Birthright blessings - August 19, 2013

Hola Todos,

 

On Tuesday we had Zone Conference and it was super powerful.  We really focused on teaching the Plan of Salvation with power and authority.

 

How many members of the lost tribes have been gathered?  (see Article of Faith 1:1) 

 

Well in order to answer that question, you need to understand who the lost tribes are.  When the house of Israel split and the 10 tribes went north, only Judah and Benjamin stayed behind.  That makes all of the other tribes the lost ten tribes.  Which means that Ephraim and Manasseh are most definitely lost tribes.  So, about 14 million members of the lost 10 tribes of Israel have been found when they were baptized into the fold of God. 

 

Read this article in the Guide to the scriptures to learn more about the House of Israel and our role in the last days: Israel. Pay particular attention to the last paragraph underneath the Twelve Tribes of Israel.  This describes what the role of Ephraim is in the latter days.  If you read Deuteronomy 33:13-17, you will realize that this work is the work of the Tribes of Joseph, which means that it is not just Ephraim but also Manasseh.  As members of the Tribe of Joseph, we have the responisbility and the birthright to share the gospel with all of the world.

 

This is what we are trying to teach all of our members.  Let me know if you have any ideas or scriptures that we can share to help our members understand their birthright. 

Let me know if you have any stories or experiences sharing the gospel.

 

Now is the time of the hastening of the work and it is time to Wake the Sleeping Giant of the 14 million latter day saints.  Imagine how great the church would grow if every single member of the church brought one soul unto Christ.  Now imagine how great it would grow if every Latter Day saint brought many souls unto Christ.   Will you accept your birthright? 

 

Will you invite your friends to come unto Christ?

 

Hurrah for Israel!

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

Joke of the Week

Sorry, we do not have much time to email today, so here is the joke of the week:

 

Por que los lamanitas tenian ropa arrogada?

Por que los nefitas tenian las planchas. 

 

Why did the Lamanites have wrinkled clothes?

Because the Nephites had the (plates/irons). 

 

 

Quote of the week:

Tirale al cielo para que le des al cerro porque si no le das a un perro.

 

Throw it to the sky so that it will land on a hill, because if not you will give it to a dog.

 

This is an expression that has similiar connations as "Reach for the moon, for if you miss at least  you'll be among the stars."

 

 

My new companion, Hermana Bush, is wonderful.  She is from Boise, Idaho.  She is 19, and was one of the first 19 year olds to come out to the field.  She has a strong testimony and is a great missionary. 

 

Que les vayan bien,

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

Intercambios

Monday, we taught Yesenia.  She made us dinner, and she invited her fellowshipper over.  That was cool.  One of her fellowshippers is Randi.  She is friends with Brian and Jenae.  Small world.  Because Yesenia is 18 and unmarried, we have been trying to get her involved in the YSA ward a little as well.  So after dinner, Randi took Yesenia to the YSA family home evening. 

 

Tuesday I went on exchanges with the other Hermanas in our ward.  I went to the other area.  Their area is still the southside of Fort Worth, but farther north than our area.  (We cover everything from the 820 south and everything from the 35 west, more or less).  It was fun to go to their area and meet some of their investigators. 

 

We taught lots of people, and they are all progressing at some level or another, but we are still struggling to get people to come to church.  Just come to church!

 

On Saturday, I went with the other Hermanas again for a few hours, while Hermana Gomez went to Hurst for the new trainer meeting. 

 

I also bought some Cowboy boots at the Pulga when we went on Saturday, after Hermana Gomez got back.   :D

 

Que les vayan bien,

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

 

 

 

 

Pioneer Day - We walked and walked and walked!

Hola todos!  Ojala que todo este bien para uds. 

 

We realized that Alma's name is reallly Alba.  So we've been calling her the wrong name for a while.  :D It is a good thing that she likes us.

 

On Monday we went over to see them, and they let us right in, then the children and the husband all scattered.  The children is understandable, but I am sick of flojo husbands.  Alba was helping out some of her friends and letting them stay with her while they find a place to live.  So we taught them the restoration.  And it was almost like a member present lesson.  Alba shared about the book of mormon and bore her testimony about it.  It was really cool.

