Thirty-eighth Week in the Field

Hola Everyone!

This week was so good! Hermana Reyes and I saw so many miracles, as usual, this week which helped us to keep working hard and pushing forward. 

This week were were able to finally meet Rosa! She's one of our investigators that has just recently undergone foot surgery. She's been through a lot in her life, including a bad marriage, child abuse, and all sorts of health problems. We were able to first talk to her about the Atonement and how we can turn to Christ in any of our problems and he'll help us overcome them. We shared Alma 7:11-12 and she teared up as she was telling us all about her difficult life. We went back the next day and started reading 2 Nephi 2 with her. We weren't able to finish it, but we were able to talk about how even though we can't control the decisions that others make, we can control the way we handle ourselves and our responses to such situations. I think she found a lot of comfort in that. Her boyfriend was there too after he picked up her grandkids from school, so we were able to teach him as well. Apparently, missionaries had taught him in the past as well, so when he saw us, he got excited and wanted us to give him his own copy of the Book of Mormon as well. It was so great to be able to meet him and see how they're such a support for each other. 

We were also able to meet with Tobias three times this week. He's been going through kind of a hard time with legal things and getting divorced from his wife. On Wednesday, we talked to him about the importance of obedience and following the prophets and how keeping the commandments will help us to receive spiritual strength. He responded well and agreed with everything we were saying, but his mind was preoccupied with a letter that he had gotten from his lawyer that was in English that he didn't understand. When we met with him on Saturday, we went over 2 Nephi 31 with him and what it means to follow Christ to the fullest. He understands that he needs to be baptized, but he wasn't sure if now was the right time for him to do it. We helped him to understand better that God would give him the answer he was looking for if he prayed and straight out asked. When we met with him on Sunday, we went over the city of Nephi analogy with him. He loved how the different layers of protection stood for different things that we can do in our lives to help protect us against the adversary. We discussed how when he's baptized and receives the Holy Ghost, that that will be another layer of protection to help him overcome his trials. We were able to set him with a goal of April 19 and 20 to be baptized and confirmed! He agreed to work towards it, but said that he was going to pray about it when he went home. He's doing so great in his progress and has already come to church so many times. 

We were knocking in a neighborhood as a back up for a lesson that fell through and we ran into a man whose name is Art. He owns his own financial company, so he doesn't "have a lot of time to go to church or be religious at all." We were able to start teaching him the Restoration and help him understand that religion isn't just a side hobby or something that someone goes to when they need help or want to feel comfortable, but that it defines who we are. As we were talking to him, I was able to share with him how I came to know that the church was true and that I didn't just keep going to church because my parents wanted me to or that's all I knew. It hit him a little, but he tried to brush it off. Hermana Reyes did the same thing and I could feel that both of our testimonies helped him realize that what we had to offer was true. He only speaks English, so unfortunately we have to refer him to the English elders, but there's a lot of potential with him. 

We were trying to contact a potential investigator this week, but instead we were able to meet his wife, Fabi. She told us that they're Catholic, but there's a lot of things that she doesn't like about the Catholic church, including confessing your sins to the priest. She feels like it should be a very personal process that we have with our Heavenly Father. We were able to teach her about how through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we can repent of all of our sins and become closer to God. She was really happy about this, so we talked to her more about the Restoration of the power of God on earth to be able to be baptized. She seemed a little hesitant, but we were able to give her a Book of Mormon, invite her to read it and pray about it, and set up a return appointment for this week. I'm really excited to see where this goes!

On a street over, that same day, we were trying to contact another potential and instead we met her brother, Omar. Apparently, his mom had been taught by the missionaries when he was a lot younger (8 or9 - he's now 15), but it didn't really go anywhere. When we started sharing the message about the Restoration, he stopped us and told us that this all sounded familiar. He told us that he thinks he remembers watching the Restoration video and feeling peace. We invited him to be baptized when he knew that these things are true, but we were unable to set him with a date. I'm so excited to keep teaching him this week and hopefully, he'll want to continue learning more about the church.

