I'm in Baytown, TX

We got to go to the Houston Temple.

Hola!

Hello everyone.  I hope you all had a great week and I hope you LOVED General Conference just as much as I did. Watching General Conference as a missionary is such a neat experience. All the missionaries went to the chapel and watched it there along with a few members and investigators. The spirit was so strong. It's amazing to me just how inspired the leaders of the Church are. They are truly called of God. I thought one of the main themes of this Conference was to put your trust in God and you will have nothing to fear. I thought about you all so much during this Conference. Watching it made me a little homesick but I did appreciate it more than I ever have before. The talks brought new light into my life and I was uplifted. I can't wait until they come out in the Liahona so that I can read them again :)

So, as you all know I was transferred this week! It was really hard to leave Port Arthur and say goodbye to all those people I have grown to love so much there. I told them I am already planning a trip to come back and visit after my mission haha. And I already miss my mommy, Hermana Arcila. I decided that a mission is basically just one big goodbye! But it's okay because they aren't goodbyes forever, just goodbyes for now.

My Mommy, Hermana Arcila

Transfer Day: I saw Elder Davis who also went to Bountiful High School.

My new companion is Hermana Flores! She is from Compton, California and is the sweetest girl you will ever meet. She goes home in Feb., along with Hermana Arcila, so she has been out for a while now.  Her parents are both Mexican so she knows Spanish really well and has been helping me out a lot with mine!

My new companion is Hermana Flores.

I am in the city of Baytown which is about an hour away from Houston. They call it Baytown because there is water everywhere, its beautiful!  It's also very green and there are a lot of trees. So far I love it here and the people are SO sweet. I am excited to get to know this area and the people here better. The thing that we are struggling with the most right now is just finding more people to teach. Our teaching pool is really low right now but we are doing all we can to find more people. It's just a little hard because people have their agency and don't always want to listen......errrgg!  But we know as long as we are being obedient and doing our best the Lord will bless us! And we have already seen great blessings just this past week.

Well that's about it for me this week. I love you all so much I can't even put it into words. I think about you and pray for you every day. Thank you all for being such great examples to me. Being a missionary has changed me forever. I love this gospel and I know this is the true Church. I know that if you let Jesus Christ and his atonement carry you, there is nothing you can't get through.

Con mucho mucho mucho amor,

Hermana San Juan  

NEW PHOTOS FROM OLD AREA:

Hermana Arcila and Katelyn in their apartment in Port Arthur.

Port Arthur Apartment

Hermana San Juan with Alex and Alfonzo. They weren't excited about a photo.

Alex and Alfonzo's Home

Another birthday party photo.

I Sound Like One of Them

Hello!

This week was such a good week! The highlight of my week was for sure going to the temple on Tuesday. The new video is so Beautiful. Going to the temple as a missionary is an incredible thing.

Also I have big news. I am being transferred. Waiting for that call Saturday night was tourture. Me and Hermana Arcila had no idea what was going to happen. We were hoping to stay together but I know President Crawford is inspired and that means that I guess I am needed somewhere else! I am really sad to leave Port Arthur but I am also really excited to fall in love with another area :) So Hermana Arcila will be staying and I will be leaving! Transfer meeting is tomorrow so I will let ya'll know where I'm i will be next week!

Yesterday I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting! I was SO nervous. Even though there are only like 40 people in the branch and I love every single one of them haha. But it went really well.  We talked on prayer and scripture study. A hermana in our branch even came up to me afterwords and said that I sound like one of them now! Wahoo best compliment ever, but really it made me feel good because sometimes I feel like I have a really hard core gringo accent haha.

The Women's Conference was Saturday night and it was so good! They talked alot about prayer and scripture study too so it went along perfectly with my talk.

Thank you all so much for all of the Birthday wishes this past week! Each one made my day brighter :)

Anyways I don't have alot of time but I just want you all to know how much I love this gospel and how much I know Heavenly Father loves each of us. There is not a single thing that the atonement can't heal. I love all of you so much and I hope ya'll have a great week.  You are always in my prayers!

Love, 

Hermana San Juan

Some members had a birthday party for Katelyn on the 23rd.

