West Side Story

Hola Familia!

 

That will be my theme for probably the rest of my mission. Being on the west side of State street means that you have now entered into little Mexico. Watch out, my Spanish is going to get super good because I am using it with almost EVERYONE that I talk to.

 

This week has been the craziest week for me. Thanks for all the emails and support. The week went by really fast but it was very busy and kind of stressful. 

 

I am so glad that you are all having missionary experiences. Even though we might not be able to know the outcome, we can do our part to share our testimony to others. I loved your testimony, Dad. 

 

I hope Jenna and Ronnie are ok. I will keep them in my prayers. I hope that Lydia gets to go to Camp Wooten! 

 

MY new address it:

198 Center St. Apt. B

Midvale, Ut, 84047

 

We live in the basement of a 3 apartment house. It is very small but cute. It gets really cold though.....thankfully we are getting a heater today :)

 

Sister Uelese is really fun. She actually went to BYU- hawaii before her mission but left right before Jenna came in. She said that she has a lot of friends there. We have a lot of fun together and we laugh a lot about the things that happen during the day. 

 

You can be released as an STL, i saw it happen once. But I think that I will stay one until I leave. I love being an STL, sometimes it is stressful because we are supposed to have a high baptizing area as well as help our sisters baptize. But the Lord has helped me so much and I know he will keep helping me.

 

Transfers were the craziest thing EVER! Heavenly Father was definitely playing a joke on us because He decided to have it SNOW A LOT when we were trying to move houses and get settled in and bike and everything. That was the craziest snow storm I have ever seen. I don't think I will ever live in Utah because the weather would drive me nuts! 

 

It has been a hard transition with the transfer. I haven't transferred for a long time so it was very hard for me. I did ok with saying goodbye to everyone but it was still hard. When getting to my new area and seeing the people they were teaching, I had no idea who they were or what they needed or how I could help them. We didn't do so good with the key indicators last week, but we will do better this week. I am starting to get to know the area now and know the people too. Everyone here is SHADY though, there are so many people that we could teach but they aren't interested or give us a fake address or phone number. But I know that there are people here who are waiting for the gospel and I am going to find them. I guess the number 1 thing that I have learned on my mission is that God has a plan and if we are diligent and obedient, He will lead us to His children that are prepared for the Gospel. But sometimes I forget that.

 

I went on exchanges with Sister Montoya on Friday. Heavenly Father knew that I needed to be there with her because she was struggling a little bit with the transfer and our investigator that yelled at us on Monday. One of our other investigators who got baptized on Saturday also sent us a text on Friday, saying that she wasn't going to get baptized. We went over and she was so happy to see me! I had only been transferred for 2 days but I know that me being there to teach her helped her to get baptized on Saturday :) I am sure that it is hard for the investigators when the missionaries transfer as well. I cried during that lesson because it finally hit me that this wasn't my area anymore and these weren't MY investigators. It was hard but I am doing better :) 

 

I know that the Lord has GREAT plans for this area. I am so excited that I get to work with so many Hispanics and I am still looking for my family of 6! There is a reason that I am in this area and I am looking for the people that the Lord wants me to find. 

​ I love you all so much​ and thanks for everything that you do for me. 

 

LYDIA: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I will have a card in the mail for you. Jenna, I have a present for you too but I am trying to figure out how to send it to you. Don't worry, it will come :)

 That is so weird that Sister Montoya saw Becca!! Man, I was going to be at Walmart at the same time but we had to clean our apartment and have apartment inspections......I will run into her soon :)

Have a great week! Let me know if there is anything that I can do. I won't send a picture of us this week......we want to look cute hahaha

 

I will send pictures of our apartment!

 

 

​SLY!!! 

 

Hermana Warren​

Transfer!!

Hola Familia!

Guess what? I am heading over to the West side!!! Yep, that is right. I am being transferred!! After 8 months of being in one area, it is now time to go somewhere new. I could feel it this time. I was saying Goodbye to everyone and giving people hugs. I feel good about leaving though. Sister Montoya will take care of all of our recent converts. There are a lot of hispanics on the west side of State Street, so I am looking forward to speaking a lot in Spanish :)

My new companion is Sister Uelese. She is Samoan but lived in Alaska. She just finished training with Sister Montoya. Sister Peralta was her training (she goes home tomorrow :( )

I don't know my new address because they are moving houses. I will be going to a new house with sister Uelese. I will send you the address as soon as I can.

