Feliz Navidad! (week 29)

Okay I really dont have much time today so this is not going to be very long. I wish I had more time because we have had the craziest week EVER. Like some amazing miracles and some of the hardest times. I just want to start out by saying all the things I am so grateful for:

texas

Texas houston south mission

President and Sister Ashton

to be serving in the states but spanish speaking

my ward

my bishop

the spirit

my Heavenly Father

my Savior Jesus Christ

CHRISTMAS

all the missionaries serving in my mission. 

to be a missionary during christmas time

Okay thats just a few. But this week while i was on my bike I just got to thinking about all the things I am so grateful for. Because there are so many and I have been so blessed and I am just so happy to be a missionary.

Anyways so this week was CRAZY!!!! It was transfers! Hermana Knopf came with us for a few days so we were in a trio! so fun! but so crazy. we worked both areas and really didnt even get much done because of all the stuff we had to do to get ready for everything. So on Tuesday though, we got to go "running" with the new missionaries which means that we take them out to talk to people! And guess who i took? HERMANA HECKEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT??? I definitely FREAKED OUT when i saw her!!!! I was sooooooo excited and i still cant believe that she is here! In my mission!! ah. sooo awesome!!! that was super duper fun.

Thursday we had an AMAZING miracle!! So we asked the bishop to come out with us to see Maria, who hasnt been doing very well lately. She has been so stressed and smoking and I just didnt know what to do for her. So we invited bishop to come! He did and it was PERFECT. she is doing soooo much better now. he gave her a blessing and the spirit was so strong and it was so sweet. sooo awesome! Then we went to visit the Lopez family that just moved back to houston from guatemala and bishop invited them to the christmas party and to church! AND THEY CAME! finally!! Then we went to see Paula and we talked to her about missionary work which was great and she is pumped. And we thought for sure bishop woul;d leave after that. but he didnt!! He stayed to help us teach Antonio. Until 10 o'clock at night!! He is sooooo great. I was so grateful for him and he brought the spirit so strong into all of our lessons. It was amazing. :)

Then on saturday... it was probably the worst day of my entire mission. I wont go into details but it was really really hard. I was very grateful for the Christmas party though and Eric came to that!! so great! and i actually played the piano!! haha I played silent night while Lupita sang! sooo precious. my piano skills are getting slightly better. mom you should be proud! ;) i am excited. but that was way fun.

Sunday was another miracle day!!! We went to see Janie and she is having some doubts about baptism so we talked to her about that! And helped her solve some. Not all though. She needs more time. But i have faith in her! Then we went to see a referral that the elders gave us and we show up to the door and I was like... wait... we have been here before. Turns out it was a guy that we have talked to before that wasnt interested but he just moved there 10 days before and now he is super interested! I WAS SO AMAZED. it was awesome!!! We taught him and first and he seemed very interested. i am so excited! we will see how that all folds out :) i am excited to have a new legit investigator! Then the rest of the night was good too and we taught lots of lessons :)

Yesterday, we had CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE!!! soooo fun! the whole mission got together and we did studies (sorta) then watched Ephraims Rescue! SO GOOD. i was blown away. Then we ate, had a gift exchange, and did lots of fun activites. I was in heaven. I didnt want to leave. I love this mission so much and I love where I am. And I love what I am doing! I love this jolly time of the year too.

Okay i have to go but I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY AND JOLLY CHRISTMAS!!! i love you all so much and thank you for everything!!! Have an amazing week :)

Love, hermana dorian

GOING STRONG!! Miracles Really DO Happen! (week 28)

Oh my goodness I am going to have to type like a mad woman to tell you guys everything that has happened this week! It was a PERFECT week to end the transfer!! But here is the Transfer news... are you ready???... okay sooooo.... this morning we got transfer calls.... and..... IM STAYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANOTHER TRANSFER!! Sooo crazy!! this means that in 6 weeks I will have been in my area for over 9 months.. half of my mission! in the same area! its a good thing that i love it and that i love this ward. our bishop actually called the mission president a few weeks ago and told him he didnt want anyone to be transferred. so, our whole district is staying another transfer! Thats 4  transfers that its been the same! DREAM TEAM. Except Hermana Bennion left today. It was so sad to see her go. and it just made me think how fast time really does go when youre on a mission. Gotta make the best of it! Im pretty happy to be staying though. It would have been nice to have a change, but I know that the Lord needs me here and there is still a lot of work to do. i mean, its a small area and not everyone is baptized yet. so theres TONS of work! :) haha so 6 more weeks in houston 9. yay!

 

Okay now for the week and all the MIRACLES that happened. So on Monday, after p-day we had 2 noches de hogar with la familia moreno y la familia lopez. With the Morenos we read the story of Daniel from the bible and the acted it out. It was awesome. The video is the best!! LOVE that family! And Eric, Dani's boyfriend, is really progressing! He came to church on Sunday and Dani really wants him to get baptized so she is doing everything she can to get him to church and to get him to read. He came to church with all his scriptures and pamphlets that we have given him and he was reading and studying like crazy. i kinda felt like a proud mom. Thats weird.. but its true!! Anyways we read the story of Danile with the Lopez family too! I really love that story! :) its powerful.

 

Tuesday, we had zone meeting! BEST Zone meeting i've ever been to! it was sooo fun! i learned a lot and we talked alot about how to teach a powerful, but 10 minute restoration lesson and how to bear testimony powerfully. And that we need to teach by bearing testimony. There really is such a difference when we teach with testimony and when we dont. Ive seen it alot and I have been trying to do a lot better with it because sometimes I just want to explain all this stuff to people but it just is going to go right over their heads if I do that! So i have to bear testimony a lot! But in the middle of zone meeting we had a nerf gun war!! We acted out that christmas story where the germans and the americans were fighting or something and then decided to not fight for christmas? i dont know! But we had an awesome nerf gun war!! it was sweet!!! And then after zone meeting i went on an exchange with Hermana Niccols!!

 

I really do love exchanges. They are super fun and on this exchange I really learned a lot! I went to South Houston with Hermana Niccols. We had a lot of fun! I really love that girl and she is such a great missionary!! Its so crazy though because I remember talking to her on facebook before our missions and then we were just chillin on an exchange! so fun :) her investigators are so awesome and we got fed SOOOO much!! and it was all super good food too :) I mean i'm not complaining!! But this is my favorite story of the whole exchange:  So we were walking around trying to find referralsand we saw a guy putting up his christmas lights. We went over to go talk to him. He REALLY did not want to talk to us. Like he was ignoring us. But we werent going to leave. So we told him who we were and he was like "Yeah Im Baptist!! And i only talk to Baptists. I dont talk to no missataries, jehobahs witnesses.... baptist and ONLY baptist!!" HAHAHAHAHAh we were like ooookkkayyyy... well here is a card and have a great day!! SO FUNNY! we were dying laughing when we were walking away!! I love houston.

