February 22, 2016

Feliz Lunes!

It finally sounds like you had a normal week haha.  I feel like you guys are always doing something crazy without me haha! :)  

Okay well my week was another CRAZY week!  I am kinda glad its over!  But it went by super fast.  Time goes by faster and faster!  Only 2 more fast sundays left mom haha :)

Okay well the craziest thing we had this week was a surprise baptism!  So you all remember Alex right?  Well for some reason a few weeks ago he literally fell off the face of the earth.  He entered the military so we hadnt met with him in forever.  But this week we finally got back in touch with him and he was soooo ready to be baptized!  He had given up everything he has had  a problem with and has been clean for pretty much a month straight.  He just told us that he wanted to do it and that he was ready!  So we set up an interview and he passed and he was baptized on saturday!  It was so amazing to see his face when he came up out of the water.  He just had the biggest smile on his face and we could see how much he changed and how happy he was.  He says he has goals to go on a mission so we are going to be helping him with that!  But the only bad part of this is he didnt go to church on sunday to get confirmed haha!  I guess he had another committment that he forgot about.  But we went and talked with him and he will for sure come next week haha :)  So that was a fun part of our week :)

We also had our multizone conference this week!  It was my last one... so i had to give my last testimony.  That was pretty hard for me.  But it went really well!  As sister leaders we had to do a training example in front of everyone!  I was super scared haha but it also went really well :)  Me and Hermana Sandison work really well together :)  

Then on Thursday we had our sister training!  It was sooo fun but soooo crazy haha!  All the sisters in the mission together in the mission house....  yeah it was interesting :)  But we learned soo much!  Hna. Rasmussens friend from california was here visiting and gave the greatest talk about being BOLD!  It was something i definitly needed to hear.  She told us that sometimes sister missionaries often get in the habit of being visiting teachers and we are there and we talk and we are good friends but then we get too afraid to ask them to repent and be baptized because who wants to go up to their friends and tell them to repent haha!  She told us that we get out of our comfort zones and tell them the things they need to hear.  I think that helped us out a lot.  We definitly saw a difference this week from putting it in action.  

Last night we also saw a miracle.  We have really been looking for new investigators with REAL potential to progress.  We recieved a reference from the Elders a few weeks ago but every time we passed by he wasnt there.  But saturday we were finally able to contact him and yesterday we had our first lesson with him.  His name is Gerardo.  He is GOLDEN!  He has had contact with the missionaries before.  He told us that a while ago he was in a really hard situation.  His mom had been diagnosed with cancer and he was just so worried about everything.  In that time is when he met the elders and they gave him a blessing.  He said that within that month, his mom called him and told him that the cancer had somehow disappeared.  He said that he was shocked and then remembered the blessing that he recieved and he is convinced that thanks to that blessing, he mom was saved.  He is so willing to learn and wants to really know if the church is true.  We were able to put a baptismal date with him and he is super excited to learn more :)

Well, that is the craziness of my week.  Gosh i love it here!  I cant believe that i have been here for 16 months now....  Its gone by too fast!  

Momma,  i will send you the other things you need in a different email :)  

I love you all soooo much!  Remember to be BOLD and share the gospel with someone this week.  You will CHANGE THEIR LIVES! :)

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)

February 15, 2016

Momma!

Happy valentines day to you too!  We kind of celebrate it here.  Its not as big as in the US though.  People just drink here like always :)  But it was fun! :)  

