Merry Christmas

Large Plates

Pday, "family reunions," and Christmas! 

Started off the week with Pday at BDubs! Tried the spiciest wing & generally I just ate too much. I got a stomachache but to be honest I deserved it. I inflicted it upon myself. 

Then we went to Goodwill. One of the Elders tried on quite the outfit & he looked like Alexander Hamilton but if he was a pirate haha. I love my district so much. 

Wednesday we had our mission Christmas devotional! My musical number with Hermana Morris was not a train wreck like I had anticipated. Also we bore our testimonies after! When I got up to bear mine, I started off good, and then I saw a childhood friend sitting in the pews! I stopped my testimony mid sentence & just said "oh, hey Elder Kelly" in front of everyone. I then explained that we're from the same homeward etc. haha. Then I finished up my testimony (see small plates).

The mission devotional was seriously the best though. There was time for musical numbers and testimonies and that's it. It was such an uplifting and spiritual experience:)

The week was pretty slow as far as missionary work cause it was Christmas time and everyone is too busy to talk to us haha.

Christmas was good though! We woke up and didn't really know what to do, cause our families are in different time zones so they were still asleep. So we did a face mask at 6:35 in the morning haha. Then we called our families and talked and opened presents and all that good stuff. Then we had a meal at a senior couples house, with half our district and a super funny Brazilian convert. I love eating there cause they're so sweet and funny and she makes super yummy sourdough. Then we went to another senior couple's house. We couldn't eat much because we ate so much literally right before we got there. But we enjoyed their company, along with the company of a bunch of the Elders. Then we talked to our families for another little bit before going to meal number 4 of the day. We ate an embarrassing small amount of food. I felt so bad haha. And then we went to the church with our district with the intention of building gingerbread houses. But we didn't have anything sharp to cut open the frosting bags with, so we had a nerf war instead. Not gonna lie, I kinda finessed the nerf war. I was just light on my feet and ruthless with the gun lol. We're definitely buying more guns and having an epic war today for pday ;)

Thats pretty much it for Christmas though! It was a little tough being away from family at Christmas time, but I know this is where I'm supposed to be. And I'm so grateful for the missionaries I serve with. Transfers are today but none of us are moving! It's a Christmas miracle. We get to stay together for another transfer and I'm very happy about it.

Small Plates

Make this December one to remember. Come to know Jesus Christ.

President and Sister Ashcraft challenged us to make this December one to remember. When I first heard this, I thought to myself, "well, certainly this will be a December to remember for me, since its my first transfer here in the mission field." 

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized simply being a missionary was not going to be enough. I wanted to make my first of 2 Christmases as a missionary count. So this month, I've been studying the names of Christ in my personal studies. It's been so awesome to learn so much about my Savior every day. I could try to share what I've learned in this email but I'm afraid if I tried I would accidentally write a book. It's just been so great to really learn who Jesus Christ is and what He means to the world. 

But better yet, I've been able to learn who He is to me personally. I've come to know Him. Through study, sure. But also through applying His Atonement to my life in the form of daily repentance. You guys, His Atonement is so so powerful. And so so real. And so so personal. 

I can't even begin to express how privileged I feel to be on a mission right now, especially here in the FOM. 

Every day I'm able to literally bear the name of the man who literally bore our sins. There's nothing like it. 

Pictures:

•happy birthday Jesus!

•me & my homie Elder Kelly

•this dog definitely isn't waiting for me to feed it more of my dinner the next time no one's looking at me nope definitely not

Twas the Week before Christmas

 Large Plates

A very fast week. Latinos know how to party. Our Heavenly Father answered our prayers and Carmen made it to church.

Wow okay this week was actually such a blur. Also Pday this week is on Tuesday cause we had some Christmas service at bishops storehouse yesterday. So that put my brain in an even weirder spot cause I feel like I have no idea what day it is haha.

So here's the summary: 

The first part of the week consisted of a lot of meetings and a lot of contacting. I also got to practice piano for the first time in a while because Hermana Morris is singing in our Christmas devotional tomorrow. (Pretty sure my piano is going to be a train wreck but oh well haha)

One of the biggest highlights of the week was the ward Christmas party! Not to diss on Utah ward parties, but Latinos just do it better. Basically it starts out the same: everyone grabs food and eats and talks, and then there's a Christmas program. But then the guys they hired to play the marimba start putting on a show, everyone gets excited, and then the DJ comes in with the latin music and everyone starts salsa dancing and shaking maracas and just having a grand old time. You just had to be there. I will forever be disappointed by Utah ward parties from this point forward haha.