This week, our ward has decided to step it up in regards to missionary work. On Thursday night, all eight missionaries in the ward were able to meet with the leaders in the ward and get the names of all of the less actives or unknown people on the ward directory. As we started going through the names that we got from the Relief Society, we met one of the less actives. Her name is Reinalda. She's really old and, unfortunately, she has dementia. She doesn't ever remember being a member or even what the church is about. Every time we visited her this week, we had to re-introduce ourselves. Even though she doesn't remember us that well, we've been able to still visit with her and sing her songs when we go. I can tell that she can feel the spirit while we sing even though she may not remember everything that the songs talk about. Music has such a strong influence on inviting the spirit into teaching situations, so I love using it.

While we continued going through our less actives, we were able to meet the son (Brian) of one of the hermanas in the ward. When his mom took the lessons and got baptized about two years ago, he took the lessons as well, but he told us that he lost interest and got too busy to keep learning about the church. As we were talking to him, all five of siblings got home at once from school and came and talked to us as well. Apparently, all his brothers and sisters go to church every week because another hermana in the ward comes and picks them up. We tried to convince Brian to come this past week with his siblings, but he didn't come. Their mom came though! She only comes once every month because she has to work a lot. I have a really good feeling about Brian and I'm excited to keep working with him. 

We got to visit with the Macias family again this week. Hermano Macias told us that he feels bad that we keep coming by and he's not progressing. We told him not to worry about it, but asked if we could still come by to "practice" teaching the lessons that we teach to our other investigators. Him and his wife agreed, so we're excited to still be able to have contact with them. Before we left, we were able to talk about faith and how we need to exercise it so it can grow. We were also able to bring Hermano Juarez with us. 

This week has just been absolutely amazing in almost every way!  Thanks for all the love and support that you all give me!

Con amor,

Hermana Halliday

 Don't know what's going on with the creepy head!

Star Wars shout-out to Hermana Shepherd!

Cool animated character truck we found!  :-)

Thirty-seventh Week in the Field

Hola Everyone!

This week has been SO productive! 

With Hermana Shepherd on Monday, we were able to teach Charlotte one last time before I had to leave Moorpark. We taught her the 10 Commandments and she loved the hand signs that we showed her. She still really wants to be baptized, so hopefully Hermana Shepherd, Hermana Romero, and Hermana Hardy will be able to get her baptized this transfer. 

Hermana Reyes and I have been able to work so hard and see so many great things happen. First, we were able to meet with most of the leaders in the ward. They're all really enthusiastic about getting the work going and helping us as missionaries to be able to work as effectively as we can. Our bishop, Bishop Quesada, and our ward mission leader, Hermano Sanchez, both have interesting and upbeat personalities, but have been especially supportive and I can tell that they know how important this work really is. 

We've been doing better at getting to know the area and all of the people here as well. We've gotten lost a few times, but it only helps us know the area better. We've been able to contact most of our investigators and less actives in the area, but there are still a few that we haven't.

One of the first people that we were able to meet was Alma Nunez, a less active. She has such a sweet spirit and loves it when the sisters come over. In the past, the sisters would read with her from the Book of Mormon and answer any questions that she may have had from her personal reading. This week, we read with her in Alma 36 all about how Alma the Younger was able to feel God's love stronger in his life. She responded well and was able to apply it to her life with really any of our help. She also told us, though, that she feels like she has a hard time feeling the spirit constantly. She has that desire to feel it more, so we invited her to write in a journal how she feels when she's praying or reading the scriptures. We haven't been able to work with her that much yet, but she told us that she's been doing better at coming to church lately and that she wants to start coming back full time again. She wasn't at church yesterday, so there's obviously something that's holding her back a little. We're excited to start figuring out what her concerns are and to help her to overcome whatever's keeping her back.

We were also able to meet with Ivy, another less active who was just barely baptized in 2010, this week and get to know her a little better. She told us that she's been switching back and forth between the YSA ward and the Spanish ward, so that's probably why the ward hasn't seen her in a while. Even though she told us this, she also said that she just gets a little lazy sometimes and doesn't want to get up in the morning. We shared Helaman 5:12 with her and talked about centering our lives and our faith in Christ. I think she just doesn't fully understand what the baptismal covenant consists of, so I'm excited to be able to work with her so she can feel what she did when she was first taking the lessons and got baptized. 

On Tuesday, we were able to find two new investigators, Isabel and Octavio, outside of an apartment complex where we have some potential investigators. Isabel is pregnant with twins, they already have three other kids and they're only in their early 20's. As we talked with them, we found out that they're looking for more in their lives and want to help their kids have a strong religious foundation in their lives even though neither Isabel or Octavio are very religious. We were able to give them a Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet and set up a return appointment. When we went to visit them at their apartment, they weren't home, but I know the gospel can bless them so much, so we're going to keep trying and not stop until we're able to have a lesson with them in their home. 

