Un Ano en la Mision!!

Hola Familia!

FELIZ NAVIDAD Y ANO NUEVO!

Well this week was pure joy! So first of all the day before Christmas eve we found out that Vicky had a court case go bad and her and her kids had to be out of the house by Sunday. It was so sad because Christmas was right around the corner. I was so grateful then that we were helping them out. We got together with the Silva family and they purchased a bunch of food for them. The next day we went over to Vicky's house for a Christmas dinner. When we got there we had all of there presents and food set up behind our car. We had them all come out to "help us bring in the food". There were speechless and so happy. It was amazing to see there joy. It was such a special day with them and sad at the same time because we were packing at the same time. I know that we were definitely put into there lives though at that specific time to help them through all they're going through. After that we got to spend the night over at our mission president's house! It was super fun and then we had a great Christmas morning over there as well. Thank you everyone for all you sent me I am so blessed with the best family!!! It was so great to Skype, of course the time went so fast but I was so grateful to see you all :)

 I had an experience this week that I will never forget. We were going into an appointment and saw a Hispanic family unloading things from there car. I had the thought to go and help them but we were already running a little behind so we just went on to the appointment. Our investigator wasn't there for the appointment and so we headed back to our car. Luckily the family was still loading things into there apartment. So we walked up and offered our help and of course they said no so we started helping anyways. It was two young boys and when we got to the apartment we talked to the mom and dad for a bit and set up a return appointment. The dad made it very clear to us that he doesn't believe in god. When we went back for our appointment we were able to just be with the mom for a minute. She told us of her frustration how her husband has lead all the kids to not believing in God and how she is even questioning it herself. Her husband not too later walked in (surprised we came back:)) and started asking us tons of questions and trying to prove us wrong or make us look dumb. We kept very cool and spiritual and just bore strong testimony. That was one of the strongest times I have felt the spirit working through me on my mission. After it all he looked us straight in the eyes and said I know there is no God. I have never had anyone look me in the eyes and say that! It was surprising but only helped my sure testimony that there is a God.  After that he got up and left. It was back to just us and the mother and her kids. We talked some more and asked if we could end with a prayer after committing her to pray to know if there was a God. She was reluctant but decided to say the prayer. She hadn't wanted to because she hadn't said a prayer for 11 years. Immediately as she started to pray she was overcome by the spirit and started crying. The spirit filled the whole room. I have never felt like I did then. It felt as if we were with angles and there loved ones on the other side of the veil were there cheering her on. She thanked God for an answer to her prayer to know that he was real. I learned in a very real sense that light always drives out darkness. And the Spirit of God will always win and over power Satan. I felt nothing when the husband was talking but when she started praying it was so strong! That family will forever be blessed because of that humbled mother who received a confirming witness of our Heavenly Father. It also answered my prayers about the love and awareness our Father has for us. He was very aware of exactly what she needed and it is the same for you and I.

This week I hit my year mark! I can not believe I have been out here that long! I couldn't love it anymore though and am so grateful for all of the things I have learned! My comp made it  a really special day. We went to Chevy's because I had been wanting to go forever because they used to have one in Provo and I haven't seen one since. They sang to me for my "1 year birthday" and I got the sweet sombrero. Then later that night we went to a members for dinner and they surprised me with a cake and flowers! I was so happy. They even made me bite it and shoved my face in (tradition)..now I am a true Hispanic. At least I think so!

With the New Year coming in we have such a great oppourtunity to evaluate where we stand what we have accomplished and where we want to go. I encourage you all to prayerfully set some goals and think of how you can accept the invitation to "come unto christ" this year. 

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxox
Hermana Pentelute

Feliz Navidad :)

Hola Familia,

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!

