October 28th, 2013

Buenas Tardes!!

Hello humans of home! how is it going?? I just realized that halloween is this week.  It is crazy how fast october flew! We had another great week in the texas Mcallen mission. We did 2 exchanges and had interviews with Presidente Maluenda (every transfer we swap between having interviews and zone conferences).  So it was a great week!  This week I got to do an exchange with a sister that was in my MTC district. So it was SUPER fun.  and crazy. but mostly just fun.  

SO- we were out doing missionary work, as usual, and they had got a referral for a preacher in their area.  So naturally we went to go contact it.  And this little, old, white haired man answers the door. And immediately invites us in.  (as I went in I was thinking, 'Oh, cool, he will probably share some stuff with us, then we can share some stuff with him...blah.blah...blah) YEAH... that didn't happen.  he held us captive- trying to bible bash with us for almost 2 hours.  it was ODD. But I did learn alot about the importance of teaching with the spirit, that listening is a huge/majorly important part of teaching, and that bible bashing does no good.  Don't worry- we didn't bible bash.  We just listened- expecting him to give us a turn too... BUT on the bright side his crazy little wife made us lemonade. So that was nice. The crazy thing is how he did have points of truth- BUT it was clouded with thick lies.  That is truly how satan works, he might have a tiny-little-baby part of truth- but the majority of it is a just a big lie.  I will admit- The man had a beautiful testimony of the savior, But it was clouded with other peices of false doctrine. There was one point when he started singing to us- hahah a great little gospel jingle about Jesus.  I enjoyed that part. But then he tried to give us anti-mormon literature.  That was the point that I stood up and thanked him and headed for the door, with Sister Welch following behind me.  As we were leaving he was yelling after us things like "I WILL PRAY FOR YOUR SOULS!!" and 'REPENT AND ACCEPT JESUS OR YOU WILL BE DAMNED TO HELL!!!'.  So we just smiled and waved.  Then after, before we contacted another human, we sang about 5 hymns.  All about the prophets and book of mormon.  We were able to feel the spirit again, and finished out the night strong.  it was a great exchange. Odd.. but great.  The experience really helped me learn the importance of letting the spirit teach.  As missionaries we are simply the mouth peices. The spirit is the real teacher.  And when we get in the way- that is when we don't see the miracles. SO- teach with the spirit and don't bible bash. :) fun times on the mission.

That was probably the craziest thing that happened this past week. But we did encounter another man that wanted do to the same thing (bible bash).  Heavenly Father ovbiously had something he wanted us to learn about this week. =D As I look back at my time as a missionary- I can see little 'themes' that God wants me to learn.  (does that make sense?) How great. Heavenly father truly loves us and continues to teach us, if we let him.  This upcoming week is going to be crazy! We are thinking about dressing up as elders for halloween. with a white shirt and tie... haha. we will see though. maybe just for the sake of a picture. I want to see pictures of all your costumes! People really get into decorating for halloween here.  Some of the houses are really crazy. So I will be glad when halloween is over so that all the creepy houses will turn back to normal. I still don't like scary things! -

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA the man sitting at the computer across from me just looked over my compter and said 'HOLY COW GIRL! ARE YOU REALLY TYPING THAT FAST?' So i said yes... and he said "wow! it is like a movie or something.. that is wrong, man that is wrong.'  So i guess that I am a fast typer... yay. hahahah. Odd humans of texas. i love it.  

We are doing another exchange with Sister Garry this saturday.  So we are excited for that! It is so fun to work with my MTC companion. It is so crazy how we are all in the same mission- but we are all having such different experiences!! The mission is literally like a little personalized school for life.  I love being a missionary!! it is so great!! Well, I have to run! but I love you all! have a wonderful week.  Enjoy halloween.  We will probably give out pass-a-long cards if any little kids come to our house. yay!  

I love the Savior.  

Through him All things are possible.

Onward and upward!!

