11/30/2009

Hey! How was your Thanksgiving? We were a little worried about ours but it ended up being so fun. We didn't recognize the name of the family we were giong to be eating with, la familia Toscano, so we starting worrying that maybe they didn't even realize that they signed up to feed us on Thanksgiving and forgot. So we found their number and called to see if they were planning on having us eat with them lol. They were like yes! and very excited about it, so we didn't end up eating at Wendy's or home ha. So we went to their house, which was soo nice because Hermana Toscano is an interior decorator, and we sat down and started talking to them and what not while Hermana fishined preparing the food. So, we ate with hermana; her son David who is 19 and getting ready to turn in his mission papers!; and Miguel and his daughter Iris who rents a room in their house. We had turkey of course, stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes, and salad for dinner and for dessert we had pumpkin pie (yum!) and flan. I never liked flan before and just thought it was nasty but I've had it quite a bit here because they all love it and I've really come to love it too; weird huh? lol. So it was fun and after we asked if we could share a message. We had a talk por President Monson from one of the General Conferences but I can't remember which one and I can't even remember the name of it at the minute.... yeah I can't remember ha. Anyway I picked out some parts of it that talked about having gratitude and it was just wonderful. Miguel read a lot of it and after I shared a thought about what was said. Miguel had a question and so Hermana Toscano answered it and so I threw in my 2 cents too and them I bore my testimony and told Miguel that I knew he wasn't a member but that through the Gospel he can find more joy in his life, that he could know for himself that it's true and if he'd just give it a chance to find out more and if it's true he'll truly be blessed and some other stuff that I can't remember. After I was done Hermana Toscana said pero Miguel es un miembro, or in english Miguel is a member. I looked at her and said mande? or what? Oh my goodness I was so embarrassed haha, but then she said but Miguel is not active so it's ok. I look at Miguel all embarrassed and said sorry and said so do think you'll come to church again then? or something like that. He kind of laughed and said it's ok what you said is true and then it was a little silent and awkward after that and the subject was switched which I was so happy about haha. So apparently I don't understand english either ha because before we ate dinner we were talking to David, the son of Hermana Toscano, who told us that he is a member but inactive; which was all in english and somewhere along the way I had missed all of that ha. Anyway that was a little embarrassing but it was a really great Thanksgiving. Hermana Toscano even already signed up to have us over for Christmas Eve dinner which I might not be here for that which I'm sad about, but we shall see next Monday if our mission president will transfer me somewhere else or have me stay, I can't wait to find out! So that was my thanksgiving dinner. That day before dinner we cleaned the house and went grocery shopping, ya know typical P day stuff and then we went to a park to find that the Elders left and went to the institute so we left the park and went there too and ended up playing ping-pong, some pool (I don't know how to spell it but you know where you hit the balls in the pockets with sticks ha), and played some horse and knock-out which I'm amazing at ;-) I could barely make any baskets ha. Then we came home and relaxed which was soooo nice. There was a very long description of our Thanksgiving, I know you all enjoyed that!

So this last Sunday only one of our investigators came to church when 5 said they were going to. Family members ended up coming over so they didn't go =-/ But wonderful and independent Maira came to church with her sweet little girls, Leslie and Elisabeth. Maira Bravo is getting baptized this coming Saturday, yay! We still have a bit to teach her but it'll happen. We commited Josefina and Josefina to baptism and they very excitedly excepted to be baptized Dec. 26! We'll see if it actually happens that date but they'll get baptized for sure. Josefina, who is pregant, needs to get married to her boyfriend Chris so we'll be discussing the law of chastity quite soon. Speaking of the law of chastity, oh my goodness. We were gong to teach Silivia the plan of Salvacion but it turned into the law of chastity. That is not the funnest topic to suddenly need to talk about without preparing for it, yikes, especially in spanish lol. So let me tell you how this came about. We assigned her to read 3 Nefi 11 which she read and continued to read into chapter 12 and 13. In chapter 12 around verse 30 or something, Jesus Christ tells the people that a man that putteth away his wife (pretty much because he wants to marry another woman) is sinning (claro que si) and whosoever marries the divorced women is commiting adoltary and so is she. That's roughly what it says because I don't have my scriptures. She had very big concern with this because she is divorced and didn't like the fact that if she remarried she'd be commiting adoltary. In so many words we explained that she wouldn't be if she was remarried but we really did not know how to explain this scripture. If you'l like go and look for it and let me know what you think. So then she asked if men in our church can have more than one wife, because her boyfriend said he heard we did, but we explained that we don't and then we asked if she had anymore questions and so she had one more. She asked us if it was bad that she had a boyfriend. We were a little puzzled and said no and then Crystal Torres, a member from the ward, asked if she was asking if it's ok to have sexual relationships with him. So that started the big conversation of the law of chastity. We shared some scriptures, explained why it wasn't ok, and bore a lot of testimony. At first Silvia told us that she thinks it's different now days and that it's not bad but by the end they admitted that she did feel bad about it and knew it was a commandment. She told us that she wanted to stop and would but didn't know when because it's hard and she doen't know if she wants to give it up yet. She also doen't want to marry her boyfriend. So this is definitely a problem but I know she can stop and Heavenly Father will help her, she just needs to be commited and pray and seek for help. We're thinking we need to be a little more blunt with her that it's going to be so much harder if she procastinates repentance and she can't return to Hervenly Father or join His church. This will be tough but she can do it. She also needs to receive a firm testimony that the gospel is true because once someone knows this they will do all in their power to withstand Satan. We're teaching her tonight and so I'll keep you posted on everything with her and our other investigators.

Oh something funny and cute. Hermana Lowry and I have been passing around a sheet for the members to sign so that we know who and when members can come with us to our appointments. When the papers came around in Priesthood Jose Gonzalez, one of our investigators, signed it haha. At the last lesson we had with him, last Sunday, he brought it up and wanted to know when he could come with us. We weren't sure what to say ha. I don't know if it works to bring investigators to lessons to teach other investigators ha. We'll see if he still remembers and maybe we have him come with us to something, I don't know what though. Oh also on Sunday Militza was telling me something cool about her mom. We taught Militza sometime last week and her mom is never very happy when we come over. She gets mad and mumbles not very nice things about us under her breath, most the time I can't understand what she is saying but Militza does so it bugs her a lot. Any way we came over and I started talking to Militzas mom. She was making salsa so I asked how she made it and what she put in it. She was surprisingly nice and even smiled. I think she was just shocked that I was talking to her. After we taught Militza I went over and said bye to everyone in the house including her mom who I gave a hug. I didn't think she it would do anything but I figured why not be nice and try to express that I care since we all are children of God. So on Sunday Militza told me that after I hugged her and we left she was smiling and said did she just hug me? Militza told her that that's how we always are, Militza is so sweet she thinks we're way more amazing than we really are lol. But I guess as of now Militza's mom has been nicer and hasn't said anything rude about us or complained about us coming over Militza going to church. That really helped me realized how much I think I misunderstand people and I need to be more like Jesus Christ and always express my love to others no matter how mean someone may come accross or be. I don't know how like it will last that she has good feelings towards us but I will continue to be as nice and serve her as much as possible.

I love you all and I just want to say thank you to my family and friends. Thank you sooo much for you support and prayers. I really really mean it. I'm praying for you all and hope all is well!

Love,
Hermana Alvey =-)

11/23/2009

I can't believe it's already almost Thankgiving! There is so much to be grateful for right now. We're teaching a lot of amazing people and there will be more to come. As of now those we're teaching who are progressing are Maira Bravo; Silvia Rodriguez and her daughter Silvita; and Jose Gonzalez.

We're are still teaching Roberto Reza but he is very skeptical and doesn't seem like he wants to change or really know that this is the only true church. He has been attending church the last several Sundays, which is great, but we don't know if we will continue to teach him; we shall see.
This last Sunday Eva Lugo actually comitted to go to church. I asked if she knew the church was true and she said yes. I asked if she still wanted to be baptized and she quickly said yes. I asked her if she would do anything posible in order to be baptized and she said yes to this also. I then told her that she had to go to church or else she could not be baptized. I expressed to her that I know it is hard for her to commit to go but sometimes we have to make sacrifices and show forth our faith by our actions and then he can bless us. After saying this she said she would go. Crystal Torres, a member of the ward who was there during the lesson, told her she would give her a ride and everything. It was all set and I really thought she was going to go or maybe I was just hopeful of but she ended up not going yesterday because her family suddenly showed up to visit. Something always happens. So we're going to give her one more chance to go to church this coming Sunday and if she doesn't attend, we're going to have to sit down with her and tell her we can't teach then anymore unless she goes. That is going to be so hard but we have to do it. It's tough love as our mission President puts it. So hopefully she ends up going because that will be so sad if we have to stop teaching her.

