Another transfer!

Hi Mom!!! This week I wish I had more time but this one is going to be short.

 

I am getting transferred!!! From this wonderful area, with the best comp in the world hehe....but its okay! There are so many awesome experiences waiting for me in my new area!!!! I am going to an area pretty close to where I am in now which is good and I will get to do exchanges with Sister Moli pretty often. :) My new comp is going to be Sister Castillo and I will be finishing her training. We are going to be in the LA 3rd ward and I don't know too much about the area, but I will be filling you in as it goes by. :)

 

It is so weird how time is flying. This transfer has been one that I know I will continue to look back on, because it truly has been life changing. Everyone thinks that missionary work is hard, rigorous, full of rejection, heartache, homesickness, but that is what Satan wants us to see it as. Yes, there has been much of that on the mission... but being here with Sister Moli, working hard every single day, talking to everyone about Jesus Christ is the most joyous thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. I LOVE being a missionary. I love being able to testify of something that has changed my life to people that have never even heard of God. Everyday I am amazed at how many people there are in LA that have no idea how the Atonement can change them, uplift them, comfort them, heal them. Being able to see this happen is life changing. If there is one thing I have been reminded of this transfer is that missionary work is the greatest work on earth and its a work that is filled with hard moments, but most of all it is joyous. I have said it before, but its true. And we can feel like this all the time, when we live the gospel of Jesus Christ and when we share it! I am going to miss these people here a lot. But Heavenly Father has more of His children waiting for the gospel in another area. Hasta ver!!

 

p.s--- While we were teaching our 8 year old investigator April about the 10 commandments and follow the prophet, we pulled up a picture of Thomas S. Monson and when we showed it to her, she was like "Donald Trump?!" Yup. We died. Hahaha Have a fantabulous week!!! Love youuuu!!!!!! 

Love, 

Hermana Abreu 

Hollywood Blvd.!!

 

Me and Sis. Moli and some returned missionaries in the ward!


Oh, and P.S.S. Totally saw the actor from Phil of the future at Chipotle. Sister Moli and I got some free coupons from a member and so we went today for fun but sunset blvd and sure enough there he was...only I would notice ahaha it was funny!

 

 

 

 

I JUST LOVE, LOVE!!!

Feb 18 at 5:59 PM

Happy Be-lated Valentines Day!!! 

Wow, there was so much that happened this week, I'm not sure if it will all make sense, so just bear with me :) 

   p.s that Valentines Day breakfast that you made sounds delicious, except for the salami ;) I am glad you all got to spend it as a family together, missed you <3 Our Valentines Day was good! I dressed in red and white, because although I am a missionary, it doesn't mean I can't be festive :) Valentines Day was good for us, we didn't have a normal church meetings because there was a special broadcast for California, and a few other states where a few members of the Seventy, Bonnie L. Oscarson and Dale G. Renlund spoke. It was so powerful!!! Sister Moli and I left feeling so pumped to take on the world and talk to everyone about Christ and the JOY that He brings into our lives! There were so many things that were said that I needed to know and to hear for myself and for my area, its just so amazing how personal revelation works! The rest of our day was very uplifting, after we went to the Visitors Center with our investigator, Isabella who is about 11 years old. We had plans to go with our other investigators too, who are about the same age but it turned out to be just us, a member RM in the ward, and Isabella but it was still great, nonetheless! Isabella loved it and we hope to go back with her sister, who we have been teaching, as well as with her mom, Jacquelin. We haven't started teaching Jacquelin yet, but she has definitely opened up to us the more and more we have been with her girls. 

      On Tuesday, we had the Sisters Meeting and it was so cool to see all the sister missionaries in the CLAM. Sister Weidman talked more about humility in ways that none of us had ever thought about before. She talked about self-esteem and the way we look at our selves in relation to humility. As people we tend to compare ourselves to others, companions, other missionaries etc. but she talked about how the only comparison we should make is ours with the Savior's. "Only if individual character and abilities are juxtaposed with the Savior himself can a balanced perspective about worth be attainable."

