So Happy!

Hey!

So I am sooo happy to write you all this week. First of all it makes me SO happy that Mom's headstone was up for her birthday. And it makes me so happy to see that you all were together for that special day. Even though I wasn't there with you guys I can feel your love and I know that Mom is happy. I can just picture her smiling down on all of you. I feel like I should share a couple of my greatest memories about her because I wasn't there to share them with all of you. 

First off EVERYTIME I would say, "I feel like (insert food name here)." She would say, "Well you don't look like it!" It cracked me up every time. Also remember how right after she was recovering from cancer the first time she had the goal to run the whole Race For The Cure 5k? So she got up every morning and went running. And I know it was hard for her because she just got done with all her treatments...but she did it! She worked so hard and she ran the whole race without stopping! I remember running by her side and just being so proud of her. That is how she has always been. She has always been the perfect example to me of never giving up. I will forever be greatful for her and what she has taught me. A huge part of who I am today is because of her. Love you with all my heart Mom.

This week was a really great one! We have been finding new people to teach that are so prepared. Heavenly Father is really blessing this area. So I don't think I have told you this, but something that President Crawford asks us to do is to memorize the whole Joseph Smith first vision so that we can recite it when we are teaching about Joseph Smith. It brings the spirit SO strong. So I have been working on memorizing it in Spanish the whole time I have been out and oh man its been hard but I finally felt comfortable reciting it the other day. We were in a lesson with this 15-year-old girl named Aylin and I recited the story for her. I was SO nervous. But the spirit was there helping me along the way and it was a beautiful moment as she told us that she felt a peace inside her and she believes that it's true.

You guys the Church is true. We all have challenges in life but God knows each and every one of us individually. I can promise you that. I have felt it so many times. I love you all so much and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner at President Pamroy's home (we have Spanish classes with him every Tuesday morning). So I will be having American food for Thanksgiving wahooo! LOVE YOU. <3

Love,

Hermana San Juan   

Hermana power!

Hola

Okay so pretty big news. We now have 4 Hermanas in our branch instead of 2 Elders and 2 Hermanas. They changed the Elders area into a Hermanas area! So this week we have been helping Hermanas Oxyenbine and Mellur figure out their new area. Hermana power! 

We did a lot of finding this week. Hermana Flores and I have really been trying hard to talk to everyone. We found a couple of families because of it and have a lot of great lessons set up for this next coming up week so we are super excited and feel really blessed. Our teaching pool is pretty low right now but we have not lost the faith! Baytown=the best. Last night we were doing some knocking and found this family of 5 who let us in right away. Sweetest family ever. We are going back to see them on Wednesday!

Hey so remember Esperanza? Well she told us that she wants to wait until after she has her baby to get baptized. But she is still really excited and is coming to church every Sunday so I don't have any doubts that she will get baptized in the next few months.

ALSO

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON THE 22nd PAIGIE. Your going to be a teenager.....so weird. Please stop growing up. Thanks.

Sorry not a lot happened this week. The Church is true and I love you. Really sorry this letter is so boring I don't have very much time! I will do better next week. LOVE YA'LL.

Love,

Hermana San Juan

Livin da Lyfe

Hey you guys!

So I am super stoked because guess what? Hermana Flores and I get to stay another transfer together here in Baytown! Yeah, we are pretty excited. We get to spend Thanksgiving together here in Baytown--best thing ever. I was writing in my journal the other night that I didn't think I could ever love another place as much as I loved Port Arthur but, you know what, I love Baytown just as much. This past transfer went by so fast and this next one is going to go by even faster because it's only a 5 week transfer. They cut it down to 5 weeks because if not, transfers would have landed on Christmas day. So this transfer is 5 weeks and the next one is 7.