-Hermana Wiser

October 21, 2013

Hello familia!!! How is it going!! =D it has been another great week in the Texas Mcallen Mission!! yay! Hmmmm what happened this week. This week went super fast.  Mission time is insane.  We saw some crazy miracles this week! Oscar and Mina got confirmed!!! yay!!!! So they are now official members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. YIPEEEE!!  They are now preparing to go to the temple! wonderful right? It was really great. I am playing the piano for the primary in the Spanish ward in Pharr. (i can't remember if i told you this)  But it is so fun! i love the primary program. And every sunday i get a million hugs from the little primary kids. It is so cute. I love the hispanic culture- everyone that leaves says hello and goodbye to EVERYONE. It has been really fun.  And the spirit that little children bring into the room is amazing. I love the primary hymns in spanish too! it has been SO fun. Thanks mom and Dad for the piano lessons.  Stanton and Shelby- practice the piano. you will be grateful someday.

 On thursday we did a really great exchange with some sisters in Edinburg. Their names are Sister Bettinson and Sister Petramalo.  Sister Petramalo(who is a greeny) came down to La vista with me and sister Ninataype went up to edinburg to work for the day.  It was a very ODD day. Because literally ALL of our plans fell through.  Looking back i know why though- Because we needed to go to our back-up plans.  We went to this man who was a referral from some other elders that worked our area (before the missionaries go home they are all chillin in our area, because the church and mission office are in our area. and they were all waiting for their exit interviews- So president sent them out to work.  And the elders found this guy named Ramon.) So Ramon answered the door and at first he didn't really want to talk, and was kind of stand-offish.  But Sister Petramalo was bound and determined to teach this man.  So we invited him to sit out on the front porch and began to teach him.  And little by little his walls came down. and we were able to feel the spirit.  he told us that he was just diagnosed with a tumor/cancer that week.  And it was really sad- because he truly had no hope.  It was heartbreaking. But we were able to testify of the peace that the gospel brings.  He didn't accept the baptismal invitation, but you could see that there was a little more hope in him.  We left him with a prayer and prayed specifically for the things that he needed. As we left he thanked us and told us we were welcome to visit back and that we had made his day.  That is what missionary work is all about. lifting people. helping them to see the hope we can have throught our savior Jesus Christ.  The gospel changes people.  The message of Christ literally changed Ramon from being cranky to listening and thanking us for coming.  it was a great and simple experience.  And greenie fire is amazing! Man- ALL the new missionaries are so much more prepared that I was when i came out.  It is amazing. The lords work is really moving!! don't get left behind.

Friday was CRAZY.  We had some crazy miracles.  Sister Ninataype  and I were working super hard.  We set high goals for the week and we hadn't really found anyone solid with a baptismal date in the month of november yet.  So we decided to go out and contact some referrals that we had received a while back- but never could find home.  So we went to this little apartment complex and talked to this man named Jesus- and he was busy- but he told us to go visit 3 of his neighbors.  So we went. The first door we knocked wasn't ready to listen quite yet.  So we knocked the second door.  And this man named Eleazar Martinez came to the door and we started talking to him about the Gospel(like any missionary would on a door contact..haha) and started talking about baptism. yay! and we invited him to be baptized right there after talking to him for like 10 minutes. and he accepted! and said "i have always wanted to be baptized, i just never knew where to go."  We were so excited. and set up a return appointment with him.  THEN we were walking back to our car that we had parked a little ways a way (we were contatacting formers and stuff in between) we heard someone walking behind us.  So we turned around and started talking to Christopher Pena.  And he also accepted a baptismal date in the first 10 minutes of talking to him. It was amazing. we set up another return appointment with him as well. So in 20 minutes we have 2 new investigators with baptismal dates. and we were like 'AH whats happening!! this is great!!'.  So we kept going. and went to visit a family that we have been trying to teach (another referral. we received 9 referrals this week and 8 last week. we have so many we don't have enough hours in the day) anyways- Crystal comes out. and once again we start talking about baptism. AND SHE accepted a baptismal date as well!! 3 new investigators in a 45 minute period of time.  it was literally insane.  Then we had a great rest of the night as well.  did some good member work and got another new investigator named Roxanne. She is super cool. =D  She is also a member referral.  She is super prepared for the gospel.  She has a lot of questions and stuff.  Pray for these people please? Thanks. =D November 17 is going to be a busy day for us. =D yay bautismo!! God is a God of Miracles!! I see them EVERY day. =D i feel so blessed every day.  Thank you so much for all the prayers and support.  Everytime i hear someone pray for the missionaries it makes me feel so good.  This is God's work! It has sped up! ATON! Nothing is holding it back.  I feel so blessed to be apart of it.  As you all pray to have missionary experiences you will as well.  You will be able to watch as family and friends  be filled with the hope and love of Chirst. They NEED the gospel that we have.  At times it is hard to step out of our comfort zone and invite someone to come unto chirst- but it is worth it. As we follow Christ's example and do hard things we will be blessed with miracles.  At times- the ones we invite don't accept-BUT the the success is not always just in the end result-  The success starts in the invitation.

