Letter from Sept. 20

Hi family!

Well another week has passed by, and it was a good one...challenging, but what else is new? Haha. This week is transfers, and Sis Tejada and I already knew that we were staying together because of the new training schedule, where trainers stay w/ the greenies for 12 weeks. But everyone else is all switched up and we have some new sisters comign in. Coming into the VC this transfer is a girl from France and a girl from Ghana! I'm pretty stoked. And then the next transfer a girl from Mongolia and a girl from Pakistan are coming. Right now the only international sisters we have are Latinas, so this will definitely be a change, and I'm excited. So this past week was busy, we had district meeting, a charla fogonera, and mission tour! So mission tour is when a general authority comes to visit the mission and talks to all the missionaries. So we went on Friday, and the GA was Elder Che (?), the one who spoke in the priesthood session a couple general conference's back. He was really really good. Him and his wife both spoke, as well as stkae president Palmer, as well as Pres and Sis Ellsworth. There was a lot about just opening up your heart, being unified, being obedient, being a friend to those you teach, all stuff I loved. He has an awesome conversion story, and his family it seems were some of the first members in Korea. As for being "friends", he read John 15:12-15, check it out...all about how we can be Christ's friends, and how when you're friends with someone you do the same things as them, so we follow Christ's example. They also gave the triangle diagram that Elder Bednar shared a while back about how we can become "one". In a marriage/companionship, its a three-party relationship, between you, your comp, and teh Lord at the top of the triangle. So if you want to become more unified with your comp, you both just have to work towards becoming closer to the Lord, and the distance between you will become shorter. IDK if you had heard that before, but it is so so so true...it doesnt matter how different we are, those things won't ever change...the only thing you can control is how Christlike you are. I've definitely seen that with Sis Tejada and I, this past week we've become better friends, but it still can be really hard when you just come from different cultures and all that.

Anywhozle. So, aside from that, this past friday we had our ward activity! We were on shift in the VC at the time, so we could only sneak away for like an hour. But it was really good to just go there and visit with members. Griselda and Daniel came, and Guadalupe and her mom came, which was good. Tonight the rama is doing a last minute trip to the VC, so Sis Tejada and i are trying to make that work, and to get investigators to come. Jose will probably be coming, possibly some others. Dad, I appreciate what you said about having sister missionaries haha! Speaking of which, in the VC this past week, I met a sister who used to serve in Tujunga like 6 years ago! She's from Mexico, and she remembered the Barillas', vaguely the Peterson's, etc. So it was really cool that I could tell her about how teh branch has grown into a ward. She also gave me a referral for a classmate of her husband who had a really cool story. This classmate came up to the member's husband, and told him that she had a dream in which her and her husband were standing there, and the world was falling apart around them, in utter chaos. Then, the member couple came up to her and her husband, and handed them a white pear. So they offered them this white pear, and the classmate and her husband tasted it, and the classmate said that she felt joy once she tasted it. So she finishes telling the guy this story, and is like, "You and your wife must have some kind of fruit for me...what is it?" I kid you not! Crazy, no? So yeah, I'm gonna follow up with her and see how its going with her.

This past week in the VC I had more opportunities to work with nonmembers, which was good practice. One was a Japanese exchange student, and I went through the art exhibit(which I love) with her and her member friend. (Which is when I saw Sister Townsend...hahaha that was so random but so great too). We had a great conversation, but it was really tough because she has zero belief in God, anything like that. So it ended and she didn't want to give me her address in Japan for the missionaries, she said she feels more comfortable calling them, but I gave her the name of my friend Natalie Stevenson whose serving in Tokyo, so you never know :) hahaha

Another nonmember experience was with a 7th day adventist. A member came up to her in Walmart and just started talking religion, and invited her to the VC the next day, so I got to go through the exhibit with them. That was also pretty tough, I didn't know all of their beliefs, and you gotta give her credit for how much she knew her bible :) Darron, I have a new appreciation for you serving in Nashville. So, she also didn't want to accept missionaries, but she was gonna go to church with her on Sunday.

Then I met some nonmembers, 3 ladies from Michigan/Chicago (!) down here for a constitution fair. They knew a lot about the church, and I took them thruogh some pictures we have of teh temples, adn showed them some clips of Pres Monson speaking, etc. They had some great questions. So, one of them accepted missionaries! Woohoooooo! She said she was mostly just interested in the history of the church, but I feel like she was really intrigued on a different level as well. So, good stuff!

