La Fe

Hola familia!

I am here in Rochester again and will be getting one of my old companions back as a companion! Sister Rawlins! It is so crazy and should be a great experience. We will probably have lots of success together because we already know how to work together. I am excited to see how it goes and I know it is the Lord's will! It has been great here with Sister Smith and I can not believe its already her time to go! It is so weird to be "killing a missionary". We will be traveling up to the cities tomorrow and then I'll get my new/old comp Wednesday!!! :) 

So this week has flown by. Wow time goes by fast when you are doing the Lords work. I have just been so grateful to be here in this area and with this ward. They are absolutely amazing in reaching out and helping others. Their reaction time is so quick. If someone needs something its already taken care of before they can ask. 

This week I have been having more faith and wow it has done amazing things!! We were stopping by a less active unknown and she wasn't there anymore. We decided to have faith that we were in that apartment building for a reason. So we prayerfully selected some doors to knock and the second door we knocked, there was a young family who let us in. They are in need of spiritual healing and the video we were able to share started the process. The because he lives video is amazing!! It helped them to feel hope peace and more than anything that the Lord loved them and that he had never left them. I have been changing the way I look at everything. I have been keeping my faith high and with that attitude there are so many more miracles. I almost feel as if I was back in Moses' time. When all the people simply had to do was look at the staff and live. The moment we decide to believe and act with our faith or look and do something so simple we all know, it is almost unreal how quickly these miracles happen. I also think it changes the way I look at my life with the hand of the Lord and I can just recognize it greater. Faith is great. Going back to the because he lives initiative put out by the church. You all should get online and share the video! We were able to share it with almost the whole entire ward Sunday (with some technological difficulties because I am so far removed from all of that) and they all are sharing it. It is such a cool way to share God's love so simple and in 21/2 minutes. I really felt it watching it. :)

Also to make Sunday even better me and my companion both had to give talks because 

someone was sick but it was great last minute and very much more guided by the spirit I think! 

So Jose is doing great. He got a blessing last night. He didn't come to church :( because he was sick but he was able to still be with members yesterday. The more prayers that come his way the better. Yesterday he prayed for the first time out loud for us and prayed that he would be healthy enough for his baptism. The coolest part about this whole thing is Jose is recognizing the power and peace that comes from following and doing god's will. He reads the Book of Mormon faithfully and is praying and growing this relationship with God so that he can endure well in this life. The gospel is so much more than just going to church and doing your calling. It is about knowing the Savior and becoming like him. It is a way to give us strength and courage in all time and places in our life. The Gospel is to be lived joyfully every day of our lives. There is no day off. I know this gospel is true. I know that we have a savior who lives and LOVES US! He is here. I know he is here always. I am so excited like many of you for Easter coming up and General Conference. What a specail time we have to be taught by God's representatives. I am foucsing on studying the atonement this week before Easter and really taking in and making personal the love christ has for me. I encourage you to do the same. 

Everyone else is doing good. Bertha came to the conference with us, Victor came to church and brother bebe (david) is still progressing as well. Everything is in the Lords timing but I really can see them being strengthened. 

I love you!!!!!!! 

make it a great week :)

xoxox 

hermana pentelute

pics:
1. my district doing service
2. Misty and Rosie 
3. our relief society pres took us out to breakfast!

Miedo de Agua

Hola Familia! Como estan?!

Life out here in the MMM is moving forward with great speed. Something I love about the Savior is that even though he was the busiest man alive he still made time for every person in his path. He truly is our greatest example!

So this week we got some answers about Jose and Victor! We were able to meet with Victor and find out he really is just going through a tough time of his life. He is having a lot of the adversary thrown his way and so that has been having an affect on his decisions and thoughts. He was able to get an amazing priesthood blessing this week and he came to our Easter devotional yesterday. So not all hope is lost there, it never was :) Its just going to take him some time and lots and lots of faith to move forward. 

