Companion 7- Sister Angela Rubio

 Companion 7- Sister Angela Rubio

From Burbank, California

November 29, 2022- January 10, 2023

Area: Merritt Island

Opening up the area again after closed for a short time. 

English Speaking

*Training*

He turns fishers of men into shephards

Large Plates 

Finding, Thanksgiving bike fiascos, Portuguese exchange, Sunday morning miracles, and some crazy transfer news!

This week was CRAZY. We didn't have a ton of people we were teaching, because a couple of them got baptized, and then the other people we were teaching were too busy so we had to start teaching them. That meant that we did tons and tons of finding this week. Most of our finding in this area comes from knocking doors, which I don't mind. It's tricky in this area, though, because the Hispanics are harder to find. We either find an apartment complex with a lot of Americans, or one with a lot of Brazilians, and a few Hispanics. We tend to go to the Brazilian/Hispanic neighborhoods. It's been fun though! I've actually taught a lot of lessons in Portuguese, or maybe portuñol, but either way it's fun. 

Thanksgiving was also this week! Holidays on the mission are definitely strange. This Thanksgiving was basically just a normal proselytizing day, but with a little bit of flexibility. It was also the fist day Sister Peterson and I tried out our "new" bikes! I say new, because they are new for us. But they are certainly not new bikes. We're borrowing them from members until we finish our missions. Long story short, an ordinary 10 mile bike ride turned into a bit of an adventure, which included trudging through the wilderness of Florida, sprinting down busy roads in the dark for 20 seconds at a time, and a flat tire when we still had miles to go. Some Elders were so kind and drove to us and swapped one of their bikes so we could ride the rest of the way home. And then, when we got home, they had left a gigantic pecan pie on our doorstep! 

This Saturday, I got to exchange in the Portuguese area, which was so much fun. It was fun to practice my Portuguese with them, and help the sisters learn and grow a bit more! We went to 2 churrascos (Brazilian barbecues) and a Brazilian bakery! Once again, Latin food is so much better than American food. We ended off the day with Davi's baptism! He's someone the Portuguese Elders taught. It was such a good day, and you could say I definitely fell in love with Brazilian culture. 

Speaking of Brazilian culture, yesterday marks 1 year since I found a Portuguese Book of Mormon in my apartment, way back in training. Yesterday was also the day I finished that very book. My intention wasn't to finish it in a year, or in any specific amount of time, for that matter. I just wanted to read it to help me learn Portuguese, and that it did. It's kind of poetic that it worked out that I finished it in exactly a year, though!

The biggest miracle of this week was definitely Sunday. Graciela and Juseli's entire family came with them to church. We were expecting a couple of family members to accompany them, but no. Everyone wanted to come. And they all came and sat in the middle and loved church. Hermano Amyradakis gave the perfect talk about seeking first the Kingdom of God, and I think it really helped our new friends! Also, not only did their family come to church, but 2 other really awesome families! Hernan, who we were teaching a while ago, came with his kids and stayed for both hours. And, a family who Sister Peterson met, while I was in the Portuguese area, came too! Everyone loved it. 

This week was full of a lot of rejection, just due to the nature of us knocking on so many doors. But, it was possibly the most joyful week I have had on my mission. I just felt so filled with love. My favorite part of the mission is getting to know people, learning to love them, and falling in love with their stories and their culture and their food. 

The last thing I'm gonna tell you about before I write my Small Plates is transfers. Transfers are on Tuesday, but we don't know if/where we're going until Sunday night. I had a few ideas and lots of hopes for what would be happening to me, come transfer time. I really wanted to stay in this area and help teach and baptized Graciela and Juseli's family, and keep working with Rosalba and Hernan. Honestly I think all of them could be baptized in the next transfer. I've also loved being in mission leadership. I love helping the other missionaries learn and grow, and I love being in close communication with President and Sister Schmeil. If I had to leave, I was hoping to go serve in Portuguese work. President and I have talked about it a few times and he liked the idea. Speaking Portuguese terrifies me, but I knew that if I got put in Portuguese work, that Heavenly Father would help me. 

