Record Breaking News!

Hello family!!!

I have so much so say, and it seems like so little time to write everything down!
I broke a record in the TLM last Monday night. In the Artesia Branch, any missionary who goes to the Martinez famly's house gets to eat a habenero pepper, and usually it's just the elders, but someone had the record set at 6 peppers! So, naturally, loving the spice of life that I love, I wanted to break that record. And I ate 7. Let's just say it was worse than the Kobe Sushi Hellfire Sushi Challenge I failed a couple years ago... but, victory has never ever been so blazing hot!!!
And speaking of blazing hot... 95 degrees FEELS AMAZING... well compared to 110, it's weird how I'm used to this heat, I though adjusting to the freezing Provo winter this past year would make me die here, but I'm not. Have I said that before? I don't even remember... maybe it's the heat getting to me haha. Since work is still going kind of slow (since we're still really new to the area, we've been knocking on so many doors, and have the tan lines to show it! (I don't think I've ever been so dark). Three of the last four days, a very excited future missionary from Carlsbad (Mikayla) has joined us to help us knock, and we've gone on "splits", where we've broken up into two and two companionships. We are literally 1/2 way through Dexter, and we've been teaching quite a few lessons on the Restoration, but like I said before, it's been difficult to get return appointments.
But there are so many miracles we see every day. Truly, rejection is still hard, no matter how used to int you are, and there are just so many small miracles that uplift us, it's hard to even explain them all. Most recently it's been Mikayla joining us for splits, so we can try to do more actual teaching, and also we got a call last night from a return missionary, Heather (not me), who sereved in Montana, and she wants to help us out as much as she can. We were planning for how we could do more teaching, becasue we've just been trying to find people, and then boom, call from her, and we got two referrals this morning from a person who used to attend the Artesia Branch.
We do have one investigator though! Maria! We were able to teach her twice this week, and are meeting with her again later this week after we go and do exchanges (splits with other missionaries) in Portallis and Clovis on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Her potential-husband/boyfirend of 7 years is a less-active member who hasn't been to church in a very long time, but has a blazing, golden testimony of the Restoration, even though he isn't well versed in any of the scriptures Bible or Book of Mormon, you can feel the Spirit so strong when he talks about his confidence in Heavenly Father, that He would call another prophet to restore the church that Jesus Christ established when he was on the earth. Teaching them has been great, and re-teaching Nathan some of the things he was never able to learn before (because he stopped going to church, and didn't really read his scriptures), has been such a testimony builder for us too. Like it says in D&C 50:22 --> "Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together." The best teachers are those that are also edified from their students, and honestly, as missionaries, we DON"T know it all, the real teacher that testifies of all truth is the Holy Spirit, and that's how we are all edified.
Something that makes our jobs as missionaries a lot easier is having the members find for us, and then invite us over to teach with them. I ddin't realize that that isn't how it always happens here, and it's so hard for missionaries to get people to church because we move in and out, and around so much, we can't be the only social connection they have there, and the only people that help to encourage them to build their relationship with Heavenly Father. We are working with the members in our Branch to rekindle their missionary spirit, and ask them to be bold and share this message with their friends, and let us have a lesson with them, and it's working alright, but I feel like for many people it could be uncomfortable talking about religion with people. Down here though, there  are churches EVERYWHERE, and people believe in God, they know him better than I do... which I mean doesn't seem like much, but even though it's only been 6 years that I've known Him, I feel that I've had about a hundred years of change inside of me. Lots of them are willing to talk about religion with you, as long as they can share their testimony also, and it's so much easier to hear "Hey, can I try and help add to your faith?" from a freind rather than a random 17-year-old looking bunch of girls on your doorstep (yeah, someone actually thought I was 15 the other day). We are all just trying to add to eachother anyway, and I think that everyone has a story, has a journey they've gone through, in which they've seen God's hand work miracles in their lives. Share it!
I'm short on time... like all missionaries I guess, but I just want to end with my love for you. I haven't always been able to express my love and appreciation for my family as I should have as I've grown, but I know that from my genetics, to my weird food habits (like cottage cheese and slasa), that I wouldn't be Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa without all of you. It's fun to introduce myself, with my two companions from UT, with giganctic families, and tell people that I have more parents than siblings, that I'm kind of homeless, and spent the last month before I came here visinting my awesome extended family all over the country.
And I'm so grateful for my adoptive families too, from the friendships forged during my time at BYU, to the amazing people in my life who have taken me as an extra daughter, I've been blessed with love and encouragement that I can't even begin to describe.
Just want to make a shout out to:
Jen, my soul sister and awesome best friend.
Eric, who uplifts me no matter how much space is between us.
The Sallstroms who adopted me when I moved to UT.
The Sumsion family who has adopted me as another missionary.
and
The Hamm Family for being bold, and sharing the truth with me, a debt I don't know I'll ever be able to understand.
Love Always,

