Another week! I can't believe how fast they are going by!
Not much new to report on today. These last few weeks have been really slow as far as finding people to teach. We find people but we have a hard time getting them to church, or to progress for that matter! It's crazy BUT the less active work is going really well. Last night we had a cottage meeting (a name for a missionary-themed fireside they do every 6 weeks or so) and the Villarruel family came. They were less active when I got here, but we've been working with them and little by little they've become more and more active. They are now staying all three hours at church and I set them up with Bishop Almendariz to talk about setting a goal for receiving the priesthood and going to the temple. He's going to visit with them next Sunday!
Bishop and Sister Almendariz are so great! Sister Almendariz doesn't speak much Spanish and Bishop has been serving on the high counsel for many, many years before receiving his call as bishop; and I just love serving with the both of them. We are actually at the Bishop's house right now! They live WAY far out of the way but a while ago, Bishop was telling us about the pear butter that his wife makes. So we asked her about it and the told us to come down and that she would teach us. So here we are, in the process of making pear butter. It smells SO good and these pears were picked 2 days ago from their very own trees! I LOVE California!
Alma (Alma and Julio who were coming for the new year) started her chemotherapy. I don't remember if I wrote home about it, but she was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple months ago, and she got the surgery and was waiting to start the chemo. She didn't have anyone to go with her. She is such a strong woman and she was just gonna go by herself, but we offered to go with her for a little bit before Julio could get there and she seemed very grateful. So we ended up setting up exchanges and I went and sat with Alma for 2 hours (we had only planned for one). It was actually interesting to see how they do the whole thing, and going through it with Alma made me wish I could have gone through it with Grandma. I'm grateful for the opportunity to help Alma out because I've learned a lot about what Grandma had to go through. Anyway, she was feeling really good the next day but then she got really sick on Friday and has been sick since. I guess the first week after chemo is a really bad week and then the following two weeks are just normal. Anyway, she's so great and Julio as well, and they won't be coming to visit the new year; but as soon as everything is done with, they want to come out and visit!
Ricky, Alma's son, WAS going to move out to Colorado with his biological dad, but he decided to stay. I'm really happy about that! His dad works for the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park so I told Ricky that I'd bug him in Colorado too! He'd be in NUGGETS territory! I also told Alma I'd make sure he gets to church on Sundays. She seemed pleased, I think that's probably why he decided to stay! Lol! I'm just kidding. Anyway, everyone seems really glad that Ricky is staying! Dad, when is that Laker's Nuggets game? Can I have dibs on that one?
Anyway, as I said, not a whole lot to report on and now I must excuse myself to go finish pear butter and start helping get dinner ready! I can't wait for you all to come out here to Cali with me next year and meet all these amazing people!
I love you all. Good luck with school, work, family, kids etc... Until next, keep smiling cause your sister missionary loves your guts!
Love always-
Hermana Bradfield
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Hola!!
This is your weekly "Hola'" from your favorite sister missionary, serving in the California Sacramento Mission. How is everyone? Doing well I would imagine?
This last week has been fun. We found a lady named Maria who loved everything that we taught her, wanted to be baptized on the 12th of September, was all set up for church... and then she told us last minute that she was moving to Mexico on Sunday! It's all good though. It's a good thing that the Church is in Mexico as well!
We went to the temple tour with 3 different families last Saturday. Every Saturday, they do tours around the outside of the temple, and we got a big group of people together to go up to it! It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity. One of the families is a family in our ward who are awesome member missionaries. They have a cousin who just lost their 4 year old son to a fever. His family has been going through a really rough time and they've been talking with the bishop; and the bishop sent us over to their house with a Book of Mormon and to help his wife out when he has to work and she's home all alone. We went over last Friday and set up an appointment for Saturday and invited them to the temple as well. They came! We taught them a little about the Book of Mormon and the restoration, and then we left them with the story of Jesus Christ visiting among the people in the Americas and gave them the same testimony that He gave to the jews. We are going over to the members house to do a family home evening with them this Friday! We are going to be teaching about the Plan of Salvation.