I love you all! have  a wonderful week! you are in my prayers!!

-Hermana Wiser

October 14, 2013 - Oscar and Guillermina Lucia-Anita Sanamiego Moctezuma: WEDDING AND BAPTISM

This picture is right after they got the marriage liscense!! yay!!

This is their son edgar. he is SOOOO cute

Dinner to celebrate the marriage liscense!! they found a place with super yummy gluten free pizza! yay!!

Right before she put on the wedding dress!!

The happy couple!!!

The first hug!! right after they got married!!

yay!!! they got Married!!

The bride and SISTER WISER. =D 

haha this is me tryng to be a photographer. They had fun. 

They are baptized!!! happy day!! 

Hello Family and Friends!!

This week hasd literally been the most INSANE week of my entire mission. SOOO MANY MIRACLES!!! First off let me give you a little account of the weekly schedule last week.  Monday- We had all of the new sisters- fresh from the MTC come to stay with us. It is SOO great to see the Greenie fire! What a blessing. Tuesday- Transfer day.  We had to pick up all the new sisters from the members houses they were staying with and take them to the mission home.  Then as we were dropping them off President Maluenda invited us to stay for breakfast with them as well.  So we went in and ate. Then while President Maluenda and the assistants were doing their thing and handing out 'new area callings' we did all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.  It was nice to know that Sister Maluenda wasn't going to have to clean up after 20 new missionaries. So that was a nice little blessing we had. THEN-Tuesday afternoon OSCAR AND MINA GOT THEIR MARRIAGE LISCENSE!!!!! We were waiting there at the court house for them. Praying that they would show up. and sure enough, they did! They were so cute as well. Just happy and excited! I have pictures of everything that i will attatch. so stay tuned. 

Then tuesday night ALL the 'Dying sisters'(sister missionaries that were finishing their missions) came to stay with us.  it was crazy- Having ALL the newbies one night and the dying the next night.  It was really neat experience.  I have definately made friends on the mission that I will keep forever. 

Wednesday we did a training for a zone that we have sisters in. It was really fun! Our Topic was 'Overcoming discouragement'. It was fun. We were basically cheer leaders. haha. yay.  

Thursday we did an exchange with some of the Hermanas.  it is such a blessing to do exchanges.  I learn SOOOO much everytime.  At times I am not sure why I am an STL at this point. But I know that God is helping me to learn and grow. he is making me into the person that he wants me to be.  Such a blessing. I am so blessed. 

Friday- Sister Ninataype had a Doctors appointment- then we were filled with appointments with other investigators and people. 

Then SATURDAY!!! We started the day at our Mcallen Zone meeting. We did another training on the Book of Mormon and using it in helping the conversion of ourselves and of our investigators.  THEN THE WEDDDDDDIIIIINNGGGG!!! OSCAR AND MINA GOT MARRIED!!!! Everything turned out so beautifully. The ward was great and provied a really pretty cake. We had some members show up to help decorate. A member let Mina borrow a dress that was perfect. and one of the biggest miracles was Sister Neil.  She is a senior missionary in our mission. She is wonderful! She reminds me of Grandma Bassett. I give her a hug every time I see her. Anyways- earlier on in the week we were telling her about Oscar and Mina. and how we had a dress for her- but we didn't have a jacket/shrug/bolero thing to make it modest. And she offered to make one for her! So we showed her the dress and she made one that fit her perfectly in 2 days.  You can just see the love that she had for mina. It was such a miracle! Then Sister Ninataype and I  wanted to suprise her with a boquet. So we made one for her with the help of sister Neil.  Haha I never thought I would learn to make a wedding boquet on my mission. it turned out pretty good. =D yay. I did her hair and her new sister in law did her make up.  She looked beautiful.  She just kept saying thank you- over and over and over agian.  She really wansn't expecting anything- but it turned out beautifully. They were just SOOOO unbelievibly happy. The ceremony was super simple.  The bishop married them- and gave a few words of advice. Then they cut the cake and everyone got a peice. Then we took some pictures of them.  I think I might want to look into photography... haha =D it was fun.  They aren't the best quality pictures- but at leas they will have something to remember.  Then after that Oscars mom- Sister Rodreguiez- invited us over to eat tamales!! yummo!! They are super super super goood. All was well for the baptism Sunday at 12:30.