 I'm learning so much here about how we all need to stop for a second, look around, and see just how much God loves us. He places people into our lives for a day to a season, to a lifetime, and one more way we can feel His love is through them.

Sister Lagrosa

A picture of me trying to look like my mouth wasn't hotter than the middle of the sun.

The Trio in some awesome chairs at our 4th of July Branch party.

 What our we walk on no-drive day

 AN AWESOMELY GIANT BUG... they are literally  EVERYWHERE!

Did you know that water can start a hay fire?

Hello Family and Friends!! So I've been learning a lot of cool things on the mission... like if you get hay bales wet, they can totally combust, because when they start to decompose they get hot, and in 110+ weather, boom! flames happen! Crazy right? Anyway, this last week has been pretty crazy, it rained SO much last night, and it cooled of to a nice 82 degrees today! Mom, I can now understand why it's so hard for you to handle 60. :P An update on the crazy house we moved into... well, it leaks... a lot, and the celing in our kitchen kinda ended up on the floor too (when it rains here everything floods becasue I don't think the ground knows what to do with all the water lol), but we are moving out tonight/tomorrow morning into a house that used to be a Methodist Parsonage! :P Opening up a new area is hard work! It's so cool to get to know the members of the branch we have here, there are quite a few less active members that we have been able to visit, and invite to come back to church. As for new investigators to teach, we've had a couple lessons, but people are really busy, so it's hard to get return appointments here. Our days start with us waking up at 6:30 and exercising for 30 minutes after our morning prayers. Then we get ready and eat breakfast, and have personal scripture study time from 8-9. From 9-10 we prepare for our day's lessons by doing companionship scriptures study (with all three of us) and we role play how some of the lessons will go, and then we go over some of our training packet from 10-11. At 11 sharp we are out the door and talking to everyone we can about the gospel. We have a quick lunch sometime in the next couple hours there, and try to have dinner before 6 (if we don't have a dinner appointment scheduled). Then we try to have a lesson sometime in the evening before we return home at 9 to plan for the next day, get ready for bed, and get to sleep at 10:30. The schedule seems pretty reasonable, but there seriously just NEVER seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done, even when appointments (and their back-ups) fall through all the time! We've had 2 great lessons the past week, and I realized that I am so much better at listening than teaching when it comes to the gospel! Sister Hoover (the other baby missionary in our trio), who is secretly shy like I am, did SO well teaching the restoration to a really amazing Catholic woman, Felipa, and I was just amazed by how strong her faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is, and wanted to hear more about her life. I was able to bear my testimony to her that the message we are sharing with her will increase her faith, and the joy that she has in her life, and that  even though she already knows so much, and sees Heavenly Father's hand in her life, that accepting the fullness of His gospel will bless her and her family even more. After the lesson, I turned to Sister Johnson and asked her how I could possibly learn to teach some of these people who know Him so much better than I do, about the restored gospel, and her answer surprised me. She said, "Sister Lagrosa, we are in the bible belt, people here, they know their bible, they know their Heavenly Father, and they are good Christians. But we aren't here to teach what they already have, we are here to teach about what they don't have, and that's the fullness of His gospel." After thinking about that for awhile I realized that I think I learned about the restored gospel backwards... I never knew Heavenly Father, but I got to learn from the Missionaries, and the Hamm's and the Brambleton Ward, about what the restored truth is. Then when I knew that, and I finally decided to ask God if it was true, once I knew Him, then it all just made sense... and I've always questioned things, like I've mentioned before I ask myself questions every day. If I'm living what I truly want. I have to cut this e-mail short, but enjoy the pictures! We made cookies in our car because it's been so hot! 

Love, Sister Lagrosa!

a little dust devil! (They are EVERYWHERE down here!)

The BEAUTIFUL cloudy New Mexico Sky from THIS MORNING!! :D

a TRACTOR on the highway! (Old Dexter Highway is 2 lanes!)

