Year 1 - Letter 18 - Fairfield, CA

I can do this because the Lord provides a way.

Hello one and all.

 

I hope you had an amazing Christmas. I sure did! Thank you to all of you who sent me wonderful packages, cards and other goodies. It all made me so happy. I have to appologize this letter is going to be kind of short because I have had a hard time thinking of what to say. Miracles are happening in Fairfield. We are teaching investigators that we have not been able to see for weeks and we found a new investigator who is incredible. Today I feel impressed to tell you a spiritual experience that I had yesterday. I do not tell you this to show my weaknesses or to complain but to show you that the Lord always provides a way and that he is there to help us. So bare with me and know that I am really doing alright.

 

Yesterday it was Hermana Merkley and I's turn to teach Gospel Principles and she had been busy preparing her talk for sacrament meeting so I was kind of going to lead it. I was nervous and just did not know what to do. It was a constant struggle for me to think of what to say Spanish and I was letting the members of the class really intimidate me. The class was alright and I felt the Spirit so strongly but I felt like I did not do all that I could have. Hermana Merkley could see that I was frustrated so she would not let us go to the combined priesthood and relief scoiety until we talked about how I was feeling. I just started crying and then Sister Toolson saw me and she being the caring person that she is spent the whole second hour talking with me and telling me that she has been impressed with all that I know and she is so thankful for the opportunity to know me. I felt like I was talking to my mom and it was great. Then President Ortega (the branch president) some how found out that I was having a rough time and he was a missionary in the Dominican Republic and had a hard time learning Spanish as well. He gave me a list of scriptures to read. One of those scriptures was 1 Nephi 3:7. I have read this scripture thousands of times but I have never realized the part about how the Lord does not give commandments without providing a way. I know that the Lord has commandmend me to speak Spanish and so HE WILL provide the way for me to do it.

 

I was still feeling discourage so I aksed Elder Connors for a blessing. The second they laid their hands on my head I felt peace. The blessing was the most incredible thing ever. It was from God and exactly what I needed to hear. I won't go into detail but the words gave me such peace and I know that as I have faith in them they will be manifest in my learning Spanish.

 

So the moral of the story is that Spanish is stinkin hard to learn but I know that I am supposed to learn it and that because I have been called to do it and that the Lord will provide a way! I must turn to God and seek for his help. Also the priesthood is incredible and will bless our lives.

 

Thank you for your support! You are all amazing and I feel your love and prayers! Don't be afraid to call upon the power of the Priesthood and know that the Lord will provide a way for you!

 

I know that I can do this and that I am a daughter of God and He loves me and all of you.

 

I love you too!

 

Love,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 17 - Fairfield, CA

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas Eve!

 

Wow! I can't believe that Christmas is tomorrow! This Christmas season has been incredible! I have loved having the opportunity to focus on the true meaning of Christmas! Christmas is such a wonderful time to help people focus on the Savior! This week has just been so amazing! I can't even express how great it is! First of all, we had the privilige to attend an all mission christmas conference. It was so much fun and it really felt like just a big family reunion with 160 kids. I loved meeting so many more of the wonderful missionaries that I have the chance to serve with. We watched great Christmas videos and heard wonderful Christmas messages from President and Sister Alba. President Alba announced that in the new year we will go from 160 missionaries to 250 missionaries and we currently have 10 Spanish sisters and in the new year we will have 34 Spanish sisters. It is CRAZY. It means that every one will train and maybe have to train two at a time. The field is CRAZY and truly so ready for the harvest. This week we have bee nable to see many of our less actives that we have never met before or that we have not seen for a really long time. We also had a little family home evening last night with our branch and watched the Joy to the World DVD. One of our investigators Rosana, who was actualy my first investigator, came and we had not seen her for about 3 weeks so it was great! The spirit was so strong and we were able to get a follow up appointment with her. We are working really hard and the success does not always come but when it does it is really sweet. We definently have trials of our faith but it makes us stronger. Hermana Merkley is incredible and I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have to serve with her this Christmas season.

 

Sorry this is short but it is hard to express my feelings right now. This Christmas I just want you all to know that I know that this Church is true and I am so thankful for the blessings that it brings to my life and I am so thankful that I can bring these blessings to others. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and I am so thankful that he asked our Heavenly Father which was true and I know that he saw god the father and his son. I know that we are all children of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us and will answer our prayers. I know that Jesus Christ is our brother and our Savior. He died for us and he knows everything that we go through and is there to help us. I am thankful for the opportunity to celebrate His life this Christmas. I hope that you all focus on his life and decide what you can give to him this year.

 

Merry Christmas. I love you! God loves you!

 

Have the best Christmas ever!

 

Con Mucho Amor,

 

Hermana Hillary :)

Year 1 - Letter 16 - Fairfield, CA

The power of the Book of Mormon, Christmas Parties, and la Casa de Ants

Hola! Que pasa?

Well my favorite part of writing is coming up with the titles. This one was so fun to come up with and I will expound on all of the above in just a second but I want you to wonder about it all a little more first. First of all, thanks again to all of you who participated in my advent calendar. It is the best and it gives me something to look forward to every day and then something to think about and ponder on through out the day. I have loved reading all of your favorite scriptures, quotes, and Christmas stories.

This week has been jam packed with so many great meetings and experiences. We had a wonderful district meeting on the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is so awesome and such a powerful tool in conversion. President Alba has realized that a lot of times we just hand out Book of Mormons almost for the fun of it but people do not realize the importance or potential that this wonderful book has. So he has encouraged us to teach that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ and a companion to the bible using the Introduction but then to show them the First Book of Nephi and to read the summary explaining it more as we read it with them. Then the next step is to read the summary and first 12 verses of chapter 1 of first Nephi. As we read it with them we apply it to their lives and make sure they are understanding the story. Verse 12 leads the story at a cliff hanger and so then we invite them and ask them if they will finish the first chapter. I hope this makes sense because it is so powerful and as we have used we have seen people get so excited to read the Book of Mormon. Instead of walking away thinking oh I hope the read it we walk away knowing that they will read it because we saw that excitment in their eyes and we saw that they did not want to stop reading. It is really fun to teach it this way and it works!

Christmas in the mission is incredible. It is so fun to share the greatest gift ever every day and to just feel Heavenly Fathers love for His children that live in Fairfield. This week we had our branch Christmas party and boy do Spanish Branches know how to throw a party. It was so fun! We had catered Hawiian pork, chicken and beef, salads, and delicious pies. There was a pinata and tons of Latin dancing. It was just so much fun to be with everyone and to just feel the love that the members showed for one another. Angie our investigator came with Alba (her boyfriends mom) who is less active. We also had so many of our less active memebrs there and it was so just so fun to be with all of these wonderful people that I love.