Today, we were shopping at a grocery store called Winko (like a Costco but it's cash only) and we met a old member named Jim Lee. He served a mission 40 years ago in Minnesota on the indian reservations, and we had a nice little chat with him. The best part was how it all ended. Their was a lady shopping on the fruit isle in front of us and the next thing we know, Jim points to her and asks us really loud "Have you shared the gospel with this young lady?" She looked at us confused as we said "no," and Jim points to her again and says, "Hey come here... Do you know who these two young ladies are? They are sister missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ, have you heard of that church before?..." and then continues to go on for 5 minutes about his conversion story and about how the sisters found him in line at a grocery store when he was 19 and invited him to listen and then when they came back by to teach him, it was two "ugly" elders. Hahaha! I was trying really hard not to laugh by this point. Anyway, he ended up bearing a really nice testimony to this lady and told her to listen to what we have to say. We ended up giving her a pass along card with our phone number on it, so we'll see what happens. It was all so unexpected and funny. It was great! I love the members here in California. They are so missionary minded!
We had zone conference this week. It went really well. We learned about how to plan more effectively and with the Spirit, and we also learned about how we can invite people to come to church and find more people to teach. It was all really good. It's so cool to see how every zone conference touches on exactly what I need to learn at that precise moment. I always leave zone conference pumped up and ready to go out and work!
I love this work. I love going around everyday and talking with people and telling them about the restored gospel. There is no greater work! Anyone who has the opportunity to serve a mission should not let it pass them by. It is an amazing experience to not only see the people you meet change their lives for the better, but to see your own life change as well, your testimony grow and to become a disciple of Jesus Christ! I don't even want to think about who I would be without these last 18 months of my life!
I love you all and I hope you are all doing well. Good luck getting ready for school or getting back into school. Have a great week with everything you have planned! I LOVE YOU!
Always and Forever,
Hermana Bradfield
This last week has been fun. We found a lady named Maria who loved everything that we taught her, wanted to be baptized on the 12th of September, was all set up for church... and then she told us last minute that she was moving to Mexico on Sunday! It's all good though. It's a good thing that the Church is in Mexico as well!
We went to the temple tour with 3 different families last Saturday. Every Saturday, they do tours around the outside of the temple, and we got a big group of people together to go up to it! It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity. One of the families is a family in our ward who are awesome member missionaries. They have a cousin who just lost their 4 year old son to a fever. His family has been going through a really rough time and they've been talking with the bishop; and the bishop sent us over to their house with a Book of Mormon and to help his wife out when he has to work and she's home all alone. We went over last Friday and set up an appointment for Saturday and invited them to the temple as well. They came! We taught them a little about the Book of Mormon and the restoration, and then we left them with the story of Jesus Christ visiting among the people in the Americas and gave them the same testimony that He gave to the jews. We are going over to the members house to do a family home evening with them this Friday! We are going to be teaching about the Plan of Salvation.
Today, we were shopping at a grocery store called Winko (like a Costco but it's cash only) and we met a old member named Jim Lee. He served a mission 40 years ago in Minnesota on the indian reservations, and we had a nice little chat with him. The best part was how it all ended. Their was a lady shopping on the fruit isle in front of us and the next thing we know, Jim points to her and asks us really loud "Have you shared the gospel with this young lady?" She looked at us confused as we said "no," and Jim points to her again and says, "Hey come here... Do you know who these two young ladies are? They are sister missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ, have you heard of that church before?..." and then continues to go on for 5 minutes about his conversion story and about how the sisters found him in line at a grocery store when he was 19 and invited him to listen and then when they came back by to teach him, it was two "ugly" elders. Hahaha! I was trying really hard not to laugh by this point. Anyway, he ended up bearing a really nice testimony to this lady and told her to listen to what we have to say. We ended up giving her a pass along card with our phone number on it, so we'll see what happens. It was all so unexpected and funny. It was great! I love the members here in California. They are so missionary minded!
