MIRACLES HAPPEN AT GAS STATIONS AND SO DO CRASHES

September 29, 2014

My Dearest Family,

Thanks so much for your prayers. I felt them a lot this past week and they really helped. This transfer has been really fun, but it hasn't been super easy, and so the extra blessings have really been helpful. Thank you.

We have been trying really hard to find new people to teach and help retain our current recent converts. It’s a balancing act that we are still in the midst of figuring out. 

We went to a new missionary orientation for Sister Hovermale on Tuesday. It was cool because usually they are the same every transfer. However, President said he felt inspired to switch it up this time and I am so grateful he did. He talked a lot about relying on the Lord and casting our burdens on the Lord to help lift us up. I've thought a lot about that.

So we repented. We changed some things in our area and are hoping to be better. Mission standard is to get 20 conversations with new people a day. It’s been a struggle. Its not that we haven't wanted to do it, it’s just finding the time to do it with everything else. We rearranged our planning and now plan when we will get 20 conversations in. Example... if we go to an appointment, before leaving the car we pray specifically for the amount of conversations we want, and we don't let ourselves get back in the car until we reached that number of convos. It’s working. ;) I'll keep you updated on the miracles we see from it.

One cool miracle we had this week was Thursday. We had been at the church building with a member for a lesson and needed to take her home. She was waiting for something from the bishopric. We had about 20 minutes to get 7 conversations, get her home and then get to our apartment. So we prayed. During the prayer I felt inspired to go down the street and get some gas (We were getting close to empty,) while the member waited at the church. 

I told my companions my idea, they agreed and off we went. The gas station was packed! In ten minutes we had 5 conversations and met some really cool people. Miracle!!

We picked up the member and drove by the gas station again on our way home. It was completely empty. It was really cool to see how the Lord had literally placed people in our path to help us achieve our goals. I called it the miracle gas station for the rest of the week.

Yesterday, we went on exchanges with a member. Sister Forbush went with a member in the car and Sister Hovermale and I hit the bikes. It was so much fun!!! I am so grateful for a car, but I have to say that I love biking it too. I was feeling like I was on top of the world. We were talking to people left and right and even handed out a Book of Mormon. 

We were right in front of the same gas station when I totally wiped out on my bike. Overall, I'm fine, a few bruises. The thing that hurt the worse was my pride. It was wounded again when Sister Hovermale and I ran into a bush trying to avoid a closing gate and saw some people busting out laughing at us. But no worries... we definitely went and talked with them and invite them to hear more. :)

Oh and long story short... we were suppose to watch Meet the Mormons at a ZC. They started the movie and it stopped working after about 30 minutes. But the first 30 minutes are sooooo goood!!!! So please please please invite people to go and check it out. They will not be disappointed.

Thanks again for all your support and help.

I love you all. 

Sister Pillar

A church that we pass a few times in our area. I've always wanted to take a picture with it. and we finally did. 

We did splits and Sister Hovermale and I hit the bikes. I actually got to use my bike!!! ;)

Ice cream sandwiches from Gloria! 

The Teran's made us tortas. Literally the best sandwiches of my life.

Sister Biddolph.  A senior missionary who just went home.

CO..IT'S A REAL THING

September 22, 2014

My Dearest Family,

One thing I have learned from my mission experience is how much physical help the Lord gives us. I feel like a person as tired as a missionary, shouldn't be able to function, yet we still manage to get up every morning at 6:30am and work until 9:00 pm. It’s simply amazing.

I re-learned this lesson yet again this week. Let's just say that I was tired. Reason why....

Well on Tuesday, we had temple service. It was amazing. The temple is shut down for a few weeks and we have the chance to work inside and clean. We met one of the temple engineers and he was able to show us some pretty cool rooms that I didn't even realize existed; one of them being the Prophet's room. It was cool. The one downside to being on temple service is that we had to be there at 7:00 am in the morning. And we basically live the farthest away. So we left around 6:00 am and still were late due to traffic. Got to love LA. We work in the temple for a few hours, eat, and then head back to our areas. Due to the early morning, I was pretty exhausted, but the rest of the day was awesome.