This week we had our huge Christmas Celebration "venid a belen"!! It was so great we had more than 500 people come through. So what we did was like a live nativity. All the members participated and when I say they went full out they went FULL OUT. English and Spanish members and non-members came from all over our stake boundaries. We were the guides. (I dressed up like Mary) It was so fun seeing all the youth and everyone singing and acting out the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. When the tour was finished we went to the chapel and watched a testimony from an apostle and the spirit was very strong. So many people got to know who we are as missionaries and who we are as the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

I love this Christmas season. We were able to get 17 new investigators this week. That is insane! We found so many prepared families. 2 of which came to Venid a Belen :) Yesterday we were knocking in an apartment building and we found a family with 3 little girls and a brand new baby boy. They said they were just barley talking before we knocked on the door about how they were going to celebrate Christmas this year to make it different from all the rest. They used to be catholic and worship Mary and they took all of their old stuff down and refocused themselves in Christ, they wanted to worship in a different way. They just need a little bit of help and direction. So they were very excited to hear our message. We were able to sing some Christmas songs with them and read Christ's birth story form Luke 2. I am so happy I am here because if I wasn't maybe that family would never had found out the real meaning of Christmas..or the true church..haha but its just amazing to be his instrument and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else than here and now. It has helped me so much to come closer to my Savior.

Hermana Hougaard is doing awesome! She is taking the lead and making things happen! I love watching her grow and wow I am learning probably more than she is right now. I am being tested and tried but I am learning and growing and I am grateful for that so I can become who Heavenly Father wants me to be. I also got to go to the temple for the first time on my whole mission! It was a wonderful experience. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be in the Lord's house. I encourage you to go often!!

I hope you all have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy New Year!!! Make sure to remember Christ always-in the words of dad-the gift that keeps on giving. The reason for all. 

xoxox

Hermana Pentelute

Milagro de la Navidad (Gracias Familia:))

Hola Familia! 

Where do I begin? Well to start with the small talk...there is no snow! IT ALL MELTED!! So i am not complaining about putting away the clunker boots and huge chamara. (coat)
Hermana Anahi Castro and Willy are doing wonderfully!! They attended church with us again yesterday and are really feeling the spirit of the Lord enter into their lives. As we taught Willy we found out the change that has been happening in him. Just from going to church and reading in the Book of Mormon his desires to do good are over powering the natural man! We love that! Anahi is still a little worried about being baptized and falling after the baptism but that's the beautiful thing about the atonement is that we can fall and aren't expected to be perfect but we are just expected to keep trying. :)

One miracle this week was teaching and finding a woman named Maricarmen. We contacted her as we were both waiting to get into an apartment building. We didn't have anyone to let us in so luckily she let us in! We were able to teach the Restoration and share he is the gift with her!! She is a mother who wants to be able to answer her children's questions. We were able to explain to her that this is her answer and with the gospel of Jesus Christ in her home, all their questions can be answered.

We had our Christmas Conference and it was so great! We had an awesome lunch and got to watch it's a wonderful life! It was so weird watching a movie but I enjoyed it! We have the best Mission President and Wife. They are very comical haha and loving. I felt the spirit of Christmas! This week we are preparing for an event called "Venid a Belen" We are expecting at least 500 people. We get to be the tour guides and take them through to see the life of Christ acted out by the members along with some other stuff. Everyone dresses from that era. I am so excited, it is a great missionary tool too!

Hermano Edgar is doing good. He's having a tough fight without smoking. He's been really sick and has fallen a couple of times but still going strong!

One of the high lights this week was receiving a letter from my mom. She said that the fam sacrificed most of their Christmas so that we could use the money to give Vicky and her kids a Christmas. I was speechless. Thank you sooooooooooo much I know they will never forget it. Also there is an awesome family in our ward who decided they wanted to get them a tree and decorate and suprise them. So we got their keys and went in and decorated the house for them while they were gone. The manager came up to us and was like what are you doing? We said setting up a tree bringing some christmas joy and he's all like...that doesn't make any sense. HAHAHA we just left and then laughed. It doesn't make sense to be bringing Christmas joy this time of year. 

Well I love you all and hope you can receive the spirit of Christ in your heart. The spirit of service and of giving. He is the reason and we will be filled with that one and most important gift as we share and give it to others. 

Make it a great week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxo 
hermana pentelute

Pictures: Last week we went shopping in the city. It was so fun :) and huge!!!!!!!

El Poder de Arrepentimiento

Hola Familia!

Things have been going good out here in Minnesota! This week was a bit of a challenge because I have been pretty sick but we were still able to see lots of miracles and to stay positive!

