I'm training a new missionary!

Hola Familia!

I am doing great! Sister Romero (my new companion) is from Colombia and she is 19. She comes from a member family, she has a younger brother. She isn't expecting anything for christmas so if you want to send something, that would be really nice :)

Training is hard. It is like having a baby because you are teaching someone who doesn't know ANYTHING! She knows a lot more than I knew because she was in the MTC for 8 weeks but she has NEVER ridden a bike and she can't speak English very much but she's doing great! She is really tired but I remember what is was like to go into the mission field. I was so tired and homesick and couldn't speak the language and didn't know what was happening! I was clueless! I need to go back and read my journal......it was so hard. But having a greenie made me realize how much I have grown over the last year. I can ride a bike. I can speak spanish. I can have fun with the members. I can help others come unto Christ by being baptized! I didn't realize how much I have changed and grown until I had to help someone enter the mission. Time has gone by so fast! I have to enjoy each day! I am so excited for our week next week....we have a lot of fun things happening for christmas :)

Next Wednesday (P-day next week) I will email you the address of where I will be skyping and what time. You will skype me from Grandma and Grandpa's house, right? I will let you know what time and address next wednesday.

This week we had a baptism. Maria and Cesar were baptized. I have been working with them since I first came into the area in August! Sometimes the Lord's timing is different than ours, but they were finally baptized and they are excited to go to the temple to do baptisms. Hopefully we can take them next week!

The velez family is supposed to get baptized this saturday......pray for them please, they are acting shady again. they already had their interviews....we didn't have contact with them yesterday. We have to have contact every day the week before the baptism. I know that Heavenly Father is aware...I just need to trust him.

I am not going to write a lot, I want to have a lot of things to talk about next week :) 

I am sending a present to you all, but I won't send it until later because I will send it to our house. When are you getting back home?

Thanks for the prayers and support. I got letters from the Ward, Young womens, and Grandma Shaftoe :) Thank you!

Sorry this is short. Just know that I am fine, the weather is good, my bike works, I am being fed and I am loving being a missionary!

SLY!

Hermana Warren

News from Utah

Hola Familia!

Drum roll please..............................................................................................................................................

I AM TRAINING THIS NEXT TRANSFER!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

She is from Colombia and she is supposed to be in an English assignment but President is changing her to spanish because he doesn't want to close any spanish areas. He told me that I am probably only training her for one transfer because he will switch her back to English the next transfer because we are getting 3 spanish sisters the next transfer! I am really nervous but I am excited and happy to stay in this area because there is a lot of work to be done here and I am really happy.  We got called into President's office yesterday and that is where he told me that I am training one of the 3 missionaries coming in and that Sister Peralta will take Sister Merrill's spot as sister Training leader! So we are getting split up and I am sad. She reminded me a lot of Jenna, how she jokes around and we have fun but sometimes we butt heads.....but who doesn't right? She is a great friend and I love her a lot. 

So that is the big news for today. Time just flies faster and faster, that transfer was over so fast! I couldn't believe it! I only have 5 transfers left! That is really scary for me to think about. I can't believe that I get to talk to you all in like 2 weeks. Didn't the time just go by so fast? I feel like I just talked to all of you on Mother's day. 

I'm glad that everyone is doing good! I got a letter from the Palmers this week, for Christmas. It was so sweet  and made me smile. Thank you Palmers!!

The weather is beautiful! 50s this week! and my bike needs help on the back brake, it pretty much broke when I fell off my bike a couple months ago :) But everything else is good :) My boots are doing ok, and I am good health-wise :)

Please send me letters! I miss knowing about what is happening in your lives! Jenna, who are you dating?!?!?!?! 

Sammie, Congrats on the new job!!.....how is Costa Vida?

Ronnie, how did your skit go at the Christmas party?

Shonna, are you playing any sports right now?

Lydia, what are some of your quotes that you put on the Wall of Wisdom?

Jess, are you ready for your test? I kind of forgot what it was like to take tests. Other things make me nervous now.......I never thought that training a "baby" missionary would be my "test". 

Mom and Dad, that picture made me almost pee my pants! that picture is so funny!!!!

We are having 2 baptisms this weekend, the parents of 2 other the kids that were baptized that last week. The branch is focusing on these two families that we have brought into the church: the Ojeda Family, and the Ibarra Family. The branch is doing a little bit better.....our Stake Mission Leader told us that when the new year comes, a lot of things will change in the stake and in our branch. I don't know what is going to happen but we need some changes in our branch. 

We are teaching another family, the Velez family, and they are going to be baptized on the 20th of December. They are looking great, this is my family of 5 I prayed for! They are awesome! 

We went to a spanish concert in Temple Square with our investigator and it was awesome! I feel the spirit so much when I see cultural things like that. I love being a spanish-speaking missionary. It is the best. We are going to go to the lights with our girls from the Velez family that we are teaching :) I am so excited!!!!!