When we were on exchanges this week Sister Smith and Roberts saw Jose at his apartment in the elevator again! He was all nice and apologized and they set up a time to come back for the next day. We were able to bring two members with us who both have gone through almost exactly the same trails he is going through. The lesson was very powerful and he came to church yesterday!!!!!!!!!! He had such a great time at church and all of the prayers paid off!!!! :):) So it was very cute because he apologized to me and told me why he did what he did. So like you know he has lots of health issues and he thinks that because of his treatments he has been getting when he goes into the waters of baptism literally that he will contaminate the water and get the other person baptizing him sick. We were relived to hear that and its a good thing his doctor is LDS and in our stake we can just call him up and get the best advice! So exciting for Jose. We also found out he has a son who lives here that was baptized into the church 15 years ago. 

President and Sister Forbes came out teaching with us this week after our zone training to Bertha and Claudia! It was such a great lesson and we really go to know there needs more. Bertha committed to living the word of wisdom! :) It is such a blessing to be apart of her teaching at this time. And pres and sis Forbes are just awesome and always have the right thing to say. Bertha didn't come to church yesterday because she is terrified of the snow and cold and it snowed all day long! We are now really praying with a purpose for better weather. hahaha. 

I am so grateful for this time of year to focus more on the savior and the atonement. I think Easter season always comes and goes so fast so this year I am really trying to make the most of it every day and really focus on what it means to me! I encourage you all to do the same and focus your studies around the atonement of the Savior!

I love you all. There is no greater news than that of the risen Savior our Lord and Redeemer. This I know is true.

Make it a great week :)

xoxoxo

hermana pentelute

Pictures:
1. Sisters we work with :)
2. Kimberli Gonzalez we are helping her prepare for baptism April 11th it was her birthday and so her face is all green from being shoved in cake!

Rechezado y Aceptado en el Mismo Tiempo

Hola Familia! 

This week had a lot of ups and downs. Let me start with the ups.  We had an amazing miracle this week. So we stopped by a referral we had received and talked for a little bit because we had another appointment we had to go to. Misty is her name and she has a terminal illness she is here from Arkansas for the mayo clinic. She was already supposed to have died but mayo has kept her here longer! She invited us back to her home this Saturday. So when we were there and she was concerned because someone was supposed to be picking up a couch for her and the place was closing and she hadn't heard anything from them. We talked for a bit and then the people who were supposed to be helping got there 2 hours late. She wasn't very happy but we were able to bring the couch inside and get it all set up. After she had made dinner for us and the other people. We started to talk with the other lady who came to drop the couch off. She immediately opened up. She is agnostic and has gone through a lot in her life. She is really looking for peace and change. She didn't directly say that but I know its true. It was an amazing talk we had and we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her what it will do for her life. The next day Misty and her daughter Rosy came to church with us. (that was a miracle in itself!) At church Misty told us that after we left Rachel the lady we were talking about and she was hugging the Book of Mormon saying this is going to help me! This is going to help me change and help me stop drinking! I think it was a testimony to the both of them of the power of the Book of Mormon. It is such a great miracle because had they not been late we would have never found them and I know we were there at the right time, in Gods time. So the reason it was a miracle for Misty to make it to church is because she is on hospis. In the third hour she was really struggling we had to go to the mothers room and lay her down there. She was able to receive a priesthood blessing and it was very powerful. Such great people to teach! We also had been having a really slow week and then Friday we were knocking in a trailer park and found this awesome Hispanic family. I love how we always find people and just that week or a few days earlier they were talking about God and the questions of the soul. That is what happened with them and they were like kids come in and listen they are telling us something very important! It was awesome and I am so excited to go back and see them. They are seekers of truth!

On a happier note we set a baptismal date with David and he paid his tithing second week at church! He is so great!!!!!!!:)

This week I went on exchanges with a sister in my zone and it was my first one and it went really good! I loved the chance to learn from her. It amazing to be an example to those who are serving around me and learn from so many of them. 

