October 31, 2011

Hey everyone!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Let me just start of by saying this...it SNOWED! Yeah, it is official, I made it to winter. Who would have thought that I could have done it. It was so cold and all I could think about was how nice it would be to be back in Hawaii haha. But I am learning now to cope with the winter so that is good since I have heard its gonna be cold here till May.

Uhm, other news, I made it through another transfer and I am still in Arlington with Hermana Balsley which is sick because I love Arlington and I love Hermana Balsley. Its truly the best thing ever because I can honestly say that I have found a best friend out here on the mission, its just good and I am stoked.

So yeah, there isn't too much news right now, we are still teaching Erika, from Columbia and she is getting baptized this week. Also we had a ward Halloween party and a family that we are starting to teach showed up...I'm so stoked for them, because they are so so good.

Its really incredible, I think the biggest thing I have learned this week was how much the Lord has blessed me to be in the right places at the right time. I was just thinking about it Saturday night when we were driving home from knocking doors, and all I could think was how blessed I was, how lucky I am to be apart of this work, and how lucky I am that the Lord trusts me to be out here haha. I mean we are literally nothing, we are just instruments in the Lord's hands to do his will...and I am so lucky that he is working with me. All I can do is keep doing all that I can so that I can better help his work progress and I know that he will guide me, because I have already seen it happen so many times. I know that is true with all aspects of our lives, as we do all we can, as we work hard and stay close to him, he blesses us, because really, he just wants to give us these blessings, he wants to show us miracles, he wants to give us everything. I love reading in Mathew 7 when Jesus is giving his Sermon on the Mount and he talks about how much better the gifts are from our father that is in heaven. He is just waiting for us to ask for them, to work for them. I know that is true, I know that he loves us and that he will give us all that we need.

I love you all.

Cubo-
RR

October 24, 2011

There has been a lot of things going on the past couple weeks, and to be honest, I don't remember a lot of it haha. It seems as though everyday we are out finding tons of new people, talking to new people, teaching new people and a lot of the times, they just never seem to really want to stick to it. That is the hardest part...meeting people, talking with them and seeing how much they need the gospel in their lives and seeing that they want it but then they turn from it because they are afraid of the change. Its interesting how we are always so afraid of "the change", afraid of doing something new, or stepping out of our comfort zone, or leaving something, someone, or some place behind. We find ourselves running away from "the change" or even the very thought of it, and we fail to recognize that ''the change" is actually the best thing we could do for ourselves. The change towards living the gospel of Jesus Christ is at first different and sometimes hard, but it is so worth it. We gain so much perspective from it. The beautiful thing about it is that, it is a constant, it is a knowledge, it is a peace of mind. I love the gospel for that, I love my mission because I have gained that perspective, that although at first going on a mission was the last thing I wanted, now, I know that I never want to live my life without the constant peace from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that although in my life I will go trhough many changes, I will always have that love of my heavenly father and that peace from living the gospel.

Other news...

So this month has be the month of Hispanic heritage so there have been tons of events going on in honor of that...this last week we went up to the temple to an event with a couple investigators and it was so much fun! We got to see some Peruvians singing, and puerto ricans and the Bolivians dancing along with the El Salvadorians and the Paraguayans...it so easy to get that Hispanic pride, haha. I love this culture, I love the people, I just want to go travel all over central and south america (Grom, you down?).

We are teaching a woman named Erica, she is from Columbia, and I love her haha. I have decided that Colombians have the best accents that I have ever heard. Erica is going to get baptized on the 6th of November and she is so ready for it. She spent a lot of her life looking for a church, she attended a lot of churches, but the first time she came to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints she knew this was where she wanted to stay.

So yeah, everything out here is moving along, the work is going good, the spanish is coming and it is so funny when it doesn't haha...oh well, I know that as I continue to do my best, the Lord will bless me. I have already seen it so much. I love you all tons and I hope that everything is going well.

Cubo,
RR

Papa Wally- Good luck in Africa and be safe and Love you...say hi to caroline for me:)
Granny Jo- Love you
Barnes Family- you all are the best