I had the sweetest experience on Sunday. This sunday was a lot better than the last 5. Every other sunday was so stressful but this last sunday was great. We had Testimony meeting and I sat in the chapel, looking at all of the people I have taught and all the people we are teaching and the members that I love and I just had the happiest feeling come over me. Before my mission, my happiness came from being with my friends or passing my class or going out to eat or something like that......but now, my happiness comes from seeing my investigators walk through the door of the church, or from seeing them enter the waters of baptism, or from taking them to do baptisms in the temple. I never thought that I would feel so much happiness from being a missionary! Honestly, I didn't feel  this before, it took time but now.......all I want to do is find, teach, and baptize, and help these people get to the temple! That is ALL I want to do! I hope ALL of you go on a mission....Mom and Dad, I hope you can go again and be a senior missionary couple or teach english to people here in Utah :)

It is the most wonderful thing I have ever done in my life......I have also met the meanest people, I have never been persecuted for being a member this much in my life. But I have never been able to see the gospel change someone's life like I have here on my mission. 

Keep working with your friends that live down the street. Post the new video by the church He is the Gift! Have you seen it? I love that video. BE MISSIONARIES!!!!! You will feel a happiness that doesn't compare with anything else!

We had the branch christmas party and ALL of our investigators came! It was great, I love this branch and I feel like my spanish is improving a lot, thanks for the prayers!

I love you all so much! I can't wait to see you in a couple of weeks on Skype

For Christmas..

I love you all so much and miss you. Have a great week! I will pray for all of you :)

SLY!
Hermana Warren

"I'll Be Home For Christmas".........next year!! :)

Hola Familia!

Sorry about the subject line..I have been singing that song a lot because this is the first time that I won't be home for Christmas :) hehe

Anyway, thanks for the emails, Thanksgiving weekend sounded super fun. I loved looking at all the pictures of everyone, everyone seems to be growing up without me!

I love the Christmas lights on the house! I always loved putting up the tree and seeing the lights!

I have been doing pretty good here. Dad, it is 48 degrees today. The weather has been beautiful for this time of year. Everyone here is so surprised that we still don't have snow, but I keep praying that this winter will be better. I don't want my hands to fall off from freezing. 

"Beat the President" fun run

My Thanksgiving was a great and sad day. First of all, our mission ran with President Moffat, I have a picture of that. I walked mostly because I wasn't sure if I could run the whole 3 miles. But I pretty much walked the whole thing with Sister Moffat. We just talked about a bunch of stuff. She was asking me about my companion, my spanish, and my area. I love the Moffats, they are so sweet and do so much for us.

Sister Merrill

Then after, we had a quick meeting, where we listened to departing testimonies of missionaries going home, one of which is Sister Merrill :( I was bawling the whole time because she has become such a great friend to me. After, we ate dinner with our Landlady and so I ate American food and it was good! Then that night, we visited some families that we are teaching and they kept giving us more food! I was so full! Then we went to the Ibarra family and we were teaching the uncle when the kids ran into the house and told us that a man was outside and wanted to talk to an adult. So the aunt went out because she speaks English. We were all wondering what was going on so we all went out and there was a man at the bottom of the drive way, holding their dog. He had hit it on the road and went back and got it. He saw the kids running outside, so he assumed that it was their dog. It was probably one of the saddest moments I have had on my mission. All the kids were crying and sobbing. The mom was sobbing and I just held the kids and tried to comfort them as they cried. I started crying with them because I could FEEL how they were feeling, I imagined me losing Pongo and how sad I would be. They had Toby for 5 years and he was a member of their family! We just said a prayer with them and left. I cried to whole bike ride home. I felt so bad for them and wanted to make them feel better and know that even pets resurrect. They are doing better but my heart hurt and I could get a glimpse of how God feels, seeing his Children in pain and sorrow, I love the story of how the Savior wept with Mary when her brother died, even when he knew that He was going to raise him from the dead. 

 

This weekend was a great weekend though, we had 4 baptisms, which finishes our month of November with 7 baptisms! We had a very successful month :) We are still struggling with our branch but we are involving Stake leaders and mission leaders to get this problem fixed. 

So the only other thing I want to share is about the video "HE is the Gift". It is on christmas.mormon.org. Watch it and share it with someone, it reminds us of the most important gift. This movie is so powerful and you feel the spirit so strong. I also thought it was ironic how we have thanksgiving, where we share what we are thankful for, and then the next day, we go out and buy EVERYTHING that we don't have. This Christmas, I don't want a lot. I want to focus on the Savior more. Of course, there is nothing wrong with giving gifts, that is how we share our love for others, but the BEST gift we can give is the knowledge of the Gospel. So I invite you, Warren Family, to give the gift of the Savior to someone else. Pray and ask God to tell you  who you know who needs the Gospel. Look for the answer and He will tell you :) be ready to share it with them. God knows His Children.

I might be transferred next week, I will let you know next p-day. Christmas music is always appreciated :)

I might have to fix my brake on my bike

I love you all so much, I am so grateful for you and can't wait to see you all in about 23 days! (on skype).

Have a great week! I pray for you all every night!

SLY!

Hermana Warren

I am Grateful for my Family!!

HELLO!!!

I just want to tell you all that I love you so much! I miss you and can't wait to see you all soon :) hehe

Thank you for the emails. I loved reading the emails from the girls, I felt like I could hear their voices and it made me laugh. Lydia, I am SO Proud of you for running that much...5K twice...wow... that is so awesome! Sammie, keep up with the Spanish! I want to talk to you in Spanish when I come home, ok?  

