we called. She said that she was a member and that she had an 11-year-old daughter that wanted to be baptized. So we asked when we could come over and we went over THAT NIGHT. Serious BLESSINGS! They even came to church yesterday and are SUPER LEGIT! 

Then yesterday, we had a ROUGH, but good day. So we have church at 9 in the morning. So we went to church and didn't even think to bring a lunch or any food. Then right after church, we had a 2-hour ward council. Our stomachs were growling through the whole thing. 1) We didn't really bring any food. 2) We live too far away from the church to just run home for food, plus we don't really even have any at the house. And 3) It's Sunday, so we couldn't go buy some. So we just decided we'd wait until dinner in 3 hours. LONGEST 3 HOURS OF MY LIFE. We had a lot of things to do, but we seemed to just be rejected and aimless and not make progress. And our hunger just made it worse. A referral straight up said no. Then a family who were looking promising, ALSO told us they weren't interested. Then people just didn't answer and we didn't seem to have any success. Then we went to dinner. FOOOOOD! That was good. Then we went to an appointment with a lady we're teaching. Her name is Tina. She's been through a lot. She was a drug dealer and has been in jail kinda a lot of her life, but she's on parole now. Her brother and mom are members and she's actually one of my favorite people. She definitely has been through a lot, but she's making changes in her life and has more perspective now. She started reading the Book of Mormon this week and when she saw us, started out by saying, "Sorry! I'm only in the fourth chapter." We're like WHAAAA! That's AWESOME! But as we were there, she shared with us one of the verses that stood out to her. 1 Nephi 1:20 "...But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." And it really made us feel better. We told her how much she helped us and that sometimes Heavenly Father guides us to things that can help others. It really made an impact on her and me. I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father's watching over me. It's truly amazing! 

Hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

My upper lip has been kinda itchy lately... (me and Hermana Carrasco)

Sasquatch! I mean... the bishop's son

Jesualdo--a kid we're teaching. He loves his bike. #itwasawindyday #don'tjudge 

Drum rollllll, HERMANA CARRASCO, EVERYONE! 

Opportunity and a Potato Sack (April 13, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

WOW. This was a crazy week. It was Hermana Hernandez's last week and now she is officially GONE with her family!! They drove here and picked her up this morning. It was SUUUPER weird because that will be me TOO SOON! I only have 6 weeks!! I still have so much work to do here. 

Anyways, so because this was her last week, we had a lot of random things to finish up. I made her a potato sack scripture case, like mine. It wasn't perfect, but it was good. We have pretty much the same taste in EVERYTHING, so she liked it. Also, I was her personal fashion consultant for her special outfits. We done good. But the crazy thing about this week, is that we had a lot of random things to do and members to see and say bye to, but we still got a LOT of work done. 

We even had a really cool experience with the #BecauseHeLives video. We were contacting a referral and met this teenage kid. We asked him if he wanted us to come teach his family and learn more. He was a bit hesitant, then we told him about the video and he actually looked it up on his phone right there at the door and watched it. He said he liked it and that he thought he had already seen it before. We forgot to ask where from. But then we talked a bit about Christ and asked him again when we could come back. Then HE was the one who said, "How about tomorrow at 3?" So that was pretty cool. He seems pretty open to learning more and we're really excited.

Also this week, we had a visit from a Seventy of the church. He came to visit the stake and speak in our stake conference. His name is Elder Falabella. He's from Guatemala and actually specially requested to talk to just our ward before stake conference. IT WAS SO AWESOME! He is super funny and genuinely kind. He started off the discussion asking about where everyone was from and the reasons that they came to the United States. Most people it was to earn more money and some people said they didn't really know why, they just felt guided. For everyone, it was an opportunity. Then he talked about opportunity, giving our families as much opportunity as we can (teaching kids, education, things like that), and about how Heavenly Father has a divine plan for us. That for a lot of people, the reason they came to the US was to actually to hear about the gospel and how THAT is the thing that gives us the most opportunity and happiness. AND THAT WE NEED TO SHARE THAT. Seriously, as he was saying that, I almost wanted to cry. Our ward kinda struggles in the missionary work department, so hopefully they will let his words sink in and act on them. It was exactly what they needed and I really hope the work grows a TON. He encouraged us all to pray everyday for missionary experiences and actually committed the ward to pray exactly at 5:00 everyday. When we all pray together, it's more powerful. SO TRUE! AH! I love this gospel so much. It is SOO TRUE. :) 

Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

Elder Falabella from Guatemala

Me and the Hernandez's

Que Tal and Perfect Timing (April 6, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

HI FAMILY! Wasn't General Conference great?! We were lucky to be able to watch the different sessions with some people we're teaching and with members. One recent convert, who has been struggling a bit, agreed to let us come over for the first session. When we walked in, we got it all set up and everything was great. THEN, one of her friends stopped by and she went over to make her food and talk to her in the kitchen, apart from where we were watching. We were like, "Oh great... She just let us come to watch it by ourselves..." They were there for awhile and then she came out and said, "Don't worry, girls, she's about to leave." When Rosa finally came back and sat down to listen, it was at the PERFECT TIMING. The speaker was saying EXACTLY what she needed. Then she turned to us and just said, "WOW." It was pretty cool. We were pretty bummed one minute and then it turned and we were excited. She said she wanted to watch the other sessions too. Heavenly Father really does guide his servants in General Conference to say what we need to hear. :) OH! And I listened to 2 of the sessions in Spanish and understood pretty much everything. SO MUCH MORE than last conference. That was exciting. But it's never quite the same as watching in your own language. 

Also, we had a sweet little experience I wanted to mention. Hna Hernandez and I were at Arctic Circle to teach a man we had met recently. As we were ordering milkshakes, a woman came up to us and asked us if we went to church. Well, yes, we told her. We asked her why she asked. Then she said that she could "just tell." I felt pretty good after that, that people actually do notice how the gospel makes us happier. It may or MAY NOT have been because we were wearing skirts and nametags, but I have a feeling it was more from the spirit. Either way, we were able to talk to this lady who spoke spanish and tell her a little about Jesus Christ. 

Well, this was an excellent week and we really are seeing miracles all the time. The message of Jesus Christ's atonement and resurrection really does touch people's hearts. The movie Because He Lives is really powerful. Keep remembering to share it and more importantly, share your testimony of Christ. That's what it's all about! 

Have an amazing week and see the blessings in everything Heavenly Father does! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

I love seeing spanish license plates. Don't worry, we followed this car to see where they live. They pulled into Dollar Tree. Typical. (Que tal=what's up)

HAPPY EASTER! 

It rained, even though it was sunny... SOO we got a rainbow. :) 

We saw a monkey. No biggie. 

Other spanish hermanas in Nampa. #carselfies

Last p-day, this is how I found my water bottle... Best day EVER...

A Precious Pearl (March 30, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

How was your week?! Ours was good! First of all, I made a mistake last week. Correction. The website for the new video is called helives.mormon.org and the video is called Because He Lives. It's really awesome! Share it in every way you can! 

So this week, we went to this lady's house to help her and to sew a little bit on Hna. Hernandez's scripture case that didn't fit. As we did, I took a few scrap pieces and fixed up my potato-sack case. There were parts that were falling apart. I decided I'm going to call my case Frankenstein. First of all, it has green lining. Also, when I patched it up, it had stitching like Frankenstein. I don't mind. I love it, all used and well-loved. 

Also yesterday, we, Hna Hernandez and I, taught the 3rd hour Sunday school class. It was the 5th Sunday, so the bishop asked us to be in charge of teaching the adults. There are 4 companionships of missionaries in our ward, 2 of them taught the youth about missionary work and gave them calls and showed the #becausehelives video and everything. Then the other had to go to an english ward to do something and couldn't get out of it. So we were in charge of teaching the adults all by ourselves. It was exciting. We started off talking about the Atonement and what that means for us. About how easter is celebrating Christ's resurrection. Then we showed the video and talked about how we can share it. We had prepared a lot and then didn't get to finish it all. We talked about how this is an amazing message and how precious it is for us. Then we gave them all pearls on a string, to hang in their cars or wherever, as a reminder to share this treasure. It went really well. 

Seriously, the gospel is amazing. It's so much more than "just a church" that you join to go on Sundays and feel good about yourself. But it really is a change of life. It gives purpose and Jesus Christ's atonement REALLY does help us. I love that. He really did live, die, and resurrect, so that we all can. He did that amazing miracle so that we can all have the opportunity for ourselves. 