That night, I was out by 10:32 pm. However, at 12:17am (I remember exactly because I looked at the clock) one of the other sisters we live with woke me up. She said, "Sister Pillar, someone is banging on the front door, and I don't know what to do." I (still half asleep) walked into the family room. And I just stood there frozen. Someone was literally beating on our door. The other Sister Garcia and I just stood there. I don't know if you have ever experienced that in our life. But 1) it wakes you up very fast 2) I was so scared.

Luckily, our phone started to ring. I answered it. It was from another Sister companionship in the zone. Come to find out, they were the ones banging on our door trying to wake us. Apparently, they had gone to sleep that night and in the middle of the night, their CO detector went off. They didn't know what to do or where the CO was coming from so they grabbed some blankets and came over to our place.

It was a miracle that the sisters were alive. And I was so glad to see them. They slept on our floor that night and have since then fixed a few things that may have been causing the CO in their apartment. We, in the mean time, got another CO detector and check it regularly. My adivce... make sure you all have a working CO detector.

Other cool things that happened!

We set a baptismal date with M M. She is the mother of G M (a recent convert.)

We had an international fair on Friday, which included mole, pupusas, and Polynesian dancers. It was one of those moments where I was like "my life is so cool right now."

We did three exchanges this week. While on exchanges, my companions met another family. We are hoping they have a lot of potential. We have a return appointment with them tonight. Pray that all goes well with the M.

Also, last week my companions and I met a woman at a garage sale. It was probably one of the coolest street conversations I have ever had. We were bold and asked inspired questions and this woman opened up about the death of her husband. She had met missionaries before, and I basically told her it wasn't a coincidence that God had sent the missionaries to her again. So she agreed to meet with us. Only to find out that she didn't live in our area.

She is in the area of the other sister missionaries in our ward. They were able to meet with her last night. And she said she had been waiting for them to come by!!! They said she sounds very promising. So hopefully all goes well!! Keep I in your prayers please.

This week was so hard that I seriously doubted if I made the correct choice to extend. Oh and get this. President called me and I don't get to extend the whole transfer. I have to go home a few days before the transfer ends. So my departing missionary fireside is in three weeks.  I know I made the right decision, I think the doubting came became I have been so tired. I think my dreams consist of sleeping in until at least 8:00 am. Ha-ha-ha

So as a mission, we have been reading the Book of Mormon together and I have been reading the story about Abinadi. And I cannot express how impressed I am with Abinadi and his courage to preach the gospel with boldness. And I wonder how Abinadi felt right before his death. Did he even realize that anyone had been affected by his words? I don't know.

But because he did and served his mission, Alma listened. Alma repented, changed, and brought hundreds more unto Christ. And then Alma's son, Alma the Younger, went and was one of the best missionaries ever and converted thousands. So in reality, thousands of lives were blessed because Abinadi opened his mouth. And that touched me. We really don't know the impact we can have by opening our mouth.

So family... please open your mouth. Please be the awesome missionaries that I know you are and change some one's day, life, and eternity. You have such an impact. Don't ever doubt it.

Love you all so much!!!

Hermana Mik Pillar

PULL OVER

September 15, 2014

My Dearest Family,

So..as you all know... I have extended my mission. I will see you all on November 19th. I hope that settles well with you. But once this transfer started, I just had the feeling like I wasn't done yet. I prayed and talked to President about it and prayed and fasted some more, asking to just do the Lord's will. I got my answer. Extend. And I am so excited! And its been really cool to see how excited all the other missionaries and members that I am staying. I've got 8 weeks left to serve the Lord to my fullest. We are going to end this strong.

Sister Yeung is back in the ward!!! And there is a Chinese program. I hope you know how cool that is. I really felt the Spirit when I read mom's email. Testifying this is really the Lord's work and it is for everyone. How cool that Sister Yeung gets that special responsibility. I totally want to go out with the Sisters when I get back.

When does Ashley finish her mission?

Its true what President Weidman says, "We are in a mission of miracles." I don't doubt it. We see the hand of the Lord every day in our lives and it is the coolest thing ever.