But Maira, Jose, and Silvia are doing great! Maira comes to church on her own and still has the date to be baptized the 5 of Dic. Her kids loooove us too it's adorable =-) Jose came to church again yesterday and last night we gave him a baptism date for January 3 which he accepted, yay! Silvia is great. She is so involved in the classes and even asks the members for rides because she doesn't have a car, amazing! So tonight we have an appointment with her and we're going to commit her to baptism, which we probably should have done sooner but it's ok.

We're also now teaching Josefina and her mom Josefina. Laura Ramirez is one of the members in our ward. (Just a side note, Laura is amazing and loves accompanying us at our appointments. She is married to Marco who has only been a member for 1 year. He for a while didn't go to church and said he never had a testimony of the church and therir marriage just wasn't going very well; it was so sad but the last some weeks he's been going to church and totally coming around! They seem so much more happy now and flirt with each other again and it's just precious. We started teaching Marco, because he's was turning into a less active but now he's doing great. We had them go the appointment for Josefina and after the appointment of Jose last night and he, Marco, was helping out so much. I think Hermana Ramirez was pleasantly surprised at the things he was saying. It makes me sooo happy to see him coming around and their marriage doing better. Last night Laura told us that Marco is going to cry when we have to leave lol he laughed and agreed. Oooh I love them!) Anyway back to what I was talking about... So, we taught Josefina and her mother. Josefina is the girlfriend of Laura's son. She has been a little depressed because she has had complications with her pregnancy (yeah we'll have to get them married) and is now on bed rest and still has 3 months left. The lesson went soo well though. The spirit was so strong and I was fighting back tears when bearing my testimony at the end of the lesson. They loved it and all though they had never heard of Jose Smith and it was just all so different they said they liked it and wanted to learn more. They liked the feeling they had when we were teaching them. It was a good lesson, I was really gratefully for that. It was cool also because Josefina (the younger one who is pregnant) was telling us that she's gone to church, the Catholic church, but she didn't feel anything when she went. It was like they were just feeding information but she felt something different with what we were teaching and liked that we taught the only way you can know that it's true is by praying and reading. She said in the Catholic church they were told not to pray or read the bible. I'm guessing they believe in a blind faith kind of thing. I couldn't befeive that but I am so grateful that we do know that the only way we can know the truth of things is by reading and pondering the scriptures and especially when we ask our Father in Heaven in prayer. This church is the only true church and what a blessing that we can ask He who knows all whether this is His church or not. That's what they learned and they were excited to read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it. It just all makes sense and that's because it is true.

So yeah things are going good, lots to be grateful for. Maria Concepcion and Militza Paulin, who were recently baptized, are doing good. Maria is adorable and sooooo much sweeter and happy now that she has been baptized and received the Holy Ghost. It's AMAZING what the Gospel does to people =-) Militza is doing well for the most part but doesn't have that great of a life. We had no idea things were not going well at all with her husband or mother. She hadn't said anything to us but last week when we taught her she vented to us about everything that is going on. Before she was baptized she told us that she had tried to kill herself because she had severe depression feeling trapped and no one loved her or would help her. Things really aren't going better as far as her health or relationships with her husband and mother but she said there's something different that keeps me going, which is the Gospel. With the doctors permission, Militza even stopped taking her depression pills after she was baptized. I think those of us who have had the Gospel our whole lives take it for granted. There are others out there who know what it's like to not have it in their lives. Militza was on the verge of killing herself before she had it but now, even though things are not going a lot better, she has found hope and peace. This is what the Gospel can do for others. I hope that those of us who have the Gospel in our lives will not take it for granted and will share this infinite gift with as many people as possible. With Christmas coming up I hope your hearts will be turned to others and you will think of who you may share the greatest gift you can EVER give to someone, which is the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all soooo much and wish you the best Thanksgiving!!!!!! We all have sooooo much to be grateful for =-)

Love,
Hermana Alvey

P.S. I know this letter is already so long but I have a challenge for you all. In our mission they have challenged us to read the whole Book of Mormon by the end of January. I can't begin to express to you what the Book of Mormon has done for me in my life! No matter how many times you have or haven't read the Book of Mormon, I challenge you to start reading The Book of Mormon today and finish it by Feb. 1. We all were given a red pencil and we highlight where ever Christ is mentioned. I've been challenged to do this and I hope you will take up this challenge also, no matter how busy your schedule may be many blessings will come and we can do it together! =-) Let me know how it goes and any thoughts or experiences you have when fulfilling this challenge!

11/16/2009

This past week has been really good. We went to the temple trip and it was great. We ended up only having one investigator go, Silvia Rodriguez. It just ended up being better that we plan another day to go to the temple with Eva and her girls and everyone else who was going to go originally ended up not being able to go. We were bummed but it ended up being the best and a really great experience. We're planning another temple trip for Eva, Militza, and other investigators of ours. So, Silvia is a referral from some Elders. We have only taught once, about a week and a half ago or so. She was interested already but going to the temple really made her want to learn more. Silvia is extremely out-going which was great because she just went up to everyone and introduced herself and kept conversations going. When we arrived to the temple first we listened to the Christus and then we went to watch the Joseph Smith movie. It was awesome because this is my second time watching the Joseph Smith movie in spanish and opposed to the first time watching it, this time I understood just about everything, not because I'm familiar with the movie in english but because I actually understood the spanish. That made me soo happy =-) So back to Silvia, during the movie she cried and afterward asked if there was anyway she could buy it which we had to tell her no but when it does come out I bet she'll be very happy and by then I'm sure she'll be a member. So, after watching the movie we walked around the visitors center and looked at the pictures, listened to the testimony of President Monson, looked at all the Book of Mormons in different languages, and whatnot. We then went out side and walked around the outside of the Oakland Temple. It was such a beautiful day and so peaceful feeling. She kept saying over and over how beautiful it was and how peaceful it felt. After walking around a little we sat down. Hermana Lowry was talking to some members and so I was left alone with Silvia. She started asking questions about how you can enter the temple and how you can be worthy. At first I was nervous because Hermana Lowry wasn't there just in case I didn't understand but I was able to understand her and answer her questions alone. I was soo grateful for that and Heavenly Father definitely helped me out. I lack a lot in my spanish but I am learning it and I'm so grateful for that miracle. So it was absolutely wonderful at the temple. On our ride home Silvia was asking a lot of questions and saying how she really wanted to learn more and wanted to start reading The Book of Mormon. I was so excited! So yesterday, Sunday, one of the wonderful recent converts that we teach picked up some our investigators and took them to church. We drove to their houses and he just followed us. We stopped by the house of Jose Gonzalez (who we met at the laundry mat and he read a lot of The Book of Mormon), then we went to the house of Maria Concepcion Molina where we picked up her and her daughter Maria Elena, then we went to the house of Silvia. That car was full of people and her we are in our car with plenty of room and our precious little bags enjoying the whole back seat haha. We felt bad but it's missionary rules, we can't pick anyone up. So we all got to church to find Roberto Reza there, another one of our investigators, and also Maira Bravo. Church was great and our investigators all enjoyed it. It's funny how things can go so bad and then turn so good and visa versa, so were not letting our guard down because you never know what might happen. They're really doing good though. Maira always keeps the commitments we give her and now Silvia and Jose are doing the same. We still need to work on Roberto with his Book of Mormon studies but he's on his way. So those are our investigators who are progressing. Yesterday we taught Jose Gonzalez and his friend, Jose Abila (you have no idea how many Joses we have met lol). Jose Abila wants to learn more, go to church and already has a Book of Mormon from previous missionaries. So, that was way cool and I hope that we are able to help him. We're still teaching karina and Eva and a few others but we have a lot of work with them. So things are moving forward and ward members are giving a lot of referrals which is absolutely wonderful. I'm loving the mission despite hard times I'm so grateful to be here, it's wonderful. My mom told me that she can't keep track of our investigators; I don't blame her or any of you because it seems like it's always changing who we teach lol. Anyway that's what is going on here. I hope you all are doing well, I love you lots!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Alvey