Thanks so much for all the support and I hope you all have an amazing easter week! I can't wait to hear what you thought about General Conference! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Shirley

I put my nametag on and then wrapped myself in a blanket to study. I get up and this is how it ended up. 

The couple who teach the english class in Nampa. They are kinda crazy... In the best way possible.

We attempted to make flour tortillas... But we didn't remember how...

Are you here for the blessings or because you love God? (March 23, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

This has been a very interesting week. Mostly really good and with a bunch of learning experiences. 

First of all, we had a meeting with President Cannon about a new initiative from the church. It's called "Because He Lives". It's obviously about Jesus Christ's resurrection and celebrating easter by sharing the message of Christ.That BECAUSE He lives, He can be with us in every moment. The video will come out this next week, on the 28th. It will be onbecausehelives.mormon.org for you to watch and share electronically. I invite you all to watch it when it comes out, then share it in some way. BUT, not just share the video, more importantly, your TESTIMONY of this event. Your TESTIMONY of the reality of Jesus Christ. Your TESTIMONY of how it has effected your own life. It doesn't come out until Saturday, but, because we're special, we got a copy of it and have been able to start getting people excited about it. We've started sharing it with people and actually shared it in our Friday sports night for our ward and it was REALLY successful. We had a few people we were teaching there and they really felt the spirit as we were bearing our testimonies. People were crying and nodding their head in agreement and even added a little to the message. It was really cool. We've already shown it to our relief society president and ward mission leader and when we did, they had family over that weren't members. It really touched their heart and she told us she even wanted to share it. That the message was really good. She is a lady who probably wouldn't have seen the video otherwise or gone out of her way to watch it, so because we showed it there and had it ready on DVD, she was able to feel the spirit of it. That was definitely a miracle. SO, when you all watch it and start to share it, PLEASE share your stories with me! :) 

Also, we had Sister's Conference for our mission this week. Because we're STLs, we had a lot of things to do to plan for this meeting. It's a meeting that happens once a year that is with ALL the sister missionaries in the mission. There are currently 62. The theme was "The Road to Success is Always Under Construction." We talked about how we're all on paths to reach Heavenly Father and are trying to get there, but it's not going to be perfect. We have to keep going and use the tools we have been given. We talked about all sorts of things like that. It was well done (of course, because WE HELPED WITH IT). I also got the chance to design a logo for the bookmarks we made. It's really legit. BUT, during the meeting, Sister Cannon had her daughter and niece come and talk about what it's like to come home from a mission... That was really ironic and Hna Hernandez and I just looked at each other. She just has 3 more weeks and I have about 9... So not very much. These talks were just for us. We've had a few little experiences like that lately. There have also been a bunch of missionaries in our south stake who have come home and we even stopped by a homecoming very briefly this week. Let's just say we don't look forward to being an awkward returned missionary. hahah

So another thing that happened this week is with a man we met just a week or so ago. His name is Cezar. We went to visit him and then as we were talking, I felt like I needed to offer service. So I did but he was busy and told us that he didn't want the help. So I had a strong impression that we should just come back the next day, with service clothes and be ready to help out. So we did the next day, but no one was home, which is pretty unusual for them. So we waited just a little bit, in case they might come home, but they never did... That was hard for me because I felt strongly that we should do that... But then nothing happened. So I was just wondering about why that happens. THEN, I think I saw the reasoning. I had a conversation with Hna. Hernandez about why that happens and we talked about some things I've been thinking about lately. Then she answered some of my concerns I've had. So it was a little learning experience, even though it didn't work out how I expected. I feel like what I've learned is that if we're following the spirit, we will do what the Lord wants us to do and help SOMEONE, whether that someone may be ourselves. We may need the learning that comes with "failure" or just the confidence in following promptings more sensitively. No matter what, though, as we follow these promptings, big or little, we practice following the spirit and allow ourselves to receive more. Heavenly Father trusts us with more of His children and we're able to be better servants of Him. It may be frustrating sometimes when we don't see the results of our labors or the effects of following the spirit, but I KNOW that Heavenly Father DOES give us blessings, even if we have to wait a long time for them. We just need to keep up the faith, even if those blessings don't come 'til after this life. When we do things for the instant blessings, we may not be trusting that they'll come in His time. That's why we need to be obedient and serve others and do everything we're supposed to because we love God and not get discouraged when the blessings don't come right away. They'll come when we obey Him, we just have to trust. 

