"A Wonderous Adventure!"

Hey mommy!! Hey Papi!!! So glad to hear you all are getting back into the groove of things :) So good to hear sweet Genevieve is being a good girl :) I miss her sweet little voice. Tell Rio to stop being a grumpy boy! Haha I can just picture that. Is Giselle still getting them up?

That is a bummer about the jeep but I sure hope the new/used car situation works out! That really would be so great for you guys! I will be praying this week that that works out. I'll be honest, the story about Ryker nearly broke my heart but pleaseee show him all the videos you can, it makes me even more excited to Skype in a few months. Remind that sweet boy of me because I miss him so much it hurts. 

This week has been an adventure, a wondrous adventure. This week we had exchanges, which are my favorite! I stayed in my area, Sister Bown came and it was so wonderful.

 

This is Sister Brown! 

We saw sooo many miracles, we found a couple new investigators, and all our new investigators who we normally can't catch at home were home and we had lessons with them. Almost everyone we talked to that day were kind and although they weren't interested they accepted what we said  and were super sweet. It was cool because Sister Bown had actually served in Palos Verdes at the beginning of her mission for like 5 months so she was able to see everyone again and they were super excited to see her. Sister Bown is so bold, and she really testifies from her heart when we contact people on the street. I learned so much from her, and like always, we had a blast! This week we had my last new missionary orientation and it is cool to see all the Elders in my district and how they have changed in just a few months. We're all getting into the mission groove...finally! 

This week we also got to be a part of something that one of the sisters in the ward plans every month or so and its called the "Cookie Brigade". Sister Janet invites all the children in her apartment complex to come over and do some crafts (normally they make cookies) but they do fun activities and eat and its super cute. It was super fun to help out with that.

 

The Cookie Brigade!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Thanksgiving (in September) with the Strouds! 

Oh man! I love the members here soooo much! On Friday we had dinner with the Strouds and unbeknownst to us they invited a few other members of the ward and they had a thanksgiving dinner, no joke! It was incredible, they were sweet and let us take leftovers that lasted us a couple of days. :) The next day, one of the sisters treated us to China Buffet hahaha it was toooo good. The members in this area, take great care of us and they are wonderful, especially in going out to work with us. One of the sisters preparing for her mission, Rachel, just got her mission call to...MONGOLIA! Wooooo she had been waiting for almost 6 weeks and she finally got it the other day (on a Saturday :) ), we are so excited for her. She leaves in January, which means we have a bit more time to have her come out to work with us.

 

 

It is really incredible the miracles that we have seen. We found a former investigator the other day who said that she knows that the church is true and that she has seen the blessings from it in her life. She knows she has veered off but she agreed to start meeting with us again. This week we went by to see Chuck to see how he was doing and his day hadn't gone too well. So we whipped out his ukulele and guitar and we had a jam session, because he has been taking ukulele lessons at the "elderly" center hehe he literally is the best. He said we have to eventually play at his baptism...which he jokes will never happen, but we shall see about that. ;) Prayers for Chuck!  Today I went with Sister Baek to the Korean market......haha wow what a place! It was interesting but I am glad she got to go. Prayer works, I can tell you that much. Sister Baek and I are closer than ever, at times we disagree but we have so much fun together.

 

Creepiest moment this week: We were visiting an investigator in the evening one night and it turned out she wasn't home. Her neighbor was out on the porch so we decided to talk to her. We introduced ourselves and she said she had a question so we said "okay" but she goes in her house and whipps out a ouija board and says she wants to ask us a question on the board! I was ready to bolt however Sister Baek (not really aware of what was going on) continued to talk to her, I literally cut the conversation and we left. It was the creepiest thing and I got the weirdest vibe/feeling when we with her. Hopefully we won't encounter that again, you never know in LA.

 

I continue to be in awe at the beautiful views when we drive up to members houses etc. It amazes me that people live in this beautiful place and don't ever consider the existence of a God. I know that God lives and he is a apart of our lives every single day.

 

Beautiful views!

 

 

More cool views!