Sunday Morning we got up- as usual. And went to go pick up the suit that Oscar had borrowed from one of the elders in the mission and drop off some ties for him to wear to church. And ALL of a sudden they said that they wanted to post pone the baptism. and inside I was just thinking 'NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" So I said a prayer in my heart- and Sister Ninatype and I started talking about the blessings of baptism. And they were not going for it.  Sister ninataype then had the idea to change it to 6:00 that night instead of having it at 12:30. and they tentitively agreed. So we left the house praying that everything would work out.  We had literally done ALL that we could- Almost!  Neither of us had eaten yet that day- and we decided right then to start a special fast for them.  It says in the scriptures that if we ask, having faith that God would provide.  So we went on with our day in Faith. At first I was really stressed and freaking out. But I said a prayer and I just had this feeling of calm. I knew that everything would be okay. And zi had this feeling that Oscar and Mina were in the hands of God.  He knows best. So we went to our Spanish ward in Pharr Texas.  And zi did a special musical number.  I sang 'How Great thou art" (Grande eres tu).  It went well.  I hope it brought the spirit.  Then afterwards one of the sisters in the spanish ward asked me to help play the piano in the primary. =D So zi am playing the piano with all the darling primary kids singing in spanish.  The primary program is november 18.  It is going to be great.  I was sitting at the piano- listening to all these wonderful children just bustin it out- spanish style. And I could feel the spirit SOOO strong.  Especailly when they sang a childs prayer.  It brought tears to my eyes.  I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to help them out with their primary program.  I am starting to learn all of their names too. So everytime they see me the ALL come up and give me hugs. =D I love it. =D So we kept going through our day. Waiting to hear from Oscar and Mina. and we still hadn't hear a word.  Then about 3:45 Oscar called us. and said 'HEY sisters!! whats up!! hey we were just wondering what we need to bring for our baptism at 6:00. it can still happen right?" AND I JUST ABOUT DIED OF HAPPINESS. Prayer works!! fasting works!!! it works SUPER well!! So we got everything ready for the baptism.  The ward really helped us to pull everything together.  They asked me to give the baptism talk- so that was fun.  It was so great to see them standing there- in their white clothes. They were both smiling from ear to ear. Then we went to the font. =D Mina got baptized first. and as she came out of the water she just had the BIGGEST smile on her face. then she watched from the stairs as her NEW HUSBAND was baptized. The spirit was SOOO sweet and strong. after they were baptized Mina said to oscar "hey babe! wanna give me a hug?" So they hugged right there in the font. It was just great! I was litterally jumping for joy. hah ( picture me bouncing around- because that is definately what happened).  Then our ward mission leader (who is a boss) invited them to both share their testimonies.  And they were the most beautiful and simple testimonies.  It literally brought tears to my eyes as Mina testified of the power of prayer and her excitement to go to the temple. And oscar testified of the power of the priesthood- and his knowledge was that THIS is the true church. The spirit was there SOOO strong!! AHH I get chills just thinking about it. After the service- Oscar's Mom (who is a member) came up to me and Sister Ninataype and just hugged us over and over and thanked us.  For helping her Son finally take the step of baptism.  He had been SOOO close so many times. How great missinary work is!! uniting families!! I am just happy. As we were walking to our car- oscar was like lets jump!! haha so he counted to 3 and we all jumped and said 'yay!' or something close to that. It was funny.  They are just SOOOOOOO happy!!!!!! yayayayayay!!! It has been such a blessing to be apart of Oscar and Mina's life.  It was a bumpy road- but my faith has been strengthened. I know that God is a God of miracles. HE loves us because we are his children. He knows the things that we need. When we put our trust in him EVERYTHING works outs.  AlWAYS. because he is in control- and in his Loving arms we are safe.  I love you all! have a wonderful week!

