Fambly!
I'm so glad Dad had such a fun time in Utah! I would greatly enjoy seeing pictures...nudge nudge wink wink knowhwhatImean knowhatImean?
I'm having trouble distinguishing individual days anymore, but we continue to see miracles left and right. Actually, I was thinking. We're always looking for miracles, so what could be considered little miracles are a big deal to us and we try to always make sure that we thank Heavenly Father for them. And then a whole slew of HUGE MIRACLES comes along and we don't even know what to do with ourselves! You know how I told you that Rick set a baptismal date last week? Well so did his daughter Alexis! They're both kind of unsure still.....not about whether or not it's something they should do, they know for sure they need to, they're just both quite stubborn. I love them with all my little heart and I'm excited for them to come closer to Christ during this time that they are preparing to be baptized and then to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion and to feel Christ's love incessantly!
Hermana Prince is learning about cultural differences in a variety of ways. The standard for how long our long lessons should last is 20-45 min. Even President Martin in one of the first meetings I went to said "According to missionary standards, your lessons should last no longer than an hour." and then he looked around sternly for a second. Then he busted up laughing and said "That's not going to happen in Spanish work! Just do the best you can." We went to an investigator's home the other night for a lesson (and they really have no interest in our message and have told us so very lovingly----although the wife read all of 1 Nephi when we just asked her to read the first chapter....she recited basically all the major and minor events of the first 10 chapters to us. Dang.) Anyway, we had an appointment after them so we told them we would need to be mindful of the time. They looked at the clock, guaging how much time they had with us, and said "You only came for an HOUR??????!!" ummm....
I didn't know they like us so much!
Also, the family of Jesus (also know as Chuy, you'll be tickled to hear) keeps sitting in on our lessons. He received a blessing for help to overcome some trials he has right now. We went over last night, read parts of 3 Nephi 11 all together and watched the Reflections of Christ DVD. We bore our testimonies of Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel and the Spirit was so strong I could almost taste it. We invited them to come watch conference with us and come closer to the Savior by hearing His words through a living prophet and apostles. We pointed out the Spirit we felt so that they could recognize it too. It was SO cool! They're such a great family and a really great support to Jesus (our investigator, not the Savior)....well, I guess both.....anyway. They're ALL planning on coming to English class this week and I'm way stoked to see them more often. We also set up an appointment to share the Relief society message with his sister-in-law.
Also, Jesus and all his brothers have the most amazing mustaches. and German shepherd puppies. Just sayin'. There's more than one reason they're some of my favorites.
Gotta run! love you more than I love puppies.
Hermana B
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Amazing Missionary Methods
Hey Mama and Dad..
THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME! We had Zone conference and Elder Golden of the 70 came to speak. Super cool. Super motivational. He's from South Africa and his accent was way fun to listen to but of course the Spirit he brought was incredibly strong.
I don't have a whole lot of time, sorry, so here's some snapshots of our week:
We helped a new investigator, Jesus to set a baptismal date this week. He showed up to our 2nd appointment pretty tipsy (he's apparently had a major problem with alcohol for years and years) and we told him we could only come visit and teach and help him receive the blessings God has waiting for him if he quit drinking. The next time we met with him, he had studied the verse we gave him to read and motivate him and the Restoration pamphlet inside and out. He even quoted parts of it back to us and made a million different connections to help him apply it to his life. We invited him to be baptized on October 9th and he said YES! He asked us for more things to read from the Book of Mormon and promised to come to church (which he DID!) Hermana Prince and I made it to the car before we started screaming for joy. He's so great!
We also helped Rick (who we've been working with FOREVER) to set a baptismal date as a goal. He's still pretty unsure about it but we promised him that if he did his part, that he would be ready by that date. It was an incredibly intense, spiritual lesson and I could feel the Savior's love for him so powerfully.SO GOOD.