This week was amazing!  I had one of the most spiritual experiences ever this week!  So we have 2 converts, Carlos and Brenda.  This week they both went and got their Patriarchal  blessings and wanted us to come!  So we went and talked to the Patriarch to see if it was okay and at first he said no, so it was like whatever we will wait outside, but after a minute he came out and said ´´Sister, i dont know why but I have the strongest feeling that you do need to be in here,´´  and let us in!  So during the blessings the spirit was soooo stong!  Brenda's was exactly what she needed and had some amazing blessings.  But, during Carlos´ blessing it was just... crazy.  So a few weeks ago Carlos was having a lot of problems.  On that Friday night at the church we just sat down and talked with him for like, i dunno... 2 hours maybe.  And he just talked and really explained everything that was going on and everything that he was thinking .  He cried and really just expressed how frustruated and alone he felt.  We gave him some scriptures to read and he felt a little better.  I was a little worried about him after that.  So during his blessing, oh my gosh, i dont even know how to explain it haha.  But every blessing and counsel that was in his blessing was about everything we had talked about that night.  It answered every question he had, gave him every promise he needed, and was honestly just for him.  Half way through I started to cry, which surprised me because I am not a crier!  But honestly in that moment I knew that God knew him and loved him.  I knew that He knew what hes going through and that he is not alone.  I felt how much God loved him and wanted  his success.  It was really such an amazing experience, to be able to get a glimpse through God's eyes how he sees and  feels not just about Carlos, but for all of us.  After that Carlos changed.  He now is more confident and his doubts are not a problem anymore.  One of his doubts was about the mission, but just last night he sent us a text and expressed how sure he was now about going on a mission.  God loves us!  Sometimes we might not feel like it, but he does.  He knows each and everyone of us and what we are going through and what we need.  He wants to help us and his arms are extended towards us, we just need to come to him. :)

This week we also found a new investigator that is soooo great.  His name is Esteuart.  He is 19 years old.  So we were getting to know him and we asked what he would like to do in the future.  His answer was ´´I would like to serve a misison for your church and preach the gospel´´.  That is something we LOVE to hear haha!  I guess he has a friend that is going to Argentina and he looks up to him a lot.  He does have a few doubts about the doctrine but we have a lot of hope for him.  He already has friends in our ward too so as far as fellowshiping goes, we got that down :)

The week we have 2 trainings with President!  The first one is tomorrow.  It is a mulitzone meeting, and since we are sister leaders we have to do practices in front of everyone...... not too excited about that haha but i am sure it will all work out okay :)  We also have a sister training for all the sisters in the mission in the mission home!  I am sure it will be a blast haha!  So this will definilty be a spiritually uplifting week :)

Today for pday we went to the BEACH!  I got sooooo sunburnt.  i am almost positive I am going to have skin cancer after this.  I always put on sun screen but with how it is here, it does not help much because after 5 minutes outside it comes off!  But we had fun playing soccer, and football :)

I am now realizing how little time I have left here.  It is super stressing me out..... But I am also excited for life i too haha. 

I love you all soooo much!  I hope that everyone is good and healthy :)  Remember to ALWAYS read your scriptures and pray!  Also, look for missionary oppertunities!  AND SHARE THEM WITH ME.  As of now you are all being heald accountable.  :)  Every member a missionary.  Dont forget it. :)

Have such an amazing week!  

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)

February 8, 2016

Happy Tuesday!

Sorry I wasn't able to write yesterday haha.  It was a crazy day! And it was superbowl sunday??? WHO WON?  Gosh no one gives me any information anymore haha.  Also yes I did finally get my package!  Thank you tons!  And  I got TONS of christmas cards haha and they still keep coming :)

Well it was another good week!  This week we were in a trio because another sister's compaion went home.  Her name is Hermana Ingram and it was super fun to be in a trio haha.  We probably speant way too much time talking but it was still super fun :)

So this week something awesome happened!  A couple weeks ago we talked to this guy on the street and went back to teach him a few times.  We even invited him to be baptized but the problem is, is that he doesn't live in our zone, he just works there!  So we passed his reference and he happened to live in the zone of the assistants!  So i guess they started teaching him and he is going to be baptized!  We were super excited about that!  We just wish he lived in our area haha.  His name is Juan.  He is super cool :)  We are for sure going to attend his baptism!  We go by every so often to check up on him as well at work :)

We found a few new investigators this week.  Not as many as usual in this area but they are all pretty solid :)  This week we are going to try to be creative a find even more :)  I am not sure exactly what we will do but we are thinking :) Also we found out that our convert Carlos has a whole flippin stampede of guinea pigs in the back of his house haha!  It is hilarous!  There are over 100 i think.  We got to hold them this week.  The sad thing is, is that they are used for food..... but they are super funny.  Hermana Ingram has the picture so when she sends it to me ill send it :)

So yesterday we went to canchaque!  It was sooo fun!  I will send pictures!  It was soooooo pretty!  Yes, there are parts of the Piura district that are pretty!  And cold!  We went with the other sisters and a couple members!  The elders were there but they were lame and left us haha but it was soooo fun! :)

This week i read a really good talk that i would like you to read if you get the time!  I think its called Follow-Up.  It is the the May 2014 ensign and it was given by M. Russell Ballard in the sunday morning session :)

And no mother i have not heard about this virus.....  i dont want to get sick!!!

