Elder Perry and the Missionary Flu

Hi Mommy and Daddy,

 

I got both of your emails....thank you! I'm sorry it took me a few extra days to write back. It's been kind of an eventful (well, in a manner of speaking) few days. I started getting sick on Thursday and it totally destroyed me emotionally on Friday. I spent Saturday at home with lots of pharmaceuticals and a very loving, wonderful companion. Oh I also developed what I think is pink eye, but I used that tea that you put in the herbal first aid kit, so it cleared up pretty well by Monday. Church Sunday, a fireside in the evening that was all about missionary work with a focus on recent converts. It was SO great. Our Stake President is an amazing man--very charismatic, very motivated, very inspired. His Spanglish is the stuff of legends. Monday was a way weird day....We had a mission meeting (all but one zone---they're up in the middle of nowhere, poor guys) because they just made reassignments so Elder Richard J Maynes and Elder L. Tom Perry are in charge of the western states  missions now. They and their wives came and spoke to us about how to make the most of member missionary work, how to find "truth seekers", and other such awesome nuggets of wisdom. Elder Perry is a lot more sarcastic and funny than I would have imagined. We got to shake his hand, tell him our names, where we're from, and nothing more. He said "I don't want your life story, just tell me where you're from." I guess we were the last mission he visited in an 8 day tour, so I'd probably say the same. Our former district leader, Elder Gruenewald was the last of all the missionaries to greet him, and when Elder G. told Elder Perry he was from El Paso, TX, all Elder Perry said was "Oh that's too bad" and sent him on his way. I almost died laughing. 

It was a super cool, super inspiring experience and it made me excited to work my little tail off. Afterwards, since we never have more than 3 zones together at one time, we had a missionary fiesta in front of the chapel. SO many pictures, SO many missionaries, it was wonderful! We had another sister cut our hair while we were in Santa Clarita, then we went out for lunch and finally got back to NoHo late in the afternoon.

Yesterday I was so bad that we couldn't even get to the library for email. Our sweet elders brought us food and kept us from going stir crazy. Our members have been helping out so much, too. Our fridge is well-stocked with caldo de vegetales y pollo, chiles rellenos, sopes, pupusas, and ceviche.

I'm feeling much, much better today. Apparently the flu is going around and one of the symptoms is red, gummy eyes, so maybe it's not pink eye after all.....(I'm still dubious). I'm nervous to do a whole lot, even though I really want to, so we're taking it slow. Hna Marquez has been such an angel.

Sorry it's a lot of detail, but I figure nurse mom appreciates it.

Back in July, Chelsea wrote me an email about some defining points on her mission and how they helped her. I've referred back to that email multiple times throughout these last few months, but there was one that really helped me out this weekend. She had written about when she finally realized that missionary work is HARD: physically, emotionally, spiritually and how she learned how to trust the Savior to make up what she simply could not do. I've been noticing these past few weeks that I don't see missionary work the same as I used to....of course, I'm not supposed to, but I found that my motivation of love for individuals wasn't cutting it anymore. Well, on the one hand, yes and on the other hand, no....it's hard to explain...I've been more and more content with my responsibilities as a missionary, but I've just felt totally exhausted. I always knew that I wasn't pushing myself as hard physically as I could, so I figured that whatever I lacked in other areas, my physical reserves could cover it. When I got sick, however, I felt totally defeated and like I had absolutely nothing left to give. Heavenly Father sent me angels to help me right then, and I love my companions, roommates and district members for being so wonderful and willing to help.

I am getting worn down to the nubbins, but I think one of the reasons my recovery from the flu has been so slow is so that I can recover a little emotionally, too. I think this is sounding a whole lot more dramatic than it is....I'm tired, to be sure, but I know Heavenly Father will make me enough, especially for these last few months. I want to share the joy of the Gospel with all the world and everyone I see because I've been able to see and feel the change in my life and the support in difficult moments. We were talking to a woman the other day who felt disappointed in the church because she saw that even the most faithful of members had really terrible things happen to them. We said "That's not the point, though. Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not insurance against pain or sadness. It offers hope, direction, and purpose for when those times come. We're here to learn and grow. Some of that process hurts. A lot. But God loves us, so He gave us the Gospel to know what to doand why in those hard times"

That idea really struck a chord with her, and it's something that I know with all my heart to be true. Maybe it's trite and cliche to talk about life in terms of "it knocks you down, but you get stronger every time you get back up" but that's only because it's true. The kind of truth that you can base life decisions on and rely upon, like President Monson says "in world of changing standards and values". There is absolute truth and it comes from Father.

