Adventures in Richmond

My cute Cristian, growing up. I asked him if we could take a picture and he said, in a very suave voice "con gusto". Too funny.

This is my posterity, my hija, and her hija. They are too cute.

Elba and Karina.

email 9.22.14

This week has been insane.  In the best way, por supuesto.  But just out of control all at the same time.

I am not even sure where to start.  So first of all we are having a baptism this Friday or Maria, Keyla, and Ester, and they are just progressing like crazy.  They are so excited for their baptism, loving church, and eating up every lesson.  It is just fun.  They are such sweet girls and we are so so so happy for them.  

We have a cute pregnant investigator, Cinthia, and her nine year old daughter, Nicole, who are just awesome.  Cinthia is super cute, but opinionated, sassy, strong, you know, my kind of person, and just gets it.  They had missed a couple weeks of church, so we taught them about the Sabbath day, and bam there they were Sunday.  

We met a serious, black, Dominican man, named Nino this week when we were looking for a former that I taught last year.  He is super intelligent, and we teach him one principal, and hes like ohh yes that makes sense.  He came to church this week and afterwards he said "that was really positive, and I will be coming next week".  He is sweet.  

The cute branch here is doing so well, they are all just started to get excited, and starting to figure it out.  We even meet in the chapel now.  It is just so fun to see all of my gente and to see how they have progressed over time.   The Chavez family is doing wonderful, I just get emotional thinking about them.  My cute cute cute people.  

So the area is rocks.  

So now for the Richmond Adventures.  First on Wednesday we had sisters meeting, with all the sisters in the mission.  It is always the best meeting, because we get to talk about feelings and also eat salad together.  Me and Hermana Rosen trained on Faith and Esther.  It was a real tear jerker.  We taught about "self talk", and having faith in God and faith in our potential as divine daughters of him.  It is just so important to me that ever sister understands her worth, and how much our father in Heaven loves them.  So this self talk thing is cool.  What you do it you read your patriarchal blessings and create a list of "I am statements", por ejemplo, "I am patient".  So then you make a list of 5-8 I am statements.  Then everyday you make small goals of how you can be each of those things, and as you act, those I am statements literally become who you are.  It is sweet.  Anyways the meeting was awesome, and afterwards all the Sister Training Leaders went back to presidents house to have dinner before we went out on splits with sisters in the area.  Then we stayed over the night in the mission home because the next day we had a Sister Training Leader training meeting.  We had way way way too much fun.  We got up early to play sports with president, and just had a big sleepover, followed by another amazing meeting the next day.  We were spiritually and physically exhausted, but happy, so that was good.  Then we spent that evening in our own area, but then Friday we turned right back around to go to Richmond again, more specifically Chesterfield, because our cute cute precious Elba was getting baptized!  She is a dear investigator, that Hermana Rosen and I taught together, and I taught for the whole 6 months I was there.  She had a few challenges before she could get baptized, but she always knew it was true, and now she gets to have the blessings.  We were just thrilled, and there were a ton of missionaries there who had all taught her, it was a sweet experience.  Our member dropped us off at the baptism, so we spent the night again at the mission home...but on  our way to the mission home the member let us take a stop to see our cute favorite Cristian, and Ruben!  We were about in tears, and they were just as happy to see us.  We were very blessed.  The next morning President and Sister Wilson drove us back up to Harrisonburg, because they were conducting interviews.  

I just have to talk about President and Sister Wilson for a sec.  They are my heroes.  We have spent a ton of time with them recently, and I just try and soak up every bit of advice from them that I can.  Sister Wilson just does her own thing, and President Wilson loves her to death.  I really feel like President has helped me to grow my desires to be good, to follow the commandments, just because it is the right thing to do, and for no other reason.  He just makes me want to be better.  I love and respect them both so much.  On Saturday after the interviews they took us out to dinner, and we had a wee of a time.  I love them dearly.  

Sunday was awesome, like I said, everyone came to church, so we were happy.  This morning we also got the privilege to see the movie "Meet the Mormons".  It was awesome.  Apparently 70% of people that watch the movie want to talk to the missionaries.  So I don't know if it is playing at home, but get people there.  It is just very informational, really helps you see who we are, and how diverse we are, even with the same beliefs.  

I am happy here in the Harrisonburg, really really loving it.  I am just so happy to be a missionary, so have such a great purpose, and I know that through the Lord that I can accomplish all he wants me to.  My Heavenly Father in my best friend, and I know he will never let me down.  Isn't that just fun.  I love love love you!  

Besitos, Hermana Myer

God is so good.

email 9.15.14

Riley Jane is back to first address if you have a hankering to send her some snail mail.  Thank you all for loving this amazing girl!  Have a great week!

Hermana Myer

228-D Rocco Ave

Harrisonburg, VA 22801

There are just so many things to say, I have no idea where to start.  First of all could not be more thrilled to be back in the Harrisonburg, with my Hermana Rosen.  Just too good to be true.  Cried sitting on the pew by myself in transfer meeting (because she had to stay up here).  Mostly just too too good. 

So I guess first things first, I got to see my cute Darlene and Yuleli!  They are just cute as ever and just ecstatic to see me, which is always fun.  They have been doing great, when they got baptized their dad was reactivated, but there mom was a different story.  She started warming up to us, but told us that she promised God she would never go back to church, not even go in the building, besides for her girls baptism.  But a month ago Darlene went to the temple for the first time to do baptisms with the ward, so the whole family went along to go into the visitors center, and even their mom went!  Then the next Sunday she came to church.  MIRACLE.  She didn't come for a few weeks, but she came yesterday, and we shared a hug and a cry right there in the middle of the chapel.  That is gong to be an eternal family, and I couldn't be more thrilled.  It has taken them a while, but how blessed am I to be able to be here again with them to help them get to the temple.  God is just too good to me. 

