Forty-second Week in the Field

Hola Everyone!

Transfer news - I'm staying here in Oxnard with Hermana Reyes!

This week has been so great! Like always, the last week of the transfer always has so many miracles happen and so much progress being made. 

Tobias is doing great like usual! He still has a few doubts about Joseph Smith and prophets in general, but he still wants to keep learning until he has that belief that we still need one today. Unfortunately, this weekend was the one weekend that he couldn't come to church all transfer. Of course, it had to land on General Conference weekend when we'd get to hear our prophet speak, but we're not going to let the adversary get to him. We're planning on reviewing some of the talks that were given with him, especially about the Restoration and having the strong foundation in Jesus Christ. Hopefully, he'll be able to come to Ward Conference next week and feel the spirit as people are talking about it around him. We're also working on teaching him English, so he can find a job a little easier. We decided to meet with him twice a week and one of those lessons would be purely devoted to English and the other about the gospel.

The Ruiz family is just as great as ever! We've been able to continue talking with Hermano and Hermana, but Martin is still avoiding us. We haven't been able to talk to him in about two weeks, so we've decided to shift our focus more to his parents and help his dad progress more in the gospel and bring his mom back to church. It's really hard because they both work on Sundays and they have a pretty hectic schedule during the week, but when we stopped by this week, we had a great lesson. We showed them the cup and knife visual to help them understand that the church of Christ can only have one foundation, the foundation that Christ set up. Hermano really liked it, but Hermana had a hard time focusing on the lesson because she was so tired. We're trying really hard to get him with a baptismal date, so hopefully this next week it'll happen.

Gladys and Cassy are two girls that we were able to find through a referral (their mom) that Elder Trujillo gave us from when he was working in the English ward. They're 14 and 8, respectively, and have a such a desire to keep learning about the gospel. They had really good questions and they accepted a baptismal date of May 10th. The only problem there is that we still need to get permission from their mom to teach them. We set up a return appointment for this week so we can meet her and talk to her about this too. We talked to Elder Trujillo and he told us that although the mom is really nice, he's not sure if she'll give us permission to teach her daughters. We haven't met her yet, but I really hope that she let's us! 

The Galvan family was able to come to General Conference! Hermana wasn't able to because she had to work, but we were able to find the kids a ride to come. They loved it and hopefully they'll talk about it with their mom and less active older brother! We still haven't had the chance to talk with Brian since we first met him, but his siblings are still trying to get him to come to church and participate more when we come over for FHE. We were able to talk to them about the plan of salvation on Monday and they practically taught it to us! They all have such strong testimonies. We're just trying to get the mom more involved and do more of the teaching. We understand that it's hard for her to be home a lot, but they could really use more of a solid foundation when they're home. We're planning on talking to the whole family about the gospel of Jesus Christ tonight when we go by.

We were able to have a lesson with Vivian again this week. She is such a sweet girl who gets really excited when we come over and are able to teach her about the gospel. She wants this so bad, but her mom is totally against it. She's 19 now, so she can make her own decisions, but it's hard seeing her get into little arguments with her mom. We were able to find a ride for her to come watch General Conference, but when we all got there to pick her up, her mom wouldn't let her come and blamed it on the fact that she has special needs and can't be away from her mom for that long. This caught us by surprise because even though we knew she had a few special needs, she goes to school and understands everything we teach her. It'll probably be harder than we thought to get her to progress more, but we're not going to give up. She wants this so bad and we're not going to let the adversary affect this. 

We were able to stop by and finally visit Alberto yesterday. We didn't have much time, but we re-shared Moroni 10:3-5 again and invited him to read one verse every day even though his schedule is crazy busy. He said he would and that he would work harder to try to remember to pray everyday too. I feel really bad for him because of everything he's had to go through and all the madness in trying to organize his life again after his wife's death. He knows that the Plan of Salvation is true and that he'll see his wife again! It's just hard trying to set up appointments with him. 

