6-22-15 Shaving cream pies...

Well hello there! 

This week was pretty locaa. Not really, but it felt like that! 

We started it off with a district meeting involving smashing plates of shaving cream in our comp's faces. That should tell you all you need to know. but I'll tell you more anyway. 

Olga and her family went to south padre island this weekend. so she didn't get married. or baptized. Patience is a virtue. And I'm trying reallllyyyyy hard to develop it. 

I had a little pity party on Thursday and then on Friday we had an AMAZING zone conference. 

Here's what I learned:

-There is no time to be discouraged or distracted. 

-There is no excuse for any kind of disobedience or negligence

-God knows us perfectly and tells us what we need to hear when we need to hear it

-To not take advantage of the blessings and opportunities we have in this life to reach our potential (in the words of my mission pres) "would be pretty stupid." 

      ^^Seriously though!! 

I feel very humble and excited to keep working hard. I have 6 months left and I'm not going to waste any moment of it worrying about things I can't control or getting discouraged. (Ain't nobody got time fo dat!) 

Also, funny story from church yesterday. I was conducting the music in the Spanish branch. and during sacrament the branch pres leaned over to me and asked me the name of someone. Then a minute later he leaned over and said "did you go to girls camp when you were in young womens? I said yes, and he said "did it help you" and i said yes, and he said "perfect. will you speak today on that?" Good thing I really did love girls camp, right? :) Everyone go to camps and conferences as much as you can, because you never know when you'll get the chance to help other youth and members with the testimony you gained there. 

I love you all so much! Keep moving forward with faith! 

Hermana Lance

Here's a quote from one of my favorite talks from Elder Holland "Terror, Triump, and a Wedding Feast." Everyone should read it if you get a chance :) 

"God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future—to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.

God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe."

District before

 

District after 

Welcome to South Texas. The Cowboys and the Saints. 

Mexican coke love

An old mexican man that gave us an offering of fruit from his yard. priceless. 

Lots of missionaries

Lots of missionaries

Those of you in P-town, watch out for this RM next week! 

Cause Elder Sherman's comin' home

 Thanks so much for the letters!! Happy Day!

6-15-15 One year mark and Happy Father's day

Well, folks, this week I hit my 1-year mark! woo! Something will be burned, don't you worry.

Also, Happy Father's Day on Sunday! Shout out to all those awesome fathers out there! the world needs you! 

This week was good. I really don't have much to say though. haha.. 

Olga and Aaron didn't go to church yesterday cause they went to Aaron's christian church. (booo). Turns out Aaron is a little more attached to the church he's gone to his whole life than we thought. But no worries cause he's starting to read the Book of Mormon and after that it's all over. #trueconversion

I got to go on an exchange with my MOM! mission mom, that is. AKA Sister Sarmiento Wolff. Just like old times. it was weird being with her and not being on a luxurious island but knocking on trailers. Oh what a difference a couple hours distance can make. haha :) 

This week I learned a lot about paciencia and humility. Sometimes people are silly and don't make the best decisions or flip out for no reason and I need to work on not worrying about that and just loving people through those silly moments. Nothing dramatic happened or anything, I just have noticed that those are some Christ-like attributes that are crucial in life, especially in missionary work. If you are lacking in those attributes as a missionary, it'll be right in your face all the time and make it hard to be truly happy. The way to true peace and happiness is becoming like our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I love you all! Have a great week! 

Hermana Lance

                                       

                                                                Cielito Lindo. My home. 

                                       

                                        Also a silly picture that I think is hilarious for your enjoyment.

                                       

While on the exchange a member gave us LOTS of chocolate. #blessingseverwhere

6-8-15 Happy June to you

Hola mola! 

