Happy Holidays

This week was soooo great!! First off, I just want to tell you how awesome it was to see and talk to my whole family on Christmas day. That was such a blessing! Especially because the only way to communicate is through email.

Another cool thing that happened was that we had a big Christmas conference with everybody on the mission.  That picture of me in the red dress is of a three generation picture.

On the mission, the missionary you trained is your daughter, and now I have a granddaughter hahaha.

So good news!! We have transfers this week, and I am staying for another transfer with Sister Castro!! The zone leaders played a prank on a couple of us from the zone though, and said that I was leaving, but then I showed up at the P-day activity, and they announced that it was a lie!! I even started packing and texted almost all the members in my ward.  Oh well! It will be fun surprising them.

Also, at the P-day activity, we got to see Star Wars!

 

We get to see a movie every year.  It was just weird to watch a movie with the whole zone...on the mission. It was fun though! We got to get rid of all the junk we have in the house too.  We took almost all the cookies, candy, and popcorn we have to the activity.  I think the elders enjoyed it :P

That other picture of the couple is Dania (the one getting baptized) and her husband, Christian.

 

That was the miracle story that I was talking about before.  I started teaching Dania, but then lost contact.  Super cool because this past week, Dania had a dream that she got baptized and felt really good after.  The next day (Friday) she got baptized.  

Love Sister Findlay

New Baptism

Dear Friends and Family, 

Last night, Jordan got baptized!!! It was awesome to be a part of his conversion, but it technically didn't count for us since he lived out of the ward boundaries, however we did teach him just about every lesson.  He was part of a family that is just recently coming back to church (being reactivated).  Hopefully they will stay this time.

As far as Mary and the family goes, we called her and texted her and even knocked on her door before church to get the whole family to go. However, during church, we get a text from her that says "I just got home and I'm hungry."  It was pretty hard not to be frustrated right then. Maybe we will have to drop them.

As far as other investigators go, we have this really sweet old lady that we've been teaching, and last night when we went over, she had this really good soup with rice and beef (called asopao) and hot chocolate and tamales.  She is so sweet.  She even said, well I know you are far from family, so you can just come here, and I'll make you something. People here are soo nice. 

Also, one really cool thing that happened this week was that we got to deliver banana bread to all the neighbors of one of the members in the ward.  It was so cool because a lot of them opened the door and actually let us say a few sentences!! Maybe I should just make cookies and pass them out to talk to people.

Another really cool miracle is that we got to help a family in the ward move out and clean up a little bit, and they gave us soooo much food!! It was such a blessing because both Sister Castro and I have barely any money left on our cards.

Love,

Sister Findlay

What? Cold in Texas?

Dear Friends and Family,

This week was really really cold, but also it was a really good week.

There was one day that I was in the area of YSA and we taught this lesson to this guy which meant we couldn't even go inside, but we ended up being out there for 45 minutes, and at the end, my feet were completely numb because I just had tights on instead of socks. It felt so weird to go back down the stairs.  But it was really cool because every time there we were talking to someone, it almost felt like it wasn't even cold.  I can't really describe it, but that was such a tender mercy. 

Also, another cool thing that happened was we invited an investigator family over to a member's house for dinner, and right after we extended the invitation to be baptized, that member testified how it changed his life just about 5 years ago and that it took off a weight that he had on and filled it with peace from the gospel of Jesus Christ.  After that, the Mom and the two teenage kids decided to get baptized.  After that lesson, actually the 14 year-old, Daniel, decided that he needed to give both Sister Castro and I a hug hahaha. 

Yesterday, though, they couldn't make it to church because Mary (the mom) had a lot of back pain. We then asked if she would like a blessing and she agreed.  When the elders came and gave her a blessing, she said that she already felt better. It was a really awesome experience. 

This week was also our ward's Christmas party.  My whole district actually got to put on a performance from the song, "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer." I have a video, but I don't know how to send it.  Anyone know how? It was really fun, but also a little embarrassing.  

Another thing that happened was that we got to have interviews with our mission president.  He asked me if I wanted it in English or Spanish, but I didn't know, so then he said, "Well, since your Spanish is almost perfect, you can help me with my English." That was pretty cool.  

A scripture that I read this week that caught my attention was in Mosiah 3:5-8.  It's about the Atonement.  It is really cool.  