Here is my boy tip: Don't worry about them....I know that it sounds too hard but seriously, you are so much happier when you DON'T worry about what they think and only worry about what God thinks of you. Build your relationship with God FIRST and then you will become more confident in yourself. Read the talk I attached.....from Conference. Follow his steps and you will become more confident in yourself and THAT is what is attractive to the boys :) There are a lot of boys out there too.....They aren't all at RHS!!

Approaching the throne of God with confidence

Shonna: Yo, Sister Warren here :)

So I am sad about VerNon, but I am sure that the Funeral was fun and spiritual. I hope Lenise did ok, and Mitch. Is Travis still home or did he go back out?

That is so cool about the fundraiser for AJ, I have seen the house where they live in Murray. Becca should totally stop if she sees me on the street. I would love to give her a hug :)

Dad: You should totally write a book called "7 Girls for 1 Dad", and talk about what is was like to raise 7 girls. I am sure that the book would sell. Keep working on it, and let me know if there is anything that I can help with.

Thanks for the prayers for my Spanish. I feel like it is improving each day and I can teach better and better. I talked with my Branch President on the phone last night and I understood everything he said and I was able to respond to every question! I was pretty amazed when I got off the phone. I want to be fluent when I come home, that is my goal :)

So this last week was another crazy week! All of it was leading up to Saturday, where we had 4 baptismal interviews and a baptism of Jose and then the wedding of Diocelina and her husband who isn't a member. Everything worked out! Remember last week, how I was freaking out because I wasn't sure how things were going to go? Well, everything worked out, all I had to do was EVERYTHING that I could do and then leave the rest to Heavenly Father. 

Saturday, we decorated for the wedding in the morning, it was only us and the Relief Society President, and then we ate lunch with a man who we are teaching and his wife. Then we went to the church and had the 4 baptism interviews, and they all passed so we are having 4 baptisms next week :) YAY!!! and then we had the baptism. This man was the one who was being taught by the English sisters from another mission and we had the problems with the other mission and President Moffat had to talk with the other Mission President. Everything worked out though, and he was baptized and confirmed :) I sang a "Child's Prayer" with one of the English sisters who found Jose, she sang the Childs part in English and I say the Parent's part in Spanish, and then we sang it together. It was so powerful! I love singing so much, I want to take music lessons when I go home so I can sing better. Anyway..... Then, we booked it over to the other chapel for the wedding, were we had to make sure everything was set up. They got married and they brought food and we got a cake and they had music and it was so fun. I was thinking about how stressful this is: setting up for a wedding and the decorations and the food.....and how much MONEY people would pay to have someone else worry about those details. I liked decorating and planning it, even though it was stressful. Maybe I can be a wedding planner when I come home! I have already organized two and we are planning for another one on the 6th! When we got home that night, we were tired, but the day wasn't too stressful, just super busy.

Then Sunday happened again. I always get headaches on Sundays because the members have been acting so CRAZY ever since we have been having a lot of baptisms. Our Ward mission leader is getting frustrated with us because our President is getting mad at all of us for things that don't even matter! The rules say that I shouldn't talk bad about my area so I won't go into any more but I am trying so hard to work with these people and we read from Preach My Gospel and the mission handbook to clarify the things that we do as missionaries. People have a hard time accepting correction humbly. That is when people get bitter and act like they don't like us. As long as I am doing what God wants me to do.....I might offend a few members but I am being a bold missionary who follows the rules. 

SO that is pretty much what happened this week. Transfers are on the 10th of December, this transfer has been my most stressful and most busy transfer, but it sure flies when you are busy!

I hope everyone is doing well and that you are all happy! Keep living the Gospel and sharing it with others. Pray as a family to find someone to share the gospel with :) Then introduce the missionaries and help them accept the Gospel. Make it a goal to do before Christmas, that would be the best Christmas gift to give someone :)

I love you all and hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for my family, and all that you do for me. I am grateful for my Savior and that I have 7 1/2 more months to represent Him and to preach the Gospel. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and the guidance we receive when we read it. Estoy agradecida por le gente que estoy ensenando, y que estoy aprendiendo un otro idioma aunque es dificil a veces :)

SLY!!!!!
Hermana Warren

A Mission Stretches You and Tests Your Faith

Hola everyone!

Thanks for the letters! I got one from Mom and Ronnie :)

I am glad that everyone is doing good. That is sad about Vernon. I hope that Mitch is doing ok. I hope that Sammie gets the job. Good luck on the 5k! For thankgiving, we are running in the morning with the President. we also get to eat with a family for 2 hours instead of just 1. We are eating with Teresa, our recent convert and her big family. It will be really fun. I love Holidays on the mission so I am really excited for that. I feel like I have physically grown on my mission, I hope I look different when I come home.

We had a baptism this last week! So Maria was just baptized on the 1st  and her mom was baptized this last Saturday. her husband received the Priesthood, who was less active and had no idea that he was a member. He baptized his wife on Saturday and it was the sweetest experience. That family is amazing and I am so excited to see them all sealed in the temple in one year!