 

So Antonio. He has really been progressing and wants to get baptized. But this whole time we have been teaching him he hasnt accepted a date. Well, this week on Thursday night, Elder Evertson (zone leader) called us and asked us if we had any investigators we are having a hard time with. We told him about Antonio and he said he would ask President Ashton if we could stay out later to teach him because he works late every night and we cant teach him very often. So on Friday, we were in a lesson and Elder Evertson calls us and tells us that President gave us permission to be out until 10:15 on nights that we are teaching Antonio. WHAT?! sooo crazy. I never thought we would get that!! But we did!! And Elder Evertson said to set some stuff up and get him baptized! So we did! Here is what I wrote to my mission president this morning about the lesson:

he is so ready and prepared! and he finally accepted a date. that same day that you gave us permission to do that, we set it up with his girlfriend and him and we got an appointment set up that night. we taught the atonement and the spirit took it in the direction of baptism and he told us that he knows he needs to be baptized and that he wants to really bad. we extended a date and he didnt accept it at first but we were able to address his main doubt. that he doesnt want to get baptized because he is really busy right now and would only be able to come to the first hour of church every sunday and he wouldnt be able to come to alot of the activities or anything. but we explained to him that this is what the Lord wants him to do and it doesnt matter if he is busy or not! that it is his time to make this decision in his life! then we invited him to pray right there with us about the 29th of december and it was the most amazing prayer i have ever heard. his girlfriend was just bawling and the spirit was so strong. he was truly talking to his Heavenly Father and really had the desire to know. after the prayer no one said anything because the spirit was so strong. then he said, "wow. that felt really good." and told us he wants to be baptized. he still feels like he has a lot to learn but we are going to work really hard with him this week and i think he could get baptized this week! that was the highlight of the week! so thank you for doing that for us.

I was like wanting to jump and SHOUT for joy after that lesson!!! If we didnt have to race home on our bikes then I would have! It was AMAZING! The most amazing lesson I have ever had on my mission! ANTONIO IS GETTING BAPTIZED. its sooo amazing and I am so happy for him. He is going to be so blessed for this decision. And gabby is super happy because now they can get married :) I love my mission president and how in tune with the spirit he is... to give us permission to do that! So we are going to work really hard with him and get him ready for his baptism. I love it so much and it makes me so happy that He knows this is true.

 

Well, its time to go but I hope you all had an amazing week this week!!! remember, the Lord is ALWAYS there! No matter what. Performing miracles ALL over!! I am so grateful for the power of prayer and fasting. And I am so grateful for this Christmas season! Oh and p.s. say hello to the new ward pianist if Hermana Knopf gets a companion that doesnt play piano. Will you all pray for me? haha disaster waiting to happen. LOVE YOU ALL. MERRY CHRISTMAS!! :)
con amor,

hermana dorian

MISSIONS RULE!!! (week 27)

There is just something so different and cool about being a missionary on thanksgiving. Well, I guess being a missionary on any holiday. I thought that I was going to be sad and homesick because I wasnt at home having Thanksgiving with my family, but throughout the whole day I was just so happy and felt this sense of joy that I was serving a mission. And I was able to think about all the things I am thankful for and there are SO many!! One is the amazing ward that I am serving in. The ward members dont really celebrate Thanksgiving the way we do because they are basically all from other countries. They just celebrate it because they know its a big american holiday. But they took care of us missionaries. They wanted us to feel at home and not miss our families too much. So we got fed. A TON!! First us and the other hermanas went to a members home for lunch. She made us posole and sweet potatoes in cinnamon and butter! yummmm. just like home :) Then the other hermans played their instruments and we sat and listened. Then we went to see a new member that just moved into our area from Houston 4. ONE OF MANY MIRACLES FROM THIS WEEK!!!! Seriously. Now we have 3 members in our area! YESSS. I was soooo happy to find that out. we are being so blessed!! So we went and got to know her and she is the sweetest. then we went to see another member. Luckily some of our members were home and we were able to visit them. Then we went to the Morenos and ate pavo! and lots of other food. I was still full from lunch but i was able to eat most of what they gave me. it was really good pavo too!! And our investigators who are the neighbors of the morenos came. They seriously love us so much. They laugh at everything we say and the mom wanted like a million pictrues with us. At the morenos and at their house with their christmas tree. so random. but it was so fun! they are so cute!! Then we had to race to Janies because it was Eslendys birthday!!! Yay! I gave her some of my necklaces and she was so excited and was like "yay! cute necklaces to wear to church!" p.s. she hasnt been to church in forever so that was perfect. She is such a teenager. But we ate even more food there!! I think i gained like 5 pounds. oh well :) sooo worth it. And we asked everyone what they were thankful for and after we left Janie's, I just felt like "okay. i have done some good here!" I love them so much and to hear them say they are thankful that we have taught them and all they have learned from us just melted my heart. I love my life!!!! :)

 

Anyways.. so the rest of the week! So on Monday, it was really cold and rained all afternoon! By the time we had to leave the other hermanas apartment and end p-day, the roads were flooded!!! not too bad but we were driving on a road and everytime a car passed us, the whole car was covered in water! completely! crazy!! it was pretty exciting! but by the time we got home, it had stopped and we were able to go out and visit people. we froze but it was fine! we taught maria and then taught A.V. at his door step because his mom wasnt there. We taught him about missionary work and challenged him to give a book of mormon to a friend before christmas!!

 

Tuesday we had district meeting then went out and saw all of our potential investigators with Gabi!! Shes the best!!! we got to see Elizabeth and all her kdis were on break so they were all home! and they LOVE the church!! and they LOVE reading the Book of Mormon. SO AWESOME!!! we read a scripture with them and Gabi planned to take them to church which was perfect. Then we tried other people that werent home. Then we saw Maria and just taught Gabi. After that lesson with Gabi, I was so grateful for the Atonement and how amazing it is. Shes going through a hard time but shes really applying the Atonement and I really am so grateful for it. But then we taught Antonio at the church and it was an awesome lesson!!! Hes awesome! AND HE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! YAY!!!!! he is sooooo ready for baptism!!! he just needs to know that he is ready!!! ahhh!!!

 

Wednesday we had to do weekly planning because they wanted us to prosylyte on Thanksgiving. Then we made paper chains for christmas with Eslendy and eliud!! THanks mom for sending the papers. ITS PERFECT. they love it!!! haha and then Friday we did exchanges!! I went to Houston 2 with Hermana Shill! She's awesome!! we did lots of service and visited some awesome people. it was really fun and nice to be in a car for a day. haha

 

Saturday was my favorite. it was perfect. and i wish i had more time to write about it but we got to go to the TEMPLE with our less actives and recent converts. Gabi and Antonio were there!!!!!! It was sooooo awesome!! Hermana Bennion and I stayed outside with those who couldnt go in and just walked around. They we went to the store and then to the waiting room where we watched the childrens book of mormon stories. but in movie form. cooolllll. Antonion and Gabi loved them. It was so perfect that he was there. All the missionaries went and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!! and i love the spirit that is felt there. The Houston Temple is GORGEOUS. ah so awesome. :) But then we had lots of awesome lessons with members and we have a new!! Her name is Maria and she is so cute. Shes catholic but she is open. we taught her the restoration and then we invited her to be baptized. she sat there quietly and then she was like "let me think about it..." so then she wouldnt take the book of mormon and we explained how it was necessary to know these things are true, to read the Book of Mormon. then she goes "is it really necessary?" and I was like "yes." then she sits quietly and goes "okay. esta bien." YAY!!! shes awesome and i love her so much!!! This area is moving along!!! LOVE IT SO MUCH. LOVE MY MISSION. And I love this gospel!!