-Con Amor

Hermana Wiser

October 7th, 2013

This is me and Edgar. Oscar and Mina's 3 year old son.  He is hilarious. ever time he sees us he says 'HEY THE SISTERS!!!" then every time we leave he says "I LOVE YOU GUYS!!' so dang cute

one of the sisters had a birthday! so we celebrated with ice cream.  She is also alergic to Gluten. so i was able to hook her up. =D yay.

This is a picture of us drinking Mexican fruit punch. SUPER GOOD. Oscar tried to teach us to pop off the little metal cap things with a lighter and our big knuckles. funny joke oscar. it didn't work.

This is our STL board from last month. Crazyness!

This is a HUGE roach we killed. Sister ninataype started screaming one night. and this little friend was chillin on our wall. So we both got a raid can and sprayed it to death. yummo.

These are some humans in our zone that came to lunch after conference! at red robins they make GF burgers! i ate one with a bun! it was super super super good. =D yay.

its butterfly season. and i saved this butterfly from being squished.

This is a  picutre of us and our zone leaders. after conference President invited us to the mission home for ice cream. and then we had a little 'share your talents' thing. SO i sang come though fount. accomponied a couple of people. and then sang with SISTER SANDERS! my mission momma. and sister dudding. it was fun. yay

Hello!

How is everyone doing? What a wonderful week! We had a bunch of great miracles this week.  Good news- Sister Ninataype and I are staying the the great area of LA VISTA. I am SOOOO happy. I was praying that we could stay together another transfer.  It has been super super super great.  And we have SOOO much work to do here. ALL the people are going to get baptized. 

HMMM where to start. Literally we have just had a super crazy week.  We ALWAYS have something going on. (obvously.. we are missionaries) Ha but really- We always have appointments.  We don't have enough hours in the day.  We started the week off with a really great Family Home Evening with some BOSS members- The carpenters and Oscar and Mina.  Sister carpenter talked about eternal marriage and getting sealed in the temple. Which was perfect for oscar and mina. They are back on track!!! YAYAYAYAY!!!!! miracles.  So that was the start of a really good week. Then on thursday night Oscar's mom (who is a member in the hidalgo zone leaders area) invited them over for a lesson. Oscar and Mina wanted us there. So we went and ate some really great Mexican food and again had a lesson about the blessings of keeping the commandments(marriage=D).  So- The wedding is planned for sunday and the baptism is for sunday night.  We are getting the marriage liscense tomorrow at 3:00. then they are getting their baptismal interviews on thursday. Bah! it has been crazy and great.  THEN to top it all off- we had conference.  Oscar and Mina came to the saturday morning and the sunday morning.  AND THEY WERE PERFECT.  Haha you can always rely on the prophet to say it right.  I loved all the talks on baptism and keeping commandments and covenants.  They were literally perfect for oscar and mina.  And Mina was SOOO pumped to listen to the prophet.  They love Thomas S Monson.  It is super cool. it was just great. So- This week is going to be literally insane. The wedding WILL happen.  We are also doing 2 trainings at 2 different zone conferences. And this week we have all the new sisters coming from the MTC staying with us, then tomorrow all the sisters that are ending their missions are staying with us. Plus all the other missionary stuff. and an exchange on thursday. Yay! Craziness!  I am loving every minute of it. It truly makes the time FLY.  My Birthday is on our huge transfer calendar.  SO WEIRD.  We are thinking about november. AHH. We are setting baptismal dates for November.

I can hardly believe that a year ago i decided to serve a mission! And now i am here in 'almost mexico'. It has been wonderful.

So something great happened this week.  I was talking to a lady- and i had a full conversation with her in spanish and it didn't even phase me! I think i am finally getting it! Yay! Gift of tongues. =D

Also- we have this amazing little japanese member in our ward.  She is a widow- her husband passed away a few years ago.  She is literally the sweetest lady ever. She doesnt speak much english. But she is helping us make TIE SKIRTS.  They are going to be great. So we went over there for a minute and we had done all the preparation (i have no idea how to explain this to you.. i can't sew.) anyways she looks at me and says "you sew?" and my eyes got really wide and i said... 'uh no... but i can learn!' and she said 'NO, no no you cant mess up this fabric.' haha epic fail. =D then she said. 'its okay its okay... i sew it. i sew it.' She is so darling.  We love her.  The great part was that we were visiting her one day and we told her that we wanted to make a tie skirt. and she stood up and walked out to the room. She came back a few minutes later with a tie skirt in her hand. haha she had already made one! So soon you will have a picture with all three of us wearing our tie skirts.  We are spoiled. =D