I am doing ok, I got sick yesterday and was inside sleeping the whole day. I think I had a fever and I couldn't eat anything. Luckily I didn't throw up. I went to our Branch FHE that we do every other monday and I just felt off. This morning, I was SO tired. I could barely make it through personal study. I slept from 9 to 11 and I felt a lot better. I hate being sick, ESPECIALLY on the mission. We have so many people that we need to teach and prepare for baptism and it drives me nuts when I have to stay inside and sleep. Well, at the time, I didn't really care because I was so sick but now, when I am feeling better, I realize that I missed an entire day! 

I think the reason why I got sick was because of what happened on sunday. Sunday was even more stressful than last week! The man who we have been preparing for baptism who was being taught by English missionaries in the other mission, told us that he didn't want to be interviewed anymore. He wanted to wait. Then the welfare missionaries of the ward talked to him and told us that they were going to go over and talk to him after church, to find out more about his feelings. Then our branch president talked to him and he told us that Jose wants to do the interview! We had gotten three different stories from Jose and different members! We just decided to have President Plumb from the mission presidency come anyway, he is awesome and he makes everyone feel comfortable. Since our branch president is really good friends with Jose, we had President Olivares take President P

lumb to Jose and introduce him and then he led them to his office where they did the interview. Jose told President Plumb that he feels bad and doesn't want to hurt our feelings or the other sister's feelings. But since he wants to be baptized in the spanish branch, we need to teach him. Apparently the other sisters tried to interview him on Saturday! So President Moffat called the other Mission president and talked to him. President Plumb was also on the line and talked about some things that Jose explained to him in the interview. We also have a wedding for a less-active and her non-member husband that we are trying to plan for for this weekend but ALL the chapels are booked for this weekend. I am not sure what to do, the date has changed so much already and she has work and her boyfriend does too. The Ward is feeling stressed as well because we can't give them exact dates and times for these activities. 

Honestly, I feel like we are doing EVERYTHING in the branch. The members get mad at us for having too many activities on the same day and we are trying our best to organize everything. But for this weekend, I have no idea what to do. I can't trust anyone else to organize the wedding or the baptism....I feel like I need to do it all. Along with these things, we have people that we need to teach this week and try to get interviewed this saturday too. 

I guess this is where faith comes in :) I know that everything will work out the way Heavenly Father wants it to, but I hate not having a plan or a schedule for these activities. All i want is for everything to work out. Everything that I am doing is to help these investigators and for them to have a good experience in their baptism or wedding or whatever we are helping them with. I do love being a missionary and being stressed about peoples' salvation. I only have about 7 1/2 months left to do it :) But I can tell that I get worn out and I don't want that. I am studying chapter 8 in PMG to help me plan better and be more organized.

Sorry for complaining, these last few days have been tough. This transfer has probably been the most stressful than any other transfer. But I will be fine.

The weather has been ok, it is supposed to snow this weekend. I have tights and gloves and hats. I might need a longer coat, the white one I have isn't very long. I might take Sister Merrill's coat, she goes home in a  couple of weeks.

Pray for my Spanish, I need to improve in that :)

Thank you for being so awesome! I love you all so much and miss you. Keep praying for me, especially for this week. I need to be bold with some people we are teaching, so pray that I can say what Heavenly Father wants me to say. I pray for you every day.

SLY!

Hermana Warren

"I like to look for rainbows..."

Hola Familia!

Thanks for the emails, that Stake conference sounded so fun! I think I know who that boy is, if I am thinking right. His name is Casey and he was in my Trek family. He is in my grade. He is so sweet, reading that comment almost made me cry :) I wish I could have been there to see your talks, I love you all so much! I am not with you but I can already tell that our family is changing, and it makes me so happy. 

So yeah, this week was probably the craziest in my mission. Saturday was the craziest DAY in my mission. After my birthday, I got in trouble with the Mission President :( Luckily he only chastized us through a text but I still felt really bad. I have a hard time letting go when I get in trouble. It was my fault, I was being human and forgot to do something important. BUT that day, our investigator and her sister-n-law surprised me with a cake and perfume for my birthday. My favorite part about being a missionary is teaching the people and loving them.  I also got a letter from Grandma Shaftoe and The Sants! They made my day better too :) Even though I deserved getting in trouble, Heavenly Father always makes it better :)

I actually thought that that day was really bad.....but then Saturday happened. This was the worst day ever! Let me just make a list of all the things that happened:

1. It was a cold day

2. We found out that the East mission was teaching a mad from our branch! We call this "poaching" and it is not allowed

3. We called President and accused us of not teahcing the man before the East mission. This man was offended by the spanish sisters about 1 year ago and has never let us back in. We have tried but he just didn't want to be taught by us

4. Right after that, our phone BROKE! We don't even know how! So we couldn't call anyone and that is SO STRESSFUL when you are a missionary and you can't have contact with your president or investigators

5. we were trying to find these missionaries that were poaching on us and figure out the situation. He lives in our area but far away so we were trying to find a ride with a broken phone.

