"A Child's Prayer" - September 30, 2013

Howdy Family and Friends!

There are so many amazingly crazy things that happened this week, and not nearly enough minutes an hour to describe them all!

 

I'll start with some fun facts again:

1- We had Zone Conference this week with about 1/2 the mission and there were 11 Sisters that stayed in our apartment Tuesday night before it happened! Elder William R. Walker of the 70 spoke to us, and it was a really amazing experience. Also, we were blessed to hear from his wife, and President and Sister Augustin!

2- When we were knocking one day there were two dogs that followed us all the way down the street... it was interesting to say the least... and I also got to use a little bit of Spanish (it reminded me of my Dexter Days :P)!

3-  We had a referral and met a really amazing woman, Deanna, who was meeting with missionaries near Ft. Worth, and we're meeting with her this week! I think it's so amazing how she can be hundreds of miles away from where she lived before, and now she can be taught the same things that the Sister missionaries were teaching her before!

4- I'm continually amazed at how amazing it is to teach the gospel! There is so much happiness to be found, and the Spirit really edifies my testimony every day!

5- General Conference is this week and it's so exciting that we get to hear from our living prophet today, and our other church leaders! :)

6- We're going to the Petroleum Museum today! So we're going to learn all about the oil that keeps this town running, and FINALLY I'll know how the millions of pumpjacks we see work! 

 

Okay, so that was a fun overview of the week, we had some AMAZING spiritually uplifting activities this week. Between Zone Conference (which was actually a gathering of half of our mission), and the General Relief Society Broadcast (which is part of General Conference, but is a special session directed towards the women of the church), my personal excitement for missionary work has increased SO much, and there is a new missionary spirit in the air for our members too!

 

The only down side to so much personal edification, is that we weren't able to get out and work as much as we wanted to, and needed to. Also the game I was playing of "How much Vitamin C can Sister Lagrosa take?" Well, that's been going well, I've consumed a couple bags of cough drops the past week and a half though... and sadly Sister Turner was down and out on Thursday, so we had to stay in while she slept off some gnarly head cold. But, Sister Tooley and I got to study our scriptures, we wrote Sister Turner's birthday card (because her birthday is this weekend!), planned a family home evening for a less-active family we are meeting with this week, and wrote a poem! Oh, and I changed the air filter in our apartment. Overall it was a good day, and now we're going strong!

 

I can't choose just one highlight this week, but, there was definitely a theme of 1- Prayer and 2- God's love for us! What is really great about the people here is that they love God, and they love Jesus! There are so many truly Christian people who don't mind talking with us about their faith, and who truly look into our eyes as we share that our message will only help them increase it. Hopefully soon, we'll be able to work around some people's schedules so we can sit down and take the time we need to actually share our message with them! 

 

Missionary work is full of ups and downs, we were dropped by Jennifer because work is coming first for now, and our friend Joe I talked about last week sadly got into a little bit of trouble this week. We found out from Alice on Friday that he had been incarcerated, and that our other friend Bogie (an older man who had gone into jail on Wednesday, who we had taught for a little bit, but then were going to plan on contacting when he was out again), passed away because he got really sick inside. When Alice told us the news, we were all crying in her home, but comfort came from knowing that Bogie's in a better place now, and he'll be learning from the missionaries on the other side. Also, it'll be an opportunity for Joe to have some time to think, and maybe he'll be ready for the gospel when he gets out. 

 

For now though, we are trying to continue to meet with Alice, and hopefully sit down and teach her soon. We're also looking forward to getting to know a few more referrals we got this past couple weeks, and work hard to bring the great message of the restored gospel to those who are prepared to hear it.

 

I'm really grateful for the opportunity we have to pray with people. I know Heavenly Father is a loving Father, who knows us perfectly and listens when we take the time to talk to Him. The work we have been doing with some of our less active members has been centered on remembering that Heavenly Father loves them, and that they need to continuously build that realationship. We are meeting with a few families pretty regularly, and one man really is misunderstanding faith right now. He's briliant, and he has a very philosophical mind-complete with questions that can't be answered. When we were sitting down with him and his wife last night, he asked how God could bless the people in the middle-east with so much oil, but here he is in the middle of Midland with nothing. He looked really deflated as he talked about how there is no way that he could ever talk to God, because it would just be a waste of his time, and His time... that if God was really there He'd show him a sign or something.

