Sister Salas' Christmas Week :D

Hey i will like to thank you all that sent me those Christmas packages thank you so so so much. I loved the portrait of the savior and all the other cool stuff! thank you :) you know who you are .

Hello how are you!? (In a Spanish accent)

well this week was the best week of my life! Since Latin people celebrate Christmas eve we got to do a lot of fun things this week. on t he 24th we went to a members house they treated us like queens and it was pretty to see the whole family there, their children with their famiies and children, i just enjoyed watching the happiness and unity peace and love the gospel brings into the lives of each member of the family and how the spirit dwells there, as they all pray together, what a great blessing. After we ate tamales and posole and yummy desserts, we, all four of us sang a hymn and shared a spiritual thought. In front of the whole house, i was a  little nervous but its ok. 

After that we all went caroling with the whole zone about 8 companion ships in the zone. It was so powerful, the spirit was so strong, everyone was home and received us and it brightened their night. We had such a wonderful time. Then we went to the last house of the old man that our less active takes care of, she was there with her husband and kids having a feast, she was so excited to see all the missionaries come inside and start singing silent night and Joy to the World, the old man and his daughter were there and his daughter was crying tears of joy. the man is deathly ill and the brother requested a blessing for him, so the elders gave him a blessing and they were so touched by the spirit we all were in a circle around this man and his daughter listening reverently, the women kept looking at my companion and was so happy that they were giving him a blessing of healing. She accepted to be taught by the missionaries, which was another little miracle that happened. After she fed us all :)

Christmas was wonderful to see my families and feel their love.
:)

Now for a regular day of missionary work: We taught a family that we are working with and they are so wonderful, i for once got to teach the restoration in ENGLISH ( because i am called to teach in Spanish) in a  home, besides the ones on the streets. We taught the children to their level and had them all participate, and used a lot of  analogies to expalin the importance of a prophet of God :) We had fun I hope they did! they committed to come to church again but didn't because her son was sick, right...

we also went to the lights at the temple again, surprise! We went with the sisters and their investigators and our investigators. it was fun.

:)

Hi everybody!! :D

First of all, I would love to thank you all for all the lovely Christmas letters I've recieved thus far! especially the Primary in the santa cruz ward, and for the fun gifts, I really needed those coconuts and colorful pens!!! most importanly however, those letters made me feel so LOVED! thank you and you know who you are!

 

this week in Phoenix AZ, the Elders refferred us a new family of 8! the mother is single becaue her husband got deported and she has 4 children that are over 8 years old, twoo young women that are really nice and i am so excited for. This women is so prepared she is so eager to obey all the commandments and to have  a good values and to love God. We went over to teach them about prophets and it was wonderful, know i know what that scipture was talking about, i could rememeber what i needed to say, so i said a simple prayer and then came the inspired questions and as she explained what she remembers about waht teh elders taught about jospeh smith , the rest of the knoweledge came back to me and my companion and i taught in unity, it is the best when the companionship is united, the spirit is stronger. We also helped her a little bit with some  house stuff, which was fun. They unfortunalty sisnt come to church because one of the babies was sick the whole night and they were too tired to come, grrrrr, o well  they are still great. Oh and by the way they have a baptisimal date the mom and the 2 oldest daughters form two weeks from saturday. We're excited.

We have another family we were granted permission to go to jail to meet her husband. Well the mother isnt a citizen so she isnt allowed in, her children are the only ones that are able and need an adult to take them, so we volenteered to go in, one of us and a child, yes i know, but president with all his wisdom knew this is the way to help this family. We need the trust and the approval of the father to be able to baptise this family, by the way the father is sick becaue he hasn't been eating and can't walk very welll because his strength has slackened because of lack of food and depression.

I wasn't able to see him, but i will today. We are taking some time out of preparation day to go visit him so his children may see him, well one only, till next week , we will have 2 down and 4 more to go. We are so happy, we know this will pick up his hope, please pray for this family, they need the powers of heaven. The Rojos. this is a picture of them

 

Also we met another lady, she is a pinata seller, a very talented one, we went over and taught her The Restoration, she committed to be baptised and to come to a Relief Society dinner, and she came and she brought a friend, it was a wierdly reverent dinner, the cool part was when the President came up and started to get to know our investigators and shared what the purpose of the society is, it made me so happy that someone took the time to get out of their confort zone to talk to a newbee. However, she didn't come to church becaue she had to be somewhere else!! trials!!! They are only there to make you stornger :)