So now the funniest thing of the week. So since I have been on my mission I have developed a love for cereal and milk (I know finally I have come around to liking it) and one morning this week I went to get a nice bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and to my suprise the box was covered in ants so I killed the ants on the box and went and opened the box and saw ants crawling through my beloved Honey Bunches of Oats. I stopped myself from scraming and just went ahead and took the box out to the trash can outside. I had yogurt for breakfast instead and then told Hermana Merkley about the incident. We looked throught the rest of the cupboards and we didn't see anymore ants. So to make this story short there is trail of ants from one corner of the kitchen cieling to the other corner. We spent two hours later in the day killing ants and cleaning out the Carlson cupboards and now we are paranoid that ants could be crawling on us or on our food. So we are off to buy  air tight containers to protect my Honey Bunches of Oats.

Well the work is a little slow but we still have exciting and wonderful times and I am learning so much.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. I know that this Church is true and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Love you so much more than my ant covered cereal,

Hermana Hillary

Hermana Clayton and I.

District at the Oakland Temple.

Year 1 - Letter 15 - Fairfield, CA

I Dove In!

Hola! Que pasa en sus vidas? My title this week is that I Dove In and boy did I. I feel like I have spoken more Spanish in these last 6 days than I have my entire mission so far. It has been hard but it has felt so good. I feel like last transfer Hermana Clayton was a very over protective parent that kept me in the baby pool and made me keep my floaties on. Then Hermana Merkley came and has seen that I know how to swim and so she has let me dive into the big kid pool. She has been there to catch me if I need it but she lets me try to swim to the edge first. I hope this makes sense because I came up with it this morning and it just really describes how I have felt this week.

 

Hermana Merkley is incredible she has been out for 8 months. She is from Colorado and is the 4th of 8 children. She came from serving with two native Spanish speakers and has never been the senior companion. She has hair that goes down to the middle of her calf and has never cut her hair in her 23 years of life. I already love her so much. I know that she is who I need to serve with right now. She has amazing goals and ideas and it is going to be a great transfer. I prayed so hard for a good companion this transfer. I prayed for someone who would help me learn spanish, be patient with me and just truly love me. I also told Heavenly Father that if he answered my plea that I would do all that I could to help my companion as well. Heavenly Father answered my prayers and I now I have to do my part.

 

I am helping Hermana Merkley my doing my part in lessons because she is not used to being the one who does most of the talking so I told I will do all that I can so that she won't have to be the one who does most of the talking in this companionship either. It is difficult but as I open my mouth the Lord blesses me with what to say. We have also made it a goal that when we  are not at home we will try and speak only Spanish. It is hard but this goal is helping me learn more and more each day and I am begining to think in Spanish. It is so exciting. Like right now as I type I have to force my mind to think in English it is hard but a way good thing at the same time. I am already growing so much so I know that this transfer is going to be incredible.

 

Also Hermana Merkley is drving which means I have to navigate which is just as hard as driving for me but thank heavens for my GPS. We have gotten lost a few times but we just laugh about it and move on. We have also had a hard time seeing investigators this week but we aren't letting that get us down either. We have just kind of thought that Heavenly Father is just letting us warm up to all of this.

 

We did have a great opportunity to go the the Oakland temple lights with our branch. It was great to be with them and to share the Christmas season with those that I have grown to love. Christmas is such a wonderful time to share the gosple. I would encourage all of you to share the gosple this Christmas.

 

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Have a wonderful day!

 

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Hillary

 

Year 1 - Letter 14 - Fairfield, CA

I'm a Big Girl Now

Hola! Como estado?

 Oh my goodness well this week has been so crazy I don't even know where to begin. Let's start off with the fact that my "mom" (Hermana Clayton) "died". I think it was a lot harder for me than it was for her. She was really ready to go. She had a difficult mission but knew that she had truly served with all of her heart, might, mind, and strength and she was ready to move on to her new mission: finding an eternal companion. I loved serving with Hermana Clayton she was truly such an amazing example to me. She was exactly who I needed as my first companion. I was so thankful that she could relate with my frustrations and it was nice to see walking evidence that everything works out. She has such a deep love for everyone she talks to and I hope I can maintain the trust that she has built with the members and our investigators.

So Friday we anticipated the voicemail that would give us the transfer info. The Elders love I mean throughly delight to tease us and so all week had been coming up with new ideas of what could happen and did all that they could to scare me but I am not dumb I knew that whatever happened would be the Lord's will and like Nephi I would go and do the things the Lord commands. The thing that the Lord has commanded me to do this transfer is to stay in Fairfield and serve with Hermana Merkley. I knew that I would stay in Fairfield because President does not believe in white washing (taking out everyone who know s the area and starting over) unless it is absolutley neccessary. I feel like I don't know Fairfield at all but I know the Lord will help me. I do not know much about Hermana Merkley but I do know that she is from Colorado, has super long Rapunzel like hair, and everyone says she is incredible. She has been serving in a trio with two native spanish speakers and had only been with them for one transfer. I think she has been out for about six or seven months.

I will meet her today at about 4 and I am so excited to meet her and just get the work going. Right now I am temporarily serving with Sister Liston who is in my zone and her companion also went home today. She is incredible. We are having so much fun and wish we could premanently serve together. Sister Liston serves in Rio Visto which is a little town about 20 mins away from Fairfield and she is English Speaking. Yesterday was just a normal proselyting day and we served in my area.

Basically, in the last 24 hours I have done many things that scare me half to death. 1. Driving 2. Door approaching in Spanish 3. Teaching in Spanish 4. Talking on the phone in Spanish

Since we are serving in my area it made sense that I drive. I was so scared but Sister Liston is so patient and has helped me just be calm. We couldn't figure out my GPS but she had hers so we have been using it to help us get around. It really has not been bad at all and I have actually kind of enjoted it. And since Sister Liston does not speak Spanish I have had to speak it. That is why I entitled this e-mail I am a big girl now because I have truly grown up. As I have opened my mouth and spoken Spanish I have been so blessed.

Last night we had an incredible lesson with Valente and Yene who are sp ready to be baptized. I invited them to pray about being baptized on January 26th and they said that they are really thinking that this is the church for them and they were excited to pray about if they should be baptized on that day. I was shocked and so happy. I am amazed at my abilities and know that they are not natural that they are truly gifts from God.

The work is moving a long great. Miracles are truly happening and I am excited for this new chapter of my mission. I am ready to open my mouth and share this gospel with everyone.

Your prayers are being answered and the strength that I feel is unreal. Thank you so much for all of your support. I also LOVE my Christmas advent calendar and hearing from all of you. Thank you for making my Christmas so special. Christmas is all about giving and I am truly giving away the best gift ever. I love you all.

Thanks again for your prayers.

Love,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 13 - Fairfield, CA

A Fairfield Thanksgiving

Hola Mi Familia y Mis Amigos.

It is your lucky day because it is my pleasure to announce that you have the privilige of having a front row seat to a one time only holiday special (drum roll please)..... A Fairfield Thanksgiving.

This story is about two missionaries who even though they were far away from home had a wonderful Thanksgving with people that they love in the land of Fairfield.

