Baptism of The Onofre Newly Wedd Family :D

From this to this:)

they are so wonderful and fun!! they even bore their testimonies at the baptism, it brought a sweet spirit to the room :) and they were given the gift of the holy ghost on Sunday and it mentioned a lot of missionary work and sealings in the temple, which they are all working on already even before they got baptized!

this week has been great I had a great growing experience, it was during an exchange that i did with another sister training leader, she was teaching me how to be a more effective S.T.L, since i am new at this. I took full advantage and told her all of my concerns and how much i want to improve, i needed to humble myself and rely on my savior Jesus Christ, to help me overcome my shortcomings and weaknesses, i knew that this would be a great learning opportunity so i gave heed to her advice, with a heart and mind willing to apply to what she counseled me to do. Everything that she said pierced me to my very core, all she has done for her growth were things i needed to do for my companionship and my own personal progress and salvation. She helped me see that i needed to put more trust in my new companion and how to  teach with more unity, using lesson plans and enhancing it with scripture and testimonies. Hence, trusting that my companion will back me up with teaching an idea within a point of a lesson, such as the gospel blesses families. Furthermore, how to apply trainings better, measure my success in acquiring Christ like attributes, and always asking Him for opportunities to practice those attributes, and always returning thanks to God for whatever learning opportunity I do receive. I learned a lot and I am not ashamed to say that I am not perfect, and that I am learning how to be a better instrument in the Lords hands to bring many to repentance. I truly felt, just  as I did before I was baptized, that desire to leave my old self behind and become a new me, a better me. As I pleaded with the Lord to help me that night, I felt that he wasn't going have me do it alone. I love my God, now i understand what Paul said to the Corinthians about Godly sorrow works repentance, for whom the Lord loves, he chasteneth. 

We just got a priesthood blessing and it was the best, i feel good and i am thankful for these servants of god to administer these messages of hope, love and inspiration directly form our heavenly Father through them. If any of you are going through a hard time, i invite you all to seek out a priesthood blessing :)

well i love you all and till we meet again!

WEdding !

first of all this is me and my companion Hermana Faw

 this is Rossana Asunion and Perla 

jose and i! boogying to the music

Rossana and her Wonderful husband! they are so in love and are really looking forward to their sealing in the Temple!

this is our future missionary Asuncion, she is super duper smart and spiritual. Love her.

ROssana and I love her to death!

Dancing

HELLO!

well i have had a great week. I am really looking forward to the marriage of Roxana to her husband Noel, and the baptism of the whole family!! We had family scripture with them one night and i almost cried as i heard Asuncion pray about happiness in her home and to help them prepare for for their sealing in the temple. And another moment we shared with them was when we went over to re-commit her to follow the word of wisdom with exactness, for she had decaff coffee and green tea in her home, but her husband was the one drinking the coffee and she said that green tea isn't bad. Although, it was hard i knew it had to say that those things were not permitted to drink those  things, i asked do you think you can let go of these things when you get baptized?

she said "sister, Ive let worse things go, i am willing to give this up."then she talked about an experience when she was sharing the gospel with one of her friends and she had asked her why she had to wait a year to prepare to enter the temple and get married there. she told her that to get Married unto God and make promises that we are going to treasure one another and others we need to show our commitment and seriousness and to make sure that we are going to keep all of Christ's teachings in our lives, like  love, respect, communication, unity, hard work, repentance and do fun wholesome things as a family. Then are we prepared for such a sacred opportunity to become an eternal family. This is all her telling her friends this, from what she told me, from what i am telling you. Isn't she amazing?! She is also  having a hard time with her son right now, he is having suicidal thoughts and gets really aggressive. I was able to relate to him, when i put myself in my old shoes and how dark i felt before with no hope, but how that has helped me put my trust and God and come to know that he is all loving, is merciful, and can wipe away our tears, heal our broken hearts and fill us with hope and love. I shared the story of Alma's conversion (alma36) and how God was able to forgive these horrible sinners, for a wise purpose. Later they ended up becoming the most consecrated missionaries ever. In Alma 29:9 Alma says  I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do ^anot ^bglory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy. I Testified that tests and trials will arise, but this will be for his good and so he can experience the love of God more fullly in his life, and one day be an instrument in the hands of God to bring many to the knowledge of the truth. She said that she feels so much more comforted every time she reads the Book of Mormon. I was so greatful that the young men's president came over to have a chit chat with him. That's being Christlike and magnifying your calling, If it wasn't for the loving service and sacrifices of others we wouldn't thrive. They fill we with so much joy:)

We met a man from the Dominican republic, well actually three different ones, they all painted the inside of the Gilbert temple. Well other than that awkward moment of getting proposed to during a lesson, as i explained how the gospel blesses families. it went really well he said that he doesn't believe in coincidences and he believes we are sent from God to help him go in the right path. I loved watching him read the book of Mormon out loud, he really did try to understand what he was reading. 

i had my first leadership training it was fun. Well i  have to go but i will send pictures of the wedding next week, stay tuned.

