We had a pretty good week this week, for all the reasons you wouldn't think. We have this problem with people we meet/are teaching, hispanics just don't like hurting your feelings. I love them to death, but really people you don't have to listen to our message if you don't want to but you can tell us that! There were a lot of people we've met lately that act so interested and so excited when we initially meet them and have done everything in the world to not ever talk to us again. Life advice for everyone out there: don't drag people along just tell them how you feel! It was truly a blessing though because Hermana Baird and I have been able to reevaluate the way we talk to people and we've practiced sharing our message, stressing the importance, bearing testimony and promising them blessings, and inviting them to learn more but only if they are willing to act on the promptings the spirit will eventually tell them to take. I think it will definitely improve some of these situations. We had a crazy miracle this week! Our most progressing investigators are Esmy and Lastenia, the sisters from Honduras. They are so incredible, but the biggest roadblack is Lastenia's boyfriend Hugo who is supposedly abusive and has been very against the church even though his parents are members. But this week, out of nowhere, Hugo came in and sat in our lessons and was asking and answering questions. Where did this come from we have no idea. Tell us this was going to happen 3 weeks ago and we never would've believed it, but he as a lot of questions about the plan of salvation, the plan of happiness our Heavenly Father has for all of his children to be able to come back and live with Him again. We are so excited to teach him and help them progress towards a future celestial family life! Not to mention, Lastenia's daughter Fabiola (4) ended the lesson with "Tengo una pregunta, ustedes son bonitas" hahahaha Another tender mercy came this week as I went on an exchange with Hermana Kellar, the hermana that is now Hermana Short's companion back in Federal Way. It was an inspired exchange, because the day before Hermana kellar found out her grandfather passed away. A lot of times, well I would say almost every day I wonder why God asked me to be a sister training leader. I'm not the best teacher. I'm not a perfect missionary. But in moments like these I know he asked me to do this so I could be there to help comfort my fellow sisters, help lift them up and help her realize that her grandfather is doing the exact same work on the other side of the veil that she is doing now. She only has 3 weeks left, so it was hard not to go home for the funeral, but she taught me so much about dedicated Christ like service to the Lord and helping remember why we're here, its not of convenience or because its easy, its because Heavenly Father needs us to be. LAST AND COOLEST STORY: So most of you know I've had some back problems in my life and before my mission the doctor like casually told me I have scoliosis, which explains a lot thanks friend, but today I went to the chiropractor because my back had been bothering me for like a year now hehe but he was a member and he literally EXPLODED MY MIND WITH THE TRUTH OF THIS GOSPEL. he showed us this video where they recorded when the sperm and the egg meet and theres a literal spark and he talked about how trillions of cells make up a new human life. he said a million seconds ago is 12 days ago. a billion seconds ago 32 years. and a trillion seconds ago is 32000 years ago. thats how much a trillion is okay? not just a big number. a trillion cells make up the human body and they work perfectly. They work together naturally and dont need any help. THAT is how we are made in Gods image. THAT is how the human body is divine. Then he talked about how medicine tells your body that something is wrong with it and you have to be fixed, just as satan tells us there is things wrong with us, but that the whole point of chiropractic work is that your body can fix itself. we are God like. We have the potential to heal ourselves when we connect ourselves to God. That is our potential. We don't need to be fixed, we need to recognize that we are children of a DIVINE BEING. And that is gospel truth. I know this to be true. I have never felt the love of my Heavenly Father stronger than I have in my mission. I know He's there, just waiting for us to make good decisions so he can continue to bless us. This is His work. Hermana Reed IV 1 Hermana Kellar and I twinning on exchanges in FW
2 this is a drawing that heidi made of me, pretty accurate 3 nosotras y Fabiola 4 the day Hugo made us smoothies (this is Esmy) 5 not a bad spot to contact eh
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This week has been 12 years long. So much has happened, but I can't remember anything. All I know is that to finish this week I feel happier than I ever have and I'm giving up sweets for the next week. Follow up with me next week, keep me accountable. The 4th of July was pretty awesome! We were not looking forward to a day of talking to a lot of drunk people with their families that didn't want to talk to missionaries, so instead we made chocolate covered pretzals and delivered them to all the less actives in the branch we hadn't met yet :) It was decently successful! The nice part is most of our investigators were home actually because 4th of july isnt a huge thing in hispanic culture, weird right who'd of thought. I was on an exchange with Hermana Lambert so I was actually in Auburn for half of the day and the only drunk guy we actually talked to ended up being a really less active mormon... unfortunate. but he loved talking with us :) Hermana Lambert is the