The real story starts at the beginning of last week when the misionaries began to worry because they did not have anyone to eat Thanksgiving dinner with. Their mission Presidents darling wife sent out a group text message asking for anyone who did not have a place to go to give her call. So these missionaries did what any obedient missionary would do and called her back and let her know that as of right then they did not have a place to go. Little did they know that their mission president would call their branch president and tell him that he was worried about his missionaries. They also did not know that the stake president would be involved or that the mission president would call them directly to inform them about the final plan. It was quite the ordeal but when Thanksgiving day came around these missionaries were grinning from ear to ear.

Their Thanksgivning morming suprsingly did not start at the strictly scheduled 6:30 unstead it started when the beautiful rolling hills and vineyards were still covered in the dark night sky. The could have complained as they drove throught the fog but even at the wonderful hour of four in the morning they would do anything in the name of service.

Their entire zone had the opportunity to help with the annual Solano Turkey Trot. They all sported the bright yellow Mormon Helping Hands T-shirts and they truly wore them with pride as they served the community. The community knew that missionaries are efficient and responsible and so they put them un charge of directing traffic. It was a fun opportunity for these missionaries to greet people and to serve together in a different type of work.

After the traffic died down the missionaries enjoyed cheering on the racers as they crossed the finished line and they recieved many comments about their shirts and had great opportunities to share the gospel. When all the work was done these missionaries concluded that there was no better way to start off their Thanksgiving than by doing service.

These two missionaries were then off to another adventure that also had to do with service. They drove their sparklie maroon ford fuision through the winding roads of a commnuity called Ranco Salono until they arrived at the home of the Toolsons. The Toolsons were the nicest members in all of Fairfield and had agreed to let these missionaries pick lemons from their lemon trees. One of these missionaries is from Utah and had never really seen a citrus tree before and so enjoyed picking lemon after lemon until they concluded that they had picked around 100 lemons. They decided that was plenty and that they would use them as gifts for all of the fine people of Fairfield.

It was then time to get ready for the day and these missionaries tried to put together new and beautiful outfits with the limited wardrobe that they have. They were then off to their first Thanksgiving feast with La Familia Hernandez, who feeds them lunch every week but also agreed to have them over for the holiday. They arrived a few minutes early and enjoyed getting to know the rest of the family. Then it was time to eat delcious turkey sandwiches called tortas. This was no ordinary sandwich it had wonderful sauce on it and was garnished with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and radishes. They enjoyed homemade pupmkin pie for dessert and just being with this wonderful family.

The warm family atmosphere was hard to leave but they drove through out the land of Fairfield visiting members and giving lemons to all. When the clock struch 6:00 it was time for Thanksgiving feast number 2 at the home of another member in the branch, Hermana Downing. Dinner was about an hour late but these missionaries a long with a set of elders enjoyed entertaing themselves with magic tricks and predictions about transfers. When dinner was served it was a traditional Thanksgiving feast with everything you could imagine except for dessert. These missionaries were so tired that they did not contribute much to the conversation but just did their best to stay awake. They were on their way home at what seemed like midnight but was a mere 8:30. They quickly planned for the next day and then went to bed with the thought of coconut cream pie in their wee little heads.

This story does not stop here because in the land of Fairfield the party never stops. The day after Thanksgivng was a busy one for these missionaries as they spent the entire day preparing for a Thanksgiving pot luck that their branch was having. This party included nicely set tables, homemade salsa, homemade kettle corn and much more. Sadly only a handful of people came and it was not a very pleasant sight but these missionaries still had a wonderful night. They knew that they did all that they could. Even though they were discouraged these missionaries went homw that night thankful for the opportunity that they have to serve the people in the land of Fairfield.

For your convience:

The Recipe for Hermana Clayton's Famous Kettle Corn:

1/2 cup popcorn kernels

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Put oil in a small stock pot, also place a few kernels in the oil and when they pop you know the oil is hot enough.

Add kernels and sugar to oil.

Shake the pot occasionaly over the heat so that the sugar will not burn.

Wait unitl all corn is popped and then enjoy.

It is best if sprinkled with salt and eaten hot.

Enjoy!

Bonus Material:

- These missionaries diecided to keep teaching the young couple that they met last week and have had wonderful lessons with them and are just praying that they will come to church soon. They also started teaching the young mans less active mom.

-They had an English fast this week and it was very successful. The newer missionary realized that she is capable of speaking Spanish she just needs to keep trying.

-They were given a fresh crab and had a fun adventure cooking it and eating it but discovered they really like crab.

-These missionaries have loved serving together and are making this the best week ever since it is the last week they will serve together and the last week of the older and wiser ones mission.

Authors Note:

I hope that you enjoyed this story! As I thought about my Thanksgiving in the mission I decided I wanted to write about it in a story form. I really had a wonderful week! The work is moving a long slowly but hey it is still moving. My Spanish is really coming a long. Your prayers are being answered so thank you so much for them! I love you all.

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 12 - Fairfield, CA

Todo lo puedo que en Cristo me fortalece

Hola! So this week has been much better because I have decided to have a better attitude and that I am letting Satan into my life way way too much. So one day I gave myself a pep talk and I honestly said "Hillary, you are being really dumb you know better this. You need to stop letting Satan get a hold of your mind. What are you going to do to help you feel better and be stronger?" I know I am totally loosing it because I talk to myself but it helps. I decided that one thing that I can do to help me is to memorize scriptures. I love when Elder Scott said that scriptures can be our best friends. I decided that I should memorize them in Spanish because it will help me learn new words and review the grammar. So I started with Philippians 4:13 because it is so simple yet so so powerful. When I am frustrated or feel like giving up I recite this scripture over and over because I know that I can truly do anything with Christ on my side to strengthen me. In Spanish it uses the simplest of grammar and it is so powerful, "Todo lo puedo que en Cristo me fortalece". I would encourage all of you to memorize scriptures and let them be your friends.

Wow so we only have 2 weeks left in this transfer. I can see how Hermana Clayton's fuel is kind of running out but I am trying my best to keep her going. I have been thinking a lot about what President Stratton, my stake president at BYU told me. He said that even if you are the junior companion or even the greenie you must stand up for obedience and always encourage your companion to be obedient. We are getting a long just fine but sometimes Hermana Clayton wants to give up on people or on the work in general when I know that there is so much more we can do. It is hard to be bold but I am learning to do it with love and making sure that we are being obedient is the most importantly thing that I can do.  

This week we have worked a lot with our investigators Valente and Yene (Jen). They have been investigating since around July. Valente has a lot of opinions and theories but Yene does not have a lot of religious background so she soaks up everything. This week Yene asked us to help her with her English. She wants to learn English so badly and she knows a lot she just needs to work on pronounciation. It was a neat experience because I was able to share with her that her feelings about English are very similar to my feelings about Spanish. She asked me why I am learning Spanish and I old her that I am learning it so that I can teach people like her. She was touched and we decided that we would help each other. On Saturday she invited us over for lunch and I learned how to make homemade tortillas!!! They were amazing!!! Oh my gosh I am eating so well you should all be very jealous it is like eating at Los Compadres every day but because of that similarity it also means it is all not that healthy but oh well. 

