Sunday, January 27, 2013

Boldness.

I had breakfast on the beach this week, and it was the best thing ever. I went on exchanges to La Porte, TX with Sis Wenzel as my companion. We both started our missions on the same day and we were airplane buddies on the way over. It was a different experience to be teaching in English and even though, I didn't know the background stories of all the people I met in La Porte, I couldn't help but love them. The people we met l o v e d to talk. & During our first appointment I felt a little guilty I was facing the inner struggle of was I feeling impatient for not listening to people, or was I feeling guilty because we weren't sharing any sort of message. I went with the latter and the thought came into my head, "I am a Missionary. A representative of our Savior Jesus Christ, and I have a message to share." At the end of our first day together Sis Wenzel said, "I haven't have as good of lessons since the beginning of the transfer, you've inspired me to be more bold!" I don't feel like I'm that bold of a missionary, but for some reason in La Porte, I understood my purpose, I knew that I had been called by a prophet of God to serve, love, and teach the people here. No matter what area, no matter what circumstance.
I came across this scripture today that really caught my attention, "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.Acts 4:31" Sometimes I forget the fact that I have been set apart and have been giving a priesthood blessing specifically to do this work. I will be the first to admit, that the work is frightening at time. There are times where I feel a little timid, training has really pushed me to get out of my comfort zone. There was something President Crawford said in my first transfer meeting that has stuck with me. "Where there is comfort there is no growth, The Lord will constantly push you out of your comfort zone so that you can grow beyond what you could imagine." * I have taken the liberty of paraphrasing that.
This week is the last week of the transfer. & I am 99.9% sure that I'm staying in Pasadena and that nothing is changing with our companionship, because I still have six more weeks left in training Hna Tonga. I really want to put into boldness into practice. When all is said and done I will be accountable to the Lord, so why not give the work my heart and soul now so that I can say to him as Paul did, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
Pasadena is tough, but I am determined to prove that I am tougher.
Te amo times a millz.
La Hermanita Flores



Saturday, January 19, 2013

Charity


Forward with Faith


Feliz New Year!!!!! It was such a trip to go back and look through my journal and see e v e r y t h i n g that happened in 2012! :) I accomplished so much in 2012: graduating from BYU, getting my mission call, touring in Nauvoo, going through the temple to name a few. Hna Tonga and I started the New Year by reading together, "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary" a talk by Elder Callister. The talk is all about putting  disobedience, fears, romance, and such on the altar as a sacrifice, and serving the Lord with every ounce of energy. I'll be a missionary for all of 2013 and one of my New Year's resolutions is to by then end be the consecrated missionary I desire to be.
This week had it's up's and downs for sure, but on the tough days I still had little reminders that Heavenly Father and so many of you from back home are praying for me. I got two packages this week one from Tio Merrari and his family & the other from the Leiataua twins. Thank you times a million for your letters, for the sweets, and hood attire (Amaris & Audris, I'm repping my gear today!). Pasadena as I've said before has its challenges aka no active members and having not so much commitment, but I received the best letter from Tio Merrari, reminding me why I am here and who really is in charge. I also received letters from Hna Maughan and double from my family. It's funny, it's as if the Lord knew this was going to be a tough week so he lined up letters so I could get an extra dose of encouragement.
There were HUGE changes made in the mission this week. President Crawford is making the changes necessary to prepare for the surge of younger sisters and elders that will be coming in to the mission within the coming months. Sisters can no longer ride in the same car as Elders and we can no longer have more than one companionship at dinner appointments. Maybe that's not as big of a deal to you all, but it changes the dynamics of the mission a whole lot.  In reality it is such a blessing because these rules will help us really focus a lot more on the work, and our true purpose as missionaries.
Because there's a huge rush of new missionaries coming in, the reality is that I will most likely be training for a majority of my mission. Hna Tonga told me that Elder Holland came to the MTC to speak on Thanksgiving and that he told the missionaries there that all those who are currently on the field can expect to train for their entire missions. The thought of training my entire mission seems a bit like Mt. Everest right now, but I guess there's a reason to everything.
I came away from this week realizing that my faith isn't where I thought it was. That sounds awful doesn't it? But I was studying the principle of Faith esp in the Bible Dictionary and realized two things: Faith is a gift and Faith is a principle of action. Faith is something that we can't say that we have, it's something that we receive. We have belief, but ultimately Faith is a power that comes with acting on our beliefs. I've always known that Faith was a principle of action, but this week it all kind of just made sense. There's one part of the Bible Dictionary that explains, "where there is true faith there are miracles, visions, healings."
I put my faith into practice this week. For one, I was completely overwhelemed and knew I needed a blessing, so I texted the Zone Leaders and although Elder Conan was on exchanges, Elder Hatch & Elder Bock came and gave me a blessing that will always be dear to my heart. I was given such wonderful consejo (council) and I was promised blessings that I desire more than anything else. & Ultimately, I was able to strengthen my mission perspective as I was told that the plan the Lord has for my future begins with the decisions I make here in the field.
Secondly, I took Hna Tonga knocking. I hate knocking. I think it's uneffective and almost always not very helpful. But I decided, if the Lord sees I'm willing to try, maybe he'll offer us a miracle, and he did! We chose to knock Sullivan because we've now received two referrals on that street and I could almost here the words of Hna Maughan playing like a broken record in my hear "I like knocking where we get referrals because that may be a sign from Heavenly Father that we need to focus on a particular area." We also brought out with us pedigree charts and family history cards because in the new training program we had been counseled to try and use it as a means for finding. So out we went knocking in the pouring rain, and as I looked down at my watch I saw that there were two minutes left in the hour I had set apart for us to go knocking, but I thought, "Just this last door."
We knocked and a little boy answered eating a peanut butter sandwich. So I started telling him how I really was a big fan of Pb&J, then his Mom came to the door, and all she said was, "Come in! I haven't seen you for a while!" I was so confused, but we came in. & that's how we met *Maria. Maria loves welcoming in any kind of religious people because as she put it, "You never know if you can learn something new!" She currently is attending a Christian church, but she explained to us how at her previous home the missionaries were teaching her son, because she wanted him to find a church where people had high standards. We had such a great purpose lesson as we talked about what our role as missionaries are. & We have a return appointment with her Tuesday! There were so many things about that lesson that were similar to my first encounter with Veronica, there was a sincerity, a desire to learn, and Maria told us not to forget about the appointment, aka commitment! It was a miracle. A miracle I'd like to think came about because of our combined Faith.
This work is so rewarding. I can feel myself changing with each day. You learn lessons at an accelerated rate on the mission, and I have come to understand what return missionaries mean when they say the "highs are highs and the lows are low." I'm so excited to work this next week!
Con Todo mi Amor,
Hnita Flores
p.s. My mother formally complained about my lack of descriptions for photos, so they have returned.