We went over the Zitlaly's house yesterday morning to help her get ready for church. Her mom didn't seem opposed so we barged in, ripped her covers off and did all we could to persuade her to come. (We wouldn't normally do that, Just FYI....we have a really good friendship with her...) Her little brother Alan who is probably around 4 helped us by crawling into her bed, snuggling her, kissing her face all over, grabbing her toothbrush so I could coax her out of bed, and bouncing around us. He's the cutest little thing....he's got a buzz cut, he NEVER has a shirt on, he's always a little sweaty, has a Harry Potter scar on his forehead, and runs and hugs us every time we come over while yelling "CHURCH GIRLS!!" Sometimes though, I'm pretty sure he says "church bus" instead (the Lancaster Baptist church has a bus that picks up kids to bring them to church functions and it always passes by the places where we teach....DANG how I want one of those.)He also stutters and has no front teeth. Which is precious. Every time I see him, I can't help but think of Jesus' admonition to be as a little child, patient, humble, meek, full of love, etc.
Love you more than I want a Church bus,
Hermana Manzana
THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME! We had Zone conference and Elder Golden of the 70 came to speak. Super cool. Super motivational. He's from South Africa and his accent was way fun to listen to but of course the Spirit he brought was incredibly strong.
I don't have a whole lot of time, sorry, so here's some snapshots of our week:
We helped a new investigator, Jesus to set a baptismal date this week. He showed up to our 2nd appointment pretty tipsy (he's apparently had a major problem with alcohol for years and years) and we told him we could only come visit and teach and help him receive the blessings God has waiting for him if he quit drinking. The next time we met with him, he had studied the verse we gave him to read and motivate him and the Restoration pamphlet inside and out. He even quoted parts of it back to us and made a million different connections to help him apply it to his life. We invited him to be baptized on October 9th and he said YES! He asked us for more things to read from the Book of Mormon and promised to come to church (which he DID!) Hermana Prince and I made it to the car before we started screaming for joy. He's so great!
We also helped Rick (who we've been working with FOREVER) to set a baptismal date as a goal. He's still pretty unsure about it but we promised him that if he did his part, that he would be ready by that date. It was an incredibly intense, spiritual lesson and I could feel the Savior's love for him so powerfully.SO GOOD.
We went over the Zitlaly's house yesterday morning to help her get ready for church. Her mom didn't seem opposed so we barged in, ripped her covers off and did all we could to persuade her to come. (We wouldn't normally do that, Just FYI....we have a really good friendship with her...) Her little brother Alan who is probably around 4 helped us by crawling into her bed, snuggling her, kissing her face all over, grabbing her toothbrush so I could coax her out of bed, and bouncing around us. He's the cutest little thing....he's got a buzz cut, he NEVER has a shirt on, he's always a little sweaty, has a Harry Potter scar on his forehead, and runs and hugs us every time we come over while yelling "CHURCH GIRLS!!" Sometimes though, I'm pretty sure he says "church bus" instead (the Lancaster Baptist church has a bus that picks up kids to bring them to church functions and it always passes by the places where we teach....DANG how I want one of those.)He also stutters and has no front teeth. Which is precious. Every time I see him, I can't help but think of Jesus' admonition to be as a little child, patient, humble, meek, full of love, etc.
Love you more than I want a Church bus,
Hermana Manzana
Monday, September 12, 2011
Hey Padres!!
things sound way fun at home...Thank you for the update on Jared and Tiffany! I'm praying all goes well and romanticky! He's so creative. I love it.
I'm super stoked to hear about the Mormon.org thing. I think it'll be great! It hasn't come to Palmdale yet, but then again, not much does....Please say congratulations to Adam and Josh! I'd love to see pictures if you've got them. They're so great!
It's been a great week. I totally love Hermana Prince and I'm reasonably certain that we're pretty much the same person...except she's much more patient, Christlike, spiritual, healthy (haha!!) than I am....We've been running in the mornings and it's totally kicking my trash. But we're working like crazy, loving missionary life and becoming closer to each other, to our investigators, and especially to the Savior every day.
In almost every single lesson we had this week, the Spirit was super strong and we were able to teach super powerfully and promise some really cool blessings. Yesterday was a little rough because Sunday is kind of the culmination of all our work throughout the week. We invite, teach, pray, prepare, plan, and pray some more in hopes that people will exercise their faith by reading the scriptures, praying, and coming to church, especially. But we only had one investigator at church. It's frustrating because I feel like we're becoming the best missionaries we ever have been, becoming better teachers, relying more on the Spirit, being exactly obedient, but at the same time, our investigators are dropping us or just stop progressing. But Hermana Prince is such an angel and I'm so grateful for her positivity and diligence. Our recent convert, Amanda just got a calling to be our branch's YW president (we're combined with an English ward so she's essentially the first counselor in the combined YW presidency) She's so excited! and she's going to be the most amazing young women's leader ever! Hermana Prince and I got to share how our YW leaders changed our lives and how they are such role models for us. We also taught her dad Rick again and he finally said that he would pray about Joseph Smith. So great.