We had zone conference this week. It went really well. We learned about how to plan more effectively and with the Spirit, and we also learned about how we can invite people to come to church and find more people to teach. It was all really good. It's so cool to see how every zone conference touches on exactly what I need to learn at that precise moment. I always leave zone conference pumped up and ready to go out and work!
I love this work. I love going around everyday and talking with people and telling them about the restored gospel. There is no greater work! Anyone who has the opportunity to serve a mission should not let it pass them by. It is an amazing experience to not only see the people you meet change their lives for the better, but to see your own life change as well, your testimony grow and to become a disciple of Jesus Christ! I don't even want to think about who I would be without these last 18 months of my life!
I love you all and I hope you are all doing well. Good luck getting ready for school or getting back into school. Have a great week with everything you have planned! I LOVE YOU!
Always and Forever,
Hermana Bradfield
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Training
It's not so bad! It's still hard though. You are constantly trying to make sure that you are doing everything that needs to be done so that your missionary can see every aspect of missionary work and know how to do it later on when they are on their own. Anyway, Sister Wyatt is amazing! She's 5'10", which means I'm not the tallest Spanish sister anymore, (Woohoo, now I'm the chaparita) and she's AWESOME at basketball. She schools me! It's all good, I plan on taking every advantage of her skills as I can. We already did some one on one training over lunch one day. She had a doctor's appointment (yes I'm already killing my companion!!!) and we didn't have the miles to go back to our apartment before we met up with the elders for a blitz; so we decided to eat lunch at the church and then play some bball. She doesn't miss a shot! Kody, after this transfer, I'm gonna be able to hold my own against you again!
WE FOUND CLAUDIA AGAIN!!! We stopped by last Thursday and she was home. She was so happy to see us and she LOVED the heart attack we did to her. It turns out that her sister in Mexico almost died, so she was on the phone all weekend. But in between then and now, she has been teaching her friends at work about the plan of salvation AND has talked to her boss about not working anymore on Sundays. Shes so great! She said hopefully last Sunday is the last time she has to work on Sunday.
Dad, you may be wondering why I made yet another purchase today. I shall briefly explain. First of all, I needed a new pair of shoes so I bought some last week; BUT the shoes broke 4 days later, so I took them back and they would only let me exchange them; so I found a pair of shoes for after the mission that were $10 more since those were the only things I could find that looked decent and worth the money. THEN I have been going through withdrawal since Sister Laird and Sister Harris left with their Magic Bullets. YES you read that correctly, Magic Bullet. Sister Laird's parents sent her one in the beginning of her mission, and she's shared with me since I got here; then she converted Sister Harris as well, and Sister Harris got the last one at Rite Aid last week. I was planning on waiting, but I couldn't resist when I saw it at Longs Drugs today; so don't you worry, I'm ready to go on my Magic Bullet and that is the last big purchase I will be making on the mission. I would just like to say, I testify that the Magic Bullet was worth every penny, and if you don't know what a Magic Bullet is, you should check it out on the internet! Everyone should have a Magic Bullet!
Things have been going about the same here - working hard and trying to get people to progress and come to church. It's been a tough few weeks trying to get people to church, but I know that anyday now we are going to see the miracles and find a bunch of people to teach. I love this work, I know that God is going to make this trial of patience worth it for me in the end, whether I have to learn a profound lesson or whether we get to be a part of bringing a family to the gospel!
I'm sorry this email isn't too exciting, I'm guessing they rarely are since I can't ever remember everything I want to talk about when pdays come around.
Some CAME (Common Awkward Missionary Experiences)moments for ya:
1. Runs in your nylons: It never gets old...
2. Wind + Skirts... NOT a good combination!
3. The nice stream of sweat sliding down your back as you are out contacting people. always a great feeling!
Thats all I have for today. I love you all and wish you all a wonderful week!