So, those were kind of the two options I've been fiddling with in my mind these days. Then, last night, as I was about to start reading the last chapter of the Portuguese Book of Mormon, actually, the APs called. 

They thanked me for my service as an STL, and told me I would be training. That's not what I expected, but I told them I was willing to do it. They then explained to me that my training would be a bit different. They said that I would be re-opening an area that hasn't had missionaries in it for a little while, and that I would be moving up to Merritt Island, by Cocoa Beach. And, that I would be serving in an English unit. My heart dropped. I love language work. I love culture. And I have to leave that all behind. 

Now, I'm not trying to be dramatic here. I'm honestly still wrapping my head around all of it. I'm scared, for sure. It's going to be a completely new experience. I've never served in English work before. Not only am I switching to English, but I'm getting a trainee and we're moving way far away from where I've ever served. And I don't get to be an STL anymore. Some tears were definitely shed. 

That being said, I'm excited. I told President I wanted to learn and grow, and although I imagined that meant he would put me in a new language and not in my native language. I know these next few months of training are going to be a learning process for sure. But hey! I get to live by the beach! Cape Canaveral is literally in my ward boundaries. There are going to be Cruise Ships parked in my ward. Crazy, huh? 

Small Plates 

He turns fishers of men into shephards 

It's funny, you know. Heavenly Father really likes to teach me. And I'm grateful for it. 

I was re-reading one of my books the other day and I learned something new from the author. I knew right then that that was what I was going to write about in my email for the week. 

The thing is, with these emails, I always learn more from writing them than any of you could possibly learn from reading them. I haven't even written it yet but I know Heavenly Father is about to teach me. I'm just letting the rest of you join me for the ride.

So, here's what I learned from the book. When the Savior called Peter to his apostolic ministry, he called a fisherman to be a fisher of men. Essentially He was saying, "Peter. You have strengths that can be used for my work. Come, and I will teach you to use what you already have and who you already are, to build up my Kingdom."

Peter worked alongside the Savior for a long time, and learned a lot from Him. He fine-tuned his strengths, and he surely acquired a few new ones along the way.

He was transformed from Peter the fisherman to Peter the Fisher of Men. He found a new, better version of himself. One that the Savior helped him discover. 

As the Savior's earthly ministry came to a close, He met once again with His disciples. He asked them a simple, yet thought-provoking question: 

"Lovest thou me?"

He asked it three times, too. He wanted them to be sure of their answer. 

"Yea, Lord."

What did he say next? He told Peter, the fisherman and Fisher of Men, to feed His sheep. Peter wasn't a shepherd. He was a fisherman. Yet, the Savior invited Him to join Him in His work, in His way.

Christ's first call for Peter was a call to become a better version of Peter. 

And that's what he did. Peter learned and grew, and strengthened his strengths with Christ's help. 

Christ doesn't just see us for who we are, though. He sees us for who we can become. He knows we can become versions of ourselves far better than who we are right now. He knows we can become even as He is. 

That's what He wants for us. So, that's what He does for us. He helps us learn and grow and He puts us in situations that make us stretch. He helps us move forward and upward. That's how I see it, at least. Helping Peter change from a Fisherman to a Fisher of Men was helping him move forward. He was improving. It's true. 

But that's not all Christ wanted of Peter. He wanted Him to move onward and upward. That's done through exalting grace. 

That's what He's doing with me, too. He's helped me move forward, so much. I know I've grown more in this last year than I have in my entire life. He has strengthened my strengths. Now it's time to discover some more of my weaknesses, and turn them into strengths, too. The Lord wants me to do His work in His way, not in my way. I'm not sure what that is going to look like. After all, I'm just a fisherman. I don't know how to herd Sheep. But I want to learn, because I want to be like Him who teaches me. 

Hunger and thirst after righteousness

Large Plates

Spanish zone conference, an exchange with Sister Torres, and Graciela & Juseli's baptism!!

Wow, what a week! I've got a lot to write about, so let's just jump right into it. 