Highlights of my life:

My former companion Sister Young finished her mission two weeks ago and headed to Brazil. She wrote me this week of a miracle that had happened our last day together. We had been asked to help train the new missionaries and go street contacting with them their first day here. We were so excited. Well, during that day we were a trio and went with Sister Hovermale and met a bunch of cool people. We realized we were pressed for time and started hurrying back to the car. For some reason, I stopped in the middle of the rush to give a man a card really fast for mormon.org. We found out his name was A, he was visiting from Iran (I think... he speaks Persian though) and talked to him for a little bit and then left. This is from Sister Young's email to me:

“The best miracle was that night at the Visitors´ Center. President and Sister Weidman dropped me off there while they went to go see a sick missionary. While I was at the front desk the phone rang and the sisters asked me if I wanted to answer. Of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity so I answered. A familiar voice on the other end of the phone asked if this was the Visitors Center and I answered that it was. He told me that he had talked with 3 young women who had given him a card the night before to come and visit and he felt like he should, he said that his name was A!

After we left I felt horrible for not getting his contact information, I kept praying for him all that evening and the next day hoping that he would find his way to the temple. I almost began to cry with the joy that I felt as Heavenly Father answered my prayers my last moments as a full-time missionary in LA. I told him that I was one of the missionaries that had spoken with him and we set up an appointment with the Farsi Elders for the very next day!”

In our mission there has been a great push to have Gospel Conversations. Everyone is encouraged to open their mouths. Stake Conference was this past week and it was amazing!!! On the Saturday Adult session, we were able to actually role-play with the members. We practiced situations they might be in and how they could invite friends, neighbors, co-workers, or just random strangers to learn more about the gospel. It was so exciting.

So we as missionaries have been working extra hard to talk with everyone. This week we had a theme of contacting people through car windows.

One incident occurred when we were driving and I had stopped at an intersection (in the middle of a neighborhood) waiting to turn left. A woman and her daughter were about to cross the street right in front of our car.

Sister Hovermale is in training, but literally one of the coolest people I have ever met. I told her, "Give that woman a card." And instantly, the car window was down and she was yelling "Can we share a card with you?!" The woman looked startled but came over with a smile on her face. We started to share a message with her and I don't even remember what we taught her. But we have a return appoint with her for tomorrow!!!

Then last night, the visitor center had a special musical performance. They taught the Restoration through song. There were two showings and it was AMAZING. As missionaries we are only allowed to go to those things, if we bring an investigator. We didn't have any that could go :( But Sister Forbush was singing in it, so we had to go up anyways. Long story short, we did a few exchanges and I ended up with Sister Hart for the first performance watching it with her investigator who is Jewish.

 For the second showing, we didn't have any investigators, and we didn't want to waste time. So Sister Hart, Sister Hovermale, and I went street contacting around the temple. Both sisters are amazing and we had a blast. Everyone we talked too was super cool or it turned into a really funny story.

On our way back to the Visitor Center, I prayed to be able to talk to one more person. We came to an intersection, and I paused trying to figure out where the Lord would have us go. As we waited for a prompting a car came to a stop at the intersection. The man had his window rolled down his window and asked what we were up too.

One of the sisters I was with yelled "We are missionaries! Pull over and we will share a message with you." The man very carefully just continued to drive forward and drove off. I laughed so hard. We will work on not being so creepy.

Oh I almost forgot, this past Friday we also had a ward missionary activity. It was the Fair of Life. Everyone came to the fair, and then it turned into one of those activities where everyone dies and they go to their degree of glory depending on how they spend their "life" at the fair. I don't have time to go into details, but Thursday night we had like nothing ready. I was praying SO hard. Friday came and it turned out to be a huge success. Everyone liked the pie throwing. :)

Not my best... but the other day we knocked on this door next to our potential. This man came to the door shirtless and there was a huge tattoo on his chest that said "GARCIA." We talked to him for a bit and he said we could come back a different day. We were writing down his information and asked for his last name. He was like "Uh.. Garcia." And one of my companions was like "Oh yesh." And before I knew it the words "Yep. There it is." Where out of my mouth. My third companion was like mortified. Hopefully he found it funny like us. Ha-ha

In my scripture study this week, I came across a scripture I fell in love with. Mosiah 2: 41. It basically says that if we keep the commandments and are faithful to the end, we will be received into heaven and dwell in a "state of never-ending happiness." And I realized another reason why I am here serving a mission. I want others to have that never-ending happiness. And that's what missionary work is all about. Do we love other enough to open our mouths... even if it’s awkward... so they can live in never-ending happiness? I’m working up my own courage to talk to everyone, but that scripture gave me more courage. I talk to everyone because I love them and I know what they need. And it’s the coolest thing ever.

