June 13, 2016

Hola friends and fam!

Every time I get here to the cyber I forget everything that happened in the week...a ver que puedo recordar.

Lunes- Noche de Hogar with the Moncada family (investigators) and the Ricca family (members who have a son that served in the same mission as my bro Austin so that's cool!) where we talked about the Plan of Salvation and our investigators decided that they want to make it to the Celestial Kingdom and are putting goals and plans in place to make it there. They rock!

Miércoles- My companion hit her 3 month mark, wohoo! So of course we bought street tacos to celebrate.

Jueves- We had another ward Family Home Evening and the Moncada family came again! Wohoo!

Domingo- We had stake conference with un setenta de área, Élder Mirón. He was seriously such a hoot. He talked about the responsibilities that parents have to raise their children well. It is so essencial that children are brought up in a gospel-centered home. It definitely doesn't mean that problems and difficulties won't come, but the resources will be there to overcome any trial. I am so grateful to have been able to grow up in a gospel-centered home. I'm thankful for all of you who have set such wonderful examples for me. I invite you all to take a few moments this week for a reality check. Are you praying daily individually and as a family? Are you reading your scriptures every day individually and as a family? Are you making the sabbath day "a delight" (like Elder Russell M. Nelson taught us)? Identify and set goals so that your home can be a place where the Spirit dwells. Raise your children with the fundamentals of the gospel and both you and they will be blessed. 

The Retornos District after the conference:

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,

Hermana Bird

June 6, 2016 Another Week in Retornos!

Hola friends and fam!

Highlights of the week:

Martes- More rain...I think it's the curse of the pink shirt that always makes us get poured on...

Miércoles- We visited some investigators who randomly had a Libro de Mormón--1980 edition, and my comp and I were so fascinated by it that they gave it to us because they said they wanted to keep reading the Book of Mormon we gave them haha. Check it (the one on the left is the 1980 version, the one in the middle is the kind missionaries gave out like 10 years ago, and the one on the right is the kind we hand out now):

Jueves- Every Thursday night we have a Noche de Hogar with our ward mission leader, investigators, and the members that decided to show up. We played a few games, boys vs. girls, and well, the boys lost so they had to put on sombreros and sing and dance for us hahaha:

Viernes- Zone conference! It's always a blast to be able to see and learn from other missionaries and hear counsel from Presidente. This time we focused on how we can get investigators to church, and more about relying on the Spirit. Learned a lot and loved it! Also, zone conferences are when we recieve any letters and packages and...my first two companions are some of the most thoughtful people I've ever met and they both sent me packages! Love them! Happy 7 months from my trainer:

and happy 6 months a little late from my MTC comp:

Sábado- After a series of unfortunate events, Victor & Edgar didn't end up getting baptized on Saturday but it looks like they should be able to get baptized on the 18th. Wohoo! But, the elders had a baptism so it was still a happy day!

Domingo- The Moncada family came to church again!! Their 10-year-old son, Gabriel, has the best memory ever and always remembers every detail of the Book of Mormon stories they study in Primary. He's the bomb. The parents also accepted the commitment to live the Word of Wisdom and are making some tough, but oh-so-worth-it changes! Everything is on track for the baptism on July 2nd. Tonight we'll see them again in a Family Home Evening with the family of Gabriel's primary teacher.

Also, this week I have been reading in Alma 18-24 (more or less these chapters) and the stories are so dang powerful! Read them this week for some inspiration. :)

Love you all!

Besos y abrazos,

Hermana Bird

May 30, 2016 Blessing After Blessing After Blessing

Hola friends and fam!

Highlights of the week:

Miércoles- We had a 6 hour zone conference with President that was suuuuuper good! It's always good to see and hear from him and Hermana Villareal! They only have a month left until they finish their mission so it was our last zone conference ever with him.. :(

Jueves- ¡Intercambios! I had exchanges with Hermana Labrum who is now one of my favorite people in the whole world. It started to rain like CRAZY after one of our visits, so we were completely drenched and had to go back to the house to change so of course we documented the moment haha. It doesn't really show how completely soaked we were, but there was not a dry spot on our clothing.