Love you,

Sister Findlay

Post from Edinburg

First of all, I want to apologize for not sending any pictures last week. When the time runs out at the library, there is no logging back on.  Today, I will post pictures from the last two weeks.

So the first picture is from a sleepover that we all had and we brought in all the beds into the room.  It was so fun.  Also, those Izzes were for our Thanksgiving celebration. 

 

The next couple are from an exchange with Sister Martin.  I told you a little about her last week, but we grew up in the same stake, and we both LOVE soccer!

 

The next picture is a house we saw driving by that was really cool so I made her pull over and take a picture haha.

 

The next one is of Sister Luque.  She is pretty new on the mission here, but she was in Mexico on her mission about two years ago. 

 

The next one is of everyone from my house at Texas Roadhouse.  I took my companion out on a little 'date' for P-day since I still had a lot of money left over on my card.

. 

The next one is of Sister Williams and I. We got to do an exchange and that was the beautiful sunset in the back.  I love Texas sunsets. Sister Williams has become a really good friend.  We have now lived together for the past three transfers.

This week has just been sooo great.  Jordan came to church again and also this family of 3 just decided to show up to church today.  Turns out they live in our area.  They are in walking distance too! We had an awesome lesson with them Sunday night, which is why we couldn't see the Christmas devotional. Hopefully we will be able to this week though!

Ok, so this week, super cool miracle happened when I was with Sister Williams.  We got a call right when we were about to go to work at 10 AM from one of my favorite members, Sister Cantu. She asked us if we could help her with her visiting teaching.  Of course, we said yes.  Unfortunately, nobody was home, but Sister Cantu saw one of her friends as she drove by.  We then got to talk to her friend with Sister Cantu and share a lesson.  Now, just so you know, Sister Cantu recently became active in the ward again, but she went in there and testified like crazy and invited her friend to church.  It was awesome.  Her friend, Natalie, told us at our next appointment, though, that she had talked to her pastor and she doesn't want to learn more.  Oh well, it was a really cool chance to plant a seed.

Okay, super funny thing happened with Sister Williams this week too because we were knocking at an appointment that we had with an Atheist guy who said we could come back.  As we were knocking, he walked up to us and looked surprised and told us he forgot to pick up his wife, and you could so tell he was lying.  That's what people here in Texas are like. They are almost too polite.  For example, there have been countless times that people say, sorry, as they shut the door on us. Hahaha. Now I just laugh.

This week, I loved a verse in 1 Nephi 2:16.  It was really cool that Nephi realized he had to pray to have a softened heart.  I didn't realize that before. 

Love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Findlay

Missing My Sister's Wedding

Well, I just found out today that my sister, Paige is now married!!! Yay!  

 It's crazy how distant you become as a missionary with everything at home.  I find myself sometimes forgetting the names of people I knew at home.  However, it's awesome meeting new people everyday.  I love the people here in Texas.  

We even got to go to two member's homes to eat Thanksgiving dinner with them.  At least they were spread apart! It felt just like being home because everyone gathered around the table and there was an interesting topic of conversation that we felt awkward to be a part of.  It's just like being at the adult table when you all know how much fun it is to be at the kid table haha.

Anyway, a funny thing happened on Thanksgiving--we knocked on this door and when they answered I said, "Happy Easter" with so much confidence, and the guy just started back and was probably thinking, who are these two nicely dressed teenagers and why are they at my door? However, he actually said we could come back and we said a prayer with him.

So miracle time! Ok. This is super cool.  Pay attention.  So, I got to go on exchanges with Sister Martin this week (we actually grew up in the same stake (Ashlyn Martin)).  There's more too it, though. So at our last appointment of the night before coming home, this guy answered the door, and I knew him from somewhere.  After a couple minutes, I realized that he was a less active member of the very first ward I was at here in Texas.  He had moved over to this ward.  But, not only that he is now married to the same girlfriend he had a year ago--the same one that I taught a year ago!! She is now preparing to get baptized.  Talk about the fruit of your labors!! SO COOL!!!

Also, another awesome miracle is that this family randomly decided to come back to church.  After sacrament on Sunday a member of the Bishopric went up to us and told us that there was someone that wants to get baptized for us to meet.It turned out to be the 9 year-old son. We are going by tomorrow--I'll keep you posted!