On Thursday, we got to meet one of our investigators by the name of Tobias. He's homeless and only has a broken down truck that he lives and sleeps in when he's not working in the fields. We were able to talk to him about having faith and enduring trials and shared Alma 32:21 with him. He loved it and marked it in his own copy of the Book of Mormon. He told us that he wanted to share the verse with his whole family. Even though his situation isn't the best, the members have been doing great at fellowshipping him though! He's been to church almost every week since he's started being taught and the members give him rides. He wasn't at church this past week though because he had to help his brother do something at his shop. 

Multiple times throughout the week, we've stopped by at a part member family's home (the Macias'), but the member wife was never home. Her non-member husband was though and he's so great. The missionaries have been teaching him for almost 10 years, he comes to church all the time, he has THREE children serving missions right now, and he loves it when the missionaries come over, but something just hasn't clicked yet. We think that the reason he hasn't committed to baptism yet is because he hasn't been able to fully feel the Atonement in his life. According to his teaching record, he had had some issues in the past that kind of hurt their family and they're still in the healing process. We don't know exactly what kinds of problems they were, but we think that's what's holding him back. We're excited to continue working with both of them and helping them to feel the Atonement stronger in their lives.

At church on Sunday, we were able to meet one of our investigators that we had been unable to meet until then. Her name's Myra and she's married to a less active. In the past they hadn't been really open to the Elders that they were working with, but when we talked to her after church, she told us to come over to their apartment and get to know them better. Hopefully this week we'll be able to get over there and make some progress with them. Apparently, it was also a miracle that they were both at church because they hadn't gone in a while. AND they brought all of their kids. 

I love working here in Oxnard and I love the people here already. As soon as I got here, I knew that this was where I needed to be to help others come unto Christ. There are so many people here that need to feel the power of the Atonement and I feel like everything that I've had to go through the past few transfers has helped me to understand it better myself so that I could help these people as well. I'm so grateful to be here and be companions with Hermana Reyes. She's such a great missionary and she definitely knows how to work hard. We have a lot in common, so we're able to get along really well and be pretty unified when we're teaching. 

I've made it a goal this transfer each day to study the Atonement for just a few minutes each day during my personal studies. I know that as I do this, my understanding of it will grow even deeper and I'll be able to help the people here even more. 

I have to admit that being in a ward with three other sets of missionaries can be kind of hectic sometimes, but all of the missionaries that we're working with are all great and we all seem like we're all on the same page. The ward is really excited to have this many missionaries serving in just their boundaries and they call us their "little army." It's so true though. We're going to be able to accomplish great things while serving here all together. 

Now, a little bit about my comp! She's so great!  She was born in Mexico, but was raised in San Diego.  She loves country music!  She was sick for a while the past few transfers to.  She has really cute clothes that I can borrow.  She's a twin.  She doesn't like feet.  I'll probably include more throughout the transfer! :)

Thanks for everything that you all do and have done for me to be able to get to this point in my mission!  Love all of you!

Con amor, 

Hermana Halliday

Psalms 104:33-34

We Hermanas in our "Neff Gear."  Bro. Neff is the High Councilman over the branch in TO.

 My new SWEET ride!  JK.  It's Hermano Parra's car.  :-)

 Hermana Shepherd and me with Charlotte.

 Elder Bostrom, a GREAT zone leader.  He went home this week.  Classic Asian pic!  :-)

 Free roaming rooster in one of the more sketchy neighborhoods we work in.

 The flood as a result of the downpour of rain we've been getting.

 

A puppy that followed us around when we were working.  Hermana Reyes named it "Cosita."

Thirty-sixth Week in the Field

Hola Everyone!

SOOOO....We got the news this morning on transfers.....I'm no longer in Moorpark :(

BUT....I'm going to Oxnard and will be serving in the 5th ward area 4 and whitewashing with Hermana Rayez!  I can't believe that there's four areas in this one ward, but we'll see how it goes!  We'll also be living with two other companionships!  It'll probably be a party, but I'll let you know more next week. :)

Hermana Shepherd's going to be staying in Moorpark (the ward and the branch still!) and serving with Hermana Romero AND Hermana Hardy!!!  I have no doubt that Moorpark will be in good hands. 

