Hola familia y amigos,
This week has been great, and I am very thankful to have had the chance to serve in this the Great California Ventura Mission.
Our area is doing well. There is still a lot of work to be done and lots of people to find, but this week has been pretty good. We've taught a lot of lessons to people, and we've been following the spirit to know which doors to knock on. We don't have very many new investigators, but we have several that we visit every week. I think that we also have a lot of work to do with the Less Actives in our ward, as we've learned that only 30% of the people in our ward are actually active. This is surprising to me coming from Utah, but as we've looked at the lists, there are lots of people to work with, so we keep pretty busy. I love the people here, they are very friendly, and we've only woken up one lady from a nap (and she was still friendly considering). I think that this is such a great place to serve, and there are so many people who are searching for the truth. I love being able to share it with them, and to bring them the good news of the Gospel. I hope that in the coming week we will be able to ask more people about baptism as we have several who don't really understand why baptism is such an important part of our church. We're going to work on communicating better our purpose as missionaries and what we want for them and why we want that.
Hermana Eastman is so amazing. I have loved having her as my trainer. She is positive and hard-working, as well as friendly and very good at Spanish. I am learning more every day and I know that we've both learned how to get along really fast. I enjoy the time we have to work together, and I think that we're both pretty open if there is something that we feel like we need to change. Both of us have the desire to improve and see more miracles in our teaching, so I believe that we will continue to improve together.
I have been gaining a testimony of the small and simple ways that the spirit works on the hearts of people. Sometimes it takes them years to soften enough to really want to know about the Book of Mormon enough to actually pray about it instead of just trying to prove it's true. I hope that the efforts we continue with this type of people eventually pay off, and if nothing else, we're helping them understand that our church changes people-what kind of normal teenagers would go out into the world and serve, learn a new language, and basically give up all worldly things to teach others? We've had several people tell us that we're remarkably young, and ask us why we're out here. It has been such a blessing to know why I'm out here, and it's to serve the Lord. People can definitely feel the spirit when we talk to them, even if they sometimes can't identify what it is that makes us different. I love being on a mission and having the opportunity to serve, and I am so glad to be a part of the 88,000+ strong missionary force. I loved getting to listen to conference, and there were so many things that helped us even that day when teaching people. There are Prophets, Seers, and Revelators today, and I am glad to sustain them.
This week we had the opportunity to serve at the local food bank. We helped to stocking and can sorting, and a whole bunch of other odd jobs, but we also got to talk to a lady who worked for a charity that was picking up food. We talked to her about an average missionary day and about what sorts of things we do and don't do as missionaries and why. She was quite interested in what we had to say and she was one of those that marveled at our desire to do good in the world. I enjoyed getting to talk to her and I hope that her day was brightened by talking to us. Overall, service is a great opportunity for us to meet people and soften their hearts to our message. There have been several people that we've talked to that say that they aren't really fond of most religions because they preach one thing, but their actions don't reflect the same things. I think that service is one of the greatest things we can do to continue learning, meeting people, and also demonstrating that we live what we teach. I love having the opportunity to serve people in our area and ward, and I know that it's the little things that make a difference to people.
My quote of the week is: "Let's BRING IT! (and by it, I mean the Spirit :)" -The Hermana SwanThis week has been great, and I am very thankful to have had the chance to serve in this the Great California Ventura Mission.
Our area is doing well. There is still a lot of work to be done and lots of people to find, but this week has been pretty good. We've taught a lot of lessons to people, and we've been following the spirit to know which doors to knock on. We don't have very many new investigators, but we have several that we visit every week. I think that we also have a lot of work to do with the Less Actives in our ward, as we've learned that only 30% of the people in our ward are actually active. This is surprising to me coming from Utah, but as we've looked at the lists, there are lots of people to work with, so we keep pretty busy. I love the people here, they are very friendly, and we've only woken up one lady from a nap (and she was still friendly considering). I think that this is such a great place to serve, and there are so many people who are searching for the truth. I love being able to share it with them, and to bring them the good news of the Gospel. I hope that in the coming week we will be able to ask more people about baptism as we have several who don't really understand why baptism is such an important part of our church. We're going to work on communicating better our purpose as missionaries and what we want for them and why we want that.