Love always-
Hermana Bradfield
WE FOUND CLAUDIA AGAIN!!! We stopped by last Thursday and she was home. She was so happy to see us and she LOVED the heart attack we did to her. It turns out that her sister in Mexico almost died, so she was on the phone all weekend. But in between then and now, she has been teaching her friends at work about the plan of salvation AND has talked to her boss about not working anymore on Sundays. Shes so great! She said hopefully last Sunday is the last time she has to work on Sunday.
Dad, you may be wondering why I made yet another purchase today. I shall briefly explain. First of all, I needed a new pair of shoes so I bought some last week; BUT the shoes broke 4 days later, so I took them back and they would only let me exchange them; so I found a pair of shoes for after the mission that were $10 more since those were the only things I could find that looked decent and worth the money. THEN I have been going through withdrawal since Sister Laird and Sister Harris left with their Magic Bullets. YES you read that correctly, Magic Bullet. Sister Laird's parents sent her one in the beginning of her mission, and she's shared with me since I got here; then she converted Sister Harris as well, and Sister Harris got the last one at Rite Aid last week. I was planning on waiting, but I couldn't resist when I saw it at Longs Drugs today; so don't you worry, I'm ready to go on my Magic Bullet and that is the last big purchase I will be making on the mission. I would just like to say, I testify that the Magic Bullet was worth every penny, and if you don't know what a Magic Bullet is, you should check it out on the internet! Everyone should have a Magic Bullet!
Things have been going about the same here - working hard and trying to get people to progress and come to church. It's been a tough few weeks trying to get people to church, but I know that anyday now we are going to see the miracles and find a bunch of people to teach. I love this work, I know that God is going to make this trial of patience worth it for me in the end, whether I have to learn a profound lesson or whether we get to be a part of bringing a family to the gospel!
I'm sorry this email isn't too exciting, I'm guessing they rarely are since I can't ever remember everything I want to talk about when pdays come around.
Some CAME (Common Awkward Missionary Experiences)moments for ya:
1. Runs in your nylons: It never gets old...
2. Wind + Skirts... NOT a good combination!
3. The nice stream of sweat sliding down your back as you are out contacting people. always a great feeling!
Thats all I have for today. I love you all and wish you all a wonderful week!
Love always-
Hermana Bradfield
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Transfers - BAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
AHHHHHHHHH!! Where does the time go??? This transfer I am training on my own! I don't know why -- I knew I was going to be training before hand -- but I'm super nervous. I think training this last transfer went so well because Sister Laird and I were there to back each other up and fill in where the other forgot something! But now I am 100% responsible for what I do and don't teach the new sister. Anyway, her name is Sister Wyatt, from ST GEORGE Utah (Jason know a wyatt family there?), and she has been teaching the last two years; apparently, President says that she loves sports just as much as I do! Maybe I can learn some new skills as we exercise in the morning! Anyway, it was kind-of a reality check for me, to realize that I wasn't going to be tag teaming this one, and it scares me a little bit! But, I know that the Lord will help me fill in the gaps as long as I am doing my best and being obedient and being myself!
I get to stay in Elk Grove. I'm happy about that. I still feel like I have a lot of work to do. Things are still slower than before, but we have faith that God will bless us with people to teach. ACTUALLY, a couple of things have happened this last week! First of all, we invited Carlos, Alma and Manuel's 9yr old son, to be baptized, and he said yes. He ended up changing his mind later because he wants to wait for his family; BUT because he said he wanted to be baptized, that finally got the family to a baptism, something we've been trying to do for a long time! We were so happy and we feel that was part of the reason why we needed to invite them to be baptized.
THEN there's Karoly, Andrea's mom (the little girl who just got baptized.) The bishop can't find her records, nor could her old bishop in Hayward; so he said she needs to be baptized again. So now we have an excuse to go over and teach her and her less active husband the lessons again! And Andrea can help us! She is so cute!