I love you all so much!

Thanks for all that you do!

Keep the faith!!

Hermana Mik Pillar

Felipe made a limbo stand. It was a huge success at the church activity.  

Celestial room. Sister Hovermale, me and Sister Forbush

We had a telestial room. Sisters McCormick and Miramontes

ONE TIME WE CALLED THE COPS

September 8, 2014

My Dearest Family,

Its September and still 104 degrees outside. Norwalk has been hotter than ever! But it’s been good.

James!! You are the Deacon President!!! That's super exciting! WAY TO GO!

Maddie... best of luck with the college applications. You'll do great. 

So to answer your question mom, yes, I am still a STL. Sister Forbush is a STL with me and we are training Sister Hovermale. Sister Hovermale is hilarious and I love her a lot already. I feel like she has already been out for a lot longer than a week. She's so good. 

Being a STL and a trainer is a bit tricky, but we are doing our best to make it work. We only exchange with three companionships this transfer (vs the seven we had last transfer.) But our companionships are opening an area, training themselves, and on bike and very stressed about it. So we still have a lot of work to do. But it keeps things so fun. 

This week was a bit of a hectic one. 

Tuesday: We come home from transfers (I had to go to several training meetings) to clean our house so they can spray for cockroaches. Only to find out that after an hour of deep cleaning, the people had already come and sprayed and we just scrubbed the spray off. 

Wednesday: We heard a woman screaming for help outside our apartment window right before we went to bed. My companions didn't know what to do. So (mom you would be proud of me for making a decision) I called the cops. We reported the incident. Everything turned out fine. There had been some disagreement outside, but the cops said it was nothing to worry about. I felt so bad for the trainee. It was her second day and I was like "Welcome to the mission!"

Wednesday: We went to get the oil changed in our car and went street contacting while we waited. We met some super cool people and a found a new investigator! Blessings from using all our time wisely. I have to say that I am so grateful for Sister Forbush and Sister Hovermale they are amazing at street contacting. 

Thursday: New Missionary Training and Weekly Planning. It was a long day.

Friday: MIRACLES!! So there is the couple that would just complete my mission if they were to get baptized! They are so cool!!! Their names are N and E. They live in the same apartment complex as our ZLs. Back in July we met them and went to the Visitor Center with them. It was amazing. We met with them one time after that, and then had the hardest time getting a hold of them. I think they just got busy. And so we just stopped trying to contact them. 

Well Friday, randomly, we received a text from N saying they were going to go to the Visitor Center and asked if we wanted to come. Uh... YES! So we went with them and E’s mom. And it was powerful! N even told me that she has been reading the Book of Mormon. :) It was awesome and she has been seeing blessings in her life since she started reading. #thechurchistrue

Then we talked with E P afterwards. She is 15 years old and was baptized on Saturday. She had an experience this past week where someone was saying rude comments about her being a Mormon and for being baptized. E testified and stood up for what she believed. She said she just stopped talking to them after awhile because she didn't want to make things worse. I asked her about how she still felt about being baptized and she is still proud of her decision. E hadn't even been a member a week and was already being a huge light to others. I was SO proud of her. She's amazing, simply amazing. 

Saturday: We ran from appointment to appointment. We have about 10 recent converts we are trying to teach and get ready for temple baptisms. It’s been hectic but so much fun. I love working with the converts. It’s amazing how much these people have changed. They just glow now. It’s amazing to see people changing and improving their lives.

Sunday: Do to some confusing construction, our investigator J got lost and didn't make it to church. That was sad. But all the new missionaries sang as prelude music. I got to play. "Nearer My God to Thee." It’s like one of three hymns, which I can play with both hands. Ha-ha! So I'm afraid Santa Fe Springs will be sick of it before I leave, but its still fun nonetheless. I'll be practicing some more when I get home.