 

And onether day, we went to go look for a less active lady, she was home! and cleaning, at first she was timid and unwelcoming, but as we talked and talked she eventually let us in and accepted our request to help her clean, so we all cleaned up the house and tehn taught her, she is less active becaue she got offended that someone corrected her child and she also said that she doesn't know why she even got baptized. I was a little confused and at the same time eager to help her gain a testimony. She was so kind and greatful for the help, she even gave us some yummy tamales :)

On Friday we went over to a less active family's house, we focused more on the father. I'm not going to lie, he is a scary grumpy looking man, and i had a feeling he did not like us very much, but as we stareted to talk, he began to open us and confessed that Satan had gotten a hold of his heart,  how ever since he was a child he has been mistreated, and still is at work and everywhere else and how sometimes he reacts violently, yet he doesn't want to blame anyone and he recognized that he has forgotten in whom he should trust. As, he spoke my heart felt so much compassion for this man, i almost cried, but didn't,  he said he wanted a lot of doctrine not just a little bit. I was reminded of this scripture in the bok of romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but ^aovercome evil with good"  I began to share my testimony to him that i know that God has been the father that has always been there for me, even tho I cannot see him, I know that he is there, he has strengthened me, comforted me and has given me hope and has filled me with his love, and I will contunually put my trust in him. I know that people make so much mistakes and those expiriences make us feel horrible and weighed down. Nonetheless; thanks to our Savior, for taking it upon himself, we wont have to suffer if we trust him, repent and follow him.My companion and I loved that wonderful moment we shared with that family. I gave him a list of scriptures i wanted him to study and apply in preperation for our next visit.

• We went caroling with the other sisters to a new converts house, and even tho our intent was to do this for free, she abducted us into her apartment and pretty much force fed us cheescake and a glass of milk. haha members are so funny. I love them, and i was so full i only ate half and put the rest in  a zip lock bag.

Well I love you all and hope you have the best christmas of your lives!

much love, Hermana Salas

baptism pictures! and TEmple trip pictures!

this week was so amazing!!!! we went ot the temple with our zone, it was the best. 

 So i got to go back to mesa grande on saturday(my old area) for the baptism of one of my investigators, he is a single dad with 4 children and he needed a lot of encouragment to read and pray about The Book of Mormon, i know that anyone who reads it cannot help but to feel closer to God and feel more joy in life, as we read and live by its precepts and my testimony and conversion grows deeper every time i see another soul saved because of it. He would have never been baptized if the members didn't do their part.  With the love and fellowship they demonstrated, he felt so loved and a part of a big huge happy family, he is so amazing i am so excited for him to get the Priesthood.

this same example is recorded in the scriptures in Heleman 6:3:

 Nevertheless, the people of the church did have great joy because of the conversion of the Lamanites, yea, because of the church of God, which had been established among them. And they did ^afellowship one with another, and did rejoice one with another, and did have great joy.

 His father who we also taught stopped coming because his wife in mexico didnt let him or else her nor his other sons will talk to him ever again. I am so thatkfull that Genaro, didn't let stan get a hold of  his heart and he did what he knew was right for him and his family. I love him!! and all his cute little babes.

This is our investigator Marco Antonio Hernandez Garcia who just got baptized on saturday:

he is so amazing the other day we were teaching him about the Priesthood and he shared his testimony with us about how last year he had some very hard trials, but in the midst of it  all he knew he wasn't alone and that he knew GOd loved him and was there for him. HE recieved more understanding and more strenght to get through them. He understands perfecty that it is not just about study study all the time, but to share your talents and help people in need and stregthen them. He will be an amazing priesthood holder, he is such a great example:) 

this is me Genrao an my old amasing Mission leader. :)

Both of Us Are New to the Area

this week was such a blessing. We are taking over a new area and we are both new to it, so its a little more difficult because you have to start all over again. I decided to make calls and set up some appointments so we were able to go visit some people, one of them was really meant to be. We found this women named Ericka, her husband is in jail, they have 6 kids together; 15,12, 8,6,4, &3. She is really really stressed out, she doesn't have a stable job, so she makes snacks and sells it at a church and cleans houses occasionally. 