I love you and hope you have an amazing week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

At Sister's Conference, our family tree! (Hna Hernandez Ruiz [my companion right now], Hna Masiasamua [her "daughter"], Hna Stadler [her other "daughter"], Hna Webb [la nieta, the "granddaughter"], Hna Ekonomo [my "daughter"], me) To explain a bit: I trained Hna Ekonomo and Hna Hernandez Ruiz trained Hna Stadler. Now we're companions and our "daughters" are companions, training our "granddaughter", Hna Webb. 

Yep. Mija Ekonomo. 

My nails for Sister's conference. The theme was construction stuff, and we were supposed to wear yellow or orange. We thought we were pretty clever by having a hammer and NAIL on our nails. :) 

Some Dead Fish and So Much Respect (March 16, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

Hi everyone! How are you doing?! I'm doing super well. This week was really really good. We had a bunch of cool experiences. 

We met a lady who is a member of the church, but hasn't gone in awhile. A bishop in an english ward told us about her. When we first met her, she wasn't very open and didn't want to open the screen door. But then we talked to her a bit and found out she works in Boise in a ear/nose/throat doctor's office. She's an assistant person. I don't remember exactly what she does, but RIGHT when she said that, I was SO happy. I had seriously been thinking about going to one of those doctors. I've had a lot of sore/mucusy throat problems for awhile. And actually, Hermana Hernandez looked at me at that same moment. She agreed. hahah So it was really cool that we were able to meet her at EXACTLY the moment in my mission when I needed that. I just asked her advice on what I should do and that definitely opened her up a little bit. NOT COINCIDENCE! 

Also here, in the Nampa south stake, there is a lot of area, but mostly just neighborhoods with really large houses. And yes, hispanics might live there, but not quite as likely. Not racist or anything, just how things go here in Nampa. And so the area has struggled quite a bit. There are people, but they are harder to find. SO, one day this week, we made it our goal to study about and pray to have more faith to find people who are ready. So we did and decided that we were just going to head out and be guided. So we started off in the neighborhood of a referral. We parked and tried the referral and no one was home. So we just started walking and walked past a few houses until we went up to one. We walked up and were startled a little because a girl was sitting outside on a hammock. We started talking to her and she was super nice and receptive. And when we talked about the gospel, she applied it to her life and wanted us to come back. We could just TELL that we had been guided to her and there was a feeling that she was prepared. We're super excited for our appointment this week. A little while after that, we knocked on a few houses and nothing really. Then we met these members who told us about their neighbor. We went over there and he was barbecuing. We started talking to him. He told us that he had been in jail for awhile and been through a lot. Then we got into this really deep conversation and he opened up with some really good questions about religion and how things have changed since Christ's time and just so much. It was seriously EVERY question that could be answered by the message of the Restoration. So we talked to him a little before his friends showed up with beer (it was his son's birthday and they were having a party. We got there right before.) And we have an appointment with him tomorrow morning. I'm super excited for it. On first glance, he looks pretty rough, with tattoos and everything. But he was super friendly. At the end of our discussion, he said to us, along the lines of, "People always have misconceptions about me. I'm not what you may think..." Things like that. And about how he was actually a good guy, he's just had a hard life. Then I told him after, kinda laughing, that when he started saying that, it made me nervous. I had thought he was a cool guy, but then I was starting to second guess and maybe we'd have to get out of there if he was a serial killer or something. He just laughed and said that was probably the best thing I could have said. He just kept repeating, "So much respect. So much respect." Hahah I'm excited to teach him again. He definitely has a lot of questions and could benefit a lot from the gospel. 

This just taught me a TON about faith. Praying with true faith. It really does work. When we feel like our prayers aren't answered or that we're just going along with not very much purpose, it's probably because of our prayers. We can say them with more intent, more faith, more trust in Heavenly Father. He really is there. I know that. 

Thanks for listening! Or, well, reading. This was a long one. Hope you have an amazing week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

PHOTOS: 

When I was in Caldwell, we did a service project. The family had a pond that had mostly dried up. But there was plastic underneath that kept it from drying completely. So we got in there and took out the plastic. MESSIEST SERVICE EVER, but probably most rewarding. #gettingourhandsdirty

So many dead fish. SUPER good-smelling... 