Today: Sister Forbush is in a musical production that will be held this coming Sunday at the Visitor Center. So we came up to Santa Monica for the day. Obviously, we will be going to get some Persian Ice Cream before returning home. :)

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve a mission. The Gospel is true. We were talking with a less active this week and he told us that he knows the church is true. But he hasn't been to church in years. I asked him, "Well if the church is true, what does that change?" And he said, "well... nothing." It broke my heart. The church is true and that changes everything. All of a sudden, we have a purpose. We have a Father in Heaven who loves us and is doing everything to help bring us back. We have guides to lead us and guide us to safety and happiness. 

We have been reading in the Book of Mormon as a mission looking for references about the Savior. I've never realized how much the Savior is talked about. In my reading this week, I read in 2 Nephi 19. It talks about destruction in the last days, but even with all the destruction v. 19 says, "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." 

 The church is true. It changes everything and the Lord is always there waiting for us to take his hand.

Love you all!!

From Cali,

Hermana Mik Pillar

CAR ACCIDENTS, BAPTISMS AND PERSIAN ICE CREAM

September 1, 2014

My Dearest Family,

Can I just say going on a mission was the best decision I ever made! Literally, my heart feels so full right now. Sister Young and I have had the transfer of all transfers. So many miracles happened this past week. I'll go into detail, but first.... we received transfer calls last night. 

The Verdict. I am staying. Sister Young is leaving for Brazil. She has ended her mission and going to visit her parents who are mission presidents over there. My new companion will be Sister Forbush. Sister Forbush and I have been friends for our entire missions. She came out a transfer after I did. She has been serving in the Visitor Center and finally is coming full field! I am so excited!!! And.... we are training a brand new missionary! We will be in a trio. I feel like I have come full circle. I started in a trio, and I'm ending in a trio. It’s going to be great. 

Okay so here are the miracles:

L, S, E and their mother S were baptized on Saturday. That was one of the most special occasions I have ever been too. Their dad was baptized in July and their older brother was baptized last May. And this family is just incredible. The change we have seen in their family and they embrace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ proves to me that this is true. 

After the baptism, I was talking with S, age 11. I asked him how he felt. He was like, "Awesome. Its the Holy Spirit." 

And tender mercy, Sister Alexa Landon was able to come to the baptism. She was my last companion and had been planning to visit the last week of August. Divine Intervention because she was able to make it to the baptism. 

And even President Weidman was able to make it for the baptism! I felt so honored!! 

Well the Spirit was just with us after the baptism. And we were so blessed. We were on our way to our dinner appointment after the baptism service was over, when we witnessed a car accident. It was a bad hit, but didn't look like anyone got hurt. We didn't know what to do. We weren't sure if we should pull over and confess that we were witnesses. Well after a few seconds of "I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO?!?!" We decided to go back. When we got there, one of the cars was gone. We got out and started talking to this young girl (she was 24.) She explained that she and the other owner had talked. He didn't have insurance, and when she told him that she was going to call the police, the other guy ran.

 But she thought it was so sweet that we had stopped. And then... she just started asking questions. Questions about missionaries and the Gospel!! And it was so cool. We explained what we did, why we did it, and she was so impressed. She then opened up to her own religious beliefs and confessed that she had some questions and needed to know God. It was such a neat experience and I am so glad that we stopped and went back to talk with her. Hopefully, she will met the missionaries again and accept the Gospel!

On Sunday, L, S, and E were confirmed with G M. She is just the cutest person I have ever met. And is so happy to be baptized. All the confirmations were beautiful. 

Sister Young and I were so nervous because S had work in the morning and wasn't at Sacrament. (Sacrament is last in our ward.) I had kind of accepted the fact that she wouldn't be confirmed on Sunday. Well Sacrament meeting had already gone over, and then the Bishop stands up and announces that there will be one more confirmation! S had walked in during the meeting and was able to be confirmed!! It was the best moment ever!!

A not as spiritual, but still very happy miracles... we got persian ice cream on Monday because we had to drive another Sister to the mission office. So good! I'm converting the mission one sister at a time. Then Sister Young made banana nut oatmeal cookies and home made ice cream. It was delicious. Yes it probably wasn't helping with the whole gaining weight thing. Was it still worth it... yes.

So today is Preparation Day, but the new missionaries are coming. Sister Young and I were asked to do some in-field training with them today. Basically, we are going street contacting with them around the temple. It should be fun! Pray that we find the elect, please!