 

Hope everyone had an AMAZING thanksgiving!!!! I am sooooo thankful for this church and this gospel and the spirit, the atonement, and just everything. LOVE YOU ALL. have a great week!!!

Love,

Hermana Dorian

Texas Gets COLD?!?! (week 26)

Howdy yall!!! Hope everyone had an amazing week!! I sure did!! And hopefully I will be able to remember all of it to tell you about it. I think my memory is getting a whole lot worse with all the stuff I have to remember every day. Its a struggle. Okay anyways!! So heres how the week went!

 

Monday was awesome!! After P-Day we went to go teach Janie! And Hermana Mendez came with us which was really good. Janie is doing good.. but we are really struggling with her. We have been teaching her for about 5 months now and she wants to get baptized! She knows this church is true and understands the scriptures really well and is just so awesome. And she is so prepared and ready!! But.. she is living with her boyfriend which is keeping her from getting baptized. We are going over with our bishop tonight to talk to her and him about whats going on! And what they need to do so that Janie can be baptized. i really love her so much and I am so glad she has made the decision to come closer to Christ and be baptized. I know this will bless her life so much. Its not the anxiousness of having another baptism that I want her to get baptized so soon. Its the fact that she is coming closer to Christ and her life with be blessed and improve with this gospel! and with the Holy Ghost!!! She said something really funny this week though! So we are praying soooo hard that SOMETHING will happen so she can get baptized. ANYTHING. and the other day she told us that she had talked to Valdo about us and he doesnt believe that we dont get paid for being missionaries and that members of the church dont drink. Janie said, "well.. thats what they say so we believe them!!" and then he said, "well i am going to church with you the next time you go so i can see for myself!". AWESOME. and then janie says to us, "Yall have been praying too hard for him!" hahahahaha its so true though! we have been praying insanely hard!! maybe he will come to church and love it and decide to stop drinking and change his life! pray for that family please!!! but yeah then after that we went and saw the Morenos and did a thanksgiving activity with them. We made a tree and the kids wrote on leaves what they are thankful for and we put it up on their wall. so cute!

 

Tuesday we had Zone Meeting!! It was really good!!! I love Zone Meetings so much. Our zone is super duper awesome and fun. We talked alot about baptizing weekly and how to get our investigators to church and how to teach better. Which is what I need a lot of. You can never be a good enough teacher!! but after that we went and spent some time at Bayou Village. its my favorite... we taught Janie, Eliud, and Maria! maria is still smoking and we are really working with her to quit. we are going to come up with a plan this week with her and see what we can do to help her. because she needs to be a good example to her granddaughters. She comes to church and is active in church though... tough sitchiation. haha but i have faith in her! shes done it before and she can do it again!!! so then after that we went to the church and taught Antonio!! I just love him. He is progressing really well and he knows this is true! He talks about getting baptized and he is DEFINITELY getting baptized. He wont accept a date though. He is scared I think and we need to figure out why. he wants to be more ready but he is already soooooo ready!!! he just needs to come to church again. he is really so golden! We taught him the word of wisdom and tithing and when we talked about tithink before he was so against it but we explained it again and he agreed to pay it after he is baptized. YESS! MIRACLE! Then I got to practice piano a little bit :) I am trying to get more comfortable playing so i can play in sacrament meeting. Our ward needs a piano player.

 

Wednesday we finally got to teach Elizabeth!! its been forever so that was awesome!!! We stressed the importance of coming to church and insisted on getting her there. it was actually a drop lesson to tell her we couldnt meet with her anymore if she wasnt going to do anything but she says we can keep coming to visit her and that she will try to come. She is just in the worst family situation and it breaks my heart. She is living with her abusive husband and I just want to help her so much. Please pray for her!! After that lesson we had another MIRACLE. Carmen let us in her house!! She has been mad at us for the past 2 weeks and she FINALLY let us in!!! It was awesome. We got to share a message with her and she wanted to do a noche de hogar but we will see if that will happen. Shes really great though! I hope we can stay on good terms with her! But then we saw Janie and Maria again.. They are so fun. After dinner we went to the Morenos because one of our appointments fell through and we got to talk to them for a little bit and she invited us over for thanksgiving! WOOOOOO. I am soooo excited! Thanksgiving with Guatemalans. yessssss. But then we got to see Paula! Another one of my favorite families :) So much fun every time we go over there.

 

Thursday was planning and it was so long! But it rained all day and I was really grateful to be inside most of the day!! And afterwards we went to Janies and taught her about the Atonement. Then we went to the church to teach our clase de ingles. But it was so sad. NO ONE came. I might give up teaching. so annoying! haha but its fine. i got to practice piano and we got to see Hermana Barrios. She forced us to eat with her and we had to scarf it down because we were late to go on an exchange! oh the life of a missionary. scarfing down hot spicy food. love it!!!!

 

Friday we went on an exchange!!! It was awesome!!! I went to the other Hermanas area of Houston 9!! We got to see some awesome people and do awesome service. I love going on exchanges and seeing how other sisters work and getting to know more people in the ward. And after the exchange we had a Noche de Hogar at Paulas with Antonio!! Hermano miguel (paulas boyfriend) taught and it was about prayer. Antonio loved it!! And we sang a Silent Night as the closing song. I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!!! and i love the holidays in Texas!!!! I didnt want to leave that night. I was so happy!!!

 

Saturday was COLLLLLDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and friday too!!! Friday was the start. Its been in the low 40s. Okay dont judge me. I know all of you in Utah and other cold places are probably making fun of me but cold with humidity and rain, ON A BIKE is COLD. and so miserable. I love it though! I love that I get to wear my coat and tights and cute winter clothes! the cold probably wont last so i am making the best of it. Luckily we had coorilation meeting and then we went to the library to get aquianted with hastening the work.org and so we were inside most of the day. Then we went to try some people that werent home. We did knock on an apartment though that had really cute christmas lights. I HAD to knock! it was too cute!!! haha and the lady said we could come back! yay! miracles! and then we didnt know what to do so we prayed and ended up going to the morenos, inviting her neighbor to come to church (they think we are hilarious and they love us and we got invited over for thanksgiving! wooohoooo), and getting to teach hermana barrios and irais (her less active daughter) about the sacrament and invited irais to church. SHE CAME!!!!!!! SUCH A MIRACLE!!!! she didnt stay but she came for sacrament! I was seriously so happy! its been a few months since she has come. and Hermana Barrios was BEAMING. she was sooo happy to have her daughter there with her. :) Love it.

 

Sunday was awesome too. And still cold!! but i love it. a lot better than the heat. All of our investigators had to work so no one was at church. except for irais!!!! and Eliud came!! Maria was sick so she couldnt. but then after church we had ward council and i kinda threw down on how our ward doesnt pass the sacrament to the people that came late and have to sit in the foyer. I was soooo upset about it! The whole 7 months i have been in this ward, I never knew!!! I understand that they want to make people realize they need to come on time but depriving them of taking the sacrament which is why we come to church is just not okay! They need to recieve the blessings too! it worries me that we have members that maybe just dont come because if they are running late and they arent going to take the sacrament then they dont see a point. But I think they are going to change it which is good!! And we are to teach our members and investigators to come on time. Perfect!!! We also had a fireside about patriarchal blessings last night for our ward and houtson 2! it was awesome!! And then we went to Paulas and just watched mormon messages with all of them! Too fun. I LOVE being a missionary!!!!!