October 17, 2011

So this Sunday Marily was confirmed into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! She is so good, after her confirmation she went and sat down with Hermana Hernandez in the pew and I just couldnt help but smile. Hermana Hernandez is the Relief Society president and she is the most christlike person I have ever met.... so charitable, she knows that the gospel is more important than money, work, time and she lives it. Well all I could think when I saw Marily sitting next to her was how similiar Marily is to Hermana Hernandez. Marily loves the gospel. Im sure I have told you all this but I am going to say it again...I am so humbled by the hispanis people and the people of the ward that I am in. They are so good, so willing to share and give. Most of them are converts to the gospel and its incredible because they just have an eternal perspective. If we could all have that eternal perspective and always remember it. I've heard before that we are to live in the world but not be of the world and you know, looking back on my life I would say that there was a good period where I was living in and I was in the world. I had allowed myself to be consumed in the pettiness of it all, I was making petty decisions, trying petty things, and using petty words. I was blinded by it all, But you know what, pettiness is not happiness. I think the greatest deciet that satan offers is that pettiness brings happiness, that wickedness is happiness or that the world is happiness. I see out here, the eternal view of it all, the larger picture. That everything we do, that who we become is for a purpose. As we develop ourselves, as we give of ourselves we truly become better and happier people. The people of this ward, they know that to everything they do there is a temporal consequence but even more a spiritual consequence, and so they devote themselves to the spiritual aspect, to the giving, to the serving others because they understand what the greatest gift of god is, they understand what true happieness is, it is the love of god, it is eternal life, it is living with our familes forever. When I think of the love of god...man! That is something unimagineable, something that words cant even explain, a high that is better than anything else. And the wild thing is that all we have to do is do all we can, and the Savior helps us make up the difference, we just have to try to master ourselves, to line ourselves with being obedient to the Savior, to work hard and to give more, and he will give us the rest. He will help us along the way as we turn to him. Just keep that eternal perspective. I love you all and miss you all.
Cubo
RR

ps-
a photo, me and hermana Balsley in DC.
We spent the day with Hermana Maria de Marylnd(really de Paraguay) She works in DC at PANHO or WHO. She is the best!

October 11, 2011

Marily got baptized!!!

This woman is incredible, she is 23 years old and has so much faith. She is such an example to me. Sunday she showed up to church and she said to us, "where do I go to pay my tithing?" She hadnt even been baptized at that point. She just knows, she knows this is the gospel of jesus christ and she is going to live it faithfully. When she came to her baptismal service she was all dressed up, none of her family came, not even her husband, because they didnt want her to get baptized, but she said, "my family isnt here but I dont need them, I know I have something more here". She bore her testimony after she was baptized and was just saying that she wants to go out and share with others this message because she knows that it is true. Man, I am so humbled I cant even explain it. To have the conviction of Marily, its incredible. When she got out of the water she had tears coming down her face and she just embraced us both in a huge hug, all I could say was 'somos hermanas para siempre'. I know that Marily, Hermana Balsley and I will be connected forever, we were meant to meet eachother. I am so grateful to get to play a small part in this grand work that the Lord has. I know this church is true, I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and I know that sometimes, it is hard to live having this knowledge because we would rather do other things and not have the responsibility of knowing what is right, but in the grand scheme of it all, in reality, we are so much more blessed to have this knowledge, to know that God loves us and there is a plan, to know that we can mess up and the Savior will always be there to pick us back up. I am on a mission haha...that blows my mind. I love you all. Think of you often.

Cubo
RR

October 3, 2011

Hey everyone,

Welp, things out here in Arlington are really really cold. I guess with October came the cold. It was 45 degrees the other day, cheeeyup, Im not stoked about the winter. I guess it is a canadian wind coming through...gullp.

Anyways, everything has been going really good, we just are out working hard. Marilee is getting baptized on Sunday, I am so happy for her, she just knows the truth, she knows that this is the church of jesus christ and she is stoked. Her family isnt supportive of her baptism, but she said after seeing conference, that it doesnt matter, she just wants to get baptized.

Oh, how sick was conference? I dont think I have ever sat through all 4 sessions in my life, and I think I didnt know 4 out of the 12 apostoles, but it was incredible. For the first time in my life I realized that there is a prophet on earth who guides and directs us. Thomas S. Monson, is a prophet of God, how lucky we are.

I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk, how powerful and incredible is God, he created everything, uncountable universes, the mountains, the ocean, and us...we are so little in comparsion to the vastness of his creations, and yet, all of us creations were created for us. I think a lot about that, how much God loves me, how aware he is of me. Everyday, I see a miracle, a tender mercy, and I know that he is aware of what I am doing. Another thing that hit me was how important it is to have our priorities in line, this life, right now, is only our time to prepare to meet god, to better ourselves,to become as close to Jesus Christ as we can. I long to be like Jesus Christ, to gain charity, to have true perspective. A scripture that I read pretty much everyday is Alma 7:23 "And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive." I strive for this. I know that as I do my best and rely on the Lord, I can become more as my Savior, more humble, more gentle, more giving. Life is so much better when you have all of those things, it is so much more peaceful and easy.

Cubo,

RR

pictures-me and hermana balsley in DC