Claudia is MIA. She's avoiding us, which is really sad, but there isn't much else we can do. We even HEART ATTACKED her apartment door and had to run "Mission Impossible" to the front office of her apartment to borrow their tape to tape the hearts on! It was such a FUN rescue activity. Our exchange, Bonnie, got us some good pictures and was a good sport about all of it. Bonnie is amazing! She served her mission in San Antonio, Texas.
I don't know if you remember Alma and Julio and Ricky, our recent converts (the ones you talked to on Mother's Day) -- they are going through a rough time right now. Alma was diagnosed a few weeks ago with breast cancer. She is such an amazing woman, she looked at all of her options and has chosen to take the most efficient and successful treatments. So she went in and had surgery to remove the breast and lymphnods (I don't know if I'm saying these body parts right), and she starts chemo in a few weeks. It was a real shock for everyone, but they are doing really well with it. Julio and the kids came to church, on Sunday, for the first hour and that made us really happy. They have such amazing faith and this trial was given to them for a reason. It's amazing to see how the Lord works and prepares his children to receive the gospel right when they most need it! The gospel is amazing.
So, as we haven't really had many people to teach, we've been doing a lot of member work and tracting (aka knocking doors). Sister Harris and I went on splits last week and ended up talking to a couple of really great people. One of them was this guy who, of his own free will and generousity, offers his home to help people with drug addictions kick the addiction. We walked up to him and he asked us if we were Jehovah's Witness (C.A.M.E.) and we told him we were Mormons; and he said "Oh, great! You are just the people I want to talk to." I thought that we were going to be dealing with a "Bible basher" but then he ended up asking us about the Family History Center that he friend told him about, located at the stake center. It ended up being a really great contact and he ended up asking us to send the English elders by.
Then, Sunday, we ended up being 40 minutes late to our dinner appointment because we were talking to one of Long Beach University's basketball players about the gospel. He was really nice and it was neat to hear all the things that have lead him to want to find the truth. He's had contact with the church before, through an old friend, and was eager to read the Book of Mormon. Someone he knew (aunt, sister or someone close to his mom) walked up and as she walked in the door, she said, "Oh yeah, Sister Moss and Nanai are visiting me as well!" Those are two of the sister missionaries in the Sacramento zone! It was such an amazing contact and we ended up leaving him with a Book of Mormon to read and take back with him to Long Beach! I LOVE miracles like that. What made the miracle even better -- I was driving and I remember thinking "I need to find the shade..." If I hadn't kept driving down the road to find the shade, we wouldn't have ever found him! God is guiding this work, even if he has to guide his missionaries to the shade! Missions are so cool! Kim and Kody, I would HIGHLY recommend serving one!
Well, my time is up. I wish everyone a wonderful week, and remember that your Hermana loves you! I hope this letter wasn't too crazy and all over the place for you! Until next week...
Love Always-
Hermana Bradfield
I get to stay in Elk Grove. I'm happy about that. I still feel like I have a lot of work to do. Things are still slower than before, but we have faith that God will bless us with people to teach. ACTUALLY, a couple of things have happened this last week! First of all, we invited Carlos, Alma and Manuel's 9yr old son, to be baptized, and he said yes. He ended up changing his mind later because he wants to wait for his family; BUT because he said he wanted to be baptized, that finally got the family to a baptism, something we've been trying to do for a long time! We were so happy and we feel that was part of the reason why we needed to invite them to be baptized.
THEN there's Karoly, Andrea's mom (the little girl who just got baptized.) The bishop can't find her records, nor could her old bishop in Hayward; so he said she needs to be baptized again. So now we have an excuse to go over and teach her and her less active husband the lessons again! And Andrea can help us! She is so cute!