11/9/2009

Hola! Como estan? Epero que todo este bien. Todo esta bien aqui conmigo. Hemos ensenado muchas lecciones lo cual es exelente pero hay muchas personas de que tenemos mucho trabajo. Entonces voy a escribir en ingles. So things are good here. The baptism that Eva Lugo and her daughter Jessica were so excited to go to was on Saturday. They didn't have a ride there so we oranged for la Familia Ambrosio to pick them up. It ended up that the husband of Eva took them to the baptism a half hour early and we weren't there yet because we were waiting for Karina and her children to get out and on their way to the baptism. By the time we got there they left because they had been waiting for a half hour. Hermano Ambrosio was looking for them and everything but couldn't find them. I was so bummed I wanted to cry because I wanted them to go to the baptism sooo bad and her husband and older daughter, Lupita, might have stayed also which would have been so awesome. I felt so bad and when I called Eva she wasn't the happiest. She wasn't mad but sounded pretty frustrated. There was a lot of confusion involved. So that was a bummer but Karina went and that was good. We also have the temple trip coming up and Eva and her daughters (Jessica, Lupita, y Venessa) are going. I just hope that nothing happens that keeps them from going to the temple. Militza is going too. This will be her second time giong and I just hope she doesn't faint or nothing happens with anyone. So, that trip should be good. I'm excited for it. I'm hoping that it will help Eva to go to church. So we have that coming up and very exciting news. Maira Bravo, who we are also teaching, has a baptismal date of Dec. 5 which she accepted. At church yesterday, she told me that she wants to go to the Sociedad de Sucorro en los Martes, so she's going to start going to relief society activities or what is it called... oh, enrichment and she's the one that asked if she could go! And also she wants to help clean the church Saturday mornings. How cute is that? I didn't even know they announced that but she asked me about it and wants to go. She's so awesome. I just hope sooooo much that her husband will come around. I want to try harder to talk to him and see if we can teach him also. We've only met him like twice. We're work on that. We're as of yesterday, teaching Jose who we met at the lavenduria. He is really interested, has a lot of questions, and doesn't work Sundays which is fabulous. It's actually really cool because he met with some Elders about a year ago in Salinas. From last Sunday night when we met him until yesterday when we taught him he pulled out his Book of Mormon that those Elders had given him and started reading. He read up to Jacob. We thought that was awsome. He didn't really comprehend what he had read though and so we will help him there. So he told us about some dreams he had, always, and pretty much from those dreams he knew he needed to change his ways (drinking and what not) and then pulled out the Book of Mormon and started reading. I thought that was way cool and exciting. We have a few other's that we're teaching that I think will progress but we'll see. We're still looking for more to teach, always. The work is moving along though, slowly but surely. I love it out here though. I might be leaving in a month though which is sad and scary to think that I will be training in 2 months. My spanish needs a lot of work but I know that the Lord will bless me with another miracle. Anyway that's pretty much what's going on here. I hope you guys are doing good! I love you all looooooots!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Alvey =-)

11/2/2009

Ok so I didn't write much last time so I'll catch you up. First off, I hope that everyone had an fun Halloween! I had a lot of fun. We tracted and taught lessons until 5 pm and then all of us missionaries in this area met up at the church office building, ate, and watched movies. We weren't aloud to be outside during Halloween night so President Jackson gave us permission to watch movies. The Senior Missionaries prepared food and goodies for us which was soo sweet and then we watched "Meet the Johnsons" which was actually really funny and cute and we watched "Monsters Inc." which I love. So that was way fun. As of everything else. Well we're really not reaching la familia Alvarez anymore... yeah we're pretty sad about the whole situation. So last week we gave la palabra de sabaduria and we thought it went ok but we'd come to find out that it didn't... We called Consalo y Maria para remind them about the appointment and Consalo nos digo que that would be the last time we would teach them. Hermana Lowry was the one on the phone. She asked why and he just said because he doesn't want to change religions and stuff like that. She told him we'd talk about it at the lesson. Oh my goodness, we were absolutely dreading that lesson. After she hung up the phone we just sat there in awe, not knowing what to do and what just had happened. I wanted to cry. We absolutely love this family and that just felt horrible hearing that. Hermana Lowry described it as being broken up and just sitting there helpness not knowing what to do or say. It really did feel like my heart was broken. So we went to the lesson and it was so awkward and just uncomfortable. Finally Hermana Lowry said ok lets talk about that call. What's wrong. So we started talking. He said he didn't want to change from being catholic because it'd be like betraying but that wasn't really the problem. So we kept talking and finally it came down to everything we were asking Consalo to do was just too hard. He can't pray and we always ask if he's prayed and then we want him to stop smoking and drinking and it all just scared and overwhelmed him I think. So now he's almost totally shut off from us. He said that he liked us coming over and he liked learning from us but that he didn't want to be baptized and that he would never be baptized. We all didn't know exactly what to say. We asked Maria if she still wanted to be baptized. She said she still wanted to but that she wouldn't get baptized if he didn't because she didn't want a division or any conflict in their relationship. So we asked if we could still come back and teach Maria and the kids who want to be baptized and we figured Consalo could just listen. Maria said yes we could and Consalo looked down and wouldn't say anything. Maria told him to say something and he kind of reluctantly said it was fine. So we made an appointment to come back which was supposed to be today but when we called to remind them of it this morning Consalo said he had a problem and that his papa, who is in Mexico, is very sick and that it'd be best for us to come back later. We asked if there was another day and he told us that he'd call us when things were going better with that situation. That, obviously, was an excuse for us to not come back. Man it's so sad. We want to continue teaching them, I think just hoping that we can do something to change their minds and help them but it might just be best to stop teaching them, especially since Consalo has pretty much dropped us and Maria isn't doing anything to stop it. So that's the situation and it's just all very sad. It's so frustrating because I keep thinking, what should we have done differently? Maybe we were too pushy... things like that but we have done the best we can and we can't force people to accept it. It's hard because you know with all your heart that it's true and you want other people to know it too so they can be just as blessed and happy as you are because of the church but they reject it and there's not much you can do. It's especially hard when you're so attached to them and yeah... but all we can do is move on and try to find others who are ready. I really do think though that they will be baptized and accept the gospel it just may be later. So we're still teaching the Lugo family which I've talked about. She still hasn't gone to church though. We told her that she can't be baptized unless she attends church and she asked if she could learn from us and follow these things but attend her church because it's at a time that she can go. We told her no and she still doesn't quite understand why. There's a baptism for a little girl in our ward coming up and we invited her to come and she's really excited. I really hope this will motivate her more. So the last time we taught her she told us about this dream that she had. (You have no idea how many dreams we've heard. I'm not sure what it is but it seems like the latin people dream soo much. And sometimes I really think it is how they receive answers to their prayers and what not but a lot of the time, in my oppinion, they're just dreams that they take too serious. I forgot to even say anything but the first few weeks I was here one of the members in our ward came up to me and said how he was trying to figure out why I looked so familiar and finally it clicked to him that I was in a dream that he had had. He said that there was a lot of people in a big room which was really pretty and everyone was wearing white. He said I was in it and had 2 ninos (kids). That's all I got out of it because I could barely understand him at all, but he was describing it to me and was like yeah I had it 6 months ago. Yeah, crazy huh? So he now goes to another ward but told me that he won't ever forget my face. I want to ask him now to tell me more about the dream because I understand more spanish ha. So yeah we hear about a lot of dreams)So back to Eva's dream, she dreamed that she was in this beautiful garden and there was a castle looking thing and stairs that went up to it. She was wearing all white and so as she was going up the stairs she stopped and didn't want to go any further because she was wearing black boots. She had this dream years ago but we thought it was interesting. I don't know if it means anything but I thinking that'd be so crazy if that was the temple and something was keeping her from going to it. So in 2 weeks there's going to be a temple trip and I can't remember if we invited her to go and then she told the dream or if we invited her after because it just sounded like she was describing a temple but either way we invited her and she's soo excited to go. It should be good, I'm way excited too. We have a lot of investigators and members that we teach that we want to go so we're really really hoping a lot of them go. So yeah that is what's going on, well most of it. I'll keep you posted with the situation with Consalo y Maria. continue to pray for them please! Oh yeah last bit of news, Karina Galvan who we thought we were going to have to drop, randomly showed up to church and she said she is trying to get Sundays off!! That made us sooo happy! Ok well untill next week, I love you all and hope you all are doing awesome!!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Alvey (Alven y las Sardias) That's what everyone calls me or how they remember my name ha

10/15/2009

Hey! Another week has passed and I cannot believe how fast it goes buy! Another transfer is almost over and I can't believe it! So I found out in January I will training with is a little frightning but exciting at the same time. There will be two new sisters coming in Dec. and so Hermana Kelson and Hermana Lowry will more than likely be training them since they've been out the longest; which means that Hermana Vawdrey, Hermana Cowley and I might be in a trio for a transfer which will be so cool because it'll be like old times in the MTC except without Hermana Porter. So, then in January 3 more Hermanas will be coming in which means all three of us new girls will be training. I better work on my spanish more!!

