FHE, making popusas!
Laundromat adventures
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
email 10.28.13
Mi familia!
This week has been nuts, again,
I am starting to realize that this is the way it is going to be, but I
love it, I love being busy. Turns out we did have bed bugs...it was a
nightmare! We had to wash everything EVERTHING, and if we couldn't wash
it we had to put it in bags for a week, so we are still not put back
together. But the good news is they exterminated those pesky little
guys! We also had an adventure at the Laundromat, and even found some
potentials...so hurray!
I didn't get your package, so hopefully it comes
today! I am excited, packages are the BEST. Sweet Sister McCraney sent
me a Halloween package this week, it was the best. And thank you for
sending the insurance info...I don't know what happened to the copy that
I had in the MTC, but I have it now, so that is great. I still haven't
talked to the doctor about sleeping, but I probably should soon because
this week I have really been exhausted.
This week has been full of answers to prayers. Last
week I was struggling with feeling like a "successful missionary", it is
sometimes hard when things fall through, people to come to
church...ect! I just really want someone to really want this gospel.
But we had an awesome district meeting last week and I made the resolve
to talk to everyone...and just keep doing everything in my power, and
praying, and it worked! When I say everyone, I mean everyone, even
people that speak English! It is really fun times.
So back to prayer...One of the other sets of sisters
lost their keys at the district meeting, they thought they locked them
in the car, but we started searching just in case. We stopped, said a
prayer, and found them in the trash can in the bathroom...simple
experience, but powerful. We asked to know where to find them, and he
told us. We all cried...its been an emotional week.
Yesterday we decided that we were really going to do
everything in our power to help our investigators come to church (the
past two weeks no one has come), drastic times call for drastic
measures...so we decided to hang out on Norwood (the hood, where the
majority of our investigators live) and get everybody moving. It was
the best, just going from door to door, helping with kids, picking out
outfits, sharing a scripture here and there...it was so much fun.
Although, by the time we got to church, we were exhausted! But it was
worth it. Maria was there, and she participated, and we had an awesome
lesson in Relief Society about strong women and how we can influence the
world, and she loved it! Moral of the story is, we literally did
everything we could, prayed, and the lord made up the difference!
I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers, it is
up to us if we use the resource or not! This week has been great,
things are starting to roll. Life is good. I love you all very very
much, thank you for always thinking of me. Don't forget to be
missionaries!
xoxo Riley Jane
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
we could always use a little more faith!
The sweet pillow case that Leann sent me! Love that woman.
Mana Sevilla, in our hood. It is still freezing, but there have been a couple of sunny days, its the best!
Halloween party.
This is Heidy, she is in our branch, and she is the cutest thing ever. We had a Halloween party.
email 10.21.13
Mi familia!
Hola! It looks
like you guys have had another crazy week, as have I! As always, I just
wonder if I will ever feel like I have a normal day here. I think
there is something in the water, because the people in Harrisonburg are
nuts. I love them, but they are crazy! But mostly it is the best of
times.
This week we have been so blessed, we have been
teaching lessons like crazy, and finding so many people to teach. We
are starting to feel adjusted to each other, my new companion and I, and
learning how we teach together. We have been really busy, but I like
it better that way, less time to sit around and dwell.
I have started reading Matthew and I love it. I am
also only on like chapter 14, because I have too many things that I want
to study! But I love reading all about the parables and the things
that Christ did. One thing that really stuck out to me, and that I have
been thinking about all weeks is when Christ walks on water and calls
Peter out to meet him. It says that he notices how stormy and scary the
water is, and he starts to falter, but then Christ reaches out and
helps him back up. At first he had the faith to start going and was
taking steps on his own, but when he paid attention to the world around
him he started to doubt. I feel like this is what I do all too often. I
am really good at starting out with faith, but sometimes I have moments
when I doubt and think I must be crazy for believing that some things
can happen. Sometimes I sink further down, but Christ always pulls me
back up. But I was thinking this morning, why ever doubt, it is just a
waste of time! And I know that Christ is always there, and he will pull
me back up, but if I know that, then there is no need to fall anyways.
