Zone Conferences, and iPads and Temple Trips-- Oh my!

This week has been crazy busy!

On Thursday we had Zone Conference. we were in the Planning chapter of Preach My Gospel. It was pretty close to the first Zone conference I had on my mission a little over a year ago, so it kind of felt like deja-vu. I love having reminders of eternal principles though, and planning is definitely one of them. In the bold declaration of President Van Cott: "God is God because God knows how to plan." Pretty true considering all of the things that have to be planned and lined up for all of the miracles and experiences that we have daily :)

In that conference our mission also received iPads. Since I go home in 3 weeks I don't get one at all, but my companion has had fun learning how to use hers :) its really amazing the things that Heavenly Father has prepared for us so that His work will go forth.

As for the temple, we get to go next week I just needed a 3rd thing to add to my heading. Sorry.

We had a few wonderful miracles this week. First, Victoria finally came to church!!! Woo HOO :) I love seeing people act on the spiritual promptings that they receive :)

Also, one night as we were heading out of an appointment there were these two little boys out on the street walking. We asked them what they ere up to, and began talking to them a little. The older boy told us that something sad had happened the day before. We asked him what it was, and he said,"our mom died." Talk about heart breaking. We told them a little bit about the plan of salvation and they asked if we could come and tell their grandma about it. We said that we could and they brought us back to their home. Grandma came out, and didnt speak any English. I was able to talk with her a little bit and bear testimony of the plan that God had for her. She said that we had been an answer to her prayers and that she was very grateful to have met us. We then set up an appointment for the Spanish sisters to come and meet with them.

Its amazing the people that Heavenly Father puts in our path and the miracles that he is able to plan perfectly :) I love this work.

Just an added quote because I thought it was neat. We have been studying the apostasy a lot for an investigator that we have. It is from a talk entitled " The Restoration of the Church, Why Now? By Hyrum W. Smith. The talk was given in 1988 at Ricks College.

"Brothers and sisters, I would like to suggest to you today that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored in 1820 because that's the only time it could have survived. There is a more pointed question that needs to be asked. Why were you born when you were born? Why weren't you born in 911 or 1215. Is it because some computer in the cosmos blipped and you came out now? I don't buy that. I believe you were born in this dispensation, with the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth today, because you were somebody before you got here. If you had any idea who you were before you got here, the hair would stand up on the back of your neck....

"On one occasion, President McKay, president of the church, several years before his death, on a Sunday evening, didn't have anything to do,so he took his wife, said 'Let's go to a fireside.' They went down to a stake center. There wee lots of cars in the parking lot, so he walks in and their stake president was speaking to a group of young people your age. Eight hundred of them. President McKay and his wife walked in. The stake president about swallowed his tie. Walked down to about the eighth row. He said, 'Dont't get excited, I want to hear what you have to say.' The president continued with his talk. About halfway through his talk he stopped and said, 'you know, young people, I feel impressed to tell you that before the world was, before the world was, in that war in heave, each of you in this room served as captains and generals in the Lord's army.' and then went on with his talk. It had nothing to do with what he was talking about. As he finished his talk, he looked down at president McKay and noticed that President McKay was drilling him with his eyes. His heart stopped. He sat down and though 'Boy, what have I said?' The closing prayer ended. He jumped up and he ran down to president McKay. Looked up to President McKay-- everybody looked up to president McKay, he's a great big guy-- and he said, 'you know president McKay, I got a little carried away in my talk tonight. Did i say anything that was inappropriate?' He said, 'No, you didn't say anything that was inappropriate, you were just inaccurate.' 'Well what did I say?' He said, 'There were no captains here tonight. They were all generals.' And, he said, 'don't you ever forget it.' and he turned around and walked out.

"I have a testimony of that, brothers and sisters. If you were to know who you were before you got here, it would scare you. You know what that means? it means we don't have the right to do all the dumb stuff a lot of other young people in the world are doing, fooling around with drugs and alcohol and premarital sex and all that dumb stuff. We don't have the right. Why? Because we know too much. Why? Because we're here because we were somebody before we came here and the Lord has sent us here to accomplish some great task. And the task is to take now and export the reality of the fact that the gospel has been restored....

"...Live up to the expectations that were sent with you when you got here."

