The Highs and Lows of Missionary Work

HEY!!!! 

I love my family :)

I love reading about everything that is going on with my family. 

Dad: seeing that picture of you eating the raw onion almost made me sick...I have never been a fan of onions but I am glad that you were able to share that blessing of onions with others.

Mom: I got your letter. I am just tearing apart that talk in my personal study! Also, I have always liked that experience about Katy Call bringing you pretzel-jello salad. It is so cool to see how much influence our family members on the other side of the veil have. I liked reading uncle Rob's experience that dad sent. Grandpa just loves his family so much and doesn't want any empty chairs in heaven.

Jess and Jordan: I am sorry that I never say something to you in my emails :( I feel bad. But dad sent me a picture of baby "Pongo"! Are you having that puppy? HE is SO CUTE!!!!!

Jenna: How is the PCC? That is so cool that you are working there

Sammie: When is homecoming? What dress are you wearing? TELL ME EVERYTHING!

Ronnie: Are you still there? How is High school? Are you in choir with Fryhling?

Shonna: Over hand serves? Talks in church? Your hair was down? Wow. You are really growing up

Lydia: Of course I remember you! There is a girl who just got baptized and she reminds me of you :)

Yeah, so this week was really weird. It was great at first, we had a bunch of investigators on date, we had 11 on Saturday! But then sunday came...........CRASH AND BURN! You would think that church attendance for investigators would be so high here in Utah, especially since we have a chapel on EVERY corner. But Satan knows that and we only had 1 investigator at church. That was Teresa. She is awesome, she even brought a non-member friend with her. She is going to be a great missionary in the ward. The saddest part was the Velez Family. MY LITTLE FAMILY DIDN'T COME!!! Saturday night, we passed by to remind them about church and Fernanda was just leaving to "go out" with her friend. When people say that, that usually doesn't mean anything good. They didn't come to church and we have tried going by all day yesterday and they wouldn't open the door. We biked to their house, in the rain, and they live about 30 minutes away on our bikes. We did that about 3 times yesterday because she wouldn't answer her phone. I hope we can find them tonight, we have no idea what happened to them.

Anyway, last thursday was my year mark for going through the temple! That was pretty cool! I miss the temple a lot. 

The General Womens conference was awesome! I loved watching that and listening to the talks and just being spiritually re-charged. WE were FREEZING during the whole meeting because it had been raining the whole day and we didn't have rides and my rainjacket that I thought was a waterproof jacket actually wasn't waterproof. And my big coat was waterproof for a while but then it got soaked too. So there are some waterproof jackets at walmart  but they cost a lot :(

So my email is kind of all over the place. President Moffat just made a rule of hour and a half of emailing......because some people would be on the computer for 3 or 4 hours! 

So, I am going to conference this weekend!!! I won't tell you which session but we are taking our investigator Teresa with us. I am so excited :) I will take lots of pictures, ok?

We had lunch with President on Saturday at the Cheesecake Factory. I ordered Salmon for lunch and cookie dough cheese cake. YUM! Speaking of food, we have been getting a lot of food this week. We went to Kneaders and a man bought us like a billion cookies and then Aunt Janell brought me more treats! Man, I am spoiled here in Utah.

I just want to share a cool experience that I had with the spirit. We were with a member and we were heading over to visit the Velez family when I had the thought to visit the Ojeda family. I wasn't planning on visiting them but we went and they just got home when we got there and we went inside and put them on date! It was so cool to recognize the Spirit. He didn't yell in my ear, I didn't hear a voice, but an idea came into my head and it could have been so easy to ignore it and push it aside....but if we are listening, we can recognize his promptings.

Also, I know that the gospel is all about change! We are teaching Teresa's less active daughter and it has been amazing to see the Gospel change her life. She was so different before. 

Weird things: Almost died twice on my bike

Saw a man without pants yesterday.....ew.

Boots will be great, they need to keep my feet warm. I will write more about that next week. My time is up now :(

love you all! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!!!!!
SLY!

Hermana Warren

All Smiles!!

Hola Familia!!

I am just super happy right now! This week was a great week and I will explain why.

Hermana Peralta (Left)  Sister Egan and me!

1. My companion is Sister Peralta and she is just so fun. She is from Mexico and we work hard and have so much fun together. I can tell that this is going to be a great transfer. So I am so excited for that. It was hard to send Sister Zufelt home. It is kind of distracting but whenever I would start to feel homesick or get distracted, I would just try to lose myself in the work and that is the best medicine. You forget about yourself and focus on others and the days just fly. I can't believe that I am almost half way.....time really does fly! This Thursday will be a year mark since I went through the temple. CRAZY!!!

