December 12, 2011

Hey everyone-

updates...

I am still in Arlington and just loving it. It is really cooled though, the other morning it was 29 degress, I have never been in a place this cold. My new companion is Hermana Moya from Ecuador and she is so awesome. She is teaching me tons of spanish.

So here is a cool story...

Last night we were going to go have a lesson and one of the members, Hermana Martinez from Bolivia came with us. As we were driving over to the lesson, I asked her how long she had been a member and she started telling us her conversion story.

She grew up in La Paz, Bolivia and down there, growing up they are told stories about their ancestors.

Their ancestors always believed that someday a 'white god' or "veracocha" would come. They grew up hearing stories and teachings of the 'white god' that was supposed to someday come to their land and they were told of the signs that would come as well. So when the Spainards came many people thought that they were the 'white gods' because of their skin color and also because they had a book that talked about a 'white god', the bible. Well, turns out they were not the 'white gods' as many of them thought. Hermana Martinez then said that when the missionaries shared with her about the Book of Mormon, about how Jesus Christ came to the Americas, that it was a story she already knew...it was the stories she grew up hearing from her grandparents and now, she had the actual writings of the stories they used to tell her, contained in The Book of Mormon. She then bore a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The car was filled with the spirit. I have always known The Book of Mormon was true but in that moment, my conviction for it just grew. The reason why the work down in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico is so quick is because they have all heard the stories of the Book of Mormon growing up. The book of Mormon is True! Jose Smith was a Prophet called of God and the church of Jesus Christ, the same one he established has been restored and is on the earth today.

!Que Bonita Es Esta Vida!

I love you all.
Cubo
RR

ps photos from DC

November 28, 2011

Hola a TODOS!

So let me tell you this, the weather here in Virginia is wild, the last week it has been in the high 60's and I am feeling so grateful everyday. Words cant even explain it, I have had so much fear for the snow and cold, but it seems as though someone is looking out for me.

This week we had a miracle....We found her on Thanksgiving day, we were knocking doors and she was the third door we knocked. Her name is Ana and she is from El Salvador. She let us in and told us she had been alone all day and was sad. As we sat down we noticed that she had a pass along card(we give them out to people) which had a picture of Jesus taped on her door. We were talking about it and she began to started to tell us her life story. This woman is incredible, she has had trials that I cant even comprehend. She almost lost both of her sons in a random shooting, and she herself was almost killed twice, once by her husband who shot at her 5 times but every bullet missed, then he killed himself, and another time by a bomb which blew up the building that she was in but she made it out alive. I couldn't help but think, as she was telling us all of this, how incredible it is, that she had this picture of Jesus hanging on her wall...this picture of him, with his arms extended out, reaching towards us, with the marks on his hand...how incredible it is the love and hope that I saw in that picture in that moment. It was not by chance that we knocked her door that night, it was not by chance that she was alone and let us in, none of it was by chance, none of it is by chance. We were meant to be there, to help bring her more hope, more love, and more peace which comes from the atonement of Jesus Christ. We went back to her house two days later, shared with her the Restauracion del evangelio de jesucristo...she told us she knew it was true and could be baptized in 15 days. Like I said it was not by chance.

Another crazy thing this week was we had the despidida de la Hermana Balsley (the farewell fireside for departing missionaries). I cant believe that the time has actually come for her to go home. We have been companions together for almost 5 months. She has become one of my closest friends. I am gonna miss her tons. Its just crazy. But I'm stoked for her and for after the mission when we can play out in Hawaii together...for days.
I love you all and miss you all.

Cubo,
RR

ps today for p-day we went to DC...so silly, I love that place. Pictures to come next week.

November 14, 2011

!Happy Birthday Parker BabyGirl!
Love, Rachel

Family,

We have been working really hard to find people. It just seems like there aren't too many people willing to listen to our message. It is super hard and frustrating when you see people that need the gospel, that need the comfort and the peace that comes from it, but they aren't willing to listen. I just want so badly for them to listen, to feel it, and to recognize the love that our heavenly father has for them. I pray that someday they will feel it and accept it.

This week was a silly one because our car broke down and we were on bikes. Now, normally i would love that, during the summer riding bikes was my favorite, but this week it was in the low 40's and it even was raining one of the days. I was so bummed...never in my life did I think that I would be in Arlington, Virginia, in November, riding a bike through the cold rain....in a skirt! There was a moment or maybe a couple, were I thought to myself, 'pounders beach, sunshine, Hawaii' haha. I just wanted out of the situation so bad. I had a really good talk with God for the 45 minute bike ride back home haha...I realized in that moment how naive I was, I mean, Jesus Christ suffered everything, his burden was so much heavier and deeper than mine ever has been, his walk was alone, he didn't complain, he never murmured, he just did it, because he loves us. I learned some good stuff that day. And you know what, I also learned the Lord always has a plan for us. Because we were riding bikes, we stayed in the Arlington area and we knocked some apartments that we normally would not knock(because we had knocked them the previous month). Well, we were knocking and found a family of 4 from El Salvador. They are so good, and they want to learn more. This work is incredible, I mean honestly, it is not the work of man, it is the work of God, he provides the way we go, the words we say, and prepares the hearts of the people. This is God's work. I'm stoked! I love you all.