Speaking of food on Wednesday we had a great lunch with the Hernandez but then after that the branch president and his family had signed up to cook us dinner and needed to move it up to 3. For some reason we said yes and so we ate luch at 1 which got over at 2:30 and then had dinner at 3. It was crazy. We were all stuffed to the max and just felt like throwing up after but we didn't want to offend anybody. Oh things that we will do for the members.

We have been tracting a lot lately and found this wonderful man named Domingo. He has been in the United States working for four years and he has not seen his family this entire town. He just wants to feel God's love. He lives in a house with tons of other Latinos and they all enjoy listening to us gringos try and speak Spanish and we hope to start teaching some of them soon. 

This week we finally picked up this wonderful 17 year old boy Erik as an investigator. He is amazing. He has so many good questions and just wants to be closer to God. He is super busy but we try and text him a lot and hopefully we will meet with him soon. 

This week we did a blitz in our area. A blitz means that three other companionships in our zone came over to our area and we gave them streets to tract on and four three hours we all tracted in our area. It was amazing. It was pouring rain but nothing stops us! Miracles truly came from this blitz. We received 7 referrals from it. One of the miracles is Johnny and Angelica. They are both 18 years old and have a 5 month old son. We are not sure if they are married but they live together in a small apartment and they are just trying to figure out their purpose in life. When the Elders found them they found out that Johnny is a less active and has really wanted to come back to church. Angelica is not a member but is also interested in going to church. We went over and taught them and we had an amazing lesson with them. We taught them the plan of salvation and they loved. They were so happy to know that God has a plan for them and that they do have a purpose on this earth and that it is to live a righteous life so that they can live with Heavenly Father again someday. They speak Spanish but are a lot comfortable with English so we will have to give them up to the English elders. It is sad but it does not matter who teaches them the blessings will still come.

This week I attended my first baptism in the field and it was actually for someone who Sister Clayton tracted but had to give to English Elders. It was a neat experience and a great reminder of my purpose, which is to bring others unto Christ and baptisim is the gate to Christ. 

Today is going to be a great day. We are hopefully going to go to Larry's and Hermana Hernandez is teaching us how to make the amazing flan she made for lunch last week.

At this Thanksgiving time I would invite you to remember how blessed you are to have the gospel. I would also invite to share with a nonmember friend how thankful you are for gospel. We have the greatest Christmas gift ever so don't be afraid to share it. 

I love you all. Your prayers are felt every day and they give me so much strength.

Love you more than Larry's 69 cent pomegranates,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 11 - Fairfield, CA

Miracles Have Come After a Trial of My Faith

Hola! Que pasa?

Well, since we live in a bubble we had no idea that it was Veterans day today. You would think that people would tell us about things like that but they didn't so we got to the library and it was closed so the Toolsons are awesome and are letting us use their computers. Sister Toolson also bought us bagels for lunch. We don't get that kind of service at the library so it is great, They are the best! As my branch President in the MTC said that about three weeks is when things got rocky because your pass the honeymoon phase and it is all hard work from then on. Well I am at three weeks in the field and that principle is still true. It has been rough just because I am realizing that this is really how life is going to be for a while and that it is hard and I am trying to learn a language and on and on and on. I have just allowed myself to get really down. Today as I was thinking about this week and how hard it has been I thought of Ether 12:6 and how we have to experience trials of our faith in order to receive the miracles. That is the best thing about this work is that it is dang hard and I knew that going into it but every hard thing is absolutely worth it. I have been thinking a lot about my beehives and young women in general and how I hope they realize how much Heavenly Father loves them and that they are truly His daughters. I have gone through times in my life where I have doubted that but I am so thankful that I know with every ounce of my body that I am a daughter of God and that He loves me. The thing that has kept me going this week is knowing that I am doing my Heavenly Fathers work and that He loves me and knows that I can do this. I know that He has a plan for me and that He is preparing people for me to teach and He will prepare to do what I need to do. Heavenly Father loves His daughters and I believe that He has made it possible for more of His daughters to serve missions because He knows that their are hearts that we can touch and work we can do that Elders can't. 

Sorry for that tangent but I have felt strongly about that all week because it is what has got me through the hard times. A fun thing is that last p-day we discovered the best thing ever: a big farmers market called Larry's. It is the best. We bought so much produce for only $8. Woot! Woot! Love it!

Also last Sunday I bore my testimony in fast and testimony meeting. It was scary but it was a good opportunity to practice my Spanish and I felt the spirit so strongly.

We had a Zone Meeting on Tuesday and it was all about the things that we need to do for the miracles to come. One of the things that we need to do is to be in the right attitude so our zone leaders had us write personal mission visions. Mine is S.M.I.L.E. every day. 

S- Speak to all

M- Make others feel magnificent

I- Invite others to come unto Christ

L-Learn to love everyone

E- Everything will work out as I BELIEVE!

I read this each day and it really motivates me and I think it fits me well.

We did a companionship exchange this week. I went to this little town Rio Vista and I learned so much from Sister Powell and I got to speak English so that was fun! It was neat to see other ways of doing things. 

We had interviews with President this week. It was brief and he had me offer a prayer and I said it in English forgetting that he speaks Spanish so he asked me to pray again in Spanish. I was flustered but I know that he was just trying to help me. Then I met with Sister Alba and since I was flustered the second she hugged me I started bawling. It ws just so good to talk to her and to express my concerns to her. She made me realize that I can do hard things and that the hard work is worth it. 

I am running out of time because the Toolsons need to leave but this week really did have miracles. We committed an investigator that we have had a hard time seeing to baptism and we started teaching one of our investigators daughters. So the trials are worth it.

I love you all so much! 

This is the hardest but best thing I have ever done.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Love,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 10 - Fairfield, CA

Serving in Zion where 101 is No Big Deal.

Hola! Como esta?

 

It has been such an incredible week. I have learned so much and I am more in love with this beautiful place, these wonderful people, and this great work. I feel like I am living in a dream because it is so green and reminds me so much of Italy. Seriously I am so blessed to serve in such a beautiful place with such beautiful weather.

 

So the conference was amazing and just to clerify it was the whole entire mission (all 165 of us). It was so amazing. I am honestly a different person because it. More on all of that in a second because I want to tell you about these wondersful people that I am serving here in Fairfield.

 

I am serving in the Tolenas Branch where the numbers are few their strength and determination is incredible. The branch president is President Ortega and he reminds me a lot of Uncle Chad because he is really laid back but has such a strong testimony and desire to serve the people of the branch. His wife is from the Dominican Republic and she is crazy in a good way. They both speak English but I love to hear Hermana Ortega speak Spanish because she is so animated and it is just so funny because she gets so into it. The Ortegas have five children age 9 and under. They are all so cute and love us missionaries.

 

One of the counselors in the branch presidency is Hermano (Tom) Toolson (i haven't had the chance to ask him if he is related to Uncle Gregg but he loves to bike, he is a dentist, and he is tall so I am thinking that the chances might be good). The Toolsons are gringos but they love the people of the branch and they do so much to serve them. Hermana (Diane) Toolson is incredible she does not speak any spanish but she is in the reief society presidency and so does her best to speak spanish or has someone translate for her. She is in charge of a Relief Society activity on Thursday where we are making grattitude journals and other holiday crafts. It is going to be great! I just love her because she reminds so much of all of the wonderful sisters at home.