2. We got two knew sisters for Spanish assignment and one of them came from the Mexico CCM and guess what she brought with her? ALL THE LETTERS THAT YOU SENT TO MEXICO THAT I NEVER GOT!!!! I was so happy when I got those :) So I actually got like 8 letters this week and it was so fun! It was kind of cool to read letters that I should have read while I was in the CCM. It was so cool to get, and I got the printed "Fathers Blessing" dad gave to me before I left on my mission as well as the debit card. I don't know what to do with that so...I will just hold on to it for now. Sammie, I got your letter and I got Lydia's and Dad's letter too. Thank you for sending me letters, they make my day. I am sorry that I suck at writing back. I will try to be better at that.

3. We have 8 people on date for baptism and it is awesome. The Velez "Golden" Family is still on date and we also have Teresa and Patricia and Maria. Maria is 17 and we FINALLY received permission from her dad to baptize her. She was so happy and I was so happy :)

4. On Sunday, we didn't have church. They actually broadcasted the rededication of the Ogden Temple to ALL the chapels in our mission....I think all of Utah but I am not sure. It was so cool and I was so HOMESICK for the temple. I think we are going to the temple next month and I am so excited! It was really cool to be at the dedication, I have never been in one before. President Erying and Elder Holland talked at our dedication meeting. There were 3 meetings because everyone can't fit in one meeting. The talks were so good, and Elder Holland talked about how even if we can't go to the temple, or if it is closed or far away, our temple covenants are never closed or far away. The important thing is that I can always have a temple recommend, even if I can't go to the temple.

5. Last night, we had a noche de hogar (Family Night) with the branch and it was awesome!!!! It is something that we want to do 2 times a month. It provides a great opportunity for members to bring friends and for us to bring our investigators. Anyway, we started at 7 but of course, no one showed up until 7:30. Members kept showing up and it was great to see so many members and recent converts. Then, at 7:50, Teresa and her member daughters and the Velez Family ALL showed up. You should have seen the members' faces when ALL of these people walked into the gym for the family night. We shared a message, played a game, and ate food. The members are so awesome, they noticed that we didn't have enough food for everyone so our old mission leader went and bought some pizza and chips and a cake and brought it and it was great. I went home SO happy that night. The night was perfect. The members are helping more, our investigators are doing great. Of course they still have their challenges but they are progressing more and more, and Sister Peralta and I are having a lot of fun together. WE talk to everyone and really enjoy the work. This area is coming alive again and I am just SO excited. 

My personal Angel..Sis. Egan

6.SISTER EGAN helped us today! She took us shopping and to lunch! I was just so happy to see her. I love her so much. I will send you a picture. I was just so happy to see her!

7. I go to bed every night happy to be a missionary. I really believe that the longer you are in the mission, the more you enjoy it....and the harder it is to go home. Of course, it depends on how much you put into the mission. If you are just here to have fun and please your family, you are counting down the days until you go home. Of course I love you all SO much and can't wait to see you all, I really love being here on my mission and meeting these wonder people and becoming so close with them and seeing them progress towards baptism. There is nothing like it.

I feel like I am changing a lot as a person. I feel like I look physically different and that I have changed so much as a person. I won't be the same person when I come home. 

​I can't believe Sammie is driving already! When is homecoming? Jenna looks like she is having fun in Hawaii.​ Lydia, thanks for the letters! Shonna, happy birthday! Did you get my letter? Ronnie, how are you?

I am excited for the Womans conference. I can remember that last one I went to and how I could imagine Mom and everyone watching it with me and it made me cry. It is so cool to see how much I have changed over the last 6 months. 

I don't know about the I-pads. Pres. Moffat is still fighting it but I think that we will get them sooner or later. They want everyone to have I-pads. 

When does Aubrey leave? I haven't heard from her at all! Only one letter at the beginning o
f my mission. I am trying to work on my Spanish. I don't have an accent but I want to come home fluent so I can talk with everyone in Spanish

Gracias por las cartas y emails. Les quiero mucho and les extrano y oro para ustedes cada noche. Que tengan una buena semana!

This gospel is true!! I love being a missionary and a representative of Jesus Christ.

SLY!!
Hermana Warren

Best Week Ever!!

Hola Familia!!!

How great shall be your JOY!!

This week was just awesome. A lot of things happened and I have a lot of things to talk about but I don't have a lot if time so I will only talk about the most important things.....

1. We had a baptism! Alonso was baptized and it was a great baptism. I never really told you about him and his story and I want to share it but I don't have a lot of time so I will have to share it in my email next week. It was a fun experience with Sister Zufelt and to be with her for her last baptism.

We also hit our "Standard of Excellence" for our mission so that means that President and Sister Moffat will take us to Cheesecake Factory for lunch on Saturday. YUM!!