She used to not like the elders coming but gradually, she started letting them come in to teach her. SO no effort is wasted!! She loves her husband and her husband loves her, it is so sweet hearing her talking about him and how much she misses him. She is so cute even tho she is super busy she still asks if we can read from The Book of Mormon together, the best part is that she makes sure her husband reads the Bible and she reads from the book of Mormon to him. We asked her if we can help her out around the house, she gladly accepted and we went the next day helped her sweep, clean her fridge, and the cutest part is the little ones helped me move the couches and throw the dust into the trash, they were all being really helpful, it was so cute. thenon Sunday we went over an hour early so we can help her get ready for church. My companion did all their hair while i made Breakfast for everyone :) then we raced to the car and strapped them in their booster seats, i felt like such a mom. It was fun. They came to church!!! I am so grateful that we met her, we love that family so much. 

WE have a baptism this Saturday!!!!!! his name is Marco Antonio Hernandez Garcia, he is 32, but seems like he is 23, he is very shy , he is a cook at an Italian restaurant, and is super prepared, the Elders have taught him a lot, i think for a year, but he can finally get baptized. WE are all super excited in the branch. 

Our branch is called Camel back first and there is a lot of empty seats, we alal have a lot of work to do!!

i love the Christmas Devotional, especially Russel m. Nielsen! i felt the espiritu so much. HOpe you all were able to invite someone :) 
well i have to go!! love you all

me and the Spanish sisters in my District, my Spanish zone! :) i also live with them in an apartment :)

Hiking at Squaw Peak!!!

yes it is freezing in Arizona, shocker right? about 40 degrees and my hands and ears hurt so bad in this hike because it was freezing!

these are all the WINNERS!!

Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple:)

This is me and my new companion, Hermana Arevalo. this was on a friday night, the first night the lights came up, we are going to go this whole month at least twice a week, so I'll be sending many of the same pictures except I'll be wearing different out fits. WE were going to go with the RElief Society on sunday but none of our investigators showed up, so we culdn't go. Fortunately, we got to see this lady that we haven't beeen able to teach in 3 weeks and she has depression and its only her and her son. I love her. She needs our help and support especially the Lords. She was telling us that God puts trialls in our lives because he wants us to trust him and the principle of forgiveness in key to our repentance, because other wise we are bitter and angry and youa re never fully truely happy, so it is important to forgive, i was impressed by the way she saw her trials, yet there was a sadness about her, I am really excited to teach the Atonement to her and to introduce Christ's teaching that will make her countenance radiate with happiness and hope. I know that this is the best gift we can give to the Savior, is to go out of our way to help others that are sad, don't have friends, and need this joyful message of the gospel in their lives, i invite you all to get out of your comfort zone and welcome someone into your compassionate arms this Christmas season :) I promise this will fill your heart with love and we can be an answer to someones plead for help. 

I love my companera :)

transfer week!

Hi Everyone, sorry i don't have much time but here is the news:

 I am now serving in Phoenix, in the Ghetto, my companion Hermana Arrebalo is from El Salvador, she gorgeous, we are going to have so much fun together!!!! 

love you all bye!

this is the Papago Zone 

this is Fatima the lovely women thta we helped reactivate and now she is teaching her children the gospel, her mother kept thanking us for helping her. (alex i dont remember if i sent you this already, you know i dont have the greatest memory)

this is at a family home evening, baby bruce, he is so cute.

this is Sister Garrett and i on our last week together :(

this is my mom out here on the mission, we comforted her and helped her family a lot, but most importantly we strengthen eachother. she is the wisest most spiritulal mother that i have ever out here, she truly understands that all her trials with her children are for her good. and thisis the whole family, their son is on a mission at Argentina :)

this is another women we helped come back to chruch and this is her ten year old son, whose baptism im coming back to Mesa Grande for. I love them so so much, They are so special to me.

this is Ericka, she was a tough cookie, she loved to talk about her life and , we developed so much love for her and her for us. She thought that because she wasn't killing and stealing and etc that she was keeping the commandments, we focused a lot on the saviors example and life and how we are commanded to be perfect even as I, your father who is in heaven is perfect, as we study the scriptures and apply it we can be happier and more like Christ. we never really had the opportunity to invite her to be baptised because she rebuked everything we said and we would always be there for and hour and would have to leave as we set an appointment to go see her again, she would not be there, therefore we sometimes had to review something and then teach her the rest of the lesson so it can all connect.  She has a lot of changes ot make in her life, i feel she is going to take it real slowly. This day she was really sad that we were both getting transferred and said that she will invite us to her baptism!!! :D I'm excited