 

Anyway, just a few things that have been going on lately. Jeovany is doing GREAT and the ward totally loves him. Josefina is going to come to church this Sunday. Please pray that she will feel God answering her prayer to know that this is the church He wants her in.

 

I'm so glad I'm a missionary. Really. it's the best.

 

Ok....as for your questions: mom,  I'm coming home June 13th....so would I fly into Denver, get released, then come to Charlotte? I think that would be cool. 

I love you more than Nyquil,

Hna Manzana

Just a little news

Hey Fam! I'm glad you got my package...I'm sorry it was so stinkin' late in the mail....I am getting better at punctuality on some points and getting worse in other areas. 

 

We had a good week....it's going by SUPER fast. President has already started making transfer arrangements....I requested to train again....really, it's the only thing that makes sense for the amount of sisters we have, how many are available to move, etc. Maybe that was a totally crazy move on my part, but meh. Whatever's clever. We've been teaching more and more and it's super exciting. We're going to focus on helping our less active members a lot this week and we're really excited.

Love you more than pancakes,

Hermana Manzana

 

Oh by the way, I've decided to come home in June rather than July. I"m pretty sure that day will be June 13....just in time for Papa's birthday!! 

 

Oh also HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEANS!! He wrote me a super awesome email last week, and I have an awesome postcard for him...I just need to write on it..

Read them scriptures!

Baptism

awwww I love hearing about all the beautiful, happy, peaceful, fun moments at home. I love our family and our wonderful friends. I love how generous my parents are with their time and means. I love that my sister is doing well. I love stories about poop. I love life!!

 

Jeovany got baptized yesterday!! Hooray!!! It was SOOOO beautiful and wonderful! He's been facing a lot of challenges this week: critical family and friends, an injury at work, wracked nerves, etc., but he's sought solace and reassurance in prayer and reading the scriptures, so those challenges just brought him closer to Heavenly Father. He was so so happy when we took pictures for his baptism. The man baptizing him was a little wary about pushing him far enough under the water to actually make it a baptism by immersion, so it took 3 times, but hey, 3rd time's the charm, eh? Our ward just loves him and they're well on their way to adopting him. It was actually a double baptism, so we helped the young lady who got baptized before him in and out of the font, and it is just so wonderful to be able to be there for those first few moments with someone when they've been baptized. I really don't remember much about when I was baptized, but I remember that right after I went to the temple, there was just a beautiful feeling of being clean, whole. I love to see that feeling on others' faces, and then to know that I got to help be a part of that is so rewarding/gratifying/humbling/encouraging. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!

Just so's ya know :)

 

I was talking to Hna Prince last night about different emotional phases of the mission as far as motivation, trunkiness, discouragement, feeling on top of the world, etc. It's fascinating to me how we can understand the principle of "forget yourself and go to work" so well intellectually but making the leap to actually applying it seems like such an impossible feat. And really, I think it is, without the Lord's help. Just within this week, I feel so different and I don't know how or when it happened. I have more motivation, I don't want to go back home at night because I just want to keep teaching, I'm more patient, I can't stop smiling!! I love finding those moments in the processes of life where you can't explain exactly how something changes....but by divine providence, it just does and suddenly, you're in a new phase of life. It's just so wonderful.

 

Have a wonderful week, my beautiful family!

Love you more than my thinking dress!

Really getting it

Oh my goodness gracious, I love you both so stinkin much! I just love hearing about your lives and how generous and fun and intelligent and cool you are!
 

Thank you SOOO much for getting something for Hna Marquez. She's been a little bummed this week because she's fairly certain that she won't get anything for her birthday, so I think this will be a nice surprise for her. I just love her so much and I know you both will, too. Right now we're living in an apartment with another companionship, Hermana Quick and Hermana Prince. It's so fun to be so close to my baby again! She's such a dynamite missionary, I love her. Apparently, Elder Perry is going to be coming to our mission at the beginning of March...I'm so stoked! I LOVE conferences. They give me such a good boost in energy and motivation. And to have a meeting with an Apostle of God? It's going to be amazing!!!!!!

