March 14 email

This was a week that will be in the record books!

I guess I'll go day by day...

Monday: was NOT pday for us, but we did get to email...sorta. Yeah, weird day. I was on exchanges with Sister Hammond in her area. It was a grand day! We did lots of tracting, which is always an experience, haha. We found a couple new investigators as well :) Sisters Bergstrom & Pinto had a lesson with E & set a baptismal date for April 23rd! She's super solid!!

Tuesday: Sister Bergstrom & I gave a training in zone meeting. That night we got to go to the stake center with the YSAs & watch the live stream of Face 2 Face with Elder Holland, Sister Stephens & Elder Hallstrom. It was really awesome! & then we exchanged with the Ranchos sisters.

Wednesday: Sister Roberts & I did work in our area! We found 2 new investigators! One is the husband of a family we're teaching, T. He is R's husband & H's dad. Also, we stopped by a former that Sister Wood & I taught once & were never able to get in contact with after. She was miraculously home! & let us in to teach her. She hadn't read any of the Book of Mormon in the whole 3 months since we saw her last because she had some reservations about why we needed it, so we cleared up some of those. The lesson went really well! She's interested in learning more & is super open & sincere. 

Thursday: TEMPLE DAY! We drove down with Sister Schulthess & her daughter Hanna to Redlands. I love the temple. The spirit I feel in the temple is so peaceful & I feel Heavenly Father's love for me so strong. By the time we got back up the hill we had a little time to shop, then had dinner with Hanna & then went to institute. Solid day.

At the Redlands Temple

 Friday: Weekly planned allll day & tried a few people, but no lessons :(

Saturday: Woke up at 6am. Left the house at 7am to Rancho Cucamonga for our mission conference with none other than Elder David A. Bednar himself! Yes, we were blessed to be in the presence of an Apostle of the Lord. It was such a magnificent experience...one I'll never forget. 

 

As he walked in, all 170 of us missionaries stood up & you could just feel the amazing spirit he brought in the room. He didn't stand up there preaching to us for 3 hours either. (although, I wouldn't have been upset if that's what it would've been) He made it so engaging. He would ask us questions like what we've learned & we could raise our hands to answer them. After a while of that, he told us to ask some questions. I couldn't really tell you what he said. Well, the first thing he told us was to not write down anything that he said. He said "most of us do that. we try to write down everything the person says & miss what the spirit is teaching us. STOP IT. who really goes back & uses their notes? you don't do it as much as you think you do. I want you to write on small plates today." 

 

I learned so much! Just about how I can better myself, how to use the Atonement more, & how to help my investigators progress. One WAY COOL thing he said was that he told us a prophecy. He told us not to write home & try to explain it because we wouldn't be able to explain it properly & then we'd see it on the front of the newspaper. Hahaha. 

 

I know that Elder Bednar is an Apostle of Jesus Christ. You can feel it when he talks. We had the privilege of shaking his hand. As well as Sister Bednar & Elder & Sister Higham of the Seventy. 

Sunday: Stake Conference! It was pretty good. Weird only being in church for 2 hours since we're used to 7+ hours. It didn't really feel like a Sunday. Also the new Easter initiative "Hallelujah" came out. Go watch it! Easter is a special time to reflect on the Savior & His resurrection. He lives today! 

So this was a weird week of meeting with investigators...it's kinda been a struggle. Some are legitimate excuses like M's shoulder has been really hurting him...  We'll see what happens this week. We're planning on being really bold with our investigators & re-setting expectations with them, pretty much like, "Why do you want this? If you really do, then this is what we expect of you. If you're not keeping the commitments we leave, then you're not prepared, & we're here to find the prepared." Okay, not that harsh, but you get the idea. I used to have a hard time with that, but as my mission has gone on, I've really come to understand my purpose & that I'm here to find & teach those that the Lord has prepared. If people aren't willing to do the simple things we ask them, then they're not quite ready & that's okay.

This week we have 3 exchanges; it's going to be nuts! But so awesome.

I love this work so much. It's also such a blessing to be able to do it with my best friend, Sister Bergstrom. The Lord is SO good. We just need to be aware of everything He does for us. 

 

Me, Hanna, and Sis Bergstrom

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

xoxo Sister Viraldo