Chapter 10: "Keepin' it Awkward!" - June 23, 2014

Hello my dearest family and friends!

Since we are getting a new mission President next week, my 10th transfer started a little early, and good news: I get to have 7 more weeks here in the beautiful city of Midland (and Odessa :P), and 7 more weeks with my awesome twin sister-companion Sister Hoover! I told her she's REALLY lucky, because no one ever gets to spend this much time with me, namely due to the fact I usually can't stay in one place for too long :P I also told her she's definitely never getting rid of me, because to have me for 6 of the 14 months of missionary time I've had with 13 companions is kind of a big deal! I know without a doubt, if I was on Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa's plan, I would not have stayed in one place so consistently, I think it's amazing how the Lord really helps us to grow and stretch the different comfort zones we have. :D Anyway, I'm excited for even more miracles here, working more and more with the members to further the work, and keep being and loving my awkward missionary self! hahaha

Speaking of my awkward self, I thought that I'd put a sky picture with me in it, because well, I'm nice to look at, and Sister Hoover brought up a good point: "Your family doesn't care about pictures of the sky if you aren't in them!"​

Oh, man, so back to a little bit of serious-ness, this week was really amazing. People keep telling me I'm an old missionary (which makes me double old, because I'm a year graduated from college too!)... so I've been thinking about how I've been learning and growing over the past year, and two ideas came to my mind: 1st- wow this would be horrible if I'd not decided for myself to come out here! and 2nd- How could anyone go on a mission and not expect to change?

So, don't freak out about this being a horrible experience, because it totally is the opposite of that. A lot of life, and how you feel about it is based on perspective (this is true in any psychology study, but more true, and true first and foremost with the gospel--remember Job right?). So, the reason we should be doing anything in life is to grow right? Whether we are helping ourselves grow, or helping those around us to grow, we should be moving forward, and out here as a missionary, it's super structured (which is my favorite!), and all the growing we do is more easily recognized as the Lord's timing and not Sister Lagrosa's. It's really humbling, because out here, even though I'm comfortably in my own country, speaking my native tongue, etc. I still have very little control over what's happening in my life, and many days we go out, not knowing beforehand exactly what we are going to do...

If any of you know me too well, you know I'm good with change, I thrive in it, but, I like to have a game plan and a little bit of sight to know what's going on so I can be prepared for what's going to come... but I'm learning so much more out here how to trust in the Lord, knowing that He's got my back, and He's already paved a perfect path for me to follow.

One of the greatest things I've enjoyed as a missionary is the increase in love that we get to feel! I love love, all kinds of love, because everything is centered on Heavenly Father's love for us, and I know that's how I've learned my entire life. And this principle of love really came out this week, especially when we were talking with a family about how they can share the gospel more easily with their friends, and not have to feel weird about it.

We sat down with the family and Sister G described how she was having a conversation, and someone asked her a question, and then her mind went blank! I laughed a little because it reminded me of when I was visiting with my Aunt in Boston before my mission, and she asked me some questions about the gospel, and what I believe, really casually, but I just didn't know what to say... I mean I knew the answers, but I couldn't really talk good, nevertheless well, and I thought to myself wow... I'm going to be a terrible missionary! (don't worry, I'm better at talking now ;P)It's hard to share something that means so much to you and trust someone else to receive it, and care about it the same way you do. Or it could be awkward if there is a misunderstanding... there's so many things that can go wrong!

So to kind of get over a few anxieties, we role-played a casual conversation, I asked her about the Book of Mormon... if it was another bible (that misconception comes up a lot), and Sister G got a little tripped up on her words. So we paused and I asked her how she felt-- anxious, naturally. So I asked her how she felt about the friend she was talking with (the woman I was role-playing), and she said: "I like her, I mean, we're friends!" After a deep breath, we felt a little less anxiety, and then I asked her how she felt about the Book of Mormon. Tears came to her eyes as she described how the Spirit has testified to her of its truth and how it's changed her life, and helped her to understand her Savior, Jesus Christ better... I know if I wrote the words she said it wouldn't do justice for the love that was felt in that room as she spoke...

But that, that was amazing.

And I know that is exactly what this work is all about out here. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, beyond everything else, it helps us to know Jesus Christ better, and understand His redeeming sacrifice for us. It's really bold that I can say, because I know that book is true, I know that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet of God, and through him, Jesus Christ Himself, restored His church to the earth in the exact same organization He had when He organized it on the earth. I know we aren't out here as missionaries to take anyone's faith away, or say that no one else has truth, but it is a very bold claim to say that we honestly do have the fullness of His truth here on the earth today. God is a God of miracles, I mean, He works with imperfect people everyday, it's not too hard to believe right?