 

It was amazing to me that I could look this incredibly inteligent man in the eyes and tell him with complete confidence, "I don't know the answer to some of your questions, but I do know that God loves you Brother Oliver, and I know that He wants you to talk to Him. Your Heavenly Father doesn't want you to be in darkness or feel confused, and the peace you are searching for, even if it is just peace of mind, can be found as you take the time to speak to Him. One of your trials of faith may be that you need hard evidence to believe somehthing, but I know with all of my soul that as you pray to know if He is there He will answer you. If you ask Him if He loves you, with sincere intent, Brother Oliver, you'll gain a witness that He does, that you cannot deny."

 

It feels weird sometimes to think that me, a 21-year old kid can promise a really intelligent man such a great blessing, but I know it's true, and I feel the Spirit testify to me of its truth every day I'm out here.

 

I love the message that we have to share about God's love, that we have the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness on the earth again today, and that we are led by a prophet called of God. I'm also very excited for General Conference this weekend!

 

I love and miss you all so much! You're always in my prayers.

 

All my love,

Sister Lagrsoa

 

Pictures!:

1- Me and my twin! ...okay not really, but it's Sister Tomson! My older sister! (She was trained by Sister Johnson too!)

2- Me and my two compadres Sisters Turner and Tooley at Zone Conference!

3- Me Changing the Air filter in our house on Thursday. =)

4- Me and the turtle we named King Limoni! :D

"Oh the greatest day that I can say..." - September 23, 2013

Howdy Family and Friends!
 

Wow, this week was just so filled with adventures, and amazingness that I don't even know where to begin!
 

I guess I can start with some fun Midland facts form the perspective of a missionary:
 

1. You need to have SEASON tickets to watch the HIGH SCHOOL football games here! (This is the home of Friday night lights... so I guess it makes sense. :P)
 

2. Gutters on houses and in the streets are non-existent here, so when it rains there are a bunch of awesome puddles! (And it TOTALLY rained on bike day this week, so we had some fun). Also, there is a LOT of oil on the streets, so it kind of looks like it fell out of the sky when there's little rivers running all around!
 

3. EVERYONE works all the time here, so it's hard to keep set appointments with people, and for our investigators to make it to church on Sundays. But if you want to make $12-14/hour at McDonalds, this is the place to live.
 

4. Alice told us the other day "I hope y'all are keepin' in contact with your families! Yo mommas need to hear from you! We're family too, while your here I can be yo momma, I'm yo big momma!" She is an amazing lady, and we were able to start teaching her this week! And she really listens to the Spirit! :D
 

5. Weather changes here are very different from any other place I've ever lived! So, I'm now playing a game called "How much Vitamin C can sister Lagrosa take?" ... okay not really, but I've developed this allergy/cold complex in my sinuses where I'm stuffed up, but can still breathe out of my nose. Anyway, that's probably more than you wanted to know, but my companion, Sister Tooley, gave me some of her Peppermint Essential oils last night to just rub across my face, and WOW, it cleared them faster (and less painfully) than the 7 habeneros I ate a couple months ago! I call it "Christmas Face" because my face felt like it was made of candy canes. It was nice, and I got to sleep without snoring :P

Okay, so now for the REAL fun stuff!

This was such an amazing week, and it was truly a test of faith. We have been working so hard here the past 2 weeks, and it's so wonderful because there is just so much amazing work to do! I'm feeling so humbled to see God's hand in the everything, from timing to the chain of events leading us to meet the amazing people that we get to meet!
 

We've been teaching a lot, and doing quite a bit of work with less-active members of the church, trying to help them to remember their faith, and rekindle that fire that only the Spirit can bring into their lives. We've also been working hard with some of the more active members helping them to remember that they are loved, and encourage them to continue building their faith and reaffirm their testimonies as they find opportunities to share them with others.
 

We've also been trying to do finding to increase our teaching pool, and help share our special message with those who have not yet been able to sit down with missionaries. This is HARD work! I continually feel blessed to have such positive companions, because we are able to help keep each other motivated when appointments fall through or when people just don't really want to hear our message.
 