Claudia is MIA. She's avoiding us, which is really sad, but there isn't much else we can do. We even HEART ATTACKED her apartment door and had to run "Mission Impossible" to the front office of her apartment to borrow their tape to tape the hearts on! It was such a FUN rescue activity. Our exchange, Bonnie, got us some good pictures and was a good sport about all of it. Bonnie is amazing! She served her mission in San Antonio, Texas.
I don't know if you remember Alma and Julio and Ricky, our recent converts (the ones you talked to on Mother's Day) -- they are going through a rough time right now. Alma was diagnosed a few weeks ago with breast cancer. She is such an amazing woman, she looked at all of her options and has chosen to take the most efficient and successful treatments. So she went in and had surgery to remove the breast and lymphnods (I don't know if I'm saying these body parts right), and she starts chemo in a few weeks. It was a real shock for everyone, but they are doing really well with it. Julio and the kids came to church, on Sunday, for the first hour and that made us really happy. They have such amazing faith and this trial was given to them for a reason. It's amazing to see how the Lord works and prepares his children to receive the gospel right when they most need it! The gospel is amazing.
So, as we haven't really had many people to teach, we've been doing a lot of member work and tracting (aka knocking doors). Sister Harris and I went on splits last week and ended up talking to a couple of really great people. One of them was this guy who, of his own free will and generousity, offers his home to help people with drug addictions kick the addiction. We walked up to him and he asked us if we were Jehovah's Witness (C.A.M.E.) and we told him we were Mormons; and he said "Oh, great! You are just the people I want to talk to." I thought that we were going to be dealing with a "Bible basher" but then he ended up asking us about the Family History Center that he friend told him about, located at the stake center. It ended up being a really great contact and he ended up asking us to send the English elders by.
Then, Sunday, we ended up being 40 minutes late to our dinner appointment because we were talking to one of Long Beach University's basketball players about the gospel. He was really nice and it was neat to hear all the things that have lead him to want to find the truth. He's had contact with the church before, through an old friend, and was eager to read the Book of Mormon. Someone he knew (aunt, sister or someone close to his mom) walked up and as she walked in the door, she said, "Oh yeah, Sister Moss and Nanai are visiting me as well!" Those are two of the sister missionaries in the Sacramento zone! It was such an amazing contact and we ended up leaving him with a Book of Mormon to read and take back with him to Long Beach! I LOVE miracles like that. What made the miracle even better -- I was driving and I remember thinking "I need to find the shade..." If I hadn't kept driving down the road to find the shade, we wouldn't have ever found him! God is guiding this work, even if he has to guide his missionaries to the shade! Missions are so cool! Kim and Kody, I would HIGHLY recommend serving one!
Well, my time is up. I wish everyone a wonderful week, and remember that your Hermana loves you! I hope this letter wasn't too crazy and all over the place for you! Until next week...
Love Always-
Hermana Bradfield
Monday, August 3, 2009
Hola!
Buenos Dias Familia y Amigos,
Como estan? I'm doing just wonderful. Today we did our zone "Secret Santa" gift exchange. It's was funny. The Elders in this zone are something else. One elder, who is going home in two weeks, got a ring and earrings; and then others got t-shirts and what not. It was a fun way to end the transfer with Christmas in August! I ended up printing off a couple of pictures, of one of our members, and giving them to my secret santa with writing on them that said, "Use our member coupon!" It was an inside joke kinda thing, but I think the elder rather enjoyed it!
The work is going really well. We had to go by and tell almost all of our investigators that we couldn't teach them anymore, but encouraged them to keep studying for themselves. No one was progressing. It's always hard because you love the people so much and you want them to experience the same joy and blessings you have from the gospel; but we also can't force them to accept the gospel either. Anyway, so "dropping" people is always hard, but we all have faith that the Lord will bless us with other people whom he has been preparing!