Food for thought. I love you all. I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Sister Hope

Smoke and Darkness

Well, Satan has been hard at work this week. We have still had many mighty miracles though. :)

We had a pretty good visual this week of how Satan fools us.

We woke up on Thursday morning and headed outside for our exercise. In the North in the valley between the mountains we saw a nice dark cloud. We thought, "Yay!!! Rain!" We had high hopes that it would make its way to Desert Hot Springs since it doesnt do that often.

We went in and went about doing our studies and began our weekly planning. When we broke for lunch we decided to go and look to see how our storm cloud was doing:

It seemed our promising storm cloud had turned a funny shade of brown.

We didnt think too much of it and went back in to finish our planning, however before too long we were off and about our day and were a little discomforted by what we saw.

Before our lesson:

after our lesson:

Yikes is right

Our poor storm cloud turned out to be a fire in the mountains.

Satan seems to work pretty similarly. He eases in, deceiving us and trying to tell us he is something that we want. He comes to us nicely:

"he [will] pacify, and lull [us] away into carnal security, that [we] will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well-- and thus the devil chateth [our] souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell...

"Others he flattereth away, and telleth them thee is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none-- and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains from whence there is no deliverance"

(2 Nephi 28: 21-22; emphasis added)

It is pretty scary the things that Satan can convince people of. That has been a struggle this week. It seems as if everyone has there issues with something. However, there is a sense of peace that has come. We know who wins these battles when people honestly seek after truth, and just as the smoke has receded, so will Satan, but he will leave behind ashes and unclean air. We get to wait, and be reminded that we cannot let our guard down. :)

All in all though, the week has gone swimmingly :) LaVerne came to church, and things have been going good there.

Brother Shaner has back slid a little, but is still right there on the map. We love him :)

Also, we have a birds nest on the head outside our house :) Meet Lucy and her new babies this week: Teancum and Mohonri-Moriancumer ( Mori for short :))

Well, I love you all! I hope that you had a wonderful week!

Sister Hope

For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith. NEPHI 27:23

Yesterday as we were heading to church I was thinking about the week. Just kind reviewing it in my head as we filled out our progress record. As I have thought many times before on my mission the thought came-- "This week hasn’t been anything too special. What am I going to write home about."

To add to that, we got to church and were sorely disappointed by the turnout. Taraka has been MIA this week; LaVerne told the man that she usually rides with that she was too tired to make it. We saw Sister Shaner slip in without Brother Shaner at her side. It seemed like our lame week was making an accounting for itself. We had a little silver lining. We had 2 less actives that we have been working with a little come, and I sat in sacrament meeting thinking about agency and how I wished that some people would use theirs more wisely.  I was trying to tell myself that it was okay, that we had another week to work on eternal salvation.

Then, God smote me.

A few minutes into sacrament meeting, in walk Pat and Nick! Woo Hoo. They made it in just before the opening prayer.

Now, as if that wasn’t enough--

After sacrament meeting, Brother Cross was to be given the Melchizedek priesthood. He invited us in as well as a few other people including Sister Shaner. The spirit was very strong in the room as it tends to be in those wonderful circumstances. There were a lot of grown man tears :)

When we came out of that room, Sister Shaner pulled us aside. She was bawling. She hugged us and told us that there was something that she had to tell us and that she couldn't wait any longer. She said that she had been talking with her husband this week and out of the blue he asked her, "So, when exactly can I get baptized? Like, how many more of these lessons do I have to have?"