 

We taught Alba again yesterday, and we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We told her that the church respects the father as the head of the family, but if he isn't ready to get baptized and she is, then she can get baptized with his permission, and set an example for him.  We really want the whole family to get baptized, but Manuel won't even stay around for the lessons, and Alba is so ready for the gospel.  We set a baptismal date with her for August 31st and she wants it so badly. 

 

The major story of the week is that we found Adolfo.  Adolfo was an investigator that Hermana Gomez and Olander were teaching a while ago, but then, his "family" kicked him out of his house, and moved him somewhere in Joshua, but couldn't remember where he was at.  He wanted to get baptized, but he wanted to wait until his wife came her from El Salvador and get baptized at the same time.  He had been saving up money for her to come, and she should have been coming in a few months. So, basically, they had this really super awesome investigator, who was lost and couldn't be found.

 

But we've been trying to find this guy for a while.  Several weeks ago, we got some sketchy directions from his nephew, and drove out into the middle of nowhere, and couldn't find him.  So we called prayed and asked the Lord for help.  Then we called his nephew, and all of a sudden, he remembered perfectly how to get to Adolfo's house, and he even remembered what number it was.

 

So we went down and followed the new directions, and he was there.  And he had just talked to his wife, and she had already gotten baptized, so he wanted to get baptized too.  We set a baptismal date with him for August 3rd. 

 

But then we went and taught him yesterday, and he is going to be moving to Houston this week, so he won't be able to get baptized up here.  But the missionaries down in Houston are going to love him!

 

Our biggest problem with our investigators is getting them to church.  If they would just come to church, then everything would be great! 

 

We teach lots of lessons, but we spend time finding even more.  We always need more investigators.  Always.

 

There haven't been a lot of changes with the new Mission President.  His big push is to double all of our efforts.  Which we are going to do, and it will be awesome.

 

For the 24th of July, my companion and I sang Come, Come ye Saints.  Then we walked and walked and walked and walked. :) and we did lots of missionary work.

 

con amor,

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

Missionary Work is the best!

Hola todos.

 

Well, it was just a normal week in the life of a missionary.  We found, we taught, and we invited lots of people to be baptized. 

 

This week, we went and taught someone in the street.  And she told me that I barely have an accent!  That makes me so happy.  Me encanta espanol!

 

Our ward also had a talent show this week.  It was a fun activity.  The spanish ward is super talented!

 

Tenga un buen dia.

 

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

 

P.S. as you can tell, I am running out of new things to write about.  Could you ask me questions to help the creative juices flow?

Open the flood gates!

What a week.  We set so many baptismal dates.  There are so many people here who are ready for the gospel.  We are going to start baptizing weekly soon.  It is going to be amazing!

 

We were eating dinner at what we thought was the home of a recent convert, Yesenia.  We were sharing the story of Abish, and how she was a great member missionary, we invited them to invite their friends to noche de hogar, and then Yesenia told us, but Hermanas, I'm not even baptized yet.  Hermanas Gomez and Olander white-washed this area 3 months ago, and some of the important details were lost in the switch.  So needless to say, Yesenia will be getting baptized super pronto, because she is practically a member already.  :D

 

On Wednesday, we had a woman, Alma, call us up on the phone and ask us to come and pray with her.  Of course, we were like, claro que si.  Nos encanta orar.  :D  So we go and meet Alma and her very large family.  There are 6 children, 3 of them over the age of 8! :D  We find out that Alma and her family have met with the missionaries before.  Then Alma was at the store, and met a mormon, and decided that she needed to see the missionaries again, so she called us. Then we taught them and taught them and taught them some more, and ojala que they are going to be baptized soon.

 

And then there is Jose and Lindsey.  Lindsey is a member in one of the english wards, and is married to Jose, who speaks more spanish than English and is not yet a member.  We just happened to run into them, and now we are teaching them too.  They can come to the Spanish Ward, and Jose can get baptized!

 

Don't forget about Jose and Fidelia.  They came to church last week, and we set a baptismal date with Jose.

