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