Katelyn and Hermana Arcila 

I wonder if these are their investigators, Alfonzo and Alex.

 It's official.  She is Hermana San Juan.

I'M 20 YEARS OLD!

Hello everyone,

I am no longer a teenager.

So far it has been a really good birthday! I got to sleep in all the way to 6:30, go running, and then I ate ice cream for breakfast, had studies, then came to e-mail! So far so good! Plus I am really lucky because my birthday is on a p-day.  Wahoo! Hermana Arcila is so cute because she made me a piñata and is going to make me a cake. I have such a great companion.

Tomorrow we get to go to the temple and I am so excited. I made sure to thank President Crawford in my weekly e-mail for the great birthday present.

So I have sad news, the boys were not able to get baptized this weekend. The sad part is, is that they really want to get baptized but their dad won't let them. They were really sad about it too but they are also so strong. They told us that they know if they just keep doing what is right and put their trust in God everything will work out. Oh how right they are.

But other than that things went really well this week. We got a new investigator this week.  His name is Roosevelt. He moved from Nicaragua about 2 years ago and has talked to missionaries before, right when he got to Texas.  But they never came back and saw him.  He has been waiting for missionaries to come back ever since! So when we found him he was so happy.  He had the biggest smile on his face.

Roci and her family are doing really well.  We are hoping to invite them to be baptized this coming up week!

Hermana Arcila and I are trying really hard to find more people to teach right now. It's a little hard because we have to find where the Hispanics live and that can be challenging. But we are working really hard and we have seen the lord bless us. It's so awesome to see all the tiny miracles that happen every day. Even in the hardest, more tiring days I can see miracles and I love it.

Tonight we are going over to a members house for dinner and cake for my birthday and playing games so that should be fun! I sure do miss all of you and I wish I could be there with you on my birthday but I have a feeling this is going to be one of my most memorable, rewarding birthdays because I know this is where I need to be.

I want you all to know that I have a testimony of this gospel. I don't know what I would do without it in my life. I love you all so much! Thanks for all the birthday e-mails and letters you guys make me smile!

Love

Hermana San Juan :)

The Gospel Changes Lives

16 September 2013

I'm pretty sure I say this every week but this week was so great!

So this Friday our branch and another Spanish branch had a combined activity called Fiestas Patrias. They had really really good food, dancing, music, and a talent show. So wanna know something funny? Me and Hermana Arcila and two Hermanas in our branch did a dance in the talent show. haha. The dance was called Baile de los Viejos  and it's a traditional Mexican dance. We dressed up as old people and danced with canes. It was hilarious especially because I can't dance to save my life. haha Alex and Alfonzo came and they were like.."wow Hermana San Juan you are definately white.". haha It was a fun time.

So the boys are doing so great. They are getting excited for their baptism THIS SATURDAY. So Tuesday we had an appointment with their mom and it went really well! She told us that she has seen a difference in her boys since they have been meeting with us. She said they have a light about them. She also said that she wants to learn more about our church. So it was a really good visit. She is such a sweet lady.  Hermana Arcila and I have no clue why the boys didn't let us talk to her until now! I guess it's just a teenage boy thing haha.

So on Wednesday something really great happened. We had an appointment with the boys at the park where we always have them and Alfonzo was acting a little bit quieter than usual so we asked him what's on his mind. And he started to tear up (mind you this is a 17 year old boy so it was like woah) and he said, "I just want you guys to know that you came to me and my brother at a time when we felt the most alone and when we needed God the most."  So of course we all started to tear up and it was just a great moment. These boys have taught me so much and I love them to death. It is so amazing to see how much they have changed and grown these past 10 weeks. The gospel changes lives.

Roci and her family are doing really well too! They couldn't come to church this past week becuase they have family in town but hopefully they will next week. They have been praying together as a family and they said they can tell the difference. We had a lesson with them the other day and we invited her husband to say the closing prayer and he was really nervous to because he has never said a prayer out loud before. But we walked him through it and he did it! It was such a good prayer too. It was a small but great miracle.

Friday we decided to go and visit this former investigator named Yesenia. So we went over and she was home and let us in! She was SO excited to see us and told us that she has been praying we would come over. She is about 26 years old and she is married with two little girls. We are hoping that we can start teaching her whole family soon!