Tuesday was the Spanish Zone Conference! It was really cool because we did as much of it in Spanish as possible. Sister Schmeil even gave her training in Spanish! We were supposed to give a training too, but I got pulled out out Zone Conference to take someone to the airport. I heard that Sister Peterson and the Zone Leaders did well, though! That's pretty much all I have to say about zone conference because honestly I missed like half of it haha. That's ok though!

After Zone Conference, we started our exchange with Sister Torres and Sister Parmley. Me and Sister Torres headed out from there to meet up with Ines and her family because it was her birthday! We met at Kobe, and met me just say--wow. That was quite the experience. Kobe is one of those Japanese Steakhouse places where they cook at your table. We had so much fun, and ate so much food. If I were more wealthy I would be back there all the time.

The next day, we did a bunch of finding and had another lesson with our friend Dana. She's our Muslim friend, I think I've writte about her before. She's loving the Book of Mormon! We sat down with her this week and just talked about Jesus. She seems more and more open to Christianity every time we go over. I think she could really grow and progress, but it's definitely going to take some time. She really loves God, and she sees that we do too, and we really love Jesus. She said she wants to know what it feels like to have that love for both of them. I have full faith that if she keeps reading in the Book of Mormon with true intention, it's going to help her see that Jesus Christ really is her Savior. That's the point of the Book of Mormon, is it not? To testify of Jesus Christ. 

On Thursday we had a good lesson with Rosalba!! We didn't meet with her last week because she was super sick & had family in town. But, when we started talking with her again this week she told us she had shared what she has been learning with her mom! Everyone please pray that she can recognize that she really is ready to be baptized! And that she can feel more comfortable at church!

We also had a Relief Society Thanksgiving party!  Graciela, Juseli, and Dana all came and loved it. We all just ate soup and bread and desserts while we mingled amongst one another. Holy moly Latinos know how to make soup. It was so good for Graciela and Juseli to make a few more friends before their baptism, and for Dana to learn about just how awesome the Relief Society is!!

As for Saturday, we started off with service at 4Roots with the Language Zone, got a bike from a member, got dinner at a place owned by the founders of 4Roots (not on purpose!), and most importantly: Graciela and Juseli got Baptized!! 

It was such a sweet experience. They brought Juselis 2 sons, Abraham and Pablo. Abraham is about 2, so he's kind of crazy but man oh man he is so cute. He loved the songs we sang and he gave lots of hugs and blew kisses to everyone when they were leaving. Pablo is 15, and he came to support his mom and grandma in their decision to be baptized! After their baptism, Juseli got up to bear her testimony and she just started crying because she was so grateful she had found the Church and the Gospel. I love em both so much!

Small Plates 

Hunger and thirst after righteousness 

This week in Come, Follow Me, you find this verse:

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord."

This was in reference to the Great Apostasy, but it also applies to the individual. Sometimes I think we, as members of the Church, forget that although the Great Apostasy has ended, many people are still in apostasy. "For there are many yet on the earth … who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." 

There are people who are still experiencing this famine. I like the way Amos puts it. Famine. I'm fairly certain that no one on this email list has ever experienced true famine. I know I certainly haven't. Famine is more than hunger. It's even more than starvation. It's feeling hungry, and looking around you to find that there is no food in sight to fill you. It's hopeless hunger. 

It's a sobering thought. 

Not only are there people out there who are spiritually hungry, but they don't even know what to do about it. They're lost. They're in a famine of hearing the words of God. 

But, because we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and a Savior who knows us, we can rest assured that our brothers and sisters here on this earth do not have to remain in such a state for long. 

The Savior Himself taught (and promised), "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."

They shall be filled. 

Shall is a bold word, you know. That's a promise. And I'm not talking about a handshake, or a pinky promise. No, not even a Boy Scout "on my honor" kind of promise. That is our very own Savior, guaranteeing that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. 

Graciela and Juseli were some of those people. They hungered for truth, and it showed. Sometimes you can't tell how hungry a person is until after you give them food. For example, when we went to Kobe on Tuesday, we were all chatting and enjoying each other's company and the show the chef was putting on. But, as soon as he was throwing mountains of fried rice on our plates, you could tell who was most hungry. Some of us ate a bite here, and a bite there, and watched the Chef as he continued to cook. Others devoured that food like they hadn't eaten in years. Their plates were clean by the time the chef was ready to load us up with more. 