I got to see my cute Flor (favorite member whose childbirth I witnessed) and she has been having a rough past year.  I was devastated because they moved earlier in the year to Texas and some sketchy things where happening, and they had to some back to Harrisonburg because her husband had to go to jail here for a few months.  So that was really sad.  But she was also so happy to see me and we had an awesome lesson with her, and she just gets it.  She has not lost her testimony through all of the hardest times.  And the kids are as cute as ever, and Genesis is huge!  Just darling.  She is just so fuerte and such a good example. 

The branch is doing great, it is growing, and they even meet in the Chapel now.  They are just so cute.  I am just so excited to be back and actually speak Spanish now, and I know that there are a ton of reasons why I am here. 

As for being a Sister training leader, it seems pretty much the same!  We are over 4 sets of sisters who we do exchanges with each 1 time a transfer.  So not too much English work!  Hurray!  But we are here to help them be better, set visions for them and their areas, and mostly just love them.  We have another set of hermanas  in the ward, my bff from the CCM, Hermana Wilkins, so that is fun.  I don't really know the other sisters, so I am excited.  Mostly we just are supposed to be good examples and love them, and teach them!  This week we have a training meeting in Richmond so I will get more of an idea. 

As for being with Hermana Rosen it has been amazing.  The first night we got together we talked forever and we are both just at the best time in our missions to do work and to have faith.  We are teaching a lady named Maria and her two cute daughters Keyla and Ester.  Last week, when I got here, they where not feeling sure about getting baptized, saying they were going to go back to the Catholic church etc...but that first night Hermana Rosen and I talked about having faith in God that he can work through he and just making him our best friend through prayer...and then we just worked like crazy.  They all had their little hold ups, but after much fasting and prayer and talking, they all knew it was they needed to and wanted to do.  We saw them last night after church and they all three committed to be baptized on September 26th.  It was a miracle.  I just saw God working so hard, and us trying everything we could, and it worked. Faith is real.  He listens to us.  He loves us, and he is just good. 

I am so so so happy to be here, there is just so much goodness.  We have been doing a lot of contacting and talking to people, but we are not wasting time, the people who are ready are the ones we are teaching.  I know that Heavenly Father loves us very much, he cares about us individually.  My Heavenly Father is my best friend, and I know I can trust him with my life, and I know that when I have faith in the Savior, everything will turn out just fine.  I love love love you all so much!  Have the best week! 

Besitos, Hermana Myer  

Cambios!

email 9.8.14

Well I am sad to report and I leaving my cute hija, it was a day of tears that is for sure.  We have some really good work going on up here in the woodhood.  I am leaving, and becoming a sister training leaders, and she is staying here and training!  A little loco, but it should be good.  Mostly Hermana Collins is really nervous, but she is going to be great!  Hurray!

Last p-day we found the only Jamba Juice in Virginia for Hermana Collins, Me and the STLs surprised her.  It is on the Marine base.  We were very sneaky, and she cried.  So fun. 

This week the work slowed down a little bit.  For whatever reason we didn't see all of our progressing investigators until the weekend...so that was hard.  BUT we had some really really great lessons when we did see them! 

We saw our cute Hernandez family who have come to church a few times, but are just still on the fence about really committing.  We taught them some of the commandments and they willingly accepted to live them.  They really are so great, just still a little unsure.  They have a baptism date for two weeks, pray for them.  I had the opportunity to bare my testimony to them, like the whole thing.  I just felt right and like what they needed to hear.  It was kind of surreal, when I was talking it just didn't seem like I was saying the words, it was almost like I was listening to myself too, and top it off in Spanish.  It was just cool.  I felt the spirit working directly through me.  Fun. 

We had a super fun lesson with our ninos, noelia and Amilcar.  They are still coming to church a reading and all that jazz, but are lacking support from their parents...We had a lessons about using the scriptures, church, and prayer to conquer our doubts.  So clearly we filled up waterballoons with paint and water and pinned them to a foam board and labeled them our doubts...and then we labeled darts with the scriptures, church and prayer, and then we popped our doubts with the darts.  It was too fun.  I love teaching kids, they are humble and happy to learn.  They are my favorite. 

On Friday night Mishel came out with us again.  She just started community college so she has been pretty busy and not able to come out with us, but finally we found a time.  She told us that she had been having a hard week and was feeling a little depressed, and by the end of the night she was just happy.   Sharing the gospel makes us happy.  That is real.  And how could anyone not be happy after a great lesson with Hector!  He is a real gem, I will attach a picture.  He tried to give me a besito when I said goodbye, but I intervened real quick.  Too good. 

Anyways we spent some time saying goodbye to our favorite people, some tears were shed, but I can rest easy knowing I am leaving Hermana Collins here.  She is the BEST!  

ALSO we had zone meeting and they told us that the week of the 27th the whole mission is going to read the Book of Mormon all week.  We will do normal studies, and if we have any super super solid appointment we can leave to go to those, but other than that everyone is just going to read the whole Book of Mormon.  We are super excited! 

I love being a missionary.  I love this gospel so much.  I love being happy.  Keep sharing the gospel.  Love love love you! 

xoxo Hermana Riley Jane

Gems

also check out this pictures of my basil plant, Hermana Collins is a tad bit Jealous because mine are taller than hers...and yes she was crawling across the table to attack me.  Sometimes studies get long...