Something cool that I learned this week was that "perfect love casteth out fear" 1 John 4:18.  That is soo true on the mission.  We literally do something that scares us everyday, but it is only because of the love we have for the people that we can do it! 

Love you all!

Sister Findlay

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Friends and Family, 

Sooo, BEST THING EVER HAPPENED!!!!! I stayed with Sister Castro in Edinburg, but new news is that Sister Schaffner is in the trio with us now! I trained her, and she was balling when I left.  I am sooo glad we all get to be together.  We have the best of times together.  It's a little weird though because Sister Schaffner is not an STL (sister training leader), but Sister Castro and I are.  Along with that, now we only have to cover 3 other companionships.  That takes a big weight off my shoulders.

Well, the rest of the email, I am just going to explain the pictures.  So this last Friday, we got to help two of the sisters move out of our house into a really nice apartment.  Also, there was a random wall post, so of course, all the sisters said to me, "You won't!" And I had to take the challenge.  The others tried to join me, but they got a little scared.

  

The other one of Sister Castro, Sister Schaffner, and I was a selfie in front of a very nicely decorated house full of Christmas lights. We love looking at the lights! It's funny here because after Halloween, people just forgot about Thanksgiving and started decorating for Christmas.

I am soooo excited for this week! We have two meal appointments set up just for Thanksgiving day.  Good thing we are riding bikes that day! :)

A really awesome object lesson that we have been sharing with people is one with three cups and 3 knives and we basically make it so it is a sure foundation.  The 3 pillars of the restored gospel are prophets and apostles, revelation, and Priesthood.  I really do know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the essential pillars we all need.

Love Sister Findlay

BEST WEEK SO FAR!!

Dear friends and family,

Well, I guess I will start off with the best news ever!!! Guys! ELEVEN investigators came to church on Sunday!!!  And that's of what I could count!  The most I have ever had on one Sunday on my mission was two.  It was sooo cool!! Sister Castro and I were just jumping up and down for excitement!  A family that we found of 4 came and then Victoria (the girl that I have been talking about) and a member's sister came that we had a lesson with this week and Sister Cantu (one of our favorite members who just recently re-activated) brought pretty much her whole family who aren't members.  Also, I got to be in the Primary Program yet again to help the kids sing louder.  Victoria even got to be in it too!! The ward is just great at fellow-shipping her in!  Last week, we even had her come over to a member's home for dinner and a lesson after.  She even said, "Of course, I love Victoria!" The goal is for her to get baptized this Sunday, but here, the Bishop doesn't have too much trust in us, but we will work on that!

Also, that family of 4 that came has a single mom named Mary and she has a son that is 14 and daughter that is 11 and a really cute daughter named Bella who is 5.  They also know one of the members already because she was the 11-year-old's school teacher.  

Also, double exciting news is that I get to stay here with Sister Castro, and we will be together for both Thanksgiving and Christmas!!  That means that I will stay here in Edinburg for three tansfers (meaning 6 weeks).  I have never stayed that long in an area.  This means I can see our investigators actually get baptized! Also, I feel like I am just getting the hang of this area. Yay!! Also, I get to still live with Sister Williams!! She is the best! We always laugh at each other.  It's pretty fun. 

Let's see...what else? Well, I got to go on an exchange with Sister Horgesheimer!! She is soo cute! She has about 3 months on the mission.  I felt bad for her, though, because people kept telling her that they felt that she was really stern, but I was really nice.  She really is a nice person though! 

Another exciting thing that happened was that I had an elote for the first time!! It's basically corn with mayo and chile.  I have been hearing the elote trucks go around my whole mission, but decided to finally get one and pay for Sister Castro too.  It was  a great night!  That was after 2 meal appointments too.  Haha...whoops ;)

Also, sorry for the lack of pictures this week...I thought I lost my camera cord, but to my great surprise, I found it here in the lost and found in the library. Thank goodness!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Findlay

One Year Mark

Well, this week I hit my year mark.  That means no more desserts for me for the rest of my mission.  Most missionaries have to make a six month to sexy plan because of all the weight they have gained.  Luckily, I don't have to, but I am excited just to eat a little better. I remember on my second transfer an elder told me that I will stop eating healthy soon on the mission, but I am proving him wrong!  Hahaha.  

