Hola Familia :)
Happy Easter! I had a great day yesterday, thinking about Christ and the Resurrection. I had practiced Easter hymns to play in sacrament meeting, ya know, trying to branch out a little and be in the easter spirit.. but when the branch president came up to me and asked which hymns i was going to play, i told him, and he said "no sabemos eses himnos" Change of plans he picked out 3 new hyms and i only knew one of them. The Lord blessed me with the ablility to sight read. Haha I'll just stick to "choose the right" from now on.. Easter was really good though. We were able to go visit a less active family at their ranch and they fed us sooo much food. I've been pretty good about managing how much I eat, but it's always the sweet old ladies that get ya! They tell you to "come mas!" and if you dont, they think something is wrong with their cooking. I always heard stories about this happening, but yesterday i experienced it first hand. I had two dinners because before that, we ate dinner at the Arana's. They feed us every Sunday and Hermana Arana is an incredible cook. Good thing it's hot today and we can go out knocking later.. hopefully i'll burn off a few calories. Sometimes it's better to NOT ask what they cooked for you. Some of the things i just have cover in salsa so that I dont picture their cat being the meat that i have on my plate. But everyone keeps telling me if I drink salsa i will speak spanish better! My companions thought it'd be funny to have me eat cerranos.. I was sweating and tears were streaming down my face. I have NEVER experienced something so hot. Haha I wish i would've had my camera. The less active family we were with was making fun of me and telling me to eat more..
We had a day full of miracles this past Friday. We started the day out with our schedule filled. 8 lessons to teach. 8 different investigators. One by one, they canceled or just didnt show up. We had set up an appointment with Patricio, a man who told us he averages 11 beers a day, but he wasn't home. There is a cemetary right behind his house, so we went and decided to try and find someone to talk to. I picked up a flower off the ground (silk flower.. mexicans only use silk flowers. they plant them in flower pots in real dirt..) But i picked up a flower and just kept walking. We saw a family and thought we should go talk to them. A truck pulled up and a lady was getting out. We kept walking but before we made it to the family, they left. We turned back around and went to meet the lady who had just gotten out of her truck. Her name was Romelia. She was visiting her husbands grave. He died this past January. She began crying when we told her we were missionaries and as we bore testimony of eternal families. I asked if i could put the flower on her husbands grave and she loved it. She told us she was planning on putting easter eggs on his grave but had left them at home on accident. We told her we had some in our car and we ran back to get them. The only reason we had some in our car was because an appointment had canceled so we ended up not using them in an object lesson. Had we taught the lesson, we wouldn't have had any to give Romelia. We brought the eggs back to her and helped her lay them on his grave. She was emotional and hugged us all. We asked her if she had time another day when we could come and teach her and she said "can you right now?" we were blown away! the spirit had been so strong but as soon as she said that, we saw her need and desire for this gospel. we talked to her for about 20 more minutes and set up a time to go meet her the next day. While we were talking to her, Patricio (the drunk guy who lives by the cemetary) walked by.. he just smiled and waved and kept on going. I had the strangest most overwhelming feeling come over me. It was almost as if he was saying "good job. she needs it more than i do" I dont know why but i almost felt as if he were one of the 3 nephites.. just paving the way for us to meet those who are ready and prepared for the gospel. we turned to find him afterwards and he was no where to be found. It was the neatest experience. We bore our testimonies once again to Romelia then left to go to dinner at the Velas'. Presidente Velas is the branch president of the english branch. Right before we got out of the car to go inside, our phone rang. I answered it and it was Romelia. She said she had talked to her brother, sister, nephew and daughter about it and that they were interested in the message! Wow. Another tender mercy! We had dinner and then went on our way. We passed a group of people that were listening to someone preach on the street corner. We stopped and asked two young girls what was going on. They didnt know, but we shared a little bit of our message with them and then gave them our number. We got a call to go visit a member who was staying in the Mariott hotel. Her name is Fanny. We went, and she invited her friend from across the hall. She was Russian and her name is Natasha. I said the only thing i knew how to say in Russian "Strasvetcha" (probably spelled it wrong) and she lit up! she was so excited that someone knew somehting other than spanish. We taught her about our church and she said she was going to read the book of mormon in her hotel room. She was kind of stubborn but said she would offer the closing prayer. She did it in Russian too! (Jon- thought of you teaching in Russia. I have no idea how you did it. I thought spanish was hard..) We went to our appointment at 7:00 but the family wasn't there. We talked to their kids for a few minutes. Their names are Maria, Viviena, and Jesusita (she's my favorite) haha and they asked if we could come back later. They're 9 7 and 6 years old. As we got in the car, not knowing what to do, we just started driving. That was just another appointment to add to the list of people that canceled. But two seconds later, our phone rang again. It was Casandra. One of the 2 girls that we had met in the street earlier! she asked if we could come talk to her. We drove straight to her house and had an incredible first lesson with her. we invited her to the young womens broadcast and she said she would. (shes 14) We drove home that night and thanked Heavenly Father for the amazing experiences we had had that day. Even though we had many people cancel, the good moments far outweighed the bad. The young womens broadcast was amazing! We were able to go and Casandra actually came! she cried through half of it. She said she really felt "something." You all should go watch it. It has some really great things! and wow i just love president Uchtdorf :) He shared the coolest experiences and thoughts. At church yesterday, Fanny came up to us and told us Natasha wanted a Book of Mormon and wants to learn more!