Victor, our progressing investigator who I feel like I am definitely here for had a rough week this week. In the beginning of the week things were going great!! We set a date to be baptized of May 16th with him so that his friend could be there that introduced him to the church and then he prayed about it and got a confirming answer of no and that he should not be baptized. It was really heart breaking because just the week before he received his answer about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith being true. He has so much family opposition he is scared he will fall into depression from all of it when he tells him whats going on. I was trying not to cry when he was telling us but I know he will get baptized, I just don't know when. So much trust in God's timing. I just really want him to experience the blessings and joy of the gospel! 

So then the day before we heard that news Jose, the awesome one decided randomly he can't talk with us anymore. We really have no clue why but we saw him in the elevator going to visit him and he just said no, i cant talk to you anymore. It was so sad!!! The reason that it is sad is because he had already almost gotten to alma in the Book of Mormon. Its okay though. I am grateful to be okay with things that happen like that. Its because I know there is someone smarter than me who is carrying out his plan exactly how he would have it be. 

Well i love you all very much! I hope you have a great week :):):)

xoxox

hermana pentelute

Here is my new address in Rochester 

402 31st street ne #240 Rochester 55906

I am doing great. Loving being a disciple of Christ. Make it a great week!

Thanks for all you do. 

Hermana Pentelute

Pics:
1. Me and Victor
2. me and my comp touring mayo
3. first ambulance at mayo
4. teaching like a nun so many people think we are nuns
5. Elder Roberts district leader-he knows Pres. Miles

  

Zone P-day

La Palbra de Dios Nos Trae Paz

Hola Familia! Como Estan? 
Estoy super bien!

This week was crazy busy and crazy full of miracles! Heavenly Father never fails to amaze me with his out pouring of love.  We had a mission leadership conference and I learned a lot about gratitude. I have noticed a huge difference in my life when I have chosen to be grateful. Those who are grateful are those who are truly happy. Its kinda a big deal this gratitude thing :) I love alma 26 one of the best chapters on gratitude.

All of you are wondering about the awesome family we found last week. We weren't able to get them to church this week but we still have faith and are going to get some supplies in arabic so they can at least read the word of God! 

This week we had an awesome miracle of receiving a member referral who is SO prepared to receive the gospel! One of our ward missionaries is really taking his calling seriously because he has a love for God and the work and he is making invitations to learn about the gospel to just about everyone he talks with. He noticed that one of his co-workers was looking a little lonely and discouraged. He truly cares about others and knows the happiness the gospel brings so he started to talk to him about God and his beliefs. He invited him to his house this week for lunch and invited us to come as well. We were able to share a message about our Savior Jesus Christ, his atonement and the healing power of it all. He was  brought to tears multiple times during our lesson and he just said I am willing to whatever the Lord wants me to. He is willing to accept and test his faith with everything. He was able to come to church this Sunday and really loved it and plans to come back!!! Yay for awesome members who have testimonies and are not afraid to open their mouth!  

Here is something I read this week I really like. It goes something like this: The best way to grow vibrant faith is by continual service. That is why so many missionaries change and become converted is because we are constantly serving and growing our faith. How blessed are we to be disciples of the Lord! So question what are you doing to serve your brothers and sisters? Are you letting chances go by to fortify your faith and let your light shine? 

We had the blessed opportunity this week to start teaching brother Victor Lechner. He has been meeting with the missionaries for a little over a year now. He is YSA age so he was meeting with the elders. He actually lives in our ward boundaries and decided he wanted to try meeting with sisters!! This week for the first time Victor got a confirming answer that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. He said he felt peace and thats a feeling he never gets. When he called and told us I may or may not have been screaming. It was a joyous moment. He was so happy and he is so nervous. His family is very high anti Mormon. Probably the worst I have seen so far. He is terrified because he knows its true but scared to see what will happen with his family. Regardless we set a baptismal date for the 11th of April and we both know he can get there with an increase of faith. :) Please keep him in your prayers and also Jose Castillo so that he can be well enough to go to Church. He has all the desire in the world but because of his health it keeps getting in the way! We and an awesome opportunity to have dinner with him in a members home and he just felt the spirit there. He is pretty much like a grandpa for me. And I feel like he is going to be a member so soon. He just needs to get well and come to church. I believe in miracles!! We have so many people we are teaching the trick is just finding the time to help everyone and also the sisters but it is possible and so rewarding. 