But, we have been able to see many amazing miracles this week! We've been able to be bold with our message, invite people to be bold with their faith, and promise blessings from being obedient to God's commandments.
 

On that rainy bike day we had a lesson with a woman named Jennifer, and the Spirit was so strong as we shared the Restoration with her that before Sister Turner even had the chance to finish an invitation to baptism (after Jennifer had come to know for herself that our message is true), she said "Yes! Yes!"
 

Also, we had an amazing experience with a man named Joe (the brother of Alice from my last letter). He's been going through a rough time, and we talked with him about the Book of Mormon, and how reading it will bless his life. We told him that as he read an prayed to know if it was the word of God that he would get an answer, and that, even though he would still be going through trials in this life, that he will see blessings come from his reading. After we shared that with him, we talked about prayer, and he said "I'm just tired, and I don't even know what to pray for anymore."
 

We told him that Heavenly Father's answers come in time, but they would come. And, it felt so amazing to tell Joe that one prayer Heavenly Father ALWAYS answers immediately is: "Do you love me?" When we were talking about this an I asked him to try it, the Spirit was so strong there testifying that Heavenly Father loves all of His children. It was so wonderful, I can't even describe it, but we were all (Joe, myself, my companions) crying right there in the parking lot.
 

I wish I could share more with you about the rest of the week, but my time is up!
 

Next week I'll have to tell you about our experience with Samantha.
 

Of everything I learned this week, the most impressing thing on my mind has been that Heavenly Father truly loves His children, and He wants us to go to Him in prayer. This is the simplest way to build our faith and our relationship with Him. I know that the peace that comes from our message starts and ends with His love.
 

Doctrine and Covenants 6:36
 

And don't forget that I love you too!

<3 <3

Sister Lagrosa!

p.s. I'll have pictures next week too. :)

"The only two things that matter is God, and Texas Football." - September 16, 2013

Howdy from Midland Family and Friends!

It has been quite the week of transfers this week!! Sister Johnson and I dropped off Sister Hoover at the transfer sight outside of Hobbes on Tuesday, drove home and went back to work, and then turned around and drove the 2.5 hours again to Hobbes and dropped me off on Wednesday to get me to the bus to Midland! Fun story though, on one of the "New-Mexico-Empty" roads back to Dexter from Hobbes, we were in this giant field of pumpjacks, like over 50 pumpjacks all around, and there was a sign that said "livestock at large" so I snagged a sweet picture of a cow for you to enjoy! :P

After about 12 hours of traveling in two days, I arrive in the GIGANTIC (compared to Dexter :P) city of Midland, and my MTC companion (Sister Bradford) and I trade places (I'm in the trio she was in before). 15 minutes later we're off to work, and kockin' a few streets worth of doors, and ended the evening going on splits with the Relief Society (we paired up one missionary and one member of the relief society presidency) to visit some of the less-active members in the ward.

I was in awe during the first couple of days, because even though our area is SO SMALL compared to the spread out countryside by Dexter, there are so many streets and LOTS AND LOTS of people. Not to mention there's a few houses here that you could fit about 10 trailers in!

By the end of Friday though I was less awestruck, and I've actually got most of the main roads down now, so I'm pretty proud of myself :P

Then, on Saturday we had a baptism!

Sisters Turner, Tooley and Bradford were teaching a man, Rickey, who lives in our apartment complex, and he was baptized on Saturday! It was so wonderful, and I love how I it is STILL amazing how great of a change can come from people accepting the fullness of Christ's gospel into their lives!

Being a missionary is SO GREAT! The days here have been wonderful (not without flaw, but they have been exceptionally wonderful), everyday I find myself asking my companions: "Do you know why today is so amazing?" pause.... "Because we're missionaries!"

There is no other way we would be able to meet as many people as we do! While we were following up with some people that we set appointments with on Friday (neither of which were there), we were able to talk to a woman, Alice, who lives in their same apartment complex. Alice yelled at us "Are y'all playin' hookey from school!? I'll put you in my truck and drive you over there! You know where you need to be!!" After laughing a little we were able to explain to her that we are missionaries, and we've already graduated high school. She didn't believe it when we all said we were 21! But, as we talked with her more about the gospel we asked her also if we could help her out with the work she was doing (sweeping and shoveling up the dirt and dust that was in the curbs of the parking lot), and we were able to set a time to help her out later in the day. Sadly, she wasn't out working at that time, be we were able to help her clean her home a little, and we helped her outside this morning! She's excited to hear more of the message we have to share, and said we sounded like "that church of the Latter-day somethin's" and "the Helping Hands".