 

There are so many wonderful families in the branch who love to have us missionaries in their homes once a week, The Hernandez family feed us luch every Wednesday. They are the family who fed us on my very first day in Fairfield and they are impressed that I am learning more and more Spanish so my goal is to go back there every week being able to say something new. Hermana Hernadez is a true homemaker. Her food is incredible! She cooks lunch for her family every day at 1 and it is not just pb&j. Last week we had fresh salmon that was deep fired, with a wonderful salad, garlic bread, watermelon and ice cream. She also always gives us a bowl of some type of homemade soup for an appitizer. It is the best and there is such a strong spirit in their home. So don't worry there are many wonderful people that are taking care of me.

 

We are also blessed with wonderful people to teach the gospel to. We have about 9 investigators but only 3 of them are actually progressing because those are the only ones that we are ever able to see and those are about the only ones that I have had the chance to meet so far.

 

Rosana was the first person that I had the opportunity to teach. She is a single mother of a 14 year old daughter and a 4 year old son. She is very quite but has such a strong desire to learn. The first lesson that we taught her was the law of chastity, which we were not planning on teaching but she was very willing to obey it. Since she is shy she was very hesitant to pray with us because she was embrassed and did not want to mess up. On her second lesson with her we told her that we were there to help her and that one of us would even pray first and then she could pray after us. She liked that idea so Hna. Clayton prayed and then Rosana just went ahead and started praying. It was such a sincere and heart felt prayer and you could just tell that she felt the spirit so strongly. She has been taught all of the lessons and has been invited to be baptized but does not feel ready so this week we are hoping to talk to her about baptisim again and what we can do to help her be ready.

 

Salvador is another one of out investigators and he is hilarious. We teach outside of his house and he is always joking with us and laughing at me because I don't understand his Spanish jokes. WE usually just read the Book of Mormon with him and he loves the stories and he loves heraring me read in Spanish (probably because it is so bad). He has had a baptisimal date before but they pushed it back and so we are going to be talking to him about baptisim this week as well. He is so eager to learn so I think he will be ready soon.

 

Our other progressing investigator is Isabel whose boyfriend and father of her two children is a less active but she is not a member. It is hard because her boyfriend Ricardo does not want to change and he doees not want to prtay because he knows that what he is doing is worng and that he needs to change. It is complicated but Isabel loves the gospel and reads the Book of Mormon daily. It is hard to teach her with her young children so we usually read the book of mormon to her as she takes care of her children. I love her because she soaks up everything like a sponge.

 

So those are the people that I have met and have taught and they are all amazing and I am blessed to have the opportunity to serve them.

 

Ok this is os long but I have a lot of time today but at the same time don't want to take up too much of your time having to read this novel.

 

So Halloween in the mission field was fun we actually weren't allowed to track so we went to the Toolsons for an amazing dinner and then we went to a member of the Stake Presidencies house who has this large display of jack o lanterns that were carved in all different designs (disney characters, pres. obama, romney, everything) and then they were all lit so it was beautiful.

 

Then the day after Halloween we went up to Camp Liahona for the mission conference. It was incredible. The scenery was gorgous because we were in the middle of the red wood forrest and the things that I learned were also beautiful. The whole theme of the camp was to unify us as an entire mission and to help us have faith and believe in miracles. They called it Zion's Camp and it was truly Zion. The love was crazy and I got to know so many wonderful people.The main reason for the camp was that  right before I got here a member of the 70 came and looked at the mission seal and asked president what the 101 represented. President explained that the 101 is a major highway that runs through the mission. The next day at the mission conference the member of the 70 encouraged the mission to baptize 101 people in a month which is almost tripling what we are doing now but but he promised that it could be done. Then the announcemnt of the age change was made and Pres. and Sister Alba realized that it really could be possible.

 

So the entire camp was all about believing. We were encouraged in every prayer to pray that the windows of heaven will be open over our mission and that we will have faith in finding. We were also told to pray for miracles and do all that I can to be prepared to do the Lord's work so nothing will prevent miracles from happening. President also announced that right now we have an average of 165 missionaries at all times but in January that number will be raised to 250! That means at the beginning of the new year we could get 85 new missionaries. That also means that practically everyone will be needed to train. The Lord is truly hastening his work and I am a part of it. I don't like the thought of training in 3 months but I know that if it is the Lord's will I can do it! I learned so much at camp and wish I could share it all with you but it is easy to sum up everything I learned in one word:Believe. I learned so many wonderful things that can help to believe, believe that with Heavenly Father on my side and by working hard I can do anything.

 

We watched this wonderful video called the butterfly circus about this circus owner that helps people see that they are magnificent. One of the lines that I loved is "The greater the struggle the more glorious the triumph". This work is hard and especially sicne the Lord is hastening his work and I must prepare to lead these new missionaries in the near future but I know that the hard times are worth it because blessings will come eventually. I am trying to find out where President got the dvd because it is great but just look it up on youtube it is porbably there.

 

I was prepared to do this work when I got here but after this camp I am on fire and I am ready to go! 101 is a big number but it is possible because I believe! I know that with God I can do anything if I do all that I can do.

 

Thank you for all of your support.

 

I love you so much.

 

Sorry for the novel but you know me I love detail.

 

Love,

 

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 9 - Fairfield, CA

La Vida en Fairfield es muy bien

Hola!

Well..... what a week. Wow! I can't believe how much I have accomplsihed this week. Fairfield is absolutley beautiful and missionary work is even more beautiful. It is absolutley amazing how the Lord truly guides every little thing we do. Well first of all today is kind of crazy because it is only a half p-day because on Thursday we are having a mission conference at a girls camp north of Santa Rosa. We will be staying there for Thursday and Friday night and then coming back on Saturday afternoon. It is going to be so much fun and a great way to get know the other missionaries and become unified to do this great work. Sister Alba is so excited about it and has been texting us little reminders about it today and she is the cutest thing and so organized so I know it will be amazing.

There is so much to report on I don't even know where to begin. Well let's start with my amazing companion. Hermana Clayton she is from Sandy Utah and she actualy knows Hermana Blauer. What a small world. She will hit her 18 month mark in a few weeks and this will be her last transfer. She is an amazing teacher and is really helping me get a hang of things. She is so patient but is willing to push me so that I learn. I am so honored to be her last companion and to learn everything I can from her.

We live with an older couple, The Carlsons, they are so sweet and they have had missionaries living in their upstairs for 5 years. They take such good care of us and they like us to call them Grandma and Grandpa and they really do feel like grandparents. I love living in an actual home and neighborhood it is so comfortable. We wake up every morning and run around their neighborhood. I love it so much because the sun is just rising and it is breathtaking.