A lot has happened in the last week and a half. We're still teaching La Alvarez Familia who I talked a little about last week with Consalo and Maria. I'm going to backtrack a little about them. So, almost 2 months ago, when Hermana Lowry had barely joined Hermana Kelson and I, we were trying to figure out who to go visit. We have an Area book which is full of past records of people that were either visited by the missionaries but not really taught ("potentials") and those that were being taught at one point but for whatever reason were dropped ("formers"). We prayed to know who we should go and contact and then starting looking through the book seeing if any caught our eye as someone the Heavenly Father would like us to go see. There was one in particular that I kept going back to and just felt like we needed to go see. On the sheet it said her name was Hazel and she wanted a Book of Mormon and that was it besides her address of course. I just felt like we should go see her so we did. We went there and found out she no longer lived there but we talked to the family who did live there and made an appointment to go back. Her name was Eperanza and she didn't seem very interested but we figured we could teach her and maybe she would become interested. Each time we went to teach her she would cancel and we'd reschedule. One time we went to teach her and of course she wasn't there so we decided that we would just knock at that same apartamento instead. We talked to some people and made some appointments with people and one of them was Consalo. We didn't know if much would come out of it but you never know so we schedualed a day to come back a teach him. And, from then on we have been teaching not only him but his wife and there children also. I remember after we prayed and I said a silent prayer to know who we should go see that one night, and I didn't know why but I felt strongly that we should go to see Hazel. I was thinking hm maybe she's ready and that's why but when we went there to find she had moved I thought ok maybe I felt we needed to go there for Esperanza and her family. After she had canceled a few times and continued to seem uninterested, I was kind of bummed and confused why I felt like we needed to go there. I figured well maybe I wasn't exactly prompted that we should go there but it was ok because we found a new apartment complex that we had never gone to before, but as we know, Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways and I know that He lead us to them. I really think He lead us there at the perfect timing. They needed Hermana Lowry to be there to teach them, I think, and yeah it's just really cool because I'm already seeing that the Lord is leading us to those who are seeking the gospel. I'm learning a lot of patience, faith, and how to follow the Holy Ghost which is so so so hard but I'm learning =-)

So it was so exciting because this last Sunday not only Consalo and the 3 youngest kids; Uriel who is 5 years old, Karen who is 8 years old, and Yenifer who is 10 years old; but Maria surprised us by telling us that she go work off to go too! So the whole family went including their older daughter Karen who is 12 years old. We were soooo excited! They all liked it a lot! Oh and also very exciting news, we asked if they had prayed to know if the church was true and Consalo still hasn't =-/ but Maria has and told us that she feels good about it and knows it's true. We were soooo excited but have yet to get Consalo to pray about it. He has this phobia of praying but it was so cute because in one of the lessons we got him to pray by himself, without repeating after anyone (his first time praying he repeated everything Hermana Blancarte said, like a child learning how to pray. It was adorable). So before saying the pray that he said by himself, not only us but Maria and his kids were helping know what to say. Everyone was so anxious for him to pray, it was cute and I think it was so exciting for the kids to see their father pray aloud thanking Heavenly Father for his family and asking Him to bless them. It was priceless and though he was soooo nervous and struggled a bit, he prayed all by himself and it was precious. So we have talked a lot about the baptismal date and they're all so excited but we have some road blocks to get over first. Like I said before, Consalo drinks and smokes and a new bit of information that we finally know now is that they are not married which was a fear for us because it seems like that is the norm and no one is married but just live together. So today we get to talk about the word of wisdom, which should be oh so much fun, and then the next time we talk we'll talk about the law of chastity and how they need to get married. Hermana Blancarte is our life savor and did the honors of asking Consalo if they were married or not. She said that he said he didn't want to get married yet which we will find out why when we talk to them soon. All of this is pretty nerve racking to talk to them about but I know it will be ok and they will change because the Lord will help them and strengthen them. They've already been seeing blessings from simply learning about the gospel and I know the Lord will bless them even more as they commit to follow His commandments. I will indeed let you know how the word of wisdom and law of chastidad lesons go next week =-)

Other news, I told you I had a lot to say ha, we finally got a hold of Karina! If you have forgotten who she is; she is 20 years old, was supposed to be baptized a while ago but wasn't ready, she left to go see her parents which we were so nervous she wouldn't come back, and so on. Well, she has been ignoring our calls and we could never find her at her home for the longest time but just recently called us back and we finally met with her! I was sooooo happy because I have been so worried and sad about that whole situation. So the talk went well and we hope she is going to get back on track. We had a really open conversation about everything, which started out pretty rough and awkward at first, but ended soo well. She was so happy that we came by and we found out that she has never really prayed to specifically know that the church is true. That explained exactly why she wasn't ready and we challenged her to pray and ask and tomorrow we will see how that went =-)

Also, we are teaching a new family. They live next to Joaquina y Moises Campos who are recent convert/inactive and so we teach them each week. One day when they weren't there for their appointment we started talking to Eva Lugo who we are now teaching. She is from Mexico lives with her husband (or probably boyfreind which we will find out for sure soon) and they have 3 beautiful daughters; Jessica who is 8, Lupe who is 12, and Vanessa who is 1. Lupe doesn't really stick around for the lessons but she's slowly warming up to us. Jessica on the other hand loooooves us. When I say loves us I really mean it. She loves to learn and wants us to come over every single day so we can sing and learn. Her mom hadn't read much from the Book of Mormon or the pamphlets but guess who pulled them out and started reading them to her mama, yes Jessica. Oh my goodness she is so cute and enthusiastic about learning about the gospel. Everything about it she loves, it's precious and she is exactly what Heavenly Father means when He tells us we need to be as little children. Anyway, at first Eva was pretty skeptical of everything but after a few lessons she really started listening and loving it, I think it has a lot to do with her daughter who is so enthusiastic about it all. Eva especially showed interest when we told her about el plan of salvasion. She had no idea where we came from, what our purpose is, and where we will be going and wanted to know all of this. I think we take for granted that we know this. So it took 2 lessons to finish talking about the plan of salvation and by the end we asked if she had any questions. She said no because she knew it was true. I was sooo excited to hear this. So, Hermana Kelson commited her to baptism for the 22 of Nov and with a smile on her face she said yes and told us that she knows these things are true because it makes her feel happy and warm in her chest. We explained that this was the Holy Ghost and that it is true. The Spirit was very strong and we are so excited! But along with all of these great experiences, Satan is always there waiting to try and mess is up so please pray for her. She is going to talk to her husband and try to go to church. Please please pray for all those we are teaching and for us. We need it sooo much.

Well that is pretty much what is going on. We are teaching a lot but many we are teaching are not progressing so please pray for us that we may find those who are ready. I can't tell you how grateful I am to be here even though some days are long and hard. I know with everything in me that this is the only true church on earth. Share your testimonies as much as possible and if you don't have one yet get one because you have no idea yet how much the Lord is waiting to bless you. I love you all soooo much!!!!!!!!

Love,
Hermana Alvey

p.s. sorry this is so long haha I just get so excited about everything... I'm pretty sure I could make it even longer lol. Love you guys, until next week take care!!!!!

10/5/2009

Hey everyone!!!! How are you all doing?? Well I hope =-) I'll start out witha very tramatic experience that happened last Wed... well not exactly thatbad but oh it was so scary and funny. Ok so my companion and I found a BigFat Scary and Hairy Spider in our apartment on the ceiling. It was so nasty!Anyway, we had to plan with this scary spider about us. We were so nervousto take our eyes off of it! Finally when we were done planning we decidedthat we would get rid of it. I didn't want to kill it, because although Idon't like them I just think it's sad to kill them. I just wanted to catchit and put it outside. So with that in mind; I grabbed a cup, pulled up achair, and Hermana Lowry pulled up a chair too meerly for support becauseshe did nothing but watch me try to catch the scary spider. So with my heartpounded, I put the cup over the big fat spider and then used a Liahona toslide it beneath the cup. The next thing I knew was that the nasty spiderslid under the crack between the cup and the ceiling and I sat it and jumpeddown so fast screaming (Hermana Lowry was also screaming) and ran down thehall when I looked down and just happended to see the spider squishedbeneath me toot! I screamed EEEEEEWWWWW I squished it and as fast as I saidthat I pulled off my knee highs and jumped in the bathtup to wash my footoff. You may be asking, "how did the spider get all the way from thelivingroom ceiling, down the hall, and under your foot?" Well let me tellyou, because as Hermana Lowry was watching she observed everything that happened which I had no idea. So as soon as I started jumping off the chair,my scream must have startled the spider so little did I know it startedcoming down from the ceiling on its web and then I wacked the web with the cup that was in my hand and so the poor little spider went flying. Hermana Lowry starting screaming and taking off peaces of clothing because she thought I had wacked it onto her but no. What happened is the web was stuck to me and so the spider was flying after me when it just happened to land under my foot. Despite all of our efforts to save the spider... I squished it.