This is why you can bake cookies in the CAR! (it said 133 earlier) BUT IT"S 5:30 AT NIGHT!!!

We baked cookies on our dashboard at Zone Conference (a conference with all of the missionaires in our area which is New Mexico)!

WELCOME TO DEXTER!!!

Hello Everyone!!

So we left bright and early from the MTC at 4:30 last Monday and even though there were some rain delays all 26 new missionaries made it safely to Lubbock!

And I got assigned to help open up a new area called Dexter NM! It's a  cute little town that has about 1700 people in it. YES 1700! And you need 2400ish to get street delivery for mail so we have a P.O. Box!

If y'all wanna write me some letters you can use the mission home address:

Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

6310 114th St.

Lubbock TX, 79424

or you can send it to me in NM:

Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

P.O. Box #67

Dexter, NM 88230

Either way it'll get to me (I'd suggest just sending it to TX).

So yeah, my trainer (or mom in mission lingo) is Sister Johnson! She's about half dead (half way through her mission), from UT, super blonde (and it shows sometimes :P), and a fantastic missionary and teacher for us. Oh yeah... US. There's another fresh missionary here in the new area with us from the MTC. Guess who! ...yep. The sass-bucket! Sister Hoover! (and you'll finally have some pictures!!!) It's been pretty stinkin' awesome out here... but kinda hard. :P

First though, I'll start with last Monday and Tuesday. After we landed we had an AMAZING dinner at the chapel in Lubbock, and some time with President Augustine as he oriented us to the mission and gave us our assignments to our areas. Nine of the 13 incoming sisters stayed at the mission home that night, and then on Tuesday we had a little bit more orientation and went out to lunch. Then we picked up our bikes (or bought them... like me :P) and went back to the chapel because the transfer bus took about half of the new missionaries out to their areas. The lucky ones who got to stay (us Dexter Sisters included) packed it in for one more night, and we went out to talk to people in the Lubbock area. IT WAS SO SCARY... ahhahhahaha, I know you wouldn't believe it, but I'm actually kind of shy in new situations, so it took about 5 people for me to get used to it, and then we went knocking. :P

That night we slept at the Texas Tech Sister's apartment and I got to sleep on a chair! :P

Then the next morning we went back to the chapel, picked up our brand spankin' new car (for our new area) and packed it full! Surprise though... my bike was accidentally stolen the day before... we think one of the Elders took it because there was a leftover one at the church, but it was a few inches too big for me (but the same brand of bike I got)... lets just say I couldn't really get my leg over it, let alone ride it in a skirt lol. But, all is well, I'm borrowing a rusty Wal-mart bike (left by one of the Elders in the Artesia area) until the Assistants to the President (APs) figure out how to get my bike back.

So we headed out with our car PERFECTLY jam-packed, and blew into DEXTER in a dust storm! We met the Branch Mission Leader, and the 2 Elders that are serving in the Artesia Branch with us, and it was pretty cool. When we rolled into our house we were kinda surprised by how, uhm, well, run-down it kinda was. We had so much cleaning to do, and no cleaning supplies.... so we had to drive a half hour back to Walmart, and then spend the night cleaning stuff, building our beds, and trying to avoid some things crawling around on the floors. It didn't seem too bad until Thursday morning when we listed all of the things we needed and read it off to the mission office.... One of the major things was this sulfer-y smell in the  water (becasue the pipes hadn't been run in awhile) and on Friday we discovered our gas hadn't been turned on, so we had no hot water to shower with... if our shower worked lol (but don't worry, we've been able to shower at a member's home on our street) but yeah, all three of us a re pretty optimistic, so it was a good time for the most part, but we are currently finding another place to live lol.

Anyway, on to the good stuff! Since Thursday morning, we've been out knockin' and talkin' to people and it was so good! It's kinda really hard too, because there are like 5 churches in this little town, but there are so many good Christians out here, that it's not like I was expecting with people slamming doors in our faces or anything. I look down the street, smell that sulfur smell (yeah our town is a little sulfur-y... but I think I'm getting used to it, along with the incessant flies from the local dairies and fish hatchery) and I think to myself: "Sister Lagrosa, you are exactly where you need to be!" And then I smile. :D

Since it is a new area, I'm still trying to figure out exactly why I'm supposed to be here, but even with the discouraging times, there is something everyday that I get to experience that lifts me up so much!

