Yesenia's Baptism

Hey Y'all!

 

The most exciting part of this week was Yesenia's baptism.  It is so good to see someone that you love enter the waters of baptism.

 

She has made great changes in her life, and those changes show in her actions and in her face. 

 

As I approach this new change in my mission, I am sad to leave behind Fort Worth and all of the people that I have come to love here.  I know that the Lord has used me to accomplish a great work here, which work will continue for years to come.  Fort Worth is a very special place, and the gospel is just beginning to take root among the spanish people here, but I know that it will continue and that there will be many many souls who will help build up this small part of the Lord's Kingdom. 

 

I am very excited to serve in Copperas Cove.  I have always loved the southern parts of the mission (maybe because my first area was Waco.

 

Hurrah for Israel!

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

 

Yesenia's Baptism

Yesenia's baptism!!!

Randi, one of our best exchanges, and one of Jenae's friends!

 

Sister Lewis and I on exchange

 The party on September 14

 

Game Night

Hola Familia y Amigos!

 

Ojala que todo este bien.  I think that y'all should learn Spanish, so that I can type my weekly emails in Spanish.  That would be could, but since y'all don't know Spanish, I will stick with English, for now.

 

I went on an exchange to Park Glen 1st and 2nd wards this week.  It is part of the Hurst Stake.  Sometimes it is nice to interact with English people.  Sometimes I forget that there is an entirely different culture here in Texas.  I was reminded that Friday night is Game Night, during high school football season, and that most English-speaking Texans go to the Football games.  I also realized that I may have burned out my taste-buds by eating all of the spicy Mexican food.  We were served Chinese food, and they told us to beware of one dish, because it was spicy.  I couldn't taste the spiciness.  I thought that it just tasted good.

 

My companion in Park Glen was Sister Tullis, and we have decided to be roommates at Utah State next fall.  She is majoring in Math Education, and went 1 year before her mission.  We had so much fun during the exchange we came up with a bumper sticker, "I believe in the empty set."  :)  We also did a lot of good, did a lot of service, and taught a lesson to a woman from India.

 

The big news for this week is that Yesenia is getting baptized!  She is finally ready to make the step, and we are so excited for her.  This has been a really long journey for Yesenia, and we are very excited that she is finally ready.  During the last month she has changed and grown so much.  She is living the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity!  She has been tempted a lot to break both of them, but she has stood firm, and said no.  She has told her boss at the Pulga that she will not work on Sundays, and she isn't backing down.  It is so good to see the positive changes in her.

 

We've been thinking about it, and we decided that when Yesenia really started to progress was when we got her a picture Libro de Mormon.  Yesenia is still learning to read, and missionaries have been trying and trying to help Yesenia read and understand the Book of Mormon.  Some missionaries, even bought her the Book of Mormon on CD, but  it is hard for her to understand all of the big words.  But with the picture Book of Mormon, she can read and understand the stories of the Book of Mormon, and there is definitely a power in the Book of Mormon.  Whenever someone reads and understands the Book of Mormon it changes lifes!  The Book of Mormon is the best!

 

Also I have been thinking about John 4:35-36. "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."  We are really seeing part of that here in Fort Worth right now.  Our district leader, Elder Barnett, served here, in my area, last year.  He taught Yesenia and her family a lot.  Now he is back in the ward, in a different area, but he will still get to be part of Yesenia's baptism.  In fact, Yesenia, asked him to baptize her. 

 

It is a good time to be a missionary.

 

Hurrah for Israel,

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

 

 

Panda Express on Hermana Bush's hump day!

 A random cow at the Stockyards

God Bless Texas

 Sister Tullis

 Yesenia just after her interview!

 

Elder Pino Conference

Today, Elder Pino came to our mission.

 

He spoke in Spanish and he had a translator.  It was wonderful to be able to understand both the Spanish and the interpretation.  (Part of the reason why he came to our mission is so that Stateside missionaries can have the experience of listening to a translation).  Every time I listen to a translation, I am the more convinced that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that Joseph Smith was only able to translate it by the power of God.

I learned a lot about revelation.  Revelation is something that comes by the spirit, but that we have to seek it. 

 

A testimony can only come by a witness from the Spirit. 

 

Alma 32:28 is the test to know if something is true.

 

Without the spirit, you will never succeed regardless of your talents or abilities. 

 

As missionaries, we have the trust of the Lord.  It is a sacred calling to serve the Lord.