Last Sunday we saw a man who we had never seen at church before so we went up and said hi. His name is Edgar Martinez! We learned that he was a member but has been inactive for a very long time. He also was on none of our lists so we didn't know him or never stopped by. He decided he wanted to come to church and change his life so he came all on his own. So we set up an appointment with him during the week and in lesson we learned that he has not been keeping the commandments (we'll put it softly). The spirit was very strong and he was brought to a very humble  point. He had tears in his eyes as he read from Alma 36. There is power in what the book of Mormon can teach us. I felt a strong prompting to commit him to stop smoking (he had been smoking cigarettes his biggest vice with the word of wisdom) starting then. I was very nervous because we hadn't even taught the Word of Wisdom and had no clue how to bring it up! So I just prayed in my heart to know what to say and we were able to commit him to stop smoking right then and there. We told him that we would give up sweets if he gave up his smoking...that's SUPER hard for me! But he gave us his last cigarette that he had and hasn't smoked since then. He's been eating our candy we gave to him hahah. It is amazing the power that comes from God the moment we choose to change, repent and get back on the path. We are so excited for this journey he is ready to take!

We also had another miracle this week of finding Anahi. Her sisters are both members of the church. They introduced us to her at church last Sunday as well. When we taught her she immediately opened up to us and told us she needed and wanted to change. She has a lot of pain. (its sad to me to see all the pain in these people's lives from choices they have made. Most of the time if not every time the pain comes from choosing to break one or more of God's commandments. It always starts out small too. Don't get stuck in the trap!) We didn't commit her to a baptismal date because when we were with her she said she was baptized into the church when she was a young girl. So obviously we believed her and told her she didn't have to be baptized she just needs to talk to the bishop. Well we later found out she was baptized into the reformed church....awkward!  She has a friend named willy who she brought with her to church and is very interested. He started reading the Book of Mormon on his own!!! It is so exciting that these people were put into our path they are prepared for the gospel. Anahi has 3 kids and her, willy and her 2 kids all came to church with us this Sunday!

The Rodriguez family was at church this week but Manuel choose not to come. We are still working on him slowly but surely. I had an experience this week I will never forget! So this past week was Jazmin's birthday. She is the now 15 year old daughter of Vicky. Vicky called us this week to thank us for the turkey we brought her and told us that it was jazmins birthday but she didn't have anything for her not even a cake! So we said we would take care of it. We were able to make her the cake that mom sent me for my birthday. We gave her some candy we had some nail polish and a used necklace that was in good shape. That's all she got for her birthday is what we brought with us! We had a great time together and were able to bring some joy. We shared a Christmas message and Jazmin said the last prayer. As she started to pray she started to cry. She was so thankful for us being put in her life and what God is doing for her. It was very tender. I love being able to serve its the best ever. There are so many people in need out here I just wish I could help them all! She was so thrilled with a gift of a used necklace. (that's all we had) It is helping me to be more selfless and have more gratitude to see these people's examples of gratitude.

I encourage you all to discover the gift, embrace the gift and #sharethegift christmas.mormon.org this Christmas season. It really can help and make a difference. Get out of your comfort zone. Out of your comfort zone miracles are waiting!!

I love you all! Have a great week! 

xoxox 

hermana Pentelute

Pictures:
1. Our christmas tree..we had to get creative
2. jazmins bday
3. hna cataneda "curing my illness"
4. taking edgars ciggs 

Mejor Tiempo del Ano!

Hola familia! 

Como estan?! I love the holiday season!! It is filled with such a special peace! So I know you all are wanting to know what happened Thanksgiving day! So first off we woke up early got some stuff done in the house studied and then we went and played futbol! (soccer) with the 2 spanish congregations over here. It was really fun and I even scored a goal :) I love playing sports and using a small portion of my competitive side haha. After that we went and delivered a turkey to Vicky's family but we were wanting to surprise here so we didn't call before. Her building is a lock out so we probably walked around the building for 15 minutes in 5 degrees because she wasn't answering her phone! But finally her little girls came and opened the door. They were very grateful :) After that we got ready to go and cook for a less active/part member family! We cooked mashed potatoes and gravy..which I messed up a little and a nuts about berries salad and rolls! Heidi the wife of Less active member Alex made pasole and it was a very different and humble thanksgiving meal but I have never been more grateful I think before in my life. It was super fun cooking and then after that we went to our second families house the Rodriguez's. I LOVE that family. Angela and Oliver always run up to us and give us hugs screaming HERMANAS!!! Its so cute. Hermana Erika made a pavo-turkey and some other food and it was great we stuffed ourselves again. Then we had tres leches cake for dannies birthday their daughter :) One of the best Thanksgivings by far. I will never forget it!!! Hermana Hougaard and I are trying to keep up our gratitude and each morning first thing we do is we say 10 things we are grateful for. You should all try it at least for a week and seek how much happier you are in the day.