The crazy storm has passed and I'm in Nampa again (March 9, 2015)

Hola familia y amigos! 

Sorry about these past few weeks, how my emails have been super short and not very exciting. I've been super busy on p-days and when I got around to emailing everyone, my time was already spent. So this week, I'm emailing you all first so that it's a good one. :) 

Well, as I said in my last email, we had transfers last week. I got moved BACK to Nampa and my companion is Hermana Hernandez Ruiz. She's from Chihuahua, Mexico but her family moved to Utah a year ago. So they're living in Orem. This is her last transfer and she's awesome. We are back in Nampa South stake and we are STLs. That pretty much means we're leaders over a group of sisters. We have to make sure they're doing alright and help them or talk to them if they're having a hard time. We also plan and do exchanges with each companionship at least once throughout the transfer. So we've started planning those. At the moment, we're only over 4 companionships. 3 are in Nampa and 1 in Caldwell. 2 Spanish and 2 English. So it'll be fun. We're over both Hnas Ekonomo and Hernandez Yanez. So that'll be fun to be companions with them again. Besides that, we just go to more meetings for leadership. And then we also plan sisters' conference that's coming up this month. It'll be fun. Already, we've been to a bunch of meetings and gotten a call at 3 in the morning, asking for our help. This is the life!... hahah But, we got to eat dinner at the mission home with lots of soft serve from their soft-serve machine. And that worked out perfectly because last week we didn't get a chance to go shopping, so we had NO food. 

Because we've been so low on food, we've been getting creative with trying to come up with stuff. We've been given a bunch of leftovers and then on Saturday, we went to a pancake breakfast fundraiser thing that was put on by the American Legion (or something like that). It's a club for veterans and one of the members of our ward is in it. So he invited us and we filled up on pancakes. And that day, we actually had a really cool experience. We walked into the building of the pancake breakfast and this little, probably 10-year-old, girl comes up to us and welcomes us and compliments me on my dress. I thought that was super sweet of her and then that was about all we said to each other. Later on, I just waved bye to her before leaving. I even thought to myself that she was super friendly and would be a great candidate to learn the gospel, but we didn't really get too much of a chance to talk to her. So fast forward about 5 hours, we go out tracting and walking around in a neighborhood. We walk up to a bunch of people out in their yard. They look hispanic, but they were really standoffish, so we didn't really get anywhere with them. As we were standing there, though, the SAME little girl shows up out of nowhere on her bike, says hi, then disappears! We walked away and were like, "Wait, what just happened?! Where did she gooo?!" So we just decide a direction and start walking. She was nowhere to be found, but we kept going. After about 5/10 minutes, we walk by a house and THERE SHE WAS! With a friend and her sister. They noticed us and said hi before we even did. AHHHH! Blessings from heaven!! So we started talking to them. Turns out they go to a baptist church and love learning about the scriptures and stuff, but had some questions. PERFECT! We had a really good conversation with them and explained a lot about the trinity and the role of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. The older sister was really confused about that and had really good questions. It was seriously really cool how everything worked out that day. We definitely felt guided all day. 

As we were talking to this girl, she got me thinking about the trinity and how crucial and special it is to know that Heavenly Father is a separate being than Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of Heavenly Father sending down His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON is so much more special and a true sacrifice. If He just "sent himself down" somehow, or a part of himself, then that sacrifice wasn't really much of a sacrifice at all. He was just coming down, as a god, and living on earth. Looking at it that way, it's cool that Christ came, but it wouldn't have been as significant. Heavenly Father truly did GIVE us all His son. He allowed Christ to be apart from Him for a time. That seems so much more real, like a parent sending their child away for a good thing. It's a sacrifice for the parent, but they do it because they love them and they know that where they're going is a better place and will benefit those people there. It just makes sense that they are separate beings. It means that we can understand them a little more and have a personal relationship with each of them. THAT is pretty amazing. 

I hope that you all have an amazing week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Shirley

They didn't open the door, so we played with their chihuahua puppy.  

Hermana Hernandez Ruiz :) 

All of the STLs and Sister Cannon