We have an investigator named Zitlaly and it's completely a Cinderella type situation. She's a good girl and she wants to be baptized and come closer to God, but her mom is INSANE. I've never seen someone so filled with bitterness and spite in my life. Her mom won't let her come to activities because Zitlaly (according to her) hasn't made drastic changes since we've started meeting with her (which, first off, is a little difficult, seeing as every time we come over we can't actually teach anything because her mom starts screaming at us about how her daughter is a worthless lowlife. Secondly, the changes her mom wants are behaviors that result from her mother tearing her down incessantly.) The first time I met her it took everything I had to keep from hauling off and slapping her and poor Hermana Prince was almost there yesterday. We went over to convince Zitlaly to come to a youth fireside but she insisted that her mom would flat out refuse. We talked about it for a while and we prayed together that her mom's heart would be softened so that we could just take Zitlaly for an hour...or at the very least that her mom would take this gesture as a sign that she really does want to change and allow her to come to church next week. After the prayer, Zitlaly stood up, completely determined, and marched out to ask her mom. Unfortunately, her mom started in on her usual tirade that lasted about 20 minutes. A few of her mom's friends were there and they were all wincing at how vulgar and cruel she was being. They were defending Zitlaly and our case so that we could take her to church and allow her to change. At one point, Hermana Prince bore fervent testimony of the changing power of the atonement, but her mom started yelling again and Hermana Prince started speaking sternly (working up to yelling) at her in English because of how evil she was being. Please please please pray for Zitlaly. She needs help! We've found a few families where I seriously wonder if foster care would be a better option. I have almost no doubt that it would be in Zitlaly's case. Her mom sometimes won't even allow her to go to school because she wants Zitlaly to help earn money for rent by working 3 days and nights in an onion field. Not cool.
Please pray for her. She's clinging to the little light we can offer at the moment, but big changes are needed.
I love you more than all the crazies in Palmdale,
Hermana Beauchamp
things sound way fun at home...Thank you for the update on Jared and Tiffany! I'm praying all goes well and romanticky! He's so creative. I love it.
I'm super stoked to hear about the Mormon.org thing. I think it'll be great! It hasn't come to Palmdale yet, but then again, not much does....Please say congratulations to Adam and Josh! I'd love to see pictures if you've got them. They're so great!
It's been a great week. I totally love Hermana Prince and I'm reasonably certain that we're pretty much the same person...except she's much more patient, Christlike, spiritual, healthy (haha!!) than I am....We've been running in the mornings and it's totally kicking my trash. But we're working like crazy, loving missionary life and becoming closer to each other, to our investigators, and especially to the Savior every day.
In almost every single lesson we had this week, the Spirit was super strong and we were able to teach super powerfully and promise some really cool blessings. Yesterday was a little rough because Sunday is kind of the culmination of all our work throughout the week. We invite, teach, pray, prepare, plan, and pray some more in hopes that people will exercise their faith by reading the scriptures, praying, and coming to church, especially. But we only had one investigator at church. It's frustrating because I feel like we're becoming the best missionaries we ever have been, becoming better teachers, relying more on the Spirit, being exactly obedient, but at the same time, our investigators are dropping us or just stop progressing. But Hermana Prince is such an angel and I'm so grateful for her positivity and diligence. Our recent convert, Amanda just got a calling to be our branch's YW president (we're combined with an English ward so she's essentially the first counselor in the combined YW presidency) She's so excited! and she's going to be the most amazing young women's leader ever! Hermana Prince and I got to share how our YW leaders changed our lives and how they are such role models for us. We also taught her dad Rick again and he finally said that he would pray about Joseph Smith. So great.