I have been thinking a lot this week about how I am so lucky to be in such a great area! When I am on exchanges with other sisters we both tell each other  about our areas and I just feel so lucky to be in Port Arthur. Our Branch members are so awesome. We have dinners every night and they take really good care of us. And we have a lot of people to teach! I just feel really lucky and I never want to leave this area haha. So you don't have to worry about me things are going really well here in Port Arthur!

I love ya'll so much! Thanks for all the e-mails, packages, and letters I can feel your love. The Church is true and I love you!

Love
Hermana San Juan  

SI SI SI!!

So it hasn't even been a week and I get to e-mail you again yay!

So this week was really busy but really good. The boys have a baptismal date! September 21st! We asked them to be baptized again and Alfonzo threw his hands in the air and said SI SI SI!! Alex was a little more hesitant but we told them to both pray about it and when we came back they said they did and they felt really good about being baptized. Things are just really falling into place with them. For the longest time we have been asking them if we can talk to their parents and they have told us no, not yet. We have been praying really hard to have the chance to talk to them. This past week when we went over to their house their parents were outside on their porch and we got to talk to them! They have a lot of questions and so we have an appointment with their mom tomorrow. It was such a miracle being able to talk to them.

Things with Roci are going really well too. We also have been wanting to talk with her husband for the longest time but he is always at work. But yesterday we got the impression that we should go visit her and guess who was there? Her husband! He had A LOT of questions. And at first he was saying a lot of pretty rude things about our religion and just disagreeing with everything. But by the end of our discussion he softened up and he said that everything made a lot of sense and that he wants us to come back. We taught him how to pray and how he is never alone. We let him know that he has a Heavenly Father who loves him more than he could even imagine.

 It's incredible how some people don't even know the simplest truths. The experiences we have out here really make me take a step back and think about how grateful I am to have this Gospel in my life. And it has really made me think about how the simplest truths can be the most powerful and testimony building. And I have realized that when you come to know that you are a child of God and he loves you, your whole way of thinking can change. Simple truths are powerful and amazing!

On Friday, Hermana Arcila went on another missionary exchange and I was in charge of the area again! Sister Perks was my companion for the day. We saw a lot of miracles and man we slept good that night. It was an exhausting but great day.

I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week! Seriously love you guys!

Love,

Hermana San Juan

So Much Good News!

Feeding the Ducks

Buenos Dias!

Don't worry I am alive! Monday was Labor day so the library was closed and yesterday was a crazy day so we didn't have time to e-mail!

So yesterday Hermana Arcila had a meeting in Houston so we did exchanges and an English sister came with me to Port Arthur and Hermana Arcila went with her companion. Does that make sense? Basically my point is is that I lead the area all by myself yesterday! I was SO nervous. But guess what, Heavenly Father helped me out and I was able to lead the area and understand and teach in Spanish all by myself! It was a little rough but I did it and I am exhausted. haha Physically and mentally.

Also big news! I finally got my driving privileges! Wahooo! It's been a little over three months since I have driven so I was really happy when Elder Tolman told me yesterday that I can drive.

Okay also really good news! Alex and Alfonzo want to keep taking the lessons! We went over to visit them the other day and Alex told us that he prayed to know if the Church is true and he just had a feeling that he should be baptized! Hermana Arcila and I were so happy it was hard not to jump up and down for joy....so we did haha. And Alfonzo says that he wants to keep learning too. And their friend Miguel is starting to come to our lessons too. Heavenly Father listens to and answers prayers. Also I don't know if I have told yall about Mareasa and Angel but they have been coming to our lessons with them too. They are really active amazing members of our branch. Mareasa is 19 and Angel is 22. They have been married for about 4 years and are getting sealed in the temple in October. Angel has been a member of the Church for about 5 years and he has been so great to bring to the lessons. He has a lot of great experiences that he shares with them and he can just relate to them really well. This Monday we actually played futbol at the park with them and the boys for p-day. It was really fun! The members in our branch are the best.

Also more good news! I just have so much good news this week! We get to go to the temple on September 24th best birthday present ever! I am really looking forward to that and seeing all the new changes.

