Hi family!!
Its so great to hear from you
guys!! Have fun at Grandmas house! Have fun in NY!!! Have fun with your
last couple weeks of summer!!
Well, This week has been really good. There have been its ups and downs but overall a lot
of work was done and I smiled a lot. There are so many people who need
the gospel but don't have any desire to change what they have. Its
kinda sad, but I know that one day they will have the chance to receive
the gospel again and to accept it. I was kinda discouraged yesterday
after all of our appointments fell through and no one was wanted to hear
what we had to say.
The picture is Hermana Cooper from my desk, during companionship study. This morning as I was studying in Preach My Gospel I read, "When people choose not to investigated the restored gospel, your work
is not wasted. Your consistent efforts in serving and teaching as many
people as you an is one way God prepared His children to eventually
receive his servants... do not be discouraged... you have given them a
clear choice... maintain a vision of who you are, and continue to
diligently move forward." This was what I needed this morning! Day
after day my prayers are answered. Usually I find answers in what I
read and study each morning. Sometimes when Things don't happen and
appointments fall through we always receive a miracle and find someone
new who is interested in the gospel. And so even though many of our
appointments fell through we found a lot of new investigators this
week. A lot dropped us, but we got to hold on to a few :)
Because my companions want to talk to everyone we see on the streets we have had a
lot of street contact investigators. I am breaking out of my shell and
learning to approach people. Usually when we walk up to people we say
hi, ask them if we can invite them to learn more about Jesus Christ,
tell them who we are and ask them if they believe in God. Sometimes it
works and people stop and talk, other times, they just walk by and say
they are catholic or they aren't interested. Little by little I will
learn how to contact people more effectively. :) One of the blessings of
talking to everyone is when you find someone who is ready to hear the
gospel.
We went to visit a less active this week. He wasn't home. As
we walked back to the car, a young man opened his door and his dog
almost ran out. And just like my companions always do they walked up to
his house and started talking to him. And guess what?! We got a
return appointment. And not just one, but we've met with him twice this
week. His name is Nelson and he is 23. He had read a little of
the Book of Mormon before and knew what it was about. When we followed
up with him at the second lesson, he had read all of the introduction,
the testimonies, and had started to read the book!!!
He has a lot
of analytic questions about the creation, what we believe about Noah,
about Jesus and all the physical evidences. Like my companion says, "he
is an honest seeker of truth." We have another meeting with him tomorrow.
Miracles happen. All we need to do is have faith and open our mouths
and proclaim the gospel to all!
Kristen is our investigator. She is getting baptized on Aug 31. We took her to a baptism in the Singles Ward on Saturday so that she could see what her baptism will be like. She is so excited to get baptized :)
I am also learning how to listen to the
spirit as I teach. Its harder to do it in Spanish but I know it will
soon come as I keep trying. My MTC teacher told me that even thought it
may be hard to teach in Spanish I need to remember that when I speak
with the spirit, even if my Spanish is imperfect, the spirit will touch
their spirit and translate what I said to their heart. We also had
the opportunity to teach a woman named Andrea. Her family was in a car
accident a month ago. They were all injured and she lost her unborn
baby. She likes what she hears, loves when we sing, and thinks we were
sent by god to share scriptures with her. She is a sweet woman with a
tender heart. I hope that she will come to a knowledge that she needs
the gospel.
One of the funnest street contacts happened on Friday. Last Friday all of our appointments dropped (as did they all on Saturday and Sunday).
We were with a member and she suggested we pray to find where we needed
to go. After we prayed the member said, lets go somewhere with lots of
people. We decided to go to the park where a concert was playing. We
did splits and went separate ways to just invite people to learn more
about Christ. It was so fun (and a little nervous/terrifying at first)
to walk up to people and give out the small pass along cards. I talked
to a lot of people who had been to see the temple before. I didn't get any
numbers or appointments but I did learn to do street contact a little
better that night. One of the people I had just talked to ran into my
companions down the block and they got his number. he seemed interested
and wants us to come over and tell him more. Miracles happen when you
are doing what the Lord wants you to do.
We had a flat tire this week. We were coming home from a lesson around 9 pm
with some members in our ward. On our way home we had the wonderful
chance to get a flat tire. I know that I have seen papi chance a tire
with the scouts before but I have never done it in real life. Since
none of us knew exactly how to do it (though collectively we probably
could have done it ourselves) we called the zone leaders to help us.
They changed the tire and we were off, not getting home till 9:45,
15 minutes after curfew. I guess it was okay since the Zone leaders
were also with us and they knew what had happened. We had to get a new
tire the next day and sit on the curb and study while we waited.
Answers to questions:
1.
Usually on P-day we email, buy food, write letters, do laundry and then
teach later at night. Today we washed our car because we have zone
conference tomorrow.
My companions said that the car really needed to be cleaned since it
had been 3 months since they last washed the car. Honestly, even after
we washed the car it looked the same as before, but with water marks all
over it. I hope it rains tonight so that we don't have to wash it
again tonight. It probably wont though since I've heard it rarely rains
here. :)
2. Yes, my sheets are perfect! They are nice and soft and even
though I don't have the fitted sheet, its big enough to just tuck in.
3. No, we never eat fast food. My companions want to eat healthy and so
we eat all our meals at our home. We take turns cooking or fixing the
meals. This week, we had brown rice with soup, spaghetti, sandwiches,
soup, oatmeal for breakfast with either fresh fruit or yogurt with
oatmeal. They are keeping me well fed. I can admit that I have had
sugar cravings all week, but my companions keep each other in check.
Also, we usually have one meal each day at a members house. At church
they pass around a calendar for the month and people sign up for each
day. Yesterday, we ate dinner with a member from Peru. She served us
homemade lasagna and Arroz con leche. I love having a mix of Latin
American food and American food.
 |
| A lunch we had. Yes, we are trying to eat healthy at our apartment :) |
4. Papi, the water bottle that you got was one that the MTC gave to
me. I still have the one that we bought. Give the water bottle I sent
home to one of the boys!
5. No, I haven't give a talk yet in church. I don't think they will ask me since our ward is pretty big. The picture below is our Stake Center.
***Family (and friends) I want to challenge you to be
missionaries to everyone! I know that members can be the best
missionaries. We had so many lessons this week with members. They
added so much to the lessons. Go out and help the missionaries teach.
Invite them to dinner. Give them referrals. The best investigators are
the ones that members refer to us. The three secrets to be a
successful missionary are:
1. Smile
2. SMILE
3. Smile!
Be happy!
Everyone is looking for happiness. Let them see how happy you are and
they will be attracted to the light that you have. As we prepare
ourselves and pray for opportunities to share the gospel people will be
put into our paths. All we need to do is to follow the gospel and our
steps will be guided. It doesn't matter really where you go, "for it
matthereth not where you go."(D&C 80:5) There are so many
opportunities around you, just reach out with faith and you will have
them. I have seen this work all week, every single day!
I love you guys so much! Thank you for your prayers and support. Missionary work is definitely work, but it is so much fun! I have had a great week!
I can't wait to hear from
you next week! Have a fantastic week! Keep smiling and remember that as
you do what is right you will always be guided to where our Heavenly
Father wants you to be.
Hermana Zubeldia
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