 

We are also going to be able to hear Elder Pino speak tonight at a special fireside for Spanish members.  I am really excited.  I love the Spanish language more than words can tell (especially English words. )

 

It is truly a great time to be a missionary.

 

Hurrah for Israel!

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

Santiago

Hola Todos,

 

We had our car examined, and they estimate that there is about $6000 to $7000 worth of damage in the car.  Poor thing. 

 

We kept driving it for the week, with our trunk that wouldn't close, and the back door that wouldn't open. 

 

But then on Friday, we had to go back to the mission office so that the insurance guy could come and look at the car.

 

We spent most of the morning with Elder and Sister Winters in the mission office, and I really enjoyed getting to know the office missionaries.  They are so cute and so sweet!  We were talking with Sister Winters and we realized that the new convert letter hasn't been translated into Spanish.  So they had me translate it for them.

 

But the insurance guy and Elder Winters realized that the car is not safe to drive.  If we were to get into another accident the car would not be able to protect us.  So we get to drive a cute little red sports car right now.  We named it Santiago.  It is a 2010 Toyota Corolla.  I really like the way it drives.  I would buy this car, if it came in manual transmission.  

 

During Conference on Saturday, I was able to listen to it in Spanish and in English at the same time.  It was broadcast in English, but there were headphones available for those who wanted to listen to it in Spanish.  So by keeping the volume level at about the same, I was able to hear both the English and the Spanish translation at the same time.  I learned a lot of new words that way.

 

I loved the theme of missionary work.  We are planning to read some of the talks with the members in our ward, during dinners and stuff. 

 

I also saw a theme of the family and the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

Hasta Luego,

"Eldera" Sanchez

And the adventures continue

We got rear-ended on Thursday.  We were driving along, when the car in front of us decided to stop quickly so that they could turn right.  So I slowed quickly too.  Unfortunately the man behind us was not able to stop.  He started to slow, but hit a patch of water, and just kept going.  We were a little shooken up, but we are fine. 

However, our car needs a lot of help.  The trunk won't close, and the back bumper has popped out.  I am sure that we are going to be spending a lot of time getting to know car mechanics.  {we already have, the people at pep boys recognize us by sight, and have our car number memorized}.

And then I ate a habanero pepper.  It was the hottest thing that I have ever eaten.  I knew it was hot, when I ate it, I just didn't expect it to be that hot.  It burned going down, and then my whole face started to burn.  It worked it's way in a circular motion out from my mouth.  I was sweating, and my sweat would burn.  It felt like my skin was literally on fire.  When it reached my eyes, I was just dying.  The tears that would come out (I couldn't control them they just came) would burn as they left.  I would take napkins and try to soak up all the sweat and tears before it could spend any time on my face, because it hurt so bad.  NEVER EAT HABANEROS!

We also taught Yubiri, the mother of a member. She will be going back to Venezuelaon Tuesday, but we are going to be lifelong friends.  I love her so much.  Hopefully she will get baptized soon in Venezuela.

Hurrah for Israel,

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

One of my favorite ways to teach the apostasy is to take a temple picture, and say that it represents the church that Jesus built, and then as the apostles are rejected and killed, and the doctrine is lost, I start to rip up the temple picture.

Then the ripped up picture becomes a puzzle, and we encourage the children to put it back together.  But even if they get the picture pieces in the right order, it is still not perfect.  There are rips and tears in the picture. 

So then we talk about the need for a restoration, or that God reestablished his church in its perfect and proper form and we pull out a new temple picture and talk about Joseph Smith.

We gave one of our investigator's children the temple picture pieces and told her to put it back together.  She took a gluestick and went into her room and put it together.  When she came back, this was the result.

I think that we can clearly see the need for a restoration! :)

3 Leches Cake

• Make 1 vanilla cake according to the directions on the box.
• Combine 1 can sweetened and condensed milk, 1 can evaporated milk, 1 can Crema in a separate bowl.
• Optional: add pineapple juice as well.
• Poke lots of holes in the cake.
• Slowly pour the milk mixture into the cake, allowing it to fully soak in.
• Top with Whipped Cream and fruit.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

This was a really exciting week. 

 

Why did the chicken cross the road?  To get to the other side.  We watched one cross the road this week.  We had just gotten into our car, and we saw a chicken start crossing the road.  It was amusing.

 

Last Monday, we went to the zoo!  It was exciting.  We saw lots of animals, and we saw a baby elephant.  I found lots of stretched penny machines, and I was super excited, because they were the first stretched pennies I have gotten thus far on my mission.

