Armadillos!!

Hello family!

 

I hope all is well at home and people are happy! A couple of really cool things happened this week. The first being, I saw my first armadillo!! It happened to be roadkill...but it was still cool! Then I saw another one just down the street! That one was dead too...and I saw a third dead. And we sure didn't even think of scraping them off the road to eat...sick. But I think someone has been killing them. Hna Greenwood and I made up a story about a mass murderer that hunts armadillos...our drive to Houston is about 30 minutes so we had time. :) One day I'll tell the story.

 

So I have some news!! We got transfer calls today and..........Hna. Greenwood and I are staying here together!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are both SO excited! This will be her last transfer...which she is really sad about. But we are really excited and grateful that we'll spend it with each other! She and I will be best friends forever! We already have many plans. :)

 

Well this week went pretty well! We got the last bit of Hurricane Jerry that hit Mexico, so that rain was fun to walk in. Mom!!! I used my crocks and my rain jacket!! :) Some of the days were kind of long. Ok they all were. But all of them were full of miracles! Like yesterday, we had 4 investigators come to church!!! So Ule Marrufo, I've talked about his mom Rose, Well he's 21 and is really turning his life around! He was previously into some pretty bad stuff. But has since gotten back into school and working lots. We've been calling him every day and reading from the Book of Mormon with him during his breaks at school. He lives about an hour away from here, but we still get to teach him because he comes down here for the weekends. He started his drive late yesterday though and missed sacrament meeting...but he still came for the last two hours and LOVED it!!!!! In sunday school we talked about eternal marriages and in Preisthood they talked about love in the home. He told us afterwards that he really wants to just find a good girl to marry so they can be as happy as the people he saw at church. HE IS AWESOME!!!! And he even asked a couple of the men he met in priesthood to give him a blessing. WOW WOW WOW!!!!! He has a date for October 5th, conference weekend. But one session of conference equals one church attendance, so he'll be baptized in the middle of the saturday sessions!! He is really excited and super great. It's exciting to watch his heart and desires change. It's amazing what the Gospel and Atonement of Christ can do for people!

 

I have such a testimony of the Gospel of Christ. By living it, we receive the greatest joy we can in this life and the next. I know that by accepting Christ in our lives and letting go of pride, we are able to access the greatest gifts Heavenly Father has instore for us. I love y'all and I'm so grateful for my sweet family and friends. I pray often for everyone. Please be safe and make good choices! Hope I hear from everyone soon!

 

All my love,

Hermana Florence

Baby Week

Hello sweet family!

 

What an exciting week with all the babies!! It seemed like every where I looked this week I saw a baby. It stings a little, not being able to hold and kiss the new little babes, but I'm happy to be here and help other become eternal families like we have. I got the package today!!!! And laughed and cried through the whole thing. :) I got really excited when Scott started playing the guitar, I thought he would sing to me...but I was jipped. Still happy for the song though. Kid, you totally owe me a letter. And it was SO good to see everyone's faces and listen to them! Charley is such a little lady!!! That's the first time I've seen her walk...it's a little sassy, just like her. :) Skylar and Alaina are just so beautiful, I can't get over it!!! We have the cutest kiddos. :) Can't wait to see them in such a short time, in reality. I think of the year I have left...and then I think of the months I've been here...and it's starting to freak me out. Time is flying and soon it'll feel like I never even left.

 

This last Monday and Tuesday, it took me a bit to get back into the game. I was pretty wrapped up in the idea of missing out on family stuff and the new babes. So I was a little tender. Well it took some strength to get up and just get going. But as I went through the days this week and focused on one thing at a time, other than myself, I felt lighter. It's amazing how when you focus on others, even during your own personal struggles, your own burdens become light. I learned something very special this week about honesty. When I pray, I try not to complain. Because I know I should be so grateful for everything. Truth is, learning Spanish is hard, having your investigators not answer the door even when you hear them home is hard, and working all day and sometimes not getting enough sleep and having to get up at 6:30 anyways is really hard. Because well...I'm really not a morning person, surprise. And I've been trying to not complain about how frustrated I am sometimes. Especially in prayers because I don't want to seem ungrateful. But silly silly Hna. Florence. Heavenly Father already knows that I'm having hard time. He knows what exactly is going on. But although He knows, it's so vital that we tell Him. So what I really learned is that the beginning of spirituality is honesty. Until we are honest with ourselves and the Lord, especially about what we are doing, have done, and need, we do not allow God to work with us.  As long as we are lying to ourselves and to God about our situation, we eliminate truth from our lives. And God is light and truth. However, once we decide to be honest and accept the truth of our situation, God will begin to heal us and give us the light that dispels the darkness in our lives. The more honest we can be, the more we will dispel darkness from our lives and the more joy we will have. I invite you to be more honest this week with yourself and with God. Be positive and have faith. I know that God will help you as you open up to Him and honestly recognize where you need His help. I am accepting that I am having a hard time with some things. And I really need His help. It's truly the only way I'll become better out of situations. I know that Heavenly Father is so loving. He wants to hear from us, more than anything! And He wants the whole truth. He already knows it, but there comes spiritual strength from admiting it and moving forward with faith that He will come to the rescue.

 

I love y'all and am so grateful for everyone. I'm grateful for the package that was sent and the sweet little videos that I can watch. I love everyone of you and am so grateful we have the opportunity to be together forever.