One house we knocked on towards the end of our day on Friday was Felipa. (Oh about 60% of Dexter is mainly Spanish speaking, so I think I'll be picking up a little bit of in because everyone looks at me and starts goin'! lol) Anyway, we talked with her about what we were doing after she said she saw us walking around (yeah, the town's kinda small, so EVERYONE knows we're around lol), and she's just been having some rough times. We spoke with her about the restored gospel (her faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are already so strong) and we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon to read. I told her two of my favorite chapters are in 3 Nephi 17& 18 where the resurrected Christ comes and prays with the Nephites and ministers unto them. She said she would read them, and we prayed with her right there on the front porch! We are meeting with her again this week, and when we were leaving she said "Three angels came into my home today".

El sol es calor! (the sun is hot!! It gets up to 115F here!)

But the work is great! It's going to be a hard, but good 3 months here!

Love always,

Sister Lagrosa

Pictures:

1) our whole Zone from the MTC

2) Me and Twister outside the Lubbock airport!

3) Me and Sister Hoover pointing to our new area!

4) Me and Sister Hoover with my disappointing not-quite-a-black-eye

5) Me and Sister Nielsen the day I got my eyes dilated, and she was like "What the heck happened to yoU!?!?!"

6) Sister Hoover, Me, and Sister Johnson with our planners during weekly planning.

7) Our 2nd night in Lubbock!

8) Our house! (See it gets smaller as you walk to the back! :P

Our whole Zone from the MTC

Me and Twister outside the Lubbock Airport

Me and Sister Hoover pointing to our new Area

Me and Sister Hoover with my disappointing not-quite-a-black-eye

Sister Hoover, Me, and Sister Johnson with our planners during weekly planning.

Me and Sister Nielsen the day I got my eyes dilated, and she was like "What the heck happened to yoU!?!?!"

Our 2nd night in Lubbock!

Leavin' For Lubbock on Monday!

Hello Everybody!

There have been SOOOO many things that have happened this week, I'm going to hardly have time to go over them all! But good news though, I have tons of pictures to send as soon as I get out to Lubbock!!

First I'd just like to say, I'm sorry you got that call from the MTC Health Clinic Mom. I PROMISE everything is okay, I just took a soccer ball to the face during gym time on Wednesday, and the blind spot I had for about 20 minutes after the impact was sitll there in low light. Sister Heward (the wife of one of the members in our Branch Presidency) made me promise to go to the doctor if I woke up on Friday with the blind spot (in low light), and since I did, I felt obligated to do it. Dr. Neilsen at the MTC referred me to an opthamologist, just to make sure everything was alright, and Dr. Meyers (said opthamologist) dialted my left eye and took a look at my optic nerve and retina. The upper left (mirror of the bottom right where my blind spot was) wasn't the normal brownish/pinkish/orange that it should have been, it was kind of white. He called it a mild form of commotio retinae, which would heal on its own (it's just a little bit of sheering injury from the impact of the soccer ball). Missionaries truly are blessed with health! (There are pictures to come of the little bruise I had, and me with Sister Hoover who is the one who got me with the ball! She is such an energetic sass bucket! :D) (And it was way cool to be out of the MTC, as a MISSONARY!! People called me Sister Lagrosa! :D)

Something I've really come to realize this week is the power of prayer. As I've struggled a bit with feelings of inadequacy, among the other usually new missionary feelings, I realized that there truly is so much power in going to hte Lord with all of the desires of your heart. As most of you all know I am really a people person too (which is why I'm so excited to get to Texas soooo bad!), and it's been hard to not have the time I usually spend talking to people, and my roommates seem to get so much mail lol, but I know that there are so many people out there praying for me individually, but also for me as one of the Lord's missionaries!
Also, we kneel so much every day here, my favorite parts of the day are kneeling with my companion after a lesson (even if it wasn't successful at all) and having a prayer of grattitude for our investigator, and for the gifts the Lord has given us.
Sister Metzger (one of our teachers) had us do an activity with prayer that was so powerful. After we talked about some instances of prayer in the scriptures, we identified this patter of preparing to pray, and spending more than five minutes on our knees. After that she had us take a few minutes to write a letter to our Heavenly Father, preparing for a prayer about anything weighing down on our hearts, and then we all got on our knees and prayed. It was so impacting for me to feel my Father in Heaven's love for me with so much strenght, that I've made it a goal for me to follow that pattern (think, write, pray) at least once a week for the rest of my life.
One last thing about prayer I'd like to share is a really uplifiting experience as a zone (our two Lubbock districts) that we had on Thursday. One of the sisters (Sister Scott) going to Lubbock is from Australia, so she has had quite a bit more of an adjustment to the missonary schedule than a lot of us have. During our morning block of classes she passed out on the floor, and started hyperventalating. Two of the elders in her district were able to adminsiter a priesthood blessing for her while another called for the EMTs. She woke up just as the blessing was finished, and she ended up being okay. It was a really emotional expereince for us as a zone, mostly because we didn't know exactly what was wrong, and it was a trial of faith to know that she would be okay. We knelt together as a district and had a prayer together. And then we sang the hymn: "The Spirit of God", and I just started crying the Spirit was there, and it was so strong. After a short testimony meeting, we had some time for personal scripture study about the Atonement, and we shared some of what we learned with our class. I read in John 14, and my calling as a missionary was reaffirmed to me again as I read the words that Christ spoke and understood a little bit more that His power can truly heal us in whatever way we need it.