After the whole ordeal happened we looked down the hall to see my knee highs thrown in the hall, down a little ways there's a cup, not far from the cup is the Liahona, and next to the Liahona is two chairs facing each other and in the middle of all of that you can see the squished spider. Although we felt bad, we laughed and laughed and laughed and took some pictures because it just looks funny. Anyway just thought you'd like to hear how Sister Missionaries deal with finding a big yucky spider in their apartment all alone ha.

Well other than that this week has been good but not too much has happened. We're looking for new investigators because most of those we are teaching right now aren't really progressing. Maria Concepcion, Militza, and Rene are doing great. It's crazy because now that Maria has been baptized and confirmed she is the happiest little old lady; oh she is so adorable. Militza's testimony continues to grow and she is always looking for ways to be better. How was Conference for those of you who watched/listened to it? I was so excited to watch and got the opportunity to watch just about all of it in ingles that way I could actually understand it. OOOOH how I love Conferencia!!!!

Militza and Maria came to the first session on Sunday but that was it but they both really enjoyed it although little Maria didn'tunderstand all of it. One of our investigators came with 3 of his small children. Oh my goodness I can't even tell you how nervous I was the whole time. Wondering what he was thinking, if he liked it, if he understood any of it, and so on. He didn't talk about it much to us but said he thought it was good. Luckly la familia Blancarte, who are members in our ward, totally took care of him answering questions and just talking about life and getting to know each other; it was great. We have our next appointment with him and his wife this Wed. Last week we commited them both to baptism for Oct. 25. They both agreed and they read from the Book of Mormon and really understand it. They're such a great family. The only problem is he smokes and drinks and his wife works Sundays, so we have a lot to work with but I know that if they are ready they'll make sacrafices. We'll see what happens, but I really think they'll be baptized I just don't know when.

Other than that not too much is going on. We have such much work to do with finding others but I know that the Lord will lead us to those who are ready. I don't have any other news to right about but maybe next week! I love you all and hope all is well!!!!!!! I'd love do hear from you! =-)

Love,
Hermana Alvey

9/28/2009


Hey everyone! Can you believe it's already almost October??? It feels like the month just begin! How is everyone? I hear Liz and John have a baby on the way, CONGRATS!!! That's soo exciting? Well this week has been alright. A little bit slow but alright. We have needed to do more contacting because our investigators aren't exactly progressing... so that's pretty frustrating and if you've served a mission you know how hard it is to find people through knocking and contacting. We found 5 new investigators from knocking and contacting and hopefully they will become progressing investigators. Right now it's hard to tell. So today is P day. We cleaned, ran some errands, and then went to the park to play some games with our zone. That was fun although I always get picked last for teams... yes, I'm that great at ultimate frisby and what not that everyone wants me on their team haha. Anyway, that was fun and hey don't worry I totally got plowd into by one of the Elders because neither of us saw eachother and so skid pretty far into the dirt but surprisingly it didn't even hurt ha. So now I'm hear emailing and then we have appointments until the end of the night. So my week wasn't all that interesting but I still haven't told you about the baptisms, so I'll do that.
So Militza Paulin and Maria Concepcion both ended up being baptized on Septiembre 20, 2009. It was such a stressful day! We had been trying to figure out how we were going to get Militza baptized because she can't walk and is not tiny either. I was so stressed about this, thinking maybe she shouldn't be baptized yet because she passed out a before that and I just didn't feel that great about the baptism (probably because I was so nervous). So that Sunday we made all of our calls to make sure everyone (those we teach) was going to go to church and of course Militza and Maria were having problems and said they might not go. Late Saturday night, the day before her baptism, Militza called to tell us that her husband couldn't take her but would take her to the baptism. Hermana Lowry told her that she had to go to church or else she couldn't be baptized so if he couldn't take her then we could try to find a ride. That Sunday morning we called to make sure she was going. She told us that she needed a ride because her husband wouldn't take her. We were so stressed but had to do everything posible to get her to church. I called everyone I could think of but couldn't find anyone. (Just a side note, you should be proud because I call people which those conversations are in spanish; which is so scary because I don't speak great spanish and I have a hard time understanding spanish let alone on the phone which is even harder. I'm pretty proud of myself and you all should be too ;-) ) Anyway so we couldn't find anyone but Militza said she could take the bus and we told her we could reemburse her for it. So she was going to take the bus but last second her husband ended up taking her which was great. So we also had problems with getting Maria to church. Maria didn't want her daughter Elena to take her because they were in a fight and so she didn't have a ride. It was last second so we couldn't find anyone to give her a ride. We ended up going to her house to find a crying Elena and everyone just was not happy. We told them that she needed to go to church or else she couldn't be baptized. Maria's other daughter, Angela who is an inactive member, said she could take Maria. They started getting ready and we went to church. Through all that running around and stress both of them ended up going to church! Our other investigators didn't but they did so we were happy enough about that. So church was good. Militza bore her testimony for the special Sacrament meeting which was organized by our wonderful ward mission leader, fHermano Galvez. Hermana Lowry also gave a wonderful talk. So that night was the big night. Their baptism was at 6:30 and we got there very early to make sure everything was going to go well. We decided how we were going to get Militza baptized and all we could do was hope and pray that everything turned out. We were hoping sooo bad that Militza's husband would come but he didn't but her two daughters came which was fabulous. So we got Militza and Maria dressed, took some pictures and the baptism started. When the time came for them to be baptized I was sooooo nervous. We had Hermano Galvez, who said the prayer to baptize her; Hermano Ambrosio, another amazing member of our ward who has the cutest family; Elder Schlechter; and Elder Garcia help get into and hold her in the faunt. It was so nerve racking! She was absolutely embarrassed and in a little bit of pain. They got her in the faunt and dunked her but her foot popped up so they had to dunk her again. When they brought her up the second time you'll never guess what happened!..... She passed out again! They hurried and closed the curtains and Hermana Kelson (who was able to come back here to Las Colinas for their baptisms. If I didn't say already she was transferred to Seaside or Monterey), Hermana Lowry and I ran in the bathroom to see if she was ok. Hermana Kelson and I were holding onto eachother praying like crazy. Oh my goodness we were so scared. Hermana Lowry shoved through the four men to get to Militza who was unconscience in her wheel chair. She said her name really loud and started blowing in her face because that's what woke her up last time. She woke up very quickly and started looking around. Hermana Lowry asked how she was doing and she said, "Oh, I think I need to pray." Oh my goodness i was so grateful that she was ok! we brought her into the bathroom and she was totally fine. We started helping her get dry and whatnot and almost missed Maria's baptism because had pretty much forgotten about it with Militza passing out. The same four men, Hermano Galvez, Hermano Ambrosio, Elder Schlechter, and Elder Garcia helped baptize Maria Concepcion who is also in a wheel chair because of her age she can't walk real well but she is a bit smaller than Militza so it was easier on them. They carried her into the water and I don't think she understood that she was going to be immersed in the water because when they dunked her after the prayer face had utter shock on it, just like a cat who hates water has been dunked under water. They had to dunk her twice also and both times she flung her arms up with her eyes and mouth wide open after coming out of the water. She is so cute. They wheeled her into the bathroom and we all asked how she felt and she looked at us like a little kid and said in her small squeaky voice, "Estoy frio!" Which means I'm cold. Like dorks, we totaly forgot to bring towels so we could only find a couple small little town which we dried poor little cold Maria with. She was dressed pretty quick but it took a while for Militza to get dressed and we forgot the DVD that we were going to put on for the people while they waited for Maria and Militza to get dressed (give us some slack we were pretty stressed about this whole thing ha) so they ended up singing himns for over a half hour haha. They were so tired of singing but the spirit was really strong. So once Militza was dressed we went into the chapel and everyone was thrilled to stop singing. We ended and everyone afterward came and congratulated them and it was just great. That ward is so amazing. About half the ward showed up to their baptisms, they're always so supportive. Anyway so that is how the baptism went. Both of them are doing great. Militza didn't have the greatest experience being baptized but she told us that she feels different now, more peaceful and has more energy. Yesterday at church she bore her testimony and it was so beautiful. She is an example for all of us. Oh I love those two women so much!
Anyway that's how the baptisms went and things are going good now. Keep praying for us! I hope all is well there and I would love to hear from you all... hint hint hint =-) Hasta la proxima semana!
Love,
Hermana Alvey =-)