 

We also got invited to a noche de hogar/birthday party with about half the ward, and one of our investigators.  She had a great time, and we were excited to see her getting so much fellowship.  I think that if all of our investigators could get that type of fellowship, more than half of them would be baptized.  Really.  All many of our investigators need to help them along in the process of conversion is a friend.

 

We have been working with a less active named Noemi.  She is amazing!  She has a ton of questions, and we always end up talking about something weird, but she is also so much fun to work with.  Noemi is working on a zombie movie.  She is currently writing the script for a zombie movie. 

 

We went to dinner on Thursday night, and we walked inside, and we realized that no one was home, beside the 13 year old daughter and her younger sister.  We stood up and were like, can we eat outside, please?  Then, we took a wrong turn on the free-way and we found our way into the Arlington zone, oops.  Plus it was raining cats and dogs.

 

Then we went home, and our toilet exploded. It wouldn't flush and water kept gushing up and up and up.  Fortunately, Hermana  Bush figured out how to turn off the water.  Then we called Elder King, the elder who helps us with all of our apartment and car problems, and he called our apartment complex, and they sent a plumber to our apartment.  He came at about 10:50 pm.  And because it was so late, Elder King had us just stay in the apartment with the plumber, and we called Elder King as soon as he left.  So there are some more rules smashed to smithereens.  Like being alone with someone of the opposite gender and being in bed by 10:30.  I'm not really sure how many rules we broke on Thursday, I am just really glad that God understands, and repentance is real.  :D

 

After going to sleep Thursday night, we were woken up Friday morning at about5:40 am, by a really loud CRACK.  Hermana Bush sat up, and said, "Who got shot?"  Then she looked out the window looking for fire.  I'm not sure what she was thinking, she isn't either.  But we are pretty sure that Lightning struck our apartment.  Immediately after the CRACK, all of our power turned off. 

 

We showered and studied by flashlight.  It was fun.  We left the apartment at12:00 pm, and the power was still off.  It was back home when we returned home that night.  So we were without power for at least a little more than 6 hours.

 

And our oil needed to be changed on the car, so we spent a few hours at Pep Boys while they changed it.

 

Friday, we helped Pedro and Valentina set up for their reception.  Valentina is a member of about a year and a month, and they got sealed on Saturday, and they threw a big "wedding" party for everyone.  It was so exciting. 

 

And then, on Saturday, we got a call, saying that we needed to get the brakes on the car fixed, so we went back to Pep Boys. 

 

And then we went to the reception.  It was so amazing!  We were so excited for them.  And Yubiri (Valentina's mom, whom we have been teaching while she is here for the wedding), announced that she wanted to join the church!!  And I placed a Libro de Mormon to one of Valentina's relatives, that is going to go to France, because she lives in France.

 

And this morning, our ceiling decided to cave in over the shower.  Just another adventure in the life of a missionary.

 

Hurrah for Israel,

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

 

Romans 6:15

Words of Living Prophets

Hola Todos,

 

The highlight of this week was Wednesday, when Elder Anderson of the 12 and Elder Callister of the presidency of the seventy, came to our mission.

 

It was a joint conference with the Dallas mission, so there were 560 missionaries present.  We filled the whole chapel, all the way to the back of the overflow and the stage at the Colleyville Stake Center.  It was wonderful to see so many missionaries and it was great to shake the hands of Elders Anderson and Callister.  Here are my notes from the conference:

 

Elder Callister

Jeremiah 20:9

God's gift for this generation is the power of the 1st vision, but if you don't also teach the aposty, the people won't understand the significance of it for them.

 

The apostles kept the doctrine pure, it started to change, so they would send an epistle or go back and reteach it.

 

Like a beautiful garden with 12 gardeners.  When all the gardeners were dead, the weeds overtook the garden.  Heresy overtook the doctrine of Christ.

 

Asking, "Ok, so when exactly did the apostasy occur?"  Is like asking a grandpa, "Ok, when exactly did your hair turn grey?" I don't know, but it got there.

 

God had a master plan to restore the gospel as soon as he safely could, so that it would nevre again be taken from the world. It is like an airplane, the soonist that you can get it to the ground is to go into a nose dive.  But if you want everyone to live through it, you are going to have to be a little bit slower.

-Moveable type

-Reformers

-Columbus

-Colonists & the constitution

 

Before his matyrdom, Joseph Smith did all that he was called to do as the prophet of the restoration.

-Book of Mormon

-Priesthood

-Missionary Work

-Ordinances

 

Elder Anderson

There is no corruption in the leadership of the church.

