Semanas 20 y 21: Hispanic wannabe Thanksgiving fiestas and inspiring graffiti!‏

Dearest Family and Friends,

          Tis the season to be jolly! I think that the holidays were put at this time of year just so that we can keep our spirits up during dark, cold weather. If you think about it, Christmas should really be in the spring because that's when Jesus was born, but God knew that Christmas in December would help many people not struggle so hard core in the winter. 

          So I didn't get to write about last week. It was very sunny, but very cold last week. This week was cloudy and rainy, but didn't have that extra bite like it did last week. All the Hispanics love the rain and the cold weather. That's why they came here instead of Texas, Florida, Arizona and California like all of their relatives. That's a little fun fact that I discovered! 

          Basically I love the branch here! Now that I can hold conversations and even argue in Spanish, it's my favorite just talking with members. Members really make all the difference. We had a Thanksgiving fiesta. There were tons of non-members there. Only two of our investigators were there even though we invited so many people! Everyone else there were friends of members. It was so awesome! 

Members are so essential to missionary work. Actually they are way more effective that missionaries, it's just hard for them to find the time and resources. A lot of our members are starting to catch the fever of missionary work. Probably because they just sent off their first missionary from the branch. And the best way to do missionary work with Hispanics is to throw a party, which our members are excellent at doing! If they could, they would party and sing karaoke everyday! 

Sister Stoddard and Sister Wrubell

          This week was very successful for Hermana Wrubell and me. We blew all of our goals out of the water! We are so proud of ourselves, but we are going to be careful not to fall into the pride cycle:)

Funny story for the week:

          Hna. Wrubell wants to go ice skating. Everyone who knows me knows...ice skating and Rachel don't mix! She thought I was kidding about not having any coordination. That very same day, we were running to go talk to this lady in a parking lot and I fell straight over. No, I am not hurt at all. Just my pride. I am sure I made that lady feel even more awkward than it needed to be. Yup, I tripped on nothing. Just my own clumsiness. I literally had dirt all over me... good thing it was raining! So hilarious!

          We also had a miracle this week. We were in the middle of district meeting when some missionaries walked in with a crying Hispanic woman. We ran and gave her hugs. She sat and told us her life story for about 30 mins. She said she was crying because she felt this special warmth in her heart while she was talking to us. That would be the Spirit. We gave her a church tour and we have a new investigator! Not what I was expecting to get at district meeting! 

          The best part of missionary work is when you know that you are not only changing someone's day but someone's life. We have had a few situations were a complete stranger has opened up to us. We are able to help them through all their troubles and tears. It's beautiful to see how the gospel makes a difference. I have even gotten  comfortable with hugs from strangers. 

Check this out....Inspirational Graffiti!

          All of us are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives. Use that blessing and go and make a difference in someone else's life! 

Have a beautiful, blessed and grateful Thanksgiving!

Week 21 Challenge:

Con Amor,

Hermana Stoddard

The Goodbye Selfie

Week 19: No Longer Green

Querida Familia y Amigos,

          It was officially my first week not as a Greenie. Definitely was a learning curve. I was immediately promoted to Sr. comp. That means I am in charge of making decisions and I get to take the brunt of it when we make a bad one. No pressure! Actually, it's going better than I thought so far. Hermana Wrubell (Yes, her dad is Greg Wrubell you BYU nuts!) has been out for 5 months and I have been out for 4. I can't believe that Lord trusts His work to two 19 year old girls who, lets be honest, barely speak the language. We have been seeing many miracles though. Especially the miracle of the gift of tongues. We can communicate with everyone that is put in our path (except we still have struggles with our ward mission leader Temo who speaks fast and uses a lot of slang!).  We can teach lessons and do everything we need to. It's truly amazing (and mysterious) how the Lord works. I am learning Spanish quicker right now because of it. I am more motivated to become fluent. Especially because we met this girl from China who became fluent in English and Spanish. Dang over achievers.

           So something cool...the sun starts setting around 3:45. We have super long nights. It's hard to stay motivated to work hard when 6:00 feels like 10:00. We do the best wecan though. One thing is for sure, I will not be living in Seattle after my mission haha.
          Good news: Virgilio is back on date!!!!! He is more active than a lot of our members. We fasted with him yesterday and he feels like he is getting answers to his prayers. I can feel a baptism coming on....