 The best part is,is that he is our literal Father in Heaven and he knows us perfectly and he loves us. Whenever I feel hot and exhausted and I lose the desire to talk to people, I am reminded about all the people that really do need the message that God loves them and is aware of them and their needs. My favorite scripture of the week: "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." (Mosiah 4:9)  Believe in God and put your trust in Him, always! Our baptism goal as a mission this month was 50 and we got 52! Mighty prayer has power and when we call upon the Lord we see miracles! I am so grateful to be here and everyday I give thanks to my Father in Heaven for the experiences and the people I am with here. I love you all so much and give thanks for the wonderful family I have. Although my heart aches from time to time, thinking about how much longer I have without seeing you guys I think of about the rest of our lives we have, but most importantly eternity! Les quiero mucho! Have a wonderful week! Talk to you next week! I hope you are able to see blessings this week!

My new bag because my other one broke!The picture doesn't do it justice but I think because it has metal
clasps, it should last me a lot longer!!

P.s--President Weidman told me to tell you not to worry but that I will be serving spanish soon hehe :) 

Love, 

Your missionary

Hermana Abreu

Baptism blessings!

Hola familia!!!

All is well! My companion is great, she is straight from Korea. She's pretty fluent in English but sometimes I struggle to understand her haha she is sometimes kind of uptight....I don't know why I keep getting companions like that but man maybe Heavenly Father is trying to teach me something. BUT in the end she is sweet and we get along the best we can :)

Wow! What a week! The most amazing part of the week wassss when JOHN GOT BAPTIZED OH YEAH!

 

John's Baptism! Woohoo!

 At district meeting we saw Sister Hatch and Sister Wehrhahn (we actually shouldn't have been there because we went to the wrong building for District meeting hehe) Anyways and they said that they were planning a baptism on Sunday for John!!! (his original date was the day before) but it was the miracle of all miracles. They said that we would be doing the "missionary moment". The missionary moment is when a companionship teaches the restoration to everyone at the baptism (it is kind of the way that other companionship's are able to go to baptisms for other investigators not in their area) :) We also ended up singing a special musical number with the other sisters. Man it was the coolest most amazing thing to see him get baptized! Words can't even describe it. It was bittersweet, mostly sweet, because I was able to see members of my old area and kind of say a proper goodbye and see John, basically our main investigator in Torrance enter the waters of baptism, but bitter because my heart sort of ached at not seeing the members again, that was a bit hard. BUT the baptismal service was wonderful, the sisters did an awesome job and I am sooo grateful that I was able to witness that. That was the best part of the week. 

The members here are awesome, and they are wonderful about meals! Oh man am I sooo grateful for that!!! They are kind, and have welcomed me with open arms. Surprise of the week: President Weidman attended our ward in Crestridge on Sunday. It was funny because he sent us a text that said he was coming but we were in ward council so we didn't see it. Until we were greeting everyone and the meeting started and so when I sat down I saw President on the stand. It was a pleasant surprise! It is always so great to see him, he is just inspired, he is wonderful. 

Our investigators are doing good for the most part. Lisa, the one with the baptismal date in September is not doing well medically and we haven't been able to see her at all because she has been in and out of the hospital :( Prayers for Lisa!

Chuck, our "wiser" (older) investigator is doing great, he comes to church and loves it and we have members out with us every time we go and see him. We think he's looking for a stroke of lightning or something to let him know he needs to be baptized but he is a retired engineer and lawyer so its hard for him to spiritual promptings and answers to his prayers but we're working on it. :) Other than that he keeps all of his commitments and is wonderful. He couldn't go to the Visitors Center because the member who was going to take him had a last minute work trip but we have plans to go with him soon. We have many other investigators that we have taught here and there but we try to get solid lessons and they cancel, but hey people have their own agency, what can you do? We got in contact with a former investigator named Mike, who recently lost his daughter to breast cancer. We stopped by to have a lesson with a member and he showed us all his family pictures on the wall. He is really into family history and he loves talking about it, (the whole time we were there we toured his house with all the pictures on the wall.) We went with Sister Goddard, the sweetest japanese member, and Mike really liked that she was there, he said she made him feel "serene"....hahaha but members really do bring a special spirit and are able to fellowship in a way that missionaries can't'. Anyways tomorrow is my last new missionary orientation meeting, and in a couple weeks I will officially be done with the 12-week new missionary training, so in other words I am hitting 3 months and will no longer be the new missionary! I can't tell if it is a good thing or a bad thing but the days are moving and so is the work here. :) 

Funny situation: This week, we were out with a sister who is waiting on her mission call!!! Her name is Rachel Whitaker and she actually lived in Winston Salem for a bit and went to BYU-Idaho for a couple years, anywaysss we have been going out to work with her for a couple days and at one point we were talking to someone on the street and the strap on my bag just popped off and fell to the ground...it was a sad day :( I loved that bag! But Rachel had one around her house in the meantime for me to use until I can get another one. She is just the best! I can definitely empathize with her on the whole waiting on the mission call for endless weeks, but apparently her papers got in a stack that they shouldn't have bit and basically have been sitting in Salt Lake for a few weeks. But this week she should find out where she goes! Super exciting, it takes me back a few months :) 

I love you all so much, tell everyone I miss them and think of them! Keep praying and reading, its the little things that count! 