It was SO cool to explain to her that they are all the same! And we love to do service as missionaries along side teaching the gospel! And people down here really do shine, and are being prepared to receive the wonderful message we have to share!

Now, I'm sure you're wondering where the title of this e-mail came from!

Well, there's a couple we are trying to teach (Midland's economy is booming down here and it's difficult to find times when people are home because the oil fields are running 24/7 and everything else is trying to keep up with it!), and well, we were able to find them at home on Saturday right before a big football game started, and David started off our conversation with that. We were happy to hear that God came first! :D

The last person I want to talk about is Parr! She is Burmese! There are SO many people from Burma here in Midland, and it's hard for some of them to understand English, but Parr's is very good. We were reading a chapter in the Book of Mormon (in English, because we don't have it yet in her language) and she expressed interest in having us help her to learn English while we teach her more about the gospel. That was SO exciting, because her faith is so strong. The late prophet, President Hinckley, promised that anyone who can read the Book of Mormon out loud in a certain language, will be able to be fluent in that language. When we told Parr that a Prophet of God promised her that if she read the Book of Mormon out loud in English, that she could be fluent in it, she said "I believe" with so much faith and sincerity I almost had tears in my eyes because I felt the Spirit so strong.

The Lord is truly preparing His children to hear the gospel, and I continue to marvel at His hand in my life and the lives of those around me. It's amazing how much impact one person can have in the lives of many, even if it's just something small (like Rickey, who was just baptized, talked with Mormon Missionaries a few years ago, but wasn't yet interested, or Alice having just recently receiving some service from Helping Hands), to something bigger (like, the Hamm's introducing me to the church, and walking with me every step I've taken since then), God is looking out for us.

Heavenly Father is truly blessing each and every one of His children's lives, and I know without a doubt that He has more blessings in store for us. As we take the time to turn to Him, we're able to see His hand in our lives a little clearer each day, and understand His love just a little bit more. I love Alma 32, which talks about faith, and humility, and I know that we have trials, and sadness in our lives to help us grow. I know also, that there is SO much joy to be found in the scriptures, and in prayer, and as we invite Him into our lives, we WILL see blessings and miracles, and our burdens will be made easier to bear!

All my love,
Sister Lagrosa

 

Pictures:
1- A vast scene of pumpjacks in NM! (more than NEW people we met in the last 6 weeks in Dexter!)
2- COWS!
3- My new companions Sisters Turner and Tooley at Rickey's Baptism!
4- Some time in the country roads, and Midland from the distance.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3: Fixin' to be Texan! - Sept. 9, 2013

Howdy Family and Friends!!

Soooo, it's officially the first day of Chapter 3, and I am fixin' to be a Texan! (Did you know you only have to live in Texas for 6 months to be considered Texan? ...and I think me being brown gives me an honorary New Mexican status, so I'm excited to add another state to the list of awesome states I've lived in!!) :P The last big wave of missionaries has entered the Texas Lubbock Mission, and President has said that he's been told we are going to top off at 268 missionaries by the end of the year! So all the Sisters are generally still in trios right now.

This past week has been pretty eventful! I mowed 2 lawns!! (the lawn of the only member in our town, she's 87, and our lawn just this morning!) We also traveled to Lubbock again for the Missionary Leader Conference (MLC) that Sister Johnson needed to attend. Sister Hoover got her knee checked out (and it's a-okay!), and I was able to go to work the the Sisters in the single's ward at Texas Tech... IT WAS SOOOO WEIRD being around 1-so many people 2- buildings over 2 stories high and 3- seeing and stopping at so many traffic lights! We don't have any in our whole area, and I didn't realize how used to rural-ness I've become!

The other sisters there laughed a little when I said: "I'm not used to these big buildings [on campus]!" ... but I don't know if you can understand just how small it is out here unless you've seen it... their main streets in Lubbock are bigger than the highway out here!!!