most humble, cute lil lady of all time. She is so full of the spirit and so confident in our message, so she taught me so much! Then this last friday we had MLC, mission leadership conference with all the sister training leaders and zone leaders in the mission and it seriously was the best MLC I have been to. We talked a lot about the faith we have to find people to teach. Its sometimes anti-motivating with all the rejection and rude things people say and its so easy to lose the faith but if we really understand our purpose, if we really understand that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, who suffered and died so that these people we meet can accept the gospel, then its not hard to get up every day. its not hard to knock doors for hours every day. its not hard because I love my Savior. We talked about our baptisms, how important they were even though I was just 8 years old, and what it means to us to help other people be baptized. It hit me just how important this work is for our Heavenly Father. He just is up there, watching, praying, hoping, that His children come unto Christ and return to Him. This work is everything to Him. I never realized how in love I am with His work as much as I did this week. It was incredible to feel the love He has for everyone around me, so its motivated me and I've talked to more people than ever. Like im probably kinda annoying, I talk to people getting in their car, people with their windows up, people who try to hide through the window, people who are running away, and I just LOVE IT BECAUSE THEY NEED THE GOSPEL SO BAD. I look back on times when I thought I was so happy in life, and nothing compares to the things I'm doing now. We are so so blessed. This week we had a new investigator come to church, her name is Paola. She is 23 and so so so awesome. WE met her Saturday, she came to church Sunday. She was slightly overwhelmed because it was a lot of new things but I loved seeing her faith. She was amazing we invited her to be baptized right there on the street and she says "well from what youve told me, this brings even more blessings to my family, so i want to talk to them first and invite them to listen to your message if thats okay" WOW PAOLA YOU ARE A BETTER MISSIONARY THAN MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN OUR BRANCH. No offense to the branch though we're getting there. Theres so much work here in Renton! me and hermana baird are super happy and working so hard. Shes sprinting to the end and loving life. Its interesting teaching with someone who teaches so naturally too, because she has more time than me. I do miss hermana short though, luckily we got to see her this week and i think these pictures describe my joy. life is so good and im so grateful I CAN BE A MISSIONARY :) hermana reed iv 1 MLC JULY
2 this was me on the 4th i was a bit excited 3 when everyone in your district is normal but you 4 best companionship, shoutout to religious freedom 5 hermana lambert and I reppin some BYU t shirts at the food bank 6 TORTAS LOCAS ES UN RESTAURANTE AQUI Y ESTOY EN AMORADA 7 got a lot of tools but i got one thats better 8 las hermanas :))))))) 9 I MISSED MY EX COMP Aun yo tengo mi historia. Most common phrase of the week: "Soy la Hermana Reed. Soy de Colorado. Vengo de la rama en Federal Way." with a close second of "si hablo Espanol". Welcome to Renton. Renton is a pretty cool place, its right under Seattle. Part of our area is actually Seattle and we've gone up a few times because we had some investigators up there, but we're not allowed to go at night so its been kinda hard. My favorite thing about Seattle is they have this place, we're planning on going next week, called "Teriyaki, Doughnuts and Laundry". What more do you need??? There are a lot of hispanics here so its very similar to Federal Way in that way but its way more city. Lots of big streets and highways and freeways and theres always traffic. I feel like its really hot but then I realized its just the exhaust from all the cars. Its a weird mix of Boulder and like new york city, but everyone here has a story, and they're usually INSANE. My companion is Hermana Baird. It's been cool because we already knew eachother because we've gone on exchanges as STL and so we got to skip the whole awkward having to get to know your companion and stuff and just be companions and work hard. She is on her last transfer and so we're ready to work so hard! I don't know why God keeps putting me in areas where my companion will be leaving in 6 weeks, but I'm trying my best to learn the area and the investigators and everything quickly :) She's actually only been in the area fora transfer as well, they white washed (took out both missionaries and put in two new ones) last transfer and they actually took out elders and put in hermanas. To say the elders lacked a little discipline is an understatement... so we're still building the area up and finding people to teach. The branch here is pretty big, it could be a ward if people were active but theres a lot of people who aren't so we have so much work to do and I'm really excited!! Heres the stories on a few of our investigators, and you'll understand the everyone has their own stories thing. Lestenia y Ezmy. They're from Honduras and are living with some members because she's dating their less active son. When they were in Honduras, they were sitting at home and the mafia of Honduras came in and behedded their mom in front of them and they've, obviously, been different ever since but came here to America to have hope of a better life. They are just very sad, but its been cool to see the gospel help them find a little bit of joy. Carla: daughter of a less active as