Let me just tell you a little about the Shaners. They have been married for about 12 years, and they are both on second marriages. When they got married Brother Shaner agreed that he would seek out joining the church in his own timing and when he was ready. He has a lot of bad habits that he would have to get rid of. Sister Shaner is a saint. She is our constant back up whenever we need anything. They call the missionaries their kids and we are definitely not strangers to their home. When I got here with Sister Lee a few months ago, Sister Lee told me that Brother Shaner was interested, but Sister Shaner had insisted that we let him come to us because when he feels pressured he will back away. So, we took the time to really just teach about the Book of Mormon over and over again--promising that it would help them both to achieve anything that they desired. We really just wanted Brother Shaner to be our friend so that he would grow in his desire to make covenants. A few weeks ago, I felt very strongly, that it was time for Brother Shaner to saddle up and do something with the things that we had been sharing as "dinner thoughts" we talked to Sister Shaner about it and she told us she would love for us to invite him to take the lessons, but not to be offended if he didn’t respond the way that we wanted him to. We took that and ran with it. The next time that we were over at their house we taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we taught, we felt the Spirit pouring out into that room. We invited him to be baptized. This is one of those times that I so badly wish that I could say he said "yes" because of the strong spirit in the room, but instead we got pretty much the worst reaction ever. The best way to describe it is he looked like a chihuahua that was in the path of a renegade semi. Bless his heart; he did not want what we had to offer. Feeling pretty awkward, we tried to regurgitate our words and went back to "how to begin teaching" telling him that we were here to guide him and that we wanted to help him work on his goals. The lesson ended with all of us feeling a bit uncomfortable, but -- we had a return appointment. The next time we went over, they invited others, so we weren’t really able to teach. We shared a quick scripture, but were hesitant to make him feel that awkward again especially with others there.

And that brings us back to Sunday. We took a moment with Sister Shaner to hug and to cry, and Sister Shaner leaned in and whispered in my ear, "It's because of you. Thank you!"

As we have taught Brother Shaner and gotten to know him, I have felt a special kind of love for him. It's hard to describe, but I will do my best. In the Doctrine and Covenants 31:5 we are told "Thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you, and you shall be laden with sheaves upon your back; for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Wherefore, your family shall live." I remember this scripture being shared at a zone conference or something like that, and whoever shared it talked about how our families would be taken care of back home. I remember thinking to myself, "I am not really worried about my family at home. They will be fine. I guess I will just apply this to my future family-- I know that they will need the blessings." However as my mission has progressed I have thought of some of my family members that I know have been in need of spiritual help. Who have-- by their own choices-- found themselves in the depths of sorrow and sin. Now, no matter who we are, we know that is a pretty bad place to be in. Regardless of choices, we couldn’t wish that upon anyone. However, I also know that others are affected by those poor choices, and it’s hard for us as well. The moment I knew that I had truly been able to forgive was when, as directed by the spirit, I shared with Brother Shaner that I just wanted to help him. I wanted to see him and his wife enjoy the fullness of the blessings of the Gospel. I shared with him that I had loved ones at home that needed someone to help them do the same. That I knew that I wouldn't be the one to help them, but that I prayed daily for opportunities to serve others so that someone might serve them and help them come to some state of peace and happiness.

As my mission is counting down into its final weeks, I have been thinking a lot about the many people that I have worked with and have watched grow under the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have often wondered-- As I think every missionary does, "Have I really made a difference? Was this time really worth it?" I can say without a doubt, this time has been worth it. Sometimes I feel like I am pretty much the worst missionary since Corianton-- then, God is able to show me the joy of the gospel again. There are some things about serving a mission that I don’t think that I will ever miss. However, seeing the love in a wife's face and feeling the spirit as she can finally see her husband begin on the path to entering into eternal covenants, I know that his is the work of the Lord.

Truth is, I haven’t done a thing for Brother Shaner. In fact, most of the lessons we have taught there have been lessons that I would never want to share with anyone because they were so bad. I know without a doubt that the Lord is preparing the hearts of his children to be touched by His Holy Spirit. However, I also know that serving a mission and coming to know all of the people that I have was part of Heavenly Father's plan for me, and how grateful I am that it was!

In my farewell talk, I remember being a little bit upset because my assigned topic and talk were pretty closely related to marriage. I thought, "How rude! I tell them I am going on a mission and they ask me to talk about getting married." But it is so much more than that.

Elder Russel M. Nelson said, My dear brothers and sisters, each day is a day of decision, and our decisions determine our destiny. One day each of us will stand before the Lord in judgement. We will each have a personal interview with Jesus Christ. We will account for decisions that we made about our bodies, our spiritual attributes, and how we honored god's pattern for marriage and family. That we may choose wisely each day's decisions for eternity is my prayer."