Instead of a scripture this week, check out this song from EFY 2011: "Hard to Doubt" (you won't be disappointed:)

With all my heart,

Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

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Awesomely awkward district picture... don't worry, it only looks like I'm punching Sister Hoover :P

"I will goooooo, I will dooooooo!!​" - June 16, 2014

Howdy howdy my dearest family and friends!!

It has been quite the week! Lots of adventure, and lots of amazing miracles! I've been learning the primary songs, I'm pretty sure having a limited amount of musical variety has helped me increase in my child-age learning while I've been out here, and it's really re-established some of the awesome (and less-overtly Christian songs) that have stuck with me too (shout out to the Rocket Summer) :P

But yeah, lots and lots of goodness is happening in the world, and I've learned a lot of lessons this week! I struggled for a couple weeks with getting a lot out of my scripture study in the morning... which is pretty normal, scriptures aren't that easy to read, but, I've recently re-incorporated using the 12-step program to guide some of my studies, and it has been AMAZING!

Some of my new favorite verses are in 1Thess 5:16-18! And, as a cherry on top of this spiritually amazing ice cream sundae of spirit-filled-edifying studies, I got a shirt last week at Mardel (a Baptist-Christian Book Store) that says "Work Hard, Pray Hard" with those verses as the scripture reference on it too! (Completely unplanned, by the way!) Gotta love the tender mercies of the Lord. :) I also got an awesome shirt that says "You need Jesus. I'm just saying."

So moral of the story here: The scriptures are the best, and Christian t-shirts are hilarious... especially when you're a missionary, and the only time you get to wear them is when you're sleeping :P

But there was so much other goodness that happened this week too! We had some visits with a couple different members that haven't been able to make it to church lately, and we had an exceptionally amazing experience with one of them who has been sick for quite some time. She told us her story of how she came to be so sick, and I was really humbled by her story, and her humility. When she then told us she is now on some very borrowed time, all three of us were crying together. Through all of this beautiful woman's amazing words, tow things she said stood out to me: "...and the worst part is I can't make it to church!" and "I just don't want to become bitter."

After listening to just a brief part of her journey, it was sobering to hear her say that the thing she was most sad about was not being able to make it to her Sunday meetings, even though there was sadness in her story, she spoke with hope, and truth, and I felt a little more humbled (because I'm not sure if I've taken for granted the edification I've been receiving from being able to attend 5 hours of church each week).... and then to imagine this woman ever becoming bitter! That was the furthest thing from my mind while she was speaking with us... We read together from Moroni 7, where it talks about good and bitter fountains, and I really like the imagery of running water to describe us as individuals, because we have to be running/in motion to progress, and grow. And as long as we are searching out those fruits of the Spirit, and learning how to receive direction and guidance from the Holy Ghost, no matter how many times we have received answers... to just continue to listen and press forward, we will be a good fountain, producing that good water.

We also met a young woman who will hopefully be attending the YSA branch with us soon, and she's been on her own getting to church the last two years! This was amazing to me, because... I know, even though I went 'on my own' for... well always, and that church isn't the only way you can grow your faith, I had a some diligent friends that made sure I was doing alright when I didn't make it! She's been continuing to grow in those simple ways, church, prayer, scripture study, without that intense support for a good long time, and we're hoping the YSA will be a great tight-knit church family for her. :)

I've really grown in my testimony this week that we all have our own very specific trials that give us the opportunity to come closer to Heavenly Father, and I am SO grateful for them. Generally, not exactly while they are happening, but The Lord's giving me a lot of opportunity to continue to grow with that one, testing my faith on the daily! ;)

I know His plan is perfect, and simple, and even though I don't understand everything, it is good, and I know He loves me. His love is what life is all about. :)

I Thess 5:16-18

With all of my heart,

Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

Okay, This is classic Sister Lagrosa putting food up here, but this was a PRIME gormet sandwich! :D

​We found this really sweet Cruella DeVil limo while we were driving to a member's house in Odessa, we also found some Zebras!! :D

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Happy 1-year/ "You are Dorks!" - June 9, 2014

hahaha

Howdy howdy family and friends!!

I hope this day is filling y'all with as much joy as it's filling me with!

