Listening to the Spirit

Hola!

Hermana and I met with Samuel once again this week to talk about the Book of Mormon. This guy is so awesome! We had given him a folleto of the Plan of Salvation in our last visit, and he testified to us of it after he had read the whole thing. Who does that? I know that if we can get Samuel to attend Church on Sundays so that he can be baptized that he will be a leader in the Church someday. There is no doubt about it!

We also sat down with Maricela to teach our very last lesson before her baptism this Saturday. But she expressed to us that she feels like she needs more time before she can  make such a big decision. Maricela wants to read the Book of Mormon all the way through and then wait for September to be baptized. Our hearts dropped when she said this. (I wonder how the missionaries felt when I told them I wanted to wait until I was eighteen to be baptized.) But we listened to her feelings and asked her questions about whether she is keeping her committments to read and pray everyday. We have comfort in knowing the Maricela has received an answer that the Church is true, so her situation is more of a matter of faith. That lessson with Maricela ended with testimony, the scriptures, and another committment to receive a confirmation from God that her decision to be baptized is correct.

But since that lesson with Maricela I have been studying about faith and how Hermana and I can help Maricela recieve and recognize answers through the Spirit. Joseph Smith taught that we need three things in order to excercise true faith: 1) Belief in the existence of God, 2) A knowledge of His character and attributes (i.e., merciful, forgiving, loving, trustworthy, ect.), and 3) A knowledge that our chosen path in life has His approval. We know that Maricela believes in God and who He is, but she wants to know that her decision to join the Church is right. And so my question is how Hermana and I can teach her how to recognize answers from heaven powerfully enough to act.

This whole experience has really made me think about how I first learned to recognize answers from Heavenly Father, and what kind of testimony the missionaries shared with me that inspired me to act. I´ve come to the conclusion that we need to pray, study, and fast to have a more powerful influence of the Spirit in our lessons. People arent converted to missionaries, we are only instruments. Within every person is an immortal spirit that once lived with and learned from Heavenly Parents before this life, and so there is also the ability to communicate with heaven. ´´True to the Faith´´ says that we can only recieve a sure testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ only through the power of the Holy Ghost. His communication with ours carries more certainty than any communication we can receive through our natural senses. (pg 89.) This makes our jobs as missionaries so much easier! Investigators will learn what they need to through the Spirit, and when they learn how to recognize promptings and how to communicate with their Father in Heaven, they will have what they need to endure to the end. My compi and I need only to have the Spirit to testify of the message of the Gospel.

So these are our current worries this week! We hope to talk to Maricela really soon. OH! And just last week our sector lost its elders and we recieve another companionship of hermanas. Sisters are taking over the mission! Haha, but seriously. The Peru Cusco mission has 230+ missionaries already - go compare this to others - and we will be recieving 20 more hermanas in the next transfer. There is a big possibility that I will be training...Ah! Pray for me.

Hermana Arroyo

The elect of Puno

Hermana Chipunavi and I have recieved several surprises this week as far as investigators go. The other day we were walking in the street to another appointment, and a construction worker stopped us to ask a question. He saw me carrying my scriptures out of my bag, and so he firsted asked if we believed in the Bible. His next question was about why there are so many churches in the world if there is only one God, one Church, and one baptism. I kind of stood in disbelief after someone as prepared as he is contacted US first, so Hermana started talking first. He didnt want to give us his address to meet with him, so we are going to contact him in the street again this week. 

We had another similar experience after there was a Young Single Adult activity in the chapel. One of the ward members presented to us her friend Samuel, and so we set up an appointment to meet with him another day. Samuel is a bit timid to talk, so we made a special effort to get to know him and gain his confidence on the day of our appointment. It wasnt hard to get him to open up, especially as we started to ask him about his faith in Christ and what he knows about the Bible. We came to find out that he loves the scriptures and knows them really well, and so he began talking and sharing his testimony about pray and the Savior. The Spirit came into that room so strongly, and there was no doubt in my mind that Samuel is one of the elect in Puno. 

Experiences like these two make me so grateful to be a missionary at this time. I love the light that shines in the eyes of our investigators when the Light of Christ connects with the truth. And I love to be able to remind one of my brothers and sisters about who they are and what their purpose is in the life. No matter what kind of challenge Hna C and I face during the week, it is all worth it if we can find those whom we have been sent to find. This life is great! And this gospel is even better.

I love you all! If you ever have questions about anything, you can ask me. We may be far away from each other, but every one of you is important to me - and even more to Heavenly Father. Dont forget it.