This week was great. Hard, of course, but great! My comp got pretty sick for a couple days, so that was unfortunate. But thankfully she's a lot better now! :) 

Sadly, Olga missed church again. The struggle is real. but no worries, God's got a plan and as long as we work out hardest and do all we can, God'll provide a way. :) 

Yesterday we had a meeting with our mission pres, Presidente Maluenda, and all the branch presidencies and Elders quorum presidencies. It was all about what we need to do as the leadership of this district to help us become a stake. We're so close!! Our main focus now is in the priesthood. President Hinckley once said that the strength of the church, or of a stake, is that of the priesthood. So we went through as branches and identified the men who could potentially receive the Mel. priesthood and talked about how we can help them. It was really neat to see the branch presidencies and everyone working so hard for each individual. We're going to work a lot smarter with them now, so that Laredo can become a STAKE!! I think I'm going to cry when that happens. The goal is by the end of the year. AKA by the time I go home. So... it's gotta happen. and it's going to happen. :) 

Well, all I have to say more is that I know Heavenly Father knows you. He wants to help you. All you need to do is trust Him and submit your will to His. To me, submitting your will to the author of the universe that knows everything is a really good idea. Because He knows what's going to truly make us happy. Which is why He gives us commandments! So let's all follow them and I promise you'll be happy. Truly happy. Forever. 

I love you all! 

Hermana Lance

PS...I almost fell out of my chair when I saw Grandma and Grandpa's new porch!! it looks amazing!!       BIEN HECHO TODOS!

PSS...Thanks for the letter, Mom! I loved it!  It's the first letter I've gotten in a while, so I was pretty pumped. :) 

Remember Ally and Sis. Rodriguez? FINALLY got a picture with them. SO much love.

                     Also a picture of an awesome sunset and some awesome missionaries

6-1-15 JUNE...What.

JUNE. JUNIO. WHAT. 
yep. 

So! This week was great! Olga didn't get baptized, everything's not fixed with her living situation and boyfriend thing yet. We're working on that. ha ha. I don't think I've ever fought for someone before than I have for Olga. I'm going to cry so hard when I see her finally enter the waters of baptism. Not sure exactly when that'll be, but this month for sure!! :D Also, she and her super boss 17-yr old son Aaron came to church yesterday and loved it. Such a great day. 

Yesterday was Sis. Ferguson's birthday! So, as tradition and karma demands, I got to smash her face in a cake! it was so great. :D 

This past week I worked 2 days in North Laredo with another sister. A cool experience we had while I was there, is that we went to visit one of their less active members. This sister happened to be going through an incredibly difficult time that week. Her sister lives in Mexico city and some student doctors basically forced her to have an abortion at 5 months and now she has an infection and it's all very sad and messseddddd. So this poor member had been awake 24/7 trying to call people in Mexico to get information. POOR THING. 
I wanted to help her so bad, but couldn't really do anything except try to strengthen her spiritually to get through it. We read with her what the Lord tells Jose Smith in D y C 121 when he was in liberty jail. As I explained the story to her, I was overwhelmed with the spirit. I felt so strongly the love that God had for her, and that He had for Joseph, and that He has for me, and that He has for all of his children. I know that God is completely knows us and the what we're going through. He knows. and He's there to help us through it. The trick is that we cannot give up on him. we can't stop believing and trying. God cannot lie, and He will always fulfill His promise to us to deliver us in our afflictions. 
The atonement is real. it can help us in everything we go through. Don't ever forget that, and don't forget to always use it, during the good and bad. it's infinite, which means it NEVER ENDS. how cool is that? Christ's grace will never end. So just hold on a little longer, and rely on your savior. 

I love being a missionary and I love Laredo! Even though we've been having crazy storms and heat at the same time! I love my Savior and I love living the gospel joyful!

Have a great week! I love you!

Hermana Lance

      
                                  

                                                   Wet selfies during a storm

                               

                           Exchange selfie, we take a lot of selfies. don't judge :)

                                  

                                                    missing someone....

                                  

                                                      Hermana Henderson's birthday

                                   

                           Because after this transfer we'll be common law :) Ha, ha.