On a spiritual note, this week has been so incredible! We've seen so many miracles and I know that it's because of all of the hard work we've been doing. We've been focusing a lot on inviting people to be baptized within the first moments of speaking with them. It's been a lot more productive because we've been able to figure out who's really interested by helping them understand our purpose. I'm so grateful for having been able to focus on that this past week and thrilled that we were able to invite 20 people to be baptized. I'm especially grateful for our zone leaders and how much they pushed us to exceed our goals and help us understand that the Atonement effects everything we do. I feel like I've grown so much this past transfer as I've been able to understand what exactly Christ has done for me.

Earlier this week, we received a referral from Church Headquarters for a man named Ashish. He was in Salt Lake City with his mom just to check out Temple Square and see the "Mormon Temple." When he was there he became fascinated with the idea of the Spirit World, the concept of the Book of Mormon, and he wants to be able to find more spiritual strength in his life. When we met with him, he told us that he's 36 and unmarried, but he really wants to be. He wants to turn to God in this trial and be able to find answers to many of his questions. His faith is amazing and he's willing to do anything we ask him to if it means that he'll come closer to God. We're planning on teaching the Plan of Salvation tonight at our appointment with him.

We've also been able to continue teaching Charlotte this week. She is such a cute little girl who really has a strong desire to be baptized. Although she wants to do this, she wants to be sure that she fully understands what baptism entails before jumping right into it. Every time we've visited her, she's had great questions and wants to keep learning more. The only concern that we have about her is that she doesn't always seem enthusiastic about us coming over. We're still trying to figure out if she's just really shy or if her mom is pushing her a little. She did however open up more this week and told us more about herself, which was great! I love seeing signs of improvement.

The Ramirez' and Ezra are doing so great! We were able to visit them twice this week and during the first visit, Brother Ramirez told us that now that Ezra's baptized, they've made the goal to go to the temple in one year! This is the first time that they've ever talked about this goal with anyone and made it audible. I love their family so much and I've loved being able to work with them through this difficult process of getting Ezra baptized and getting them, as a family, reactivated. Their oldest son, Kyle, as been going to mutual more often and firesides with one of the families in the ward too. He even told us that he wants to start going to seminary too! I'm so grateful that the ward is starting to step up and help all of these wonderful people here in Moorpark. We've been trying to work on getting Brother Ramirez a calling so that he'll feel more needed and wanted in the ward. It hasn't happened yet, but it will soon. We've also been trying to get Sister Ramirez to become closer with some of the members so that she'll feel more loved as well.

Pablo is doing absolutely amazing! After 7 months of being here, I've loved being able to see the transformation of him from depressed and lonely to hopeful and preparing to go the temple. I've seen the Atonement play such a vital role in his life and that's probably another reason why I appreciate the Atonement so much in my life and in the lives of others. It'll be hard to leave him after this long, but I know that Hermana Shepherd, Hermana Romero, and Hermana Hardy will take good care of him.

One of our investigators, Jason, has been really hard to work with lately. He has the desire to keep learning, but keeps telling us that he's lost his faith and that he doesn't know if God really exists anymore. He keeps cancelling and the rescheduling our appointments that we set up with him, so we don't know how devoted he is to learning. We don't want to give up on him, but we've been thinking a lot about dropping him, even though he doesn't want us to "give up on him." We'll see if he shows up to his appointment on Wednesday.

Also, all four of us Hermanas were able to sing in the branch on Sunday and it went great! :)

I've loved being able to be here in Moorpark for 5 transfers. I've loved being able to work through all of the difficulties and heartbreaks that have helped me to become a better missionary. Moorpark will definitely always be in my heart and the people even more so. The relationships that I've been able to form with the members and investigators here are so strong and I hope to be able to stay in touch with all of them. I've also loved being able to be companions with Hermana Shepherd. She's taught me so much about what it means to work hard and have a positive attitude while doing it. I know that she's so converted to the gospel and is going to accomplish great things during the remainder of her mission.

You're all so great!! Thanks so much for all the prayers!

Con amor,

Hermana Halliday

Hermanas and Pablo (CVM)

Me with the Parra Family

 Me with Jessica Parra

 Me with James Parra

The "TO Temple" Not really... just our church building that's HUGE!