But culture shock aside, we had some really great lessons, and we were able to work well together in discussing Christ's gospel and inviting some of the students on campus to come unto Christ. We had a lesson with Max, and as we were addressing some of his questions, he had some concerns about the Word of Wisdom (mainly, where it comes from in the scriptures). It was a great opportunity to bear testimony about how every step we take in this life needs to be in faith. We don't follow commandments to follow the rules of this church, we follow commandments, because they are given to us from our Heavenly Father, and through obedience to Him, we are able to have the Spirit more abundantly in our lives. One of my favorite scriptures is in 2 Corinthians 5:6-9, and it talks about how, while we are on this earth, in our mortal bodies, we have to walk by faith. Our goal isn't to please our fellow man here on earth, but to please our Heavenly Father, that we may be accepted of Him. 

I love that, because even though we cannot attain perfection in this life (for any length of time, there are defiantly perfect moments), we can still work hard, progress, and He sees our hearts and our desire to do good! This message is truly a message of hope and love, and I'm sure that it is true, firstly because I pray to know every day, but also because I've seen it change so many lives, and continue to change those lives even in the midst of difficult trials.

We had another couple of lessons with Joe! :) this week, and I'm so sad to leave him! We read 1 Nephi Ch 8 with him from the Book of Mormon Stories (so he can understand a little better) and talked to him about how important it is to continue to hold on to that iron rod as we are on this journey back to our Heavenly Father. It still fills my heart with joy at his faith to continue to read, "just a little bit!" (as he says) every day, even though he has some trouble understanding the words. My heart almost burst with joy when he was explaining how he felt the Spirit. He explained how it makes him happy when we come over and talk about the gospel with him, and that he felt really at home when he went to church, he really liked what the people had to say (when they were bearing testimony of what they knew to be true), and he liked how it (the gospel) has helped them in their lives. He also explained that he feels happy when he prays (at work) "when I'm with the horses, just to myself", and at night before he goes to sleep. It's so wonderful to me that he can see the changes that have occurred in his life, and he's thinking about a good day to be baptized right now. I've asked Sister Johnson to definitely keep me updated!

And one more miracle before I'll tell you more about where I'm going!

Remember the girl that came to the door and said "Hey! ...I'm Mormon!" Well we've been teaching her friend, Mark, and this morning he accepted to be baptized in a couple weeks! He's been to church the past 2 weeks in a row, and has been doing just about everything on his own. He is really searching for the truth, and the Lord really does answer our prayers when we intend to act in faith! 

So, tomorrow we'll probably be headed to Lubbock, because Sister Johnson is training two new Sisters (who are probably flying down here right now!), and I'm going to Midland, TX!! Sister Hoover is getting transferred to Clovis, but since they have to drop off one of their Sisters to go up to Amarillo, we'll probably all just meet up in Lubbock. It's Crazy right?

Next week you'll have a picture of me and Sisters Turner (the elder, because there are two single Sister Turners in the mission, and one of the new couples is Sister Turner as well, but she's at the office), anyway, you'll have a picture with me, Sister Turner the Elder and Sister Toole (who is just finished her first 6 weeks out here!) It's going to be so weird, but AWESOME to meet new people every day! And, since Sister Turner the Elder is also a Sister Training Leader (STL), like Sister Johnson is, we'll be traveling a little bit I'm sure! So I'm going to see some more of the mission! Maybe one day this transfer I'll be caught up to how far my bike has traveled around the mission, and I can share some of the stories it would know. :P Sister Johnson's first area was in Odessa, and she said that it smells a lot like oil (pronounced ole), and that the cities are growing with lots of people working the oil fields, so I'm excited to get to work!

I love you all so much! Don't forget to pray!

All my heart,

Sister Lagrosa! :D

Pictures:

1- On our way home from Lubbock we took an accidental detour and got lost on this desolate road for a 1/2 hour before we realized we were going in the wrong direction!

2- Us with Joe! :) and Israel (his nephew)

Let it shine, shine, shine, let it shine! :D - Sept 3.2013

Howdy family and friends!!