And the most significant lession i have learned on my mission.... thats a hard one.  I have honestly learned so much.  I remember saying before i left that i wasn't going to change...  but honestly I have changed so much that sometimes I dont even know myself.  But it is the best thing for me.  I guess the greatest lesson i have learned is really just trusting in God!  Just understanding that he has a time, place, and plan for everything that happens.  That use to be really hard for me to understand and it was hard for me to have that kind of trust.  I guess it also just leads back to faith...  All my life I have struggled with faith.  In the mission as well.  It was just something I didn't understand.  But slowly but surely I have seen my faith grow and I think I finally learned and understood what faith really is.  It was super interesting actually, a week ago I was reading in my Patriarchal blessing and just noticed how much it mentions faith.  It was another testimony that God knows me and knows what I have trouble with and knows what i need help with.  Wow, the church is so true.  That is something I can say now without a doubt. :)

Well, that is it for my week.  I am going to send picutres!  Have such an amazing week in the USA!  I love you all sooo much! 

Love, 

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)

February 1, 2016

FELIZ FEBRERO!

You are right mother, january went by sooo fast!!!  It was one to remember though :)  I hope february is as good as january was!

It sounds like a crazy week you guys had as well!  Im glad that everything turned out alright though :)

My week was a lot calmer than the last week thankfully.  Tuesday Hna Sandison was sick so we were not able to get out... which was actually kinda nice but i also realized that i do not know how to do nothing anymore.  I just felt super anxious all day.  But it was good.  I slept a lot :)  I was happy the next day when we got to leave the room though :)

The rest of the week was super good though.  Thurday we got to go to our first leadership meeting in the mission home!  All the Zone Leaders and Sister Leaders from the whole mission were there.  We were able to talk about problems in the mission and numbers and it was all super interesting.  And we got to eat TACOS!  I didnt realize how much i missed normal food haha!  Also, Cole is a zone leader so i was able to see him!  It was suuuuuper weird hahaha!  But it was good to get to talk to him :)

Also we had to teach part of zone conference.  It went really well though :)  

We have been working super hard to find new investigators this week because we baptized all of our other haha!  So that was the main focus of our week.  And we were able to do it!  We found so many great people that are sooo prepared for  the gospel.  We were also able to put 6 baptismal dates so we are hoping that they all work out :)

Our convert Carlos has been having some problems.  He is finding out how hard it is to be a recent convert.  We had a long talk with him this week about going on a mission and his goals.  He says that he just feels so alone..  We have been trying to help him out the best we can.  He is great though.   I am positive he will do great things in his life :)

So there is a youth in our ward that is pretty much our best friend named Wilder.  And his got his mission call this week!  He is going to the Argentina Rosario mission!  He is leaving the 31st of March!  We were super excited for him!  He is super ready to leave haha.  

Well, that is it for my week.  I am happy and healthy and i am loving every minute of my time here in Piura.  I cant believe that i will be home in a little less than 3 months!  CRAZY!

Thanks for everything!  I love you all sooo much!  Have a great week! :)

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :) 

January 25, 2016

My week was SUPER crazy! Okay first of... The baptisms!!!  So initally we were only planning on having 3, but we wound up having 5!!!!  Crazy right!  There were a couple investigators that I guess just really wanted to get baptized so at the last minute they told us and we had to make a bunch of arrangements but thats okay :)  So the people that got baptized are, Pablo, Orlando, Felix, Jose Fransisco, and Lynda!  And it went so well! President was there as well :) I was SUPER stressed through out the whole thing but it ended up just being super good. :)

So first off, Felix's interview was honestly the best thing ever.  So we were super worried about how he was going to have his interview with our district leader because well... he cant talk or hear.  So we went over early that morning and worked so hard with him on it.  We wrote out all of the questions one by one and had pictures and everything.  But we were still super nervous.  So we sent him in the the interview and after our district leader came out and said ´´wow... vacan hermanas, lo mejor entrevista que he tenido´´ (which means, wow awesome, that was the best interview I've had in my whole mission) and when we heard that we were super happy!  Felix walked out and just looked super happy too :)   I will send pictures of the baptisms! 

