Are There Comfort Zones in the Mission?‏

28 Septiembre 2015

Honestly, I came to internet today without knowing what to say. I’m still asking myself what I could say to help those of you that read my emails and give you an idea about my week. ;D I just hope and pray that this will help those of you out there at home and other parts of the world.

This week we were able to go to the temple with our recent converts the familia Sandoval for their first time! It was so amazing to be able to be there for their first time and to really feel the strength of the Spirit. I am so grateful for the temple that we have and for the amazing Spirit that you can feel within the walls. It is amazing to think of other places around the world that don’t have a temple within their countries and can’t enjoy the amazing opportunity to go to the temple. Enjoy the temples that you have close to you! Go and walk around the temple or go inside and partake of the amazing covenants inside if you can! The temple can bless your life and the life of others when you go.

Something that has come to my mind a lot in this experience of the mission is the quote ´there is no growing in a comfort zone and no comfort in a growing zone´. There are definitely times in the mission where it is hard, where there are choices that you can make every single day to grow or to stay right where you are: in the language, in teaching, in finding people, in staying connected with the Spirit, in really becoming a better missionary and person every day. All of the little things add up to big things. In the scriptures it says “that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” (Alma 37:6-7) Through all of the little things that we do every single day we are able to take a few more little steps towards our final goal. All the small little things make a difference and add up to something bigger! I know that when we jump out of our comfort zones, we really are able to find more growth, and we are able to put more of our faith in the hand of God -- to mold us and shape us into what He knows that we can become.

I am so grateful for all of you that help and support me and other missionaries around the world! The little things that you do really do add up to so much more!

Thanks for reading this week!

Hermana Mather

Our new amazing family that we are teaching!
Their mom is from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and they are so amazing
Prepared just to hear the gospel!

Service: breaking off dried corn. 

Sisters Conference in the mission home!

We had a zone activity today - Fútbol y Parrilla-da (BBQ-ing!!!) 

Why I Am Here!‏

21 Septiembre 2015

This week has been so full of miracles. I feel like I am always looking to all sides of me trying to see the angel that is looking out for us and helping us to find amazing new people to teach and helping our investigators to feel the spirit -- to FEEL the truth of this message that we are teaching.

We have seen so many miracles and tender mercies in our area this week that have been as if Heavenly Father is putting his hand on our shoulders saying ´good job, just keep going, keep bringing forth my work and I will help you´. One of the miracles that I was able to see this week was that the members here have helped us more by giving us references of their friends that are having a hard time in life, who don’t know what to do, and who really need the gospel to fill that little empty space in their lives. So, we have 3 new amazing families to teach from this week of working with the members in our ward.

I am so grateful for every single minute that I have in this mission. I was thinking about it today and I will have 8 months in the mission this Sunday! In the mission, time flies like you wouldn’t believe. I feel like everyone has their divine plans from God for what He wants and needs us to do. For me, I knew from the moment that I opened my mission call that Heavenly Father needed me to come serve Him in Cochabamba Bolivia, spreading the joy of the gospel that He has for all languages, nations, and people. Thanks to my mission I have been able to learn so many amazing things. I have learned to work hard, to grow closer to my Heavenly Father, to love everyone, to see people for who they can become, to keep pushing on and God will do the rest, to study, teach, play, preach, laugh, smile, cry, love, stay silent, and to really consecrate my all to the Lord in all that I do.

I still am not perfect... I’m not perfect at all... but I am getting better every day. Every day I am picking myself back up and becoming stronger through Christ and His atonement. The atonement of Christ is amazing to me. That not only through Him we can be clean and pure and free every day of our lives, but as well we can receive the enabling power of the atonement to become better, to change our hearts, and to align our will with God’s will. We will always make mistakes -- we aren’t put here on this earth to be perfect -- we are here to make mistakes and learn and that is why we have a Savior that can bring us back and pick us up every time that we fall. I am so grateful for my Savior and every single chance that I have to become better!

Thanks for reading this week! I hope that you all can see the tender mercies of the Lord in your lives -- especially in the week!

I love you all!

Hermana Mather

We bbq-ed with our pensionista yesterday for lunch
because it was voting day for everyone in Bolivia

I helped grill! Woooo!