Sister Moli and I were also able to give our training on using the ipads to teach simply and it was amazing to see how much we learned from the other sisters as we did the trainings a good few times in the breakout sessions. There was such a special spirit during the whole meeting. I love the CLAM and especially the sisters in the CLAM :) 

   This week we had two exchanges and I was able to be with Sister Evans, my old comp,  and on the other exchange with Sister Green, a missionary who has been out just about 4 weeks. It was interesting to see and understand the different needs of a missionary who is on the verge of going home and a missionary who is just beginning to learn the ropes of a mission. It was fun to be able to catch up with Sister Evans and to see how she has been doing and Sister Green is so sweet! and so BOLD. And it was awesome :) I think something I learned from each of them is that it doesn't matter if you're at 2 months or 2 years on a mission, this time is so precious to serve the Lord we've gotta work, work work!!!

  At the beginning of week, President Weidman, also gave us a call to tell us about a prompting that he had received to really focus this week on setting baptismal dates. So we prayed about a goal of setting 4 baptismal dates and we made plans to go out and to do it. We contacted the referrals that we had that one evening, and we set baptismal dates with Illexis and Helen, this really awesome couple, who are so prepared and the next night we set 4 more dates, 2 with Kaidy and April (the daughters of the mom we went to visit in the hospital) and 2 more with a couple Angie and Christian! Sister Moli and I went home that night feeling so grateful for how Heavenly Father had prepared the hearts of the people to accept our message and to accept to be baptized. I know that President Weidman receives direct revelation for the souls in LA and I saw the evidence of that as we did it. I love knowing that God is truly at the head of it all. Wow. 

I wish I could write the many more tender mercies and awesome things we saw this week but I don't have much more time. 

I just want to let you know that I LOVE YOU and I know that God loves us beyond compare. I just LOVE, LOVE. It is because of love that we have the Plan of Salvation, and center to that plan is Jesus Christ, a pure message of love. I want you to know how much I love you FAMILY :) Stay warm, all you North Carolinians. I'll stay over here in the consistent 80 degree weather hehehe ;)  

Con MUCHO amor, 

-Hermana Abreu 

"Stop drinkin soda, Yo!"

Hola!!! I love you all!! Sister Moli and I are praying real hard this week, because we have transfer calls this next week and we have had such an amazing transfer we can't even believe that it is coming to an end! We know that it is the Lord's will, but boy we would love to be together another transfer :)

 

 Had a busy, busy week but a great week! We had two back to back exchanges and an exchange at the end of the week, I loved getting to know the other sisters :) Sister Weaver, a visitors center sister came to our area with me and we had such a fun time! It was raining the whole day and although we got soaked, we still talked to everyone we saw in our path and it was so cool to see, despite the weather,people still stopped to talk to us. Rain or shine, the gospel has got to be preached!! Sister Weaver LOVED being with the members and the vibe of the spanish area and I realized how blessed I feel to be in a spanish area and to be in this ward, the members are amazing! For lunch the day we exchanged back, we had delicious mole negro and Mexican coca-cola (apparently so much better) ,with our ward mission leader, Hno Garcia, and his wife. It was the best, they are the kindest most service-oriented family I have ever met. Right after that, we got to have another exchange for the day and I got to be with another sister from the VC, Sister Fehrenbach and it was amazing the people that we met as we went contacting. We met this really cute 93-year old woman who was walking and she started telling us about her neighbor who had advised her to stop drinking soda, "Stop drinking soda, Yo!", she said. Apparently, her name is Yoshi and people call her Yo. We ended up talking with her for a good 15 minutes and she was just the sweetest old woman who had some cool experiences to share with us but really the main reason she stopped us was because she wanted to advise us to stop drinking soda, only water... so that we can live as long as her hahaha I felt that that message was probably for me hehe :) Sister Fehrenbach and I were able to teach some people in their area and have some cool miracles. We also met a guy sitting in his truck, and as we went over to talk to him, he had a Finding faith in Christ pass-along card in the dashboard of his car and when we asked about it, he said that he had found it in an old apartment that he was working at and has kept in his car ever since, we were able to refer him to some other missionaries , it was so cool! 