6.We got a new phone to use for a couple of days, but we lost all of our contacts :(

7. Patricia was supposed to get interviewed that night but went to the hospital with her uncle and missed it! The Assistants were gonna interview her because Elder Lambs speaks Spanish but she wasn't showing up and while we were on the phone with them, our borrowed phone DIED! Then we had to bike all the way back to the house to charge the phone and call them back. Then we had to bike all the way back to her house again to see if she was there. That bike ride is about 15 minutes one way :P

So this day was so stressful and crazy. When it was over, I just wanted to cry :( It was the hardest day for me. BUT, God always blesses us with a better day.

The next day was sunday and it was awesome!

1. Patricia had her interview in the morning and did great. She is getting baptized this saturday

2. Teresa, our recent convert, was set apart as a branch missionary!!! She is so happy and so excited, she is so bold and she is so converted to the Gospel

3. We received 4 more ward missionaries! 

4. Patricia's husband, Antonio, received the Priesthood and will baptise his wife this saturday :)

5. We got the whole issue figured out with the East mission. Jose will be baptised this Saturday in our branch with Patricia! So now we have an unexpected baptism this weekend! MIRACLE!

6. We have 9 people on date and 8 people at church! We also had the Primary program in our sacrament meeting and it was so CUTE!!!  I love listening to the primary songs in Spanish :)

SO...what I learned from this experience............There is always a rainbow after the rain :) I know we should enjoy the rain too but I know that Heavenly father will always bless us with a better day tomorrow. We just need to make it through today. Sometimes we have hard days and all we can do is trust in God, that everything will work out the way he wants it to. I had to do that on Saturday, everything was going wrong and I just wanted to sit down and give up.  But when it gets really hard, God wants us to kneel down and then stand up...and get to work. 

The Snow is coming this week. I bought tights and long skirts and sweaters with the money I got for my birthday. I think I will be warm. Based on this week, I will know what I need to get for next week.

I love you all so much. I am really enjoying being a missionary. My spanish is getting better, thank you for that book! mom, did you use that in your mission? I really like it and I can feel my spanish getting better.

RANDOM:

I ate pig intestine tacos yesterday. I should have realized that there was something wrong with them when my mexican companion wouldn't even eat them. I kind of wanted to throw up after but I survived. Now I can say that I ate pig intestines :)

thanks for everything you do for me! I am sending pictures, let me know if you can see them becuase they won't show up on my screen :)

Have a great week! I love you all so much!

sLY!

Hermana Warren

A Baptism, the Temple and a Birthday!!

Hola familia!!!!

Gracias por todo! Recibi mis regalos el viernes y tenia que esperar por 4 dias!!! Thank you so much for the presents and the cards. So far, my birthday has been pretty good. We had studies and cleaned and shopped but them we went out to lunch with Sister Egan! She wouldn't let me eat at Famous Daves becuase she wanted to pay for me, and that way I have another meal that I don't have to pay for. So I will go to famous daves another day. We ate at Red Robins and it was good, I haven't eaten there in forever! I love Sister Egan so much, she is so awesome. She also bought me some earrings from a hand-me down store, they are bicycles! They are super cute. And now I am emailing. It just seems like a normal day for me, but now I am 20! WEIRD! I am no longer a teenager. But I love starting a new year because I can set some goals for myself :)I want this year to be AWESOME! 

Thank you for the emails about everything that has been happening. I see these things and I CAN'T believe how much everyone has changed. 

Jess and Jordan: thank you so much for the email and the card! You both look so cute in your costumes. I love you both!

Jenna: Thank you for emailing me, that meant a lot to me. You are a great example to me too. You look super cute in your costume, where are you at in that picture?

Sammie: OH MY GOODNESS! I can't believe you are this old, going to dances. You have grown up so much, I am in shock. I love the dress, I always wanted to wear a yellow one. You and Johnny looked so cute together. Enjoy those dances, it is sad when they are all over.

Ronnie: I loved your costume, you are the cutest bee that I have seen. Good job for talking to the school about your friend, whenever you run into a situation like that, always ask yourself "what would Jesus do?" You will always make the right choice :) I am proud of you. by the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW!!!!

Shonna: I miss you a lot, seriously, you are so fun. I am so glad that you are still doing the drum, I can't wait to watch you play when I come home.

Lydia: you are growing up so fast, you are so cute and I can't wait to give you a hug.

Dad: Just always remember that I look up to you so much. You have been such a great example to me and I am so happy to see how much our family is changing. It is amazing. Thank you for working so hard to make this family that it is. I love you so much.

Mom: You are amazing, you are such a great teacher. you are so full of charity. That is something that I am working on, and I really look up to you for that. Thanks for taking care of Samantha Solorzano. She has been in my prayers.

 

This week was an amazing week for me. On Wednesday, I went to do baptisms with Teresa, our recent convert. She loved it, she was a little bit confused at first but once we clearly explained the baptisms and confirmations, she was so excited. I thought that seeing someone being baptized was the best feeling in the world.....I think it is even cooler seeing your recent convert do baptisms for someone else :) It was a great experience in the temple. I loved doing baptisms and feeling the water. I see baptisms a lot, but I loved being able to do it again. 