From 9/22/09

Hey everyone!!! I hope everyone is doing well! Things have been pretty crazy here. I'll start with telling you what happened with Militza Paulin. Well we set her date to be baptized on Sun. Sep. 13, 2009. She didn't feel she was ready to be baptized but when we secretly asked her the baptismal questions and told her that she answered all of them perfectly and that those were the baptismal questions she was shocked and after that was excited to be baptized. On Saturday Sep. 12th we brought her to the Oakland Temple. She was soooo excited to go. We went inside the visitors center where we first sat in front of teh Christus and listened the presentation. She cried and the spirit was strong. We then took her through a show/exhibit about Eternal families. She loved that also. We then went to look at all the Book of Mormons in different languages and listened to President's testimony on a little TV. She thought it was so amazing to see our living Prophet who guides and directs Christ's church today. After that we were going to go watch the Joseph Smith movie which was what we were most excited for. She told us that she first need to go to the restroom, so we planned to help her and then go watch the movie after. Because Militza has muscular dystrophy, someone has to help her go to the restroom which we were more than happy to do. She was soooo embarrassed so we sat in the bathroom for a while. I asked her if she would like just one of us to help her so it wouldn't be as embarrassing. She said yes and so Hermana Lowry stayed to help her. I could hear Militza saying thank you over and over and she was still so embarrassed. She started crying some and kept appoligizing. Hermana Lowry said it was fine and asked what she needed to do in order to help her. I couldn't really hear anything more but then Hermana Lowry started saying "Militza! Militza!" over and over and then said, "Girls you need to come here, Militza isn't responding." My heart skipped a beat and we quickly said "What?!" Hermana Lowry couldn't unlock the door because she was holding unconscience Militza up. Hermana Kelson crawled under the door to get inside the stall and unlocked the door. I came in and Hermana Lowry and I were trying to wake her up. Her whole body was limp and she was not responding but she was still breathing. Hermana Kelson ran to get help while I got wet paper towels to put on her to cool her down. I started blowing on her face and finally she started waking up. By this time she had been out for a few minutes and there was several people in the bathroom trying to help. The paramedics came pretty fast and checked to see if she was ok. By this time she was responding and they said she checked to be fine but they still wanted to take her to the hospital to make sure she was ok. She didn't want to go because she doesn't have medical inssurance but after talking with her for about 10 minutes they convinced her to go. We had no way to go with her because we went in a car with some of the members of our ward who were inside the temple doing baptisms for the dead. We went inside the temple and found them and told them what had happened with Militza. After they were done they drove us over to the hospital to see her. They gave her a blessing and we got to see her for a little while. She was perfectly fine and they said she could go home. We had to leave because it was already 8:00 at night but Hermano and Hermana Galvez, 2 amazing members of our ward, stayed there until her husband arrived to pick her up. I prayed sooooo much that night because I was so scared that her husband would not like us even more and I was just so nervous. On Sunday Militza still wanted to be baptized but because of everything that happened and because it just didn't feel right we postponed her baptism. On Monday we talked to her and to my surprise her husband wasn't mad and everything was ok. I was so greatful for that. She also ended up telling her husband that she was planning on being baptized which I was so happy about because I had the worst feeling about her being baptized and her husband not knowing. So we planned on her being baptized that coming Sunday (or this last Sunday). She was soo excited but very nervous. Although her husband supported her decision he said he would not go because he wants nothing to do with the church. Although he still won't talk to us and wants nothing to do with the gospel, it's a miracle how much he has softened his heart. We've seen so many miracles and I know it's because the Lord is blessing Militza for her decision to join His church. Her husband, Alex, has been so much nicer to her, their conversations have been a lot more open, he doesn't hang out with his friends near as much but is spending more time with his family, and instead of doing the laundry on Sunday as he usually does he told Militza that he would do all those things on Saturday so he didn't have to do it on the Sabbath. We were so shocked. He coming around very slowly but surely and I'm so grateful for the tender mercies of Heavenly Father. We have had the opportunity to see this family become more unified and strengthened. I just pray that it continues =) So anyway, guess what!? Militza Paulin and Maria Concepcion Molina were both baptized on Sunday September 20, 2009!!! I don't have anymore time to write so I'll write all about it next week. It was a miracle that Maria was also baptized because she was so far from being baptized but let me tell you Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers and I am so fortunate to be here and witness some of His children come unto Him and our Savior Jesus Christ. Things aren't going so well with Karina. She has been ignoring our calls and we're not sure what's happened with her. Please pray for her! I have to go but I want you to know that Heavenly Father is so aware of each and everyone of us. I know that this is Christ's church and it is through following His gospel that we will feel the most joy although at times it is not the easiest it is worth it. I cannot express to you how grateful I am for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the only true church and through is we can return to live with our Father in Heaven for eternity and receive all that He has. I love you all so much! I love this work and am so grateful for the opportunity to be here! Until next week, chao!
Love,
Hermana Alvey
p.s. to all those that I haven't written back yet, sorry! I'm trying =-)

Hola

Hey everyone! I don't have much time at all but I'll try and summarize what's been going on. We were supposed to have 3 baptizms the Sunday before this last one but only had one. Rene, an adorable 9 year old boy, got baptized. The room was packed with people because there was also 4 other kids who were baptized. Rene was sooo excited and during a song the primary kids sang after the kids were baptized he bursted out in tears. He kept saying I feel the spirit so strong. The spirit was so strong it's amazing. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a bautismo, go.
As of the other two who were supposed to be baptized that day, Maria Concepcion Molina and Karina, they both weren't ready yet. We pushed back their dates to this coming Sunday but it doesn't look like they'll be ready for that either.

Maria is a cute 80 year lady and for the past few weeks the Jehovas witnesses have been coming by and teaching her and slowly she has been denying things she testified to be true before. We just met with her today and she is so confused because of all the different things she is hearing. We pretty discouraged and don't know what else to do, all we can do is pray like crazy. Thank goodness this is God's church and He is on our side.

As of Karina, who is the 20 year girl who went to visit with her parents who don't want her baptized, she came back here to our relief and things seemed to be going good but this last Sunday she didn't go to church and wouldn't return any of our calls. We went by her casa to see why she didn't go to church. She didn't have much time to talk but told us she needed to talk to us. We asked if she was still planning on being baptized and she said she didn't know anymore we need to talk. We going to go see her tonight to see what's wrong. So that's pretty discouraging but all we can do is keep trying and praying a lot.

Militza is having a hard time with her family still but is strong as can be and this last Sunday her husband took her and her daughters to church. That make us so happy. Her daughter, Mariana, who is 11 years old hated it though because she understands ingles better than spanish so she couln''t understand very much. We're going to talk to the teachers and see if they can at least teach in english some because most of the kids speak english better anyway. Militza's other daughter, Adre, who is 3 years old loved it though, so that was good. So exciting!

Militza asked if she could bare her testimonio in relief society and she testified that the church is true, the Book of Mormon is true, y que Jose Smith was a true profet. It was amazing! So anyway, things are going good. We way busy everyday and meet some awesome people.

I wish I had more time and I could tell you about them too. But yeah things are good. I love my companions. We have funny and Hermana Kelson y Lowry are so funny. It's sad because Hermana Kelson, mi primera mami, es being transferred to Sea Side (Montery) so it'll just be Hermana Lowry y yo.

Anyway, I'm out of time so I will write next week! I hope you are all doing well and had an awesome Holiday!!!!

Love you all!!!!!
Love,
Hermana Alvey =)

Hello Everyone

I've been here for 4 weeks now!!! I cannot believe how fast this mission is already going, yikes! So much has happened this week. I'm picking up the spanish well although I wish I could say so much more but I'm learning little by little and trying to have more patience with myself =) I'm still struggling a lot with understanding spanish but I know with time it'll come.

Thank you so much for those of you who prayed for Militza Paulin and her family. We went to teach her again and she just broke down and cried to us. She told all kinds of things that she has gone through in who life and it has not been easy. When she was young she was abused, in ways a little girl or anyone should be, by her step father which really scarred her. In her life she has never asked for anything from others but has always been very independent and faithful to her mother and husband. In the last email I told you that she is paralyzed but actually she has muscular dystrophy which is progressively getting worse. She can't do a lot of things alone and her mother and husband often do not help her when she needs them. She has gone a month at times because they would not help her bath. She cried and told us that she was scared and didn't know what would happen because she's getting worse and needs them but they don't help when they don't feel like it or if they're in bad moods. She said a lot more. She has gone through so much, yet stays faithful and never asks why me. We all cried together and testified of the Atonement. She called us her angels and told us that she knew we came here for us. I said a prayer to end our lesson and the spirit was so strong. I prayed that her husband and mother would soften their hearts and help her more. Among many other things, I prayed that she would have the strength through the Atonement to endure her hard times. We left and told her that if she needed help with ANYTHING at all to call us. She thanked us over and over and we were on our way. We prayed so much for her. My heart was broken but I knew that through the Atonement she would be ok and I felt very strongly that Heavenly Father is providing a way for her to be baptized in His church.