Hermana Arroyo

Change and blessings

Today is p-day! One of the best days of the week. This day started off bad for my companion, though. Last night we ate a huge meal with Mama Rosalia and her family for Father´s Day, and she woke up needing to puke. The worst! Our Zone Leaders came this morning to give her a blessing, and now she is sleeping. During it all, I have been able to serve Rosalia by doing some cleaning! Let me tell you all...it feels so good to be able to clean a real house! (Mom, I think I am becoming like you.) So despite my companion feeling under the weather, we are still blessed, and Rosalia has been our mom away from our moms.

As far as the miracle go for this week, they´ve all been about change!

About three weeks ago we made a connect with an older man named Leonzio. We finally had our first meeting with him two weeks ago, and we found out that he is grieving for his deceased wife who died only within the last two months. He cried and cried, but his attitude made a total 360 as we taught him the Plan of Salvation. Although he is still grieving, he has so much more peace and comfort. He committed to baptism in the first lesson, and seeing him change has been a testemant of the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel.

At another time during the last two weeks, we have met with Juana. She is also older, with grown kids, but is less active. We found her as we were trying to meet with a contact we havent been able to sit down with. This contact wasnt hope, but we came to find out that she has members in the church, and Juana is her grandma! So we sat with Juana and began asking her questions about herself. During this time the thought came to mind to share about family history. But I was having such a hard time catching what she was saying, that I doubted this as a prompting. As time past, Juana began to cry as she confinded in us that she feels so upset that he kids arent happy in their lives right now. We listened as she talked, and then she shared how she made a promise with her husband before he died that she would be sealed to him in the temple. At this point I felt so many emotions: shame because I doubted the prompting I recieve, but gratitude for the opportunity to testify of something so important to me. Afterward, Juana confirmed this impression again by sharing how just the other day she was thinking about her parents who never joined the church and other relatives who need their work done. This church is so TRUE! This past week we set out to meet with her again, and found Juana having some pain from a lung disease she has. We set out to find the Elders in the street, if we could, because neither of us have cell phones. We searched and searched for a worthy priesthood holder for maybe an hour before we could find one to offer Juana a blessing. Finally we found one of Rosalia´s sons, and he was able to bless her. This experience has made me more firm in my desire to not only marry a priesthood holder, but someone who I can count on to be worthy to offer blessings at any time.

One more story about this week, but this one is about Daisy. Daisy is the daughter of a single mom and less active member. We started meeting with her one day when her mom couldnt make it to our appointment, and it semed like the perfect opportunity to get to know her kids. And Daisy is so full of sweetness, and she really impressed me from the beginning with her eagerness to learn more about the gospel and live it. Hermana C. and I have felt impressed to help Daisy get into the habit of daily scripture study, so we are meeting with her several times a week to help and encourage her. In one of our last visits, we read in 2 Ne 31 about the doctrine of Christ, and afterward she asked us how she can start paying tithing! Teaching Daisy and helping her with scripture study has brought to mind so many memories of doing this same thing with the sister missionaries how taught me. They are a big reason why I love the scriptures, and I really want to give this same gift to her. I know that she is going to need a testimony that she can receive answers through the scriptures and prayer, especially if she will be the only active member in her home.

Everyday we have opportunities to lift others, strengthen them, and watch them grow. Missionary work is to beautiful! Even with all of its challenges, it is the best work there is.

I love you all! Until next week.

Hermana Arroyo

Will & Heart

This has been a great week. It started off with intercambios, which is when missionaries exchange companions for a day with one of the zone leaders. I was able to learn so much from one of the Hermana leaders, Hna Rasmussen! (I am pretty sure that she has a mission blog online.) It was a bigger relief than I thought it would be to speak English, and we shared some spiritual experiences that have motivataed me to reach my potential as a missionary.

Up to the day of exchanges I think that I was getting into a bad mind-set with the quality of my Spanish. When you are with a latina companion it is easy to compare yourself with her Spanish, which is really unfair. And I realized this during the day with Hna R, because I felt so inspired to see another NorteAmericana reaching out to the people so simply and easily - and she was touching their hearts! Often times I feel thta I cant exactly seve as I would if I could speak as well as a native, but I am seeing that this kind of thinking is wrong.

The big thin that Ive been pondering about is how  I can give my all to serving the Lord. Hna Rasmussen and I talked about this a lot during our day, and she gave me a talk to read called, ´´The Fourth Missionary'' by Lawrence E. Cambridge (a past mission president). He gives four levels of converted missionaries. Each example has imperfections, hopes, and dreams, but only one truly seeks to lose himself in the work. This Fourth Missionary not only gives of his might, time, and talents (things given to us by the Lord), but of his heart and will (things God does not yet own). For two years he chooses to put his dreams and desires on a shelf in order to do the Will of the Lord. In returen for this complete surrender, the Lord is able to make this missionary into something else - more like the Savior. 