Maria was baptized this weekend. I just love her and her family. Her example has changed her family because now her mom and brothers want to be baptised and we found out that her dad is a member! We took them to temple square on sunday night and they all want to enter the temple and be sealed as a family. I have really learned that as missionaries, our job isn't just to get people the baptism, we need to help them get to the temple! I am so glad that we can take our recent converts to the temple now. 

The Temple on Halloween was so fun. I watched the same movie that I always have, I was a little bit bummed because I heard they now have 4 movies and I wanted to see a new one....but I learned a lot from the same one I have already seen. I loved feeling the peace that comes from the temple. I really appreciate it a lot more because I don't get to go as much. thank you for sending the family names, I forgot to pick up the names after the session :( sorry. It was really cool going through for a family member.

These last couple of days have been really fun because Sister Rodriguez has been with us. Her companion had some business to take care of concerning her VISA so we have been a Trio for that last couple of days. Oh my goodness, it is like when me and Jess and Jenna were all together. They tease me like Jess and Jenna did! I am the gringa who doesn't like to shop :) sister Peralta reminds me so much like Jenna and Sister Rodriguez is like Jess. We talk while we are laying in bed, I am in the middle bed, and we laugh and they tease me a lot. I don't mind, it reminds me of my own sisters. It has been really fun :) TRIPLETS hehe

I love being a missionary so much. I LOVE not being part of the world.......I love the peace and SPirit that comes from being a representative of Jesus Christ. I love teaching the Gospel to our investigators. I love speaking spanish, even though it is hard sometimes. I feel like the mission is changing me, and I have the blessing of changing other people's lives as well. I love teaching families. I love my Savior! I love my family.

I have been out for about 10 months.......time is FLYING!!!! Don't wish me home too soon, ok? I have a lot to do :)

LOVE YOU ALL!

SLY!

Hermana Warren

I'm staying in Midvale!!

Hola Familia!

Thanks for the emails. I did get both your letters yesterday, thank you so much for the news and for the names. 

I did cry when I read what happened with Br. Solorzano. The Solorzano family is so close to me, I can remember having sleep-overs at Sam's house. I remember Bro. Solorzano taking pictures of me and Sam before my first dance as a 14-year-old. He was such a humble person, always happy, and I am grateful for his example. Gracias, Hermano Solorzano! Please give them all a hug for me especially Sam. The Plan of Salvation is true! I studied it this morning in my morning study. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all the unfair parts of life will be made up.

So......I am staying here with Sister Peralta!!!! YAY! This area was kind of dead when I got here, baptisms are hard in this area because it is so close to the mountains and not very many spanish people live out here. BUT, we have found a ton of new people and there are so many potentials here. So, nothing changes, my address is the same. 

We are still going to the Temple this friday!!! Best halloween EVER! YAY! We are also taking our recent convert to the temple tomorrow to do baptisms! We received permission to do that with them. I love the temple. Thank you for putting their names on the prayer role. I need those extra blessings for my investigators.

Your weeks sound pretty crazy....I need to see homecoming pictures next week!!!

We are hopefully having a baptism this week. Her name is Maria
and she is 17. I absolutely LOVE her and her family. They are going through a lot of things and it is hard to see them dealing with these things. They are already tight on money but we went over on Friday and they told us that they got robbed! Someone broke into their house and stole their TV and all of their rent money :( Our welfare missionaries are helping them a lot and our branch president. They have to find a new house and they might move to West Valley, which is a different mission. We are going with Patricia, the mom, to go look at some houses in our area. They don't want to move out of the area, and they don't want us to change. We told them about transfers and they were super sad. BUT we will make them super happy to tell them that we are staying. We are teaching 4 people in that house and I absolutely love them. They recognize us as representatives of Jesus Christ and they always say they are so grateful for us and what we have done for their family. They all want to be baptized. They are an amazing family.

We have a lot of people who need to be married....they can't really progress until they do :( The problem is the boyfriend. He doesn't want to get married and it is so frustrating. 

This friday, we had an activity "Dia de Hispanidad" and everyone brought food from their own countries and people performed their own dances and I was just so happy!! I love this branch! I love these members! I love being spanish speaking!!!!

I did have a humbling moment this week. The Welfare Missionaries are awesome, they are the Hawkes and she is from Mexico. She pulled me aside on sunday and asked me if me and sister Peralta are speaking more english or spanish....I told her more english....and she told me that she can see a BAD difference in my Spanish. She said that when I first got into the area, my spanish was perfect. Then she noticed that I sound like a Gringo now. It was humbling for me because I can understand most spanish and communicate pretty well, but I am not fluent. I got kind of lazy about studying spanish. I finished reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish last week and I was super happy, but I forgot to keep studying spanish and practicing it. I am glad I am still with Sister Peralta...I get another chance to improve my Spanish and become fluent :)

I think I have more to write but this computer room is FREEZING and my fingers can't type anymore. I know that this gospel is true. I love being a missionary. I love my Savior. I love my family. I will talk to you all on my BIRTHDAY!!! Last week to be a teenager :) hehe

SLY!

Hermana Warren

Fear God, Not Men!!

Hola Familia!

Como estan? I am doing awesome! This last week was a long week! Since P-day was on Monday, this week was like 8 days long. I am so tired, I plan on taking a nap when I get to our house. 