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Viernes- We went to visit two of our investigators (who will get baptized this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and watched the video of the Restoration and the Spirit was so strong! Victor, the dad, said the everything that happened was so real and he has no doubt that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and was a prophet. Afterwards, Edgar (the son who is 14 years old and in our first visit told us he didn't believe in God) said the prayer to finish the lesson and thanked God for helping him find the only true church. He also asked God to help all those people who haven't come to know of the truth to have the chance to find our church. I LOVE THIS FAMILY. *pictures to come*

Sábado- The elders had another baptism! This family es TAN ESCOGIDA. Seriously, they have been strong and faithful since day one! Here we all are with Luz, Zaira, y Dani! One of the families we're teaching came to the baptism and decided to stay for the primary activity afterwards. A few minutes after the activity started, the Primary president ran out to find us to tell us that they were supposed to bring dinner for their family for this activity and our investigators didn't know, so they didn't know what to do. My comp and I ran down the street and bought them hamburgers, then on Sunday at church, their son, Gabriel, told us, "Hermanas, the activity yesterday was so fun!! They even gave us hamburgers!!" It was the cutest thing ever. This family rocks.

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Domingo- On Sunday after church we went to visit some little girls we've been teaching and they let us know that they're going to move this week, so naturally we had to take pictures so we don't forget each other. They are the funniest little people ever.

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I have been so blessed in these past few weeks because the Lord has helped us find entire families! It is an incredible experience to help anyone accept the gospel, but even more rewarding when they're entire families. I invite all of you to keep up/start good gospel habits with your families! Read the scriptures together and pray together daily. Help and strengthen each other. Pray for each other. Do all you can to have your forever family. ¡Las familias pueden ser eternas! 

I love you all heaps and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Bird

P.S. I'm officially Mexican because I now eat chile even on my snow cones.

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May 23, 2016

No time, but a picture's worth a thousand words, right? Here you have 3000 words. (Plus a few more) Love you all, have a great week!

-Hna. Bird

Here's the pic of my stud brother and his beautiful bride that I may or may not have forgotten to include last week.

2 Guatemalans, 2 Californians, a Mexican, and a Texan, eating burgers from a pirate place and Blizzards from Dairy Queen in Mexico on a Monday.

That one time my comp and I decided it would be a good idea to play basketball all morning and she started talking when the member took the picture hahahaha.

May 16, 2016 7 Months and Many Celebrations

First things first: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM & DAD!!! Happy wedding to Austin & Hali!!! Congrats on your mission calls Nick (California Anaheim-Spanish speaking) & Morgan (Italy Rome!)! So many reasons to celebrate this week!

Everyone this picture of my stud brother and beautiful new sister-in-law!

Also, today my comp and I tried McDonald's in Mexico for the first time wohoo! (For all those who are wondering, it takes pretty much the same, but lacks salt.)

This week I have learned a lot about faith and diligence. This morning I was studying a chapter in Predicad Mi Evangelio that describes faith in Jesus Christ as "trusting in Him and being certain that He loves you" and talks about the many ways we can strengthen our faith--keeping the commandments, studying the scriptures, praying, and serving others. We talk to so many people in the streets that tell us that they believe in Jesus Christ and have faith in Him, but they don't know why. It's just tradition. I invite you all the study faith in Preach My Gospel, True to the Faith, the Bible Dictionary, wherever it may be this week, decide why you have faith in Jesus Christ, and write it down in your journals!

At church yesterday, this 96-year-old member named Mario who can crack better jokes than anyone I've ever met in my life, decided to bring his chick to church so it wouldn't run away during the services, LOOK HOW CUTE:

I have truly seen that God puts specific people in our lives in the perfect moments for His purposes. This week we had lots of doors slammed in our faces, lots of cancelled appointments, and were feeling a little down, but the moment that someone opened their doors, every single person shared with us something we needed to hear. Something beautiful about the mission is that we really don't come here to teach. We come here to learn from God's children. 

Saludos de mi compañera y yo!

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana Bird