 

I truly do love what I am doing!! Thank you everyone for all of your love and support!! I hope everyone has an amazing week and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! So grateful for all of you, the chance I get to serve a mission, my family, and the gospel!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Dorian

Go Forward With - FAITH! (week 25)

Howdy yall!! Hope everyone had a fantastic week!!! :) I love you all. Okay so this week I learned A LOT! And I have realized this pattern on my mission. Like and its been the same (about) for the last 7 months. Good week, bad week, good week, bad week. Wait have I mentioned this before?? probably! well if i have, oopsie :) if not... now you know! haha :) So this week wasnt the greatest. But there were some amazing tender mercies and I am just so grateful to be serving a mission. Like EVERYONE should serve a mission!! its the best time ever! its toooooo fun :) even when its hard.

 

So we had Zone Conference this week! I LOVE Zone Conference and I LOVE my mission president. He is exactly who I need and he seriously is just so great and recieves so much revelation from the Lord. its amazing. I learned SO much at Zone Conference though. Like soooooo much. I always leave so uplifted but so overwhelmed at the same time. We talked a lot about gratitude and being grateful for the blessings that we recieve and just for EVERYTHING. And when we are grateful, the Lord gives us more! We also talked about being humble and that Heavenly Fathers grace is a gift. And we must be humble enough to accept that gift and realize that we always need the Lords help. We cant ever do anything on our own and we NEED the Lord 100% of the time!! And we must be humble enough to realize that and ask for his help!! He also gives us weaknesses so that we are forced to rely on Him to be strengthened. And I am so grateful for that. Because of my weaknesses and that I am soooo imperfect and need the Lords help everyday, I rely on him more! So much more! Another thing I have learned is that everything we should do should be out of LOVE. For the people and for the Lord. So awesome. I love learning. :)

 

Okay so after conference, we went to Monique's house in Sugarland because her house got broken into the night before and she was really scared because her husband was out of town. So we went to Lowes with her and helped her with some stuff. Then she took us to the church and ANTONIO WAS THERE. we should have expected it. He is always there :) He is soooo great!! AND HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY. we taught him a really powerful lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the principles of the gospel. He told us he knows this is true again and he just needed to come to church. And he did!! MIRACLES!!!! We really stressed it to himm on tuesday and he was there. We told him that if this was really important to him, then he would come to church. So if he comes next week he can get baptized next week! Pray for him! He is soooo beyond prepared and so ready and its so awesome :) And we are going to ask president for permission to baptize him in our ward. i hope we get to! it would be sooo much better!

 

So like everyday this week we went out with members which usually is hard to do in the middle of the day. But we found members and had lots of appointments set up. but.... NO ONE was ever home or they were soooo busy!! I seriously hit a low. It was about 3 days in a row that this happened and I was at an absolute low and I just didnt know what to do. I was so discouraged and I had little faith. But I knew I needed to have faith so we went to a tree that was off the bike path friday afternoon and just prayed. We prayed to know where to go. We decided to go to Janies and Eliud was crying and didnt feel well so we were able to help her. Tender mercies. We are going to start praying a whole lot more!!

 

This weekend was busy!! Friday we had the ward thanksgiving activity. TONS OF FOOD. it was the bestttt. lots of different kinds of bavo and papas and just lots of yummy food. The ward is all about food. I thought english mormon wards were about food. Wait till you go to a hispanic ward. soooo great! haha and Carmen Godinez came! She is mad at us and wont let us in but she came! That was awesome!!! Then Saturday night was a ward baptism and again.. more awesome food. I love Texas and I love hispanics. And I got to play the piano for the baptism. I am now like the prelude pianist and occasional relief society and baptism pianist when its one of the like 3 songs i know. One day I will be good at piano.

 

Sunday.. of course antonio came!! And Sunday school was actually really good! Sometimes we worry about our investigators but it was actually really good. And Hermana Mendez brought cheetos with nacho cheese for everyone. ohhhh my. no wonder i am getting so fat! haha! oh well :) but then we had a good lesson with Paula and told her that we recieved confirmation that 7 people would be baptized and we needed her help. that was awesome!!! and then later on we crashed a birthday party of one of our investigators. She fed us hot dog beans and rice and then we just told her happy birthday and left because we felt really awkward in an apartment full of strangers and loud music. I love being a missionary!!!!! hahaha

 

Well I wish I could tell you more but really pray is so powerful and I am so grateful for tender mercies. BE GRATEFUL. and write down miracles that happen every day. Before you go to bed. Then you will be happy :) But really though. its awesome!!! Hope you all have a great week! Love you all so much! Keep the faith :) hasta nunca. until next week!

Con amor,

hermana dorian

One Day....I WILL Live In Guatemala!!! (week 24)

So when you are serving a mission in Houston Texas, speaking spanish, where there is sooo much diversity and people from every south american country, you end up loving one type of people more than another. Don't get me wrong. I love ALL hispanics!! But there is just something about Guatemalans.... i LOVE them! They are so humble, sweet, kind, open, and their food is to die for! So the reason for this whole rant about why I love Guatemalans so much is because on Saturday we were able to attend a birthday party with all Guatemalans and it was the funnest party I have ever been to in my life! But I will get to that later because that was later in the week. Okay this week was SO much better than last week! We taught a lot more! And everyday, things just seemed to work out and even if appointments fell through, we found something else to do or someone else to teach! Tuesday, we still had a district meeting because no one in our district was being transferred! We did a church tour training because its something we really need to work on. Getting people to church! So that was really cool. After that we went to visit some investigators with Gabi (greatest member EVER) but absolutely NO ONE was home. I always feel so bad when that happens because the members get so excited and then they dont get to do anything. We seriously tried everyone and everyone was buys or not home. So we went back to Gabi's and just taught her. Then we went to visit a  less active but she wasnt home either. I was so discouraged. After that we just went home for dinner. I didnt even eat. After dinner we went to go see Maria again and she ended up being home! But.... we caught her smoking :( Also, I forgot it was Tuesday which meant that Marias son made food for everyone and everyone was outside and was drunk. Not good! So we just went to Marias and talked to her about smoking and that if she wants to go to the temple, she has to stop! So we are really working with her on that! But then while we were there Gabi called us and I couldnt really hear her on the phone so I told her I would talk to her later. After that appointment with Maria, I was stressed because I didnt know who we were going to go visit. Everyone was busy or wasnt answering. But then Hermana Barrios answered! So we told her we would be at her house in 15 minutes. Then right as I got off the phone Gabi called again and she said that we should come to the church because Antonio was there! He was supposed to be working but got off early! AH! so blessed. Appointments were falling into our hands. So we hurried and taught hermana barrios then booked it to the church. We got there and I was like wait.. what are we gonna teach him? Then I remembered the church tour training and thats what we did! He loved it. And when we were showing him the baptismal font and talking about baptism, he was like " i wonder when it will be my turn..." I said, "whenever you want!" He is so ready. He knows its true. he just has to make the effort to come to church! we are praying so hard for him. 

