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