It really isn't too cold here. At first I thought I was going to die but it is in the high 70s in the day and the 50s at night so it is perfect. The food is great. We really only cook breakfast and lunch for ourselves and then we have dinner appointments. We cover half of Tolenas Spanish Branch and then the Elders in our district, Elder Campbell (who was in my district in the MTC) and Elder Connors cover the other half of the branch. The members sign up each month to feed all four of us. We have had really good dinners. They are simple but good. Nothing to strange. For luch on my first day we had really good green enchiladas and these candy yams (that looked like poop) for dessert. It was weird it was basically just cut up yams in carmel but it tasted so good.

We have met with about five investgators this week and I honestly love them all so much. I don't talk much but I try to simply testify and I always pray in lessons and just do my best to invite the Spirit.

We had a halloween party with the branch on Saturday and it was so fun everyone is so kind and so welcoming.

I don't have much time to give much detail which kills me because I love detail but I love it here. Heavenly Father is amazing and this work is the best thing that I have ever done.

I am loving every second of this and I am doing great and learning so much!

I love you all so much! Thank you for support!

Love you more than the fresh tortillas we have every meal.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Andrews

Surprise letter from California!

(We received this from Hillary, yesterday.)

Hola from Fairfield!

Hola!

Well I made it! It is wonderful here! President and Sister Alba and the assistants were at the airport to welcome and they are all so friendly. I truly feel so welcomed. Don't worry about me because President and Sister Alba are the most loving and caring people ever. I have already learned so much from them and they are so willing to help me and to love me.

We were kept busy yesterday with orientations and get to know you activities that were all very fun. Then we had amazing pizza and a devotional at the mission home with all of us new missionaries and the trainers. Then last night we spent the night at a hotel and they had the most comfortable beds. It was so nice.

This morning I got assigned my trainer, Hermana Clayton. She is wonderful! I already love her. We are serving in Fairfield which is South east of Napa. It is so gorgeous here there are so many vineyards and it is just so so green. I have already started immersing myself in spanish by texting for Hermana Clayton but I forgot how easily car sick I get and so it got really bad and Hermana Clayton had to pull over and I threw up on the side of the rode. I felt so bad but oh well it was honestly the prettiest place I have ever thrown up in and I felt better so that was great.

Well I just wanted to let you know I made it safely and that my p-day is on Monday and my address is:

 2114 Madrone Court Fairfield California 94534

I already love this place and the people. In an hour we are having lunch with a member family. Can't Wait!

Love you all so much!

Con Amor,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 8 - MTC

Adios CCM I am peacing out!

Hola! Ahhhhhhh! I can't even believe it! Time is flying by! I can't believe that this is my last P-day in the MTC. I am getting a little nervous just because as weird as it sounds this place has become home to me. I have learned so much and I have just gotten so comfortable with everything and now I am in for a new journey. Honestly I am so so so excited though because I didn't choose to sere a mission to be stuck here forever I chose to serve because I want to share the gospel and I am as ready as I will ever be to do it! Well this week has been amazing and a wonderful last week here.

 

First of all, last week I forgot to mention that I got to be a host which means I helped the new sisters check into the MTC by taking them up to their rooms, getting their books, and walking them to their class. It was a neat opportunity to be the one showing them what to do and helping them feel welcomed. I reassured them that there is no need to fear this is honestly an amazing experience.

 

Also last P-day I was brave and got a free haircut at the MTC. It was a little scary but my hair needed it and I want to look my best. No need to worry they actualy did a decent job I got about 2 inches off and mny side bangs trimmed up. It looks cute and it is really easy to manage.

 

This week has been so spiritually uplifiting after Elder Bednar came we have continued to have a spiritual out pour. For Relief Society we had the opportunity to hear from the General Relief Society President Sister Burton. I could,t believe that she was there. She is amazing! She just glows and talks so sweet and was also really funny. She spoke on how as sisters we have the privilige to be directed under the priesthood. I have really realized that being here surrounded by so many priesthood holders that the priesthood is an amazing gift and a blessing to my life. My Elders have been so wonderful to so willingly fulfill their priesthood duties and are such amazing examples to me. After the meeting I got to meet Sister Burton it was brief but she gave all of us sisters big hugs (because we don't get many hugs here). It was a wonderful experience.

 

The devotional this week was amazing also. The speaker was Elder Bowen of the seventy. He is the one that spoke on children in conference and has the mormon message Reclaim. We were sitting by the side door on the main floor of the gym and all of a sudden Hermana Blauer nudged me and pointed to Elder Bowen who was walking in right behind us. The speakers usually enter throught the front and go right up to the stand but Elder Bowen came in the side and we had the opportunity to meet both he and sister Bowen. Sister Bowen looked and dressed like Aunt Abby and she was so sweet and enjoyed chatting with Hermana Blauer and I. What a need expereience to meet an apostle. Sister Bowen talked about hos success is measured by personal conversion which I have seen is true. I am realizing that the more I learn the better prepared I am teach and the better lessons go. Elder Bowen is an incredible speaker! I could go on for days about this talk. The things that stuck out to me the most is first of all that I must strive to be a missionary that my Mission President can trust. I want President Alba to know that I will do whatever he wants me to do and that I will do it the right way and with right intentions. Another thing is he gave a formula for miracles: obedience plus work = miracles. I have seen this manifest in my experience so far and will strive to continue to apply it. I really could go on and on but I want to encourage all of you to be someone who the Lord and others can trust and to follow this formula for obedience.

 

I am really enjoying my last couple of days here. We are all going crazy. Yesterday we participated in a zone  tradition called Medio Mieroclos (or Middle Part Wednesday) where the Wednesday before a district leaves they all part their hair down the middle after gym in the evening. We all did it! It was a sight to see. Hermana Blauer and I did middle parted pigtails. We looked so "Cute". I will hoefully send pictures soon. We are just living it up!

 

We are also experiencing many lasts of things which is always so hard. We taught our last lesson with Lesbia yesterday and I wanted to cry. It was so sad. We told her that we were being transfered and she was devestated. She was so close to being baptized but we knew that we did the best that we could. We bore our testimonies and then she bore hers. The spirit was so strong and I realized that I loved her so much and that if I could feel that kind of love for her even though it was just my teacher acting it that the love I will feel for investigators in the field will be unreal.

 

I know that I ahve great things ahead of me and I am ready for them. I know it won't be easy because the MTC has been hard and the field is even more demanding but I can handle it because the Lord is on my side. I am nervous because my Spanish isn't great but I know it doesn't matter because it will get better and it takes time.

 

I want you all to know that I know that the church is true and that Heavenly Father loves each of you and watches out for you. Thank you for all of your support. I have been blessed with so many letters this week and I have really needed that. Thank you again. Next time i will be writing from Santa Rosa!