We thought we were going to have to get members to help her with everything because her no one in her family would help her besides her sweet 13 year old daughter who cannot do everything, but a miracle happened. We met with her again and she was so happy and excited to tell us what happened. She said after you three left my husband and my mother were so sweet to me. Her mother even told her that she would try to be more kind and patient. When she was telling us this I immediately thanked Heavenly Father because I know this was a miracle that He brought about. She told us that she knew she was being blessed because she was reading the Book of Mormon. She told us that she didn't know how to explain how she felt except that she felt thirsty and wants to learn more and read more. We were all in aw. This came from her mouth.

Oh, I can't tell you how much the Lord's hand is in this work. She is so faithful and the Lord is blessing her for it. We commited her to be baptized the 13th of Septiembre. She said yes yes yes that is what I want to do. So now we're working towards this date! Her husband told Militza that he would take her to church but she had done this before and it ended up not happening so we planned on him flaking out. Some amazing member from the ward, Hermana y Hermano Galvez, came to pick her up. To get into the car is very difficult for her but unbelievable. She puts gloves on her hands and then we help her bend her body down to the ground. She is literally folded in half with her legs straight and not bent and her arms supporting most of her weight on the ground. She slowly pivets and shuffels her feet over to the car as her hands are on the ground supporting her body. It's hard to explain but it was azazing. Once she gets close enough to the car she then sits down and we push her shoulders up so she is sitting up. It takes her a while to do this so we were really late to church but we got there and she loved it. She told us that is was very different and kind of nervous we asked how so.

She told us that other churches taught good things but at our church it was much more strong and she felt like family. We were sooo happy. Oh my goodness I could go on and on about her. I feel so blessed to be here at this time and be able to help her enter the waters of baptism. So far her husband and her mother are so much sweeter to her but they are still very heard hearted towards us and I think over time that will change.

Everyday there are miracles that we witness and I am the luckiest person to be serving the Lord so I can be in the middle of them. I'm out of time now though but I have so much more to say about our other investigators. Next week I'll expound more. I love you all so much and hope everything is going great. Please continue to pray for Militza, those who are being taught or ready to be taught, and all those missionaries out serving the Lord all over the world. I love you sooo much again!

Love,
Hermana Alvey =)

P.S. Congrats Sean and Megan on your new baby!!!!

Hey!!!

Hey everyone!

Things are going well. I'm picking up more and more spanish each day, but I still have a long way to go. It's been pretty warm here in Las Colinas but the nights y mornings are nice and cool which is so nice. There's a lot of polution, it reminds me a lot a lot of Bakersfield lol. I never talked about where we live. We live in a cute little one bedroom apartment. It's actually really nice which I didn't expect at all. We got a new companion on Monday and things are going good. We weren't sure how we were going to fit another missionary but it's actually not bad at all. We fit 3 little beds in our room and so each bed is like a foot and a half apart haha. Good thing we love each other =) Yeah so we fit well, it's quite the miracle that we fit all of our stuff becasue Hermana Lowry and Hermana Kelson both have a lot of stuff.

Our investigators are doing well. Maria Concepcion Molina is getting baptized this Sunday which is so exciting. We got to take her and her sister to the Oakland temple on Saturday which was awesome. They weren't going to go because somehow they got in a big fight about something and no one was happy. We went over to they're house to see what we could do. We talked to Maria and her daughter, Maria Elena, and called both of them down. Maria Elena wanted to go to the temple so bad but Maria Concpcion Molina was still upset and didn't want to go. We seperated the two so we could try to convince Maria Concepcion Molina to go. I was praying like crazy because I knew that they needed this experience together. A member from the ward ended up calling and I don't know what she said but Maria wanted to go after. I was so grateful and said a big thank you to Heavenly Father. Hermana Lowry and I dressed Maria Concepcion Molina, among other things, which was a whole lot of fun ;-); and we were on our way. The Oakland Temple is soooo beautiful. I loved it. We walked around the temple grounds and visiters center. We got to watch the Joseph Smith movie which was a whole different experience watching it in spanish, it was awesome. That was one little miracle that we witnessed and let me tell you I'm so grateful for the tender mercies that I witness each day, it's unbelievable.

Rene, the little 9 year old we are teaching is going to be baptized this Sunday also and is sooo excited. Oh, he is soo adorable! Karina just got back in town but is planning on moving back with her parents in Fresno. We are so sad about that but know that she'll make the right decision that best. We going to see her tonight and only time will tell if she will be ready to be baptized on Sunday. I sure hope so though, she has such a strong testimony but her parents are so against is and we still need to talk to her about the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. I'll let you know how that goes next week. We had to drop a lot of investigators which is always such a hard choice to make but if they are not progessing there is nothing we can do right now. We have a few new investigators as of this last week and I don't know where all of them will go but one of them is very promising and is the best experince I've had yet.

It was Monday night and we were planning on going to Family night for the ward but the investigator who was supposed to go couldn't anymore. We went around visiting and inviting others we have been teaching but no one was home. We called so many of them but no one answered their phones which is really really unusual. We decided that we would go to see Ana Diaz, who had a baptismal date for this Sunday but has been ignoring us or is always gone lately. We got told that she was not home and so when la mujer shut the door there was another lady at the apartment right next door. We starting talking to her and she was so sweet. Hermana Lowry told her that we had a message about prophets and told her that we have a prophet today and that Christ's church has been restored to the earth. Usually when we tell the people this they knod their heads as if they knew this already but you can tell they're really not interested. Instead, she opened her eyes wide and said Que? She wanted to know more. We asked if she would like us to share more of the message and she very excitedly said yes. Hermana Kelson then asked if she had time right now. She said yes yes and invited us in. We taught the first lesson to her and she was absolutely captivated. I wish you could all see her facial expressions. She was in disbelief and sooo excited to learn more. She said she had been searching for the truth and then we came to the door. She is so humble and oh my goodness it was amazing. The spirit was sooooo stong. We all had tears in our eyes. We commited her to read in the Book of Mormon and to pray to know that it is true. She stroked the Book of Mormon and said she would. She said thank to us probably 50 times before we left. When we walked out we checked the phone and we had several missed calls from those we had called before we taught her. I know for fact that everything happened for a reason and we were met to be there at that exact time so we could teach her. Her name is Militza. She has a husband and two beautiful girls. She is the most humble and faithful woman I have met. She is paralized and so has to stay in a wheelchair yet she never asks why or says woe is me but continualy gives thanks to Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. It was funny because just an hour or so before we met Militza I was thinking how I really needed to pray harder and fast more to find those who are ready to recieve the gospel. There have been several instances in which I have expressed my desires and my prayers were answered long before I received the opportunity to cry unto Heavenly Father in prayer. He is so aware of us all and I know this with everything in me. Never give up, even when times are confusing and hard. I promise you that He knows and has provided a way for us to find comfort and that is through His son and our Savior Jesus Christ. Well, after we left the apartment of Militza I felt very strongly that something was going to happen. She is ready to receive the gospel and Satan does not want her to. I expressed this to Hermana Kelson and Hermana Lowry and so we said a prayer. Sure enough her family STRONGLY dislikes us and does not want us to teach her. We have already seen her 4 times since Monday and I am confident that the Lord will provide a way for her to be baptized no matter how long it takes. Oh, I love her so much. Please pray for her and those we are teaching. You have no idea how many things happen so they cannot/do not attend church and are not baptized.

Well, I'm about out of time but I want you all to know how much I LOVE you all. My prayers are with each of you. Toodles until next week!!!

Love,
Hermana Jami =)

It's Already been 2 weeks!