Our mission at Ensign Peak

2. We went to the "This is the Place"  State park and "Ensign Peak" on Wednesday and it was SO FUN!!! We hiked up there and I have a lot of pictures. Then we went to the state park, which is basically a re-creation of a pioneer town and it was so cool. I panned for gold (found out it was fools gold) :(, ate a native american taco (really yummy), and then we had departing testimonies for all the missionaries going home in a small pioneer chapel. It was a super fun day and it is amazing how having fun days like this can change boost your attitude and give you the emotional energy you need to keep going. 

Testimony meeting at a pioneer chapel. 

Me, Hermana Jones and Zufelt.

3. The Family of 5 I told you about last week is still on date for October 11. They are doing great and love coming to church and listening to the lessons. I love this family so much and am so excited to see how they progress

4. THANK YOU SO MUCH  for the package! It made my day and I loved all the little things from Hawaii. I got your letter, Mom. Thank you for sharing those experiences with me. I have been praying for you, Jenna, that you will enjoy your college experience and be safe and learn a lot of things. Have you gotten homesick yet? Just get through it and soon it will pass. I can't believe that I haven't seen my family for almost 9 months! You truly grow as a person and realize how MUCH you love your family.

5. I sang "El Espiritu de Dios" (The Spirit of God) in Sacrament meeting yesterday! I realized that I really like singing for people. Not because I think I sing really well...but because I feel the spirit strongest when I sing. Before I sing, I Pray that I can be an "instrument" for Heavenly Father, to touch someone's heart or to strengthen someone's testimony.

6. Ok, so I found out who my new companion is!!!!

Her name is Sister Peralta and she is from Mexico. She has been in the English assignment part of our mission but now she will me in our part "Spanish" because we are low on Spanish sisters. So I am not training, which I am relieved about...but I am the Senior companion for the first time in my LIFE and I have to help Sister Peralta adjust to the change of going from English to Spanish. They are completely different missions and the way that you do missionary work is completely different.

BUT I am super excited because I already know her and she is AWESOME and last transfer, we were already predicting that she would get changed to spanish and how fun it would be if we were companions!! Of course, changes are hard and scary and very humbling.....but I am excited at the same time.

Hermana Zufelt and me.  She goes home tomorrow!

7. Sister Zufelt is going home tomorrow. She is going to the mission office today at 2 and I will be with Sister Rodriquez and Sister Sosa at my house today. I have the only apartment with 3 beds. We will be together until tomorrow morning and then we will all transfer tomorrow. It will be like a slumber party. It is hard seeing a missionary go home....you start thinking about when you go home and you start to miss home.....BUT whenever I think about going home, it is bitter-sweet because I KNOW that I am not supposed to go home yet and I am really starting to lose myself in the work. This last transfer just FLEW by and yeah, on October 8, it is my half way mark!!!!! WHAT THE HECK!? Where did the time go? I still have a WHOLE winter to endure, which I am not looking forward to, but yeah, I will have 9 months left. I am glad that I still have a lot of time left :)

I am not sure if there is anything else to talk about......I loved the pictures! Sammie: Congrats on getting asked to homecoming. did you cut your hair?!?!?!?!? Why!??!?!?!?!?

Shonna: Kick butt in your game, you will do great! and also...HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK! I will send a card to you :)

Ronnie: Haven't heard from you in a while! How are you?

Lydia: What's up, girl?

Jess and Jordan: Love you both and miss you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN!!! I can't believe you ate that entire Big Jud hamburger?!?!?! I have really learned how to eat on the mission.

Mom: I love you and thank you for the package and the letter

Dad: I am glad that you got your tie! It means a lot :)

I love you all so much and miss you and hope that your week is awesome. I will talk to you all this next Tuesday! 

SLY!!!

Hermana Warren

Miracle Week!!

Hola Family!

I don't have that much time to write because I was reading everyone's emails and yeah....I will try to answer everyone's questions though:

The weather is weird here. It was really hot all last week and then BOOM, rain! We got soaked last night on our way to go eat ice cream...not a smart decision :P

My camera is ok..it started working again!  Miracle #1

Hawaii looks so fun Jenna!  I wish I could go there...maybe some day. I already got accepted to BYU-Provo so I will probably go there first and maybe transfer to Hawaii or something...I don't know. I don't really want to think about school stuff....I am not looking forward to homework. Right now, my work books are the scriptures and Preach my Gospel. It doesn't get any better than that :)

I am sending Dad's present in the mail today. I hope you like it :)

Wow, I turn 20 in like less than 2 months.....I don't know what I want. You are already spending a lot of money on me so I don't want anything :) hehe I will probably need winter stuff soon so.....my black boots won't make it for the winter. That will probably be the only thing for my birthday, new boots. It gets really cold down here and you know how my feet and hands don't do very well with the cold.

I can cook here in our apartment, I left the oven in the other apartment because all of the other apartments have good ovens.  I told Sister Gonzalez to take good care of it.