Then we are having another epic FHE at a member’s apartment complex tonight. I'm excited. 

And then, tomorrow begins my last transfer. Tons of emotions are going through me right now, but I am so excited to see all of you!!! 

Love you all so much!

From Cali,

Hermana Mik Pillar

One time i lived with sister baek from Korea and she made us Curry for lunch. I have the best life. 

The district

The Perez family was baptized! It was a beautiful service. 

SORRY ABOUT THAT ONE TIME I HIT A POLE…AND GOT A PARKING TICKET!

August 25, 2014

My Dearest Family,

I wish I could express my sincere gratitude. But words simply do not do it justice. This week we were insanely blessed.

But first…I'm really sorry.  Besides hitting a pole with the mission car I also got a parking ticket.  I've tried so hard my whole mission to avoid parking tickets and LA finally got me.  I guess I'm a true LA driver now.

We had set really high goals for ourselves this past week. We wanted to up everything; lessons, new investigators, and baptismal dates. This will come into play later in the week.

Tuesday, Sister Young and I did a companionship study with some of the sisters in our zone. It was inspired! We all needed a little boost of faith and boy did we get it. We decided that "We are Baptizers" and to talk with everyone we see in the streets with the attitude they will become new investigators. The sisters we talked too have been REALLY struggling with finding.

This past week they handed out a few really good referrals to the Spanish Elders, and randomly got a call from Boston. Some one living there is coming back to Downey and would like to be baptized. He already has a date. These sisters were basically handed a prepared man to teach and baptized. The Lord really does grant our efforts.

We were then able to share with them yesterday that the people they found and gave to the Elders are really interested and the Elders are super excited. The joy that was on the faces of these sisters was incredible. I can't tell you how excited I was for them. Excited that we had see a need, helped them address it, and they had done the hard thing, opened their mouth, and they were being blessed by the Lord. #joy

Wednesday, we went on exchanges with another set of sisters. I went back to Bell Gardens for the day with Sister Ballard (no relation to Elder Ballard, I already asked.) And she is so cool! She is still in her first transfer, but you can tell she will be a stellar missionary. Well she is already, but once she masters the language, all of LA better watch out. We had a really good time and mastered talking to people through car windows. And found a few new investigators.

We switched back that night, and Sister Young and Sister Weller had really brought miracles to the area. Their day had been amazing. And the rest of Wednesday had been amazing. We found a bunch of new investigators and had a bunch of lessons and it was so good. By the end of Wednesday, we had already increased in all of our goals from the previous week. It was incredible. I was so pumped.

Thursday... Sister Young wakes up SICK. Sister Young is like the energizer bunny. She just doesn't stop. So when she asked if she could sleep through studies because she didn't feel good, I knew something was up. She had a fever and a cough and was so discouraged that she was sick in the last two weeks of her mission. But we understood why the Lord has consecrated our efforts on Wednesday. He knew she would be in bed for the rest of the week.

But Sunday we were hit with a few more miracles. G was baptized!!! Sister Young taught G almost nine months ago when she was in the area for the first time. G had set several baptismal dates, but never made them. This transfer we have been teaching her and her desire to be a member was so strong. And she did it. She was baptized!! I would send pictures but I forgot my camera. Next week!

Then at church, E told us that she wants to be baptized. We have been teaching the P family. I think I've talked about them before. It’s a family of 11. One of the older brothers and Dad were baptized in the spring and in July. The younger brothers were supposed to be baptized yesterday, but we felt like we should wait a week to better prepare them. Well their older sister, who we have been teaching as well, accepted to be baptized with them this weekend. And so did their mother!! Sister Young and I were so grateful last night. It was amazing. E reminds me a lot of Madeline, and I am so proud of her. She just shines. And she has this really cool thirst for truth and good things. It reminds me of the 13th article of Faith. E searches for the good and she has found it. She has even started doing Personal Progress which is so cool.

So please pray for E, S, L, and S this week and that a lots of people will go to their baptism. This family has changed me. They have shown me that the Gospel of Jesus Christ and improve our families and make us better people. You can feel a difference in their homes these days. It’s the best thing ever.