This week we had an amazing lesson with Manuel Rodriguez. The dad of our favorite family. We were able to help him understand his role as a father figure and the support he needs to be giving to his family. They are all members and he is hanging on to things of the world, that temporary happiness. Hermana Erika bore very powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and they are going to start reading it daily as a family. He is praying about a baptismal date. I want this family to have the blessings of the priesthood so bad!!

Heavenly Father never fails to amaze me with his timing. I sometimes get impatient or want things to happen in my own timing but I continue to learn how explicitly better his timing is. We had an appointment set up with a member coming and everything this week and about 40 minutes before, our investigator canceled. We were pretty disappointed but we kept going with our plan. We talked to this young lady as she was leaving an apartment building. We stayed inside for a few more minutes because we had some calls to make. All of the sudden she walked back in through the back and came up and asked us what we were doing. We started to talk and taught her the restoration! Her name is Takhari and unfortunately we cant teach her cause she speaks English...(yes I am only teaching spanish now and speak it all day everyday dad! :)) but she accepted a baptismal date and is very prepared. The english sisters will teach her. I am so so so excited for her. She said I just felt like I needed to come back in and stop what I was doing. If we wouldn't have been in that building and at our other appointment we wouldn't have found her. I love the tender mercies of the Lord and the opportunity to be an instrument. I am learning I am just the instrument. If I do just that I will help Heavenly Father in his plan. That's what I want!!

One last awesome story. So this morning at 5:30 we went to wash our clothes and a homeless man was sleeping inside. Our laundry soap had frozen so we were buying some there and her offered to give us some of his! So we used it and started talking. We actually were able to teach him about the restoration right then and there at 6:00 am! We were able to give him a gift card for food and hopefully some more joy this Christmas season. If we constantly open our mouth and share what brings us peace God will bless us with more opportunities to bring forth the Gospel. The cool thing is you can all do that too. With the new he is the gift initiative you can all show it to those you love. Never wait to share happiness with others because you never know when you will get the opportunity back.

Well I love you!! I hope you have a great week!!

xoxox
Hermana Pentelute

Gratitud Siempre :)

Hola Familia!!

So this week was definitely a trial of faith! We have been finding some really great people but they all are ignoring us haha and well not choosing to progress. Its kinda sad but its okay because we know there are people prepared out there..somewhere! Our ward has been well less than helpful but I still love them. I love the people and they have such good hearts they just aren't americans! There is zero planning and everything is spontaneous. So I guess that keeps it fun and interesting :)

This week we found an awesome family!!!!! We got a couple referrals from the Elders and so we stopped by them but they both weren't home. Luckily we heard some rockin hispanic music and knocked that door. A young girl answered and let us in! Her mom is Vicky a single mother of Jasmine 14yrs. Lizbeth 11yrs. and Victor 1 1/2yrs. They are very very cute. They have gone through some tough times together but are still standing on two feet! Vicky has not liked going to church in the past because she feels judged and she still has some unhealed wounds from her past. She has been through a lot of trials and I think that has prepared her to receive this message. She hasn't let anyone into her life for a long time but she confided in us because she felt the spirit. the spirit works miracles in our lives!! We have only met with her and her family once but it was truly a miracle to find them and we are so excited for what is to come in there lives if they choose to accept the mercy of the Lord.

So the other day we pulled up to get gas and there was 1 person walking from the gas station. So I told hermana Hougaard to go get him! hah so she got out of the car and yelled "hey!" she started talking while I got gas. We got his info and were able to teach him, his name is Willian and his brothers name is Victor we taught him too. We had a really spiritual lesson and taught Willian how to pray. I love hearing people pray for the first time and out loud. Its always so simple but powerful. The power of prayer is real. I have learned about relying fully on the lord out here cause sometimes he is the only one we have! We have to pray though and go to him! Anyways Willian came to church and a baptism this week and had a great time! :)

As Thanksgiving is approaching there is so much that we have to be grateful for. Here are just a few of the things I am most grateful for. I am so very grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ in my life. I am grateful for the matchless gift of the atonement. For the change that has been wrought in me and for the change I have seen in others. I am grateful for the hope he gives us each day. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who supports me in all I do. For the strength he gives me when I don't think I can keep going. I am grateful for his mercy and grace and the covenants I have made in the temple. I am grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. For the prophet Joseph Smith and his simple question. I am grateful for his faith that replaced all fear and brought to pass this truth for us. For the hope it brings to all. I am grateful for a living prophet who is led and guided by Christ. I am grateful for the scriptures especially for the Book of Mormon and the simple truths it teaches me each day. I am grateful for the opportunity to have a real relationship with the creator of all. I am grateful for my family who means the world to me. For the happiness and joy each of them bring me. I am grateful for the sunshine and laughter. I am grateful to be able to walk speak see and hear. I am grateful for good health. I am grateful for the MMM, for my companions and all my friends! I am grateful for good food especially candy and sweets. I am grateful for warmth in this cold and for smiles...and a lot more. I encourage all of you to take time and ponder all the blessings you have in your daily lives. To write them down in a journal and to thank Heavenly Father for each of them. I encourage you to never delay gratitude. Let the people around you you love know. I love each of you sooooo much and am grateful for you!

Have a great week. :)

Don't forget to smile.

xoxo

Hermana Pentelute

Pictures: District, P-Day Fun, Service

Ya Tengo 20 Anos!!!!

Hola Familia! 

First off thank you to all for your sweet birthday wishes!!! They were all very appreciated and I felt a lot of love even though I was far away! My birthday was great. My district all sang to me and we ate cheesecake my favorite! Me and Hna Hougaard went to Denny's in the morning because thats tradtion! Then we taught some people and helped get a birthday party for a little girl who's sister and brother are members. We then got to feast on Pasole :) I felt love and the spirit so I couldn't have asked for more!!

This week we were visiting a few less actives members and they weren't home. When we pulled up there was a girl in her car next to us. When we got back from stopping by the LA's she was still in the car. It was pretty awkward honestly haha. I asked Hna Hougaard if we should talk to her but we both didn't know. We didn't want to be creeps. Well as I got into the car the spirit said talk to her!!! So I waved and she waved back. I thought maybe that's enough then the spirit sure enough again told me to talk to her. So I got back out of the car and surprisingly she got out of the car too! We started talking and found out she loves a Mormon youtuber named Shay Carlson? She loves his family and I guess watching him has helped her through some hard times. She has never had any real connections with Mormons. Her name in Sonia and she is 21! She cleans for a living. It was great because she was able to go with us to Stake conference! It was such a miracle and we are excited to teach her! The Lord truly blesses us when we sacrafice our fear! Also happy birthday to me...Brother Wade Woodrum spoke at stake conference!!! I WAS SO PROUD :) President Forbes came up and told me Sunday and it was great to hear that. 

We also found a great young man named Michael this week from Mexico. He wants to be baptized but is going back to Mexico for the holidays December 13th and wont get back until February 25th! But its okay...also some really cool news too. Remember the Rodriguez family who just up and left one day?? Well they are coming back to Mankato and want to be baptized!!!!!!!! They contacted Hno Robinson through FB. Apparently they all went to church down in Mexico and one Sunday there son had to stay home to watch the house so he just read the Book of Mormon the whole time....:) I am so HAPPY that family is going to be eternal!! 

This week I am working on Gratitude (along with a lot of other things). Something I learned this week is that to live with gratitude in our hearts is to touch heaven and that it is not focusing on what we lack but we are blessed with. It also goes far beyond being grateful for things. It is an attitude in our daily lives it is living without egoism and pride. Hna Hougaard and I are doing a 40 fast as a Christmas present to the Savior. I am giving up sarcasm and she is giving up doubt! Its going to be hard but worth it!

Another cool miracle. So yesterday I prayed specifically before we went out to find a mom with a daughter to teach. The very first house we stopped by a mom answered the door. We asked if she had kids and she said she had one daughter!! I didn't even realize it was an answer to my prayer until hna hougaard said she the answer!! Heavenly Father listens and is ready to bless us all we have to do is ask and ACT.

I love you all. Don't forget to thank the Lord for all you have and contemplate the beauty of your life here and now!!

Hermana Pentelute

Pictures:
1. Birthday breakfast
2. Us and Hna Casteneda and Stacey they gave us those rockin sweaters
3. Shopping in the City last p-day

Nuestro Padre Celestial Nos Ama y Nos Conoce

Hola Familia!!!!

My joy is so full today. I can feel the love of God so strong. Thank you for all of the support you give to me. This week was unlike any other week in the mission! Elder Carlson a General Authority came and did a mission tour in the MMM! On Tuesday we had a mission conference and wow was that amazing. The spirit was so strong, it felt like angels were all around us. I learned soooo much about how to be a better missionary and how to be more consecrated. I am always so grateful to receive guidance like that especially when it comes from an authority of the Lord. I think I took like 10 pages of notes hahaha. Let me tell you a little more. So at the lunch break on Tuesday we happened to be so lucky that President Forbes and Sister Forbes sat by us and also Elder Carlson and Sister Carlson! Sitting with all of them was a little intimedating haha and we were eating pulled pork sandwiches! I tried to use my best manners. Anyways they were asking us questions and we were getting to know each other better. Elder Carlson was responding and giving us advice and encouragement. My Companion was crying the spirit was very strong and I was trying not to cry we were in front of everyone but I couldn't help it and started crying. The reason I felt the spirit so strongly was because I had been praying for a while about some questions I have and other things to help me progress in this work. Elder Carlson didn't know my questions or what I was struggling with at the time but he said exactly what I needed to hear and answered my prayers. I was shocked! It was like he was directly speaking to me. He got up and left and we continued to eat. Then President Forbes came to me and said Elder Carlson would like to interview you.........First thought in my head oh no. haha I had no clue what to think! Why would he possibly want to interview me? I am sure you could imagine I had a million emotions and thoughts going on. I knew it was a very special opportunity because he only interviewed 2 other missionaries. So I tried to calm down the best I could. When I got in the interview he asked me to tell him about my family and what I want to do in the future. For some reason that made me emotional as well. The spirit was SO strong in that room I wish all of you could have felt it. He gave me three pieces of advice or counsel and that was that. My mind was blown. I KNOW that Heavenly Father loves each of us SO much more than we know. He KNOWS us. He knows every little detail about us from the beginning to end. I know he answers our prayers and I know  he is there for us and loves us and he is our greatest sources of comfort and happiness. We are so blessed, I am so blessed to have this knowledge. Share it with the world because it changes lives.

So on a different note! Gera Rodriguez was baptized and confirmed this Sunday!! It was such a good experience. I love that kid. I love the Rodriguez family. They already feel like my own. We are starting to gain the trust of the members and make relationships and its just soooooo awesome. Gera is going to make a great missionary. We all are already preparing him and his dad is next to be baptized soon:) 

We are working a lot with less active members and boy is it great. We are seeing so many miracles through that. What is so cool is that these less active members already have some what of a testimony and they all have relatives and friends who are none members. So we get to strengthen their testimonies and bring new members in. We are teaching  a man named Walter and his sister Leo. They are the niece and nephew of a LA here named Alex Valerio. Leo is very prepared and they are both very interested and open, we will see what happens. Remember the miracle family we found last week? Well we have had contact with them this week and are teaching their cousin Cristian. He also came to church yesterday with us. 

Hermana Hougaard is still doing great. The Spanish is a real struggle but she is pushing forward even through her trails. Its so cool to be working with her. I love her! :)

There will be difficult and trying times in our lives. I was going through a faith testing time that required a lot of work patience and diligence. It is so amazing to me to take a step back and look and see all the blessings I really have. Our trails and tribulations are but a small moment if we put our head down get to work and have faith in Christ. Never forget that. Elder Carlson told me and my comp personally that when things are hard all we can do is get to work and God will work out the other details. 

