26 August 2013

Dear Family,

Mom said that Eagar is getting a ton of rain. I am pleased to hear that you are all experiencing the same weather patterns as I am. We are getting a lot of rain as of late. One day this week we were working in the lomas or in a part were there are a lot of hills when it started to pour and pour and pour. I dont know what it is about this area but it attracts the lightning. I have never experienced so much lightning and thunder that was so close to me in all my life. We had umbrellas but still got soaked from the waist down. Everything is cement here as well so the water could not soak in but rather rushed off and down the hills. We had to cross several mini rivers in the streets. Finally we took cover in this man´s garage because the lightning was just so close. We waited and waited while it poured and poured. Finally it calmed down and we could try to work again. I have to agree with you Mom, it is just hard to get any work done with the rain.

This week we had a meeting with the first counselor in the stake presidency, President Sanchez, who is in our ward. We were about to start when he looked at me and started speaking to me in english saying, "I know your family Sister Heap." What? How? "I just feel whisperings that I know them." He had mentioned to me the other day that he had been chatting with Wendi on Facebook. I thought that Wendi had been searching for my ward on facebook and had found President Sanchez. But in this conversation I asked President if he had been the one to look for my family. He said that yes he was the one searching for them and that now he is friends with Wendi and Holly. Whoa. I have a ton of respect for this man, he is one of the greatest leaders that I have ever met. I don´t know why but he feels a connection with our family. How interesting. So please dont freak out if he adds you on facebook. :) ha! Needless to say, this conversation really affected me and left me thinking a lot about you guys this week.

This week Elder Kevin R Duncan from the area presidency came to Sonsonate for a multizone conference. It was a great conference and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He taught all morning and then we took a break for lunch. My dearest companions had to go to the bathroom and when we came back, there were no open seats. So the elders got some chairs for us and put them right in front of President and Sister Hintze and Elder Duncan...gulp. So I sat down and tried to eat and listen to them talk to my companions. Then Elder Duncan asked us to share why we had decided to serve a mission. oh dear. This is not a story that I like to share because I have to admit that I am not like everyone else. I did not want to serve a mission and I never received an answer to serve either. I tried to hide behind my roll to avoid having to share but pretty soon, it came to me. In my aweful spanish I explained my experience and waited for the responce of Elder Duncan. When I ended he thanked us for sharing and stood up and left. Okay.......I was left very unsure of what to think. When the conference started again, a question came up about following the spirit and receiving personal revelation. And Elder Duncan asked me to share my experience with all the the zones that were there. GULP! Elder Duncan still left me a little unsure of what he thought about my experience but there must be something that can be learned from my experience. Oh dear. What an experience. But other than that somewhat embarassing experience, the conference was great and very inspiring.

Well once again the time is gone. I hope all is well. I love you all. Oh, and I have figured out that I can take pictures of emails and read them later at home on my own time. That way you guys can just email me instead of dearelder me because it takes a long time to get the dearelders.

Love you all!!

Hermana Heap

19 August 2013

Wow! Thanks Wendi for the photos of the rain. That is SO awesome!! I am glad to hear that you guys are experiencing a little bit of the same weather as me. We have been in some special type of storm this week down here that has  caused it to be cloudy and rain a lot more than usual. Due to this, I have had to battle a little bit of the flu, fevers and all. But the work must go on whether I feel good or not. Luckily, after only a couple of miserable days it went away and I feel back to normal again.

Due to the fact that we are training Hermana Morales we spend all morning in the house studying. We used to be able to work until 9 or 9:30pm but they changed the rule for us sisters this week. Now we have to enter at 8 or 8:30. Now we have very little time to accomplish our weekly and daily goals. But because we are a trio, it is super easy to do divisions. Normally Hermanas Morales and Mendoza go together and I get to work with the member that is helping us. At times it is fun but both Hermana Mendoza and I miss working together teaching the lessons. We have enough time together now that we have figured out how to teach together and where the lesson is going. That is the wonderful blessing of having a companion for more than one transfer.

We as a ward are trying to improve the Sunday experience for the members and the investigators that come. Yesterday we did an activity that everyone had to write what they were grateful for on a post it when they entered the church. Then with all of the post its we  made a big heart on the bulletin board for everyone to see. The activity was very successful because it helped people leave behind their negative feelings and be in a good mood for the meetings. People were also more friendly with each other for the whole three meetings. It was something small but really did have an impact on the ward. A young sister, Stefany, and I got to figure out how to put it up on the bulletin board. It was an adventure but turned out well. We are hoping to do something simple like this each week to help the members bring the spirit and leave the distractions at the door. This will help them have a better experience in the church and have more desire to come back. Little by little we are increasing our ward attendance. We have a ton of inactives on our ward so we are focusing a lot in rescuing the lost sheep. There is so much work to be done that is makes me want to be a normal member of the ward with a normal calling so that I can help them in the cause. We as missionaries are helping, but we cant be the permanent help that they need. Oh there is so much to do!

I hope that you all are doing well. Keep me informed of the goings on back in Arizona and Utah. I love you all so much!!

Random event: We were contacting in the street the other day and I wanted to stop and contact this man who was selling earrings. So I casually started asking him about his earrings and in the end I ended up buying the loudest earrings that I have ever bought in my life....all for the opportunity to talk to this man. Ha!

12 August 2013

Well I was so excited to tell you guys last week about Fernando that I forgot to mention that I knew that was going to train. ha! The day has officially come when I have to train. But the Lord softened the blow a little bit by assigning both Hermana Mendoza and I to train in a trio. I have to admit that I was pretty done bummed to learn that I did not get to change areas but there is nothing I can do to change that so I am just going to enjoy it. I find that just walking down the street takes a lot longer that it used to because I know so many people and I have to stop and talk to them. Ha! I think it bugs my companions a little bit that I happen to know A LOT of people. I remember when Dad was the Stake President and where ever we went, we had to stop so that he could talk to EVERYONE and their dog! ha!