Wednesday was transfer meeting and I wanted to go so bad. Its just so fun! But we couldnt and the Lord blessed us for our righteous desires. haha :) All of our appointments were there and we taught a lot! We got to teach Elizabeth again! FINALLY! its been 2 weeks!! We taught her the rest of the plan of salvation and talked to her about coming to church. We arent sure her desires but this gospel could really bless her life! please pray for her! Shes so sweet! But then we went to Carmens (less active) and she let us in! She even called her friend Maria and told her to come over because we were going to share a message! We watched the Restoration video and testified of it. We extended baptism to her but she said maybe. She has talked with missionaries before and she is so awesome!!! We have a really good feeling about her! and she already has a friend in the church and that could get carmen to come back too! perfect. 

Thursday we went to a baptism in Missouri City, Hermana Johnsons last area. The spirit was so strong and it was just awesome. Then we ate dinner with Karla and Leonor. It was like the last supper because we have to pass them off to the other sisters tonight :( It felt like Christmas though! they had a wreath on the front door, made us roast, potatoes, and green beans. it was seriously sooooo good!! best dinner ever :)

I am just going to skip to Saturday because I dont remember what happened on Friday. My brain is so full of stuff right now and I cant remember everything. OH! I remember. we taught some former investigators and they are the COOLEST. Its a mom and her 2 daughters and they are so awesome. Amanda is one of the daughters and is so open to it but she works a lot! I feel sooo good about her though! And we talked to Janie about baptism. We just have to wait for Valdo (her bf) to move out so she can get baptized! She is so ready but things have to happen PRONTO. They will though. I have so much faith in her!

Saturday was awesome too. We went and saw Maria and Janie and some other people. Then we had about 1 hour till correlations and a couple people to go see. We tried a less active and she wasnt home but then i was like lets go visit the Morenos. So we went and saw them and the kids were playing  soccer outside. Hermana Moreno was talking to her friend (actually her neighbor). But we saw the kids playing soccer and Hermana Johnson started playing with them. So i went and played too. Hermana's neighbor thought it was so funny and just loved that we were playing. Then correlations got cancelled and I asked Hermana if we could come back at 8 and she looked slyly over at her neighbor then back at me and started talking about something. I was like OKAY! I get the hint!! So we just stayed and talked to her and her neighbor. This is the beginning of my love for Guatemala. Well not the beginning... maybe the middle. Anyways so we talked with her about religion and stuff and she loves what we are doing. Doesnt go to a church but went to a christian church before. We were talking for a little bit then she just offers to feed us on another day! She was like yeah come over anytime and I will feed you! soooo sweet! and she now knows my favorite guatemalan food is fried platanos with black beans and cheese and crema! sooo yummy! :) anyways then she showed us around her apartment. she was soooo cute!! and.. she has 4 CATS! so meant to be. So after we talked to her for a little bit we went home for dinner then went to Marias. She fed all the missionaries in the ward hot chocolate (mexican and soooo good). too fun. then we went back to the Morenos for angels birthday party. We watched Finding Faith in Christ and there were 4 non members there! it was such a miracle. None of them came to church but its okay because they are so getting baptized. Anyways so yeah then
we had cake and sandwiches. Tres Leches cake though. my fav. I just didnt even want to leave that apartment. it was too much fun. But we had to! :( haha

Sunday, JANIE CAME TO CHURCH! finally!! she was sooo excited to get sunday off of work and we were too!! She loved it! And Maria comes to pay her tithing every week. she is such a doll! love that family. I just LOVE missionary work! Its the greatest thing ever and the miracles are just amazing. soooo many!

I know this church is true. Thank you eveyrone for your love and support and i hope yall have an amazing week!! :)

Con amor, Hermana Dorian

Crickets....Yep...I ate 2 of them!!! (week 23)

There is NEVER a typical week, day, or hour, or minute for that matter in the life of a missionary! Never. and this week was just FULL of nonordinary things. haha it was a really rough week but one thing I have learned is that I am so grateful for trials. If we have faith and turn to the Lord during our trials, He will carry us through them and helps us to get through them and then be stronger in the end! They really are blessings in disguise! This week had some really great parts to it though :) I am just so grateful to be a missionary! I love this gospel so much. Oh P.S. Going on transfer 5 this week! And I am staying in the same area!! No one in our district got transferred! And that means I will have been in this area for 7 and a half months! crazy! good thing i love it :)

Okay so onto this week!! So on P-day we had a zone activity and it was soooo much fun! We had a BBQ and carved pumpkins!! It was the most hispanic influenced bbq i have ever been to! Like big pieces of chicken and then tortillas and onions covering the rest of the grill! hahah it was the greatest thing ever. I love hispanic culture. Then we went to teach Janie. We had a Noche de Hogar with her and her girls and we played a game. It was super duper fun. We love games! And then we did the same thing with Paula, Hermano Miguel, and A.V. We played the game where we have something written on a sticky note and its on your forehead and you have to ask questions to figure out what you are. Its a lot more fun in spanish. Then on Tuesday we had district meeting. A really good district meeting. Our district is so great! So funny. Then we went to see Maria and read some scriptures with her. Then we went to go see Jocelyn, who is our new!! She is the daughter of a less active that we found a really long time ago! Jocelyn is so sweet and we invited her to be baptized and she said yes! She has a date for the 24th of november!! We are sooo excited about her! And she really just wants to know the truth! And we have it :) So great. Then we went to sugarland to help a member get stuff ready for the fall festival and we made a game for it! It was a really cool game! But that night was the hardest night. We get there to the festival like an hour late and Janie was mad at us. Like sooo mad! Because she thought we had told her that her kids couldnt wear costumes but we told her they could just not scary! (Hispanics really dont like halloween!) so she was so mad and mad that we were late. It was heart breaking. I was just standing in the parking lot bawling because I love her so much and I didnt want her to be mad. I was maybe too emotional but it was just really hard! We had a lot of people show up though! Maria and Janie and all the little girls, Karla (less active) and Carmen! Carmen even brought her friend! it was cool. So kinda bitter sweet!

Thursday was the best day. Well we had planning for most of the day and since it was Halloween we were supposed to be in at 7 if we didnt have any appointments. After planning we went to a members house to take her to an appointment with us. but before we were talking to her son and he started eating crickets!! WHAT?! apparently in Mexico they eat them like chips!!! I was soooooo scared to eat one but I had to do it. I had to be an adventurous missionary. So i did it!! Ah THEY ARE SO GROSS!!! i really dont like them. So then we went to teach the english class. We had asked the elders to help us and they said yes, only if we ate what they brought for us. Guess what they brought. CRICKETS. but this time with chile on them! ahhhh and i ate one of those too. sooo nasty! English class went well though! Antonio came! yay!

So then on Saturday, we helped Leonor and Karla move! We got there at 9 in the morning. It was awesome because we got to wear service clothes! And it was a super cold day! Anyways so it was us, the Elders, Hermano Rivera, and Hermano Miranda. It was super duper fun! Basically we were the designated house sitter and babysitter while everyone else packed and unloaded! It was fun. Its so sad to see them go though :( I am going to miss them tons!! Leonor is like a grandma to me! Shes so sweet! And SHE CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY WITH KARLA!!! miracle of the week!! we walked with them to church and everything! it was seriousl so great!!! and so amazing. I am so happy they came! There was lots of people at church yesterday!!