Hey! I hope everyone is doing well!!! This week absolutely flew by! We've been very busy but need to find more investigators. Many of the ones we are teaching are not progressing. I working on having more courage to talk to everyone on the streets regardless and invite them to learn more. It's definitely not the easiest to appraoch people on the streets or especially when we're grocery shopping. I've passed up opportunities to share this true gospel and so I want to try harder and just talk more =)
Anyhoo, I can't even think of what's been going on... Let's see, we have 4 baptismal dates set for this month (8-30-09) but it looks like only two of them will happen for sure on the first date that was set. One is with a young 9 year old boy whose name is Rene. He is adorable and so excited to be baptized. His grandparents are strong members of the church and so they take him to church and activities. His mom is inactive and his dad is not a member. From what I understand Rene's dad is not very happy with him being baptized but is alowing it. We are so excited for Rene.
Karina who is 20 years old has such a strong testimony. Her parents do not want her to be baptized and they came into town this week. She told us that she knew they would try to change her mind but when we asked what she is going to do when they try to do that she told us that she won't let them. We're praying that she'll be strong enough. She's out of town with them write now and will be back in a week. She told us that she brought her Book of Mormon and is going to read it. Karina told her mom that she has decided to be baptized and she said nothing, so now we pray that Karina's dad will also soften his heart.
We are also teaching an 80 year women who is Jehovas Witness. Her name is Maria Concepcion Melina. We have to call her by her full name or else she corrects us haha. She's such a cute lady. We taught her yesterday and she gave the sweetest prayer. It was the first time she prayed outloud and without help from us. I felt like a proud mom =)
We also have a baptism date for another woman, Ana Diaz. She was so excited to be baptized but then when her date had to be moved back because of problems with the word of chastity, she has ignored and avoided us ever since. We don't know if she has been affended or what but we may have to drop her which makes us sad. So those are our baptismal dates.
If all goes well Rene, Maria Concepcion Melina, y Karina will be baptized on August 30th. We're teaching a lot of recent converts. I love hearing them bare their testimony. They have the strongest testimonies and it helps me so much.
I love this work and I'm learing so much each day. I know spanish will come little by little, I'm trying to have patience haha. Hermana Kelson y yo often both don't understand the investigators and so we just bare our testimonies a lot haha. It'll be nice to be able to teach more so according to their concerns, I can't wait until I can understand these amazing people!
Oh, today we got a new companion. We'll be in a trio for a month until transfers come. More than likely Hermana Kelson will be transfering to "Paradise" or Seaside because she's been here longest. Although it's not all that pretty I love it here so I'm happy to stay.
So, more about our new companera, her name is Hermana Lowry. She's been out in the field for 4 months (so 6 months including the MTC). She says she doesn't speak much Spanish but I'm pretty sure she knows more than she says. We'll find out tomorrow at our appoitments =) She's so sweet and funny, we're going to love serving with her and it'll be fun to figure out how to teach with 3 of us now haha.
Things are going well though. I'm so grateful for this gospel and the opportunity to serve. Please do all you can to share the gospel with friends and family. Everyone needs it and wants it whether they know it or not. Help the missionaries out and give them referals. Referals are the best every! I looooooove you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Until next week, Hasta luego!
Love,
Hermana Jami =)

Mission Letter 10 August 2009

Hey!! I'm now officially in the field and I love it! I arrived here in San Jose Tuesday August 4. I called to serve in Las Colinas as my first area. It's sooo different here than in the MTC which I expected. We contact a lot and it is so much fun. I love the people here. Even though I don't know much spanish and don't understand then a lot of the time, they're still so sweet and very patient. Everyone hugs here and kisses eachother on the cheek.

At first I didn't know what to think about that but after just a few days I've gotten used to it. My trainer's name is Hermana Kelson. She is from Sandy, Ut and was called to serve in San Jose English speaking but the first day she got here President Jackson told her she was going to switch to the spanish program. I would be so scared if that happened to me but she loves it and is so happy she's serving spanish speaking. So she's only been out a few months more than I have so she doesn't know much more spanish than I do! I was so shocked when I found this out because I thought for sure my first senor companion would speak fluent spanish. She understands more than I do and speaks a little better but we're both pretty much at the same level so it's quite a struggle to teach and contact like that, but I have faith that we'll get it quick. The Lord works in mysterious ways and I know this is a challenge He expects me to overcome with His help.

So we looove contacting even though half the time we don't know what the people are saying or what how to respond. Just about everyone we have met is straight from Mexico and do not speak any english. I can't even tell you how many Juan, Jose, Pablo, and Pedros we've met. They're quite the popular names lol.

The food here is AMAZING. We get fed every day and sometime twice a day and the members loove to pile on the food. They keep asking if we want more and I feel so bad saying no but I'm so full I feel like I'm going to throw-up so I sadly have to say no lol.

Yesterday at church was pretty overwhelming. I had no idea what anyone was saying. I would hear words like "el espiritu santo" "la fe" "Jesucristo" or words like that but that was about it. The members would ask me questions and I would just look at them with a blank face and say "No hablo mucho espanol hora pero estoy aprendiendo. Lo siento" and then they just give me a hug ha. They're all so sweet. Luckly nuestro obisbo had me stand up during sacrament and announced that I am new and don't speak very much spanish at all so just give me lots of hugs/embrace and welcome me (at least I understood that haha)

Oh the men who wheel around in their carts selling food on the streets love giving us stuff. The very first day a man by the name of Juan gave us corn smuthered in mayo and parmesian cheese. At first I didn't know what to think about it but after a while I liked it, weird huh?

We have awesome investigators but we're having a hard time keeping then strong. La ley de castidad (the law of chastity) is a big problem here. They all say that they live with their esposas o esposos but they're really not married they just call their girlfriend or boyfriend their wife or husband. It seems that just about everyone has this problem. I'm so grateful that I can be here to bare testimony of Christ's church so they may know of better lives. The Gospel is true and this world needs it sooooo bad.

My first or second day Hermana Kelson and I sang to a lady by the name of Maria Magdolina. She invited us in and we started talking to her and teaching her about the gospel. She wasn't very interested because just like about everyone else we contact, she is catholic (but rarely attends church or lives her religion) and believes that all religions are good as long as you believe in Christ. While we were talking to her, her friend Maria came into the casa in tears. She has severe depression. Hermana Kelson suggested that the Elders come and give her a blessing. Not really knowing what we were talking about she agreed. We wanted to bring the spirit into the house so we ended up singing mas himnos. Another one of Maria Magdolina's friends also by the name of Maria came in and Maria Magdolina's sister Rosa. Maria, Maria, Maria, Rosa, Hermana Kelson, y yo sang quite a few songs. The spirit was so strong. When the Elders got there they gave her a blessing and after Maria smiled and started crying saying "Gracias a Dios" over and over. It was amazing. We're going to go back and teach them.

Although it's hard and frustrating and sometimes I feel so lost I would never want to do anything else. I know this is the only true church. Please keep praying for me. I love you all soooooo much!!!!

Love,
Hermana Jami =)

Timpanogos Cave

Tuesday May 26, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

Sunday May 24, 2009

After the farewell and the little get-together at Sandi and Brent's we went to my Grandpa Twede's gravesite. He was a piolot when he was alive and also my Grandpa Alvey was in the Navy, I'm so grateful to both of them! I haven't been to my Grandpa's grave since I was a little girl, it was nice to go to again. I've never been to my Grandpa Alvey's grave, I'll have to do that sometime =)

Don't worry we weren't disrespecting the grave site. Caiden was running away when we were trying to leave so Lyndsey ran and grabbed him. I thought it was a cool picture

The whole gravesite was fuuuuul of flowers and flags, it was awesome looking

Monday May 25, 2009

We went out to eat ended up going out to eat as a family which was fun and then after we drove around the Bountiful Temple because we were already in Bountiful. I had a great weekend, it was awesome =) There were so many houses with flags it was awesome. Yay for Patriotism!

Happy Memorial Day to everyone! I'm sooo grateful for those who have fought for our country, we wouldn't be here if it weren't for those who died for our country. Thank you!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAIDEN!!!!

Sunday May 24, 2008

Caiden is already 4 years old!!!

Caiden had to share his birthday with my farewell, he was a good sport about it =) We sang to him at the get-together and he got really bashfull and nervous because all of the people that sang to him so he wouldn't blow out the candles himself. Instead, he said, "Dad you blow!" and so my dad blew out the candles and from afar Caiden blew too. It was cute. Caiden isn't the best with big crowds, so we were very proud of him he did great =)

You can see Caiden blowing too lol. He's such a cutie =)
Yaaaaay!
Grammy got him a little lawn mower. He likes it a lot and plays with it quite a bit outside in the backyard. Thanks Grammy! Grandma and Grandpa Matthews also gave him a birthday card with a dollar. He was very excited to get some money, thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

Sometimes he wouldn't open the presents himself so Courtney pretty much just dumped it out in front of him lol

Lyndsey and I got him a T-ball and bat. He loves it and has really good aim when we throw the ball to him. He's going to be a good baseball and basketball player when he gets older. He's a little athlete =)

More presents

Trucks!

And best of all, he got a basketball hoop! He looooved it and has amazing aim. He made about every basket in!

It was so funny, he was torn between playing with his trucks or the basketball... he kept going back and forth and doing both, he just couldn't choose lol

Caiden had a very good birthday and we can't believe he's 4 now! He's the biggest topic in our home and we don't know what we would do about him. We love you bud!!!!