                                                                  Planner for the transfer. :)
The dogs of Pasadena love me.


The Ruiz girls. They remind me SO much of my group of friends from High School! (L to R) Daniela, Diana, Stephanie, Jackie.
Little Fidel Castro playing in the trees in front of his house. His Dad says he named him Fidel on purpose, because he's so travieso! :)

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Christmas


So not only do I apparently look polynesian (everyone in the ward I'm serving in seems to think at least one of my parents is Hawaiian), but apparently I'm also the Mexican version of Mandy Moore. My companion and I were sitting in a lesson when all of a sudden one of the girls says, "Hermana Flores, do you know who Mandy Moore is? Have you ever seen a walk to remember? Because I think you look just like her." Mandy Moore? That's new. Of course she explained, "But Hna the only difference is that she's white and you're morenita (dark)." My companion and I still laugh about that one.
   Christmas on the field was so wonderful. It's been freezing cold in Texas with powerful winds and really chilly temperatures, I feel like I'm going to get frostbite everytime I step outside. I was worried that we weren't going to have dinner appointments on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but in the eleventh hour kind of way everything fell into place and we were able to have more than enough people to visit and Christmas cheer to go around. I've never been much of a Christmas person before the mission, but this year, I felt the Christmas spirit. Because I was able to focus on nothing but the true meaning of Christmas, having Charity for my fellowmen and spreading the message of the restored gospel.
   Training is exhausting! I am Training Hna Tonga from Northern California. She is wonderful I love her, and of course with every polynesian I know we have some kind of connection, it was really fun discussing those connections. The first two days of training were exhausting and emotionally draining. I was SO tired, a little sad because I missed Hna Maughan (shoutout if you're reading this Maughskies) and Hna Canova. The first day of training I woke up and the strong realization came to me, "I'm senior companion." All of last week was spent filling in Hna Tonga not only about missionary work, but also all about our area. To say I was grateful that we kind of had two Pdays in a row this week would be an understatement. Just another tender mercy from the Lord.
   I don't have enough time to describe how wonderful the start of the week & Christmas was, so instead I took pictures. :)
Con todo mi amor,
Hnita Flores