 

Okay, so, sorry this e-mail is a day late! ... It seems like these e--mails on the last week of the transfer are always late!!! But, it was a holiday yesterday, and no public computers were open! So we went the the Carlsbad Caverns at the Carlsbad Caverns National Park! This missionary is also a certified JUNIOR RANGER! awesome huh? :D Also another awesome thing about New Mexico, is that you can get green chilies on your subway sandwiches! They make them AWESOME! So, next time you're down here you gotta check it out!

 

Also, we inspired a blog! One of the members in our branch took our book idea: "Dinner with the Ericksons" and now it's her blog! Because their family is amazingly talented at cooking and we've had a lot of "Journal-entry-moments" at their house, we decided we'd make a cookbook/novel/memoir and name it Dinner with the Ericksons... now I'm gonna have to find a new website, for when we get to write the book.

 

And I know you're dying to know how fun-day went last week! And I'll let you know that I can see perfectly out of both of my eyes... as long as I have my corrective lenses :P But the day was not without injury sadly. I sprained my left thumb setting a volleyball, so I basically look like my hands are broken by the time I'm done getting ready for bed at night because of the tendinitis in my right wrist/thumb lol. But I got the good deal with injuries, my poor companion, Sister Hoover, tweaked her knee while attempting to catch a football, and we're getting it checked out on Friday when we are in Lubbock (because Sister Johnson is going to a mission leaders conference). 

 

Okay, so, wow. I'm like 5 days away from being a grown-up missionary! It's super weird to think that I've been in Dexter now, just a week short of 3 months! That's like an entire semester at BYU! ... and mom just sent me my mini-diploma a couple weeks ago, which reminds me that I don't have school to go back to! 

 

Anyway, Dexter is doing so great! We had SO many exciting things happen this week, I don't even have time to type them all (not that this computer would allow it anyway)!

 

First though: JOE!! :) MADE IT TO CHURCH! We actually had 3 of our investigators come to church on Sunday, which was perfect, because there are 3 of us, and we all got to take up a big bench in the middle (towards the back) of the chapel! :D Even better, Joe, Alonso and Mark all knew members of the congregation (because our members have been SO amazing and coming to lessons with us!) and they all want to come back! It's so wonderful, how present the Spirit is, especially during testimony meeting (which we had this Sunday!). :D 

 

Another awesome miracle that happened this week is we FINALLY got into contact with a couple of people who we lost touch with over the last few weeks. The first one is Jose. He stopped us while we were walking down the street in Dexter in July, and was like "Hey! You Mormons? yes... You have church around here? Not yet, but we go to Artesia. Oh, okay, bye!" We were like "hey wait! where do you live! Can we come talk to you?" (while thinking who are you!?!?) And we got his info, but his schedule at the dairy was crazy, and when we found him at home 2 weeks ago he said "Hey sisters! (which no one calls us lol) So glad you stopped by, my wife isn't home, but I know you're rules, can you come by tomorrow?" This only confused us further, and sadly we missed him the next day as well... and we JUST got to see him this week! It turns out he's a member, and he lost touch with church since moving here (which might be expected considering the fact we are in the country of the country out here!), but he and his family previously attended a Spanish congregation, so we're sending the Spanish Elders their way now. :)

 

And the 2nd miracle was when we were on splits (where we split into two and two) with Heather, from Roswell (right after Sister Hoover injured her knee). We went to contact Carolina, and finally caught her at home! It was so amazing to sit down and talk with her a little (the past month has been a little too eventful), and we got to know her better. Then I was able to teach her the entire lesson on the Restoration of the Church Jesus Christ set up when He was on the earth (or we just call it the Restoration for short)! It was so amazing, because while we were talking we could just feel the Spirit there, and she is really searching for truth in her life right now, and seeking to know her Heavenly Father better. When we were discussing the Book of Mormon, I was able to testify to her with all of my heart that I didn't want her to just take my word as truth, and that I really wanted her to know for herself by reading part of it, and then setting aside some time to pray to know it is true. She said: "Yeah, I'm going to do that!" before I could even ask her if she would! And then I said to her: "Carolina, I know your Heavenly Father loves you so much! And that He always answers His children's prayers, when you come to know that this message is true, will you be baptized by someone who holds the proper priesthood authority of God on the earth today?" And she said she would! 

