Querida familia,
Hola! Que tal? Espero que todos estan bien. :)
This weeks highlights -
1) Teaching Peter Chavez. He is such a little missionary! I can't wait to see him grow a foot or 2 and go on a mission! ;) His testimony is growing so much! I think it's taller than he is!
2) Going to the Temple! Hermana Ganuza drove us to the session. I always love to talk to her because she is so strong in her testimony. She always teaches us something. This week was how to be a good mom or dad. And if you want to know what her secret is that she told us, it is just being a good example! When she said that, I just smiled and thought "yep that's exactly what makes a good parent.. I have two of those great examples!" I'm so grateful for my wonderful parents! I told her that I had often woken up in the morning and come down the stairs only to find my mom or dad reading the scriptures. She smiled so big! I love to see the Temple. It is so beautiful! And the Spirit that is felt there is so strong. I know that it is the House of the Lord. And the He loves us so much.
3) We had a Blitz in our area! The whole district came together to help us find some new investigators in Val Verde. We divided up streets and we all worked hard for an hour and a half. It is so fun to work together with all the missionaries. I can feel the power of everyone helping. It helps us be more united and I'm so grateful for the work they did to help us. My favorite experience that I had was talking to an atheist about the restoration of the gospel. When we first started talking to her she had no hesitation in telling us that she was atheist and wasn't going to change! But that she respected our decision to go on a mission. I told her that we knew what her beliefs were but if it was okay if we shared a little of what we believed with her since that is why we came on a mission. She had no objection but was probably a little surprised by our persistence. We related to her the message of the Restoration and how Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Her interest was spiked when we told her that Christ told Joseph Smith that none of the Churches were true. But that Joseph was called to be a prophet and restore all the truths that Christ established while he was on the earth. The spirit was so strong and I know she felt it! We gave her a card and invited her to look at Mormon.org. She told us that she was going to look because she was interested to know what more we believed. But she quickly reminded us that she wasn't going to change. haha But I know that her spirit was touched by our message! I hope one day missionaries will pass by her house and her heart will be ready to receive the message entirely!
4) Zone Conference! President Hall introduced the new Mission Training Plan for 2015. It is called "Be a Preach My Gospel Missionary." I love the training plan! It is so inspired. It focuses on 6 different aspects of missionary work: Become, Study, Plan, Find, Teach, Baptize. Last year we had a focus on all of these except the "Become" section. I am so grateful that he added this part in the new training plan. We can only accomplish the rest if we become like our Savior. I hope to become more like my Savior by learning to teach as he taught. Elder Tad R. Callister said, "Jesus invited us to become like Him, and one of His great attributes is His ability to teach. He is the Master Teacher. To become like Him, we too need to become more loving and life-changing teachers, not only at church but also in our homes. To become like Him, we ought to have a burning desire in our hearts to teach as He taught."
5) We have two new members of our English class! It is slowly growing. Hopefully we can find more people to come this week!
6) I had an exchange with Hermana Vega and I went to Canyon Country. It was super fun! I loved that area so much. We talked to so many people. Hermana Vega truly fears no man! haha. We visited a less active family who is really struggling. It reminded me to always go to church. Going to church every Sunday brings the blessings and strength we need each week. It was hard to help them see that but I know it's true! So many of the things that the are struggling with would be helped or even dissolved if they would choose to attend church each week. Partaking of the Sacrament truly is a renewal for our soul!
7) We got a knock on our door from a member of the Valencia ward with a pie for us and a video message from the Linton family! It was so fun! Thank you so much. :) I can't believe how much everyone has grown! At first I thought it was Denali on the screen but then when I looked closer it was Whitney! It was such a fun surprise. The pie was so yummy. Thank you Linton Family for thinking of me. (And for your friend for making the delicious pie :)
8) We went hiking as a district yesterday. It was one of the hardest hikes I've ever done.. and I've done many. It was practically straight up the mountain. This morning in district meeting everyone was pretty sore and scraped up from the rocks. But the view was so fantastic at the top! It was super fun to see over the Santa Clarita Valley. It was clear and beautiful! And then I looked behind me at the San Fernando valley and could only see smog... looks like that's what I'm going to be breathing most of my mission! haha. It was such a fun day.
District picture in front of the Santa Clarita Valley...our area! Remember when our district was all hermanas? Now it's all elders! {The other set of hermanas were stuck at the mall, so they couldn't hike with us.}
Thanks for the Habit Burgers, Dad!
I love you all so much! I hope you have an amazing week. :)
Hasta luego!
Hermana Buxton