Graciela and Juseli soaked in our every word. They studied on their own. They took notes. And every time we returned, they were ready for more. These women were ready for the gospel. They hungered for so long. And just as the Savior promised, they were filled. 

You know what the beautiful thing about all this is? At this kind of meal, there are always leftovers. And not the kind of leftovers that can be contained in a singular flimsy styrofoam box. No. Because, as good as Kobe was, this isn't Kobe. This is so much better. We're talking about the Bread of Life here. The Living Water. We're talking about He who fed five thousand with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, and had 12 baskets of leftovers. 

The gospel of Jesus Christ isn't some Japanese steakhouse you go to to feel filled for a while. Our Savior has promised that, "whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 

There is no limit on the level to which we can be filled. We must partake of His love, and His grace, and His gospel every day. That's why we go to church every week: to be filled again by the Sacrament and everything it represents. 

There is also no limit on how many people can be filled. Even if there were six thousand people in the multitude instead of five, the 5 loaves and 2 fishes still would have been enough. 

This gospel is for everyone. All of us who hunger shall be filled. That includes those of us firm in the faith, and those of us who have long since lost that faith. It includes those who for a while may have thought they didn't need to be fed by Him, that they could satisfy their hunger elsewhere. And it especially includes those who are absolutely famished and know not where to find nourishment. 

On Sunday, we watched Graciela and Juseli receive the Holy Ghost. Our friend Franci came to church with us, too. As she sat next to me on the pew, she leaned over and said, "I've felt for a long time that I've been missing something. I think this might be it."

It's as if she had said:

I see them up there, Graciela and Juseli. I see that they were hungry, and now they are filled.

But I'm hungry, too.

Relief Society Thanksgiving Party

Graciela and Juseli Baptism day!

Ines Birthday dinner at Kobe Japanese Steakhouse

Walk in the meekness of My Spirit

Sister Peterson, Sister Miller, Sister, Tahbo during Hurricane Nicole

 

Large Plates 

Another hurricane, zone conference, and a temple tour!

This week was a very good, very strange one. Monday afternoon we received word that another hurricane was headed our way, and that we were to head to our apartments. We heard we were going to get roommates again! Sister Tahbo was coming back, along with her new companion Sister Miller! 

I'm going to be honest, we did nothing to prepare. We didn't even go shopping that day for our normal groceries haha. It's funny, when Hurricane Ian came through, I thought to myself, "why do people live here? If hurricanes pass through every year and you have to rebuild over and over, why bother building here in the first place?" But, when news of a second Hurricane came in, I finally understood the Floridians. The hurricanes have been crazy, but they make the world stop for a day the same way big snowstorms in Logan do. I suppose you just have to pick your poison!

The Sisters got to our place Tuesday morning, but at that point we were still allowed to go out and about, so we took them knocking with us! It started pouring rain while we were out, but we didn't let that stop us! In fact, I think it made us more successful! People were willing to talk to us, for the most part, and this nice Brazilian woman gave me an umbrella & told me I could keep it! The only downside is that I did shut my finger in it and will now have a scar that will forever remind me of my friend from Brazil haha. 

Hurricane Nicole lockdown started on Wednesday. That meant that, once again, we could not leave our house. This time around, however, we were allowed to proselytize! That meant we did so. many. video calls. Between lessons, leading a zone language study, training with the sisters we cover, and a devotional, we were on video calls for like 7 hours. My head still hurts from staring at the tiny screen all day.

The next day we weren't as fortunate to have as many calls. So, we spent 4 hours inviting people to our Spanish temple tour this weekend! To keep myself energized I was doing box steps on my study chair, which lasted several hours. My legs felt like jello for the next several days. Oops. 

On Friday, we were pretty much back to normal. We did spend quite a bit of time responding to the hundreds of people we had messaged the day before, but by the end of the day we were definitely ready to get back into missionary work, full swing!