This week, we met a man named Joe as we were street contacting. He didn't want to talk to us at first and then he turned around and started asking us a lot of questions about the church. He had confused us for Jehovah's Witnesses at first and he told us that we taught him so many new things that he thought were pretty cool. He even told us that he was going to come to church this weekend (he didn't end up making it) and that he'd bring his friends too. He got so excited that he told us he wanted to take our picture, so we let him, thinking it wasn't that unusual, and then continued teaching him. In the end he found out what our first names were (also not that unusual because he promised that he would still call us "Hermana") and where we were from, but then it got a little weird when he started texting us afterwards. Apparently, he thought that the phone number we gave him was just Hermana Reyes, so he started to get a little attached to her and started flirting with her over text. We gave his number to the Elders and they said that they'd take over with him. I think the whole situation is pretty hilarious!  It reminds me of Guillermo.

I'm so grateful that we get to stay here in the Oxnard 5th ward! I absolutely love the people here and am so thrilled to keep working with them and our investigators. I've learned so much from Hermana Reyes and I'm excited to keep learning more. 

General Conference was so amazing (as usual)! I love how much they focused on having that strong foundation in Christ through whatever trial we're going through. Christ is the only one that will never fail us and will always help us to become the best that we can be.  Two of my favorite talks were probably Elder Holland's and Elder Zwick's.  They were both soooo good!  Everyone needs to read them.

Thanks for all the love and support!

Con amor, 

Hermana Halliday

 Me and Vivian

 Me and Tobias

 Me and Hermana Reyes Eating... Again!  :-)

 MOOSE!  Just for Mom!  :-)

 

 

 Me and the Macias Family!

OH!  i forgot to mention....since me and hermana reyes are staying together, we get to go to the TEMPLE this transfer cuz it's her birthday on my mission birthday!

Forty-first Week in the Field

Hola Everyone!

So much has happened this week that has kept us busy!

It all started out on Monday when we were able to visit the Galvan family. We decided to make Restoration cups with them so they could practice teaching the Restoration to each other and help their oldest brother, Bryan, understand the reason why we need to have a prophet here on earth again. He, unfortunately, wasn't there, but we're going back again tonight, so hopefully he will be then. We found out that they didn't answer the door when their ride came by to bring them to church, so there's more going on than just a miscommunication with the Hermana that was going to come pick them up. We're going to address that tonight.

This week and last, we decided to start going through our former investigators to see if any of them would be ready to continue learning about the gospel and meeting with the missionaries. We were able to find a few, but one of them, Vivian, was an especially great experience. When the missionaries had first started teaching her, she was only 17 years old, so her mom wouldn't let her get baptized because they were extremely Catholic. Now that she's 19, she wants to look more into the church again and she really enthusiastic about it. She wasn't able to come to church because her mom decided to do something as a family last minute. We think the mom still may be an issue, but we'll hopefully get to meet her soon and help her understand that we're not trying to take over her daughters life and take her away from her. (That was the way Vivian portrayed it.) We went by on Saturday to invite her to the baptism that Elder Carter and Elder Bryson had, but she still wasn't able to make it to that either. She did tell us however that she really wants to be baptized. It's just her mom that doesn't approve of it. 

When we went over to visit her this weekend, she wasn't home, but we met her older brother, Rudy. It turns out that he's been looking for what the truth is and he wants something to help raise his 10 year old son in. He had a ton of great questions that all were able to be answered by the Restoration, so what started out as a doorstep declaration, turned into almost an hour and a half lesson. It was such a miracle! We were able to set up a return appointment with him. 

We've still been working with the Ruiz family. Martin (the son) is still really hard to get a hold of and we're starting to think that he's trying to avoid us. His parents really want the gospel in his life, but he's in a rebellious stage of life and doesn't want to do anything that his parents want him to do. We found him a ride for church (Danny, our ward mission leader), but he called Danny and told him that he wasn't going to be able to come this week. We're still trying to figure out how to best help him. His parent's are still great though. We've been able to teach them a lot more and they're opening up a ton to missionaries whereas in the past they wanted nothing to do with them. 