Thanks for keeping me updated on everything! Everyone sounds like they are doing great. 

FELIZ CUMPLEANOS, Jessica!!!!!!!!!! I am sending you a birthday card so be looking for that in the mail.

That is so cool about the Family History, mom! I want to do that too when I get home.

I have heard about that book (Visions of Glory), Dad. I heard that it was really good, so I will read that when I get home too. 

Let me know about the Stake conference and how that goes! I am excited to hear about that. Everyone sounds like they are growing up! I just know that I won't recognize anyone when I come home.

BIRTHDAY:

Could you send me some type of Spanish workbook? I need a workbook that has some spanish tests in it, to help me learn vocab and stuff. I am almost done reading the entire Book of Mormon in Spanish! I have 2 more weeks to be a teenager!!!! :)

We are going to the temple on Halloween, we were able to squeeze some info out of our Senior couple and they told us that we will go to the temple during the night time on halloween. From past experience, people get really CREEPY and you meet a lot of weird people and plus, families are busy and no one lets you in. I am excited to go to the temple, if you can find a name for me, that would be awesome.

We still bike in the snow! I am trying to enjoy the warm weather a long as I can. I am really scared for the winter time, I HATE being cold, and my hands and feet don't do well in that. Thanks for the BOOTS!

I will buy a blow dryer next week! Thanks!

THIS WEEK:

We had an amazing Conference with Elder Clarke this last week! He would interact with us and would make us think about our own lives and how we can apply our own experiences with the people who we are teaching. I learned so much and there are SO many things that I want to improve on.....sometimes it is overwhelming but I will take it one step at a time :)

On thursday, I fell off my bike for the first time!! YAY! I hit Sister Peralta's back wheel and I fell over and scratched my knee really bad and I have some big bruises on the other leg. The bad part is that my knee can NEVER heal because I am always bending it when I ride my bike. But it is getting better now. It has a scab but I think I took off most of the skin. That was an adventure though, a first time for everything!

 

On Saturday, Teresa was baptized!!! Her baptism was so powerful. I sang "Yo siento el amor del Salvador" or "I feel my Savior's love" and when she was baptized, she was so happy! Then she was confirmed on Sunday and received the Holy Ghost. It is amazing to see the physical change that happens to people when they receive the Holy Ghost. They look different! They almost glow! It is so cool :)

Sunday was probably the craziest day for me, Sundays are NOT a day of rest for missionaries. First, I was fasting because we REALLY needed someone to come to church, who I will talk about later. Then we had Ward council and that went well. Then we went to pick up investigators for church, which is always stressful. Then we had class and then we have round 2 of picking up investigators because Sacrament is the last meeting. Teresa was confirmed but at the same time, I am freaking out because our other investigators are showing up. After church, I am trying to talk to members to get them to come out with us and talking with our investigators and with our Ward mission leader and I lost my jacket so THAT time was super crazy. Then, we didn't even eat lunch, we headed over to our investigator's house and we fought so hard to get them to come to church. We were able to take them to an English ward so they are still on date for baptism. Then we are dinner with our ward mission leader and his wife and then they went out with us for the rest of the night. 

Now for the cool and scary story. From this experience, I KNOW that God is aware of what is going on and that He has a perfect plan and that we should do what He wants us to do when He gives us the opportunity!

We are teaching a nonmarried couple named Miriam and Danny. Danny is Teresa's son, the one who just got baptized. They aren't married and ever since we were teaching Teresa, Miriam has been really interested in the church and she wants to be baptized as well. But since they aren't married, she can't get baptized. There is an older missionary named Elder Daylie, or Elder Guapo for the latinos, because his only purpose is to help people get married. He works a lot with the latino population. 

We scheduled an appointment with Miriam, making sure that they would both be home. This was Sunday night. At 7:00, when we had the appointment, we went by and Miriam told us that Danny was hiding in the room and didn't want to talk. Our ward mission leader encouraged us not to push him or he will push farther and farther from marriage. We didn't know what to do because Elder Guapo was waiting outside and we REALLY needed this lesson to happen. We went outside and talked with Guapo and he understood, he said this happens all the time. Just as he was leaving, we headed back to the apartment and we heard Danny's voice! He had come out of the room! So we called Guapo to come back and all three of us went up to the apartment. We were standing outside the door, we were so scared because we had NO idea what was going to happen and if Danny was going to be mad or run back into the room, and also because our WML advised us not to do it, BUT we remembered that as missionaries, we only fear God, and no one else. So we knocked, and we came in and we found out that a friend of Danny had passed by, who was a member, and so Danny left the room and was talking with him at the table. The friend left when we came in and  we were able to sit Miriam and Danny down and have the lesson. He didn't want to be there at first, but throughout the lesson, we found some of his concerns and he now seems more open. He didn't say "yes" to marriage but at least we have our foot in the door. Elder Guapo is AWESOME. He teaches so boldly but with so much love, it isn't offensive at all. It turned out to be a very powerful lesson. I learned that God has a plan and will arrange everything so that certain things can happen. God wants them to get married and if we would have feared what others would think and NOT called Elder Guapo back, that lesson wouldn't have happened and we wouldn't be helping Miriam get closer to being baptized. We have to show God that we will do everything that he wants us to do. He won't help us if we don't put our trust in Him.