We have an investigator named Zitlaly and it's completely a Cinderella type situation. She's a good girl and she wants to be baptized and come closer to God, but her mom is INSANE. I've never seen someone so filled with bitterness and spite in my life. Her mom won't let her come to activities because Zitlaly (according to her) hasn't made drastic changes since we've started meeting with her (which, first off, is a little difficult, seeing as every time we come over we can't actually teach anything because her mom starts screaming at us about how her daughter is a worthless lowlife. Secondly, the changes her mom wants are behaviors that result from her mother tearing her down incessantly.) The first time I met her it took everything I had to keep from hauling off and slapping her and poor Hermana Prince was almost there yesterday. We went over to convince Zitlaly to come to a youth fireside but she insisted that her mom would flat out refuse. We talked about it for a while and we prayed together that her mom's heart would be softened so that we could just take Zitlaly for an hour...or at the very least that her mom would take this gesture as a sign that she really does want to change and allow her to come to church next week. After the prayer, Zitlaly stood up, completely determined, and marched out to ask her mom. Unfortunately, her mom started in on her usual tirade that lasted about 20 minutes. A few of her mom's friends were there and they were all wincing at how vulgar and cruel she was being. They were defending Zitlaly and our case so that we could take her to church and allow her to change. At one point, Hermana Prince bore fervent testimony of the changing power of the atonement, but her mom started yelling again and Hermana Prince started speaking sternly (working up to yelling) at her in English because of how evil she was being. Please please please pray for Zitlaly. She needs help! We've found a few families where I seriously wonder if foster care would be a better option. I have almost no doubt that it would be in Zitlaly's case. Her mom sometimes won't even allow her to go to school because she wants Zitlaly to help earn money for rent by working 3 days and nights in an onion field. Not cool.
Please pray for her. She's clinging to the little light we can offer at the moment, but big changes are needed.
I love you more than all the crazies in Palmdale,
Hermana Beauchamp
Monday, September 5, 2011
Good News from Palmdale! September 5, 2011
How I love you all! I'm so glad about new baby cousin Rebecca Leigh Stuart's birth and Aunt Joanne's improving health. Our family is so precious to me and I love hearing about how everybody's doing. I got the family newsletter this week and it always brings me so much joy!
I must say, Dad, I'm super jealous of your concert adventures. (Mom and Dad had a date to the Alison Kraus concert at Red Rocks.) Please tell me you got the CD! That would be so dang cool.
I haven't gotten the photos quite yet, but I'll watch the mailbox diligently :)
Things keep on truckin'. Every day better and better! We're seeing more and more miracles every day and IT'S THE BEST!!! My companion is teaching me so so so so much and I love her immensely. We have been working with a less active man who has been inactive for years and years and he's been having a ton of trials, among them finding a job and quitting smoking. This last week we prayed a ton for him....and he got a job!!! which is a total miracle in Southern California.....and then we held a special fast for him to be able to quit smoking. He's such a great guy and we love him so so much. He looks really thin and frail but it feels like he's going to rip your hand off when he shakes it.
Also, I asked President Martin for permission to come to Jared and Tiffany's wedding....and he said yes! I won't be able to come to any other parties and I'll need to make sure to do an endowment session before the sealing, but yes!
There's so many great things happening in our area...We might even need to split it.....We were feeling overwhelmed with too many investigators but Heavenly Father has been helping us weed out people who aren't ready yet. Please pray that we'll be able to find more solid investigators and that the ones we have will understand the importance of being baptized!
Love you more than all the heat waves we still have left for the month of September!
Hermana Beauchamp
I must say, Dad, I'm super jealous of your concert adventures. (Mom and Dad had a date to the Alison Kraus concert at Red Rocks.) Please tell me you got the CD! That would be so dang cool.
I haven't gotten the photos quite yet, but I'll watch the mailbox diligently :)
Things keep on truckin'. Every day better and better! We're seeing more and more miracles every day and IT'S THE BEST!!! My companion is teaching me so so so so much and I love her immensely. We have been working with a less active man who has been inactive for years and years and he's been having a ton of trials, among them finding a job and quitting smoking. This last week we prayed a ton for him....and he got a job!!! which is a total miracle in Southern California.....and then we held a special fast for him to be able to quit smoking. He's such a great guy and we love him so so much. He looks really thin and frail but it feels like he's going to rip your hand off when he shakes it.