 

This was a SUPER good week. We were in a trio for a couple of days with Hermana White, the sweetest, funniest person ever. She reminds me a lot of Kristina, in both personality and in appearance. We had some super powerful, super amazing lessons and we visited with a woman that Hna Waite and I had found last March. Josefina is actually the sister of a former investigator family and we never had time to visit with her before (well, more like she never had time to visit with us) but she's not working now. She's super great. She's very much in need of a strong relationship with Heavenly Father, so we talked a lot about the importance of being able to feel the Spirit in our daily lives. She was very receptive and seemed to grasp the concepts we shared very well.

We also met with our friends Jeovani a number of times this weekend. He's AMAZING!  I liked how Hannah put it in her letter....he's so elect! It's just amazing to see how Heavenly Father has prepared him to be able to accept the gospel. We read all about the gospel of Jesus Christ in 3 Nephi 27 on Saturday. It starts off talking about how Christ's church has to bear his name and it has to be founded on His doctrine. He stopped us right there and said, "That's what I want. I want to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ and not worry about what other people think or say because I'll be able to feel God's approval and support."

Yeah, he's pretty awesome. He's incredibly open with us, and he asks so many wonderful questions. He says he always feels bad for bothering us with so many questions, but it's not a bother at all! Every time he asks something new, I think of the phrase in the scriptures that says that we should "hunger and thirst after righteousness." We see that in his eyes and he's so excited to be baptized on March 4.

 

Speaking of which, Happy Birthday, Lijahsaurus! I sure love you, my sweet boy! Also to Olivia! she's such a beautiful young lady now :)

We're also teaching a man named Rigo who  was baptized when he was 9 but then never went back again because his mom left the church. He is also totally dynamite and has made huge steps in his life to be able to get to this point where he's ready to come closer to God. It's really interesting to see the difference between our investigators who can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost and Rigo who actually has that companionship of the Holy Ghost. He comprehends the gospel so well and so quickly and he automatically knows how to apply the principles to his life, which is something we usually need to walk people through.

Man, I just love being a missionary.

 

I've always loved it, but I've always been rather eager to be back home. Now though, I feel like I'm completely relishing the experience and I'd love to be here (maybe not forever, but ) a long, long time. I thought I understood my calling before, but I feel like I'm just now comprehending how special and sacred it is. I'm so grateful to be a missionary!

 

I love you more than quarters!

Love, Hermana Manzana

Threesome

Buenos dias! I'm not being transferred, nor is Hermana Marquez (thank goodness!) BUT Hermana Prince is coming to be our roommate!! I'm so excited to see her again. I was totally spoiled last week because I got to see her twice, but now I think she'll bring a super cool dynamic to our missionary apartment.

It's been a fairly tranquila week...Jeovani came to church again (he's so great! Thank you for all your prayers on his--and all of our other investigators'--behalf), We're making progress with a couple named Marvin and Mayra (incidentally ALSO from Guatemala). He's actually a less active member, and she's a very sharp, very classy woman. We finally found out more about the barriers they face to her being able to be baptized. Apparently she is divorced, but he is not yet and they are facing some financial situations that are putting a damper on that for now. They seemed super determined to progress spiritually when we taught them this week, but then they didn't come to church yesterday....bummer.