I  just love the members in our area so much!! We went to Paulas last night and Hermano Miguel came too and we told them that we were going to be getting transfer calls in the morning and he said he didnt want us to go because we are his "hermanitas!!". He said he feels like we are his little sisters and he wants to hug us but he cant. HE IS SO GREAT!!! I love the ward so much!! ANd I love being a missionary! We have lots of awesome potentials that we are going to see this week. Hope yall have a wonderful week!! Thank you for all your love and support!!! The Church is True!!!

Con amor,

hermana dorian

Week of MIRACLES (week 22)

I am going to be typing this email like a mad woman because there is just too much to tell and not enough time!!!! This past week was probably the best week of my entire mission minus having a baptism!! we taught 30 lessons. 30 LESSONS. that seriously never happens!!! Usually appointments fall through and we have to think about what we need to do next. But this week everything just worked out perfectly. From that said, I have such a strong testimony of obedience. EXACT obedience brings MIRACLES!!! and BLESSINGS!! and its amazing what the Lord does for you when you are being exactly obedient. Okay now onto the greatest week ever!!

So last week we had a training with the assistants and we were told to pray to the Lord as a companionship and ask Him how many people were going to be baptized in our area this year. So that we would be submitting to the Lords will and doing what He would have us do! So on Tuesday before district meeting we did that. We received confirmation that 7 people will be baptized in this area before the end of the year. Meaning we have to find 5 more that are prepared and ready for baptism!!! That was seriously the coolest thing ever and I dont know if I have EVER felt the spirit that strong! That just set our amazing week off. So after district meeting, we ate really fast and then went to our appointment with Elizabeth!! Hermana Moreno usually comes with us but she couldnt that day. So we went over there anyways. Turns out she couldnt meet with us either which was for the best! So then we went to go see Maria. She has been depressed lately and struggling but she is such a trooper. I love that lady to death. But we taught her about tithing and she is excited and ready to start paying it. She really doesnt even have much money but she wants to pay it because she knows she has to! SOOOO AWESOME!!!!!! Then we went to teach Gabby, who is the awesomest member ever! She's been a member for almost a year and is so strong! She fed us some tamales and then we taught her about tithing too! Tithing is so fun to teach. I think we taught it like 10 times this week! But after Gabby, we didnt have anything set. So we tried Dora, a less active. She wasnt home so I felt like we should knock on the neighbors door. Turns out she was baptized in like 2006 and is currently going to another church but still!!! Another less active in our area that we had no idea about!!!!! that was sooo cool and she really opened up to us and was so nice!! And she said that we could come back. sweeettttt. we definitely will. Then we decided to knock on the doors of the Elders neighbors. We have been told to knock on doors efficiently. So like if we are finding formers or less actives and they arent home, then knock on their neighbors door. We thought we would talk to the Elders neighbors! One guy opened the door and turns out he used to take the discussions and he is cuban. So funny but so hard to understand! Then we had dinner and we tried some potentials! We talked to tons of people. An athiest who told me I had a really nice watch (definitely gave him a family history card), a hispanic baptist, and the dad of another potential! Super exciting :) Then we went to Hermana Barrios and taught her the Word of Wisdom because the last time we went over there she was drinking iced tea. we cut right to it! I love teaching basic commandments.

So then on Wednesday, oh man we biked to Timbuktu and back! We had an appointment on one side of the area and she ended up not being there. Then we went to the other side to teach a less active, about tithing. Then we went back to that other side of the area, well its actually not even in our area. The other hermanas just gave us that complex because we dont have many members. Anyways so we went back and Hermana Moreno was just about to leave but said she would be back in 10 minutes so we were like "okay we will wait for you!". well... 30 minutes goes by till she actually gets home. Luckily though, her neighbor started talking to us while she was gone and turns out he is a member too!! His whole family in Honduras are members. He is so inactive now but we gave him another book of mormon and told him he should come to church! It was way cool! So then Elizabeth was busy so we just taught the Morenos! We read about the 2000 stripling warriors! Such a cute family! Mom, I feel kinda like you when I am there because every single kid talks all at the SAME time and like 1 million miles an hour and I leave there with the biggest headache. Good thing I love them! So after that lesson we went to teach Janie and her girls and we watched "Good Things to Come". sooooo good. Janie is doing really good by the way! We fasted with her yesterday to make her baptismal date. She didnt come to church but she fasted! SO AWESOME. well not that she didnt come to church but that she still fasted. It was a good lesson though. Then we went to try Dora again and she LET US IN! She hasnt let us in for like 3 months! Such a miracle!! And the spirit was really strong. We had no idea what to share with her but I just got the feeling to ask her why its important to go to church. Kinda bold, but it was good. I have learned to be really bold lately. Loving, but bold. Because this gospel is so important and you have to be loving and bold with everyone! Anyways so we talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Then we had a dinner appointment with Karla and Leonor! I love them too. They fed us my FAVORITE food ever. Its guatamalen. Fried platanos with black beans, creme, and cheese! SOOOOOO DELICIOUS!!! I was seriously so happy. And we got there and their friends who arent members from Guatemala were there! Surprise member present lesson with 3 non members. We taught about the Atonement :) And the guy told us he could never be a mormon because we dont drink coffee. Oh well. We still planted a seed!

So on Thursday, GET THIS. We finally taught Elizabeth with Hermana Moreno. She said she had read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and we asked her what she read and she opened up to 2 Nephi17:21. Seriously stop reading this and go read that scripture. RIGHT NOW. you will die!! its the funniest and most random scripture ever! But somehow we tied it to Jesus Christ and that God has a plan for us! It was a good lesson though :) Then we had planning! After planning, Hermana Hernandez went with us to visit Maria and Janie. Hermana Hernandez is really scary and kinda mean just so you all know. But it was perfect that she came! We had a great lesson with them and she even brought dresses for Roxana and Gabby for the primary program that we had yesterday :) too cute. oh and we FINALLY had an english class! Hermana Trujilo came. She doesnt know english and her son doesnt know spanish. She is seriously the cutest and humblest lady ever!

Friday, also amazing!! We just went finding in the afternoon and talked to lots of really awesome people that said we could come back!! Then we watched the Restoration video with Janie, Maria, and Bruno, Marias son. This is the best part of the day though. We went over to teach Leonor. She is FINALLY progressing!!! is been a good 6 months but she is finally progressing. So we taught her the plan of salvation and at the end we were talking about the kingdoms of glory and we asked her which one she wants to go to. She said "well obviously the celestial kingdom!". We were both really quiet and I asked her what she needs to do to get there. She was like "well follow the commandments and Jesus Christ, and get baptized." YES!!!!!!!! now remember, the last time we extended a date to her she cried and told us she just wasnt ready. This time she brought it up herself! She asked us some questions and we answered them for her! Then we extended the 1st of January to give her some time. She said she would pray about it and keep reading the Book of Mormon. AHHH!!!! SHES SO COOL!!! And then she said the closing prayer and she cried! She just really wants to know that this church is true! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. its the greatest thing I have ever done!!! :)

Okay so skip to Sunday! Basically it rains every sunday here and its terrible!! Because 2 of our investigators didnt come to church because of the rain. It was the PRIMARY PROGRAM though!!! its even better in spanish :) I felt the spirit 25 times and all the little kids we teach saw me crying! rude! haha all the kids are so cute though. And to see my recent convert, Roxana and her cousin Gabby up there singing all the primary songs and saying their parts, gave me the greatest joy  I have ever felt!! And when they saw me and smiled so big, ahhh my heart MELTED!!! I love them all so much and they are truly my family. I knew them in heaven and I found them on earth. I told them in heaven that I would find them and I did. I love this work so much and I am so grateful to be a part of it. Maria even came to church and brought Bruno! Maria was sooo sick but she knew she needed to be there. Such troopers! They are so converted. This church is SO true!!!! And its so happy!!!