BTW the 23rd is my birthday (cough cough).

Guetierrez Birthday

So Roci is doing really good. She prayed to know if the Book of Mormon is true and she said that night she had a dream that she and her husband were standing in a white room and that they were so happy. She described the room as celestial. She said that she felt so much peace and joy. The spirit was so strong when she was telling us about her dream. I know that was an answer to her prayers.

So cool story. There is this family that we were teaching when I first got here about 6 weeks ago and they were really close to baptism. It's a family of 7: a mom and a dad and 5 adorable girls. Then things got really complicated and they moved and started getting really busy so we couldn't see them as much. But we just kept thinking about them. So we decided to go visit them the other day and they were all home, it was a miracle! So we taught them a lesson and they are still really interested! We taught them again last night and things were going really well. Then there was a knock on the door becuase someone was coming to fix their water....and it was our branch president! So we all talked for a little bit and invited Nelly and her family to come to church and she said they will. Isn't it amazing how Heavenly Father works?

Anyway, I love you all so much and I think and pray for you every single day. I am so greatful for all of your support and love. You guys are the bomb.com. Heavenly Father loves you and I know he answers and hears all of our prayers. I saw a lot of miracles with that this past week. Love you ALL

Love,

Hermana San Juan

P.s Man oh man is it hot in Texas right now!! And also the mosquitoes are BAD here. I basically get attacked everyday haha.

Gotta love it!

Members are so Important in Missionary Work

Hola!

So as you all know transfers were this past week. We had so say goodbye to Hermana Seely which was really sad but Hermana Arcila and I have a lot of good plans for this transfer so we are really excited! We have been keeping really, really busy which has been really fun. One thing that we are trying to do right now is put together a back-to-school BBQ for our branch. We think that it would really help the branch grow closer together and it would be something really fun to invite our investigators and less actives to so they can meet people in the branch! We are thinking about doing it in a week or so, so I'll keep you posted! We are also still trying to set up a Spanish class. We want to do it at the church but since this isn't Utah and there isn't an LDS church on every corner (unfortunately), the church is pretty far away from some people's houses and a lot of them don't have cars. But we are trying to figure it out and it's going to be great!

So I have really sad news. Alex and Alfonzo told us that their parents won't let them get baptized. They told us they don't see the point in talking to us anymore so they want to stop taking the lessons. It took everything I had in me not to cry. I looked over at Hermana Arcila and I knew she was feeling the same way. We just love those two so much and we know this gospel could change their lives for the better and make them happy I just wish they they could see it. But we are not going to give up on them just yet! We are hoping we can talk to their parents and teach them as a family! They told us that they have felt a change inside of them since they have been talking with us so we know there is hope.

In better news, Roci, our other investigator, is doing really well! We invited her to be baptized the other day and she said that she feels really good about it and she will pray about it. She wants us to talk to her whole family so we have a cita with them this next week. She is so great. And she is an amazing cook! She made us these really good cookies that I had never had before and really good tamales. Roci is a perfect example of why members are so important in missionary work. So after the first time we met Roci, Hermana Arcila and I were talking about what we could do to help her and this Hermana in our ward poped into my mind, Hermana Gutierez. She is about the same age as Roci, about 40 and they have a lot of similarities. We called Hermana Gutierez and asked her if she would like to come to our next appointment with Roci. She came with us and it went SO well. They hit it off. So now she comes with us to all of our lessons with Roci and it is so great. Hermana Gutierez is so awesome, she bears such strong testimony to Roci. She can touch Roci in a way that neither me nor Hermana Arcila could. Members are so so so important to missionary work!

Can I just tell you how much I love my tiny branch. There are about 40 people in it and they are all just so great. They are so strong and so involved with missionary work. I love being in a small branch becuase you get to know everyone individually. It's the best. But the bad part is that it's going to be really hard to say goodbye to these amazing people. I hope I don't leave anytime soon.

Anyway thats about it for my week! 

I can't believe it's already time to start school again! I wish all those who are going to be starting school soon good luck! Was the first day today? It was for the people here in Port Arthur. Spencer, Hayden, and Paige, love you guys. Have a great time at school and make the most of it!