I am glad that everyone is doing great!

DAD: I am so happy that you got the job. I am sure you will do great and thanks for doing this for our family. It will make going places a lot easier and cheaper. 

MOM: The stake meeting sounded very fun! And that talk by Elder Nelson is awesome. I wish I could be home for FHE with all of you. I volunteer to teach a lesson when I get home :)

JESS!: Happy Anniversary! I can't believe that it has been a year! I remember that day a year ago, it was a hard day for me. But I learned so much from that experience. I can't believe you ate your cake! EEWW. But that is cool that you kept the tradition.

JENNA: How is your mission prep coming? I would love to give you a hug before you go on your mission but the mission handbook says that "visits from family members and friends are against church policy". I need to be exactly obedient and you will really understand once you go on your mission. It is easier to stay focused on the mission when you don't have distractions from your friends and family. Don't worry, I will give you the BIGGEST hug when you come home, we will both be RMs :)

VERONICA: I have met SO many people with your name :) It makes me smile whenever I hear it. I got your letter, thank you so much for writing me. I will try to write you back as soon as I can. you sound like you are growing up a lot, just from the way that you write :)

SHONNA: How are you? How is school? Are you playing any sports right now? What are you plans for the summer time?

LYDIA: How is 4th grade? Are you still playing teacher downstairs? You should go on a mission because you get to be a teacher EVERY DAY! I am always teaching people and it is really fun. I have a friend for you to meet, ok? She is just like you and wants to be a teacher too. She got baptized a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Maria :)

We had a baptism this weekend. Jason, 11, got baptized and the baptism was so nice. He was so happy. I love that entire family.

With Hermana Peralta

Norma, Aixa, and Sol are getting baptized on saturday!! I won't be able to be there unless I bring an investigator from my new area :(

So my last day in this area was probably one of the worst days of my mission so far. The worst day was November 8 and now also April 13. 

A women that we have been working with for baptism dropped us. She was supposed to get baptized on Saturday and we went by on Monday
 morning to go see her. She opened the door and he just looked different. She yelled and us, mostly me because I was the one who knocked, and she told us that she doesn't want us to come to her house anymore. She slammed the door and I was just in shock! I didn't even move. Apparently she knew that so she opened the door again and told us that she doesn't want to see us or anyone from the branch. I tried to ask her what happened but she just slammed the door. We walked away to our bikes and I just started to cry. I never cried like this before. I felt like someone ripped my heart right out of my chest. I was so confused and hurt and heart broken. I have been working with this couple for the last 5 months and they were progressing and doing so well. I wasn't crying because I was sad that I wouldn't have the baptism or anything like that.....I was crying because I love her so much and she CHOSE to yell at us and drop us. It was really hard for me,especially being my last day in this area. We found her husband outside and he explained some more things to us and that helped me. He is really struggling too and it hurt me to see that. I think Heavenly Father let me feel what he was feeling yesterday. He felt the same way as I did. He loves her as much as I do, and even more! And only He knows that she really needs and what happened.  The day got better as we found new investigators and taught my recent converts, but it was on my mind ALL day. 

It was a pretty interesting day but it turned out pretty good. Transfer calls are like waiting in line to get on a roller coaster, your heart is pounding because you don't know what is going to happen. But everything turns out fine. I am about to start packing, I have about 8 months worth of things to pack haha

Just keep me updated about school, I need to find a place to live also, I totally forgot about that until now. 

 Other than that, I am doing pretty good. I am healthy and working hard and excited to baptize my last two transfers. 

Thanks for everything that you do for me. I love you all so much and miss you all!

SLY! 

Hermana Warren

Feliz Dia de Pascua!‏

Hola Familia! 