It seems that during almost every time I have to study the scriptures I am reminded that it is this knowledge that I have that I get to share with others. It's not fair for me to know so deeply that Christ is my Savior, that I not share that with others. Our purpose as missonaries is to: "Invite others to come unto Christ by recieving the restored gospel through, faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." I know this is going to be a difficult calling, but as I've settled in to being Sister Lagrosa, I KNOW with all of my heart that this is the Lord's work, and I cannot let my own reservations keep me from being a bold missonary and do my best to share the gospel with eveyone around me... even if it just by my actions.

I don't have much more time, but I did want to say that it is crazy to think this time next week, I'll be in an area I'll be serving for 12 weeks! In the Lubbock Texas Mission! Something we learned during in-feild orientation is to get to know the ward as soon as possible, so if the Bishop where ever I am agrees, I'll hopefully be able to speak or bear my testimony in sacrament meeting next week!

If you get an opportunity please watch Elder Holland's Mormon Message "God's Work Never Ceases". He loves you!

I know His grace is sufficient for us all.

Love always,
Sister Lagrosa

p.s.  I just want to say Happy Fathers Day! I hope you got my cards, and happy Birthday William! When I get home I"ll be 23! :D

I love you all!

Day 3 of the MTC

Hi Family!!!

So our district (our class basically) has 10 missionaries who are ALL going to Lubbock! Also there is another district next door to us with another 10, so in total there are 11 Sisters and 9 Elders departing the MTC on Monday the 17th!! We already received our travel plans, and we are leaving here at 4:30 in the morning!!! Arriving in Lubbock at 4:30.

Since we only have 30 minutes to e-mail here, I'm going to try and keep this short, also, I don't think we can upload photos yet... but I'm out of here soon, so you'll get some!!

First thing first though, wow, getting dropped off!!! Eliza, drove me down and Jen and Steph (aka ginger bear) met up with us for my final minutes of pre-MTC-ness. It was a whirlwind that night, everything went so fast I found myself forgetting to take a breath. After getting a brand spankin' new black name tag, I went to drop off my luggage, literally we just dropped it in the room, and went to the classroom to meet our teachers and our companions. My companion is Sister Bradford, a wonderful 20-year old UT grown Aggie (USU) from up north, and she is SOOOO GREAT! We are really different, she's quiet, more reserved, etc. but, wow is her faith BRIGHT! She is a hard worker, and I've felt over the past few days that it's difficult for her to feel discouraged, she is so strong and it's really amazing to be with her all the time.

Our days are jam-packed here, I love how perfectly they are scheduled, but I feel so rushed, and my heart is just aching to be in the mission field! Classes are amazing, and it's interesting to be back in them since I've graduated. The BEST part about classes is that it's more apparent to me more and more every hour my purpose as a missionary!

I'm inviting people to come unto Christ. How great is that?

The gospel is so simple, and it is testified to me over and over again here that Heavenly Father loves ALL of his children all that He wants for us is eternal happiness.

I'll have to admit though, my multiple inadequacies and shortcomings are MORE than apparent here. I've had to really rel on the power and strength of Heavenly Father and my calling to keep me from getting too discouraged. Sadly our first lesson was like a train wreck in slow motion.

