And Straight on 'Till Morning

I realized that I haven't written anything since I got home from my mission. I'll try to get more up some other time, but for now here's the talk I gave in Sacrament Meeting Today. :) Sunday 24 August 2014 The very first and most basic doctrine that we teach in the missionary lessons is that God is our Heavenly Father. He knows us and loves us and wants us to be happy. Because He is our father He knows the things that will help us to achieve happiness. That is why He gave us the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nephi explained it this way: “And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the   way; and there is   none   other way nor   name   given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the   doctrine   of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the   Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is   one God, without end. Amen.” – 2 Nephi 31:21 This concept is so straightforward that it s...

Me and Jackie! I found her at the beginning of my mission, and later she was taught and got baptized. Now at the end of my mission she ended up back in my ward. Picture 1: This was a zone water balloon activity that turned into a water balloon fight. It was possibly the funnest 5 minutes of my mission!   Departing missionary temple trip. It was so good to get to go to the temple again. I got to play the organ for our chapel session, and the Spirit in the temple is always so strong. Our Zone is the funniest Zone ever. :) And we all love each other tons as you can see.   Last Zone Training Meeting ever! Luckily it was one of the best I've ever had on my mission. Our zone is the best, and we've had so much fun together. Hermana Jensen, Oscar, Edilberto, Enio, and me. Our wonderful recent converts who fellowship each other and all wore white shirts and ties (Enio took his off...)

Buenas Tardes!   This week has been SO short. I also didn't bring my journal so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to remember of what happened.   Wednesday  we had an exchange with the Hermana Training Leaders. I got to go to Van Nuys with Hermana Larsen. The first thing we did was service. We got to pick up trash around the government center in Van Nuys, and it was so much fun! It was also a great exchange because I got to go back to a lot of places/people that I'd worked with on exchanges last December when I was an Hermana Training Leader. Specifically we had dinner with one Hermana who I'd had dinner with before. Back then she was less active, but her goal was to get her temple recommend back. Now she is active, helps with the missionary work, and drives several other Hermanas from the ward to the temple every month. We also had 3 miracles in a row earlier in the day after we'd had a very unsuccessful hour or so of knocking. Miracle #1 was that the...

Buenos Dias!   This week has been pretty good. Tuesday we had O's baptismal interview, and he PASSED!!! We also had a random cita with Y and A. They texted us to ask if we could come since A was home from work which was great since we haven't been able to see her for a few weeks now thanks to her variable work schedule.   Wednesday we rode bikes in the morning to search for members and referrals that we need to find. I love biking! It is so much easier to talk to people, and it just feels good. :) We also had a great lesson with O and started teaching him Lesson 5 (Laws and Ordinances) from Preach My Gospel chapter 3. They recently made some adjustments to missionary work, including that Lesson 5 must be taught before baptism as well as afterwards. I love it because it helps us focus so much more on enduring to the end, and ensures that our investigators really want to be baptized and then remain active in the church and the gospel for the rest of their...

Buenas Tardes, We had three citas this morning, so we're emailing way later than normal. I am TIRED! It's crazy how much missionaries can fit into one day when they want to. Things are going well here, and we've seen a lot of miracles. We also got my helmet and bike lock back from the elder who was borrowing them so we'll be able to bike a little bit this week. :) I'm excited! This afternoon after sports with our zone I got to try out Elder Speth's bike. He rides a fixie which is where the bike has no gears, just every time the pedals go around so does the wheel. It's crazy! You literally can't stop until you slow all the way down. I unfortunately didn't bring my journal with me today, so I don't have much to report. I will try to fill you all in better next week. Esta iglesia es la iglesia verdadera de Cristo en el mundo. Lo se porque he preguntado al Padre y el me ha contestado mediante su Santo Espiritu. Se que Jose Smith era ...

Buenas,   Monday was a fun day. We had a couple of lessons and got to play flag football with our zone. I only got to play for the first half though because I got injured. Nothing serious, but somehow the side of my face collided with the top of someone else's head and I bit a chunk out of my right cheek on the inside. Surprisingly it didn't really hurt that much, but I had to stop to rinse my mouth out, and it swelled up quite a bit. By today it's almost completely healed.   Tuesday morning Hna Jensen and I went to iHop and bought .56 cent pancakes for breakfast before district meeting. It was their 56th anniversary or something. District meeting after was good, and the rest of the day went well. We had a lesson with E (one of our recent converts) about the priesthood and committed him to wear a white shirt and tie to church on Sunday so that he can eventually bless and pass the sacrament. Then we had dinner with him and Hna M and her husband. ...

Buenos Dias a Todos!   This week has been crazy! Monday we played sports with the district, then we had couple of citas, and at night Hna Christensen packed. I just watched her and felt weird that I wasn't the one packing. I haven't ever had a companion get transferred away from me while I stayed in the area, so it was weird...   Tuesday was transfer meeting. It was crazy because we had to help take up some luggage for the YSA hermanas since they both got transferred so we packed everything in super tight (thank you mom for the jigsaw packing skill genes). Then we went up for the new trainer meeting for Hna Christensen, and I ended up hanging out with a bunch of elders for an hour or so since there weren't any other hermanas there. After transfers were over Hna Christensen ended up with Hna Avila (the new missionary) in El Camino! It's crazy because that's where she started her mission. She's in a different area now, but the same ward...