Anyway, to celebrate our year mark, I got to text the other sisters in the area to meet up for FroYo at Red Mango that day.  It was so much fun!! That is probably my favorite part of being a Sister Training Leader--just being able to communicate with so many sisters and having them look up to me as an example.  Also, sometimes, I feel like exchanges are just sleepovers with some of my friends.  There are some cons to it, but it is generally really fun!

I almost forgot that Halloween was also this week!! I knew that there would be a costume party with the other missionaries, but of course, I didn't prepare by buying a costume because nobody has time for that as a misionary.  But, I was thinking in my head of what I had, and remembered that I had a red, black, and white skirt and also a deck of cards. I decided to dress up as the queen of hearts.  Everyone loved my outfit! 

 Also, there was even a ping pong table there!! President Torres kept playing the whole time though because he was getting competitive and wanted to beat Elder Widmer before the activity did.  I think he finally did after the fifth round.  I wonder who that sounds like...*cough cough* Dad. Haha I also, was the only one that brought a healthy side of hummus and carrots...others decided to bring chips and cookies to go along with the hamburgers and hot dogs.  

Another fun thing I did was that I got to make a candle this week at mutual! The Bishop wanted us to go to mutual every week, and I am glad I have an essential oil smelling candle now.  

Also, I got to go on an exchange with Sisters Postoin, Richardson, and Wanner.  Sorry I forgot to take pictures! I was only with my companion for 2 days last week!

As far as the actually missionary work, a 9 year-old girl in a less active family has gone to church for the past two weeks with her recently active grandma! Her name is Victoria. Hopefully, she will get baptized this month! 

Love you,

Sister Findlay

Happy Halloween

 Well, this week was AWESOME!!! It was so much fun :) It was my companion, Sister Castro's 20th birthday this week and we got to celebrate it by first waking up and going into the living room to exercise and seeing balloons, streamers, and party hats everywhere.  Then, I ended up teaching everyone a lesson on how to surf.  We did that for our exercise then, she opened her presents from us.  During lunch, we ate with the other missionaries around where we live at a Mexican restaurant. 

During the day we had a double meal appointment and I had fun telling everyone it was her birthday.  When we came home, Sister Wanner (our roommate) had some brownies ready with lots of candles.  We ate that with ice cream.  Then, we took an adventure by going up to our attic, but one Sister Tupou and I had the guts to actually stay up there for a little bit.  Anyway, it was waaay fun! It is so much fun living with so many sisters.

Also, this week, I got to be in the same area that I started my mission in.  I got to see some of the members, and even got to encourage my recent convert over there to get back to church (she hasn't gone for a month and a half).  Also, I got to be companions with my MTC comp again.  We had a lot of fun!!

 

Also, some cool miracles happened.  Something that President Torres has advised us to do is instead of asking people if they have a minute, ask if we could say a prayer over their home to bless it.  One night, we didn't have a lot of plans set up, and we needed to contact some referrals to reach our goals.  When I looked at the referrals we had, I felt that we needed to go to this one apt complex, but we only had one referral there.  Then, I handed the sheet over to Sister Castro, and she said the same thing.  That referral is a family and they are now new investigators and then they referred us to Pino (this 21 year old girl from Mexico).  We knocked on her door, she answered, and cheered up when we said that we could bless her home.  She immediately let us in and after Sister Castro's prayer, she cried, and said that that never happens.  We were able to testify that it was the Spirit.  She wants us to come back too! 

Also, on Sunday, we had a lady that was just reactivated bring her granddaughter.  But that was really cool too because when we went over the grand-daughter (Victoria) said she didn't want to go.  Then, Sister Castro and I sang "I am a Child of God" with her Ukelele and after I asked, "Are you sure you don't want to go to church?" Then, she said, "I want to go now."  She felt the Spirit, and went!! Also, she really wants to get baptized.