I just want you all to know that I KNOW that this church is true. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. I know that they love me and they love everyone so much more than we can even imagine. I am so grateful to be a part of spreading this work forward!! ANd I love you all so much!!!! Thank you for all your love and support and I hope everyone has an amazing week!! :) keep the faith!!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Dorian 

2 Nephi 9:6-7 -We WILL  be resurrected one day :)

"I Think It's Gonna Snow! Let's Go Skiing For P-Day Tomorrow!" (week 21)

Okay here are some funny quotes from this week:

 

"Guys....I think its gonna snow today! We are going skiing for p-day tomorrow!!" -Hermana Knopf

 

Elizabeth ( a white lady we OYM'd): "The next time i see you will be in heaven."

Hermana Bennion: "No doubt...no doubt..."

 

Hermana Bennion: "Hi, we are missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints..."

Asian lady standing at the door (shaking her hand in front of her mouth): "hmmmmm......hmmm..... im sorry i'm christian." *closes the door*

 

Okay as you can see, this week was soooooo random!!! haha but it was tons of fun and so great!!! The quotes will make more sense I guess as I explain more about the week! It was hard but tons of crazy weird stuff happened. Really... there is NEVER a typical or normal day in the life of a missionary!!!! So here is what happened.

 

Monday, we played QUIDDITCH as a district activity!! Probably the funnest game I have ever played!! We all brought our brooms and mops and pretended that we were flying. Then we had some cherry balls that were the bludgers and the quaffel. It was such a blast!! And the second round that we played, we played with a snitch. it was a bottle cap. hermana knopf and I were the designated seekers. best job ever!! it took us forever to find it though!! eventually we did and we basically fought to the death for that thing. I got it though!! WOOOHOOO!! so fun. The things you do as a missionary!! But then later that night we went over to the Morenos and we did an object lesson with them about faith. Because Angel was getting baptized so we wanted to teach him faith, repentance, baptism, holy ghost, and enduring to the end! So that was fun! Then we went over to a members home and had FHE with her and her daughter who is less active!! She even made a cake and asked her son to go get us pizza!! Too fun! I love that lady!!!

Tuesday, WEIRDEST DAY OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!! Okay I will try and make the story short. Here is what went down. So we went to go visit a potential investigator but she wasnt home. Oh before that i ran into Hermana Johnson on her bike and my bike got messed up so I had to fix it. So i was just mad. Then we go to see the potential and she wasnt there. So i was just not happy and having a horrible day so I knew I couldnt teach with the spirit. So we sat on a bench and talked for an hour just fixing things that needed to be fixed and talked about how we could work in unity to help the area. very needed! So good. Then we went to the bike store to get our brakes tightened. The guy that was working was a little weird and kept staring at us and then his boss walked in and he had a SUGAR GLIDER!!!! soooooooo cute!!!!! and the guy working told us to pray for his boss. a little wierd but i got to pet a sugar glider!!!! So then we went to see Maria and she tells us she feels a little drunk from her medicine she took and the kind of music that people listen to when they are high was playing in her apartment. Then her drunk son walks in and I was like "Um do you mind if we turn the music off so we can talk to your mom??" Then we read out of the Book of Mormon with her. So weird. Then as we are about to unlock our bikes we had a bit of a scary encounter with a guy that lives in that apartment complex! It was about 2:45 and we didnt want to go anywhere else because we just didnt feel safe so we we went to a members apartment and she fed us enchiladas and we watched finding faith in christ! Then we went to get some stuff at the apartment and then head to the church to help Hermana Moreno with an application! but... she never showed up!!! So we played games with the young women and then taught them all a lesson! And ate yummy hamburgers!! :) Just a weird day!!!

Wednesday, was awesome!! We got a new investigator, Elizabeth and she accepted a date!!! She is so getting baptized!!! She has been taught before but never accepted a date and now is has!! SHe is friends with Hermana Moreno which is perfect. The lesson went sooo great and it was just awesome!!! Then we went to see Monique and serve her :) love that lady sooo much!!! We also taught Janie and found out she is progressing with the divorce and she just understands how baptism is a promise and a covenant and she is going to get baptized soon!!! we had a great talk with her and i love that woman to death. shes great!

Thursday, we helped the other hermanas move into their apartment!! sad to see them go but it was time!! haha it was a fun day though!!

Friday, we had interviews with president and trainings with the assistants!! we had a training on baptizing weekly and how we as a mission will be baptizing 1000 this year! the spirit was so strong in that training!! We recieved a spiritual confirmation of the people in our area that we have right now that will be baptized this year. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my entire life. sooo cool! My testimony of personal revelation was strengthened so much!!!

Saturday, we did exchanges!! Hermana Bennion came to me! We talked to a lot of crazy people, had a door slammed in our face, talked to an indian that has been to the visiters center in Hawaii, got the same family as a referral 3 times, got shut down alot, had a great lesson with a less active (surprise lesson but she gave us pizza), bikked like 10 million miles, had to wear sweaters because it was cold, and had a surprise noche mormona with the greatest members and investigator Antonio!!! What a great and eventful day!

Then Sunday, we had a baptism!! well it was a ward baptism but hermana moreno needed help with it so we made the program and i played piano and it was so fun!! Little Angel is just adorable!! i love him and his family so much. So that was super fun. And Maria came! She is such a trooper and she is so converted. I lov eher to death. But it was a great day! And I finally played piano in front of others. scaryyyy. it was fine though. OH! And we walked outside and it was... COLD!!! i had to wear a sweater and everything!! felt like utah! i believe it gets cold in texas now!! haha

Well i am all out of time but i love this gospel so much!! And i know that it is so true!! I am so grateful to be a missionary and to serve in this wonderful work!!! This gospel is so happy and i love it. Hope you all had a wonderful week and that this week is better!!!! Remember... i like candy and i like halloween and packages. but anyways i love you all!!!

con mucho amor,

Hermana Dorian!

Mud Isn't a Good Accessory As A Missionary (week 20)

I just wish that I could hook up my brain to some kind of a machine and record everything that happened in a day and then I would just send that. I wish I could remember everything that happened but I cant. Lamesauce. But I will try my best!! It was a good week though. Hard, but really good!

