Hello family and friends!
So, I have soooo much to write about and I hope I get everything in :) Thank you mommy and Hermana Marroquin for my letters! TRANSFERS ARE TOMORROW....and I am going full-field AGAIN! Yup...totally predicted it. I even started packing last Wednesday because I knew I was going back out. My new area is Baldwin Village and my new companion is Sister Morgan! She is so sweet! She is going into her 5th transfer and she has a rock solid testimony and love of missionary work! She started her mission in my zone so I already know her which is awesome. There is a huge need for sister missionaries out in the field because there are so many coming in and since I have 4 transfers left, it would make sense to send me out for 2-3 and send me back for 1-2 transfers. However, President Baker called us last night to one, check up on Sister Set because she has been sick and two, to talk to me about my change which is interesting because he normally never does that. He told me how grateful he was for my willingness to go back out to the field (as if I had a choice haha) and how he knows I don't have much time left but promises this will only be temporary. I then stopped him and asked permission if I could ask him a question. I asked him, "Is it true that as a VC sister, you HAVE to end your mission at the VC?" He was pretty surprised when I asked him and said that that was false and it all depends on the mission president. It was silent for a few seconds and then he went back to just telling me how grateful he was that I am excited to go out in the field. I am seriously SO PUMPED to go back and have 9 hours a DAY to work! However, I am sad that I have to transition my investigators at the teaching center to other sisters. Especially one named Dylan. His friend Andrew (emily! he served in CO Springs mission, people would call him "elder missionary" because his last name sounds like missionary? obvi starts with an M...do you know him? he said he knows your fam!) referred him and I've been able to only have one conversation with him over the phone. However, I called them on Sunday and I heard Andrew's voice in the background. Dylan accidentally read Alma34 of 35 instead of Alma32 and when they were both asking me what he should read for next time I asked, "well...since you are both here, why don't you put me on speaker phone and we can all read Alma32 together?" MEMBER PRESENT LESSON! :) boo ya! And it went soooo good! Like...amazingly good. So good that Andrew is bring Dylan to the VC TONIGHT! BAHH! I'm nervous but...excited! My favorite people to teach are ones who say, "Now don't worry, whatever you say will never offend me" because it always me to be super bold with them haha! I love being bold.
So anywho, back to being full-field. I would LOVE to end my mission out in the field. I was thinking about it allll last night (literally couldn't fall asleep = absolutely miserable) and I remembered how my last two weeks as a missionary...the temple will be closed for renovation which means we will have NO visitors! It will be absolutely dead and I will literally go...crazy...! I'm going to pray about it and tell him what's up in a letter and most likely just tell him that if he needs me to finish my mission in the field, I will willingly do it so that I don't have to be a burden to him. It's still far away but...bahhh I'm excited to go out! Especially since we have been trained in how to effectively find people and now I can actually put it to use! I will miss the VC...it's my home! But...haha I'm happy to be out again. I'm just a happy girl right now :)
Now to the struggles of the week...this week was a really rough week. We had zero time in our area due to temple cleaning, having night shifts, and then with Sister Set sick. It was a bummer because I had a feeling this was my last week in Westwood and I couldn't give it my all like I had hoped. It's funny, in the beginning of my mission I always wanted my companion to get sick (not too sick) so that I could have a day in the apartment to rest. HA! Boy was I was wrong! It was completely miserable being home, especially yesterday when Sister Mayorga told us to stay home the ENTIRE day. These last three days have been hard but it has taught me how much missionary work is engrained in me. I do not want to waste a single second! I hope that my companions (and myself) will be healthy for the rest of my mission because I just want to go out and work every day! I did have time to catch up on my Book of Mormon reading (literally over 20 chapters haha), watched some of the District movies to study off of (got amazing revelation from it) and organize around the apartment but...I didn't really feel like a missionary at all. Out of the three days she was sick, I only took a nap once and it was only an hour. After that I felt super guilty haha so I tried all that I could to stay awake. Yesterday we had 7 HOURS IN THE APARTMENT after our studies....it was brutal! But somehow, I did it and I didn't sleep once. I was watching the Disctrict 1 and it was talking about always sharing your testimony and haha I even shared my testimony to Sister Set when she woke up just so I could say that I did it at least once that day. Meh, I didn't like staying home. It's so nice to be back in the VC tonight but, she has to stay in the back the whole time and...I'm going to try and find other sisters to be with her because I am tired of just doing nothing. I love her but...I need to work!
I did get to have on last lesson with Ernie this week. It was at a laundry mat...classy. haha! I even helped him with his laundry! So it was kind of service in the beginning and then we got to the lesson. At the end of the lesson, I shared my testimony to him so boldly. I had a feeling it was going to be my last time to verbally tell him my testimony and I just went off on him haha! Ahhhh I hope he gets baptized on the 17th! I WILL come back for it! We did service for Sharon and she is a recent convert of 4 years in our ward. She's an older lady, used to be a Jew and now she's Mormon! She has a really cool conversion story. She is someone that I have learned to love since I've been in this area. I would let Sister Merciales show her all the love but once she left, I needed to be the one to love her. When we were at her house for dinner on Saturday, she was talking about the blessings she receives from paying her tithing. She then looks at us and says we are one of the blessings that she receives. She kept saying "you are a BLESSING! you have no idea! you truly are a BLESSING to ME!" It brought tears to my eyes. I forget how powerfully we can bring the spirit into a persons home. That experience reminded me of a story that I read in the Ensign a few nights ago. It was written back in 2010 but long story short, these missionaries went to this orchestra concert (with approval) and they showed up late to the concert. The sister missionary who had bought the tickets for the missionaries in her district started to cry because she wanted to see it so bad. The guard had to of seen her and told them to silently go in. When they got in, people started to turn around. People were staring and pointing at them and the missionaries had no idea what was going on. They entered very quietly and there was no way for anyone to notice them. When the concert was over, a man came up to the missionaries and said, "It was you! You are the angels from the concert!" The story goes on by saying how when the missionaries walked it, the audience felt like the Savior was in the room and when they turned around to see why they felt that way, they saw these young people standing in the back, glowing! They knew that it was them that made them feel something so strong and they literally called them angels. This week I've been able to reflect on how powerful my calling is. That I have been literally set a part from the world to be a representative of Jesus Christ. That I can truly be an angel to someones life. Elder Vance always reminds me that I am an angel to the people I meet, that all of us missionaries are! I have the authority to call people to repentance, to help them have faith in Christ, to invite them to be baptized and to guide them to the temple where they can go and make sacred promises to God that will help them have eternal life one day.
A verse that has been on my mind lately is found in the Doctrine and Covenants section 15 verse 6 and it says, "And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen." I love this verse! I get to go to the temple this week and every time I go, I think of my investigators and the less actives I get the opportunity to work with. I think of them and how one day, I want to be with them in the Celestial kingdom one day. I know that God has a plan for each of them and if they really wanted to, they CAN enter into the kingdom of God. I think that's the best part of the Gospel. It is all laid out in front of us but really, it's our choice if we want it or not. I know that if we can make it to the temple, we can make it back to God. We had two of the young men who participated in the mini missions last weekend and they shared their testimonies about it on Sunday. Because of the mini mission, it has helped them want to go on a mission one day! I love this work. I can't get over it! I think I'm obsessed with it haha. I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Think of someone who is struggling right now and I want to invite you to make sure to include them in your prayers. Prayer is so powerful and if we have the faith, our prayers will be answered. Love you all! Wish me luck this week!
Love,
Sister Baeza
1. sharon and i!
2. maching! :) on purpose this time
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