A 10-day sprint

Large Plates 

A 10-day sprint 

Hello everyone!! It's been a while--this week was 10 days long instead of 7. And what an eventful 10 days these have been! I apologize in advance for how long this email is about to be. My roommate is letting me borrow her keyboard, which is giving me access to some untapped potential. 

The reason our week was 10 days long is because we switched our pday to be able to go to the temple as a zone! The temple was wonderful and it was honestly exactly what I needed. The session brought tears to my eyes, as usual, and the Celestial Room really is my favorite place in the world. I love just soaking in the spirit while I’m at the temple. There’s nothing quite like it. I got to see some of my favorite people in the whole word in my favorite place in the whole world. Even President Holladay, the temple president, who is a good friend of mine, came over to sit by me in the Celestial room. We had a good chat about life and about God:)

Last Saturday we basically spent the entire day coordinating missionary work, before any missionary work was actually able to take place. Now that there are 6 missionaries in the ward instead of 4, we had to draw different boundaries and reassign a lot of the people in our teaching pools. It took about 4 hours on Saturday alone! 

Spending all day on Saturday preparing ourselves for the coming week ended up being a good thing, though. It helped us get our feet underneath us and our heads straight. We set a goal as a ward to teach 100 lessons in 1 week, because all of us were so pumped for the new challenge. 

Church on Sunday was tons of fun! The ward was so excited (and so confused) to see all 6 of us there. Bishop Perez asked those of us who were new to go up and bear our testimonies. Also! When I got there I saw a friend from my first ward--she moved here! Her name is Naomy and she was actually at the first member meal I went to over a year ago. I sat by her for Sacrament Meeting:) We also had some friends come to church! Nicole brought her cute 4 year old boy Sebastian and he was so scared to go to primary, but by the end he colored so many pictures of Jesus and he didn't want to leave. 

After church, Bishop asked all of us to meet him in his office to talk a bit about the missionary work in the Valencia ward. This was randomly one of the highlights of my week haha. We were in there with him talking about missionary work and all that good stuff for over an hour. It was a very chaotic hour, too. Some favorite quotes of mine are, "remember Elders: in the Valencia Ward, we don't follow the rules," and "you should try to find someone to teach who wants to be baptized in the ocean– we'll make a trip out of it!"

Those two quotes are a pretty accurate representation of what that jou of my life was like. But that's not all. Here's my favorite part:

Bishop asked me how long I've been out on my mission, so I told him how long, and pointed to one of the Elders in the room and said "the same as him." Because we got to Florida on the same day. Here's the kicker. He, the Elder, chimed in to say, "Ella salió conmigo," in an effort to say "we came out to the mission field together." 

Those of you who speak Spanish might already be cracking a smile. "Ella salió conmigo" translates to "she went out with me." Yes, as in, "we dated." 

So the bishop said, in Spanish, "don't worry Elder, she'll wait for you." 

This poor Elder, you guys!! It went right over his head and I certainly didn't want to be the one to explain to him what had just happened! 

Anywho, that's how my first Sunday in the Valencia ward went. All is well though, it was significantly less awkward afterward than I thought it would be. It has become quite the joke among us missionaries though. I’m never going to let that Elder forget it, and neither are any of the other missionaries who were there. 

We also had a fun lesson with Maurilio and his family after church! They are a family that sister Peterson taught when she was here in this area, so it was tons of fun to get to know them and hear about their conversion story. 

We had a couple more lessons and weekly planning and wrapped up our first sunday together! Because we weren’t going to have a pday on monday, we decided as full time missionaries in the Valencia ward to set a goal to teach 100 lessons total! Our mission as a whole has been trying to stretch ourselves and teach 30 lessons in each area every week, and many have hit that goal! It’s been cool to see the mission overcome false limitations and strive for excellence! We decided to push ourselves just a little bit further and get 100 lessons between the 3 companionships. I wish I could tell you about all of the awesome lessons we had this week, but I don’t have time for that and neither do you. Here’s some o my favorite new friends and miracle stories for the week, though:

Juan and Violeta are so great! We met Juan because he was on a walk while we were riding our bikes. We talked to him a little bit about the Book of Mormon and he was mildly interested, but not interested enough to take a book right then and there. We set up a time to come back to visit him and his wife! We went back, and read a little bit in the first chapter of the Book of Mormon with the, and taught them the story of the restoration. Violeta’s sister is a member of the church, so they were familiar with the story but had a few things wrong haha. Their interest definitely grew, but not a lot in that visit. They didn’t even want a Book of Mormon at the end because they said they already knew they weren’t going to read it. I walked away from that lesson a bit disappointed because they seemed really cool, and them rejecing he free book was a bit of a shock to me. 

We went back again later in the week (as per their request) and read a bit about the fall of Adam with the. Our discussion very obviously opened their eyes to the idea that aybe there really is more to know about God and His gospel than what is written in the Bible. Needless to say, this time they took a copy of the Book of Mormon.