We had a lesson with an investigator named Tommy....well, actually, we have a lesson with him every Thursday, but he was a co-pastor in El Salvador and hasn't really had a verbal, preaching outlet since he got here, so we have a hard time actually getting any teaching done. We went for a different tactic this week and tried to ask a lot of yes or no questions (which is typically pretty counterproductive in missionary work). BUT we made progress...sort of. we've been struggling a bit because he wants to be a part of our church, but won't read the Book of Mormon or pray....on top of that, we just didn't feel right about allowing him to be baptized just based on that. We went through the baptismal interview questions and he answered well to all of them, saying that he feels that Joseph Smith was a prophet and such, but it just didn't feel right. so this week, we finally figured out that he doesn't believe in our idea of priesthood ordination...he had a dream once where God took him up to heaven in a machine, sprinkled water on a crowd of people, told Tommy "Baptize your people" and then sent him back down to earth. for the next few weeks, lots of people started showing up at his door, wanting to be healed or cleansed, etc. He would touch their foreheads and they would fall over backwards. He takes that to mean that God gave him authority to preach and baptize. Once we finally understood that, our confusion made a whole lot more sense. If he doesn't believe in Priesthood ordination by the laying on of hands from one who hold the authority, he can't believe that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true and authorized church on earth. In which case, anybody could be a prophet and proclaim that they know the will of God, which gets us nowhere. Guh. We're just having a hard time knowing how to teach him. We've certainly taught these principles very clearly, but he won't actually listen. He wants to preach to us and heal us. He actually tried to give Hna Marquez and Hna Busch a blessing once. Maybe I'm being too critical. But then again, I know how it feels to be around a worthy Priesthood holder, I know how it feels to receive a blessing through that authorized Priesthood, and I know how I feel when truth is being spoken. And I don't feel those things when Tommy preaches. Not that he preaches bad things, but the Spirit tells me that the Priesthood authority is not there.

I'm so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm learning to appreciate it in a way I never have before. It's such a blessing to have an internal compass to help me know which way is up spiritually, morally.....everything.

 

Dad, you also asked about meals. Most of our dinners are with members...Our ward is SUPER generous and they LOVE feeding us. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand, but we get fed, they get blessed for their service, so we all win.

 

Hooray for at least 6 more weeks on bike! I'll probably finish my mission here, so more like Hooray for 24 more weeks on bike!

 

I love you more than all the false doctrine in the world!

Hermana Beauchamp

Live what you preach

 

I'm so glad you had such a good time with your cousin! and I can't wait to see all those new pictures you have of family. well, I mean I CAN, but ya know....I've gained such a greater appreciation for genealogy on my mission and I'm excited for when I'll be able to dedicate even a little bit of time to it. For now, the Spirit of Elijah has to take a back burner and the spirit of conversion is my best friend.

 

Speaking of which, I just read our mission President's weekly email and he said we had 16 baptisms in the mission yesterday! Super cool! Hermana Marquez and I got to go to three of them :) One of the investigators I helped teach in Palmdale got baptized yesterday so we got permission to go up there with a member. When I taught Manolo, it started off super great ( I think I actually wrote about him and his response to prayer...) but then got really weird because the moment his parents were within earshot, he denied everything and got all crazy on us, saying there wasn't a God. We visited him a couple times after that, but without much success. Hermana Prince and her companion have been working with him a lot and he decided that he would like to be baptized!! It was SO wonderful to see my Rancho Vista branch. I love them so so dearly. I even got to see Guadalupe and her boys! Also, a less active member named Hermano Munoz who is the cutest old man I've ever met was so glad to see me that he gave me a big hug. Whoops! Ah well.

Also, our member who took us is a recent convert named Guadalupe Umana who is a gorgeous, wonderful, faithful lady from El Salvador who we just adore, Well, she and one of the super attractive, super wonderful, super awesome members from Rancho Vista were making eyes at one another, so we've decided to help them get to know each other better.....all three of us were over the moon excited all the way home. I think missionaries make fairly good matchmakers.....although maybe we overdo it because we're so romance-starved and matchmaking is our only outlet.

 

We made it back home just in time for another double baptism at our church building and it was wonderful!

 

Missionaries are in charge of the lessons and talks and things on the fifth Sunday, so Hermana Marquez and one of the zone leaders gave talks (which were AWESOME) and then President Martin, and two of the other elders taught in the 3rd hour about the characteristics of the Church of Jesus Christ, focusing on having unity, charity, and faith. We have a TON of new converts in our ward and they are super amazing, but there have been some MAJOR problems with the not-so-new members and gossip lately. It's getting a lot better, but I think their lesson helped put the importance of being a good representative of the church in all you do back into perspective. One of the things we hear the most as missionaries is how people want to go to church but they see so much backbiting and unkindness and general unChristlike behavior that they think "why on earth would I want to join a church where the members don't even live what they preach?" We always remind them that the Church of Jesus Christ is perfect, even though the people aren't, and to always look at the doctrine to see if that is what is true. But then again, I totally see their point. We as members HAVE to walk the talk (or however that phrase goes in English). Then the changes the doctrine of Christ makes in our lives will attract others to the gospel as well. That is how it's supposed to work. Everything is to be centered on the Savior.