 

Con mucho amor,

 

Hermana Hillary Andrews

Year 1 - Letter 7 - MTC

Misioneros es muy importante a Dios

Hola! Wow! What a HUGE week! So the title means missionaries are very important to God and that is the easiest way yo sum up how I feel about it all. What an amazing opportunity to witness such a historic event. The MTC went crazy everyone was cheering and clapping. I am honored to be a missionary at a time when missionary work is so important to the Lord. I am so excited for the sisters that now have an opportunity to serve. I started to cry when the announcement was made because I love being a missionary and I am so glad that more sisters will have the chance. The leaders here have been saying that by the first of next year the amount of sisters could triple! Which is so crazy they have also been helping us realize that we will probably train many of these younger missionaries. Some sisters are disapointed that they were not able to go when they wre younger but I know with all of my heart that my life has worked out the way the Lord wanted it to. I needed to experience certain events in my life that have helped me be better missionary. I know that these changes are of God but it also helped me know without a doubt that President Thomas S. Monson is a porphet of God. Also I am so so excited for the Tuscon temple. I love the people of Tuscon so much and know that the temple will bless their lives. Everyone here was like where is Tuscon and I was proud to say I was born there. This was the best conference experience that I have ever had because I was much more attentive and I was just ready to learn. All of my questions were answered very quickly and in extreme detail. I was amazed. I could go on and on about my favorite talks because I really loved them all. The talk that stuck out to me the most was President Uchtdorf's. I have been very scared about leaving the MTC with regrets so his talk was exactly what I needed to hear. I loved when he said "Life is not a race it is a journey so enjoy the moment". Sometimes I think that I am supposed to be fluent by the end of these 9 weeks and that I am a failure because I still have a hard time speaking in full sentences but this quote hit me hard because I just need to slow down and do my best and everything will work out. I just absolultley loved conference and I hope you all loved it as much as I did. The main thing I learned from conference is that heavenly Father loves me and knows me and will help me know what I need to know by blessing me with inspiration.

Ok so if conference wasn't enough Elder David A. Bednar spoke at Devotional on Tuesday. We have all been praying that an apostle would come before we left because they come about every 8 weeks and Elder Andersen came the day before we got here. It was an amazing feeling as we saw him walk and realized that we would have the opportunity to hear form an apostle. We all stood up when he entered and the spirit was so strong. I was only 7 rows away from an apostle of God...Incredible! We sing prelude congregational hymns before the meeting starts and so right after he entered we sang I Stand All Amaze. I got so emotional because I am truly amazed with how much I have been blessed and how strongly I feel the Spirit. Sister Bednar is so cute and she spoke about some of the behind the scenes things that she sees at conference. It was really neat. She mainly talked about the love that the brethren express to each other and how they act as brothers would act. Elder Bednar talked about how the announcement about missionaries is a sign that the Lord is hastening his work and it is our responsibility to help him. He talked about his pattern of studying conference. As he studies the conference talks he looks for three things: Doctrine or salvational truths, Invitations or requests to exercise faith, and Promised Blessings. He played many segments of talks from this conference and had us write down what we thought the doctrine, invitations, or blessings were. He told us to not worry about what the speaker is saying worry about what you are feeling. I thought that I would have had pages of notes of insights from his talk but instead I have pages of promptings that I felt during this experience. He told us that after he goes through and finds these three principles then he makes a chart of all of the doctrine, invitations, and promised blessings. He then uses this chart as a study guide or tool for his life. I loved this idea and I am going to try to adapt it to my personal liking. I know that we will be blessed as we apply the teachings of the prophets to our lives.

So I am coordinating sister now which means that I have stewardship over the five sisters in the zone. My responsibility is mainly to love them and make sure that they are doing well. I visit them in their room each night and answer any questions they may have and just ask them how they are doing. I interview the senior companions every Friday to check on their progress as companionship's. I am also a part of branch council so I go to leadership training and branch council meetings on Tuesday and Sunday. I am also kind of like a Zone Leader for sisters so I help with zone unity and offer any other advice when it is wanted. It is a large responsibility but it has been an amazing opportunity to feel the Lord's love for these sisters and to serve them as he would.

Other big news is that both of our investigators are preparing for baptism and we hope that they will both be "baptized" before we leave. It has been an amazing experience to teach them and I never thought we would ever get this far but we did it! Spanish is coming along great I feel like there is no way I will ever feel close to fluent but I know it will come eventually. My favorite word is filla (it is pronounced fya so it kind of sounds like fire) it means fail and we yell it at each other in funny voices all the time. My district has become so close and we truly love each other.

A few more things for the Sunday Fireside we heard from Chad Lewis he played football at BYU and then played in the NFL for nine years ending his career with the Eagles. (Has anyone heard of him the Elders knew him so I am assuming he was somewhat good). He told us amazing stories about his mission and career. I also finally memorized the first vision in Spanish it was hard but an incredible experience. The last experience is that as I was pretending to be my friend Alex I felt the strong prompting that the elder teaching me was going to ask me to be baptized. Sure enough he did and I said yes. He has taught me exactly like I think a missionary would teach Alex and feel like if it was actually her she would have said yes too. What a neat experience.

Well I love you all so much. Thank you so much for all of your support. I only have 10 days left here and will not have dear elder in the field so feel free to write me! The Lord loves you and the church is true.

Con Amor,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 6 - MTC

La buen vida

Hola! Como esta? I titled this e-mail La buen vida or the good life because life is really great. I am honestly just so happy and I have had amazing experiences this week. First of all some stats for you all:

on Monday we are the oldest district and I will be coordinating sister

1 week from tomorrow we get our travel plans

2 and and a half weeks and Santa Rosa here I come

Crazy!!!! I can't believe it at all. Time has flown by so fast but I have seen how much I have grown and I have learned so much here. I will miss all of these great people but I know I will see them again someday.

This week I have found my "Carrie". Her name is Hermana Spittler and she is my "Carrie" because we enjoy walking around the field together at gym and we just talk and talk and talk. It is really fun and it is a great way to wind down at the end of the day.

I am so so so pumped for conference. At mission conference ( a big meeting with everyone at the MTC) the MTC presidents wife gave a great talk about preparing for conference. She told a story about a family who made a list of questions that they wanted to find answers to during conference. The 7 year old son had heard a story on the news about killer bees and was very scared of bees. He hoped that the Prophets would tell him to not fear bees. Throughout conference the family checked items off the list as they were answered and were so glad that there prayers and desires were being heard. It came to the last session of conference and the only thing that hadn't been mentioned were the bees. The 7 year old son was devastated but still had faith. The last speaker was President Gordon B. Hinckley at the beginning of his talk he compared the devotion of the members of the church to a swarm of killer bees. The 7 year old son and the rest of the family was delighted that all of their questions had been mentioned even the killer bees. I know that if you have a question in mind as you listen to the conference that it will be answered. I encourage you to make a list of concerns that you have individually or as a family and I know that every concern will be answered maybe not in the way you think it will be but in some way.

Then on Tuesday for devotional the speaker Elder Ellis said that as we listen to conference we must be careful that we do not think that certain talks do not apply to us because we are better than that. We must consistently ask "Lord is it I". I know that this might be difficult at times but that the Lord will bless us with what we need to hear.

I am excited to see what general conference is like here at the MTC and I will tell you all about it next week. Also we have not watched the relief society broadcast but will watch it on Saturday while the Elders are at Priesthood.