"Sister Friendly"

Dearest Friends and Family,

So sorry, but I left home without my camera today.  I completely forgot it :/, but at least I can write about how my week went  This week was really sad but also very spiritual.  One of the first things we found out this week was that our really cool investigator, Nina, passed away.  She is the same age as Mom, too!! It was totally unexpected.  Nina was really sick, but I thought she would recover. My companion and I were so shocked that we couldn't even pay attention to anything that her mom told us that day.  I was fully expecting to see her there when we knocked on her apartment door because we only set the appointment up two days before.  We didn't get to go to the funeral because we went be a day late, too.  However, thanks so much to God's perfect plan of salvation, I will be able to see Nina again and will be able to be baptized for her like she wanted to do next Sunday!  I know for sure that she will be okay and she is in a better place now. 

Another thing that happened this week was that we did an exchange with some sisters that live in La Joya (really far from our area) and we were supposed to meet them at a church that was in McAllen at 5.  We got a text from them at 4:40 saying they were about to be on their way.  Then, they texted us at 5:10 saying "8 miles away." Missionaries are always late, but what really worried us is that they weren't answering their phone calls or text messages.  It was getting late and the thunder and lightning storm was coming fast.  When it became 6 o'clock, Sister Enfield and I were pretty worried about them, not knowing what happened.  After calling the district leader and zone leaders, I decided to call President.  When he answered he told us that he was in Brownsville (about an hour away) but that he would be there in 20 minutes.  He got there at around 6:30 with the assistants.  Everyone pretty much was informed by then, but at around 6:45 they showed up around the corner and turns out they lost the phone somewhere by their apartment and got really lost because the GPS wasn't updated.  That was a crazy day.  At least a very sweet member offered us a ride over to McAllen and was there to comfort us.  After, her husband surprised us by having all the missionaries over for dinner to have a little ward coordination meeting.  The Harding family is by far my favorite members.  The little kids even knew me as "Sister Friendly" the second time I visited them.

Even if we aren't finding very many prepared people, there are always the members that we can count on.  They care about us so much and I really do feel like they are my family her in Texas.  

Another thing that Sister Castro and I got to do was teach seminary.  Let me tell you the sacrifice it is to teach seminary on the mission.  It means that instead of waking up at 6:30, you have to wake up at 4:30 and do exercises barely even having time to look at the lesson plan, and then going to teach intimidating teenagers while missing out on the only day of the week that your missionary zone plays soccer.  It was hard for me to have a good attitude about that one, but our zone leaders were nice enough to let us have another soccer day on Thursday.  It all worked out! It actually was fun to teach seminary and share our testimonies with them.  I'm grateful for the opportunity, and I know that sacrifice brings blessings!

Something that I read this week was in Doctrine and Covenants section 10.  I just love it because even though Satan can do many things, the work of the Lord will never fail because God has it all under control.  I know that is true.

Love You,

Sister Findlay

Week of Spiritual Highs

Dear Friends and Family,

This week, we were blessed to have Elder Kopischke come to the mission!! We had a big mission meeting with half of the missionaries (from Harlingen, Mission, and McAllen) and then Sister Castro and I got to hear from him again the next day at the Mission Leadership Council.  It was sooo cool! He even called me out to do a little role play of setting up an exchange for the sisters.  He basically told me I was doing it all wrong and pretty much all the STLs (sister training leaders) were doing it all wrong by setting them up with the district leaders instead of the actual sisters.  It's okay now though because I am improving.  Elder Kopischke also called out our mission president, President Torres, that he needs to stop having missionaries that are about to go home as zone leaders, STLs, and assistants to the President. You know what that means?? I might just be a regular missionary again! I would probably really like that! This week there was one night where I didn't have to call any district leaders or sisters.  I FINALLY could write in my journal!!  

Some points that I really liked of what else Elder Kopischke said is that he simply told us to all relax!! He basically was like God will take care of it--just have the faith!! I really like that because especially this transfer I have just been stressing out so much.  Another thing he said is that we all need to become one with Jesus Christ.  It talks about it in John 17: 20-24.  Then he talked about how all the priesthood ordinances in the Church are so that we can become one with Christ.

Honestly, I just love meetings so much.  Partly because of the free food we get haha, but also because they just motivate me to be better and you can feel the Spirit soo strong!

It has really been a good week! I went on an exchange with Sister Wanner and Sister Sanchez.  Sister Wanner had only 7 days in the mission, but was great! I had fun being with YSA again for the day.  Also, when Sister Sanchez came with me in my area, she was just soo jealous of this great area.  I really love it.  The members are soo great!