How was your Easter? My Easter was super fun, we went to conference, as you know, and I attached a screen shot of conference of where I was sitting. It was really fun and I was lucky to be there for the two Spanish talks. I saw some people there, I saw President Moody, from the temple. He was actually on the same train as me as we were going down to Conference. I saw the Stanfields in the crowd, I didn't talk to them because they were too far away. 

Thanks for the emails and the pictures. I can't believe that Jenna went Skydiving!!! That is crazy! She was always the one to do crazy things haha, it looks really fun though. I will have to go someday. 

That is awesome about your Skywest job, Dad. Thanks for making the little sacrifices for our family. What will you be doing for your job?

So you had spring break last week? Everyone here has it this week. I can't believe that it is spring break already. I remember thinking in January that once I hit spring break for you guys, the next break would be summer break! And that would mean that I would be coming home!

Mom, don't worry about what I said last week about feeling sick to my stomach. It isn't a dread feeling because I don't want to come home, it is the feeling of having to surround myself with the "world" again, and having to worry about things like school and work and marriage and all that stuff. But don't worry, I don't dread seeing or being with my family :) I miss you all so much and can't wait to give you all hugs again.

We had a good week, I have been really tired lately but somehow I can make it through and suddenly we are going to bed again. we are one week 6 of the transfer, so next week, I can email you with transfer news. I just decided that I am not going to guess anymore, because the Lord has his plan and I will do whatever he tells me to do. I can't believe that I can two transfers left, two more planners! That is crazy. I think I am in a state of denial haha, I am trying to help myself accept the fact that I have about 12 weeks left in the mission and that way, I just work my butt off these next two transfers. 

Lauren Bell emailed me and told me that she is engaged! She is getting married in July, July 24th! I am happy that I will be able to see her get married, it makes up for missing Jess' wedding haha. Isn't it their anniversary soon? I can't believe that it has been a year since they got married. My favorite part about my mission is seeing change, change in myself and change in others as they accept the gospel and prepare for baptism. I have changed so much and I pray every day to have Heavenly Father change me over these next three months. Usually change comes as we do hard things so I am bracing myself for a challenging end of my mission. 

We had another wedding last week! IRene and Hernan got married and it was very simple and beautiful...and noisy! Their kids are crazy and we were trying to keep them quiet as they were performing the wedding ceremony. But it was great! At this point, we have 8 people on date for baptism. We are having a baptism this saturday! And hopefullly 6 the next weekend and then one the weekend after that. Early in the transfer, I remember that we were struggling to find people to put on date and that we were praying and praying to be guided to people who were ready. Then this last week, we looked at our white board and saw all of these names and how the Lord has blessed us! As long as we are obedient and diligent and rely on the Lord,  He guides and leads us to those who are ready. As humans, we seem to forget that he will do that and we always FREAK out when things aren't working out. I think that is why the Book of Mormon says the word "remember" so much, because we don't seem to do it :)

I really loved President Uchtdorf's talk about G
race. I have been studying grace and I love grace and the idea of it. That talk was beautiful! It also made me sad to see how sick President Monson is and how he could open or close the conference. I can't believe that he has been the prophet for 7 years, those years went by so fast.

I hope that everyone is doing well! I haven't heard from my sisters for a while! Write me letters or an email works too! Keep sharing the Gospel and serving others, you are all great examples for me :)

I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers! I feel them helping me so much!

SLY!

Hermana Warren

Getting stronger!!

I can't believe that March is over.......I only have 3 more months left and it is freaking me out! Have they told you what date I am coming home?

 Sometimes at night, I think about what it is going to be like when I go home and my heart starts to pound and I feel sick. Sometimes I have to feel for my badge during the day, just to make sure that I am still a missionary. That is going to be the hardest part of my day, taking that little piece of plastic off of my shirt. That gives me the blessing of talking to the Gospel with everyone that I see. And when others see it, they either start running away, ignore us, or wonder what on earth we are doing. It is the best!  I only want to get stronger towards the end and leave my mission better than I found it!!

Thanks for the school update. I did take an AP American Literature class, I don't know if that covers anything. Did my AP US history cover anything? I can't believe that I have 27 credits already! How did that happen?