With all the opposition we've been facing, it's really helped me to realize one important truth. I felt like the first half of my mission, we taught, baptized and brought many of God's children to the knowledge of truth. In comparison, this last half has seemed as if I haven't been doing any good. BUT I know that that isn't true. Every person we talk to is a seed planted. Just like it says in Matthew 13, sometimes the seeds fall by the way side and the fowls come and devour them up; some fall upon stony places where there isn't enough soil, so when they spring up, the sun dries up the roots; but some seeds fall into good ground and bring forth good fruit. There is never a wasted effort. I know that while I'm not seeing the fruits of our labors that what we are doing is making a difference in the lives of those we meet.
Yesterday we were all ready to go to church. We had spent the week preparing Claudia for church, but she wasn't home when we went by to "face to face" her. That's not like her at all and she wasn't answering our phone calls. We hope nothing has happened to her. But anyway, it was one of those let down kinda days, and I just felt drained. As we were studying together over a quick lunch, we read Alma 19 and I read the story of Ammon, King Lamoni and his household. They all were overcome with the Spirit and all seemed to be dead. But there was one Lamanite girl, who had been converted by a vision her father had long before, who was overcome with joy at what had just transpired and went to tell the rest of the people what had happened. When the people all gathered together, things didn't work out quite as she planned. Everyone started arguing over what was to be done, and she felt sad for what had happened. But instead of letting herself get down about the situation and giving up, she put her faith to work and went to the queen. As soon as she touched the queen, the queen arose and then the others arose as well. Although this might not mean much to anyone else, I knew that this was a tender little mercy from God pushing me forward and telling me not to give up. We ended up going out and knocking doors 15 minutes later, and during that time, we ended up finding a bunch of people from English, Hmong, and Miehn, interested in learning more about the restored gospel; AND a part-member family who moved here from San Jose 4 years ago and hasn't been to church since, and set up an appointment with them. Funny thing is, this is the second part-member family that we have tracted into that aren't on our church records! I love the Lord's little tender mercies!
Some C.A.M.E. Moments for the week (I kinda forgot to keep tract):
1. When you knock on a door, a Spanish man answers it without his shirt on and sees that it's 2-3 sister missionaries; so he excuses himself and returns a minute later, completely dressed. Very thoughtful of him, wouldn't you say?
2. Going by to drop off a granola bar for your investigator for a quick snack on her lunch break, only to find her home, hand her the granola bar and leave without an explanation. We didn't expect her to answer the door and be home. I guess next time we will plan better!
So, there you have it, another week in the mission... In a VERY short summary. Really, everything is going by so fast that it all kinda mooshes together somehow.
One more funny good note to end on... Our family, who can't be baptized right now, ended up getting a ton of good jobs lined up for this month. He was so funny because he told us, "amazed at the fact that it did "EVERYTHING that you've told us to do ACTUALLY works!" Lol! It was so funny and we got a kick out of it. But that's what happens when the doctrine is true, the blessings are sure and the authority by which it is promised is given by God. I LOVE being a missionary, nothing beats this work!
Love you all; have a great week! Remember, next TUESDAY is p-day and that next Wednesday I will have another new companion. I think President told me in interviews that her name is Hermana Wyatt. I'm excited to meet her but nervous about training her. I think training this transfer has gone a lot easier because it has been a joint effort, and Hermana Harris is just an awesome missionary. I'm not worried at all for the Spanish program after we leave because the mission just got 3 AWESOME new sisters to keep the fire going and growing!
Ok, Love you again,
Hermana Bradfield
Como estan? I'm doing just wonderful. Today we did our zone "Secret Santa" gift exchange. It's was funny. The Elders in this zone are something else. One elder, who is going home in two weeks, got a ring and earrings; and then others got t-shirts and what not. It was a fun way to end the transfer with Christmas in August! I ended up printing off a couple of pictures, of one of our members, and giving them to my secret santa with writing on them that said, "Use our member coupon!" It was an inside joke kinda thing, but I think the elder rather enjoyed it!