 

One quick funny story about my spanglish... The other day in a lesson with Rosa Marrufo, I was sharing a personal experience. The Spirit was really strong and I was pretty intot he story. And out of no where comes my gringa...and I say "because" in a Spanish accent... Oh my life. I would have kept going but Rosa noticed and started laughing really loud. Pretty embarrassing. But it's a fun story to tell now. I'm in this weird libo still of Spanglish. I'll think of a ord in Spanish better than English. And I talk like a Spanish-hick. Someone please save me.

 

Well again, I'm sending lots of love to all!!

 

Love,

Hermana Florence

Tortas

Dear Family,

 

Well I had another wonderful week! It was incredible to see many miracles this week, with the change in my heart and the work. We found a less-active family in our area, the Gonzalez family. They are very sweet and I can see how the Lord has been preparing them to come back to the Gospel. We contacted them at around 8 at night, our last stop before we needed to head back home from Houston. We met the daughter Yanet (pronounced Janet) and the son Jose, they were out in the front enjoying "cool" weather. We just stopped and got to know them a little bit and asked if we could come by another time in the week to do an F.H.E. with them so we set the time for Friday to return. Well a couple days later Yanet called us and asked if we could call the Elders and have them perform a blessing for her friend who was diagnosed with cancer. The Elders couldn't make it so the ward mission leaders came, which I prefer anyways. Richard, the friend who has cancer, and his family were there, all non-members. The blessing was INCREDIBLE and the spirit was SO strong!! Afterwards we taught the Restoration upon request of Richard. We did it in English because not everyone spoke Spanish, that was a nice change. :) I don't think I have felt the spirit so powerfully in a lesson. I think it meant more for me because just that morning I studied in P.M.G.  in chapter 11 on bearing testimony throughout lessons. As we taught the lesson to the families I remember what I studied and made it a point to make simply testify with everything I said. There is a power that comes with bearing a testimony. There is a reason why we are askde to share our testimonies every month in sacrament meeting. When we bear testimony we allow the Holy Ghost to work through us, helping us become more sanctified and purified as we do so. I know that is so true. Sometimes in lessons I am so lost with the language, all I can really do is testify. But I have learned that it is not only at the end of a lesson when you share a testimony, it's at the beginnng, throughout the lesson, and at the end. To tell the rest of the story, at the end of the lesson with Richard's family and the Gonzalez family, we asked if anyone would like a Book of Mormon. Richards mom was the first to say yes and many followed right after. We have an appointment set up for tonight with all of them again to explain the Plan of Salvation. And what's really great is, the les-active Gonzalez family was at church yesterday. :)

 

This week was truly humbling. I am so grateful to be here and to be able to be a part of these people's lives, even in some cases a small way. I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that it is only through Him that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father for eternity. I testify of the need for a restoration of His Gospel. Heavenly Father is not a God of confussion. And as we humbly, with an open heart, search the Book of Mormon and listen to the teachings of our modern prophets, we will not be confussed about our eternal purpose as children of God. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have. I am grateful for my wonderful family and the sure knowledge that I have that we can be together forever. I love y'all so much. Thank you for all of the love and support.

 

I bet everyone else is excited to welcome 2 new little angel babes into the family this month! Mandie and Bryan will meet their new little girl on the 13th, I'm SO excited to see pictures of her sweet face! And hopefully soon Ryan and Cari will meet their little girl too! I need updates people! Once they're born I am sure I will be flooded with pictures, at least that's my hope. Or better yet, my demand. :)

 

Love y'all!!

 

Hermana Erica Florence

P.S. Incase you didn't know, I had tortas this week! Everytimes I hear that word I think of Maryn because it was her password from something a long time ago... :)

10 dinners in 6 days

Hello my sweet family!

 

I hope all is well at home! From the email from mom and dad everyone is doing great and are happy! I'm so glad.

 

So this week has been really fun and crazy! I have been some issues that I'm working on resolving with eating better, but that can only go so far if you're fed twice a night almost each day by members and investogators. If you say no, they get offended. If you eat it all, they add more. If you don't finish all but about 2 bites, they're offended. BUT, if you leave the 2 bites, they usually leave you alone. Most nights as we walk to the car and into our aparment and are scared to make any sudden movements or we'll barf. Seriously, most nights I'm stuffed to my throat with beans, tortillas, and rice. So regardless of my efforts to eat better, I'm getting freaking fat. It's rough.

 

The great part of my week is that we have a new investigator, Lina! She has a date for the 21st of this month. Lina is great and full of awesome questions, super eager to learn. More than half of the people we were teaching the weeks before and had dates have dropped us. It's been hard because the excuses they come up with are insane...what is comes down to is, they don't want to change their bad habits. It's so sad to see these wonderful people give up something so special just because they like their beer on the weekends and smoking. One of my favorite, moronic excuses was, "I smoke because I get stressed, and stress can kill you!" ....OH MY GOODNESS!!! I've been really struggling with understanding people. Sometimes, some peole's angency is just annoying. But I just pray for patience and great faith that one day these people will understand what they are missin out on.

 

Last night we had an F.H.E. with la familia Parada. Hey Maryn? Does the name Myra Parada sound familiar? :) Myra served on Temple Square the same time as Maryn! How cool is that! Anyways, the Paradas have a son that is married and inactive and they're expecting a baby. Marvin and Michelle came to the F.H.E. and we taught about the Plan of Salvation. It was a very special and strong lesson. I felt prompted at the end to share our families experience with Brycen. As I bore testimony that families could be together forever, I knew the Spirit was touching the heart of Michelle.

 

I am so grateful that I have the special opportunity to live with my family for eternity. I am so grateful for all of you and the love and support I recieve from everyone. Thank you all for being the best family in the world!

 

All my love,

Hermana Florence