Week 15

Hello all!

This week really flew by! Tuesday was a good day! We had a lesson with a less active and we also gained an investigator! It is the girlfriend of the less active son! It was pretty awesome that we were able to teach them and it was just one scripture but we were able to feel the spirit so strong and to have a really awesome discussion! After then we had a lesson with Annett who we had found the week before. With her we taught the Restoration and the spirit was so strong! She is very direct in her beliefs and because of that it made it a lot easier to be direct with her and inviting her to be baptized. Unfortunately she didn't accept right away but she has committed to reading the Book of Mormon and that to me is even better! She will be able to develop her testimony that way too! We were also able to teach Angelo and gang of friends again! We taught the Plan of Salvation and man was that difficult to teach to a bunch of teenagers... It was a rough start but we did it and the spirit was strong in guiding us in what we should say!

Wednesday we were in the city for Hermana  Salas's doctor appointment. We found out that her skin is very much aggravated by the sun and that we shouldn't be out walking around in the hours of 12-3.... That makes it a tad difficult to get things done... 

Thursday we had divisions and I was with Hermana Vasquez in our area and I did it! I was able to be in charge of our area for a day and now I am feeling a little more confident in myself for when Hermana Salas is transferred. We know for sure now that she will be transferred for health reasons. There is a chance that it will be an emergency transfer too... We shall see! It is up to revelation at this point! 

Friday we had interviews with President Carmack and that was nice to be able to talk to him! He gave me some really good ways to receive references from members! We also were able to get our houses checked and we won a brownie for a spotless house! Woo! haha And we got to do a Q&A with the assistants which also was pretty awesome! We got more ideas on how to motivate investigators to come to church and keep commitments. We need to focus more on the blessings we receive from doing the commitments then just the commitments themselves. When we really focus on those blessings and promises we receive then the spirit testifies and there is more of a motivation! Sometimes we get stuck and too focused on the commitments we forget the reasons we really give them.

Friday we also had a super stellar activity! Granted it was for Fathers Day but it was so much fun! We had something from every part of the ward and it was just so nice to see the ward a little more united! We had our inactive family come and our investigator too! They even came to church!! It is all so great! We missionaries sang a hymn and then we were also in the youth skit of Cinderella! At first they wanted me to be Cinderella!! (Cenicienta in spanish) There was no way I could do that so I was a step sister with Hna Salas! Elder Halls was the messenger and Elder Nelson the king hahaha It was so much fun! 

There are blessings every day! Even in the darkest of times there is a light at the end. We just need to have eyes to see hearts to feel and ears to hear! 

Les quiero mucho!

Les extraño mucho!

Hermana Garcia

Our Kick butt (Plan of Salvation Activity) activity and our Pilot and Flight Attendants

Airport Terminal Waiting for their flight :)

Everyone on the Plane before the crash getting their Safety instructions :)

Our Telestial Room with a super stellar family! The family Sanchez and they are so great and super supportive! Hna Reina is the best and helps us with everything and teases us about everything too! haha Her kids are adorable!

The Celestial room and the Families that bore their testimonies and invited the spirit so strongly!

Us Missionaries serving the food and we ran out and had to run to the chino to buy more!

Us singing pg 187 ( spanish hymn book) 'To come thou Fount' in the fathers day activity

.  (If you know Jocelyn, you know how much she must've looooved this ;)

Fathers playing Hot Potato with a roll of tape for a candy bar

Fathers playing musical chairs for a candy bar

Me and Hna Salas as the Evil Step sisters

A members granddaughter future missionary! Her name is Abby :)

Hermana Salas Completed 9 months and I did this for her! She is half way done!

Week 14

¿Cómo están?

How goes life?? I hope everyone enjoyed their Fathers day and their youth conference! I too had an amazing activity about the Plan of Salvation on Saturday! It was so great and we even had one of our investigators there and a new one too!! There were about 80 or so people so the turn out was perfect! They all enjoyed it and the youth that participated took it their job on the plane very seriously! haha The members testimonies were strong and the spirit was there! I am pretty sure everyone walked out with a better idea of what we should want in the next life. We want to live with our Father in Heaven and our Brother Jesus Christ. That is our end goal and the reward is eternal life! We just have a few tests a long the way! No big deal ;). 

