Happy Halloween!

Hey sweet family!

 

I hope everyone, the kiddos especially, are so excited for Halloween! Hna. Greenwood and I got little pumpkins from a member that we will carve today! I think I'm more excited about it...I can't wait to see the kid's costumes!

 

This last week was pretty great. We were in the house though for about half a day...want to hear the story? Thought so! So we went through the day wonderfully, had lots of appointments and members that came with us! And then we had a dinner appointment with the Rodriguez family, they are pretty much my favorite. But it was an earlier dinner, like 3...linner? Well Hna. Rodriguez really really likes spicy food. And so does Hna. Greenwood. So Hna. Rodriguez fixed our plates for us and gave them to us, we prayed, and started eating. Within 2 seconds I'm bright red and sweating like crazy and Hna. Rodriguez face goes white and her eyes get so wide and she starts speaking Spanish so quickly I didn't understand one bit, well besides LO SIENTO!!! She gave the Hna. Greenwood's plate with the insanely spicy habenero sauce on it...Within 2 minutes I was throwing up like crazy!! And it didn't stop for whole hour...I was done for...I ate so many tums. Then I slept it off the rest of the day as commanded by the medical coordinator, Sister Martinez. Which is really funny because it was her last day as a service missionary, she laughed a little and she said she wasn't surprised it ended with me. She and I are best friends. :)

 

Well besides me being on fire this week...HERMANO ALEJANDRO GARCIA WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!! It was so incredible!! He is the sweetest man in the world. I wish y'all could have seen how happy he was(is)! I'll try and figure out this picture thing...last time it only let me see 3 pictures... But the crazy thing is that he was an hour and a half late...talk about stressful! Lots of the ward came and were very supportive, they are all great! Hna. Greenwood and I were supposed to sing a special musical number but the program had to have some adjustments due to time. I'm definitely not complaining...I'm too out of shape to sing. And then the following Sunday, yesterday, he was confirmed a member of the church and he received the Holy Ghost! What a beautiful weekend. :) OH OH!!!!!! AND!!!!! The girlfriend of a member, Herald Del Aguila, has a date for this next Saturday! Which may be changed for the Sunday so her parents can make it. Her name is Crystal and she is SO GOLDEN!!!! She has been coming to church with Herald for over a month and she loves it. Crystal wanted to learn more from us but first she wanted to come to a lesson to see how it was before it was focused on her. So she and Herald came with us to the Vasquez family and we taught a really great lesson, she even participated!! And afterwards we were scheduled to have a Noche Mormona with the Del Aguilas. So we went over there and taught a first lesson. It started out kind of rough because Hno. Del Aguila is kind of scary...he's a very VERY smart man and makes you feel kind of silly. So I was really afraid to talk. But I said a prayer in my heart and talked anyways and turns out I did just fine! He told me tough afterwards I need to work on my Spanish...it's a work in progress. Well we decided to watch the short Restoration video after the lesson. And Crystal got pretty emotional during that. Hna. Greenwood and I shared a look and after the movie was done we asked her to be baptized on November 2nd. And she is, I think, the most excited person I have ever taught to get baptized!! She already ready the Book of Mormon on her own, knows it's true, and applies it to her life. HELLO!!! She is SO prepared!! She'll be baptized just before Hna. Greenwood leaves for home...but we don't talk aobut her going home...I'm having a heard time dealing with that. We're best friends.

 

Anyways, that is my life this week! I hope everyone had an awesome week! Always look for an opportunity to serve!

 

Much Love,

Hermana Florence

A Loving Family

Dear Family,

 

This week was like a slide. One of those metal ones that's been under the hot sun all day and you go down it practically bare-bummed in a swimsuit. Obviously the week wasn't easy. Sticky, wet, tiring, and just plain overwhelming. I got really caught up in my own emotions and turned very inward instead of turning outward as Christ would. How selfish of me. But I have found that it's really easy for me to reach out and help other when I'm feeling good. But it's even harder when I'm feeling down and out, and the person right next to me is too, to show kindness. Why is that so hard for us to do? Beats me. It really should be that hard. We've been asked to "come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him" (Moroni 10: 32-33). For a long time that scripture has seemed impossible. How are we supposed to be perfect on this earth? For me, I think of it in small steps. We aren't expected to be perfect all at once. We are asked to "deny ourselves of all ungodliness" and exercise the Atonement in our lives. We will make mistakes, we will see trials, but what we are asked to do in these times is simple. Come unto Christ. Take advantage of the wonderful gift of the Atonement. Let Him help you. Sure it's simple, but it's not easy for our selfish and stubborn human minds. Dad told me the other day that the remedy to my problem was simple, forget about myself. How ridiculously easy but so frustratingly difficult! It's one of the things I am meant to learn, and I'd rather learn it here, in this ways, than at home in another. It's not easy, but I know I can do it and I won't be doing it alone. I am so grateful for the love and support I felt yesterday, I felt the fast for me. I can always feel the love everyone has, but sometimes, I let my silly-self forget. I will do better.

 

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for all of you!

 

Love,

Hermana Erica Florence

What a Beautiful thing!

Hello Sweet Family!