Working on happiness always over here! There are so many things that
are out of my control, which can be hard at times. But I was thinking
about some advice that Ian Blackwelder gave Nicole and I at Christmas.
He said that sometimes missionaries lose their fire, even with a short
time here on my mission I have seen a lot of missionaries that have lost
their fire. Sometimes we just get into the routine and stop caring
about the things we are doing. I have found that if I can have faith,
never doubt, and just be happy, it helps other missionaries, and myself
to keep that fire. I love Ian, he is so wise.
With that being said, life couldn't be better.
Seriously. We are working on helping our investigators progress, and I
have been crying like crazy, I just love them so much. Mostly in our
lessons with Ramon and Maria. They are on their way! We taught them
about temples and eternal marriage, and they loved it. We also gave
them a talk by President Monson, well the whole Liahona, and they read
the whole thing together. Nothing makes me happier than seeing them
change, seeing them learn about and accept the gospel.
I almost forgot we had a fun Bed Bug adventure this
week! I started noticing these little bug bites on my hands/wrist mid
week. I didn't think much of them, but then I started getting more, and
they spread up my neck and on my face. So I called Sister Wilson and
she said we probably had bed bugs. They are pretty nasty little guys I
guess, so we had to tear apart our apartment looking for them, then buy
this spray, vacuumed everything, wash all our bedding, it was a huge
ordeal. We didn't find any bugs, and the zone leaders had to come over
and inspect too...but I still have the bites...we are not sure what they
are but now our apartment is really clean!
Life is good here in Virginia. I think about you
often, about how much I love you and how grateful I am for you. Thank
you for being supportive! Have the best week ever!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
email 10.13.14
Mi Familia-
It sounds like you
have been having great adventures in Utah, it all sounds like the best
of times! I am so happy for Uncle Aaron, he deserves it. Kenna sounds
like a regular old college kid! And I can't wait to see Ryder at
Christmas!
This week has been great! I am still here in
Harrisonburg, but everything has changed! I have the most awesome new
companion, her name is Hermana Sevilla, she is from Mexico/Arizonia, and
she is the funnest. We have already had some pretty good gut rolls,
and also matched outfits, so you know it was a match made in Heaven.
This week was crazy. We were running around trying to say goodbye to
everyone for Hermana George, and cleaning, and packing, and all that
good stuff. It was sad. As we were visiting everyone I started to feel
really overwhelmed, just a lot of responsibility to know the area and
the people and the investigators and all that good stuff. On Thursday
we went down to Charlottesville to drop off and pick up companions. I
got to see Hermana Olsen, she is serving in Charlottesville now, so that
was the best! And then Friday we had weekly planning which took forever, but it is good now, everything is starting to be normal.
On Wednesday
it started raining, and it still hasn't stopped, so that makes
everything exciting. Thank you for sending the jackets, It has been
freezing all week! And I loved the one from Costco, so I will send
yours back to you. Thank you thank you thank you! And Thank you for
the water bottle, it is all I ever dreamed it would be!
This week I started reading Jesus The Christ. It is
huge, and uses a lot of big words, but I am loving it. This morning I
was reading about our need for a Redeemer, how Christ is part of the
plan. Our Heavenly Father knew that we would not be able to do it on
our own, he knew that we would fall, but he gave us the hand to help us
get back up. It talked about how Christ was the only candidate to be
the redeemer, he is the only one without sin, and who literally had the
ability to keep his life (unlike us, we are subject to death) and the
ability to give it up for our sakes. Sometimes the atonement is hard
for me to understand, but I am loving learning all about Christ.
We have found some new people to teach this week, which
is always exciting. Last night we passed by some potential
investigators and had an awesome lesson with them. They are this cute
older couple from Cuba, who are political refugees. We just talked
about God's love for us, and how we can strengthen our relationship with
him. They have had some pretty rough times, but they are here now
trying to figure out life. I love them so much. This morning we went
to the Eye Doctor with them to help translate, which was exciting.
Lucky that I have Hermana Sevilla, because I have no idea how to say
Retina en Español!
Tell Grandpa and Grandma to come visit me! That would be the best ever! I will send them an email!