This week i realized how terrible i am at home making. I CAN clean. hah but can't always cook. and definately cant sew.  it is a work in progress.  Hey Grandma Bassett- Remeber those super yummy twice baked potatoes that you make? Yeah. I had a major craving for them this week.  And we were with oscar and mina and they wanted to eat with us after conference. So i volunteered to make those, and i really talked them up... and made them sound delicious. haha i had absolutely NO idea how to make them. So Sister Ninataype and I run to the store. and she was like 'What do you need?' and i said 'A cook book. Hurry!' so we are running through the isles of the HEB, looking for a cook book that has the recipe to grandma's potatoes. No luck.  So We just grabbed what i thought was in them.  Cream cheese, cheese, bacon, and potatoes. So sunday morning- we pull out all the stuff. and i still have no idea how to make them. So we bake the potatoes- but have to leave so we don't miss conference (mistake #1) they were almost done so we just turned the oven off and let them sit in there. When we got back we started making them and they were not cooked all the way.  But we had already cut the potatoes in half and put the insides in a bowl. SO i just started adding stuff.  I have no idea. And i said a prayer that they would work. =D haha like any good little missionary would. It was looking really bad.  So we just kept adding stuff. like milk, butter, cream cheese, salt and pepper. It tasted okay- but they were super gluey and nasty. But we decided to have faith and take them anyways. So we put the gluey nastyness into the potatoe skins and covered them with bacon and cheese then threw them in the oven to bake again.  We went over to eat, and i was so worried that they were going to be terrible. BUT GUESS WHAT?  We had a twice baked potatoe miracle.  THEY WERE SO GOOD.  Prayer works, and our oven must be blessed. They went from terrible-nasty-yucky- potatoe mush- To Heavenly-cheese covered-fluffy potatoes. they were a hit. =D haha. SO- grandma, maybe  you can send me the recipe? haha thanks. =D

AND CONFERENCE!!!!! AHHHH IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!! it is not every day that the Prophet of God says that this was his favorite session.  it was good.  Oh man i took so many notes i cannot even begin to share them all.  i loved the quote 'Doubt your doubt before you doubt your faith'. SO true.  And i loved all the stuff on missionaries and member work! It is so true! Without the missionaries and members working together it is impossible to have success.  NOW IS THE TIME.  Another thing that i thought was really crazy was when..i can't remember who said it... Said something like 'now is a time just a epic as the first vision'... and all the miracles of the past.  Can you believe that?  The Lord has truly saved us to do his holy work here.  The prophet has called us to help too.  It is such a miracle.  I loved the whole 'make a family missionary plan' thing as well. It every person in the world would invite 1- just 1- person to come unto christ by christmas- we could have 15 million NEW members. COME ON PEOPLE!! Start inviting! Even if it is something simple like to youg womens (shelby) or young mens(stanton) or relief society (mom) or motorcycling(dad) hah. What ever it is we can always be inviting.  Thanks mom and dad for always being such a great example. =D The time is truly at hand.  We are preparing for the coming of our Lord and Savior. When it is all said and done- when we stand before the judgement bar of God- I want to hear the words "well done my good and faithful servant." I know that we determine that conversation we have with God by what we do now.  If we do what God has commanded us and truly apply the atonement of Christ we can stand SPOTLESS before him. One day we will ALL have a personal interview with the Father.  I am SOOOO grateful that i have the gospel. That i have the truth. That i know the way back to the presence of GOD. We are so blessed. 'and when you are converted, strengthen your brethren'.  We are so blessed to be able to share what we know to be true. Lets do it! yay! we are apart of GODS ARMY! Lets go out and DO WORK!! WAHOOO!!

Love you all! have a wonderful week! i am excited to hear about all of your missionary experiences. =D An invitation given with love will never offend. =D invite! keep your missionaries super busy up there.

UNTIL NEXT WEEK!

-Hermana Wiser