Hasta luego! 

Love, 

-Hermana Abreu 

My new aparatment!

Got a bathroom shot too!  Hehe!

View from the apartment!

 

Crazy Week!!!

Hello my wonderful family!

Well it seems as though your week has been just as crazy as mine! Haha I am glad you all had fun at the pool, everyone looks so tan!!! :) Tell Danie, thanks for the pictures! I also loved the talent show pictures haha I am sure that was a hoot, Papi is always the best at that.

 

Anyways so this week has been a whirlwind of events. So Tuesday afternoon was crazyyy. Sister Hatch had an  doctors appointment outside of the mission boundaries so she was gone most of the day, so Sister Wehrhan and I did some work in our area and went out with a Sister in our ward to visit some potentials. While we were out we got a couple phone calls from the AP's (assistants to the president) and they hardly ever call unless its somethings urgent so we called back. When we got back to the car they gave us the news, I was being mid-cycle transferred to a different area and that I should meet at the mission office at 9pm that night, being all packed. Soooo that was a shocker, immediately Sister Wehrhahn and I start crying. It was hard just because I was getting used to and loved the YSA and the trio and I kept thinking about all the wonderful people I had met and how I couldn't say goodbye, it was hard. BUT then I had to rethink and I just remembered that this is what the mission is all about, CHANGE! And so here I am! My new companion is Sister Baek!

Me and my new companion Sister Baek!!!

 

 She is from Korea and has been out for a year! She is super sweet and is a really hardworking missionary, my new area is Crestridge/Lunada Bay ward in Palos Verdes. (We also cover two wards). So far, I love this area! The area itself is GORGEOUS! When we drive up you see the ocean and the hills and the city and it is crazy. They call it "The Hill" and really a lot of ritzy people live there. BUT I honestly look forward to the drive everyday because it blows my mind how pretty it is. When I pictured California, this is definitely what I pictured. 

Stunning views of Palos Verdes!

 

Our investigators are wonderful and everyday we are finding more people to talk to and share the gospel with! This past week I met Lisa, an investigator who is planning to be baptized September 5th! She is amazing. She LOVES the Book of Mormon and she sleeps with it next to her head every single night! Despite her medical issues, her faith is unwavering. We also have an 85 year old investigator named Chuck. He is so sweet and sincere. He loves the gospel, but still has some questions but he loves to go to church and he is just awesome. The work in the Crestridge area is moving however as everyone knows there must be opposition in all things. These past few days, Sister Baek and I have encountered some really mean people. It is really hard when someone tells you that what you live and love and know to be true is false doctrine. Being a missionary is one of the biggest trials of your faith but I know that this gospel is true!!!!! I know that Satan wants to stop this work but I also know that there are people like Lisa, waiting to be baptized and to have that everlasting joy that only comes through the gospel! I love the ward and the people here are so welcoming. Something that I have learned this past week is that although we go through unexpected changes in the mission, in family, work, and LIFE the one thing that is never changing is the gospel of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ, our Savior. His arm is always reached out for us and it doesn't matter at what point we are at spiritually, emotionally, physically He is there to lift us up. 

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastnewss in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." ( 2 Nephi 31:20) 

I love you all so much and I pray for you daily, Stay strong and enjoy your week my beautiful family!!! Love YOU!!!

-Hermana Abreu

Beautiful LA temple at night!

Our "Trio" (short but sweet!)  Sister Wehrhahn, Sister Hatch, and me!!!!

Our Zone!!!!

 

We are a Trio!!!

Hello hello dearest family!

It is so good to see that you had another wonderful week!!! I loved the pictures of you and Papi at Medieval Times! That must have been fun! :) That food at that famous grill looked really yummy too! Love you guys, glad it was fun in Dallas and that you had a nice little get-away! Ahhh that is so awesome about Riley! Its so exciting! I'll be home not this Christmas but next Christmas, either way it will be special, that time is awesome! Ooo a talent show sounds fun! I remember the last talent show with Butler ahaha. I actually did hear from Rachel, she emailed me about her mission call that is so exciting, I told her one of the Elders in my District in the MTC who is now with me in the mission is from Colombus, Ohio! And yayyy for Andrea, I am glad she finally was able to turn all that in, when does she go? I would love to see some pictures from MADS camp and such, love you all bunches!