I
love being a missionary, I love sharing the gospel, and more than
anything I just love talking to people. Getting to know them. I think
I love more people than I every thought I could. It is the best! I
love you all very much, thank you for your love and support! I hope you
have a great week.
xoxo Hermana Myer
Monday, October 7, 2013
Conference and Craziness
From our hike last week.
Jeep with the zone leaders, they are funny.
Us and Alex, he is one of our neighborhood friends.
We went on a bike ride for pday last week!
More neighborhood ninos!
Reina, the gordita, she is obsessed with us and we are with her too... she's perfect.
email 10.7.13
Mi familia!
Hola! This week has been so full of so many good things that I don't even know where to start!
At
the beginning of the week I was feeling a little homesick, I don't know
why...we were really busy, and everything was good, but I was just
missing normal people that love me I guess. But of coarse Heavenly
Father sends his tender mercies. The next day I got a letter and a CD
in the mail from my dearest Anna. It was exactly what I needed, she is
my number one in the whole world. And the next day I got the package
from you guys, and it was just too perfect. Just small reminders that
you are all still out there and love me! So thank you, I needed that!
With the letter that Anna sent me she sent me a story
about a missionary who was confused as to how come he didn't have the
power that he wanted to be teaching with. Sometimes its hard to be
completely focused and in the state of mind to have the full power that
we have the ability to have. He was instructed to do a "40 day fast",
from all the things that he did that were "gray areas", rules that he
didn't follow exactly, but more than that, thoughts that he needed to
stop. I have found that that is the hardest part for me. I can
do/say/work as hard as I can, and can be doing the things that I am
supposed to, but its my thoughts and my deepest desires that are harder
to control. So I decided to do the same thing. It was actually pretty
hard to start it off, but I wrote down a list of all the negative
thoughts/though subjects I sometimes have, and pray specifically for
those things daily, that I will have the self control to not. So pretty
much, I am working on changing my desires, its harder than I had
expected, but I am excited!
We had the most awesome miracle this week! We had a zone meeting on Friday, where we talked about "obedience October" (we are studying our temple covenants). Later Friday
night we had an appointment with a new investigator. It has been
really hard to get a hold of him, and be able to teach him because he
lives with all men, or is home alone, so we have to have a third female
to go into his home and teach him. Friday
night we were planning on just teaching him outside, or taking him a
couple of doors down to our members house. (the member is a woman but
refuses to ever really leave her house or associate with humans, but she
was just going to stay in her room, just so we had someone else in the
apartment)...so we got to the appointment and explained to Jesus what
our plan was, but he told us that in his culture it is rude to not
receive people in your house when they come to visit you, so we would
have to reschedule...we were devastated! But we have a few female
member that live close and we knew that if we were being obedient to
this rule, the Lord would bless us with a way to accomplish it. So we
started running around asking all our member if they could run down with
us, and calling everyone we could think of, to no avail. We were
getting frustrated, but then decided to pray. As soon as we were done
praying the Spanish elders drove past us. We flagged them down, and
they agreed to teach the lesson for us! It was a miracle!
Conference was the BEST ever. I loved every minute of
it. I am still trying to process everything, because it was all soo
good. I loved all the talks about missionary work, it is something that
we are struggling with up here. Getting the member excited and
involved in helping us. With such few members here, we really do need
their help. I loved Elder Holland's talk, I cried. I thought about
Grandma Marie and the strength she had. I thought about her being
perfected, and when I see her again, I know we will rejoice together!
There was quite a few references to the fact that the decisions we make
daily will affect our eternity...which is scary, but true. Sometimes it
seems like a lot of responsibility, but we can do it! I loved D. Todd
Christofferson's talk about women, we rock. But seriously I thought
that it was a good reminded of the power that we have. And I loved the
references to the fact that we do have priesthood power in our lives,
even if we are not the carriers of it. Mostly I loved everything. We
watched it at the church, so that was new for me, but it is always the
same. I was thinking about you guys too, it is amazing how many people
were able to partake of the conference together! More thoughts to come!