I love this quote by CS Lewis:

(In the perspective of God)

''Give my all. I dont want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work: I want You. All of you. I have not come to toment or frustrate the natural man, but to kill it. No half measures will do. I dont want to only prune a branch here and another there; rather, I want the whole tree out. Hand it over to me, the whole of it, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turnthem all over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.´´ (Mere Christianity)

The great challenge4 of this life is more than just enduring. We are to strive to be like Christ, which means that we must also surrender our will to the Father. It is easier said than done, but as in all things, Christ is our Exemplar.

Did Christ lose anything from submitting Himself to Heavenly Father? 

He only gave Him the green light to make Himself (Jesus Christ) into something more than He was. 

´´If you surrender, if the Lord wins, you win also.'' (Matt 16:26, 1Cor 2:9)

If this is the case, is giving of our will and heart really a sacrifice at all? Deep stuffs to consider!

I would like to write more about mine and Hna Chipunavi´s investigators this week, but I have run out of time. I am so sorry for being lame in writing about the people we teach!!! Next week will be better for sure!

Love you all!

Hermana Arroyo

How deep is your scoop?

So to start off, let me just say that Heavenly Father sent a huge tender mercy last week! As Hermana Chipunavi and I were shopping in a store, Hermanas Purse and Hunter (from my district in the CCM) ran up like crazy women and we gave each other the biggest hugs! We became each other{s family away from family in the CCM, and so it was a ginormous blessing to catch up and strengthen each other. I found out that we experienced a lot of the same challenges in adjusting, and so it felt great to know that we{re not alone. Heavenly Father is so good! And it was also amazing to see each other{s growth in just a few weeks. It was hard to say goodbye again, but I hope to see them again really soon!

Also, last Prep Day Hermana and I decided to live our inner child's dream and experience this gigantic slide in Puno. Let's just say that I took out two kids, and earned 20 points. Hermana also earned 10! Luckily they were okay after, and we all just laughed until we couldn't breathe. Fun times in Puno!

As for the meat of this week, it so happened that our appointments with investigators fell through so Hermana and I met with a lot of our less active members. Hermana and I had some really personal visits with less active members, and I have felt a strong connection with every one of them. Our experiences have brought me to ponder my purpose here as a missionary. We are called to preach the gospel who do not yet know it, but the other aspect of our work is to reach out to those who have strayed. I have yet to decide which brings me more joy: teaching others the gospel for the first time or helping to remind others why they initial chose to follow Christ. In any case, this work is beautiful!

Also, we had a stake conference this weekend, so Pres and Hermana Harbertson travelled to give interviews and to speak. I love them both so much, and they are great examples. Pres was the translator for Hermana Harbertson during her talk because she doesnt know very much Spanish, and his love for her is so evident!

On another note, the whole of the conference was about having an expectant faith in Christ to bring about miracles. It made me think of in what ways I can improve my faith, and what goals I should set for myself. I came with the intention to recieve answers, and I recieved some about my life after my mission. I know it is early to be thinking this way, but I can{t help but consider the ways in which this mission will help me be a better daughter, sister, wife, and mom. And so now I have more of a glimpse into what Heavenly Father has in store for me. It has given me an extra boost for this week! And even more so, I have been pondering how big of a spiritual scoop I earn every Sunday.

The truth is, even missionaries experience trials and temptations because we{re also imperfect. I have come to realize this more especially between lessons with our investigators, because the adversary doesn{t want us to return to live in the presence of God after this life. And so, in what ways are we renewing our strength in order to overcome Satan? I have a testimony that our weekly partaking of the Sacrament is the way to spiritual strength, and that living the Gospel of Jesus Christ everyday after until the next Sunday is the way to endure to the end. This principle is true for everyone, and it is the plan of Heavenly Father for us to be stronger than the evil around us. I have also come to know that if you want to punch Satan in the face, then preach the gospel! 

Sorry this email is a bit scattered this week - or even just more so than normal. You all will be allowed to read my mission journal one day, because it has so much more details!

I love you all. Keep praying, reading the scriptures, and attending Church on Sundays. What more can you earn than the feeling of God's love for you and renewed strength and guidance in this life? This gospel is true!

Bueno fe! (because suerte is muerte.)

Hermana Arroyo