Gilbert Temple Dedication and Fun!

hello friends!

WE  got to go the Temple Dedication!! it was so special and i learne so much about the importance of temples and how it is a blessing for everyone both spiritually and socially. As we dedicate a temple we need to rededicate our lives to the service of God and all that we do needs to reflect the temple and what we learn there. As the people of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon, when he was addressing his people, when they pitched their tents around the temple with every tent door facing the temple. Symbolically we can face the temple too. In the way we treat others, speak to others, love others, raise our families, the choices we make, should all be facing towards or reflecting what the temple means and what we learn there. I loved it, especialy Elder Callister's talk. 

We had a really nice expirience as we went to contact a refferral. We were looking for a man, he wasn't home but his wife was. She was sort of not very welcoming at first but then we started to get to know her and just being friendly, we talked outside her door for like 15 minutes and invited her to some church activities and she expressed a desire. She finally let us in and started to tell us that she had been baptised about a year ago and sister had taught her and were teaching her two sons also, and the reason she stopped coming to church was because of work, but she loves the chruch and she even wants us to teach her all the lessons to refresh her memory and we invited her to get ready to enter the temple and that we will be her guides in that process. She was so so happy and warm and friendly and made us feel like family. She is really excited and wants her sons to get baptized as well, but the best part is that her husband wants to baptize them. We are so happy that we found them.

about two weeks ago i saw a man all alone at church, so i went to introduce myself. he stood up and shook my hand and said i reminded him of his daughter that is serving a mission in texas. He was visiting our branch because his wife was in  hte hospital in phx . she got ran over when she was visiting the temple open house. She was placed in a comma.

We went to visit her this week and she was a lot better , she was asking us questions to get to know us and was so happy that we were there, we all shared spiritual thoughts of comfort like alma 36, ether 12. mosiah 24. She was so sweet so humble, she cried and it was so speciall for me to see how much faith she has and I know that the prayeer and faith of others was being well recieved, she was strong and had a sense of hope radiate from her, she knew that she was not alone, she had the love of her heavely father and his peace. Her  father took  a picture of us with her to send to his grandaughter i looked at her and she was smiling, i thought to myself i wish that i can smile even when i am going through difficult trials and afflictions and have trust that His plan for me is perfect, that although i will pass through very difficult times, God will be there to wipe away my tears and give me the strength i need.  teh nurse came with a roller bed to transfer her to another room, so her Husband came over and held her with so much care and gentleness. he was ever so careful placing her fragile body on hte bed holding her back and the back of her neck, as he was over her he stopped  and gazed into her eyes and kissed  her twice on the lips. It was the most beautiful scence to see and how this man had the pure love of Christ in him., it truly touched all our hearts.

we got to sing as a choir for a fireside and guess who spoke? Stephanie Myers, the author of the Twilight book. it was so fun.

Well i love you all and write me when you get a free minute :)

Hermana Salas 

Hello, New Beginnings New Duties

"Now is the time for members and missionaries to work together, to come together, to labor in the Lord's vineyard, to bring souls unto him" -President Monson

this is the last new member lesson we had with Silvester ans my last time teaching with  y hermana Arevalo