Al, you asked if we do recent convert firesides in the VC...we have a mission president fireside each month, which is what we had thi past sunday. Once in english, once in spanish. So that was really cool, I got to sing w/ a group of missionaries at it. It's really cool to just see how people's lives CHANGE!

So, what else...Jose is doing well, this past sunday we were supposed to have like 5 people at church, and at the last minute none of them showed :( We're still teaching Alexis and GIselle, who are these totally awesome teenage girls who are so fun. BUt it's really tough, because they're so fun, sometimes we don't take things as seriously...we chat too much and stuff. And because we teach them in english, I'm more comfortable with my own words, so it's harder for me to just stop and listen to the Spirit. What else...Griselda is doing well, we have a great member from another ward helping us out with her. We're hoping to do more lessons in member homes. Familia Baez...ahh!! They've slowed down, and it's not good because the ward was way stoked about them and we need to get them involved to get the ward excited.

In other news, this transfer our VC schedule is changing! Great news, because now we'll have more opportunties to go to our wards, more dinners in member homes, more time in the area.

So things are going good. Let's just leave it at the Spirit is real, the Atonement is real, I know God is mindful of each andevery one of us, and I know he has a plan for each and every one of us. Alright, I must be off! Thanks for EVERYTHING, I am so sososososoososososo blessed to have your support. Love, Hermana Fors

Letter from Sept. 12

Hi family,

Thanks so much for all of your love and support :) For reals, I am SO grateful for all of you. Ok soooo this week for the most part has been a really good one!

Ok, so yes. The work goes on! I'm coming to see how much fasting, praying, and goal setting can really make a difference in the work. The big news...we have a baptismal date! I think I mentioned a man named Jose who the elders referred to us. Well we decided that we were gonna try hard to set a baptismal date with him at the first lesson if it felt right...it's something that our mission pres has stressed before that we needed to give a shot. So we got there, and we brought a recent convert with us. So we got to his place and he has a pretty nice apartment, but he didn't have any furniture...just a little camping chair and an air mattress that he sleeps on in the living room. We come to find out, that he doesn't have any of this stuff because he's SUPER addicted to gambling. He tells us that he gets his paycheck on Friday, goes straight to teh casino on the indian reservation, and spends it all. He has this problem with his eyes, but hasn't gotten surgery because he spends the money gambling. He even sold his truck because he wanted money for gambling. He got divorced 4 months ago, and has 2 older sons in mexico and a little 5 year old girl here that he sees on the weekends. It was so heartbreaking, he is completely completely addicted and just doesn't know how to get out of it. So...we taught him the first lesson. and it went really well, he has a lot of knowledge. So at the end of the lesson, I knew sister tejada was going to make me be the one to do the baptismal commitment, so I just told him that if he came to find out that all these things are true...that the book of mormon is true, that the fullness of the gospel of jesus christ is still here for us, that god loves himm, all of that...if he comes to know that's true, if he would be baptized, and he said of course! and so then we asked him if he would prepare for october 8th as a goal for a day he could be baptized on, and he said yes. So wooohoooooo! They haven't had a baptismal date in this area since like, June or July...so it was good to see that happen. And he just wants to change so badly, it's so heartbreaking. So yeah, Jose will be our new focus! It was also really good, because we brought our recent convert and she just shared her testimony a lot, which was really good to learn to see just how strong her testimony has become.

So yes...we also had an exchange this past week for just one afternoon, so I went with Sister Hartvigsen so our area. That was really good, because it made me take a little more initiative with speaking, because she's also a gringa. So now I'm just trying to take that same initiative when I teach with Hma Tejada. So we had 2 great lessons, one with Familia Baez and one with Griselda. Familia Baez, we had been nervous about them, but we taught the mom and dad, and just told them how important it is to read and to pray about the Book of Mormon, and they confessed that they hadn't been doing that. The dad started warming up again, being more receptive, which was really good. And then we taught Griselda, and finished the 1st lesson with her, and that went well.

We had stake conference yesterday, which I really enjoyed, but it made it a little harder for us to bring our investigators to :( . I'm still trying to figure out how in the world missionary work works and how to get investigators to progress, but I'm needing to just remind myself to be patient.