Also this week i found a bug in my head!  You know those bot fly videos we use to watch mom? Yeah kinda like that!  My head was itching so i felt around and there was a bump there and so i was kinda scratching at it and  pulled something out and it was a bug!!!  It left a hole in my head!  I am now paranoid!  

Oh and there were transfers this week! But.... me and Hna. Sandison are staying here together!  I am SOOO happy!  Also, we got a new assignment to be the Sister Leaders!  Its kinda like being a zone leader but for the sisters, and most of the ones we are in change of arent in our zone so we will have to be traveling!  But I am super excited!  We have a leadership meeting on thursday and then we have to be in charge of a part of our zone meeting on saturday!  I am exicted to get to know some other sisters in the misson though :)

We were also busy teaching and finding new people this week.  Most of our attention was on the baptisms so we kinda slacked off on finding new investigators but we are going to pick that up this week.  

Oh also we had a world wide mission broadcast!  And something that i was thinking about through the whole thing was about Preach my Gospel.  It really is an amazing book and honestly its not just for missionaries!  So if you havent had a chance to read it DO IT!  It teaches sooo much about everything! :)

Well, that is it for my week.  I am super excited to start a new transfer!  I love you all sooo much!  Have a great week! :)

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)

January 18, 2016

Momma!

Wow it sounds like you have some fun trips coming up!  Can i go when i get home? :)  I very much enjoy traveling :)  But that all sounds so fun!  And i cant believe how many people are going on missions now!  They are the best :)

Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK DALLIN!  :)  Hope its the best one ever! :)

This week was CRAZY!  So what we have been doing all week is pretty much just preparing our investigators for baptism because we are (hopefully) going to have 4 baptisms this saturday!!! Crazy right!  The 4 are Orlando, Pablo, Felix, and Jose Fransisco.  Please be praying for them!!! :)

Okay i have so much to write i dont know where to start... sorry if i make no sense this week haha :)

This week we found a new family we are teaching and they are soooo great!  They were a reference from a member in my old ward of Angamos!  The mom and the dad have not attended church yet but their kids have gone for the last 2 weeks and really like it.  She told us that she remembers doing Family Home Evenings with her extended family before and that she really liked them, so, of course, we are going to prepare a family home evening and teach them how they work!  I am super excited.  I really feel like they will progress :)  Their son Bruno is the CUTEST little kid ever.   He is 10 and he is so polite and gave the cutest prayer in the world at the end of our lesson.  I already love all of them so much :)

Next with Felix.  Okay i don't have favorite investigators, but if i did, he would be up there :)  So we have been teaching and he now has all the lessons!  So he will be getting baptized!  :)  Its super interesting how we have come to understand him so well!  The gift of tounges is SO REAL!  Sometimes he is just telling us a story and at the end me and Hna,. Sandison just look at each other and we are like ´´how did we understand that...?´´  but we totally get it!  Its CRAZY!  I wish i could video tape our lessons with him.  I am sure we look ridiculous because we have to draw, and act things out, and really it is pretty funny! But we are super excited for him.  

Our English class is going really well!  We have so many people that come!  We have kind of got a teaching plan down and people actually participate!  We found another new family through it so we are definitely succeeding :)

So also this week we were walking around and we had a feeling like we should go to the bishop's house.  So we went and asked how they were doing and his wife, Milagros, just broke down crying.  She said she had been feeling really depressed and that she was praying for something to help her and I guess we were her answer.  It was super cool.  Also she told us about a dream she had, where President Monson came into her room and talked with her.  Background to this story real quick, her son ran away a few months ago to live with a girl in Chile that he met on his mission.  So anyways, President Monson talked to her and told her that her son needed to come home.  So she woke up kind of sad because she thought he was never going to come back.  But, the next day, the day after we visted her, her son called her and told her he was coming home!  Crazy right?  She was so happy and she is now President Monson's #1 fan :)  

So today for pday was probably the funnest thing of my life!  We went SANDBOARDING.  Kinda like snowboarding, but in sand :)  We went out to these sand dunes with a couple other missonaries and it was sooo fun!  I will send pictures today :)

We saw soooo many other miracles this week but my mind is too scattered to remember all of them.  But really i am just sooo happy and things are going soooo good here.  Transfers are Saturday but i am pretty sure me and Hna. Sandison will stay together so i am pretty happy about that. :)

Well, that is it for this week.  I love you all sooo much!  Pray for missonary opportunities! :)

Love, 

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)

January 11, 2016

Buenas tardes familia!