Oh!!! I almost forgot to tell you about our adventure last Monday!! We got a call saying that we should get an oil change, so we took it in, and we didn't have anything to do during the meantime, so we decided to walk to HEB (a great grocery store in Texas).  Also, it got it's name from Howard E. Butt or something HAHAHA. We thought it was just a couple blocks down, but it ended up being about a mile away.  We had SOO much fun though! It was fun to just have time to spare.  We even got two samples of sushi and switched our tags in hopes they wouldn't recognize us hahaha.

Love you,

Sister Findlay

Cultural diversity!

Dear Family and Friends,

I now have a companion originally from the Dominican Republic named Sister Castro!!! She is so cool!! We are constantly laughing and she is teaching me the Dominican way of saying, "Ehhh, bueno, ya tu sabes," and a cool song to make it rain.  She is literally so funny and can relate to the sisters so easily.  I am so happy!  We are going to speak in Spanish at least one entire day every week. Now I have had conversations in Spanish with people from Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and some others that I cant remember right now.

Also, it is really fun in our house now because there are six instead of four, and now we have someone from Haiti (Sister Cademis), someone from Tonga (Sister Tupou), and my companion.  It is awesome.  Sister Cademis has only lived in the US for 2 years and she is fluent in English, Creole, French, and is learning Spanish. That is who I went on an exchange this week.  See pictures!

This week, it was pretty hard to actually get a lot of things done because I got sick one day and had to stay in, and then we had transfers before that and then meetings every day as well. It was a little hard, but it is alright.  I love the members here! I got to introduce Sister Castro to several of them.  Also, one day, we went and visited Sister Hernandez, and she has been on my mind a lot lately, so when we came she said it was the perfect time. We shared with her Alma 36:36-37.  It was super great! Those are some really cool scriptures :)

Also, we had our monthly leadership meeting with President this week, and a cool thing that he wants us to start doing is to not even say, "How are you?" But to say right away that we are representatives of Jesus Christ and bear testimony to people right away.  It helps us so much to use our time more effective and find more!

Love You,

Sister Findlay

Best Week Ever Until.....

Well this week, I felt like it was the best week ever until Sunday rolled around.  We were preparing for a baptism, but it turns out that Alex never showed up to church. Satan can really get a hold on us if we let him.  

On the other hand, we found some really cool people who came to church this week! Their names are Nina and Javi!  On Monday, we showed up at our meal appt. with the Rawlings family (he is in the stake presidency) and taught the Restoration, and invited Javi to be baptized.  He is really excited for that! We thought he was going to be in a different area, but then it turns out that he stays with his step-dad about 3X each week, so we can still teach him! Yay!! He even played volleyball with us this week at 6:30 in the morning!! That was pretty fun.

Also, Nina is a super cool, spunky lady we met.  She was taught from previous missionaries, and has about 20 cats in her apartment.  Her personality is kind of like Sister McGrath's (shout-out) haha.  That's why I love teaching her so much! She asks so many questions too! Also, she loved conference!

Also, this week, we played soccer one morning, and I scored a goal by dribbling it down the whole field and scored with my left foot! I am so glad we play soccer here.  Also, later in the week, we played basketball.  Sooo fun! 

So, transfers are happening tomorrow...again.  We found out that Sister Barton is leaving, but I am staying.  Also, there will be 6 sisters living in our house now, so that will be fun.  Also, me and my new companion will now be STL's for over 22 sisters!! Crazy! Hopefully my new companion can run so I can run all the stress away! I don't know how I will handle that one, but God's got it under control lol. 

Oh!! Exciting news is that I went to Chuck'E'Cheeses for the first time in my life!! The pizza was sooo good. I don't know what everyone was talking about.  That was pretty funny because it was a member's birthday party, but they said their co-workers would be there and we could talk to them.  They were VERY stand-offish, and it was hard to get them to even look at us.  Oh well, at least we got to go.

Also, conference was so good!! I think I would agree with my dad about Eyring's talk on gratitude being my favorite. "He expressed the benefits of being grateful on Sunday. Keeping the Sabbath day holy would bring so much joy and happiness that one couldn't contain it all." Apply those messages this week! 

Have a great week! Love you all!

Hermana Findlay