 Okay, back on subject, our new companion, or "daughter" is Hermana Morales from San Miguel El Salvador. She is waiting for her visa to go through for her mission in Argentina so will be serving here with us until that happens. She is 22, giggles a lot, is confident, and wants to work. Honestly sometimes I forget that she is new because she handles everything so well. Training makes me think a lot about my training, something that I have tried to forget. But I can see how frustrating I must have been in the beginning, without the spanish and the confidence to know what to say. Wow, maybe I really am progressing more that I can see. The other day it hit me, all I do all day, every day, is teach. I am teaching an english class twice a week as well. teach, teach, teach. Before my mission I almost never taught. I am definitely getting a lot of practice teaching. My confidence is growing too. Sometimes I think about what it would be like to be a teacher for a living. If I did that, I would love to teach American History! Ha! random thoughts. But teaching requires a lot of patience, especially with one of my english students. Hermana Blanco is 60 and wants to learn so badly but just cant get it. She thinks that she knows a lot more that she really does and when I teach the most simple of simple things....it just doesnt click in her mind. ha! I have explained and explained until I and holding back screams. hahahaha! What learning experience. I have been living in a spanish world long enough that it is starting to feel weird to speak in english. One of our investigators speaks english and the other day she was asking me about Joseph Smith in english. I WAS SO HARD TO TEACH IN ENGLISH! I have learned how to teach the gospel in spanish so now it is just weird to teach it in english. ha! This last week was a little hard in the transfers meeting because Hermana Bryce was ending her mission. Also two of the best zone leaders in the world ended their missions and are now home. It was tough to say goodbye and keep going without them. Hermana Bryce will always have a super special place in my heart. It is hard to let go of her. But the mission is one change after another after another. I am forced to get used to it.

Well sorry that this letter is pure randomness. I hope that it makes sense. Thanks to all of you who sent me pictures. I love them! The wanted pictures turned out awesome! ha! Dad mentioned something about there being three pregnant women in the reunion. Who isnt telling me something?! I only know about Karen and Bonnie. Fess up! ha! I am super happy to hear that Eagar is getting rain. Someone should send me pictures of the greennesss. Well take care everyone. I love you all!!

5 August 2013

Dear Family,

It sounds like the reunion was a bunch of fun. I hope that you all remembered me :) You are all in big trouble! But Wendi is the only one that is off the hook because she sent me a few photos. I expect to receive more pictures from the reunion from all of you!

"Tuesday we were teaching Fernando and Ana when the brother of Ana and his family came to visit. We started talking with them for awhile. Fernando got a phone call and afterwards he called Ana into the other room. This made me worry A LOT! But we kept teaching the other family. When Fernando and Ana came back she was in tears and his eyes were red. She said domething to Hna Mendoza and she too started crying. I didnt know what was going on or what to do so I finished up the lesson so we could leave. We left the house and I asked what had happened. The phone call was from Fernandos boss telling him that he had to ship out (he works on ships for 6 to 8 months at a time) the next day. He still has almost 2 months of vacation time but if he says no, he loses his job. He told them that he felt sick but the guys said he would call back and that Fernando should get ready to go the next day. His baptismal date was for this Sunday. Hermana Mendoza broke out into full on sobs in the street. Ana came out and invited us back into the house. We all cried together. We left to go to an appointment but said we would come back later. We went to Enmas house and said a heart broken prayer pleading for helpt to know what to do. We called the zone leaders to see if he could be baptized the next day before shipping out. After many calls, we got the clearance to go ahead and do it. We went back to the Magaña Familys house to see if Fernando even still wanted to be baptized. Miraculously he said that yes, he wanted to be baptized the next day. We stayed there for 2.5 more hours teaching him the rest of the lessons. I was super worried about the Word of Wisdom and tithing because these are touchy subjects with him. It actually miraculously went quite well. We left at 9:30 pm with him promising to be at the church at 6:30 am for his baptismal interview. We rushed home to make some phone calls for the bpatism. Bright and early the next day we were at the church and he actually came on his own accord. The baptism was at 7:30 am July 31, 2013. One of his daughters couldnt be there because she had to take a test in school. Because it was last minute, there werent many people there but all went well and the spirit was super strong. At the end of the baptism Fernando shared a small testimnoy, crying and all. He is a big rough and tough guy so this really touched me. To end, Elder Burrahm and I sang Did You THink To Pray. I looked up to see Fernando and Ana both in tears. I had to look away to avoid the tears as well. Ana told us afterwards that becore the phone call, Fernando was about to tell us that he didnt want to be baptized this Sunday. The phone call changed everything. Ironically, Fernando still hasnt had to leave yet. Ha! The Lord knew that Fernando needed a little more of a push and shove to actually be baptized. I truly have witnessed a miracle! Fernando told us that their marriange was in the worst state, on the brink of separating, when we knocked on their door. Almost immediately when Ana started going back to church things started to change. Before, he felt a bad spirit in the house but now he feels peave and love in the house. Now their relationshop is starting to flourish again. Wow! I really feel like an instrument in the hands of God. After his baptism Fernando felt like he was relieved of a great burden or weight that he was carrying. What a wonderful and special experience my Father in Heaven has given me! I would be content to end my mission right now! :) "

(I didnt feel like writing it again so I just copied my journal entry.)

Thank you all for your prayers. I love you!! Oh, ps, I cut my hair :D I just couldnt handle the heat anymore.

The man by me in the pic is the bishop. The others are Fernando, Ana, and Valeria