Juan is always very nice and sends us a message after our visit thanking us for our visit and for helping them understand more. He even invited us over for tacos!! We went over Sunday afternoon and got to know them a bit better as we shared some mediocre tacos haha. They’re from Ecuador, so they're really cool people, but their tacos simply just aren’t as good as mexican tacos, I’ll be honest haha. Their daughter even joined us for the conversation! Her name is Kyra and she’s in high school right now, so she seemed to really enjoy having us around. We started telling her about the Book of Mormon too, and it really interested her to know that Christ visited the American continent. We watched the Book of Mormon video about it for the spiritual message at the end of the meal and they were all pretty impacted by it. We could tell that the message and the spirit really opened their eyes and their hearts. I’m really excited to see how teaching them goes. 

Mercedes and Nicole are also progressing really well! They both love reading the Book of Mormon and learning more about the Church. Nicole has come to church 3 weeks in a row, and people have started asking her if she’s a member haha. They have both said they would like to be baptized, they just want to learn more first. So, that’s what we’ll do!! 

There was also one day where me and Hermana Madsen decided to go try a Colombian restaurant in our area, and it went SO WELL!! No only was the food delicious, but we got it for free in exchange for a Book of Mormon, hehe. Okay, that’s not exactly how it went, but that’s the gist of the story. We came to the restaurant with full intentions of paying for our food, but then this very nice couple sat by us and they started talking about our name tags amongst one another (in spanish). I overheard their conversation, so I moved the hair off of my shoulder so they could see, and I introduced ourselves! We had a very delightful conversation about God and about what we believe for our entire lunch block. They then got up to pay for their food and told the cashier that our food was on them as well. They are sweethearts and we’re hoping to meet with them again this week!

Also!! Euro!! We love him so much. He is someone that the sisters had been teaching before I got here, and he is on date for baptism. We drew new boundaries, now that there are 6 missionaries in the ward, so he actually belongs to the Elder’s area. Me and Hermana Madsen have taught him a couple of lessons with the Elders so we can make the transition. One of those lessons was one of my favorites of the whole mission.The main plan for that lesson was for the Elders to give him a priesthood blessing to help him have the strength he needs to continue to progress towards baptism, even though he has some tough hurdles in his life he needs to jump over.  

We all went to his apartment complex and sat outside in the beautiful weather and just talked about how wonerful Heavenly Father is, and how wonderful Jesus Christ is, and how wonderful repentance is. I loved every second of that lesson. I also loves co-teaching with the Elders, because I got to watch missionary work happen from a third person perspective. The Elders are both incredible teachers and Euro is a fanastic human being. After the lesson, the Elders gave Euro a priesthood blessing. The spirit was so strong and so sweet. I'm grateful to have been a part of that experience. I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon. 

The last friend I want to tell you guys about is my bestie Oscar!!!! He’s actually a recent convert from when I was in the Buena Ventura ward. He’s always lived in the Valencia ward boundaries, but he preferred going to the Buena Ventura ward, so that’s where he was baptized. He lives up here in my area with his non-member family, which can be tough sometimes. We called him last night and had a tender conversation about how to keep the influence of the spirit in our lives, even in tough circumstances and even after we mess up. Repentance truly is a joy and I’m so grateful to have learned a bit of that joy as I’ve been out here in the Happiest Place on Earth. 

Wow, I have so much more I could write about. But I’ll spare you the novel. Life is really good, even if imperfect, here in the Valencia ward. When we first started the transfer with 6 missionaries, everyone feared there wouldn’t be enough work for the 6 of us to do. We all hustled hard and tried our best, and proved ourselves wrong. Last night, we totaled it up and we taught 104 lessons as a ward. 

It’s been so fun to let my desire to teach the gospel be what gets me out of bed in the morning and out the door for the day. We’ve biked a lot (my legs are getting stronger!!) and we’ve met so many wonderful people. This is a good life, my friends.

Small Plates 

I will go before thee

We've been biking a lot this week. That’s what happens when you share a car with another companionship and you don’t cover the same area. 

Since Hermana Madsen has been in the area longer than I have, she normally bikes in front, and leads the way. 

I was reading in Ether 1 this week, and I noticed a similar pattern. The Lord explains the plan He has for the Jaredites, i. e. their travel to the promised land via boat. It doesn’t sound like a walk in the park, but it was ultimately intended for their benefit. 

Even though their travel was a good thing, it was a hard thing. But the Lord promised them one thing: “I will go before thee.”

He was going to take them down a bumpy road. It wasn't going to be easy. But He promised them that he was going to go before them, He was going to lead them by the hand. 

That’s how our lives are too. Life can be kind of a bumpy road, but we, too, can have the promise that the Lord will lead us by the hand. He will go before us. 

Just as my companion has guided me around Orlando, treacherous as the way may be at times, I can trust that the Savior has been there before. No matter where “there” is. Anything we will ever go through, anything we will ever have to overcome, He’s gone through it. He has overcome it. We can trust that He has been there before, and that He knows how to lead us along. 

A series of unfortunate bike-related events

 Large Plates

A series of unfortunate bike-related events

Hey everyone! Yes, it’s me again haha. we have our pday today because we’re going to the temple!!!