We had the best Family night (f.h.e) ever!! with Roxana and her three children, her husband and good friend of hers who is a member from a different branch. COol right she took initiative to invite others to come over for family time! that was exciting and plus she loves inviting our investigators to it all the time, she is the perfect fellow-shipper. We had a lesson on hte importance of praying as a family and studying the scriptures by topic. I gave them all a topics such as faith, hope charity, love etc. and they paired up in teams we had htem look under the GEE or Topical guide read the definition and look up scriptures, analyze them and share it with the group. We were having so much fun, especially the girls because they love to teach , for they want to be missionaries when they grow up :) The love of God was felt in that home and the sister that came bore a lot of powerful testimonies, about how before she was a member she was quiet and she asked Him to help her with her shyness and weaknesses and he answered her prayer and gave her the confidence and knowledge she needed to share  her testimony in fast and testimony meeting and now she takes up everyones time. she also fasted and prayed for someone to be preserved in the wilderness and ans angel gave him food and water and he made it home safely and since that time forth she knew that Heavenly father loves her and listens to her as long as he is a good girls and asks in faith, she also mentioned her conversion story, the point is that she bore her testimony about several different things, they were powerful, but that also made us a tad bit late for our next appointment. I extended the invitation for the husband or soon to be husband to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized along with his family. He accepted and he also expressed his appreciation towards us for teaching his family and how he feels the difference with the harmony in his home, Roxana also expressed her desire to be like the teachers in Relief Society, she wants to be like them, teach with power, knowledge and with the spirit. Furthermore, she talked about the blessings she receives from feeding us:) how before her food will not last and now she saves money and buys the same amount of food, yet it lasts a lot longer and she knows Heavenly Father blesses her family because she feeds us with love and all her heart. She expressed how much they all love us as part of their family, it made us so happy because we are so far away from our real families, but these children of God makes it so worth it to be out here and have that privilege to teach them and invite them to come unto Christ,

We left the lesson feeling inspired and with a stronger desire to teach and keep the commandments :)

As you know as missionaries we get transferred a lot, so my companion went to strengthen another area and a sister that needed her help to be better, i am staying in Phoenix as a Sister Training Leader which is equivalent to a Relief Society President, what they do is be in charge for a group of sisters and help them become into Preach My Gospel missionaries and make sure they are ok in different aspects of their well being, we get to go to trainings with the Mission President and his leaders like the Assistants and Zone Leaders and in return train the other missionaries in our zone. I also get to do exchanges to evaluate the sisters' work. It's very good. I'm looking forward to learn and become better, because I know the Lord calls the weak and the simple :) 

I have a new companion, her name is Hermana Faw from Idaho, she just turned 20 and has a relaxed easy going personality, I look forward t learning a lot from her. I need to help her a lot with her Espanol.

 Family time! with the Radiant  Blanco family at the Curiel Family. We had a after baptism lesson disguised as a family home evening on how the importance of Prayer and scripture study again :) but this was simpler because Blanca has a lot of little ones. They all looked so much better they continue to impress me, i love watching them grow spiritually. They are cleaner, more awake, more reverent, more confident, happier and amazing! my heart rejoices as I am telling you these things. Last Sunday we went over to their house later than usual because we have always help them all get ready for church, but we wanted to see if they will be self reliant and responsible by getting up on time and getting ready on their own. We went over there and they were all ready and what a relief that was, they've come a long way. 

Janet at the end of the lesson, gave a little lesson she prepared on the Law of Chastity and did so great, confidence. Blanca bore her testimony about how happy she feels now that she reads and prays everyday and its glorious. she feels renewed and forgiven. You can see it the way she is with her children and her priorities. I love them. 

in the middle of the lesson baby David was crying so Hermano Curiel had him draw on the board and he got happy again, afterwards we all ate donuts and cookies :)

I have a lot more stories but don't have enough time.

toodles.

here is a cute picture, enjoy.

Silvestre's Miracle !!!!

this man is the best man ever, although he didn't get baptized when he knew the church was true and investigated the church for four years,he is so so special and is always looking out for other and picks up opur investigators for church every week, takes us to all firesides and temple trips and he is so sweet and respectful, as I've told you be

this man is the best man ever, he is the one that has been investigating the church for four years,he is so so so special and is always looking out for others, he picks up our investigators for church every week, takes us to all firesides and temple trips and he is so sweet and respectful, as I've told you before he is our grandpa!

  

this is a donut breakfast for Stake Correlation Meeting :) so this is a pictures of most of our zone. I LOVE them so much they are literally my family

ok my week : we went to Camelback Mountain this morning two elders kept encouraging me because i was dying, but they didnt let me rest ans i had to keep the pace of the first group, it was hard but i made it to the top with the winning team!

this elder looks like Jim Carey 

here am I doing the Titanic. 

ok really my week was wonderful: first i need to share a really cool testimony my recent convert Jenny bore.

she was talking to her neighbor about Joseph Smith and her neighbor responded very colorfully and said "how can you believe in that, where does it say that in the bible?!"