 

 Sister Moli and I have really been trying to fortify these people that we're working with and help them reach baptism for March. We had 5 investigators at church this Sunday!! And most of them were Young Women. Kaidy and April are two of the girls that we are working with and they are so sweet and so smart! When we asked April (who's 8) what she remembered about Joseph Smith she basically replayed the First Vision to us, in child's vocab. I truly understand why Christ taught us to be as little children, meek, humble and submissive! They just absorb everything we teach them! When we first taught them, I asked Kaidy how she would feel if all of her family were all together forever after we died and I had my hands clasped together, and she said "I would feel....squished...."Hahaha we all died of laughter :)

   

The work is moving forward and the Lord is putting these prepared people in our path as we talk to them! I will keep all of you in my prayers, especially this week! I love you all sooo muchhh!!!!! Keep reading in the Book of Mormon every day<3 

-Hermana Abreu 

Busy, busy week!!

Hi Mom!!! Looks like you had a great week!!!! I have heard all about the Super Bowl around here but I do not know much about the outcome of the game. Oh man, that is hilarious that you all made a party out of it!!! Giselle is right though, we have never been a super bowl family but hey I am all about it!!! :) Hehe!

 

Busy busy week, but a fantabulous week! This week we had exchanges for the first time this transfer and we also got a mini missionary for the weekend! 

On Wednesday, I went on a 24-hour exchange with Sister Heller, a sister that has been out for about 3 transfers now and is training a brand new missionary. I met so many awesome recent converts that they have taught in her area and was able to uplift her and help her out! Especially, since I was where she is about a transfer ago. It was so much fun, I loved getting to know her and to work in her area. I learned so much from her, especially about how to be hopeful and diligent. EXCHANGES ARE MY FAVORITE! :)

On exchanges with Sister Heller

 

We had an awesome ZTM meeting on Friday and later that evening we got our mini missionary! The funny thing is that our mini missionary was Aurora Pacheco, from the Pacheco family in Bell Gardens, my old ward. It made my heart so full to be able to have her as our mini missionary and to see the Pacheco's again! We had so much fun together as we laughed, and worked and had so many great lessons over the weekend. We got to visit one of our investigators, Fatima who's only sixteen, who's been struggling a lot but because Aurora was there, she was able to really relate to her and we were able to recommit her to baptism for February 28th! 

Our mini missionary; Sister Pacheco :)

 

 

As we have been diligent in our efforts this week, Heavenly Father has been blessing us with a few families to teach. Last week we got a call from a ward mission leader in Washington who has family here in LA. His non-member ex-wife and children, live not too far from us so he called us to see if we could visit them. We then got in touch with his 16-year old daughter to try and visit their family but she told us that her mom was actually in the hospital, recovering from a big surgery so this week we were able to go to the hospital and to visit her. The Elders were able to give her a blessing and she was so willing and open to them coming. The spirit was so strong as the Elders gave her a beautiful blessing of health and comfort! We have plans to visit the family this week and hopefully to start teaching the mom, once she recovers! We also got a referral from the Elders in the English area for a family who speak more Spanish than they do English, so we actually went by to go see them last night and they are so amazing. We started teaching the mom, Angie and as we got to know her, her husband, Christian came in with a bunch of groceries, put them away quickly, pulled up a chair and sat and listened in. We are so excited to start teaching them, especially because this young family has also been going through some tough trials with their 5-year old daughter who has had some medical problems! It is just so amazing to see how these families are going through these trials but still keep the faith and they have no greater desire than to come to closer to Christ. I continue to thank my Heavenly Father for the miracles that have been happening and for the opportunity that I have to be here on my mission to witness them all. I love my comp, Sister Moli, she is THE BEST! I have learned so much from her, and I continue to love her more and more! I couldn't have asked for a better companion.