Also! Church! We had our Christmas Service & we got a bunch of interested people at church! Including my best friend Carmen! She had a miracle happen this week and for some reason (ahem… God's hand) she didn't have work on Sunday which NEVER happens. All the people who came loved it. I think most of them are planning on coming back next week. Also, English class is going super well and lots of the people who are learning English are also really interested in learning about the church too!

Small Plates 

Erick. God is aware of our needs and He provides how and when we need Him to. He has a plan and a purpose for you.

Erick! We met him yesterday and it was such a blessing. He couldn't make it to English class on Sunday but he really wants to learn English because his daughter speaks English and Spanish, and he wants to be able to progress here in America. Basically we had our first little English class, where we taught him the alphabet and a couple phrases, and all of a sudden we were sitting down hearing his whole life story. He went through some really rough stuff and made some poor choices, but found God through rehab, where missionaries in Ecuador would help him learn more about God so he could feel like he had God with him through his rehabilitation. He knows who the missionaries are, and regrets not letting them into his home back in the day. His sister's a member and she's a good example to him. He talked for so long and at one point he said "I don't normally open up about all this, but I know you two are people of God and that you'll hear what I need to say." At the end he said "sorry, I got distracted. I don't know if I was supposed to be here to learn English or to talk about God." It was just a super cool experience because there was so much evidence of God's hand in his story, and in our crossing paths. When we messaged him on Facebook, we told him we knew God had a plan and a purpose for him. Apparently one of the things he's been told before is "God has a purpose for you." And that's what has kept him from going back to drugs during some really hard experiences he's had the last year. So when we said that, he knew we were inspired. He'll be at English class and church on Sunday with his daughter. He has so much faith and I'm excited to get to know him better and teach him more. 

Our Heavenly Father really loves each of His children so much. I know he's looking out for me, and for the people I serve with, and for the people we teach. And I know he's looking out for you. He loves you. And I love you all too! Merry Christmas!!

Carmen's Miracle

Okay you guys this week was INCREDIBLE. 

Large Plates

A busy week. Facebook finding. Empanadas, arepas, and reggatón. Teaching the law of chastity in adventure pants and chacos. Exchanges. Powerful lessons and a mountain of miracles at church.

Tuesday was honestly just such a good day. We're really starting to figure out Facebook finding. When we follow the spirit and use the most effective ways of finding, we seriously see so much success. Technology & social media work is such a blessing. It's so easy to find the people who need our message. It takes all day to knock enough doors to find 1 person who is interested in the gospel. It takes 1 hour to find 20 people who are ready to hear the message of the restored gospel. I don't know how to explain how thrilling that is. The gathering of Israel is real and it's happening so fast. I'm so thankful to be such an active part of it.

We also had a member meal for dinner and this sweet little old lady made us empanadas which were super yummy of course. 

Right after that, we went over to our best friend Carmen's house! It was one of the best experiences of my mission. (See small plates haha) she also made us arepas and they were very very tasty. We even made tuna ones and I liked them very much. You should all be proud of me for eating and enjoying tuna haha. Also when we left her apartment we heard someone blasting reggatón music. So basically that was the most stereotypical "Spanish missionary in Florida" night I've experienced haha. Empanadas, arepas an hour later, and loud reggatón in the distance.

A different day, our friend Fernando came to the volleyball activity at the church one night and he had a ton of questions for us. Hermana Morris was talking with someone else, cause that's normally how these activities go, so he was just drilling me with all the questions. He wanted to learn more about the church so he Googled it and came across a bunch of AntiMormon stuff. So basically I answered a bunch of questions about polygamy, and then singlehandedly taught Him the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity lessons there in the church gym. Hermana Morris came over a bit later and he still had questions, so we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon & also answered his questions about missions cause he was a bit confused about why we do this whole thing haha. It went well though. It's kinda funny cause we taught everything while wearing our volleyball clothes. (Aka a t shirt, my adventure pants (if you know you know) and my chacos ) 

We also had exchanges this week! There's not much to say about them other than me and Sister Oto got to sleep until our normal wake up time while our companions had to wake up early to drive to a service activity. Also we played pickle ball for our exercise which was fun. We ended exchanges early so they could be together for a service project and we could be together for our lessons. 