 

Our investigators are doing pretty dang well, and I'm so so grateful! Jeovani set a baptismal date goal for March 4. I really think he'll be ready WAY before that. He's so awesome and it's so cool to see how Heavenly Father has prepared him! Also, we've been visiting this family off and on for the last little while, and the kids are SUPER interested, but the mom is pretty flaky and it never seemed to us that she was very interested. BUT we finally got to meet her husband the other day (he works in a bakery so he's not usually there during typical hours) and we watched the Restoration movie with the whole family and ended with a kneeling prayer with all of them. The kids want to come to church so badly and 2 of them have already had some really cool experiences when they prayed to know if the plan of Salvation was the plan of God. Please pray for them! Your prayers are helping so so much and we feel your love and support every day!

 

Transfers are this next week, so we'll find out Saturday what happens. There's a rumor that I'm training again, which I was terrified of at first but I'm getting more comfortable with the idea. I would hate to leave Hermana Marquez, but she's just so amazing and cool that I would feel kind of selfish to keep her to myself for another transfer. One of the greenies that is coming out is a girl from Colorado who learned her Spanish in Ecuador.... we'll see what kinds of surprises Heavenly Father has up his omnipotent sleeves....Is that sacriligious? Hope not.

Love you more than matchmaking,

Hermana Manzana

Hola

Monday is STILL my Pday.... we just had a long series of monday holidays so the libraries weren't open... sorry!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Did you get the text from my friend Karla? We were on our way to a conference and I had been beating myself up all day for forgetting to send a card last monday, but Karla sweetly volunteered to communicate my happy birthday wishes. It sounds like you both had a good time...oh dear how I love you! and I think it's oh-so-precious how you both write love notes about each other to me. I love it, para que sepan.

Spanglish is coming back full force. I've determined to have awkward English for at least my first week back home. I'm stoked! :) But that's still forever away, and in a great many ways, I'm so so glad.

Hermana Marquez and I are doing really well. It's been kind of rainy this week which puts a bit of a damper on missionary work for bikes, but we still go to the appointments we have set, try to find more people to teach, and look for service opportunities, and people are usually pretty impressed by our dedication. Being a missionary is the greatest!

We haven't been able to meet with Martin again, and as it just so happens, he moved out of our area this week, BUT he arranged with his new boss to have sundays off to be able to go to church, he STILL lives in our ward boundaries (I'm pretty sure anyway), his uncle wants to start visiting with us, and they want to come to church this next sunday. YESSSSSSSSSS. Please please pray that he doesn't lose animo and that he'll maintain that desire to know more and come closer to God.

I heard a funny story this week....you know how I wrote a while back about the Lancaster Baptist Church bus that picks up local kids to take them to church functions? A member of our ward and her grandson got invited to a pizza party at the church bus church one day and she figured "Hey, it couldn't hurt...." Apparently, once they all arrived, they separated the parents and the kids for about 20 minutes for some "special party" but when the kids came back, they all looked a bit damp.... the grandma asked her grandson " why are you all wet?" he said "I'm not sure, but I think they baptized me."

Bahaha! oh man. I guess that's one way to do it. Tramposos.

 

The missionaries in our ward are giving the 3rd hour lesson next week at church and our Mission President will be there, too. Please pray for us! We need all the brain juice we can get!

 

Also, we had an appointment with a couple of cousins from Guatemala named Jeovani and Jose. They were super interested in the Plan of Salvation, especially the idea of having lived with God before this life to prepare to come to Earth.... Jose commented "So we were kind of like in a spiritual incubator?" I suppose so. I guess in effect that's what our homes are, too. We are nurtured and helped and guided in a safe environment until we are ready and able to move out into the wide world for our BIG growth experience.

 

I think that's all for now on the mission front. 

Love you more than all the "si Dos quiere"s and "Primero Dios"s we hear every day!

Hermana Manzana