But it's the little things that help us pull through. I've run into both of the Sumsion Sisters here (Tabitha and Kelli) and actually had a great conversation with the latter last night. And I've seen so many young sisters from the Brambleton Ward and from my time at BYU. I even ran into some return missionaries (RMs) that are now teachers here (you know they are teachers because they are walking by themselves lol).

I love the Spirit that is here, even though my heart is yearning for Texas. I am trying (and succeeding quite well may I add) at being an exactly obedient missionary (following all of the rules) and reading my Book of Mormon everyday for 30+ minutes! Our branch president gave us those commitments last night.

I love you, and my time is just about up! I want to share one more thing with you before I go though.

One of my teachers, Sister Metzger shared this scripture with us

D&C 100:1 "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my [friend Sister Lagrosa], your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power."

I know Heavenly Father is with you, and I know that you all are blessed.

Love Always,

Sister Lagrosa

<3

Graduation: BYU Undergraduate Class of 2013!!

If someone asked me 5 years ago what I'd be doing after college I would have just laughed.

But that's me, just a few days ago... with a nice little cap on my head. (And the shirt that lets you know I'm trouble when I walk in ;)

In all honesty I never had plans for after graduation... I think that's why my mind was so set on serving a mission before, so I would have something concrete to come back to. And I was really upset (well mostly scared) when I realized that I needed to stay and finish up school. But I would have missed out on so much.

Namely: The craziest wilderness therapy [presentation] group ever! 

feat: Nicole a.k.a. Munchskiez, Me a.k.a. Abu, Yarelly a.k.a. Ali and (not pictured: Karen a.k.a. Chumpskiez)

we all graduated together (even though Karen missed out on the best part!) :P

I would've missed this girl (Kelsie)

Who was my awesomesauce co-TA in the fall.

And I would've missed out on being the SHORTEST one of my friends! :P

And pictures proving that I'm (even though it's ever so slightly) taller than BOTH my Mom and Father!

even though I'm shorter than my "Daddy-Paul"

and we'd have missed out on this awesomesauce 3:1 parent-kid ratio pic! :P

In short, I'm happy to be a graduate. It's total weirdsuce to me. I've gone from having it all: 2 jobs, an apartment, a car, and a full-time student status in full-productivity mode to being completely job-less, homeless and unproductive in about 2 days... 

I am pretty darn excited for the mission though. :P And the family-time I get to spend before then! 

Why I Want to Serve A Mission

     So as most of you know I am going to serve as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I've been called to serve for 18 months in the Texas, Lubbock mission! AND I"M SUPER EXCITED!! I got my call about 1 month ago, on February 1st 2013... but it's taken me awhile to get a blog post up, because I haven't really been able to fully express the reasoning behind why I want to serve. 

     I started a countdown to the day I could start my papers during the summer of 2011, I was just excited to get them going, but, clearly, my papers didn't get in a year later. They went in January 6th 2013, after a whirlwind fall semester I spent wondering why the Lord wanted me to wait to go serve. As always though, things really fell into place for me, I have received so much comfort in my call, and I know I am so much better prepared to serve the Lord after the few months that I delayed in turning in my papers. 

     But none of that explained why I want to serve. It's easy for people to be excited for someone to serve, and I know there are a bunch of reasons why I want to go, but I haven't been able to pin-point it down well. Aaand, believe it or not, I don't like to talk about things of importance, unless I really know what I'm talking about (which might be why I'm a little long-winded sometimes... but yeah) sooo here goes nothing:

Some people say that this definition is why they decide to serve a mission (young men get to serve for two years). I learned that families can be eternal when I first started talking with some of the wonderful LDS students at my high school, and learned more about this doctrine when I met with the missionaries and took the discussions. I've learned so much more since those lessons 5 years ago, and I feel that I can appreciate the reality of an eternal family so much more. I know that some of the greatest lessons we can learn, the greatest sorrows we can experience, and the most profound blessings we can experience come from the family. 

     As the only member of the LDS church in my family, it may seem like this definition isn't exactly the best fit for my outlook of missionary service... and if that was your thought, yeah I'd say you'd be right. I think that a lot of people think it's crazy for someone to be totally off the grid, facebook, e-mail, smartphone - free for 18 months!?! Only being able to e-mail family members once a week, and talk to them only on Christmas and Mother's day? Yeah, it sounds pretty crazy, but it's not my work I'm going to be doing it's the Lord's work. I find my reasons to serve rooted in the next three scriptures, the first two explain my faith, and the last one my strength and confidence:

     Moses 1:39- "For behold this is my work and my glory -- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." 