Tobias is still really depressed, but he's getting a lot better. We were able to have a lesson with him before church yesterday with Hno. Govea and Hna. Guzman, but we lost control of the lesson. Hna. Guzman got so excited about being able to help us out that she launched into her whole conversion story and why baptism is such an important step. It was a really good lesson still and the spirit was still really strong, but Hno. Govea was the one that kept it on track about keeping the commandments. Tobias wanted to meet with us again after church, so we met him at the park and found out that he still has a lot of doubts about baptism. Hna. Reyes felt the prompting to go over the baptismal interview questions with him, so we did. It turns out that his main doubt is whether Joseph Smith really was a prophet or not. We decided to reteach the Restoration and it helped him a lot. I've loved being able to work with him and see the transformation that the gospel is helping him achieve. 

We were able to go visit Rosa this week as well. When we got there, she said that she didn't have that much time, so we decided to just read Alma 36 with her, but we ended up being there for about an hour anyway. Her faith and hope in the enabling and redeeming power of the Atonement has gotten so much stronger and she's starting to seem a lot happier. She's getting surgery again this week, so hopefully we'll be able to catch her at some point if she's feeling better. 

At District Meeting on Thursday, we were able to talk a lot about what it means to be a consecrated missionary. We read a talk by Elder Callister that helped me look at it in a different way. He talked about how the law of consecration is "the law of the temple, the law of the celestial kingdom, and the law of a Zion mission." Of course, I thought about what else I could put on the altar of sacrifice to help this mission, our investigators, and myself reach our true potential. 

At the baptism on Saturday, Hna. Reyes, Hna. Taylor, Hna. Player, and myself were able to sing "Mas Cerca Dios de Ti" while Jhon was getting changed. Once again the spirit was really strong as we were able to share our talents and our testimonies of the Savior. 

The General Women's Broadcast on Saturday was so good! I loved how much they focused on being covenant keepers and how everything we do should lead to the temple. I also loved how much they focused on the concept that "the errand of angels is given to women." It just made me be more excited to help investigators enter into the covenant of baptism and to one day be a mom and help my kids do the same. 

Thanks for all the love and support! I can feel it everyday as we're out working!

Con amor, 

Hermana Halliday

Me and my comp!

 The Galvan family!

 The Galvan family!

Fortieth Week in the Field

Hola Everyone!

This week was definitely a week of miracles! 

On Monday, we had the chance to visit the Ruiz family again and to teach Martin (the son) about the Restoration more in depth. He opened up so much and told us that he wanted to increase his relationship with God. After we finished the lesson, he accepted a baptismal date of April 19th. We talked to him more about what he would need to do reach this date and what else we still needed to talk to him about. We invited him to mutual and he went on Tuesday! We ended up finding him a ride from one of the members and when he got there, the young men welcomed him right in. Hermano Juarez, the young men's president, talked to him a lot about the program and scouting and For the Strength of Youth and all sorts of other great things about the gospel. We were so excited that he was able to make it and we hope that he'll want to continue coming in the future. He wasn't, however, at church on Sunday because he was mad at his parents and knew that it would upset them if he didn't go. Other than that and working with him on trying to remember to read the Book of Mormon), he's doing so well though! We went back yesterday to teach them again, but Martin wasn't there. Instead we talked to his parents and found out that the only reason Hno. Ruiz doesn't want to be baptized was because he didn't want to pay tithing and that a missionary many years ago told him that if he wasn't baptized, their house would be condemned and they would have a lot of trials. He was obviously offended by this and didn't want anything to do with the church for many years. He's finally opening back up to wanting to take the lessons again and he has a lot of good questions. At least we know what his main concerns are now!