Oh man, it's been quite the week! We had a really jam-packed p-day with the other Midland sisters, an amazing last Zone Conference with President and Sister Augustin, and Sister Hoover and I hit our one-year mark on Thursday! It was a really HOTTTT bike day, we went over 20 miles probably, but it was soooo good! We were so busy that we just packed pb&js to eat while biking between appointments... but they all fell through and we were 5 miles from home, so we took a surprise dinner break on the front porch swing of our Relief Society President's house. :P

She saw us outside, and asked if we had rung her doorbell. When we said "No, we were just catching some shade" She said: "You are Dorks!! Well, if you need anything, water, snack, air conditioning, come on in!" hahaha it was good, and the ice-water she gave us was a huge blessing. It was definitely a very missionary-esque day for us to celebrate, literally everything we'd planned fell through, but we were really tired and happy by the end of it. :P

The bench we took our dinner break on in front of our relief society president's house, haha happy 1 year! :P​

Later in the evening, since we aren't supposed to play with fire, we burned little baby shirts sister Hoover cut out of another shirt, it was a good time. :P

​Burning the little shirts we made haha.

But yeah, the work is going really well. We cover a lot of area and work with a lot of members, but the Lord has really been blessing us as we've been learning!

Something that really stood out to me this week was truth, and looking/searching for and seeking out truth. I stumbled upon this quote by Austin Farrer: "Though argument does not create conviction, lack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish."

This was really cool to think about as I reflected on an experience we had at a member's house on our 1-year mark! The 12-year old daughter Kaylee, shared with us an experience she had in school where she had to defend the fact that Joseph Smith did not write the Book of Mormon, but he translated it. The young man, her peer, who was arguing with her told her that she didn't know what she was talking about. She replied:
"I'm a Mormon, I KNOW what I believe."

This story really impressed me, and it reminded me of a Baptist man who told us to "Study the founder of your church" commenting on a biography, as he was disrespecting something about Joseph Smith's life.

I really did want to tell him that I do, every day, when I read the scriptures, because the founder of my Church is not Joseph Smith, He is Jesus Christ, and we learn of Him and His teachings through the scriptures...

Both of these instances reminded me that I really do need to search for truth, and not put anyone else down. Jesus Christ clearly states in the scriptures that if we are to DO the will of the Father we need to know the doctrine (John 7:10-18)... and I know that my faith is not just in the Lord's teachings, but it's manifested in how I act... which is slowly improving every day ;)

haha, but life is good. Truth is REAL. And I know with all of my heart this IS the Lord's work, and He's in the details of it, and His arms are outstretched to those who will receive Him! No matter where we are on our walk. 

I love you all, I hope your week is wonderful!

All my heart,

Sister Lagrosa!

​​My beastly bike Perry. Covered in duct tape to be protected from the transfer bus, and matches my purple water bottle I got for 3 bucks at the HEB! :D Sometimes I LOVE being a missionary! :D

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The most beautiful sky in the world. Seriously, it may be the only beautiful thing down here, besides the people, but, it is pretty dang amazing, and I get to see it EVERY morning and EVERY night!!!

 

Lunch with the Midland Sisters at Souper Salad! Soooo fun!

Sister Hoover and I made car cookies again (in honor of our last Zone Conference with the Augustins) and they were received well! :D

​Sister Bradford, Sister Hoover, Sister Lagrosa, Sister Brown!

All celebrating one year! (Sister Bradford was my 1st companion and Sister Hoover my 3rd!! funny how things come full circle huh? Woot-Woot!!!)

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When I think Midland... I think bears! - June 2, 2014

Wow, it kind of feels like the Wizard of Oz! Twisters, lions, tigers, bears! ...haha, not really though, I was super lame this week, and didn't take like ANY pictures, except for this one while we were finding, and we found this tree that is completely bear-proofed!

(For those of you who don't know why some Texans put metal on their trees, it's because of squirrels, not bears, Sister Hoover enlightened us. :P)

Haha, well family and friends! I hope this letter finds you well!

It's been a crazy week, but it's been pretty darn amazing! We are working a lot, with our two areas, covering two cities, and doing a lot of finding, and we were finally able to get some more teaching opportunities this week! We met a young man named Jack who was fellowshipped by some of the YSA, taught the restoration by some elders in Odessa, and came to church this week! We had a lesson with him yesterday, and talked with him more about the Spirit testifying of truth, and how the message we share really does help our personal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, so questions are very important! It was really neat, and interesting to hear from him, that he's basically just been told to believe his whole life, instead of spiritually searching for truth. Another testament that member-missionary work is the way to go, because Jack's new best friend is one the members in our little YSA branch.