I love this gospel. I love being a missionary. I know the church is true and God is so good. 

I love you all!!!!

xoxoxo 

make it a great week :)

hermana pentelute

Pics: 

1. We made cupcakes this week for a part member family. It was their moms birthday and got to deliver them around to some of our investigators. It was so fun and I love baking!! (especially eating it after).

2. some amazing ladies from the ward!

Amor en el Aire

Hola Familia!!!

This week has been an adventure! So to start off our investigator that was progressing to be baptized this weekend is in love with my companion. In the begging of the week everything seemed to be going fine and we were teaching him almost everyday. We even meet with him twice one day. We had members at all our lessons and the elders came with us and everything because we felt a little weird about some messages he had sent us. Then he sent us some more messages and proclaimed his love. It was very weird being a missionary and everyone got involved. Its a long story but to keep it short he will be taking a break for a time to make sure he is doing everything for the right reasons. Its sad how Satan works so hard because he really did seem to have a testimony so we are just hoping this was a speed bump in his conversion. 

This week we really had to take some time to find new investigators! I really like finding because I like telling everyone about the message of the restoration. It brings me joy. We knocked on a door of a man named Ernesto and he immediately had so many questions for us. He was raised as a catholic and changed to Christianity. His family is not happy with him but he knows that is the truth. He wants to know how to overcome that opposition and how to have the courage to follow what he knows is right! He doesn't believe in the Book of Mormon yet but we have faith that as he reads it he will find the answers to all of his questions. I know we were lead to his door for a reason and its kinda cool because it was the first one we knocked! Its different because I am always teaching all of the Spanish lessons but its helping me grow and keep my Spanish!

We had a really funny experience this week with some people from Iraq! When we were knocking on doors we knocked into them and they only speak Arabic. It was so hard to communicate and so awkward standing at the door just looking at each other and trying to talk but not understanding one another. We still gave them a pass along card and then continued to knock. We were at the end of the hall and someone comes out of their apartment and she starts doing hand motions like no no no don't go there stop! We were like okay......? Maybe no one lives there or she lives there and doesn't want us to go in. She came up to us and started talking to us in Arabic. Then she motions us into her house. We were like okay hahaha we will just go in I guess! The whole family lived over there in that apartment and all were in there waiting for us to come in. They got us some food and sat us down and were just looking at us. Everyone was talking in their own language and they understood Jesus Christ so that was cool! We were able to find thelds.org website in Arabic but when we got there we couldn't understand what it said. We communicated sufficiently enough and they said they wanted to go to church with us. We will be going back and hopefully getting them to church. Even if they don't speak our language they are children of God and we still felt the spirit together. It was pretty cool. I wont forget that experience.

Jose Angel Castillo truly believes in all that we are teaching him and he feels as if he is getting second chance to become a member because he used to go to the church in Mexico! It is pretty cool because he has no other religious background. Its like teaching someone with a blank slate he just takes it all in. He has a lot of health issues and so it is very hard to get him to church but we are going to start a prayer chain for him to come to church this week and hope to see a miracle!!

Even though things have been hectic this week and really threw us for a surprise I have been able to find comfort guidance and help through the savior and my Heavenly Father. They are our rock. The rock which cannot and will not fall or fail. They are a sure and steady foundation for all aspects of our life. 

I love you ALL!!!!!!!! 

have a great week :)

xoxox

hermana pentelute

Pic: Here is the Arabic lady. She loves God.