So last week was full of stress preparing for our activity but it came and passed and now we feel a huge weight off of our shoulders! It was full of inviting as many people as we could! It helped us be able to see who really is progressing and who isn't. Unfortunately we did have to drop one of our investigators this week and that was a hard thing to do but they just weren't quite ready for this gospel! There are so many others out there!

On Friday we contacted a house and found Annett! She was so great! She was participating and truly listening to our message and the spirit was truly strong! We shared the third lesson with her and she started to cry! This gospel truly is a beautiful thing and the Holy Ghost is always there ready to testify of this truth because thats what it is THIS CHURCH IS TRUE! I know this with all my heart. Christ lives and atoned for each and everyone of us personally. He has felt all our pain and all our sorrows. All our joys and all our guilt. He understands us perfectly and because of that He is able to comfort us in the perfect way. 

I love you all so much! Thank you for you love and support and prayers!

Cuidense!

Les quiero mucho

Hermana Garcia

Week 13

¿Cómo están?

This week was a really great week!! Hna Salas was not transferred which was such a blessing! We had a very successful week! I am getting a whole lot more comfortable talking to people now even though it isn't the easiest! On tuesday we found two new super positive investigators! Angelo is 17 and Abdiel is 18. We found Angelo after we were rejected by one of our contacts and decided to try the next house. Angelo was there with his little sister and said why not? and let us in! It was great so we started teaching the restoration with him and then his friend Abdiel comes in. He wanted to hear the lesson too and so he sat in too! Then Angelo's other sister Marianes (13) and their neighbors Ricardo (13) and Abdiel 2 (12) came in and wanted to hear the lesson too! So we taught them all! Angelo and Abdiel are super prepared! It doesn't happen very often that people here ask questions but they both were asking questions wanting to understand and it was really awesome! We gave Abdiel the pamphlet and then set up our next appointment with them for Thursday! When we returned for the next lesson they unfortunately had to leave but Abdiel said that he thought the questions were super interesting but he couldn't answer all of them because he didn't have the other book. Hna Salas and I were super confused and asked what questions?? HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE PAMPHLET!!! He read the whole thing trying to answer them and it was so great! So I gave him the next pamphlet for the lesson we have with them tomorrow and we are super excited!! They are so prepared!! 

This week was full of references and new investigators and planning our activity this Saturday! We are super excited and have been inviting everyone we can for this Plan of Salvation activity! It is super interesting! We are going to have everyone in the chapel and we are going to reenact a plane crash and everyone dies! Then we will take small groups and take them on a tour of all the kingdoms of glory. All of them! Outer darkness, Telestial, Terrestial, and Celestial! In the rooms will be member families bearing their testimonies or explaining why they are in this glory! It is really neat and we are hoping for a lot of less active and investigators will come! We also got a new bishopric last week and now finally our ward is picking up speed! 

I am excited for what this week will bring! This work is truly beautiful and I am so grateful to be a part of it! These people are really special and I learn so much every day! Christ lives and That we have a Heavenly Father who loves us so incredibly much and if we just ask for help He will help us. We just need to ask! This church is true! We are so lucky we have this knowledge! Thank you all for your prayers and support! 

Con mucho Amor,

Hermana Garcia

Week 12

¿Cómo les van?

Well what shall I say about this week? It was really good! We had a Multi Zone Conference on Wednesday and had Elder Alonso of the Seventy there! He was so amazing and so Powerful! He can look into your eyes and just know who you are! All of you! Hermana Salas was chosen to get an interview with him and she said he touched her very soul with the things he said to her! He basically said we can't give up no matter what. This work is too important and we can't be lazy. If we are we might as well go home. Our job isn't to complain but to save souls! Talk about pressure! haha It was truly amazing and let me just tell you that all of this was in spanish and I TOTALLY UNDERSTOOD IT! Granted afterwards my brain was about to explode but through the spirit I was able to get as much out of it as a native speaker! 

