Monday, February 3, 2014

03 February 2014

Hola!
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Como estan? estoy muy bien! Hay mucho trabajo para hacer pero, yo se que puedo hacer todo con el poder de Dios!
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So this week was a good one. We had some good lessons and zone conference and my first STL [Sister Training Leader] exchange, a blitz and my first time translating!
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On Monday we taught Hermana Horta a recent convert! They are doing well. They have a few struggles with coming to church regularly but I know it will work out if they have trust in the Lord. Their son won't go to nursery and won't sit with them in class so they think the answer is switching off turns going to church every other week.  I sure hope that isn't the answer. She is almost at her year mark of being a member of the church so we wanted to talk about preparing to enter the temple. She is so excited to have an eternal family but there is still much to do before then!
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On Tuesday we had quite a few lessons. First we taught Santa the recent convert. We just simply read from the Book of Mormon with her to support her in her studies. Then we had an appointment with Dulce, a potential investigator. We taught her about the restoration and invited her to be baptized but when we tried to set up a new appointment she said she didn't have time to meet with us. I was a little sad, but we hope that we planted a good seed.  I taught Cody, my new investigator on facebook. We have been talking a lot about God and what he means in our life. He understands the importance of god, but not really God himself. Then in the evening we went to Cordelia. It is a part of our area. We went to go see Manuel and Deisy before she had her baby, but  they werent there. I assumed they were at the hospital. We texted them later in the week and she was at the hospital. SO we decided to explore our area a little more. The town is set up very uniquely - with mostly just houses and very little people. There is one area that has the stores and fast food restaurants but the rest is just businesses and housing. The houses are really nice though! It was kind of interesting to explore and figure things out!
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On Wednesday we had zone conference! It was great as always. I would describe it as a call to repentance that makes you feel good afterward. It was 2 zones -  Fairfield and Vacaville! The weird thing was we had a little pre-meeting for the Leaders. It was weird to have this new role. The nice thing is Hermana Andres is an STL in my zone also and this is her last transfer.  It is so nice to ask her for help on things. The focus was on having better district meetings and then we had a meeting with the 3 STLs and Sister Alba, which is weird, but still good. One of President Alba's conselors, President Bell spoke to us about using members. As missionaries we sometimes get too comfortable in members homes. He was just trying to help us remember that role. The theme of the rest of the meeting was the 4 cornerstones of the foundation of missionary work. Sister Alba talked about the chief cornerstone being Jesus Christ. President Alba talked about the first vision. Elder Carrillo (AP) talked about the Book of Mormon and the last cornerstone was done by Elder Eaton (AP) it being the priesthood. They were all very good and very basic too! I like it that way. Then President Alba talked a little bit more about the heart and that the way we can get to the hearts of the people is through family history.
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On a side note - mom asked about some ways that she can introduce family history to others. I know for me, before the mission the idea with bringing the gospel up to complete strangers in the grocery line or on an airplane or even to my friends seemed impossible and really, really scary. The point of family history is to be one of th options of things we bring up with people in order to share the gospel. At times family history doesn't share the church all at once but with time they see it. You can ask others "Oh that is an interesting name where does it come from?" or "Do you know where your ancestors are from?" or "Have you ever done family history before?" There are any number of ways to do it,  With time they will feel the spirit of Elijah that is promised that through knowing our ancestors we can feel the spirit and we can promise them that they will have it more in their lives if they learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is very simple and to me a lit easier way to talk to people!
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After zone conference I went on exchanges. The sisters I am over/that I exchange with serve in Vacaville so I stayed in Vacaville for my exchange with Sister Vanderniet. It was weird to lead the exchange and things but it was fun. Sister Vanderniet is an awesome missionary with a hard past.  Because of her decision to serve a mission she has a brilliant future. She serves in the singles ward. The cool thing was that by the end of the night almost all of the people that we contacted were potentials for them, and they all seemed truly interested. It was so cool to see the miracles of working hard and being out there getting it done.
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On Thursday, as an STL I have to do apartment inspections, Ipad checks, area book checks, and an hour of training. It is kind of exhausting, but also really fun too! We did some good work and then we exchanged back. In the evening we had a lesson with Isabel, the girlfriend of one of our less-actives. She gets it all so we just had a simple lesson about God being our Heavenly Father and we watched Earthly Father, Heavenly Father a Mormon message!
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On Friday we had our second correlation meeting. We are all still getting used to having one but it is nice to finally have a little more order to things.
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On Saturday we had a Blitz for the Cordelia Elders, which is always fun. We switch companions and then go out and visit people for them. We try to get as much work done as possible. It was great. Then some members gave us money for dinner. So Hermana Underwood and I bought some mexican food and had a good little chat while we ate! We had a Relief Society activity. It was on service and the temple president and his wife came to speak. They were the Benions if that seems familiar to anyone. 
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Sunday I translated for the first time. Sister Toolson is the wife of our first counselor who speaks Spanish. The thing is that Sister Toolson does not speak Spanish.  She tries her best and does it with a smile. I admire her very much for being a part of a branch that she doesn't even understand the sacrament prayers but she is awesome. She is also in the Relief Society presidency. SO it was her turn to teach the lesson and she asked us missionaries to help. It was so interesting to translate. Since English and Spanish are not interchangeable and I don't know all the words you kind of take and remake it! It was fun! Also It rained! I don't know if all of you knew, those who don't live in California, but we all fasted for rain this Sunday and in the morning of our fast it rained! It was nice. There wasn't too much but we are hoping and praying for more!
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This week was wonderful! There was much done and much more to do! It is a great feeling to be serving others and a great responsibility! I hope each of you have a wonderful week! Don't forget to save a few souls too!
Les quiero!
-Hermana Cornwall

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