It's fun to see how close everyone is to each other here, even though some of the members have their families around, they are all really close to each other, because our congregation truly is a family!

Speaking of family moments, we go out on splits with the Relief Society in our family ward on Thursdays, and we go out and visit some of the sisters in the ward, and we meet their families too so we can all get to know each other better. We were at a members' house, and were talking a little bit about childhood, and I brought up the fact that I can't remember a lot of mine... this conversation ensued:

Brother Shannon: "You can't remember anything? Were you in an accident?"

Me: "Yes, I was an accident."
Brother Shannon: "Can you tell us about what happened? Did you get head trauma?"

Me: "Do what? ...oh was I in an accident... not was I an accident... no I wasn't in an accident."

Sister Hoover: "Wow, that's embarrassing."

There is never a dull moment in missionary work! haha

​

And in the true nature of the crazy rollercoaster missionary work is, here is one more thought to leave with y'all this fine day, this is from a talk given by Elder Holland a few years back:

"Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font? You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him?"

All my heart,

Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

Chapter 9: Heavenly Father Knows What's Up! - May 19, 2014

Howdy howdy family and friends!

 

So transfer calls happened again, buuuuut first thing I've gotta say is:

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACY!!!

I wouldn't be out here without you inviting me to know truth for myself friend! You are amazing, and I'm getting there ;)

 

Haha, okay, everyone knows that I know I too am amazing, which is why I'm starting off (secondly) with this quote by Marianne Williamson:

"Out deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. there is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our won fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

 

I've been learning A LOT about humility and faith this past year (and let's be honest, my ENTIRE life) but I've been able to actually see it more tangibly this past year... Something I hope to always be able to say is "I didn't know it was possible to love more!"... or to have more faith, or happiness... because I know when I feel full, or stretched, through trials or blessings from my trials of faith, I know without doubt that I'm coming closer to who Heavenly Father knows I can be.

 

And with that, the transfer news!

So we had some surprises this week... I got my 13th companion for a few days this weekend, and I got to serve in my old area (Midland 3rd ward) again! Sister Archibald is awesome, and it was neat to see that there were some people who I had met 7 months ago who are now baptized and active members of the church! The Lord's timing is so great! And we got to have another 6 hours of church on Sunday!

 

All this serving in 2 areas, and having 4 new companions craziness this transfer prepared me for my call, because, even though I'm staying here in Midland (and frowny face both Sisters Archibald and Kramer are leaving) I'm going to be serving in both Midland 1st Ward and the Young Single Adult (YSA) branch here! So, I've got 5 hours of church to look forward to every week (the times overlap), and I'm actually going to be reunited with my first companion in the field THE Sister Hoover! We'll be hitting our year mark together, but right now I'm at 5 moves, 7 areas, 11 months, 13 companions... lots of awesome prime numbers lol.

 

Sister Archibald, Kramer & Lagrosa

(We stayed up late waiting for our calls)

 

God is good! The Church is true! Being a missionary is the BEST... even though it's hard and crazy unpredictable, be we always have a good time, and we are indeed happy in the Lord's service!

 

Oh, and hey, I can almost do the splits!
(Don't let the smile deceive you... it's a little painful) :P

 

All my heart,

Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

"It's His good news that we bring!" - May 11, 2014

"As we labor gladly bringing souls to Christ!"

(Sister Kramer, Tanya [the reason I'm here in Midland], and Me :D)

Howdy howdy family and friends!

 

This week was truly amazing! So much happened! We were blessed to have an extra special day celebrating our mothers, and speaking with our families, our little group of missionaries here in Midland were able to got to the temple, and Tanya was baptized on Saturday, and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Mother's day yesterday!

 

I feel so blessed to have been able to meet this amazing woman, who has really overcome so much, and has been such an amazing example of how we are not only saved by Christ's grace, but we are changed by it. No number of words could describe how pure and giving her heart is, and I know that she is going to just continue to bless SO many people's lives here in Midland! She told me yesterday: "I will always be here for you when you fall. Now, it doesn't mean you're not grounded, but I'll be here for you!" Tanya is such a wonderful example!