 

This week was full of 1sts and miracles! Tuesday was Transfer Day and we had Transfer meeting which felt like almost the whole mission was there, just because there were like 32 departing missionaries and a good amount of brand new missionaries. It was crazy! When we got home, we got to work on moving around the desks and beds to make it a trio living space :) Oh my goodness! I love the trio life! Haha Sister Wehrhahn is the funniest sister you will ever meet. She is from Wisconsin and she has an accent, (she says bag like bay-g hehe) She has been out for a little over a year and she goes home in December, she is a hoot and a fantastic missionary. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He sent her to me, we have a good ol' time. Maybe too much ;) This week we have been getting to know a little more of our area because the South Bay YSA live all over so our boundaries are....well we have no boundaries haha. Not necessarily, but we have many YSA members all over so what used to be our boundary no longer is, which has been nice but we also have familiarize ourselves with other roads etc. (Thank goodness for Sister Hatch because I am TERRIBLE at reading maps :) )This week we went to visit a less active lady, Sister Wolper, (we visit at least once a week) she's had surgery for many different medical reasons and when we come over we get her mail and take her trash out. This week when we came to visit she was especially excited to see the new sister haha however Sister Wolper is a very particular woman, its her way or the highway and so she said that she thought Sister Wehrhahn talked too much and that she gets too excited. So when Sister Wolper prayed, she prayed that Sister Wehrahn could calm down her excitement and let others talk hahahaha oh man it was too good. She also made some chicken soup (which was not very good at all) that she forced us to eat, so I told Sister Wolper that my stomach was not feeling too good so she only made me have 1 cup of it, however she made Sister Wehrhahn eat like 3 cups of soup. Oh man Sister Wolper is too much sometimes, but she is so sweet and she loves it when we come over because she's very lonely.

We also had dinner with a sweet family, the Hirst family! but another funny thing is that Sister Hirst has a grown son who is very smart and into history and somehow at dinner it came up that Sister Hatch MIGHT BE related to John Hancock, anyways, Mike (Sister Hirst's son) was so excited and started begging Sister Hatch to autograph his journal. It was too much! Hahaha we were laughing about that for days! We laugh a lot. Sometimes we laugh at the smallest things, but as missionaries that's what you've gotta do to stay sane. :)

 

This week we also got to do temple service at the Los Angeles temple, which was awesome! Our zone was chosen to go and oh it was special. We worked with some sisters in the clothing area of the temple and it was so cool to be there so early in the morning, so quiet and so reverent. I love the temple! It was a cool experience to be able to serve there.

 

This Sunday was a madhouse! Well, not too bad but we had to try to balance attending two wards. Torrance 1st ward starts @ 11am but because we go to ward council, we get there at 9am, then South Bay YSA ward starts at 1pm, but we also try to go to their ward council which is at 12ish which is the same time as gospel principles. We were running around like crazies. Haha not too mention next week the bishopric in YSA ward asked me to speak this coming week, and the other sisters to speak the following weeks. Its okay though because the YSA is so fun. They have really fun activities every week: Monday-- FHE, Wed--Institute, Thursday--Sports Night. We have FHE tonight! There is such a special spirit in the YSA ward. Oh! And get this, a member of the bishopric in YSA is from Mt. Airy, SC! His name is Brother Haymore and he says he knows Jospeh Hamilton (big Joe, I think) It is so cool! I told him I was a Hamilton. It is awesome to have some connections! :)

 

Miracle of the week: John came to church again! With his son! We have been losing our deep faith, mainly because he's been kind of flaky with appointments and such but please please pray for John that he will be able to get baptized on August 22nd!!! As for other investigators we're working on finding and finding more YSA, we are trying to figure out a good balance for working in both areas and I think we'll get it eventually (probably when the transfer is over) ;)

 

So far on the mission I have been pondering a lot, (you have a lot of time to do that) and before I never really did understand how important the Book of Mormon was. In Preach My Gospel it says that the BOM is the keystone of our religion and it really is, it is evidence of the Restoration! It is the greatest book ever, I have come to appreciate it a lot more on my mission. It is a book that is for us. We were talking to a guy on the street who said that he had read the Book of Mormon and that he knew that it was true, however he believed that the Mormons misinterpreted it and that our doctrine was wrong. We tried to explain to him that if the BOM was true, then Joseph was a prophet and every single other doctrine is true. I am so grateful for the counsel we can receive and I know that anyone, wherever can read it to find out for themselves if it really is a true book.