I feel like this is super random and all over the place, i just have to pick and choose the things that I love the most throughout the week.. sorry!
Um there's a million cats and dogs.. so mom and dad, can you send me the pepper spray that i sent home from the MTC? Hermana Ferguson (my trainer) says she uses hers all the time in every area but this one.. haha Good thing dad showed me how to use it when he sprayed it and got it in my face! :) oh and thanks for the easter package.. Starburst Jelly Beans! You're the best, mom!!
I'm doing well. I love it here. I love the work. I love the people. I have grown so much closer to my Savior. I know he stands ready to help. I love the Book of Mormon. So much! I find new answers and guidance every single day. I love sharing this incredible Gospel with the people here in Eagle Pass. The members are so strong here. (The ones that DO come to church) It's incredible to see how they come to church even when they only fill 3 benches in the chapel.. I feel really blessed to have ben raised in the church. and to have been surrounded by so many strong examples. thanks for all you do. I love you! One of the members, my favorite, Hermana Juarez.. she has maybe 6 teeth and the strongest testimony of anyone i've ever heard. She's 76 and calls her husband "el tigre" haha she took us to dinner at China Buffet.. and left him in the car. She said he wasn't hungry. She tells us we're blancitas and asks if we want to marry a lamanite. She tells everyone she's a lamanite because she has "naturally dark skin" haha she's the best. We are having a lot of success in Eagle Pass. Some days are really really hard. Almost to the point that we just want to go back to our apartment. But then I think of my Savior and know that He went through so much worse things than this. That's my motivation. I know that i will never be able to repay Him for His atoning sacrifice, but I will do all I can to bring our Heavenly Father's children back to Him. I love missionary work. I love you all!! Read the Scriptures. Ether 6 is amazing.. if you think of it as us in the barges and us being blown towards the shore.. Heavenly Father is going to give us trials, but he will always provide the way for us to return. We just need to stay faithful and work hard. Thanks for all your love and prayers and support. I pray for you all every night!
I LOVE YOU!!!
Hermana Egbert
P.S. funny story--
haha my companions are making me write this.. but a few nights ago, Hermana Ferguson woke me up in the middle of the night and said "Hermana, what are you doing?!" I snapped back at her with "What?" I was sitting up in bed. I had NO idea what was going on. She started laughing and said "You're teaching a lesson.. about the Sabbath Day" I was like "no i'm not??" at this point I was just super confused.. She laughed and said "you're teaching a lesson.. you are talking to the wall about keeping the sabbath day holy" And because i was half asleep, i looked at her and said "NO ME DIGA!" (dont talk to me) and covered my face with my blanket.. the next morning we woke up and i was laughing so hard. I remembered half of what had gone on, but apparently i was teaching a lesson in my sleep. She had listened to the whole thing and then when i had finished bearing my testimony, she woke me up. haha if only i could've done it all in spanish!
LOVE YOU!!