she didn't say anything, but she did pray to ask God if he truly was a Prophet. The next day, we apparently came over ans mentioned something about him and in her words she said "I felt in my heart that he helped God to bring his true church back on the earth"

the next day her neighbor asked her if she still believed that asn with confidence she said " i know it is true because i asked Him and I felt it in my heart"

My companion ans i were so incredibly happy when she told us that, especially because she exercised her faith and asked if something was true, that means because she has done this she will keep relying in God to help her with her challenges, doubts, fears and will always trust that if she lives worthy of the spirit she can always have that peace and joy and guide in her life. What a blessing it is to hear that sweet lovely testimony!

we went to the temple with Catalina, the mother of Blanca!!

at first she hated us, never said a word to us and after the baptism of her whole household ans after we went to the temple in Gilbert, the kids couldn't stop talking about it and showed Gramma pictures of it and said how much they loved it, then she had a desire to go and also was nicer to us, she even came out during our lesson one day and told us of the profanity the girls use and how they shouldn't be speaking that way when they are learning about the gospel and she was really concerned about it. We all helped her understand that we start to change little by little and as they study more and especially the pamphlet of  For the Strength of Youth, they will example of the believers in word, in charity, in purity, in love at all times.

The Blanco Family's Special Day

 this week the rest of Blanca's children that were eligible for baptism got baptized. Jennifer the 13 year old prayed about it and knew that is what she needed to do. That strengthened my testimony because i know that, when someone truly wants to know what to do about any hard decision, heavenly Father will help you if you trust him. Jose the 8 year old told us he wanted to, but when we went ot go teach them about the word of wisdom and tithing he had a bad day and didn't even want to look at us and said he did want to anymore, we were sad.  That night we helped make the programs for the baptisms and assigning people their jobs, we told the branch presidency that was there that jose changed his mind and Hermano Curay was surprised as we told him that he seemed like he hated us. he said that jose loved him and was super nice to him, because the Curay family is really involved in their fellow shipping so this family really loves them. he offered to come to a lesson with us with him tomorrow so that he can teach him. The next day he toook a break from worka nd came to teach the son with us, but when we got there he told my companion and i that he wants to get baptized, we were all jumping for joy.

the next little angel that got baptized is Luz Elena she is 9 years old :)

after her interview the district leader said " these adorable little angels are so ready for baptism." she felt the spirit as she was praying with him in the interview testifying to her that the church is true. I felt so happy as she told is that!

We went to Deseret Industries to go shopping for the Blanco family so they can have church clothes , the bishop filled out an order for them. we got permission to go and it was so fun. Choosing clothes for a family of 8 is no easy task, especially when each one gets 4 different outfits, it was fun tho i was like super women, the best part is that each piece of clothing is only 3-4 dollars! JEnny the oldest did not like the idea of wearing skirts and said that she never will, so my companion and I prayed a lot so that she will change her mind and.......MIRACLES..... happen, she loved the clothes we chose out for her and we committed her to wear it to her baptism that night, they all wore their new clothes and don't they look amazing!!!

Last night we had a great miracle happen, we were working with this eternigator that has been coming to church faithfully for 4 years and didn't to let some things go, so we dropped him and even though he called us every night so we can come teach him and go out to eat with him ( he is our Grandpa) and as much as we wanted to because he is so fun and funny , we couldn't because we knew he will never get baptized if we did, tough love i know. 

last night we talked about baptism again.. and he said he want to and so he finally be following the example of Jesus Christ. He is the best!

yesterday during fast and testimony meeting , we were all sitting together and when it was open for people to come up , iwas encouraging the girls to go up there, they really wanted to but hesitated to becaue they were too shy, they asked me what a testimony was and i told them it is telling someone how you know the gospel is true how it helps your life. you can also share how you feel after you got baptized , so they followed me up and so did my companion, we both went first and then the girls her mother had been out in hte foyer with her baby and when she heard my voice she came inside, ans when her daughters bore their testimony she started to cry, she was touched by those simple yet powerfull testimonies. They are such great examples, and it proves that they were so happy and wanted to share it with others! I had to thank all the members for helping us in this work, for if it wasn't for them we wouldn't be having any success.

today we woke up early to go help her family make tamales so she can save some money for her rent this month,  it was fun! as we were all making them, their grandma who lives there sometimes told us that janet the 11 year old said " when i grow up i am going to be a missionary" she empahzized that she didn't say i want to be a missionary, she had already made up her mind that she will be one. you could not belive the joy we felt!!! what a blessing!