Although it has only been a few days since I last wrote, a lot has happened. I moved into a new area, and basically have 3 new companions. What an adventure it has been. The 4  of us hermanas share an apartment, a shower, a car, and a ward, among other things (like sweet potatoes and the keyboard I’m writing this on!). It’s been very chaotic but I wouldn’t change it for anything. These girls are the best, and though we’ve had some hurdles to jump over, there’s no one I’d rather jump over those hurdles with. 

Day one of this area (Tuesday) was the craziest. We met up at the church by the mission office and it took several hours and multiple trips to coordinate and carry everything that needed to be coordinated and carried. We needed to fit all of the belongings of me and hermana Parmley, two new beds and frames, 4 girls, and 2 bikes in/on one car. as much as we wished it were possible, there was no way to do that in one trip, which meant Hermana Parmley and Hermana Ratcliff took two trips to the mission office that day. They are champs and I love them for it. 

While they were gone, me and my new companion Hermana Madsen got to work trying to make our apartment less of a disaster haha. Before this week, there were only ever 2 missionaries living here at a time, so we had a lot of rearranging to do. I’ll spare you the details, but after a lot of thinking, sweating, and heavy breathing, everything was where it needed to be. Somehow we had room for it all!! Miracles. 

The hermanas made it back from their trip and me and hermana Parmley still didn't have any food to eat, so we headed to the store. Even the grocery shopping was chaotic but we got it done. 

So, in a nutshell, that was day 1.

Then there was day 2. 

Because we’re sharing a car, we all also have bikes. This day, me and Hermana Madsen had the car, and Hermanas Parmley and Ratcliff were on their bikes. Hermana Ratcliff had low air in one of her tires, so they asked us to drop them off at a Wawa so they could fill up the air before they hit the road. So, we dropped them off and headed to our lesson. We were almost there when they called us. They had opened the valve on Hermana Ratcliff’s bike and all the air went out, and Wawa didn’t actually have a way to fill it up. So, we turned around, drove all the way back, and they drove with us to our lesson. 

The lesson was chaotic too. We got there late, and the member who was coming with us got lost so she got there even later. We had started talking with our friend Mercedes while we waited for Hermana Calderon to find us, and then she called. Long story short we went on a walk with Mercedes to find her, and then we all got into Hermana Calderon’ car to drive back to Mercedes’ apartment. It ended up being a very good lesson though!

Day 3 was pretty good, except for the part where my bike tire simply fell off. I was carrying it down the stairs and it tire almost beat me down haha. So, I took Hermana Parmley’s bike for the day. 

We also had District Council with a HUGE district that day. They added multiple companionships into the district, so there were 14 missionaries sitting in that circle in the Relief Society room. To put it into perspective, my last district was 4 missionaries, and the 2 zone leaders who come to DC. 

The hermanas had to go to the mission office again (another long story) so they had the car all day. But it was okay!! We rode around on bikes for the day and it was actually pretty fun. We met some great people and even rode through a construction zone with a cop’s permission. What an adventure. It’s all good though. We got it fixed. And then it fell off again at the end of the day. We have yet to fix it the second time, because I lacked the energy to do so at 10 pm. 

Okay, I promise this is the last thing I’ll tell you about; I know this email is getting long already. One of the main perks of having roommates is massage chains. Last night, we were all just absolutely wiped out, so we sat in a line and gave each other shoulder massages before bed. That was way better than fixing a bike tire. 

Small Plates

Know ye that

I was reading in Mormon this week, and something stood out to me that hadn’t before. In Spanish, verses 2-5 of chapter 7 all start with the words “sabed,” Which is the command form of “to know.” The prophet is not only inviting the people, and us, to know. He is commanding us to do so. What are the things he commands us to know?

1. We are the house of Israel

2. We must repent to be saved.

3. We must lay down our weapons of war (i.e. not do harm to anyone)

Whenever the Book of Mormon references the house of Israel, which it does often, I try to take a step back and then dive a litle deeper. Ever since Elder Bowen did the mission tour here, I’ve been fascinated by the doctrine of Israel and the Abrahamic Covenant. I’ve talked about this before in another email, but there is one overarching theme I try to look for when the scriptures mention Israel. I often see a pattern, which was highlighted to me by one of the books I’ve read while I’ve been on my mission. 

Often, when the scriptures refer to Israel, they mention the God of Abraham, the God on Issac, and the God of Jacob. For me, any time I read that phrase, I remind myself that in Abraham's story, God promised. In Isaac's, He provided. In Jacob's, he prevailed. So, every time I see reference to Abraham, I look for evidence of a God who promises, provides, and prevails. 

In these verses, it didn't take long for me to find the pattern. He tells us:

1. You are of Israel. God made a promises with Israel, and those promises apply to each of us. 

2. He has provided a way for us to keep our end of the promise: repentance through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

3. He asks us to let Him prevail by laying aside our sins and casting them out of our lives. 

I love this pattern, because you can see it all throughout the scriptures. Its the story of the God who promises, the God who provides, and the God who prevails. 

I also love this pattern, because it sets a pattern for our lives. We need to try every day to use God's promises, trust that He will provide, and let God prevail. 

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.