So that experience was  a testimony builder for me. I was scared to death but I did it anyway and I am so grateful that I did it and didn't back down. 

This week will be awesome, we have a mission conference on Thursday, I think we are watching Meet the Mormons :) I am not sure though.

I think that is it for today, thanks for everything that you do for me! 

Keep helping in missionary work! Always be looking for people that the Elders can teach. Pray as a family that you can find someone who is ready for the Gospel. How cool would that be to be a part of ANOTHER baptism. Just like Bri Horne. 

I love you all! But I am not ready to come home yet :) I had a dream last night that I had to come home early from my mission and it was sad! I didn't want to leave! BUt remember that I love you all and pray for you every day :)

SLY!
Hermana Warren

Half Way! Still So Much Work To Do

Hola Familia!

 

Thank you so much for emailing me :) I hate having P-days on Mondays because the week feels so much longer and we can't have contact with our investigators...especially those who didn't go to church.

 

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Warren for the letter! I love getting mail :)

 

Anyway, Dad, your email was awesome! I am going to print it out. Thanks for telling me about what is happening with everyone. That is so cool that you all fasted for the Solorzano family. I used to think that fasting and prayer was just telling Heavenly Father the things that we want and hoping that we get them. Really, prayer and fasting is aligning our will with God's. Prayer has definitely changed for me here on my mission. I always keep them in my prayers. I also know that the power of the priesthood is real. Our investigator's daughter was REALLY sick. She is only 5 and had a really high fever. That night we had our ward mission leader go over and give her a blessing. I haven't had contact with them since, but she seems to be doing better. I think the blessing was more comfort for the mom because she is from Mexico, doesn't speak any english and she is trying to figure out how to help her daughter. 

 

Thanks Mom for your little email. I am glad that you liked "Meet the Mormons". I don't know when we will get to watch it, I really want to! I bought a water proof storm jacket for about $25 dollars. It looks good and it will keep me dry. it is also thin so I can wear it under my coat when it starts to get COLD and wet. I am just trying to enjoy the beautiful weather we are having right now! Everyone is saying that we NEVER have this warm weather in the middle of October and I am PRAYING that this winter won't be as bad as they usually are. 

 MY P-DAY WILL GO BACK TO TUESDAY NEXT WEEK! 

ELDER CLARK IS DOING A ZONE CONFERENCE WITH US ON WEDNESDAY. I AM SUPER EXCITED. 

 

So this week was actually a little bit harder...who knew that missions were hard? :P I was super tired this week, Sister Peralta told me when she hit her 9 month mark, she got tired too! Every night, I sleep super DEEP and suddenly it is 6:30! I have never appreciated sleep as much as I do now.

 

I hit my HALF MARK!!! I can't believe that half of my mission is already over! But it is like the talk by Elder Dube:

 

While I was a boy working in the fields with my mother, she taught me one of the most important lessons in life. It was late in the morning, the sun was up, and we had been hoeing for what I thought to be a very long time. I stopped to look back at what we had accomplished and said to my mother, “Look at all we have done!” Mother did not respond. Thinking that she had not heard me, I repeated what I had said a little louder. She still did not reply. Raising my voice a little higher, I repeated again. Finally, she turned to me and said, “Edward, never look back. Look ahead at what we still have to do.”

 

I still have SO much to do :) I am glad that I still have 9 more months of teaching the Gopsel, I won't get to do this EVER again.

 

We are having a baptism this weekend! Teresa is getting baptized. I love her and her family. She has 4 kids and the 3 daughters are members and her son isn't. She is such a great missionary! She always brings friends to church and family members are coming back to church! They filled an entire pew in Sacrament meeting!

 

Maria is 17 and she is preparing to be baptized. She came to church for the first time yesterday! Sundays have changed so much for me. I don't just get up and study and then go to church and enjoy the lessons and talking with the members. Sundays are my most STRESSFUL day because you are trying your hardest to get ALL your investigators to church. You go before church, praying that they will open the door. You go back again before Sacrament meeting and they won't answer the door or they tell you they are coming and then they never show up. The Velez family didn't come and the Ojeda family didn't come and Felipe and Mirna didn't come. I am sitting during the Sacrament, praying to God for forgiveness and for him to show me what I am doing wrong, asking him why my investigators aren't coming to church. I actually cried during the Sacrament. I wanted my investigators to come and experience the cleansing feeling of the atonement and the Spirit that we feel at church. I have learned so much about the importance of the Sacrament. It is an ordinance, just like baptism. It is a commandment that we take the Sacrament each week. If we repent each week and partake of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, we can be COMPLETELY forgiven. it is like we were basically baptized again. THAT IS AMAZING! I never knew that! I have learned so much here on my mission :) Anyway, while I was taking the Sacrament, I looked over and saw MAria Ibarra! I was so happy! She came in and listened to the rest of the meeting! 

 

I think that is pretty much it! Thanks for all your support! I love you all so much, I talk about you with everyone that I see. I testify of how families can be together forever! That is my favorite part! 

 

I love you all so much! Have a great week! Share the gospel with someone!

Hermana Warren