So.. Monday night after P-day we went to go try a few people! We got in to see Karla and Leonor though!! that was awesome!!! We watched a Mormon Message about the Atonement. Then we had to tell them that we couldnt go over for dinner Wednesday night because we were going to have a noche mormona so we told them we could come over the next night and eat. Then we saw the Morenos and talked to Hermana Moreno about Angels baptism! He is the cutest 8 year old and is getting baptizednext Sunday :)

Tuesday, we were having comp study and we decided we should probably have dinner with Leonor on Friday because Karla wouldnt be there and we might get more out of Leonor. So we called Karla and told her and when we got off the phone I felt terrible because she sounded so sad! So we prayed about it because we didnt know what to do. After we prayed, we decided we should just go that night so Karla could be there. So we basically played phone tag all day and finally set it up again for that night. So anyways we didnt have much to do because no one is home at 12 in the afternoon most days because everyone and their grandma works. But we did decide to go see Carmen, our less active we havent seen in forever! She says she wants to come back to church but she didnt come yesterday! So we will see what happens. Please pray for her! So then we went and just rode our bikes around the houses by Carmens apartment. We talked to a few people. One who was agnostic and worships nature, a christian who realized talking to us that he needs to start going back to church, and an indian lady that worships fire but has mormon relatives. And that is why I love Houston so much! haha the agnostic said that he had a better chance of converting us than we did of converting him. hmmm.... interesting. DOUBT IT!!! We have the Lord on our side and the true church! He will soon realize one day. Then later in the day we had dinner with Karla and Leonor. Where we ate pizza and the spiciest hot wings and then of course I touch my eye after eating a hot wing. But it was so amazing though that the Lord prompted us to go there that night because Karla spilled to us that her "boyfriend" cheated on her. That is a good thing though because she is still married to the guy she is separated from! She was living in sin and now she's not! We told her that this is good and she needs to change her life and go to church. We were bold but its because we love her so much!!! Pray for her too!! 

So then on Friday we had Zone Conference with Elder Golden of the Seventy! He is sooo cool. Him and his wife are great! He is a really reverent man and we were told to be very reverent too so that he would teach us more doctrine. And he did! I really learned sooo much! i dont have time to write it all but i learned a lot about baptizing and how to help strengthen weak wards which is what we have to be doing with our ward right now!!! I recieved a lot of revelation and it was just awesome!! I also had to bear my testimony in the meeting! nerve racking!! but it was alright. I know this church is true and I love bearing my testimony to people everyday. 

Okay one more miracle and then I have to get off!! But this week we invited a ton of people to church! Especially Janie! She hasnt come in 3 weeks because of work!! So yesterday morning we walked outside and it was rainy. I was like nooooo! Because Janie doesnt like driving in the rain because she had a sister that died in a car accident in the rain. I was for sure she wasnt going to come but we hadnt gotten a text yet. So we were waiting at the church and I was praying SO hard that she would come because she is Marias ride! And Eslendy and Eliud and Maria needed to be at church! So i just asked the Lord to give me the faith I needed!! And after the opening song I looked over at the door and I saw Maria!!! YAY!!!!!!!!! that meant that all of them were there!!! It was such a miracle and sooooo great!!!! We were so excited!!! Now we just gotta get everyone else to church because church is so powerful and its a commandment!!

I love this gospel and I love this work!!! I love you all and hope yall have a great week!!!

Con amor,

Hermana Dorian

You Know You're In Texas When......... (week 19)

So this past weekend and today mark a lot of things. Today is my 6 month mark which means I only have 1 year left!! And exactly a year ago I made the decision to serve a mission! And here I am, serving in the Texas Houston South Mission, speaking spanish!! A year ago I had no idea what I was going to do with my life and then I didnt have any idea of where I was going to go! All I knew was I was going to serve a mission and I was going to dedicate a year and a half to serving the Lord. And it was hands down the greatest decision I have ever made in my entire life. I have never been happier or closer to my Father in Heaven as I have been on my mission. And there is just a special feeling knowing that I am a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I get to share my testimony and the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ here on the earth today. Its such a blessing to be here. And I love it so much. I love my mission, I love Texas, I love my companion, I love the Lord, I love my Savior, and I love my life!! :)

Now for the good stuff of this past week! So I dont have much time to write a lot but I will give yall the highlights!

1. It indeed DOES get cold in Texas. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?! I have to be honest, other missionaries were telling me that it would get cold in the winter and I flat out did not believe them. I was like uhhhh yeah right! this is texas! its humid and its hot. but nope! the nice cool fall weather has hit texas. granted its like 73 degrees outside but there is a cool breeze and that is nice for texas! I love it!!! yesterday it was cloudy and cold and i felt like i was in utah! perfect conference weather! :) I even wore tights! weird. 

2. Conference was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There really is something about watching conference as a missionary. Its so special and meant a lot more to me than it has in the past. And I even stayed awake for the entire thing. ;) I learned so much and I reallly prepared myself this time and went into it with questions and they were answered. My testimony of a living prophet here on the earth today was strengthened as well as my testimony of personal revelation. The Prophets, Apostles, and other leaders of the church are truly called of God to receive revelation for all the world and counsel us on what we need to be doing. We dont know what is going to be happening in the world or in our lives, but our Heavenly Father does. And the words of the Prophets are the words of God. So we must take heed to their counsel and do as they tell us in conference :) I just love conference so much and i am so sad its over!! Oh and Maria came!! She loved it and said it was very beautiful :) yay!! shes the best!!!!

3. You know you're in texas when..... youre waiting at a stop light on your bike and a truck drives by with 2 cowboys in it with huge cowboy hats and a HUGE white plastic horse in the bed of the truck. I LOVE TEXAS. the people here are crazy but i love it so much!!!! I dont want to be serving anywhere else! This is where I am meant to be :)

4. We went on exchanges this week and on the exchange we went to visit a less active in our area, Carmen Godinez. We havent visited her for 6 weeks because our bishop told us not to. But we talked to him and he said it would be okay if we went over there, but to be careful. So we went and she let us in!!! Its going to be a long process to get her back to church but we are going to do everything we can to help her come back!!!

5. Update on the Investigators!! Janie is doing great!! She has made progress on her divorce. It's really the most complicated situation in the entire world but we are doing everything we can to help her prepare for baptism! She knows this church is true but there are a lot of changes that have to happen in order for her to be baptized! So please pray for her! She needs all your prayers! Antonio is just awesome. He doesnt live in our ward boundaries but we are teaching him at a members home! He is so prepared. He is sincerely searching for truth and just wants to know! We taught him the plan of salvation this week which was perfect because he and gabby had talked about it already and both of his parents have passed away. I think teaching him about the plan really helped him to understand a lot more things and made some things make sense! He is so great and is really progressing! And we were sad to pass him off to the missionaries that teach in his area but president ashton said we could keep teaching him! I am sooooo happy about that! He is truly our brother and I care about him so much and i know that this gospel will bless his life in sooo many ways!! And the Lord has been preparing him for years and now is his time. I feel honored to be teaching him about this gospel. Its so happy and wonderful!

6. The Houston 2 Hermanas, Hermana Hogan and Cardoza are still living with us. Its soooo fun and kinda crazy.. and messy... but its fun. :) We kinda get a taste of what the Zone leaders apartment is like because they have 5 elders all in one apartment. I think thats worse! haha!

Well, that is all I have time for. But more to come next week! We are gonna go crazy this week and just go finding like no other! we are going to talk to every single person we see. Even if it ends up being real awkward. But thats the life of a missionary. And I LOVE IT!!!! I am so grateful to be serving. Thank you all for your love and support!! Dont be afraid to write letters :) they are GOLD on a mission! Okay I love you all and I hope you all have a splendid week! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Dorian! :)