Okay you guys, we had a MIRACLE this week. So last Friday we were knocking doors and we knocked this one house and a woman and her 9-year-old son answered the door. She told us that she was going to a Halloween party but that whenever we were back in the area again we could come back. So we decided to go back on Tuesday and right when we pulled up they were walking to the mailbox so we got out and they invited us inside. So to make the story short she told us that she has a brother and a sister who are members of the Church and coincidently (not) her brother and sister-in-law are going be sealed in the temple on Saturday! How neat is that? She told us that her sister has tried to get her to meet with the missionaries before (about 10 years ago) but she didn't feel ready. But she told us that now she feels ready and she wants to hear what we have to say. Also she told us that she called her sister after we knocked her door and was like, "Did you send the missionaries over?!" haha We told her it was Heavenly Father that sent us and she said, "I think you right." Oh, but the funny thing is when she answered the door she was dressed up in a devil costume. haha Classic. Oh! sorry I keep forgetting things. The whole time we were at her house her son (Rolando) was saying things like, "Mom, I want to get baptized!" "Mom I want to be sealed in the temple!" And we gave him a restoration folleto and he was like, "Mom can I keep this in my room, I am going to read it every day!" Hermana Flores and I just looked at each other like, "Is this really happening?" We have an appointment with them tomorrow. 

Great things are happening here in Baytown!

We also had the chance to teach Luz and her 3 daughters this week. We taught about the restoration and they LOVED the story of Joseph Smith. They kept asking us to tell it again haha. We are seeing them today and hopefully setting a baptism date. Love that cute little family.

I just LOVE seeing how this gospel changes lives. I love seeing the look on peoples faces when the spirit is strong and we tell them that the true gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored on the earth today! I remember the day that we told Luz this. She started to cry and said, "I have been looking for the truth for so long." I have really come to learn that our job as missionaries is to bring back to peoples' rememberance things that they once knew.

You guys, no joke, being a missionary is the best thing ever. I love reading Brooke's, Josh's, Mason's, Jane's, Morgan's, ect..e-mails about their missions. You guys are examples to me so thank you!  LOVE Y'ALL.

Love,

Hermana San Juan    

P.S. Meet Marsha. She is our next door neighbor and she knocks on our door every morning at 8:30 to say Hi to us.

The Word of God Heals My Wounded Soul

'MERICA!

Everything's Bigger in TEXAS.

Okay I have to confess something...Hermana Flores and I have been listening to Christmas music. I know, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet.  It's just so good, and we are a little limited on music so what can ya do? This time of year in Texas is beautiful. The weather is a perfect 75 degrees all day long and it's wonderful. Except for the crazy rainstorms that we got this past week, the weather was perfect. It was pouring rain for about two days straight. We have to keep grocery bags in our backpacks to wrap our stuff in for when it's starts raining. But I have really loved all the rain. It's what makes Houston so green. Texas is really starting to grow on me. At first I thought all the factories and refineries were ugly, but you know I have really come to appreciate the beauty of them. I actually have been thinking a lot about the refineries, kinda weird? Almost every hispanic person we meet or teach works for the refineries. There are endless types of jobs. The refineries have supplied many people who came to America for a better life with a job that they can support their family on. To me that's why they are beautiful. And also at night when we ride past them all the lights are on and it looks like it's own little galaxy.

This week was really good teaching wise also! We set a baptism date with one of our investigators, Esperanza. The 7th of December! She is the wife of a less active in our branch and we are teaching him as well and helping him prepare so that he can baptize his wife. They are both so excited and are working really hard to prepare for that date. She is also pregnant and is expecting her baby on Christmas Eve so it's going to be a big month for them.

Have I told you about Javier? Well we have been teaching him and he came to church last Sunday and he loved it! He told us he felt the spirit so strong and he was tearing up. We are planning on inviting him to be baptized this coming week. Also, he LOVES the Book of Mormon.  He thinks that it is the best thing in the world (he's right). We found him knocking doors during hour of power.

This scripture really stuck out to me this past week: 

Jacob 2:8 And I supposeth me that they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which health the wounded soul  

It just made me feel so good because it's so true. When no one wants to listen to us or when things just don't work out as planned the word of God heals my wounded soul.

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week and enjoyed the extra hour of sleep from daylight savings, I know I sure did! LOVE YOU!

Con Amor,

Hermana San Juan

  

I just had to share this picture. Classic.

We got to take a ferry to Battleship Texas how legit is that? So here are the pictures I couldn't send last week because I forgot my camera.  

Our Tour Guide

Battleship Texas

Cutest Missionaries Ever!

Hermanas San Juan and Flores

Doesn't this look like it could be on the cover of PMG? Yeah I know I'm a professional.