Happy Easter! I had a great day yesterday, thinking about Christ and the Resurrection. I had practiced Easter hymns to play in sacrament meeting, ya know, trying to branch out a little and be in the easter spirit.. but when the branch president came up to me and asked which hymns i was going to play, i told him, and he said "no sabemos eses himnos" Change of plans he picked out 3 new hyms and i only knew one of them. The Lord blessed me with the ablility to sight read. Haha I'll just stick to "choose the right" from now on.. Easter was really good though. We were able to go visit a less active family at their ranch and they fed us sooo much food. I've been pretty good about managing how much I eat, but it's always the sweet old ladies that get ya! They tell you to "come mas!" and if you dont, they think something is wrong with their cooking. I always heard stories about this happening, but yesterday i experienced it first hand. I had two dinners because before that, we ate dinner at the Arana's. They feed us every Sunday and Hermana Arana is an incredible cook. Good thing it's hot today and we can go out knocking later.. hopefully i'll burn off a few calories. Sometimes it's better to NOT ask what they cooked for you. Some of the things i just have cover in salsa so that I dont picture their cat being the meat that i have on my plate. But everyone keeps telling me if I drink salsa i will speak spanish better! My companions thought it'd be funny to have me eat cerranos.. I was sweating and tears were streaming down my face. I have NEVER experienced something so hot. Haha I wish i would've had my camera. The less active family we were with was making fun of me and telling me to eat more..
We had a day full of miracles this past Friday. We started the day out with our schedule filled. 8 lessons to teach. 8 different investigators. One by one, they canceled or just didnt show up. We had set up an appointment with Patricio, a man who told us he averages 11 beers a day, but he wasn't home. There is a cemetary right behind his house, so we went and decided to try and find someone to talk to. I picked up a flower off the ground (silk flower.. mexicans only use silk flowers. they plant them in flower pots in real dirt..) But i picked up a flower and just kept walking. We saw a family and thought we should go talk to them. A truck pulled up and a lady was getting out. We kept walking but before we made it to the family, they left. We turned back around and went to meet the lady who had just gotten out of her truck. Her name was Romelia. She was visiting her husbands grave. He died this past January. She began crying when we told her we were missionaries and as we bore testimony of eternal families. I asked if i could put the flower on her husbands grave and she loved it. She told us she was planning on putting easter eggs on his grave but had left them at home on accident. We told her we had some in our car and we ran back to get them. The only reason we had some in our car was because an appointment had canceled so we ended up not using them in an object lesson. Had we taught the lesson, we wouldn't have had any to give Romelia. We brought the eggs back to her and helped her lay them on his grave. She was emotional and hugged us all. We asked her if she had time another day when we could come and teach her and she said "can you right now?" we were blown away! the spirit had been so strong but as soon as she said that, we saw her need and desire for this gospel. we talked to her for about 20 more minutes and set up a time to go meet her the next day. While we were talking to her, Patricio (the drunk guy who lives by the cemetary) walked by.. he just smiled and waved and kept on going. I had the strangest most overwhelming feeling come over me. It was almost as if he was saying "good job. she needs it more than i do" I dont know why but i almost felt as if he were one of the 3 nephites.. just paving the way for us to meet those who are ready and prepared for the gospel. we turned to find him afterwards and he was no where to be found. It was the neatest experience. We bore our testimonies once again to Romelia then left to go to dinner at the Velas'. Presidente Velas is the branch president of the english branch. Right before we got out of the car to go inside, our phone rang. I answered it and it was Romelia. She said she had talked to her brother, sister, nephew and daughter about it and that they were interested in the message! Wow. Another tender mercy! We had dinner and then went on our way. We passed a group of people that were listening to someone preach on the street corner. We stopped and asked two young girls what was going on. They didnt know, but we shared a little bit of our message with them and then gave them our number. We got a call to go visit a member who was staying in the Mariott hotel. Her name is Fanny. We went, and she invited her friend from across the hall. She was Russian and her name is Natasha. I said the only thing i knew how to say in Russian "Strasvetcha" (probably spelled it wrong) and she lit up! she was so excited that someone knew somehting other than spanish. We taught her about our church and she said she was going to read the book of mormon in her hotel room. She was kind of stubborn but said she would offer the closing prayer. She did it in Russian too! (Jon- thought of you teaching in Russia. I have no idea how you did it. I thought spanish was hard..) We went to our appointment at 7:00 but the family wasn't there. We talked to their kids for a few minutes. Their names are Maria, Viviena, and Jesusita (she's my favorite) haha and they asked if we could come back later. They're 9 7 and 6 years old. As we got in the car, not knowing what to do, we just started driving. That was just another appointment to add to the list of people that canceled. But two seconds later, our phone rang again. It was Casandra. One of the 2 girls that we had met in the street earlier! she asked if we could come talk to her. We drove straight to her house and had an incredible first lesson with her. we invited her to the young womens broadcast and she said she would. (shes 14) We drove home that night and thanked Heavenly Father for the amazing experiences we had had that day. Even though we had many people cancel, the good moments far outweighed the bad. The young womens broadcast was amazing! We were able to go and Casandra actually came! she cried through half of it. She said she really felt "something." You all should go watch it. It has some really great things! and wow i just love president Uchtdorf :) He shared the coolest experiences and thoughts. At church yesterday, Fanny came up to us and told us Natasha wanted a Book of Mormon and wants to learn more!