          I really like Hermana Wrubell, it's just always hard adjusting to the different ways people operate, how they do their routine, how they teach, how they live. It's always been a harder adjustment for me, but so far we are seeing a lot more success. I think it's because she is a lot bolder than Hna. Boley was.

Something fun that we did this week was go to a diner for dinner.

Missing Utah

We had so much fun looking at all the things they hang up in those places. We talked more about home and our families. I just love the homie feelings at diners. We also went to the farewell party for a girl in our branch going to Honduras. She has only been a convert for a little over a year and she is going on a mission for 18 months! So incredible. 

          This week I learned more about agency. I love it, but I hate it! It's frustrating trying to make people choose the right. I am learning more about how parents feel, especially about how our Heavenly Father feels. He is so excited when we do the right and devastated when we chose to go against Him. Being a parent is missionary work. You are commanded to teach your kids right from wrong, how to walk in God's light. It's their choice whether they will or not. I also learned that God isn't going to do for you what you can do for yourself. He will give you strength and encouragement, but in the end,we will learn more if we grow up and do it for ourselves. I love this gospel and I love this hard, but rewarding opportunity to preach it. I love all of you and have an amazing week!

Con Amor,

Hermana Stoddard

PS:  Pictures have been added to weeks 16, 17 and 18.

Week 18: Halloween...in the Ghetto!‏

Dear Friends and Family,

          My little letter of love is going to be a bit shorter today. It was transfers today. I am in the same area, but I have a new companion. Hermana Wrubel, who actually was in the same YSA ward as me at BYU! So we knew each other a little bit beforehand. I am just super stressed right now because I am in charge of the area since she doesn't know anything about it. Also, we are both in the 'not fluent' stage of Spanish so it's going to be rough for a few weeks, but I know that I needed a big push like this in order to really get me learning faster. Scared to death, but I know the Lord will not  let me fail! 

          Last P-day we had an adventurous day. We went to Target and got fleeced lined tights, leggings and socks. I refuse to freeze! Then, we ate Teriyaki Chicken at a Vietnamese restaurant where one of our members works. He speaks Spanish and Vietnamese, but not a lick of English! Anyway, on our way out of the restaurant, we went up to the register to pay and they told us that one of the ladies that was sitting in the corner paid for our meal. I will never find out who that was, but thank you random citizen for your kindness! Then we bought pumpkins and carved them!

                                      

                                                Hermana Boley

Creepy Hermana Stoddard

          

Non Creepy Hermana Stoddard

          So we had some interesting lessons this week with a lady that is a 7th day Adventist. She told us that she basically is like the Virgin Mary and has virgin conceptions....yep I didn't have any doctrine or scripture references to back us up on that one. We were just like, "Okay.....pretty sure you are still living with a man you are not married to so.....I don't know what to tell you." She came off so sweet and quiet, but after our 2nd lesson she was said, "Let's pray and ask God about how your church is wrong." We just bore our testimonies and left. And that was that. 

          Some of the best parts of the week were doing a scripture study with a lady in our branch and her 8 year old daughter. They are just returning to activity, but their goal is to go to the temple soon. They study their scriptures and pray together everyday for 20 mins. We were then invited to a family home evening with them and with another less active family that are starting to come back to church. This week there was a big emphasis of Family Home Evening. The Lord said, "Whether it is said by my voice or the voice of my servants', it is the same." Our prophets and apostles have been telling us for years that we need to hold family home evening on Monday nights. I am gaining a testimony of the importance of this time and the blessings of being exactly obedient to our leaders. So this is my challenge for the month-to have a family home evening every Monday night. I promise there are blessings in store!

          For Halloween we were able to help the wife of our branch president make 8 batches of corn bread for a tri-ward party. We could only be at the fiesta for 30 mins because we had to be inside by 6pm. It's a good thing too. It is getting dark here around 5pm. There has been a lot of stuff going on around here lately including a dead body found near where I live and lots of schools having lock downs because of rumors of shootings. What a crazy world we live in!

          On Sunday we went to a fireside that was just for Spanish speakers. All the Hermanas and I sang "Lord, I would Follow Thee" in Spanish. I just love working with the Hispanic people. It's such a blessing. Well, this week is going to be hard for me so keep me in your prayers. I know that everything will work out the way it's suppose to in the end. I love you all to pieces!

My District before the transfers:  Me, Hna Boley,
Elder King, Elder Childs, Elder Vaise, Elder Nickel, Elder Savage and Elder Robinson

Con Amor,

Hermana Stoddard

Celebrating my 4th Click Day with Pumpkin Pie