The work is going really well. We had to go by and tell almost all of our investigators that we couldn't teach them anymore, but encouraged them to keep studying for themselves. No one was progressing. It's always hard because you love the people so much and you want them to experience the same joy and blessings you have from the gospel; but we also can't force them to accept the gospel either. Anyway, so "dropping" people is always hard, but we all have faith that the Lord will bless us with other people whom he has been preparing!
With all the opposition we've been facing, it's really helped me to realize one important truth. I felt like the first half of my mission, we taught, baptized and brought many of God's children to the knowledge of truth. In comparison, this last half has seemed as if I haven't been doing any good. BUT I know that that isn't true. Every person we talk to is a seed planted. Just like it says in Matthew 13, sometimes the seeds fall by the way side and the fowls come and devour them up; some fall upon stony places where there isn't enough soil, so when they spring up, the sun dries up the roots; but some seeds fall into good ground and bring forth good fruit. There is never a wasted effort. I know that while I'm not seeing the fruits of our labors that what we are doing is making a difference in the lives of those we meet.
Yesterday we were all ready to go to church. We had spent the week preparing Claudia for church, but she wasn't home when we went by to "face to face" her. That's not like her at all and she wasn't answering our phone calls. We hope nothing has happened to her. But anyway, it was one of those let down kinda days, and I just felt drained. As we were studying together over a quick lunch, we read Alma 19 and I read the story of Ammon, King Lamoni and his household. They all were overcome with the Spirit and all seemed to be dead. But there was one Lamanite girl, who had been converted by a vision her father had long before, who was overcome with joy at what had just transpired and went to tell the rest of the people what had happened. When the people all gathered together, things didn't work out quite as she planned. Everyone started arguing over what was to be done, and she felt sad for what had happened. But instead of letting herself get down about the situation and giving up, she put her faith to work and went to the queen. As soon as she touched the queen, the queen arose and then the others arose as well. Although this might not mean much to anyone else, I knew that this was a tender little mercy from God pushing me forward and telling me not to give up. We ended up going out and knocking doors 15 minutes later, and during that time, we ended up finding a bunch of people from English, Hmong, and Miehn, interested in learning more about the restored gospel; AND a part-member family who moved here from San Jose 4 years ago and hasn't been to church since, and set up an appointment with them. Funny thing is, this is the second part-member family that we have tracted into that aren't on our church records! I love the Lord's little tender mercies!
Some C.A.M.E. Moments for the week (I kinda forgot to keep tract):
1. When you knock on a door, a Spanish man answers it without his shirt on and sees that it's 2-3 sister missionaries; so he excuses himself and returns a minute later, completely dressed. Very thoughtful of him, wouldn't you say?
2. Going by to drop off a granola bar for your investigator for a quick snack on her lunch break, only to find her home, hand her the granola bar and leave without an explanation. We didn't expect her to answer the door and be home. I guess next time we will plan better!
So, there you have it, another week in the mission... In a VERY short summary. Really, everything is going by so fast that it all kinda mooshes together somehow.
One more funny good note to end on... Our family, who can't be baptized right now, ended up getting a ton of good jobs lined up for this month. He was so funny because he told us, "amazed at the fact that it did "EVERYTHING that you've told us to do ACTUALLY works!" Lol! It was so funny and we got a kick out of it. But that's what happens when the doctrine is true, the blessings are sure and the authority by which it is promised is given by God. I LOVE being a missionary, nothing beats this work!
Love you all; have a great week! Remember, next TUESDAY is p-day and that next Wednesday I will have another new companion. I think President told me in interviews that her name is Hermana Wyatt. I'm excited to meet her but nervous about training her. I think training this transfer has gone a lot easier because it has been a joint effort, and Hermana Harris is just an awesome missionary. I'm not worried at all for the Spanish program after we leave because the mission just got 3 AWESOME new sisters to keep the fire going and growing!
Ok, Love you again,
Hermana Bradfield
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