 

I can't help but think back two months and remember how afraid I was to invite someone to pray to know for themselves if our message is true. And how even more afraid I was to invite them to act on their faith, and choose to be baptized. 

 

It's so, so amazing how powerful the Spirit is, and how He truly testifies of truth, and brings to remembrance what Christ has taught us! John 14: 26-27 and Moroni 10:3-5 help me to remember that every day as I re-establish my faith, and continue to build my testimony. Heavenly Father truly does love His children, and I'm overjoyed to be able to be just one of His missionaries here in good 'ol little Dexter, New Mexico, and share the good news with everyone I get to talk to! 

All my love,

Sister Lagrosa 

Picture 1: us at the caverns!

2: The District! :D

3: All the sisters in the Roswell Stake! during play day

4: my awesome bandaged sprain, and tendonitis brace

 

 

Sometimes I'm Up and Sometimes I'm Down, Still My Soul Feels Heavenly Bound!- August 26, 2013

Howdy Family and Friends!

I just want you know that I love you sooo much, and missionary life out here in good 'ol Dexter New Mexico has been pretty great! :D

 

My personal Monday night miracle this week was actually from the scriptures! Lots of people seem to think that John holds the key to un-converting Mormons. There's been a few people that have been well-meaning (and a few that weren't), that have asked us to prayerfully read either the first verse of John or the book of John, and pray for understanding about it, because they don't think we know Jesus Christ. 

I keep thinking to myself that I'm studying it all wrong!

My testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored church that He built while He was on the Earth is stronger than ever! I love reading about Christ's life, His Service, and His perfect example! I also love all of the records of the prophets that have testified of Him, and their records in the Bible and Book of Mormon. It is AMAZING to me how we can never have enough testimony of our Savior, and His Atonement. I mean, it is infinite, so it makes sense that no finite thing, like words, could describe it adequately right?

 

Anyway, gotta love miracles!

 

And speaking of miracles! This week was full of them!! We spent 1/2 our week on exchanges with the Sisters in Clovis and Portales, buuut, we still got to have some lessons here in Dexter, and even better, we were able to bring members from our congregation with us to almost 1/2 of them!

 

Exchanges were so great, and it was WONDERFUL to learn even more from the sisters up north, and to see how we've progressed as missionaries (3 of the 6 up there came out with Sister Hoover and I), and to meet with again, some of their investigators we met 6 weeks ago when we were on exchanges last chapter/transfer! It's been such a blessing to have Sister Johnson as not only a trainer, but a Sister Training Leader (she takes care of the Sisters in the NM part of our mission), because we've gotten to learn SO much about how being a missionary works outside of just the teaching part. :D It's so hard to believe that we are almost done training, and that next week marks 3 months that I've been set apart as a missionary!

 

When we returned from exchanges we were able to get straight to work, and we had an AMAZING discussion about the Plan of Salvation with some of our investigators! It is so comforting to know that our Heavenly Father knows and loves us each so much, and that we have answers to questions like: Where did we come from? Where are we going? and Why are we here? And we have these answers because of the restored gospel! Heavenly Father continues to guide us even today through a living prophet, and we have the Holy Spirit to testify of all truth! :)

 

And I'll finish up with Joe! Sadly he did not make it to church this week, but don't worry! He didn't die. There was just some family that he needed to attend to, and being the AMAZING man he is, he came through for them. We were able to meet with him twice this week! And each time we go and visit him, I'm just more and more amazed at how Christ-like he is, and how much more he is understanding about the gospel as he's inviting the Spirit more into his life. It truly is the small things, like reading from your scriptures every day (even just a verse, even if you can't completely understand what's going on), and praying every day, that show Heavenly Father you're trying. 

 

I know that even the smallest steps we take toward our Heavenly Father make Him so happy! He truly loves and knows us each infinitely and individually!

 

I'm excited for this next week! We have a play day on Thursday! We're playing baseball and maybe soccer (hopefully I don't get blinded again :P). But it's gonna encourage us to work even harder the rest of the week!

 

All my love,

Sister Lagrosa! 

Pictures:

1- A DAIRY out here, there's probably like 5-7 in our area

2- a cute comp pic!

3- SO MUCH watermelon!