On Tuesday, we had so many of them. It all started out in the morning when we were contacting a potential investigator. She wasn't home, but we were able to talk to her mom, Irma. It just started out as a doorstep lesson, but then she invited us in and we had a really good lesson on how to help our kids keep good standards in today's world. We tied it back to the Restoration and how Heavenly Father really does look out for us in these perilous times. It turns out that their family isn't really practicing any religion currently and they're starting to look for one to hold to. Irma really wants something that can unify their family and give her kids a really strong support system. The spirit was really strong during the entire lesson! After we left her home, Hermana Reyes and I made it a goal to find a family to teach before the end of the transfer whether it be them or another one. Seeing Irma's desire to help her family strengthened our desire to help other families have the blessings of the gospel in their lives. I'm so excited to keep working with her. 

Later that same day, we were contacting a less active who ended up not being home. Instead, we talked to her cousin, Anika. In short, she was looking for a church to join and was thinking about being baptized, but didn't know how to go about it. When we invited her to be baptized after a short doorstep lesson, she told us this and readily accepted a baptismal date of April 26th! She's really hard to catch, but we're really excited to keep working with her in the future. 

Thursday night we were able to go over to the Galvan's home and teach them the Restoration using the cup visual. They loved it! They loved it so much that all the kids wanted to make their own, so we're going back over tonight to have a noche de hogar and make the cups with them. The kids, unfortunately, weren't able to make it on Sunday because they weren't ready when their ride got there, so we're going to talk to them about that tonight as well. All of them are so cute and I can tell that they love learning about the gospel. We still haven't been able to see the oldest, Brian, since we first met him, but we're working on having the kids give him encouragement to come back to church. 

The Macias family is doing so well! They had some issues that they had to work out with the Bishop that we were able to convince them to talk to him about, but when I went by with another Relief Society sister on Thursday, they were a lot happier than they were last week. I love being able to see the power of the Atonement work in people's lives and the happiness that it brings them when they're trying to follow Christ and do what's right. 

On Friday, we were finally able to meet with Tobias. He's still really depressed with his whole legal situation that he's dealing with, but when we were talking to Bishop, he told us that we just need to be bold with him and not let him "fester" in his bad circumstances. We just need to tell him to look at the bright side and see that he has a lot of other good things going for him. Tobias also came to church on Sunday, so that helped him feel the spirit a little bit stronger and help him feel better about his situation. He still has his date of April 19th and is coming to church faithfully, but he still doesn't have the conviction that everything we're telling him is true yet. We've been praying for him everyday multiple times, so I know that he'll be able to feel a difference in his life. 

We were also able to meet with Rosa. We retaught her the Plan of Salvation and emphasized the power that the Atonement can have in our lives. She feels really guilty about some past things that she's done, but she told us that when we told her that she can be completely cleansed and forgiven she lit up and told us that she felt a little better knowing that. I don't think that she still completely understands that Christ loves her enough to suffer just for her, but hopefully in this coming week we'll make progress with her in that regard. 

Saturday was also a day of miracles! We were able to go to our wards Relief Society activity and we were able to get Myra(I) there! She really enjoyed it and so did all of the other sisters that went. Lunch and a service project were included.  

We had the chance to have zone conference this week as well!!  Of course it went amazing!! In short...

1. we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon as our main source of teaching

2. our new christ like attribute is VIRTUE

3. we talked a lot about the Atonement and how we're all children of God

4. we found out that ELDER NELSON is visiting our mission on the 19th of April!!!  I'm pumped!!!

Thanks for all the love and support that I've gotten this past week!!  I love all of you!!

Con amor, 

Hermana Halliday

On exchanges with Hermana Siddoway

 Me with my companion, Hermana Reyes

 Super Target with underground parking

 Hermana Reyes and I with Hermana Bartschi and Sister Hegstrom

 Photo Booth!