 

We were so blessed to be able to go to the temple this week also! I learned a lot, and as we were pondering some questions I had, I was reading the scriptures in Spanish, and received an answer! Now, I don't know Spanish, and the English scriptures were being read by some other missionaries, but it was so amazing to realize just a little bit deeper that spiritual truths are learned spiritually, and even though I only understood a few of the words that were written, I was still able to receive direction... that is truly amazing.

 

Another blessing from attending the temple is that I was able to see Sister Sears, from Hobbs (my last area), and it was just so wonderful! I knew she worked in the temple on Thursdays before I went up there, and it was just really amazing to be able to see her!

 

So we've been doing a lot of finding lately, just trying to find new people to teach, and there are some really rich people up here! There was a mansion with this awesome lion in front of it that we had to get a picture with. :)

 

We've decided that we are going to take out some of the laurels (girls 16+) with us each week to show them a little more about what missionary work is like, and when we went to their class yesterday to get some of their times for availability, one of the sisters said "I'm basically free all day, every day! Call ME!!!" It was really funny, and amazing, I love the alacrity of the members here, and their desire to share the restored gospel. :)

 

Some fun things about missionary work this week:
1) We've been making good use of the crock pot, and made some amazing bbq chicken!

2) We mostly just study or sleep when we are at home, and we realized that our apartment has developed horizontal surface disorder (any horizontal surface ends up messy!)

3) Sister Kramer is my first companion that didn't really grow up in the church, and I'm her first also, so it's really funny when people are talking about primary songs, or some organizational things that we're both still learning we look at each other and shrug, then laugh. It's pretty much the best. :P

One last thing before I'm out for this week:
I was reading in the last chapter of Luke while reflecting on Christ's Atonement and Resurrection during sacrament meeting, and These verses stood out to me:
Luke 24:30-33

(30) And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. (31) And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. (32) And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

 

It just reminded me of John 14: 26-27 when Christ promises that the Holy Ghost will testify of the things He spoke to them and bring all things which He taught to their remembrance. We really do need to learn truth not only with logic, but with the confirmation of the Spirit.

 

Isn't the gospel such good news!?!?!

 

It is indeed! :)

 

I love you with all of my heart,

Sister Heather Ann Lagros

Sister Kramer: A Boss - May 5, 2014

Oh wow,

So the craziness has settled a LOT, and life got back to missionary normal this week! My new companion is Sister Kramer!! (I went from my 9th companion to my 12th companion in the last month! That's crazy! But it's awesome) It's wonderful to look back and really see how everything came together, and how things ended up with both of us here.

We're going to be doing a LOT of knocking this transfer, but Sister Kramer was trained here, so she knows the ward at least a little bit better than I do, and we're going to be just increasing the missionary-work excitement that's already going on here. It's nice to have just one ward to keep track of haha. Also, as the title of this e-mail indicates, Sister Kramer, is indeed a boss missionary, I don't think I've ever had so much fun while knocking, and 99% of people don't want to talk to us... but we know we are here for a reason, and we're finding our purpose together. :)

 

(We switched glasses for a little so funny! Also, notice the tan line. Yeah, you can be impressed :P)

 

Oh man, what else what else? Well, we are teaching an amazing woman named Tanya who Sister Kramer actually found when she was first here, I'll tell you more next week! We're excited!

 

All I can say is that life is really good, and I've never been more excited to be a missionary. Something that is really amazing that's settled in this past couple weeks... I understood with my head before, but not completely in my heart, that I really need to give all of myself to everyone that we have the privilege of speaking with, because I'm on very limited, borrowed time out here! So even if we talk to someone who is just not interested, or doesn't like us, before we walk up to the next door, or talk to the next person we see, I get the opportunity to refocus and actually see that person as a child of God, and remember how much He loves them, and wants them to know about the restored gospel.

 

1 Corinthinans 2:9-13 ( https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-cor/2?lang=eng )have been really inspirational for me, because I know that it's not just the words that I speak, but the Spirit, the intention and the love that I get to speak with. The only way to know of spiritual things is spiritually! And I'm glad I've been able to cross that intellectual-spiritual knowledge gap the past couple weeks, because I feel very, very blessed to be out here doing His work, for His children, on His time.

 

I love you each so much! I wish I could e-mail my heart to show you how it feels! Have an amazing week, and don't forget to do something wonderful for your moms!

 

All my heart,

Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

1- Me and Sister Kramer in our matching Plan of Salvation shirts!

2- my 3-week trio companionship on Easter. <3

3- This cat followed us home after working out twice this week!

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