Taken by Sis. Simm

It was really cool, seeing Sister Simm on the TRAX, I saw her and it didn't really click until she was giving me a hug! It was fun to talk to her and see someone from the ward. She was telling me about how so many people are moving!

I don't know who texted me on Friday......but it came during Call-ins with the district leader and I had to finish call-ins like everything was normal. I was in shock. There were so many emotions. I am so happy for Jenna and her decision to serve a mission. She is never going to regret it. Then I saw the date she leaves and that is when I started crying. I could feel the same feelings that I had when Jess got married: the feeling of "thats not fair" "why does she have to leave". But then, from what I have learned over the last year, I knew that GOD knew what was going on and I almost felt a "slap in the face" from the Spirit, telling me that I have no right to tell God what to do. There is a reason why Jenna needs to leave on May 13 and I have no right to complain to Heavenly Father. I almost started crying again on Sunday morning, in the car picking up our investigators. Mercy River was singing a church song and it was a 3 part harmony song and I remembered that I won't be able to sing with my "trio" for another year and a half :( That is something that I was looking forward to after my mission. But I am so excited for her, she will need to know her bible REALLY well. 

At least I will be able to skype on mother's day with everyone on the Sunday before she leaves :)

I only get emails from Jess and Jenna, no one else. HOW ARE MY SISTERS DOING?

I hope Dad gets that Skywest job!! One of my recent converts is getting married in Puerto Rico next March and I want to go :) haha

That mutual activity, hungry hippos, looked really fun. We take our investigators to mutual activities and they really like it. I have to rely on the ward members so much, to fellowship my investigators and to make sure that they are taken care of. I am glad that my parents are in the Presidencies of these organizations and I am sure that the missionaries have trust in you. Make sure you give the missionaries referrals! But only if you trust them. If they are being disobedient, don't give them any. 

General Women's meeting

Good job Mom for inviting your friend to church! Make sure you introduce me to her!

This week was a great week. We took 3 of our investigators with a baptismal date to the Womens conference and they loved it! I personally like General Conference better because of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. We are going to the Sunday afternoon session with 3 other people on date. I am so excited!!! I am not sure how good our seats are but as long as I am in the room, I will be happy. It is so cool how quiet everyone gets when the prophet walks in. I know that we have prophets that guide us and direct us today. It makes sense! Our investigator is having a hard time understanding this concept, she grew up Catholic and is now trying to believe something that she thought was impossible. I am so blessed to be able to take my investigators to SEE a prophet before they are a member! I love serving in Salt Lake.

We had a miracle happen on Sunday night! There were some investigators that we were teaching a couple of months ago and we had to drop them because they didn't want to get married, so therefore it was impossible for us to baptize them. The woman wanted to get married and baptized but the boyfriend wasn't sure and then they got distracted with a new job that they got. They stopped coming to church, believing that they would work and get lots of money and THEN come back to church. Two weeks ago, on a sunday morning, we saw them walking outside and just waved at them from the car. After the first class (our meetings are backwards here) I saw her kid running down the hall and a member came up to us and asked us if we were teaching her and her boyfriend again. I said no but the member was very surprised. She said "Oh, I thought you were because she told me that she is going to get baptized soon!" I was in shock! When I found her, I talked to her and she said that she wants to get baptized and married and that her boyfriend does too. We were finally able to meet with them on Sunday night and they are getting married tonight and getting baptized on the 18th of April! GOD HAS HIS TIMING! we just need to be completely submissive to his will and follow the Spirit. 

I will be running hard for these next 3 months! I will probably sleep all day when I get home because I just want to wear myself for these next 3 months. We had a mission leadership council yesterday and I read a talk by Elder Holland. Google: The miracle of a mission. Have Jenna read it!  

http://www.docs-archive.com/view/8b5347e6c1330fdc17d5c6a416970cbb/The-MIracle-of-a-Mission-Holland.pdf   

I love you all so much! Look for me in General Conference on Sunday Afternoon. I will try to wear something bright haha

I bought the video "Meet the Mormons" today! Look who wesaw signing the movie!!

Cast of "Meet the Mormon's"

SLY!

Hermana Warren