We taught one of our best friends Wendy that night and it went so so good! We brought a member along with us, and we love this member. She was converted to the church a long time ago and now she teaches Sunday school. She's incredibly smart and super sweet and she knew how to answer our friends questions perfectly. That's one of the best lessons we've ever had.

We also stopped by Elizabeth's house out of the blue and wow wow wow I just love her. We chatted for a bit and she said she's been reading from the Book of Mormon! She said its been hard to read much cause she has a 2 year old and he's a handful. So we read part of 1 Nephi 1 with her and it went super well. Her daughter also came over to us to say hi! She's 9 and she was really shy, but she warmed up really quick! She speaks both Spanish and English which is so awesome. Before we left, she ran over and gave us big hugs :)

And Sunday was amazing!! We held a free English class at the church right before sacrament meeting. It was fun to teach, and then most of them came to church after! Wendy also came with her mom, son, and friend!! She's such a miracle. 

In this ward, it's very rare to have investigators come to church. Everyone works on Sunday for the most part. And those who don't, still flake out most of the time. So having these 4 people there was incredible. But that's not all. We ward share with some Elders, and combined, we brought 22 new people to church!!! I don't know how to explain how mind blowing that is. For the past month, we've had somewhere from 0 to 3 people in church every week, most of the time it's 0. So to have 22?! This ward caught on fire. All the members are so excited to help out and so kind and inviting to those we brought. 

Also it was the primary program and it was super awesome because the kids all speak English and Spanish, so they sang in both languages, and had sign language to go along with it. I don't care if my future husband speaks Spanish. I'm teaching my kids Spanish haha.

The relief society lesson was perfect for Wendy, it answered a lot of the questions she had asked the day before. Her mom also seemed apprehensive at first, but made a point of coming up to be after class and thanking us for giving her the chance to come to church. She said everything was just so beautiful. 

This week has been a week full of miracles and its making me feel like I never want to go home. I love the people we're teaching and I love the members we work with and I love my companion and my district. Missions are the best thing ever.

P.s. I have been informed that my last email seemed kind of down-in-the-dumps. That was not my intention nor was that how I was feeling. We did a good job at laughing at all of our misfortune. Next time I have a week like that I'll be sure to include more "hahas" throughout the email ;)

Small Plates

Carmen's miracle. 

Carmen!! I seriously love her so much. She's been progressing really well this last month and we've been praying for her to be able to come to church. It's pretty much impossible for her to have Sundays free (or any day, as a matter of fact) because she is a recent immigrant and doesn't have as many workers rights, which means her boss can schedule her for every waking hour of her life and not have any consequences. It's super sad. She works in housekeeping at a hotel. We've asked if she can change her schedule, or have an hour break to come to church or anything. And she has had no luck.

We've been praying all the time that she can come to church. Every time I prayed about this I thought to myself "I honestly have no idea what He's even going to do. She's stuck in this situation and if she wants to keep her job, which she needs if she wants to eat and pay rent, she has to do what they tell her to. There's no way around it." But the important thing is we kept praying. And she kept praying. 

And our loving Heavenly Father heard us. She got her workers license. She's looking for a new job right now, and we know she'll find one. She's an incredible person and such a hard worker. It has broken my heart to see her so tired, and to see how easily they take advantage of her because of her status. This is going to be a huge weight lifted off of her shoulders. I don't know how to describe how much joy I felt when she told us. 

If I had to work as hard as I have for the last month, just to receive this miracle, I would do it 1000 times again. Just to help this one person find friendship, and find God and learn how to ask Him for help, and see His hand so obviously in her life. There's no doubt in my mind that I would do it again. 

And the best part is, we've seen so much more come from our labors. Mini miracles happen all day every day and it's such a pleasure to be a part of this work. We've helped so many people take time steps closer to the covenant path. We've planted more seeds than we even know. 

God's hand really is in His work. We see it everywhere we go. Nothing is coincidence, and He's guiding each individual to the people they need to know and the places they need to be. He knows you and loves you infinitely and personally.

• my district on the roof of the bishops storehouse
• also yes we got Coldstone and yes we're excited about it
• I found a green sprinkle in my ice cream. This isn't relevant for most of you but those of you who work at Coldstone will know: if there's a stray sprinkle in an ice cream, its ALWAYS green for some reason  
• service at Icon Park!
• another picture from service! They did "giving machines" and raised a ton of money for local charities :)
• the huge tree at icon park. Also we got to hand out those light up snowflake wands to the kids and we felt like Disney princesses the whole time.