 

Another awesome week! I hope everyone watched and just LOVED conference! It was SO fantiastic! I received, as I'm sure all of you did as well, much inspiracion and revelacion(Why do those words look weird?). A big theme I noticed was member missionary work! I hope everyone felt a confirmation that the work isn't only for set apart missionaries, it's for every member around the world. Everything got me excited to work lots with the missionaries when I get home, especially go out with them to lessons and work with the Spanish misionaries! How fun hey?! I have to learn Spanish first though, funny thing about that. Well, something else that I loved about conference was all the talk about families and protecting their virtue. For me, that was very special. Especially as I thought about y'all eating crepes together and laughing. Being away makes me appreciate so much more of the love we all have for each other and the Lord. We are a truly blessed family. I was really excited to hear about Brad and Holly expecting a new baby to come into the family! I'll definitely need an update about that!! I'm really proud of them and how they're leaning on the Lord to help them, as this is a somewhat scary thing to do, but wonderful at the same time! They are literally changing that child's life by raising them in a loving home. I love our family.

 

Something else I really loved from conferenca was in President Uchtdorf's talk. He said, "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith." I'm sure that was all over pintrest and facebook within 3 minutes. It is so true though. When times get tough we need to cling to the faith that we have in Christ, knowing we're not alone and we are being guided in everything we do. We have a responsibility, as believers in Christ, to follow his example in every way. Including sharing our testimonies, helping others, being kind, reading the scriptures, praying to Heavenly Father, and of course, being baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority. Plus many other things. Doing all of these things are hardly ever easy and we find ourselves busy with other things in life. But I know as we strive to the standards that we claim to have as Christians, we will be eternally blessed. God is our Loving Heavenly Father. We lived with Him before we came to this earth. We chose to come here to receive a body in order to be tested and gain experience and happiness through families. Families are central to God's plan. He gives us families so we can experience a fullness of joy on the earth. Along with families, God gives us prophets to lead and guide us through a harsh world. It's been a pattern since the world began to have prophets help God's children. But as another trend, the prophets of God are rejected. The greatest prophet the world has known is Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and friend. He came to the earth with a purpose, as we all have. His, was to proclaim His gospel, the doctrine of the Father, to the world. Sadly, even our Savior was rejected and crucified. I know that on the third day, he was resurected. And because of the Atonement he performed, we can be forgiven of sins, be cleansed, live a clean life, and return to live with Him and God again. After Christ and His apostales were gone so left the priesthood and the authority to run His church. And it was a long time of confusion and false doctrine that came from the great apostasy. But in 1820, a boy decided to ask in faith, a question that many people wondered for hundreds of years. What church is true, and if one is true how shall I know? I know that when Joseph asked with real intent, having the faith to act on his answer, he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. In time, the true Gospel of Christ was restored to the earth, along with all of the authority and ordinances meant for our salvacion. We now have the Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Jesus Christ and His love for God's children. We can know of the truth of all things through sincere prayer and listening to the Holy Ghost. I know that this Gospel is true. I know that it was restored by Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith. We have a true prophet today, President Thomas Monson. Through him and other prophets we can know of the things we need to do in order to gain eternal life with our families. I love this work. I am so grateful I am able to share the message of the restored gospel with the people in Texas, and in a years time with those in Arizona. I love you all and am so grateful we all have this knowledge together. I have an unshakable testimony of all the things I have said, I know it is true, in the nam of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

Thank you for all of the love and support! Being here has changed my life forever, for the better. I will write again next week, and I'll see y'all sooner than we realize.

 

All my love,

Hermana Florence

Craziness!!

Well hello family!

 

I hope everyone had a great week! Mine felt a little weird. It was quick but slow at the same time! Our week, numbers wise, looked pretty pathetic. BUT!!! On Friday we had Fiestas Patrias!!!!!!!! It's a Latin-American celebration for all the different countries! it was SO fun! We spent all week really pushing people to come to the party. We visited every less-active that was in our area, every investigator that we had ever talked to, strangers, and in one desperate situation...a dog. But that's a long and slightly embarrassing story. :) Well, as a result of talking to everyone and their dog (see what I did there?) we had 33 of our people show up the the party!!!!! it was SO incredible! The familia Cruz came and we haven't been in to see them for 2 weeks, all we could do was leave a flier to come and they did, with their less-active active neighbor Karla!!!! Who we have been trying SO hard to come to church! IT WAS SO GREAT!!! All of the other missionaries were jealous...they asked our secret and we told we brought it up in every conversation we had and we made our own fliers. Nailed it!!! :) It was a true miracle and we feel so blessed to have had so many people show up! Heavenly Father is definitely helping us!

 

This week I saw my first LIVE armadillo! That was cool. Nothing else super excited happened. But we did have the Relief Society Broadcast this weekend which was AMAZING!!!!! Everyone should go and watch it on lds.org. I can't even explain how incredible it was! It made me re-evaluate my convenant keeping and if my love for the Savior is relfected in everything I do.

 

I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity I have to be a missionary, especially in Texas, it's a choice land. :) Thank you all for the love and support! have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Hermana Florence

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... :)