 

I love you guys, you're awesome, praying for you erryday, no joke. Tell the branch I love em' too! Have a good week at work and such, can't wait to hear about going back to school goes. Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

 

Love,

Hermana Abreu

Our new companion that makes us a trio Sister Wehrhahn!

Sister Wehrhahn and me!

Us being silly with some tiger ears at dinner the other day. 

Me and a sweet less active, sick lady.

Transfers!!

Hello hello!

I am so glad that Papi enjoyed my e-mail. I really wish I could write to a lot more people and right a lot more there is just never time! Anyways another week, down and its been great. Phew! Where do I start?! So we got our transfer calls andddddd......I am staying in Torrance! Both, Sister Hatch and I! BUT we are going to be a trio! Another Sister, Sister Werhahn, is coming to our area! So there will be 3 of us in our teeny apartment, we shall see :) I am excited to see how it will all play out. We will be covering, along with Torrance 1st ward, the South Bay YSA which will be cool, I am not exactly sure how it will work out but we'll see! So today we have been arranging and getting all prepared for that. This week has been...HOT haha it is always hot. Even though there is a cool, ocean breeze its just hot. When you're moving its hot when you're not its hot. Hahaha anyways this week we have been trying to figure out how to teach John everything he needs to make his date of August 22nd. The other day we taught him the Word of Wisdom today we had plans to teach him the Plan of Salvation and have a little FHE with a member but he ended up canceling so that was a bummer. He has been a little flaky as far as meeting with us and such so its hard because we want to teach him everything and have him really just have that desire for baptism and understand the importance of it! But just keep praying for him to make that date, its already his 3rd baptismal date! Man. Anyways we have plans to go to the Visitors Center with him and walk the temple grounds so that should be a great thing for him. This Sunday we were asked to teach the YW's class so Sister Hatch and I did more of a Q&A thing with the YW about missionaries and such and it was really fun to be back in YW. I am glad Marina had a pretty good time! (Drama is never fun). Tell Rebeca I love her and I am excited for her! She can do it! Overall though this week has been great we are headed to transfer meeting tomorrow and this week we shall be getting adjusted to missionary work as a trio :) We were visiting a less active lady, Sister Labrecque and she was just talking about how the hottest months here are September and October, lucky me haha but hey its great :) The work is moving and the Lord is guiding us to those chosen and prepared for the gospel! One of my favorite things so far as a missionary is just meeting people who sometimes are just having a hard time and we just pray with them, right then and there. There is so much power in prayer. Prayer is essential in missionary work, because afterall it is the Lord's work you can't do it without counseling with Him. Anyways we also had dinner with our bishop and his wife the other night. They made taco salad, however I just kept thinking about how different it was. They used a fry sauce (mayonnaise and ketchup)...it wasn't bad. Lol I love you guys and I can feel your prayers I really can. I pray for you every minute. I wish I had more time but we shall be in touch this week! Also I LOVE my e-mails during the week, although I can't reply I will get them whenever we are at the church because of the Wifi. As transfers come, I think back to 6 weeks ago when I got here and even though it feels like its been a long time, I am loving it and enjoying every minute of it. Have a great week! Love to every single one of you from over here in LA! Mwuah! <3

 

Love,

Hermana Abreu

The banana bread batter that we made, because we bought bananas and didn't eat them so they got bad super quick..sooo we made yummy banana bread!!!!

A sign that made me think of Marina!

Me and a less active girl named KB (she has a different long name but she wants us to call her KB) She is awesome. She is the cousin of a recent convert, Kate who we were going to visit and then instead we met KB who has been staying at her house for a few months looking for a job. KB is awesome! She is the sweetest, it turns out she's an RM and has had a pretty rough life. She finally came back to church and so we took pictures! She's from an island called....Caribas I think...I don't really quite know samoan? haha

Sister Hatch and I by the sunset!

A picture of exchanges a couple weeks ago...(excuse my G's showing, still trying to get used to that, dang haha)

My ridiculous tan line!

Pretty sunset :)