I feel like this is super random and all over the place, i just have to pick and choose the things that I love the most throughout the week.. sorry!
Um there's a million cats and dogs.. so mom and dad, can you send me the pepper spray that i sent home from the MTC? Hermana Ferguson (my trainer) says she uses hers all the time in every area but this one.. haha Good thing dad showed me how to use it when he sprayed it and got it in my face! :) oh and thanks for the easter package.. Starburst Jelly Beans! You're the best, mom!!
I'm doing well. I love it here. I love the work. I love the people. I have grown so much closer to my Savior. I know he stands ready to help. I love the Book of Mormon. So much! I find new answers and guidance every single day. I love sharing this incredible Gospel with the people here in Eagle Pass. The members are so strong here. (The ones that DO come to church) It's incredible to see how they come to church even when they only fill 3 benches in the chapel.. I feel really blessed to have ben raised in the church. and to have been surrounded by so many strong examples. thanks for all you do. I love you! One of the members, my favorite, Hermana Juarez.. she has maybe 6 teeth and the strongest testimony of anyone i've ever heard. She's 76 and calls her husband "el tigre" haha she took us to dinner at China Buffet.. and left him in the car. She said he wasn't hungry. She tells us we're blancitas and asks if we want to marry a lamanite. She tells everyone she's a lamanite because she has "naturally dark skin" haha she's the best. We are having a lot of success in Eagle Pass. Some days are really really hard. Almost to the point that we just want to go back to our apartment. But then I think of my Savior and know that He went through so much worse things than this. That's my motivation. I know that i will never be able to repay Him for His atoning sacrifice, but I will do all I can to bring our Heavenly Father's children back to Him. I love missionary work. I love you all!! Read the Scriptures. Ether 6 is amazing.. if you think of it as us in the barges and us being blown towards the shore.. Heavenly Father is going to give us trials, but he will always provide the way for us to return. We just need to stay faithful and work hard. Thanks for all your love and prayers and support. I pray for you all every night!
I LOVE YOU!!!
Hermana Egbert
P.S. funny story--
haha my companions are making me write this.. but a few nights ago, Hermana Ferguson woke me up in the middle of the night and said "Hermana, what are you doing?!" I snapped back at her with "What?" I was sitting up in bed. I had NO idea what was going on. She started laughing and said "You're teaching a lesson.. about the Sabbath Day" I was like "no i'm not??" at this point I was just super confused.. She laughed and said "you're teaching a lesson.. you are talking to the wall about keeping the sabbath day holy" And because i was half asleep, i looked at her and said "NO ME DIGA!" (dont talk to me) and covered my face with my blanket.. the next morning we woke up and i was laughing so hard. I remembered half of what had gone on, but apparently i was teaching a lesson in my sleep. She had listened to the whole thing and then when i had finished bearing my testimony, she woke me up. haha if only i could've done it all in spanish!
LOVE YOU!!
a typical porch.. with silk flowers planted in dirt..
some nasty thing that we ate at a members home last week
and FANTA.. my new favorite thing
Cam Nic Jon Marielle Julianne Tiffany Heather Jenny Conner Garrett..
i'm so sorry i dont have time to reply to all your emails individually.. just know that i need them and i love getting them! they help me so much.. i love all the funny stuff and quotes/pictures you send. you are the best. i love you all so much and pray for you every night! I'm sending letters out today to my nieces and nephews but tell them hi and i love them!!!
love you all!!
love, your baby sister
love you all!!
love, your baby sister
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.