well. Moved here from Mexico and had a baby and has been job hopping but this week she told her boss she can't work Sundays so she can come to church and she's showing her mom its actually important! She's super cute and super awesome. Suzi: her whole family is member and she isn't but she wants to be someday so she can go to her son's wedding, but not enough motivation to take the discussions from missionaries yet haha her husband was a member but was ex-communicated a while back and she has some hard feelings because he was pretty abusive to the whole family. This is just a peak. It's been a little hard because theres just a lot of pain in the investigators and the members and really the whole city here, but I'm excited to try and just share some joy because no matter what we've all been through, Christ can bring us joy. Christ can heal us, He's the only one. Big things here in Renton!!!!!! Stay tuned. ALSO HOW COULD I ALMOST FORGET PETRA GOT BAPTIZED YAYAYAYAYA SHE WAS SO HAPPY SHE CRIED. I cried too. It was such a great day and I heard her confirmation on Sunday was equally as great. She has changed so much as she's come to know her Savior, and I'm so grateful God let her be a part of my life. Hermana Reed IV 1-4 My favorite day ever, oh and also Petras
5 RENTON ZONE SISTAHS COMIN AT YA OKAAAAAY FOLKS BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS THIS WEEK IS ONE FOR THE BOOKS. there were so many things that happened this week I can't even explain them all but I will try. Biggest event of them all was of course meet the mormons. So it was Friday and we were getting all ready and had invited everyone in the entire city, including the mayor ( he couldn't come but he wanted to!) and we were so excited and it was about 4 oclock and the member in our branch, hermano Cardenas, was calling us and calling us while we were in a lesson so after we call him back and he says he dropped off all the things with the elders but that he had to drive himself to the hospital. WHAT. That's all he told us so we had no idea what was happening but we had to do Meet the Mormons without the man who did the entire thing for us. A quick shoutout to hermano Cardenas, I can not explain how Christ like this man is. His wife is too. They are 100% service all the time. He was the only one who really believed in our vision from day one and he would constantly tell us "we have to do this we have to get it done" even when it sounded impossible. He's amazing. Anyways so we set it all up and we had a pretty good turnout! The English elders dropped the ball and didn't help us with anything so it was mostly the branch there but we had like 13 nonmembers there and now we are teaching 5 of them. The coolest thing was through the whole thing, through the 6 weeks of work and stress, I just knew that if it would just help one person it would be worth it. Just one person, the Lord would do it all for them. It was an incredible night, but when we got home hermana short and i were just heartbroken because of hermano cardenas and we were trying to think of what we could do for him how we could repay him and we realized there is literally nothing we could ever do to even start to pay him back. As I thought through it, I realized that it is the same way with the Atonement of Jesus Christ. There is literally nothing we will ever be able to do to repay Christ for what He did for us. No gift or dessert or anything will repay for the sacrifice and pain He went through but He did it because He loves us and He believes in us and He would do anything for us to have success. My heart ached with gratitude for Hermano Cardenas and my Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful that God taught me more about what that sacrifice really is, and I will never forget the impact it had on me. Other major news, Petra is getting baptized!!! She's getting baptized tomorrow, but sad news I'm getting transferred TODAY. Luckily our mission is so small that I will be able to come back for the baptism but wow, after 4 transfers here in Federal Way I was heartbroken to say goodbye to my investigators and my members. They have been my whole life and I have hurt and cried and worked and loved them so much that saying goodbye is really hard, but luckily Hermana Short will be here with her new companion and I know that they'll take care of them. Looks like I'm headed up to Renton! So cool because when I was there for exchanges I could feel that I was going to serve there, I just didn't know it would be so soon! Pics overload, but I will definitely miss Federal Way. Thanks for all the prayers and support from afar this week. I know Christ is our Savior, He loves us, He feels what we feel, and as we let Him take the pain from is we will be able to experience the joy and happiness that He wants us to, that He sacrificed so much for us to have. I love you all! Hermana Reed IV 1 my fav fam acuna i will miss my mission mom and dad ):
2 heidi mi amor, she doesnt know my name but she calls us "the amigas" 3 familia solgado/arroyo. gah this was a tear jerker 4 hermana petra :) 5 hermana lee, our partner in crime. she cried when i told her i was getting transferred and told me i should call our mission president and tell them he has no heart because i love these people and they love me and i cant leave hahahahahahah 6/7 MEET THE MORMONS ON LIVE 8 intercambios con la hermana lambert 9 TORTAS. EVERYONE GO EAT ONE RIGHT NOW Also bye district the final goodbyes rip the best companionship ever |
Hermana Fallyn ReedMissionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Federal Way, Washington Mission. July 2016 - January 2018. Archives
January 2018
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