I'm still trying to work as hard as ever. I want to literally give my all. I've got only a short time left to wear the badge, and I'm going to do well with it. Transfers are next week so I will let you know what's happening.

The mission is reading the Book of Mormon together again. And this time we are looking for references to the Savior. I always knew that the BoM was another Testament of Christ, but I have been blown away with how many times the Lord is actually in the book. Its really opening up my eyes to how involved the Lord is with our lives. He is always there, watching and aiding and hoping we listen.

Love you lots!!!

Keep the faith!

Hermana Mik Pillar

SO ARE YOU A RAINMAKER?

August 18, 2014

My Dearest Family!!!

This week was the definition of miracles. We went to zone conference three times to train on how to teach simply, did two exchanges with our sisters, had Sister Young's Departing missionary fireside, met up with the coolest family ever, and had to do all our other missionary work in between. I'm a tad bit tired from waking up at 5:30am so many times, but it just goes to show you that the Lord really does give us the energy to do what we do. And I'm still in love with the work.

On Monday, we had a lesson with one of our investigators named E, age 15. She is N's (a recent convert) younger sister and is so COOL.  We brought with us another recent convert, K, also in YW. And that was inspired. A few weeks ago, I had the idea that we should invite K to a lesson. Times didn't match up until this past Monday.

Well K came, and just rocked the lesson. She and E already knew each other from school. She TESTIFIED like a champ especially of how her baptism has blessed her in her life. And then she was like, "E, are you a member?" E responded with a, "No." And K was like "Well... do you want to be a member?" The whole room was filled with suspense. Because we were all wondering the same thing. And E said, "I've actually be thinking about it. I would like to be, but I want to learn more." And we were like, "That's fine we can help with that!"

It was the coolest thing ever. And then K was so excited, Sister Young was so excited, and I was so excited. It was joy. Simply joy.

We are still working with E. She went to mutual on Wednesday and loved it and came to church yesterday as well.  And she has been reading the Book of Mormon. I was so proud of her.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday Sister Young and I trained at Zone Conference. We were asked to train on How to Teach Simply. Because so many new missionaries have come in over the past few transfers, the mission needed a good reminder. Not going to lie, I was a bit worried when we were asked to give the training because basically we trained the entire mission. But it was so fun, and it turned out awesome. And we definitely found some points that everyone needed to improve on and were able to teach to their needs. I say SUCCESS.

Plus, one of the sisters came up to me a few days later and told me she was so grateful for our training and it had answered one of her questions. I was so touched.

And on Saturday, I had the coolest experience ever. I met up with the DeBarba family!! And even before that, when I was walking into the Visitor Center, I saw a friend of mine from my freshman's hall. Kim Johnson.

After I said hi to her, we saw the DeBarba family. It was SO good to see them. I was so touched that they would want to meet up with me! We watched "God's Plan for the Family" in the Visitor Center and just had a good experience. Then we headed to a pizza place called 800 Degrees for Lunch. Not going to lie, it was really good. We had appointments after that so we had to hurry home, but it was really good to see them.

The whole family asked a lot of questions. Dan finally asked Sister Young and I, if some missionaries were better at missionary work than others. We laughed and basically just said everyone has their strengths. He then asked us if we were "rainmakers." Haha I've never thought about it like that, but thought it was hilarious. Sister Young explained that we were STLs and that got us the comment "Oh, so you rainmaker trainers." :)

This past Sunday was ward conference as well. We sang in the choir and then Sister Young and I played "Nearer my God to Thee" for the congregation. Sister Young plays the cello and I accompanied her. That hymn is one of the easiest in the hymn books so don't be too impressed. And Sister Young just made me look good with her cello skills. But overall it went well!

Then we went to Sister Young's Departing Missionary Fireside. It was so good. So good! And then it hit me, that next time we have the DMF, I'll be one of the missionaries bearing my testimony. Such a weird thought.

The mission has started reading the Book of Mormon together again. And this time we are highlighting passages about the Savior. Its something I've been wanting to do for a long time, and am just in awe, with how much the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ. It truly is another testament of Him. And I am so grateful for it.

Love you all!!

Hermana Mik Pillar

Hispanic parties... they are the best

The things we see while knocking doors

VC with the Debarbas

La Familia Valenzuela

Companions and the roomies.