It sounds like it was a pretty good week!  Happy Birthday Grandpa!  It sounded like quite the party haha :)

My week was another super good week!  We are teaching LOTS! and I love it :)

So first off we taught Alex again.... it was a super intense lesson. Okay intense isnt the best word haha but it was good.  It first off started with him almost not coming and telling a member that he didnt want to meet with us anymore or go to church.  So we were super disappointed but later he called us and told us he did want to meet with us so we ran over to the members home where he was at and talked to him.  I guess what happened is that he has had this girlfriend for like 2 years.  She is very much into drugs and i guess told him that she wanted him to get a tatoo.  He told her no and that he was trying to change and didnt want to do that stuff anymore.  Then i guess she got mad at him and asked him where the old Alex was and that hes changing too much and broke up with him.  I guess that made him really mad about everything and didnt want anything to do with us or the church anymore.  But then he went home and read this talk that we had given him and it made him change his mind so he called us and told us to come over.  We were able to talk to him and tried to get him to understand that if he keeps going down that path that it will bring him nothing good in life.  So he felt a little better afterwards.  Then we were able to take him to meet with the Elders and to get a blessing.  He really liked it!  He said while he was getting the blessing he just felt so good and so motivated.  We are still trying to help him everyday.... 

We also taught Pablo and Orlando this week.  They are both doing okay i guess.. They had dates for this saturday but... they didnt come to church!  So we have to postpone their dates a little more.  Pablo is 8 and Orlando is 21.  They are family of Carlos, a recent convert.  But they are doing really good.  Orlando is just a typical youth who is having a hard time giving up laziness and really just wants to live his life while he is young.  But he is progressing and is seeing the importance of the gospel a little more everyday. 

We were able to have a really good lesson with Felix as well! I love this kid haha!  We taught him the plan of salvation and we had to literally draw out every little part and write down what happens in each phase.  It was kind of hard.  And when we were talking about mortal death he started trying to tell us a story about when his grandpa died but we had no idea what was going on for like 20 minutes hahaha!  But we finally figured it out :)  President Rassmussen is trying to find us some missionaries that talk Peruvian sign language.  I have learneed a couple words but not enough to understand or be able to talk to him fluidly.  He also has a baptismal date for the end of this month. 

We had a really cool experience the other night too.  So there is this little girl that lives next to us named Sumi.  She is super cute haha and just wants to go to church and listen to us!  But her family doesnt so we cant teach her.  But the other night she saw us walking by and asked us to sit down and talk with her.  So we did and she decided to call over all her little friends to listen too.  So we had about 10 little kids circled around us in the street haha.  So we started with a prayer and Sumi made all of her friends get on their knees so we could say a prayer haha!  Then we shared a scripture about Jesus blessing all the little kids and then ended with another prayer, again kneeling.  They all just sat there quietly and listed to us!  It was such a cool moment :)  i think everyone looked at us like we were crazy in the middle of the street on our knees praying with 10 little kids but i really enjoyed it :)

We were not able to find Andre again this week which made me sad, but we are going to keep trying.  We also started teaching an English Class and we have lots of students actually!  We are hoping to be able to find new investigators through it as well :)

Okay so the Peru Trip!  So i do not need to wear a dress around the whole time when we are in Cusco.  If we are just walking around the street i do but other than that i do not.  Like to do the tours and stuff i am fine in normal clothes.  Also i am not sure what you and dad want to wear.....  I will ask around about that.  I think dad could wear normal clothes if he would like....

Also i have not gotten my debit card but i think i should soon.... The mail here is super slow haha.  I will tell you when i get it :)

Well, thats my week.  Thank you so much for everything!  I love you all soooo much and miss you tons!  Have a great week! 

Love,

Hermana Lauren Jane Mitchell :)