     John 3:17- "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

     2Tim 1:6-10 - "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

     I know that Heavenly Father knows and cares about each and every single one of His children. He wants us to know the goodness and potential that we have, and obtain a desire to work to become the best we can be. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, and that it is through His grace and mercy that I, personally, have been able to slowly become a little bit better every day. The gospel is simple, and it is true. Heavenly Father loves His children, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ came to the earth to atone for our sins, and it is through our acceptance of Him that we can use His power to make the changes we need to in our lives so that we can one day return to live with our Heavenly Father again. My God is loving, merciful, kind, and just; He knows what we need, and His timing is perfect (especially if we aren't feeling it... kinda like that saying "If you wanna make God laugh just tell Him your plan." yeah, there's definitely some truth in that). Heavenly Father knows how to succor His children, even if it doesn't seem like love to us when He lets us go through those difficult times to make us stronger.

     2Tim 1:6-10 is probably my favorite passage of scripture in the entire standard works. The apostle Paul is writing to his son Timothy, and is reminding him that he has been given gifts from God, that even though fear is natural, that Heavenly Father has given us power, love and soundness of mind. With these gifts, we should not be ashamed of our testimony of Him, and part of that requires us to partake in uncomfortable afflictions. But the best part is that we are never left alone, because God is always with us. We can do no work on our own, only through Him. It's through Christ, through His gospel, that we can truly, truly, progress, and obtain eternal life.
     I think everyone should question themselves on a daily basis, and give serious thought as to how they are living their lives. When I've felt fear, or temptation to stray from the gospel, I've taken the time to ask myself "Do you seriously believe in this?" As I prepare to partake of the sacrament, and review the promises I've covenanted with the Lord I think to myself "So you're in this for life huh?" And when I sit down to read my scriptures every day when I could be studying for a test, or sleeping in, I ask myself "Is this really how you want to spend your time?" I don't always get a positive answer when I'm being honest (especially with the morning scripture study, it's hard for me to get to sleep as it is...), but in the end I know that even though it's hard, and even though I'm weird, (let's be honest Mormons are pretty weird, and I was way weird before I was a member...) I know I'm living my life in a way that I'm being the best me I can be. Even with all my imperfections, unhappiness, and clear shortcomings, Heavenly Father provides a way!

      So over the past couple of months, as I was waiting in agony to get my call, feeling absolutely alone and forgotten at some times, to the day I got my call, the evening I was able to go through the temple, and the past few weeks I've been so terrified to go to a new place where I don't know anyone, and I'm going to be the most stationary I've ever been in my entire life (meaning no traveling), I've asked myself again and again "Why did you sign up for this?" I want to bring people closer to Christ and share the gospel in the way that Heavenly Father has provided me (I've always done stuff my own way, and I'll have the rest of my life to make up my own schedule). I want people to learn about their greatness from His perspective. The world teaches us that we need recognition from others to be great, which I think keeps us from fully being able to accept ourselves. I know that the greatness we can achieve doesn't need to immortalize our names in any history book, but greatness comes as we take upon ourselves an eternal perspective. Then, we can share this love, and confidence with others. Christ is my rock, my Redeemer, the reason that I am alive today, and I want to sacrifice a bit of my time and my desires to understand His life a little bit more, and to share that understanding with others. I know there is a living prophet on the earth today, Thomas Spencer Monson who is the President of our church. A church that was restored by Joseph Smith, who saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees when he was only 14 years old.
     I want to go share the gospel because it is simple, and it is true. I don't have all the answers, and I know that I don't need all of them, because the truth is simple. Heavenly Father loves me, He knows me, and He wants me to return to Him. This is true for everyone, and I want to teach those who are willing to learn, testify to those who can hear, and just generally try to be a good influence to the people I have the privileged of interacting with in this life. My whole life-career goals are centered around helping people become their best them by forsaking things that are holding them back (helping teenagers with substance use/abuse/addiction issues). My deepest desire in life is to help people see their own personal goodness and the goodness in those around them through all of the negative crap that weighs upon us in this life. I want people to make positive changes in the world, and understand that there is more to life than "greatness" or money or the next awesome fruit phone. You are your most important investment, and your purpose has no earthly value.

     So Lubbock, watch out! Sister Lagrosa is on her way! June 5th is when the adventure begins. :)

Love, Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa