Hola Familia From Cold Minnesota!

Hola familia from cold Minnesota!

Did you know this winter in MInnesota it is the coldest it has been in 30 years? WOW. It is actually starting to warm up and I think I missed the brunt of the cold, thank goodness. You know as missionaries you are required to back out your companion it is still something i'm getting used to and sometimes its embarrassing but I have tried to start having more fun with it haha. So this morning it has been snowing so much! And on our way to go email we had to go up this big snowy hill and it just wasn't working for our little car. So of course we are half way up the hill in the middle of the road I have to get out and direct her down with cars passing by and everything. It was quite the scene and we had to do this a few times before we just said we were going to take a longer different way. I included some pictures because it was just too funny not to. 

There were lots of humorous moments this week, as some of you know I need to purchase a bike here in the near future. A recent convert has the bike of a missionary who went home a few months ago, she gave it to him because she didn't want to have to send it home. My companion told I could maybe just buy that one from him because its the one the mission suggests! So we talked to him about it and he is Mexican keep in mind, so it wasn't the easiest to understand everything. We decided to talk more about it in person and so we were just teaching in little Guatemala (the trailer park we are always in) and his car is just waiting in front of ours. He said hey I have your bike! So we thought oh great how nice of him! WELL.....it wasn't the bike we had in mind. He went out and bought a brand new bike from Wal-mart! Ah I didn't know what to do. Our cultures are very different and I couldn't accept it. And plus I knew I probably would need a sturdier one for my whole mission but I would never tell him that! It was so bad...I told him I couldn't take it I just knew you had one he never used and it was an option. We probably had a 20 minute discussion because I wouldn't take it. So the result was that I would talk to my parents and see what they thought so I will update you next week with what ends up happening. hahah the guy is so kind I just was not expecting him to go buy me a brand new bike!!!!

Spanish....it is defiantly really hard. I am practicing and using what I know all the time. It is just really hard when we are in a lesson and I don't know what the person is saying. I can say what I need to almost always which is good but it is frustrating!! I know it will come with time but I want to be the best missionary that I can be at all times! I know the Lord does not require us to be perfect, what a blessing! 

The life of a missionary is awesome. I have been pushed and tested in so many ways I never have before been. It is crazy. You feel so much closer to the lord than you ever have but so far away from those who love you. I am learning so much. It is actually pretty fun to knock doors but sometimes scary. You have to just put your self out there in every instance! Feeling up the gas, buying groceries, walking anywhere always! I have seen the bad days and the good days already here. 

So we have an investigator named Gaspar and he is so ready for the gospel in his life. He just can't get work off to go to church and be baptized its frustrating and hard because he is already living the commandments and is ready for baptism! This week we fasted with him so that he could come to church but he still didn't get it off. We hope that our faith combined with the power of our Heavenly Father he will be able to come soon because he is ready!! I have felt true joy here when I have seen the gospel make sense or when I have felt the love of God for that person. 

One of many miracles that happened was that we knocked on a mans door and he wasn't interested at first and said maybe his daughter would be. So we started teaching her the restoration and her dad actually decided to stay and listen. The daughter was really receptive and has lots of potential and the dad had lots of questions. When he found out we were Mormons he said if I knew you were Mormon I would have never let you in! We just kind of laughed and said well we are normal people with a message of our Savior. We were able to set up a come back appointment with him and his daughter and we later found out we also were going to teach his other daughter that doesn't live with him. I hope we can a change of heart for this dad and see his family come to real joy and eternal salvation.

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE ON VALENTINES DAY!

I got so many letters and packages I could not be more grateful, so thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!! They made me feel so happy and loved. 

I love you all and hope you have an awesome week. 

PRAY ALWAYS

XOXOX Hermana Pentelute

I forgot to tell you it was my first zone conference this week and it was awesome really inspiring. I also did exchanges for the first time! They were awesome haha and really fun like a sleepover. We slept at a members house because they live with members and it was way nice! They had an elliptical. The first time ive really been able to get a work out with it so i am sending a picture of me doing it in my pjs with no shoes thats pretty much how i work out and i guess i look pretty funny!

love love love you guys

First Week in MMM

Hola Familia!!!!!!!!!

I made it to beautiful Minnesota! It is so amazing here and I truly already love it!! It is bitter cold. It is cold the second you walk out the door. It is crazy because in Utah you can be outside for a second and be fine but in Minnesota its like you are bundled up to be in the snow and still can feel the cold pierce you the moment you walk outside. But it really isn't so bad because I have lots of good stuff to keep me warm and I am so focused on the work that is the last thing I have to be worried about!

My mission president and wife are so cool and great I cant wait to get to know them more and my companion Hermana jones is amazing! She is so diligent and is teaching me a lot im really excited to work with her! So I have seen so many miracles from just my short time being here I see a miracle everyday. I invited 11 people to be baptized and taught 16 restoration lessons! It is sometimes a little intimidating to have to go knocking on everyone doors but it is so rewarding and some people actually listen and invite you to come in! In real life I would probably be really scared of trailer parks but believe it or not that is where a lot of my time is spent! All of the Mexicans live in the trailer parks so that's where we are needed most of the time. It is really dirty so I usually just take a deep breath and put on my smile and just let the spirit and the lord do the rest. One funny story.. so we had an appointment with a guy named Pablo but a lot of Mexicans are bad at planning and following through with commitments. So it was getting pretty late and we really wanted to teach him and we knew he was home cause we could see everyone in the trailer. They wouldn't answer the door and so I had to go completely out of my comfort zone and knock on the door and call his name out twice! It sounds pretty ridiculous but god wont bless us until after the trail of our faith! He never came to the door but I know the lord blesses us for putting in everything we have! Also last night while teaching a 13 year old from Chicago while we were walking out the door said "God has blessed you two with cuteness" hahahaha it was really funny.

One crazy awesome experience was we went and did service for these people we meet who were member of the Methodist church we helped them move buildings and it was weird because I never really had a testimony of how our church really is the house of the Lord. I didn't feel the spirit in their building at all it just felt like another building and It made me so grateful for our church and just built my testimony again that our church is TRUE!! They also bought us lunch at this awesome Mexican restaurant that is in town and a few of our investigators work there so cool!

 A miracle this week was meeting and teaching a man named Gustavo. He was unloading things from his car and I thought what a great opportunity to serve and meet someone. So we went up and started talking with him and he was so nice! Since he was a male we couldn't go inside but he was thankfully willing to go and talk in the laundry mat! That was a blessing in itself so we didn't have to freeze! So we taught him the Restoration and he was really receptive and had wonderful questions he also believed it! He couldn't commit to a baptismal date because his work schedule is always so crazy but he said he would be baptized! Also we asked him to pray and he did! He was scared and unsure because he had NEVER before prayed in his life. Sure enough he prayed and he sounded like an old pro. I know that was the Lord and I know that was a miracle. I love watching this work go forward it is truly the most amazing thing ever!

I am already in love with this area and being blessed so much please keep Domingo, Elvia, Kayla, missy, Valeria and Gaspar in your prayers those are some of our investigators!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Make it a great week and have a happy valentines day!

xoxoxox

Pictures:

1. Companeras

2. Crazy Cold Companeras

3. Here's the snow!!!!

Safe Arrival!

Hey family! 

I made it safely to Minnesota and it is cold as ever! Thank you so much for the package!!! I am going to need to get a bike here pretty soon and I also need my health insurance card to be send to me but I will tell you mom more on Monday which is p day yay! My companions name is hermana jones she is from Utah and seems cute! My mission president is awesome and his wife is so sweet. Everyone here is so kind and I am so excited my first area is st. peter everyone says they love it! I am supposed to invite someone to baptism by the end of the  night crazy! Their goals are high and im so excited im doing good and yes I am freezing haha J

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!

Hermana Pentelute

Pictures:
1. Mission President Brother & Sister Clements
2. New Trainer, Sister Sarah Jones
3. New Arrivals to the MMM 

Last Pictures from the CCM

Hermana Laycock & Hermana Pentelute

Awesome Views of the CCM

Pictures sent from Hermana Jones - Our angel on the inside!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

HOLA FAMILIA!!!!!!  I am so excited I leave for Minnesota tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!

I can not tell you how excited I am to just have a real burger and fries and maybe even an ice cream cone! More importantly I am  SO excited to be just where the Lord wants me to be. I have been waiting for this forever and know its finally here. I am so ready. It is a little nerve racking because it is a completely new place but I know that Lord will give me all the strength I need! I am going to try to talk to lots of people in the Mexico airport because we leave the CCM at 3 am and my flight doesn't leave untill 735am! Hopefully there spanish wont be too hard for me to understand because in about 24 hours its all im going to be using!

This week has been good and I truly had one of the most amazing experiences of my life! So remember Rodrigo the REAL investigator we taught who had no job? Well he came back Saturday and we didn't have enough time to teach him but he specifically asked if he could talk to us for just 5 minutes! So me and my companera go in to talk to him and he just thanked us. He told us that HE FOUND A JOB!!!!!!! He thanked us because we had talked to him about having faith and we committed him to praying with faith to find a job and he did. It was such an amazing moment. I know that is wasn't a coincidence he just found a job within the week after we had taught him. I KNOW the lord prepares people for us to teach and I KNOW that that experience he had is helping his testimony of this gospel grow. He had read 11 chapters in the book of Mormon and told us he knew it was true. HOLY COW. I know that the spirit is the true teacher and that the lord has a specific plan for each of his children I am just so lucky I get to be apart of bringing this truth.

Here in the CCM we have learned SO MUCH about working with the members and how vital that is. It has really surprised me how much they have stressed this. Both live devotionals we had were about this. It is called the work of salvation all of us working together to bring to pass the salvation of souls. It is so important you guys at home are helping with this and being missionary's. I know it is not easy but there is always someone who could use your help. Especially the less active members! I am excited to meet my new ward I have heard some crazy stories about wards out of Utah but I know the church is the same everywhere and I am excited for that! 

I am sorry this email is shorter but today has been super busy getting ready to leave! 

I love you all soooooooo much! I hope you have an awesome week and remember I love you! 

XOXOX

Hermana Pentelute