What else...this week is mission tour, which should be fun. The last pday, sister tejada and I went and got greek food for lunch, and today for pday we have a zone activity (watching god's army...classic missionary moment), and then we're having dinner with the couple whose basement we live in.

Visitor's Center is going well. That's specifically where I'm coming to see how goal setting is so important, and when you set a goal, it really does show God your faith, and he provides a way for you to accomplish it. I set goals and fasted so that I could confirm more referrals (meaning that I spoke to the people on the phone, invited them to meet with missionaries and they accepted), and get more top boxes (which is when nonmembers come to the VC and they accept to meet with missionaries). I also set goals about getting more referrals from Spanish speakers. So, this week...I was able to get a Spanish speaker top box, and then I gave a spanish tour and got some spanish referrals! So that was really cool. As for confirming, I'm getting closer and closer to my goal I feel like, but telephones definitely take a lot of practice. The visitor's center is great. I love working with members, and I also love working with less actives that come into the VC. I also love that a lot of recent converts come to the VC, and I get to talk with them and hear their story and learn more about how I can be a better missionary.

What else, yesterday was September 11th (FYI, incase you're even more out of touch than I am haha), and we showed the music and the spoken word broadcast here in the VC that commemorated it.

Que mas...we continue to struggle with how to work with members, and how to get them to come to lessons with us! I feel like the most important thing is just to love the members, they need to feel that love so they can know that you're bringing that same love to investigators. So I'm trying to not let the language barrier prevent me from showing my love for them. This Friday they have their big activity, and we're trying to help them out as much as possible, because we'll only be able to be there for 1 hour, because of teh VC.

Also, one of the senior couples here, the husband lived in La Canada for a long time. His name is Cal Andreason, and he's the youngest son of Juel Andreason. He wanted me to ask mom/dad if you knew his family, because he knew like the Welch's, Callisters, etc.

So yep, that's the roundup. Thanks for everything! I love you guys so much. Lesson of teh week is that we should remember that discouragement always comes from Satan, and that when we let our light shine, it lets other people shine their own light. i'm so grateful that we have the Gospel to make unhappy people happy, and happy people happier! The end :) Love, Hermana Fors

Brittany's Letter from Sept. 6

Hi family,


This past week has been good, we're still working really hard to get a baptismal date, and there have been some discouraging moments. But I'm working hard and trying my best!


So Phoenix area is about to get mormon.org-ified! Coming October 3rd, we are gonna have that huge crazy ad sweep like other cities have had. So for us as a mission, that's big. We've had some trainings and met with our stake president and we're meeting as zones and all of that to figure out how to work with members to best utilize this. I'm really excited for it!


Another miracle, the other day at the VC this family history library older sis missionary came in with a referral. She said she was at a restaurant with her nametag on, and a man was staring at her and she asked how she could help him. He said that the missionaries used to teach him, and he was ready to be baptized, and then they stopped showing up for some reason, and he still wants to get baptized. He asked her if she could teach him again, and she said she couldn't but she knows someone who could! So she brought in that referral and I was able to call the temple mission and get that lined up, so that was really cool. People are prepared!


We also had the chance to teach a few lessons in the VC this week to our investigators. We taught guadalupe and david, who we're trying to get married, and the members came with us and told them that the members would cover whatever costs there were, which was nice. We also taught Griselda and Daniel in the VC, and we're hoping to commit them to baptism this week. We also got a referral for a man named Jose who is coming to the VC today, and we're hoping to exercise our faith and commit him to baptism right off the bat.


Kytsia and Chayla came to church the other day, and that was tough, because there weren't any YW there! We couldn't be there the whole time with them because we had to be in the VC for part of it. So when we came back to join them, we could tell they felt really uncomfortable...so killer, we and the members did all we could but we can't blame them. So, it's been a struggle with the Familia Baez, pray for them! We had a lesson with them in which we learned some of the dad's concerns, and then since the girls came to church, the mom didn't show for the lesson, so we've been really nervous. Hopefully it'll turn out okay.


We have been able to find some good potentials, that we're hoping to turn into new investigators. This week we're trying to focus on our goals and to really keep them in mind at all times. So yes, I love you all so much! Thank you for all of your support, I loveeee youuuuuuuu!


Love,
hermana Fors

Missionaries from the Mesa Arizona Maricopa North Stake

The stake president, David Palmer, in Brittany's area invited all the missionaries from the stake over for breakfast on Labor Day and his wife sent this nice picture to all the missionaries' families.