Spanish is coming along great, This week for one of our lessons we translated a quote from True to the Faith in Spanish. It was a great opportunity and helped me realize that I know more than I think.

This week we have been talking a lot about the role the Holy Ghost plays in conversion. I am not the teacher the Holy Ghost is the teacher and I just have to do my best to bring the Holy Ghost into the lesson. We have learned that the only way to know if the investigator is feeling the spirit is to ask questions and pause in order to give the investigate time to think. We applied these principles in our lesson with Diego yesterday. It was so powerful. He has had a hard time wanting to pray to know if he should be baptized. We taught him about faith and how in order to exercise his faith he has to pray. Then Hermana Baluer asked him if he would pray and exercise his faith. He said can I pray right now we of course said yes in my mind I though "Heck Yes" haha. Well he said the most beautiful prayer ever. He prayed for a desire to know for himself and that he would have more faith. The best thing is that it is so hard to understand him but I understood every word. After he prayed his face was red and tears were streaming down his face. The Spirit was strong and I know that the Spirit taught that lesson through me. It was awesome. I can't wait to have more experiences like this.

Another neat experience is that I have had the opportunity to role play as an investigator. My main "character" is Alex Kemper. When I pretend to be her I truly feel as if I am her and I have been taught things that I really wish she could hear. Alex is my dear friend at BYU who was not a member of the church. I think about her often and hope that she is doing well. This week I also pretended to be Alana, my cousin who is not a member. It was random as I thought of who I should be I felt so strongly that I should be her. I also hope that her and her family are doing well and enjoyed having the opportunity to pretend to be her. Thinking like an investigator is hard but it helps my teaching improve.

One last thing is last night we were preparing to go to the temple this morning and I couldn't find my recommend anywhere we tore up the room apart and it was still nowhere to be found. Before we went to bed we prayed together and separately that I would find it in the morning. Sure enough this morning I looked in the most obvious place that it would be and it was there. Amazing. Our prayers are answered and the Lord truly watches out for His servants.

Thank you for all of your support. I love you all so much.

Con amor,

Hermana Hillary

Year 1 - Letter 5 - MTC

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun. . . .

Hola!

Oh my gosh this week has been CRAZY! A big big big thank you to Uncle Chad and Aunt Jennifer and their boys for the darling "Box of Sunshine". It brought a lot of sunshine into my day and is the cutest thing! Thank you so much! Also thank you to Gayelyne for the cupcake! Hermana Blauer and I enjoyed sharing it and it also lightened up my day. Thank you for thinking of me.

I can´t believe that it is already Thursday! Time in EL CCM is so weird! The biggest thing that happened this week is that one of our districts left this week to go to New York and Mexico. It was sad to say goodbye because Hermana Blauer and I got really close with the Elders and Sisters in this district. The only sister in the district lived with us and was kind of like our MTC mom. The night before she left we sat around and talked and I aksed her what was the most important thing that she learned here. Her reply was so powerful! She said that the most important things that she learned is what she discovered about herself. I am growing so much and learning more and more each day but I don't always take the time to really think about it and appreciate it. It is weird when a district leaves but it is such a happy occassion because they are going out to do the work of the Lord. With the district leaving we got new zone leaders and a new coordinating sister. Since Hermana Baluer and I are now the only two sisters in the entire zone we knew it would be one of us. Hermana Blauer was called to serve as coordinating sister for two weeks and then I will have the opportunity to serve the final two weeks. While she is in meetings and things I have permission to be alone with the elders. It is so funny because they are so protective of me. They cater to my every whim. For example, one time I coughed once and they were all so concerend and started offering cough drops to me. Also when we were walking down the stairs two elders walked in fornt of me and then two walked behind me we joked around that they are my sercret service because they were wearing their suit coats and felt so official. So don't worry about me my elders take good care and I honestly love them they are all amazing.

Something funny that happened this week is that the Elders are obbsessed with this non-acholohic wine called Sangria that they sell at the bookstore (yes it is weird that the MTC sells non-alcholic wine). So one night this week we had a Sangria party. It was a funny sight I am sure... a bunch of missionaries standing around drinking out of bottles. Then we displayed the bottles on a shelf in our classroom it took our teachers off guard for sure.

This week Hermana Blauer had a really bad charlie horse in the middle of the night and woke up and could barely walk. So we spent some time in the health center and as I sat there I thought of Scott and how much time he spent there I do not know how he survived living here for so long and having to go to so many appointment. Scott you are a saint.  It is a crazy place to be but I had fun listening to all of the many reasons that people come in.

On Sunday we were able to attend the Brigham City Temple Dedication (broadcasted). It was so neat to attend a temple dedication and have a greater appreciation for the importance of temples now that I have gone through the temple. The talks were amazing and all of them touched on what a blessing the temple would be to the people in that area. President Packer was presiding since he is from Brigham City and so it ws a privilege for him to be there. It was so sad though because he looked so old and had a hard time remembering things. It was a sweet expereince to hear him speak because you could just tell that his time on this earth is short. His remarks were brief but powerful. He mostly shared how much it meant to him to be there and to see a temple in his home town. It made me so thankful for temples in my life and for the Mesa Temple in particular. What a neat experience.

Yesterday we taught the best lesson that we have ever taught. It was incredible. We asked the baptismal invitation for the first time. We should have done it way before now but we finally have the confidence and the spanish abilities that we felt we needed. My heart was pounding the entire lesson. The lesson we taught was on the three degrees of glory and then we tied in how families can be together forever. We had Hermono Ellett come in and act as Lesbia's son. We taught how families can be together forever and then sang families can be together forever. There is something so amazing about sining the hymns in Spanish the spirit was incredible. I could barely get throuh the song because I thought of how much I love and miss my family but I am so thankful that I know we can be together forever. We then each took the chance to testify of this sweet concept and showed pictures of our families. She loved all of this and you could tell she felt the Spirit. Then we taught how in order for families to be together forever we have to live in the celstial kingdom and to be in the celestial kingdom we have to be baptized. Then Hermana Blauer invited her to be baptized. Lesbia asked why she has to be baptized in order for her family to be together forever. We taught her more about the importance of baptism and how it is following Christ's example. Then it came time where I knew that it was time to ask her again but I didn't feel comfortable saying it because I didn't have it memorized perfectly. I looked at Hermana Blauer and said go ahead and she looked at me in the eye and said no you need to say it. I said it perfectly and was so glad that I did because I have never felt the Spirit that strongly in my entire life. What an amazing experience!

I encourage all of you to not be afraid to shre the gospel. When you open your mouth the Lord will bless you! In the devotional this week the speaker quoted President Monson when he said "Whom the Lord calls He qualifies". This is so true! I see it's truth manifest each and every day. We are all called to bring others unto Christ even though you don't wear a name tag. I know that the Lord will qualify each and every one of you to share His word.

Thank you all for all of your support and prayers. I feel so loved.

Oh and we got three new Hermanas yesterday! It is so fun to show them around.

Love you all,

Hermana Hillary