P.S. bonus points go to whoever can guess what I got at Coldstone haha. If you know me well you'll get it right first try;)

Celebrating Jesus' birth

 Me gusta todas las decoraciones de la Navidad y la música navideña que hay en Orlando. Pero más que todo, me encanta celebrar Jesucristo y su nacimiento.

"Porque un niño nos es nacido, un hijo nos es dado; y sobre sus hombros estará el principado; y se llamará su nombre Admirable, Consejero, Dios Fuerte, Padre Eterno, Príncipe de Paz"

Me encanta el nombre Príncipe de Paz porque yo sé que podemos encontrar paz en esta vida gracias a Jesucristo!…

Loving all the Christmas decorations and Christmas music in Orlando. But most of all, I love celebrating Jesus Christ and His birth..

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and upon his shoulders shall be the government; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

I love the name Prince of Peace because I know we can find peace in this life thanks to Jesus Christ!

What is your favorite name of Jesus Christ?

The one where she gets rejected for a week straight

Howdy howdy!

Large plates

We started off this week with a mission devotional & it was GREAT. My mission president and his wife, the Ashcrafts, are incredible people. Also they picked on me to do the role play in front of everyone so that was awesome (and by awesome I mean not awesome haha). But anyway! It was great and gave us the motivation we needed to try even harder this week.

So we tried harder. And basically just got rejected the whole time. I won't tell you about all of our rejections cause that would take an eternity. But here are some of my favorites: 

We stopped by the house of someone we were teaching. We knocked once. We could see everyone cause their door is mostly glass. They all looked at the door, and then back at the TV. Our friend started to put on a sweater over her shirt. We knock again. Our friend walks around the corner. Her daughter comes to the door, and tells us her mom is in the shower. Obviously we couldn't tell her we just saw her mom, who was actually putting on extra clothes, so we just said okay & went on our way haha. 

At a different house, we knocked on the door and the lady walked up to the door. There were blinds on her window, so we could only see her feet. She looked through a slit in the blinds, saw it was us, and backed away, as slowly and quietly as she could. Oh well

Oh also. This wasn't really a rejection but it fits in this part of the email. We were walking though an apartment complex and a car sped past us and his a pothole that was full of muddy stinky Florida water & it splashed us & got us soaking wet. Wahoo! I've never felt more like a missionary than I did it that moment haha.

Ok ok now that I'm done being negative, this week actually wasn't bad at all. We started having lessons with a new friend and she is the SWEETEST. She & her husband have 2 kids and they always welcome us into their home with big smiles. We taught them the plan of salvation this week and they loved it. 

Another miracle: another friend we've been teaching went to church yesterday! She didn't come to our ward, she went with one of our member friends who is in another ward. But thats still so awesome! Its really hard to get people to come to church because everyone works for Amazon or for the hotels around here, and Sunday is always the busiest day so they can never get work off. We're praying for a few friends right now that really want to come to church but can't. 

Also a random note: Elder Moss left to Brazil this week,
we're all so excited for him, but we're gonna miss him tons. From day 1 he was such a good friend and example. Brazil's getting a good one. 

Small plates

One thing we do as missionaries (and that we should all probably do more of, whether we're missionaries or not) is set goals and strive diligently to improve each day. This week I tried to focus on patience. Patience for myself, for my companion (though that's not hard at all cause she's literally the best), and patience in this work. Ironically, it's also the week we've seen more rejection than I've ever seen before. 

What can I learn from this? 

First: pray and ask our Heavenly Father to help us grow. He knows just what we need to help us become the people He knows we have the potential to become. He'll answer our prayers, every single time.

Second: take each punch with grace. Life's gonna knock you down. Time and time again. I hate to say it, but it's true. But if we learn to take our trials with grace, we can appreciate them, even in the midst of them. Ask yourself, "what is this teaching me?" And be grateful for the growth you will experience. And even if you can't see what it's teaching you, still be grateful. It is helping you become a better person, and helping you fulfill your divine potential. 

Third: give yourself grace. You aren't perfect yet, nor will you be at any point in our mortal existence. So do the best you can with what you have and who you are. You've got this.