All of this was in the city and I have migrations the next day so because Hermana Salas wasn't a 100% yet we stayed in the city that night so we didn't have to get up at 4 in the morning the next day! It was great we went out with the other sisters in that area which used to be Hermana Salas's area and I got to meet her convert! He was really cool and gave us free cake! The next day we had migrations and her doctors appointment and now I officially have my carnet (visa) and no longer have to fear la policia! We also still don't know what is wrong with Hna Salas and need to go back sometime this week for blood and urinary test so they can find out once and for all what is the problem with her. Good news though is that she feels a lot better and we were able to work the rest of the week! We were able to visit some of our less actives found a new less active but also a new investigator! Thats pretty cool! 

We have been getting a lot of rain lately and it has been so nice! It has been so cool! At night we actually have to be bundled up which is so weird but so nice! The other day we left the house for our district meeting and it was pouring rain and we were walking in water up to our ankles!! We were completely soaked! It was fun! :). 

This morning we got together with two other sisters in our district and made a huge breakfast! We had bacon and pancakes with M&Ms (they don't have chocolate chips!) and hash browns and eggs and Hna Gilman (from Hawaii) Made a piña coloda!! It was great! I am so full! hahaha

I just want you all to know that the atonement is the answer for everything in our lives. That was another thing Elder Alonso said. The Atonement is our greatest tool in this life and what helps us the most. I have never felt it more in my life then I have being a missionary. I know Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and He lives. Because He lives we will be able to live again and because of that we have the greatest hope in this life and the life to come. I love being a missionary and all the challenges that come with it! 

Enjoy your last week of school!

Les Quiero muchísimo!

Hermana Garcia

Week 11

Hola mi familia!

So this week really wasn't very interesting... hahah We were in a threesome last Monday and Tuesday with Hna Gilman which was really fun!! She is great and we got to visit a couple of our investigators and two of them are super promising! Lourdes and her mother Blasina are super awesome! They were the contact we made because they had a real pool and turns out it isn't even their pool! Funny how things work out that way right? haha Blasina has a brain tumor so our messages she always enjoys because they give her lots of hope! Lourdes is super awesome! We have taught her the first three lessons and she just gets it. The spirit is always super strong when we teach them and we have invited them to be baptized but they are still a little hesitant to be baptized because they are Catholic and have already been baptized so we are still working on that! 

This week was hard because Hna Salas has been really sick, but its not a typical fever throwing up kind of sick. This is much scarier because she can hardly breath at times... The mission nurses basically ordered us to stay in the house Friday and Saturday and we were bored out of our minds! We studied and watched movies and studied and ate hahaha... But she wasn't getting any better she just stayed the same. So yesterday we had to go to the clinic after church and then stay home again. We have to change our diet and we have to take it easy. Today for P-day we went to Portobelo (SO DANG BEAUTIFUL) with a family from her old area that we planned before she got sick and it was kind of hard on her so we had to cut it short... We have to look for a specialized doctor and again are ordered to stay in but yeah! We have a zone conference on Wednesday and that should be good! Sorry this week was pretty boring!

I would like to bare my testimony though that I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord knows each and everyone of us personaly. I know He loves us unconditionally and I know He will help for anything if we just ask. I know that if we rely on Him we can do anything if it be in His plan. I know that He has comforted me many times and through the power of the priesthood I have been strengthened. I know Christ lives and He lived His life for us and for our salvation. He loves us all so much and it is through Him that all is done. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and is a true book with many teaching that we need to learn from. This is the true church on the Earth today. I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity I have to be a missionary! I share these things in the sacred name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Thank you all for your support and Prayers! Stay safe and remember The Lord and Savior in all your actions! 

Les quiero muchísimo!

Hermana Garcia

Portobelo, she said this is one of the places she would like to take us when we go to Panama