Healing Is a Journey, Not a Destination

14 Septiembre 2015

This week we have been able to see more miracles in this area! Wow, we were able to find two amazing new families to help and teach and love. One family is in very, very humble conditions and we have mostly had the opportunity to talk to their kids... wow, I can feel such a love for this family. I know through this love that Heavenly Father wants the best for them and that is why He is bringing the gospel into their lives at this time.

The other family that we found is a dad and son (Johnny and Pedro) that truly have such an amazing spirit about them! They got to come to church this week and it was as if they have been members for forever. A lot of the members were able to meet them and Pedro got to offer the closing prayer in one of the classes that was so heartfelt and pure. I am so blessed to get the opportunity to teach these amazing families and the amazing people here in this area!

As you can probably tell already, this week’s letter is about healing. Whether this healing is for the weaknesses that we have, the things that we have done and learned from, the things that others have done to us -- anything that we really need to make better. The definition of heal is: ´to make healthy, whole, restore, settle, or reconcile.

I started to think about healing because of a talk that my dad sent me (if you have time, read, listen to, or watch the video of the talk `Healing = Courage + Action + Grace, by Jonathan G. Sandberg) and it made me think a lot about how all of us need healing in this life.

• Healing: We need to heal from our own personal struggles in this life.
• Courage: It really does take courage. Its hard to heal sometimes... it is hard to face that we are imperfect and it humbles us to realize that we are not invincible.
• Action: We can't just sit back and wait to heal- we actually have to take the proper steps to heal.
• Grace: I can testify that we can’t truly heal all the way without our loving Heavenly Father and our brother Jesus Christ.

I love the word “Healing”. I feel like it carries such a weight to it where we can imagine it. We can feel its power and faith. I testify that we really can heal from the things that we face in this life and from the hard times that we have, being strengthened through the atonement of Jesus Christ, becoming stronger, and learning from the healing process that we go through. Healing really is a privilege and a tender mercy that we have in our lives.

Thank you for reading as always! I hope that you get the change to read this talk (and if you have read it already, read it again and apply it in a different way!) I love you guys and pray for you every day!

Love,

Hermana Mather

The Power of Testimony‏

7 Septiembre 2015

hmm... How to begin describing this week... This week was actually a little harder than usual because I got sick again (it seems as though every single cambio [companionship between transfers] - month and a half - I get sick) but, it was still amazing because it is an amazing week in the mission!

I just have to say that the power of testimony is real! This Sunday in sacrament meeting, we had fast and testimony meeting, which is every first Sunday of the month where the members of the congregation have the amazing opportunity to bear their testimonies. This Sunday was so powerful... I am so impressed with the people in our ward- usually when people stand up to bear their testimony it is one by one with another 1 or 2 people waiting on the side, this Sunday 12 people were sitting on the stand just waiting to give their testimonies. (I really thought about it... as a missionary I am so lucky because I get to share my testimony every single day every single moment that I can.)

I testify without a doubt that testimonies have a real power- the definition of testimony is ´evidence or proof provided by the existence or appearance of something´. SO you are probably asking, “where is the faith in that?” From my experience, testimony comes from real faith of action where you read The Book of Mormon, the Bible, you pray, you go to church, you stand up for what you believe in, you gather together all the courage you have to bear your testimony... so many things... and the real proof or evidence appears in your heart, where you can feel that something is true. For me, my testimony feels like I have a balloon inside of my chest that inflates and inflates... it feels as though it could just burst because I KNOW that this is true. Not because I grew up in the church, not because angels showed up and told me so, but because I worked through my faith to gain a testimony of all these things and now I truly don’t have any doubts that this is true!

I testify that the Holy Ghost is always there waiting to help us and guide us but it is our choice to let him. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of god that can help us for every single part of our lives. I know that this church is true and can bless the lives of everyone who accepts it and lives it! This church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has blessed my life unimaginably in ways that I cannot express. I know that with just a tiny, tiny bit of faith great things can come to pass- in ways that we can see and some ways that we can’t see. I know that testimonies really do have a power behind them, a power to change lives, a power to open hearts, a power to stand firm, a power to stay still, a power to KNOW and I can’t express how grateful I am for my testimony of these things!

That's all folks! (for this week!)

Love you guys,

Hermana Mather

We found some sheep in our area... so we couldn't resist taking pictures! ;D

With the daughter of our pensionista [boarder, lodger]! wooooo!

My pensionista´s cat... hehe! He is always sleeping!