But then, we spent 10 hours of our day on Saturday in meetings! I'm not complaining though, it was such a good day. We went to the Language Zone Conference, which, contrary to what you might think, didn't include the Spanish missionaries. There's a Spanish Zone, and a Language zone (which includes Portuguese & Creole). We got to go to the Language conference because we help out with the Portuguese sisters, and they asked us to give a training and help lead out the conference! It was 7 hours long, but it was so good. 

For my whole mission, Zone Conferences have been anywhere from 3-4 hours. But, this time they switched things up and had a role-play portion of the conference! I really liked the first portion of the conference, where we were all talking & learning from each other in English, but wow the second half was so cool. All of the missionaries were doing their role plays in Portuguese or Creole, and we just gave them the instructions  & sat in to listen to their role plays. I started in some of the Portuguese groups, because I can understand Portuguese (especially when it's an American speaking it). It was fun to get the gears in my head turning & have a chance to better immerse myself in the Portuguese language. 

Later on, I decided to sit in on some of the Creole roleplays. Something very strange happened. Although I didn't understand everything they were saying, I definitely understood what was going on. I have no idea how. I know like 10 words in Creole, and I'm sure if I said them out loud, I would be saying them wrong. Yet somehow, I knew what was going on in the conversation. And more importantly, I could feel the Spirit testifying of the words those Elders were speaking. In no way am I saying I think I can understand Creole. What I'm saying is that the Spirit speaks every language! So cool. 

After Zone conference, we went to a temple tour!! Our friend Graciela came!! She really liked it. We had another miracle, too! The Elders have a friend who is on date for Baptism in December, and he really wanted to come, but he doesn't have a car and the chapel where the event was being held is 30 minutes from his house. The Elders called so many active members to see if anyone could come and bring their friend, and nothing worked. They had pretty much given up hope. But! When we were sending temple tour invites out to people during the hurricane, we invited a super inactive member, and he said he wanted to come! He said he wanted to start becoming active again. That alone was a miracle. But then, we asked him if he could bring the Elder's friend and he said yes!!! They got there late but they had a good experience and how they can hopefully start to become friends and support each other in their learning:)

Small Plates 

Walk in the meekness of My Spirit

What did I learn this week? Phew, I learned so much. But, because I already spent so much time studying and preparing for the training we did in the Language Zone Conference, I figured I ought to share what I learned. 

First of all, I don't want you all thinking that I did all of the studying, and the research, and the teaching. We did this training together with maybe the 2 best missionaries I know. They're Elder Hawk and Elder Carrick, the Zone Leaders of the Language Zone. It was so awesome to work with them on the conference and the training. They are both spiritual giants and I learned so much from what they had to say. That being said, let's jump into this:

This is going to be written more for those of you missionaries, or soon-to-be missionaries, who read my emails. We gave a little training about the power and authority of our calling, and what that means we can and should do. 

As missionaries, we have been called by God, through His prophet, to preach the gospel. That's a big deal! What does that mean for us? We all came out here with different talents, and different weaknesses too. We're all different. But your skill set isn't what makes you more or less of a missionary. You have been called by God. That means you are 100% His missionary. You are 100% a representative of Jesus Christ. Nothing more, nothing less. It isn't so much about your abilities as it is about your willingness to do His will. 

In 1 Corinthians 2, we learn a little bit about Paul's missionary journey. Paul, who previously had used all of his social skills, eloquence, and charisma, to turn the hearts of the people away from the Church of God, says the following:

"And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

"For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

"And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

"That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

I love this whole chapter, but for your sake and mine, I'm just going to talk about these verses. This man, Paul, had the skill set necessary to convince people by the power of his words. But what did he do? He came unto the people in weakness. Humility. Diligence. Faith. Simplicity. 

He knew the power the Spirit had in conversation because he himself was converted by that very spirit. The Spirit is Who converts people. If we want to best help the people we teach and serve to come unto Christ, we must teach by the spirit. And in order to do that, we must live by the Spirit. Live worthy of the Spirit. I could dive into what it means to live worthy of the Spirit, but I think that's better determined on a personal level.  

So for those of you reading this email, missionary or not, this is the big question: how can you live more worthy of the Spirit? How can you gain a greater level of access to Godly power? Not only must we teach with power and authority. Rather, we must live with power and authority. We are all to represent the Savior in our every action. Thats a big deal. That's a lot of trust. And a lot of responsibility. But more than that, its a marvelous opportunity. 