Also, I asked President Martin for permission to come to Jared and Tiffany's wedding....and he said yes! I won't be able to come to any other parties and I'll need to make sure to do an endowment session before the sealing, but yes!
There's so many great things happening in our area...We might even need to split it.....We were feeling overwhelmed with too many investigators but Heavenly Father has been helping us weed out people who aren't ready yet. Please pray that we'll be able to find more solid investigators and that the ones we have will understand the importance of being baptized!
Love you more than all the heat waves we still have left for the month of September!
Hermana Beauchamp
Friday, September 2, 2011
New Greenie - Hermana Prince August 29, 2011
Hey fam!
I LOVE Hermana Prince! She's the absolute best thing that could have happened for this area and for me, too. I never really understood when Hermana Strong said she felt like she was trying to keep up with me, but I think I get it now. Hermana Prince is an incredibly hard worker, so thoughtful, incredibly in tune with the Spirit, and just one of the most Christlike people I've met.
These first few days have been long and tiring, trying to set new goals, contacting, teaching, etc. We've had a ton of set appointments, and my current worry is that we won't be able to work very effectively with all of our investigators. Our area is great and there are SO many people who are ready. I think it will be a matter of prioritizing our time more effectively, balancing contacting, teaching, dropping, and sleeping somewhere in there. I was feeling a little overwhelmed yesterday with how much there is to do and what is expected of us, but as I was praying about it, I thought of 2 Nephi 25:23 and wondering how to gauge what "all I can do" is, I thought of something we've been teaching our members and investigators all week: Christ doesn't wait for us to get our act together before He's willing to help us, but He is always there to help, starting with right where we are. The words "Let Him constantly magnify you" came to my mind and I've found a better perspective for today in those words. I love the Savior and I know He's helping us, particularly now.
I decorated Hermana Prince's desk with all things green, one of which being a water gun. On Saturday we came back home, totally exhausted from the day, but I sneakily grabbed her water gun, filled up both hers and mine, then walked up to her with them behind my back and said "I have another present for you." I tossed her her gun and started squirting her. We had a great battle in and around our apartment, getting totally soaked and then had a soggy, but much more energetic nightly planning session.
There's so much to do!
Also, we're putting more of an emphasis on inviting people to be baptized and prioritizing so we can help our investigators progress toward making those special covenants. We're working crazy hard, we're totally exhausted (well, I am), but loving mission life more than ever!
Love you more than all the marriage proposals we got while contacting this week,
Hermana B.
I LOVE Hermana Prince! She's the absolute best thing that could have happened for this area and for me, too. I never really understood when Hermana Strong said she felt like she was trying to keep up with me, but I think I get it now. Hermana Prince is an incredibly hard worker, so thoughtful, incredibly in tune with the Spirit, and just one of the most Christlike people I've met.
These first few days have been long and tiring, trying to set new goals, contacting, teaching, etc. We've had a ton of set appointments, and my current worry is that we won't be able to work very effectively with all of our investigators. Our area is great and there are SO many people who are ready. I think it will be a matter of prioritizing our time more effectively, balancing contacting, teaching, dropping, and sleeping somewhere in there. I was feeling a little overwhelmed yesterday with how much there is to do and what is expected of us, but as I was praying about it, I thought of 2 Nephi 25:23 and wondering how to gauge what "all I can do" is, I thought of something we've been teaching our members and investigators all week: Christ doesn't wait for us to get our act together before He's willing to help us, but He is always there to help, starting with right where we are. The words "Let Him constantly magnify you" came to my mind and I've found a better perspective for today in those words. I love the Savior and I know He's helping us, particularly now.
I decorated Hermana Prince's desk with all things green, one of which being a water gun. On Saturday we came back home, totally exhausted from the day, but I sneakily grabbed her water gun, filled up both hers and mine, then walked up to her with them behind my back and said "I have another present for you." I tossed her her gun and started squirting her. We had a great battle in and around our apartment, getting totally soaked and then had a soggy, but much more energetic nightly planning session.
There's so much to do!
Also, we're putting more of an emphasis on inviting people to be baptized and prioritizing so we can help our investigators progress toward making those special covenants. We're working crazy hard, we're totally exhausted (well, I am), but loving mission life more than ever!
Love you more than all the marriage proposals we got while contacting this week,
Hermana B.
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