 

And then there is Maria Rodriguez.  Hermanas Gomez and Olander were teaching her for a while, but we haven't seen her for a few weeks.  We stopped by and she had been reading from the Book of Mormon, and guess what?  We set another baptismal date. :D

 

Oh, don't forget about Ruben.  His wife, Lourdes, is a member, and he has a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but he is worried that he doesn't have enough faith, so we just need to fan the fire a little bit, and then we will have another baptism.

 

Oh, and there is an amazing family who lives in our apartment complex.  We see them almost every other day or so, and last night we were reading from 3 Nephi 11, and you will never guess!  We set another baptismal date.

 

Then, there is Marta.  She is Lourdes's sister.  And she has read the Book of Mormon twice.  As soon as she figures out the law of chastity issues (She wants to leave her esposo, we think, but she just needs to find someplace to live and work out the issues with her children. Her esposo is still married in Mexico and he doesn't want to get divorced.), she will be baptized soon.

 

Basically, it is a great time to be a missionary!

 

Hermana Julie Anna Sanchez

 

 

The Stephenville Moo-la cow

 

Transfers!

 

Interesting Stuff at the Gran Plaza (the local mall here)

  

There are parts of the Gran Plaza that are just like Mexico.  It is super chido!

  

Hastening the Work

Fort Worth is the best.  There are so many people to teach and find.  I love it.  We had 3 investigators at church, and I am sure that we are going to get many more to come to church as well.

 

On Tuesday we met our new mission president, President Ames.  I am super excited.  He said lots of cool t hings.  Like this time when the Lord is hastening his work is comparable to the 1st vision, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and all males getting the priesthood. 

 

I've been thinking about this and I feel super blessed to be out here.  I've always wanted to go on a mission.  The question has always been, when?.  Sometimes I would think that I would have my 21st birthday in the MTC, but then I would think and pray some more and I always felt like, not now.  I needed to be in school then.  And so I always thought that I would finish my degree before I came out on a mission.

 

But then it all changed in an instant (literally).  I was just walking across the quad at Utah State to get to class, when I knew that I needed to serve a mission right then.  So, I started talking with my parents and my bishop, and before I knew it, I had finished the papers and was just waiting for my call.

 

I entered the MTC when I was 21 and 8 months.  So not, very off from my desire to have my 21st birthday in the MTC, but if that had happened, I would be home now.  I wouldn't have the last 7 months of my mission here with president Ames at this time.  I probably would have returned home just as the first effects of "the hastening of the work" hit the mission field.  And if I had waited to finish my degree until coming out, I would probably still be at Utah State finishing up, and not even out in the mission field as the Lord hastens his work.

 

Instead in the Lord's timetable, I am still a missionary, and I am so grateful for the Lord's timing.  I am able to be a seasoned missionary and help out the Lord's work as much as I possibly can.  Really, I feel super blessed and I feel that the Lord trusts me. :D

 

President Ames said that we were all foreordained to be here in this mission at this time.    I've said my whole mission that God's timing is perfect, but it really hit me again.  God knew what would happen and he blessed me to go out on a mission at precisely the right time so that I could be here at this time when the Lord hastened his work.  Que maravillosa!

 

I am also super blessed to be serving in Fort Worth.  We have an all spanish district, and it is such a blessing to be able to speak more and more spanish.  I know that my spanish is going to get stupendiously better.  I'm excited. 

 

Then we had the 4th of July here.  We ate Mexican food.   Most of the day was planning day, but during the evening, we rode our bikes all around to some the parks here, and we met lots of people.  Then we did our nightly planning outside and watched some fireworks. 

 

On Saturday, we went to contact a referral in Joshua, a little town about 25 miles south.  It reminded me of Stephenville a little bit.  :D  We definitely cover a much larger area (in terms of people) then we did while I was in Stephenville.  (When a small town like Stephenville, is the small far-away of our area, instead of the main center of our efforts.)  We also cover Burleson, Crowley, and Benbrook. 

 

Sunday, we had 3 investigators come to church.  There are definitely some very good things happening here in Fort Worth.  :D

 

Gracias por todo,

Hermana Sanchez

 

Hector - member missionary work at its prime!