 

You have to be patient with yourself, you can't always know all the answers.

 

Never compare yourself to someone else.  Just work on yourself and on helping others.  Time takes care of itself.

 

Be great missionaries, but become great disciples of Christ.

 

Don't just be effective as a missionary, but prepare for the rest of your life.

 

On our mission we learn how to share the gospel, but more importantly, we should learn how to plant our souls in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

1- Firm testimony of Christ

• understand that He is the Son of God
• understand that He lives
• understand that He was resurrected
• all humanity is surrounded by His work

2- Understanding and unshakeable belief in the Book of Mormon

• Learn the importance of the Book of Mormon
• testifies of Jesus Christ
• The Book of Mormon is a "unique and singular testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Be patient.  The Lord's work in happening. It grows.

 

"Never, never judge the effect of your mission based solely on who you baptize."  This is important, but this shouldn't be the measure of your success.

 

Don't ever underestimate the power of your testimony.

 

If you don't know what to speak about, speak about Christ.  If you've spoken about Christ, then tell them about Joseph Smith and the Restoration.

 

Do it with a smile, and don't offend anyone. 

 

Thank all the good Christian people here for their testimony.  Be kind and gentle.  Speak of Christ and the restoration.  Give them a copy of the Book of Mormon.

 

A Missionary and the Atonement

"If you can spiritually learn these principles put them in your heart and review them on a constant basis, then you will be in the celestial kingdom."

PMG, page 2 "as your understanding of the atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase."

 

How do you grow in your understanding of the atonement?

-repentance

Why does that help you grow?

The biggest way we learn about the atonement is to experience it.

Is there anyone here who has not had a need to repent?

As we plead to have our sins forgiven, we feel the peace.  The guilt gets swept away.

A lot of times, it is not just one act, one experience.  You keep moving and keep acting.  As you look back you can see the growth.

Just go to work and focus on others.

 

You have to move beyond yourself or you will never understand the atonement.  Cuz its about what everyone else.  It is about what Christ did.

Alma 5:13

2 Corintians 4:18

You are the deliverers of the Unseen.  You see the Unseen.  You talk about the Unseen.  The Atonement is Unseen.  You can see the manifestations of it. 

Everything speaks of Christ and his wonderful gifts.

Mosiah 3:5, 7-11, 13, 17

Be familiar with the new testament, especially here.

 

Memorize scriptures in the Book o Mormon and the New Testament

 

Pick out the great sermons of Christ.  Make them part of your soul and carry them in your heart for the rest of your life.

 

2 Nephi 2:6-8

Merits, mercy, grace

Don't you ever sell yourself short.

You cannot compare yourself with other people; that's not the way it works.

You set your course, and keep going.  And there will come a time when you will say, 'I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I can do all things.'

The merits are give to us because of what Christ did.

He creat worlds without number.  He was the greatest of them all.

He lived a perfect life.  He was tempted but he did not yield.

Only a person with a divine soul could take the atonement without giving up his mortal life.

We don't know how he did it, but he did it.

 

(The atonement isn't a one-time event in our lives.  It is a process. -- Sister Anderson)

There will be times in your life when the atonement will come to play in a very real way.

There is a power in being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

John 11: 25-26

The atonement overcomes the world.   It gives us absolute certain vision of what is real and what is make-belief.

D&C 58:42

We teach faith and try to move people quickly into baptism that sometimes we move past repentance.

If you feel someone has not repented, then wait.

"If a person hasn't suffered, he hasn't repented." -- Pres. Kimball

Learn about the atonement.  Put it in practice.  Teach it.  Be honest with yourself.  Move yourself inch by inch to another level.  Don't worry if there is someone far ahead of you.  We all move at different rates.

Ether 12:27

Enos 1:5-6

Alma 27:32, 28:3

At the end of the conference, Elder Anderson bore an apostolic testimony of Jesus Christ.  It was very similiar to other testimonies from the apostles that I have heard before, like in General Conference. 

 

But it really struck me, and I thought:

It's true.  It's true.  I know it's true.  Listening to Elder Anderson testify as a special witness of Christ, I felt the Spirit strongly testify to me.  I felt waves of love, and this is true.  Jesus is the Christ.  Joseph Smith was his prophet and the Church that I represent is God's Kingdom on the earth today.  I know it!

Hurrah for Israel!

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

 

P. S.

 

It is transfers week, and I am ...

 

staying in Fort Worth!!!

 

Yippee!  I am so excited.