Hermana Eastman is so amazing. I have loved having her as my trainer. She is positive and hard-working, as well as friendly and very good at Spanish. I am learning more every day and I know that we've both learned how to get along really fast. I enjoy the time we have to work together, and I think that we're both pretty open if there is something that we feel like we need to change. Both of us have the desire to improve and see more miracles in our teaching, so I believe that we will continue to improve together.
I have been gaining a testimony of the small and simple ways that the spirit works on the hearts of people. Sometimes it takes them years to soften enough to really want to know about the Book of Mormon enough to actually pray about it instead of just trying to prove it's true. I hope that the efforts we continue with this type of people eventually pay off, and if nothing else, we're helping them understand that our church changes people-what kind of normal teenagers would go out into the world and serve, learn a new language, and basically give up all worldly things to teach others? We've had several people tell us that we're remarkably young, and ask us why we're out here. It has been such a blessing to know why I'm out here, and it's to serve the Lord. People can definitely feel the spirit when we talk to them, even if they sometimes can't identify what it is that makes us different. I love being on a mission and having the opportunity to serve, and I am so glad to be a part of the 88,000+ strong missionary force. I loved getting to listen to conference, and there were so many things that helped us even that day when teaching people. There are Prophets, Seers, and Revelators today, and I am glad to sustain them.
This week we had the opportunity to serve at the local food bank. We helped to stocking and can sorting, and a whole bunch of other odd jobs, but we also got to talk to a lady who worked for a charity that was picking up food. We talked to her about an average missionary day and about what sorts of things we do and don't do as missionaries and why. She was quite interested in what we had to say and she was one of those that marveled at our desire to do good in the world. I enjoyed getting to talk to her and I hope that her day was brightened by talking to us. Overall, service is a great opportunity for us to meet people and soften their hearts to our message. There have been several people that we've talked to that say that they aren't really fond of most religions because they preach one thing, but their actions don't reflect the same things. I think that service is one of the greatest things we can do to continue learning, meeting people, and also demonstrating that we live what we teach. I love having the opportunity to serve people in our area and ward, and I know that it's the little things that make a difference to people.
Scripture of the week:
Alma chapter 34, and Romans 8:38-39.
So other random things before I have to go: We have massive sand dunes here between us and the beach, and someday, (maybe when I get off my mission), I'm totally going to explore them.
I met a Flemish Giant bunny this week.....IT WAS HUGEMONGOUS! I'll try to send you a picture :) It's name is Caramel, and it's just giant. So cute and mellow though. The same family has a Maine Coon Cat which is huge, but dwarfed by the size of the massive bunny. They get along pretty well, even though the rabbit could probably eat the cat.
(A picture I found online that showed the Flemish Giant Bunny- Mom)
There are more stories, but I'll have to send them in a letter. Hope all is well, and huge shoutout to Hermana Eastman my trainer who is adorable and super amazing.
Have an amazing week!
Love,
Hermana Swan
Alma chapter 34, and Romans 8:38-39.
So other random things before I have to go: We have massive sand dunes here between us and the beach, and someday, (maybe when I get off my mission), I'm totally going to explore them.
I met a Flemish Giant bunny this week.....IT WAS HUGEMONGOUS! I'll try to send you a picture :) It's name is Caramel, and it's just giant. So cute and mellow though. The same family has a Maine Coon Cat which is huge, but dwarfed by the size of the massive bunny. They get along pretty well, even though the rabbit could probably eat the cat.
(A picture I found online that showed the Flemish Giant Bunny- Mom)There are more stories, but I'll have to send them in a letter. Hope all is well, and huge shoutout to Hermana Eastman my trainer who is adorable and super amazing.
Have an amazing week!
Love,
Hermana Swan
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