How true is that? I know that serving a mission has affected my eternal destiny and I hope and pray that it has affected others as well. I know that this Gospel is true, and I am so very grateful for the time that has been granted to me to share it. I know that this Gospel will point us to living a Christ like life if we are willing to do the things that Jesus Christ asks of us. It is my earnest prayer that we all seek out the blessings of the Gospel. There are too many perils that would allow us to be lost on the wayside. We must seek and knock and ask. We will find. It will be opened to us. It will be given to us.

I love you all!

Sister Hope

42 days

My dearest loved ones,

This week has been full of so many miracles! Here are the top three series of events this week:

3. Penny and Jack went on a date and took us out to lunch. I really just wish that all of you could know the two of them and understand how awesome this is. :) They are pretty much the funniest thing ever. They are like lovesick teenagers trapped in the bodies of people in their 70s. Penny had us help her  choose out an outfit so that she could impress him and took hours getting ready. She also wore her favorite dress to be seen by him in church the next day :) Oh, young love ;)

This is Penny's Crazy dog, Stanley. There is something in the water in DHS that makes dogs a little weirder than normal. Dont worry, he was just playing ;)

2. LAVERNE :) This week has been crazy for her! She was interviewed by President Madsen this week and then kind of flew off the charts. We have been worried about her all week. However, she called us and told us what had been going on. She had some things that she needed to resolve. We told her to work on them and that we would be there at the end of the week to see how she was doing. When we went over on Saturday she was beaming. I have never seen anyone so humble, and happy, and full of Gospel light looking towards a future that she now knows is possible :)

1. Julia!! :) so we met Julia several weeks ago. She is the young woman that is working on becoming a catholic nun. I dont know how much I have mentioned her, but we met her because Taraka invited her to one of his lessons. We were a little worried because we were talking about following the prophet to help Taraka finish up his lessons so that he would be prepared for his baptismal interview, and didnt really have time to budge and teach something that she might understand better. So, we taught about the prophets, and it went super well! She invited us to meet with her the next day! We were able to sit and talk about some general beliefs-- both ours and Catholic-- And we invited her to take the lessons and to learn for herself if there was more that Jesus Christ and His restored church could offer her. Since then we have begun the lessons. She does a lot of comparing, and usually talks about how we do some things differently, and some things similarly, and where strengths are. It has been interesting to get to know her she often says "Your church does that so well. I wish my church did that. I think I am going to take this and try to implement it in my church."

This week we taught her the Plan of Salvation. She loved it. She told us that she like that it offered her so much more hope. She invited us to mass, so we went to that on Saturday and then she came to church on Sunday. We were a little worried because it was fast and testimony meeting, but things went remarkably well! She was a few minutes late, and couldn't find where we were sitting, so she had to sit by herself. However when she talked to us afterwards she was only sad because she wanted to stand and share her testimony, but didnt know about the rules for doing so. We then went to Gospel principles where we found out that she has pretty much the exact same background as our teacher. The lesson was on faith, and it was basically Julia and Sister Crosier sharing their experiences. It was awesome! We then were able to go to the first part of priesthood, where Taraka was ordained with the Aaronic priesthood in the office of priest. She loved it and when we made our way to Relief Society she found herself right at home again. After the lesson we had some time for the sisters to share testimonies and she got up and shared how wonderful her experience had been. She is so fun! She talked about how when she goes to her sisterhood stuff at the catholic church she is going to request that she be allowed to attend a Mormon congregation because she can learn and grow there.

We are not sure what the Lord's plan is for her, or what His timing is, but she has built our testimonies.

I am so grateful to be part of the Living Church of Jesus Christ. Elder Russel M. Nelson said, " The living Lord leads His living church!" How wonderful to know that as the Lord lives and as we live, we can continue to receive revelation from Him. I know that this Gospel is true, and when we are honest and sincere followers of Christ, we can receive more of His gospel here than anywhere else. I love my Savior! I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of him. I know that he has not left us alone here in this life. He lives, and He speaks to us by the mouths of His holy prophets. "how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth" (2 Nephi 2:8)!!

God has gone before us and prepared the people of the earth to receive His word. How wonderful it is to be a laborer in the vineyard of the Lord! I love you all :)

Remember to press forward :)

Sister Hope

P.S. Oh, and today is the first week of my last transfer. Sister Wagner and I are both staying here in Desert Hot Springs :)