 

With our investigators, Carmen and Isabella

 

We're excited but a little bit anxious for this next week because of everything we have going on, tomorrow we have a Sister Meeting that only happens once every year, where all the sister missionaries for the California Los Angeles mission gather together and have basically a zone conference for just the sisters. Sister Moli and I were asked to do the training we did for the MLC for that and to do a training for a new missionary orientation on Wednesday. Amidst this we have exchanges and some awesome appointments with these families! Crazinessssss but I love it!!!!! 

In preparation for the Sister Meeting, they gave us a study to do on humility/pride. Its something I truly have been thinking about over the past day and its been cool to study in the scriptures the blessings that come from true humility, submitting our will to Gods. As me and my comp have talked about it, we kept reflecting about the times in our missions where we were frustrated, angry or overwhelmed at our comps, our areas, transfers, lessons, everything...and we talked about how if at those points we would have been humble and understood that everything that we have gone through is the way that its supposed to be, those moments would have turned out differently and we would have been happy and accept everything as blessings/milestones from our Heavenly Father to make us stronger. 

 

Everytime Sister Moli and I get frustrated at someone or something, we keep ourselves in check... "HUMILITY HUMILITY IS KEY" Hahaha I really do know that. If there is one very important Christlike attribute that I have learned here in my 8 months of my mission is that humility is the way that we can be happy. I love you all! As President Weidman always reminds us, Stay humble! Helaman 3:35 :)

I love you alllllll!!!! Have a wonderful week!!!! 

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Abreu 

Another "MILAGROSO" week!!

Holaaa! Love you!

Love you! Papi went to the DR? Niceee! I have actually had the DR on my mind lately because a family we eat dinner with like a few times a week, the Perez family, has a son named Dave who recently got home from his mission in the DR, so he has been telling us about his experiences and it makes me want to go so bad! I am glad that Papi is coming home, I know how that is hehe :)

Well this week has been another milagroso week!

This week we had an awesome missionary leadership meeting and Sister Moli and I gave a training about how we can use our technology more effectively to teach repentance and to baptize converts, based off of the broadcast we watched the week before. It was so cool! After the training, in interviews this week, President Weidman told Sister Moli and I about some really amazing miracles that have come as the leaders of the mission have applied the training. So coolllll! 

We also had the special privilege to go to the temple on Saturday! Sister Moli had some recent converts that she had taught in another ward and she had a huge part in their conversion, so we got special permission to go to be with them while the husband got his endowments, it was a Spanish session, my first time in Spanish! It was so awesome, and the session was packed. It was cool too, because I got to see a few of the old members in Bell Gardens and Torrance ward in the session so it was a sweet experience overall. :) 

On Sunday, the obra misional of the ward was in charge of the program for sacrament meeting and so they asked me and another Elder to speak and we also sang all together for the musical number "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go". It went well! I love speaking because I feel like its an awesome opportunity for us as missionaries to get the members pumped up about missionary work! 

This week one of the young women, Stephanie also got her mission call! It was super exciting, she opened it at the church, the memories came flooding back of when I opened my call, such a sweeeet experience :) She got called to serve in Mexico, she is so excited, she came out with us the other day to work and she had all these awesome questions about the mission. We are super happy for her! 

Cool experience yesterday: We actually were walking and we stopped a guy named David who talked to us and was super nice. We found out that he was from Peru and he wouldn't let us speak Spanish because he wanted to practice English. We ended up asking him for a return appointment, but he thought we meant right then. By that time it was probably like 8:30pm. So we ended up walking to the church and a member came and we had a lesson with him right then in there, in english! He was so super cool! It was so interesting because although he spoke Spanish we were trying to teach him and he was trying to understand in his broken english, it didn't really matter in the end, because the spirit was there and it was such a cool lesson! The spirit is the true converter. 

The work is moving and as the work continues to move, I know that the adversary is working harder and harder on those who are prepared! Always remember what is most important! ALWAYS read your scriptures and pray, I can promise you, you will never lose faith as you do so! I love you all! Que tengan una semana maravillosa!

Les quiero MUCHO!

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Abreu 

Dinner with the Santacruz family

--weird gross/kinda good dulce de patata :p

Goodbyes to Jennifer and Matthew

Hollywood sign view from our apt. 

Sister Moli=Tyra Banks