I'm nowhere near perfect. I'm sure you all know that. There are a lot of things that I'm not,, and a lot of things I dont know. But what I do know is that this is His work, and He wants us to be a part of it. He allows us to be a part of it. Being a part of the Lord's work is so much more enjoyable when we don't try to get in the way, when we humble ourselves enough to see His plan and do His will. As we do so, the Spirit will be with us and He will touch the hearts of the people who have been prepared to receive this gospel.

The Holy Ghost is the Teacher

My family came to visit and took me to breakfast.

 

Large Plates 

Busy, busy, but what's new? 

It was another very good, very busy week! We had lots more good lessons, and again I don't want to bore you with details, so here are some of the highlights:

Rosalba is still so awesome! She reminds me a lot of Lucero from my last ward. She just has a heart of gold and the spirit really has been working in her! We won't be able to meet with her this week because she has family in town, so we're praying super hard that she doesn't lose momentum!

We also had a few lessons with Graciela and Juseli!! Holy moly I love them. We were talking about the Plan of Salvation and Juseli explained to us that baptism is essential to get to the kingdom of God, etc. We asked if they've been thinking about baptism and they said yes! Then we asked them if they wanted to be baptized and they said yes! We set some goals and made plans to help them be baptized on November 19th. Everyone please pray that they can stay strong and keep progressing! And that their families' hearts will open so we can start teaching them too:)

We also met multiple women this week who just seem so prepared for the gospel. Our friend Dayana has a bunch of connections to the church. Her family members just moved from her country to Utah, and they are talking with the Elders there! I have really high hopes for her. Our friend Nyda was found by English missionaries and then referred to us. When we called her she said she'd been reading the Book of Mormon a little already!! We told her about what it is, and she was like, "of course Christ would visit the Americas too, because he cares about everyone" and we said AMEN! It's so refreshing when people just get it. 

Besides having awesome lessons and meeting awesome people, we had our apartment painted (by some members of my old ward, actually!), got an oil change that took a while, and had a doctor's visit that should have been 5 minutes but was multiple hours. It's okay though, we got to talk to people in the waiting rooms:)

We also went on an exchange this week! I spend the day with Sister Madsen, who just got to the mission. She reminds me a lot of my friend Ashley from Ridgeline! She's super smart & I can already tell she has so much potential. I taught her how to make arepas. That has become my signature exchange meal haha. Most people I've served around know how to make arepas, and they learned it from me!

Overall, it was a really good week and it went by so fast. I can't believe the transfer is halfway over already! I really hope I don't leave this area at the end of the transfer. It's a good place to be and I love Sister Peterson:))

Also! My parents and Addison and Alissa came to visit this morning before their cruise! Thanks for breakfast!

Small Plates

The Holy Ghost is the Teacher 

One of my favorite things to see and feel and experience is the Holy Ghost working in the hearts of the people I love. It's crazy.  We teach all of the same principles to everyone, without too much variation in how we explain it--not because we have to memorize the lessons, but because we teach all of the doctrine at a very simple level. You can tell when people have been prepared for the gospel because their hearts are so much more open to the spirit.

That's how it is with Graciela and Juseli. They know things about the gospel that we haven't told them. They just get it. I've seen that before in other people we teach. The Spirit teaches them, far more than we do. That's how it should always be. The Spirit is a way better teacher than I could ever be. Graciela and Juseli are being converted by the Spirit, not by us. 

That's how you know people are ready for the gospel. When the Spirit works in them. 

I'm so grateful for Graciela, Juseli, and the opportunity we have to help them learn. I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost, Who testifies of my Heavenly Father and my Savior. If it weren't for the Holy Ghost, missionary work wouldn't be possible. If this church weren't true, missionary work wouldn't be possible. Us missionaries would have messed this all up a long time ago. We are just kids, you know. For me, that's evidence that this church is true. There's no way any of the things I've had the privilege to see and be a part of would be possible if it weren't true. 

Sister Madsen