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.

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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