So, now for missionary work info:  Our investigator Alonso drove us crazy on Saturday. He didn't show for his interview and we were freaking out but everything worked out and he got interviewed on Sunday morning and is good for his baptism! YAY! 

Now.....Miracle #2

On Thursday, we received a referral from the Wisharts, (a senior couple in the office) saying that a lady called the mission office that morning and wants to change her life and requested the missionaries. We called her and set up an appointment and we went by. She let us right in, and as we sat in her dining room, she explained how she just got a divorce and wants a change for her.....and her family! We saw kids running around and asked her how many kids she has and she said that she has 5. One is 16,13,10,8, and 6. We invited two of the kids to sit on the lesson and at the end, all 3 accepted a date for October 11. Then we went by two days later and put the other 2 daughters on date. The mom and all her kids are all on date for baptism. I have been praying for a family of 5 since before my transfer here, when I was with Sister Gonzalez in Murray. The Lord has not only blessed me with this family, but a self-referral "GOLDEN" family that is willing and wanting to make this covenant with God. They all came to church on Sunday and loved it. WE are excited to watch this family progress and be baptized together on October 11. MIRACLE!

Each person is a child of God and is unique and beautiful and I have the opportunity to see people for who they TRULY are and help them see themselves that way and return to live with God again.  I LOVE SERVING A MISSION!!! This transfer just flew, remember my P-day is Monday next week, not Tuesday. I don't know what will happen or who my companion will be, but I will let you know next week. 

I love you more than you realize. I love families and helping families be together forever. Have a great week!

SLY! 

Hermana Warren

P.s. we are going to ensign peak as a mission tomorrow! Who knew that a year from Jess and Jordan's proposal, I would be back there as a missionary!!!

It's all about family!!

Hola Familia!

 

How is everyone? Man, when I read about AJ Hunt, I was just in shock. I am SO grateful that he is doing better but I am sure that this is a scary time in the Hunt family. I sent Elder Hunt an email and  I will be praying for them. I will also send an email to them as well.

 

I can't believe that mom and Jenna are in HAWAII!!!! What the heck?  :)   I was just wearing my Hawaiian sandals while we were cleaning the apartment and I was thinking about Hawaii and how much I want to go. I had no idea that they were already there! Is Bri going to school there too?

Those peanut butter cookies you made for Labor Day sound good, you will have to send me the recipe for those so I can make them one day.

 

Everyone sounds like they are doing good. Sammie working, any more dates? Ronnie. I can't believe that you are in high school! What classes are you taking? Shonna, I knew you would be on the volleyball A team! Is Miss Halley your coach? and Lydia, I miss you so much!

 

I got mom's letter from her Houston trip and I did get dad's letter as well. Did you get mine? Thank you so much for writing to me, I love getting letters. I actually just go a letter from Grandma that had gone to my old apartment. Thanks GRANDMA SHAFTOE!

 

My companion and I are doing great! We have so much fun together and it makes we sad to think that we only have 2 weeks left before she goes home. We love quoting movies together, and while we are tracting, I tell her episodes from Psych that are super funny. We just laugh and laugh together, and it really helps. Especially because the work  is a lot slower here and it is hard to find Spanish people in this area. Laughing keeps me happy and positive.

 

We are teaching Alonso and he is on date. Yeah, I will tell you more about him when he is baptized :)

 

We had a wedding this week! Our investigators had been waiting for 26 years to be married and they have 6 kids. With the help of the branch, we decorated the gym and had lots of food and a cake. They brought 40 family members and I can testify that the "fishes and the loaves" work because somehow, we were able to feed them all and all the ward members who helped. We went by later after the wedding and saw two big garbage bags full of beer and cups....I guess they needed the beer to have fun :( That made me sad to see, how this world can't have fun without drinking. We are still trying to find them since the wedding. But after this whole experience, I know what it feels like to plan a wedding and how STRESSFUL it is. You can be assured that my wedding will be as simple as possible :) Sorry I don't have any pictures, my camera died :(

 

I am trying to think about what happened this week. We totally forgot it was Labor Day until Sunday night. it is super weird how you forget a lot of things on the mission. We had hot dogs and potato salad for dinner. we ate with our land lady and man, I miss american food. Eating the potato salad reminded me of Grandma.

  

FYI: Transfers this month will be on Sept. 16 so that means that our P-Day in on September 15, which is a monday. So, I will be emailing on the 15th!

 

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! Look for a letter and your gift will be coming soon, I don't have it yet.

 

I love you all and am so grateful for you. I love my family!!! I know that this gospel is true, and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He is the key to returning home to live with God. 

 

I love the temple, please go for me! I miss it so much :)

 

Have a great week and I will talk to you all next week!!!

SLY!

Hermana Warren