In between sessions yesterday we went to visit Maria
(of Maria and Ramon) she is still on date for baptism, but is praying to
know what date. We were just passing by to see how she was, we didn't
have a lesson or anything. After we sang we asked her how she was
feeling about everything, the church, her baptism, what was on her
mind. She told us that she knows the church is true, it fills the
emptiness in her heart that she has felt in every other church. It was
the first time that I have really felt like someone is getting it, I am
helping someone on the path. The spirit was so strong, and I love her
so much. Hopefully she will be baptized on the 19th! Pray for her,
that she will receive the answer to her prayers!
I am not getting transferred, but Hermana George it.
It is sad times over here! I have just gotten comfortable and into a
routine, so I guess its time for a change. We are also getting another
set of hermanas in our branch, so there will be a whole new set of
missionaries in the area. I am excited, it should be good! And I am
really happy I am staying!
I love you all very much. Thank you for your love and
support! I want updates on all your missionary experiences, start
praying for those! I love my Savior, and I love being a missionary!
xoxo Hermana Myer!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
email 9.30.13
Mi familia!
Mom, you got
released! 162 weeks, is a lot of weeks! But I am so proud of you for
going to the temple every single week, you are an inspiration to me.
Also could not be happier about you being a ward missionary, you rock, I
am sure they love you. I wish we had a couple or ward missionaries,
that would rock, but we are working on it! Dad, I am glad all went well
with the Primary program, I wish I could have been there! Someone make
Luke write me a letter, how is high school?
Mom, I love what President Lamprecht in ward council
shared about going deeper with people, to the root of their problems.
We have been trying to do that with everyone that we meet with.
Instead of teaching less actives about church attendance, teaching them
about faith in Christ, or the importance of Book of Mormon study.
As far as ward council, I am sure it is very very different! We meet every sunday (except fast sunday)
with Presedente, and the first counselor, and the other set of
missionaries. We have tried to get the relief society president to
come, but its a work in progress! I guess its way more organized than
before we came, so thats good news.
We did an exchange from Monday
to Tuesday, with the Charlottesville Hermanas, and it was awesome.
Hermana Carn came up to Harrisonburg, and it was fun to get a taste of a
different missionary. She is the sweetest, and she helped me to focus
on teaching people, not lessons, everything went swimmingly.
Maria and Ramon invited us over for dinner on Wednesday night, and it was the best. I hear that when the investigators make food for you it really means they love you.
I
taught Word of Wisdom twice, for the first time in Spanish. After that
lesson, one of our investigators dropped us, and they other dropped her
coffee...soo mixed reviews. But still good. The word of wisdom just
makes so much sense.
We had Zone conference on Thursday, all day! We rode with the Zone leaders, so we had to go early (6:30),
and didn't get home until 7! But it was good, President Wilson was
there, and we had lots of good trainings and role plays. We got to role
play with another set of spanish elders, and I got alot of good spanish
practice. One of the Elders, Elder Guzman, he is from mexico, and he
is the hispanic clone of Boy Riley, so that was funny.
On Saturday
we had the international fair. We (with all the Harrisonburg
missionaries) set up a table and just talked to everyone. The fair is a
community thing where they have all kinds of
music/food/booths/activites from all the countries. It was a good
change of pace.
Saturday
night we went to Waynesboro to have dinner and watch the Broadcast with
all the stake. We had three of our hermanas come, and we had the best
time. I loved all the talks. One thing that I keep thinking about is
when the Prophet said that Heavenly Father just loves us. Its that
simple, it does not matter who we are, where we are, how much money we
have, he just loves us.
Sometimes as a missionary things can get
overwhelming, there is just so much to do, say, be, remember, and after
the zone conference I was feeling a little inadequate. But one of the
zone leaders said something that I loved. He said, you know what, all
you have to do is go outside, move you feet, move your hand (to knock a
door), open your mouth and say something that you know that is true.
That is how you share the gospel. It is just that simple. I love
being a missionary and being able to study to simple doctrine and
principals.
This week I have felt especially grateful for the prophet. When I heard him speak on Saturday
i just started crying. I feel so blessed to be able to know who he is
and have guidance from him. I am so so so excited for conference, it is
going to be the best ever!
I love you all very much!
xoxo, Hermana Myer
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