I love you all. You are all very important to me! I am so blessed to have each of you in my life. This gospel is the truth I know it with my whole soul. Lean on the Lord. Trust in him. Turn you heart and life over to him and he will make all you can be. He has the power to change you and to make you great. Have a great week!!!!

Pictures of Gera's Baptism.

Halloween

1. Me and my comps failed carved pumpkin

2. My zone with Elder Carlson and his wife. 

Cambios Nos da Ayuda Para Crecer

Hola Familia! 

What a change it is being up here serving in the cities! It is very beautiful in a different way, I love it! There are so many missionaries up here and you get to see everyone a lot more its really fun. In st. peter we were like the outcasts haha which isnt always a bad thing but its good to be getting this change. Its super fun! 

Let me first tell you about Gera. He is just the cutest thing ever. He is such a smart 9 year old. Yesterday was the primary program and he was soo nervous to sing in it because he isn't a memeber and doesn't really know the songs. I told him just to say watermelon the whole time and no one would notice. He looked so handsome and did a great job! (just like my bros do) I am SO EXCITED that he is getting baptized this upcoming Sunday. His baptismal interview was yesterday and he did great. We were able to take him and his dad who isn't a member to 
President's fireside last night and the spirit was great there. We are still working on softening his dad's heart to change. Elder Carlson is doing a tour of our mission this week and so he was able to talk last night. He opened it up to questions from the crowd and it was awesome because there were so many non members there. 

Things have still been hard here but we are getting more ground under our feet and we are running with it! There is a lot of work to be done here in the ward to strengthen it and there are a lot of other challenges here right now but I know that we can do. I am learning very clearly about patience and humility. I am nothing without God. I am everything because of him. I am learning that we have no other choice than to rely on him completely! Also we have to exercise our faith and not just wait for answers!

This week we were trying to work with the members as much as possible and get to know them and gain there trust. I also had been praying all week to find a family to teach by the end of the weekend. We stopped by a LA families house Saturday night around 8:00 pm. When we pulled up it looked like no one was home. It was pitch black and I was getting nervous we weren't going to find our family because our Sunday was full of plans. But we had trust and we prayed to find that family even though we didn't have time. When we went up to the house someone came to the door, a lady who brought her whole family into be taught. We found out they weren't the LA family they were Catholics. The missionaries had visited them before but stopped coming. We were able to teach them and commit them to coming to a ward activity and to learn more from us. I know Heavenly Father always provides the way! He always answers prayers! And he is always there for us! Our prayer was answered and I know he has good things in store for this cute family.

I love you all VERY much! Thank you for all of your support email, letters and packages. Sorry if I don't always respond very fast. I will eventually I promise things are just super busy but you are important to me! 

Make it an awesome week. See miracles :)

xoxox

Hermana Pentelute :)

Feliz Noche de Brujas!

Pictures:
1.  We had a bday party with a member and their daughters so cute and fun!
2.  Our zone put up 2,000 feet of fencing around lake Calhoun this week!
3. We got cereal from a member but didn't want to leave there apartment so we could find and because it was a lock out we just hid our cereal behind the door, hahahahah

  

Primero Semana en Richfield...Craziness!!!!!!

Hola Familia!!

I know you are all dying to hear how things are going in Richfield. This week has been sooo crazy trying to get settled and figure things out. I will start from the beginning. So last Monday and Tuesday I got everything packed and ready to go. It was super sad leaving everyone I love so much in St. Peter but it was also happy and I promised them all I'd come back so I have no other choice now! :) Then Wednesday we went to transfer meeting and also the training meeting. After I went and worked in Bloomington for the day because my Hermana didn't get in until 9 pm that night! So we got to the mission home and my hermana was talking with her parents....she was a little homesick but we were ready to roll! We got things in the car and I didn't even know where our apartment was or have a Gps...you all know how good I am with directions! So thanks to the awesome ap's they gave us there Gps. We made it home and by the time we got home it was like 10:10 and we have to be in bed at 10:30 so we got as settled in as we could and got to bed. Oh and I guess I should tell you about my cute cute trainee. Well her name is Hermana  Hougaard and she is from Cove Utah. She graduated 2013 and went to USU as an ambassador for a year (sweet huh?) she has an average size family and she loves them a lot! She also cheered in high school and we are practically twins. She is about the cutest thing and I just love her to death! Its so fun helping her with her Spanish...I remember those days. She is very paranoid about being obedient because her grandpa was a mission president and I guess scared her about the rules. I told her that's why you got put with me! ;) 

Richfield is so great. Everyone here is pretty much Hispanic like holy cow. It is a COMPLETELY different world than little safe St. Peter. You hardly see white people. I love that. Its pretty much just a suburb. I am getting to use so much spanish haha especially because my comp doesn't know the language yet! We are in the twin cities spanish ward. It seems like it will be a great place to be. It was so exciting to be there and have church all in Spanish yesterday. I felt bad for Hermana Hougaard she by the end just tuned it out hahaha. 

So the elders that were here before us......they tried hard to clean but our apartment was really filthy. I didn't even feel safe showering. Apparently they took 2 days cleaning it and there was still mold and hair everywhere. This morning we did a good clean. It still has some to go..but at least I now feel comfortable. Also there was one progressing investigator here so pretty much our teaching pool is 0. BUT with that being said we are here to find the prepared and baptize! I know its going to happen. We had a super cool miracle this week we were going to visit a less active part member family but we saw a man named Joel out working on his car. So we talked with him and we were able to teach him the restoration and find out he's came with a LA member twice to church and he lives with this Less active member! He is very interested and excited to learn more. His work schedule is pretty crazy he works pretty much from 8 to 10 at night. It was a miracle because his car was having problems and the day we found him was the first day his boss let him off early to work on the car. He even recognized that, that we were sent there at that time for a reason or we would have never met him.
Gerado Rodriguez is a 9yr old boy who is the son of a recently re-activated mom. He is getting baptized November 2cnd!!We were able to teach him for the first time yesterday (that's who the elders were teaching) and he has a really good understanding and is very excited to have his sins washed away and receive the Holy Ghost! So thats really exciting! His dad is a non-member so we are hoping to start teaching him as well and complete the family in the Gospel!!

This is a really long letter this week but I have a really great story to tell!!! So our church is in Minneapolis and wow let me tell you I will never live there haha. So we were driving trying to find the church and I was lost. There are sooo many people out on the roads and I have never drove in any thing like it! So I made a quick left hand turn and all the sudden we feel something move the car. It felt to me like we ran over something. It was really weird so I kept driving and then a man behind me honks so I thought oh no we just got in an accident and I didn't even realize it! So we pull over and our first instinct was to lock the doors and just roll down the window a little bit. The man got out of his car and was swearing at us and so I felt really bad like It was my fault or something so we got out of the car. Let me remind you this is hermana Hougaards first day in the field. So we start talking to this man and he's like did you not feel that? We said we did but didn't know what had happened. Apparently he hit the back of our car which had hermana hougaards bike on it. He had a white scratch from the bike on the front of his car. He told us it was my fault and I was in the wrong lane and yada yada so I felt awful and for some reason believed it. He said it's fine we don't have to get the police involved but do you have some money on you? That was a red flag that went off for me. I immediately said no we don't he's like 20 bucks? I said no we don't sorry we are missionaries representatives of Christ in the area and he started to get uncomfortable. He said oh don't make me feel bad..meanwhile he was smoking some sort of something. We both felt uncomfortable so we said sorry bye and got in the car and drove away. A few minutes after the experience we called our mission president and told him the experience. Not to freak you out mom but he told us he has heard a lot of sad stories of things happening in situations like that. Sometimes they do that on purpose as a tactic. That man had other intentions and the accident was his fault. So of course we were freaking out a little bit hahah poor hna hougaard is scared out of her mind on her first day and so was I but I tried to act fine. In the end I was soooooo grateful nothing happened and that we were safe. Heavenly Father protected us I know and I now know some more safety procautions! I have the pepper spray g-ma gave me on hand all  the time hahah. The cities are a big change!!

Well that is all for now, I love you very much!!!! I hope you have a great week and remember the reason for everything. Our Savior, Lord, Redeemer and King. 

P.s. here is my new address:
080 12th Ave. S. #111 
Bloomington MN 55425

xoxoxo
Hermana Pentelute

Pictures from Richfield:

1. Elder Berry from PG

5.The Spanish missionaries in the cities at our cultural activity

6. I got to see the temple for the first time