Cubo
RR

November 7, 2011

Hello Everyone!

So this week was really a good week! We spent a lot of time out looking for new investigators and also getting Erika stoked for her baptism.

I have a crazy story to tell you all about when we were tracting...we encountered something that I never thought I would have to face....

We were out knocking doors and we knocked this one door in particular, a boy opened it and I heard his mom say come in (in English)..we figured we might as well try to get a referral for the English missionaries, so we went in. It was a family of 4 and they seemed really nice. They had us sit down and gave us some juice, we talked for a minute about what we did...and then the mom said that they had talked with many many Mormon missionaries and that she herself is a missionary for her church. She went on to ask us in a very condescending way, "now I like to ask all Mormons how they found there church, you all were born into this church right?" I told her that I was, but like anyone else who believes in something, I had a specific moment when I was converted to the church, when I knew it was what I believed in. She then kind of smiled. Let me just say this, the feeling in the room was really erry..next thing we know the dad is rummaging through a box and he pulls out these two pamphlets that were written by a pastor named Billy Graham..all I could think was oh shoot.haha. The Dad says to us, "you know what, we have seen a lot of missionaries, in fact a few years back we had a couple of Elders ask us if we knew if we had any Vietnamese neighbors...I told them that we did..(then he laughs) and then I told them that I wasn't going to tell them where they lived because I think you all are a bunch of liars, convincing people to a lie!" Then he pulls out the pamphlets and says, "You know, we believe that if a man walks into a bathroom, sees this pamphlet and reads it...then walks outside and gets struck by lightening, and dies, he will be saved because he read this pamphlet and accepted Jesus." The feeling in the room was just really different and we just wanted to get out of there. Hermana Balsley quickly bore her testimony and we were going to leave. Then the mom asked me, "have you even researched your church, I mean really researched it and looked into it from an outsiders perspective, do you even know what you believe?" I said the first thing that came to my mind...I told her, "You know what, I have done all the researching that I need. We believe the Bible to be the word of god and the Book of Mormon and have read the Book of Mormon, I can testify that it is another testament of Jesus Christ, and I say that because I know, because I have prayed. I received a witness of its truthfulness from the holy ghost..and that is direct witness from god...so you know what, I don't need to do any other research, because I know that the mistakes in this world come from man, not from God, so thank you for the juice and your time you all have a good night." In that moment, I felt that confirmation once again from the holy ghost, that the Book of Mormon is true. How incredible is that :)
I am so grateful to have this gospel in my life. I know that it is true.

Now for some good news....Erika, la Colombiana, fue bautizado! pues! So sick! She is incredible and I am so happy for her. She truly was ready. She has an incredible story. She has been looking her whole life for the right church, she has never been baptized because she never found the right church. Then when she came to church about 3 weeks ago, she knew that it was where she needed to be, she told us that there was a different feeling there, than in the other churches. We taught her and 4 weeks later she was baptized. How incredible is that! She is going to be such a strong member.

That is all the news from this week. Hope you all know how much I love you and pray for you all.

Cubo,
RR

pictures are from Erika's Baptism...sorry they are blurry.

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

September 28, 2011

Dear Family,

So we had a sick experience last monday at the temple with an investigator, her name is Marilee. She is so incredible, so faithful. She has always had a strong faith in God and in the Bible. She originally had a baptismal date for the middle of September she fell out of contact with us for a couple weeks. Last week though we saw her and she told us about how she had a concern with the plan of salvation. She has always felt that there could only be a heaven and a hell, and nothing in between (Im not gonna lie, that seems so sad to me, I know that God loves every single one of us because we are his children, he would never want us to suffer.) Anyways, so we took her to the temple visitors center and watching finding faith in christ, then we went and taught her the plan of salvation again. We talked about how much the Lord loves us, how he sent his son to provide a way for us to return, we talked about how he would never want to lose a single one of us, how merciful he is and his plan for us is. After we shared all of this we asked her what she thought, the spirit was so strong she said, pienso que este es real y...voy a bautisarme. October 9th Marilee is going to be baptized she has a true testimony that this is the gospel of jesus christ, that God loves her and has a plan for her, she knows that through baptism she can live with her father in heaven again and with her family forever.

Oh how merciful the Lord is, how giving and loving he is. I cannot get over it, I think a lot about why I came out here on a mission, it was to give back to God what he gave me and the ironic thing is, I find that I cant do this work without his help. I will forever owe him, because without him I am nothing. He is always giving, always providing the way for me to progress, to be better, to do his will, I am so humbled by him. Its so crazy to me to think about how blessed I have been since I have come out here. I have gained such a greater perspective on my life, on the things that I want, the person that I hope to become. I am truly blessed. I love you all so much.



Cubo,
RR

ps..some pictures....temple, Me and Mysha, my MTC district, Hermana Balsley y Yo (we got free pizza one night)