Miracles in Escondido!

Wow! We are being so blessed! We dropped like 15 investigators because they just weren't progressing. So we had ZERO. Needless to say we've been working our faces off with Finding and PRAYING HARDDDD! And God sends the miracles! :D First though, C hasn't developed enough faith to get Sundays off from work in order to come to church. So her bap date is pushed to the 25th of May. We'll keep working with her and praying for her.
I can now run the full 30 mins a day. It's true i can do all things through Christ who strengthens me hahahaha I had an amazing spiritual experience with my trainer the other day. We're practicing the Restoration lesson lately so I can take the lead in teaching it. In our practice I was doing the best I could with the Spanish and then got to the first vision and got out of character and just started saying it super fast cuz I knew it. My trainer was like slow down practice it for real. I backtracked and started over and oh my gosh the spirit came so strong. As I was saying the first vision in Spanish my trainer and I were both holding back tears from the overwhekming spirit that was there. The church is so TRUE! In any language!
We did a finding trick of "chalking" on a busy sidewalk. It was so fun! We wrote mormon.org and scriptures and questions of the soul. On the way we contacted everyone we met, gave out a BOM in English, and everything! It was great! Then we went tracting and a Mexican woman actually let us in and we taught her a short lesson and gave her a BOM in Spanish. 2 Boms in one day! WOOO! We're working with an inactive girl I think I can help a lot. She's going through a lot and I know my experiences will help her. I'm excited to talk to her again tonight. We do so much inactive work here.
Cholos, gangsters, they're insane! We have two inactive boys 12 and 14 all about the thug life. So we shared part of the Stripling Warrior story with them and asked them to relate it to their lives. The 14 yr old said you know I'm fighting a battle everyday with my friends in gangs but I never doubt my mom or God. IT'S SO SAD. We actually have a man in our ward who's story is in the movie Freedom Writers. He's the one that saw his friend get shot in the gas station. Glad he found the gospel!
I ate a Mexican popsicle with chile in it. Weird. lol We taught M and J!!!!!!! Our MIRACLE is becoming an even bigger MIRACLE! M investigated the church awhile back but J never did. We went to visit them again and C, the recent convert, came with us. We briefed her on who they were and what we'd be teaching and went in and SHE KNOWS J! J told us he was always busy and never home but every time we visit he just happens to be there. The last time we visited they were home but we couldn't teach him cuz we needed another woman. It was hard to turn around but we knew God would bless us for our obedience and HE DID. So because C was there I think was the only reason J stayed, he looked like he was on his way out. So we taught them and his little sisters the Restoration. M didn't seem too interested but J did. When we shared the JS story we asked him what he thought about is and he said "I really don't know what to say" The spirit was strong. Praying for more miracles with this beautiful family!
We went to visit A who has been a member her whole life but her paperwork got lost in Mexico so she has to be re-baptized. She's been struggling a lot with money and everything. She's been so upset and worried and depressed lately we decided to share Pres Uchtdorf's talk with her Forget Me Not. It was a great lesson. Most of it was in Ingles because the talk was in the Ensign not the Liahona. I bore testimony to her of my experience coming out of depression and learning to be happy and she cried and grabbed me and Hma Schwegler into her arms and we all just sat on the floor hugging and crying. She thanked us a million times for sharing that with her. I gave her the Forget Me Not bookmark mom sent me. I figured she will use it more than me. ;) MORE MIRACLES!
So we fasted on Sunday for member referrals because we need new investigators! Fasting works y'all. I have such a strong testimony of it BECAUSEEEEEE we got to church and were practically HANDED a baptism! They told us that our inactive family we've been trying to work with wants their son to be baptized on May 4. He barely turned 9 so they didn't realize he's considered a convert. So we get to teach him all the lessons before then! He's a sweet little boy, A, who has a learning disability. So hma Schwegler and I made an ugly little book with pictures to tell the story of the restoration. Him and his mom loved it! It was so awesome! So we're looking forward to his baptism. Seriously though, fasting, we got a member referral baptism just handed to us on a golden platter! Miracle!!
I've also been blessed with nice people on all my contacts and door approaches lol But we did get a basher the other day we wanted to bash his face in a wall. I'm glad I have such a strong testimony or he would have made me shake. It was rough. I regret not testifying to him because I knew I couldn't control my anger at that point but I repented and will testify to every basher I find from now on! And I'm praying for patience lol Well that's my exciting adventures for this week! Stay tuned for more! ;)

LOVE YOU ALLLLL!!!! :DDD

Hola!

So the plane ride was good. I sat next to an Elder and he sat next to a nonmember. He did so good bringing up the church and I backed him up with a mormon.org card ;) getting on this missionary thing! There were a few sisters who taught the person sitting next to them the first lesson and part of the second, he wants to learn more! We joked that this was the safest plane with so many missionaries praying for safety haha

We got to San Diego and met out Mission Pres and his wife with hugs! They're so nice. We had to travel in this super cramped bus with all our luggage it was insane haha Cali is SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL! I'm in love already. So many different plants and flowers I've never seen in my life. It's speckled with beautiful colors and the hills add so much to the landscape. The weather is perfect. So we drove to the mission home and saw the San Diego temple on the way. I WANNA GOOOOO!

We got the best meal ever since the nasty MTC food. GIANT breakfast burrito with fresh fruit salad and tortilla chips n salsa. SOOOO good. We did some training and quick interviews with the pres. Then we headed to the church for the transfer meeting to get our trainers! All the missionaries were singing called to serve as all the greenies walked in. It was awesome! I was so pumped! I got my trainer, Hermana Schwegler she's awesome. Our mission is so cool we have our own song ;) After that we went straight to work! We had appointments with some less actives and recent converts. It was good they've been pretty accepting of me and help me with my Spanish. We have a goal to get 3 baptisms a transfer.

This is a running mission. Apparently we're like the healthiest mission ever because we run 30 mins every day. It sucks haha

My trainers birthday was the 11th so we went to a recent converts home and they smashed cake in Hermanas face haha they said I'm next in May haha they call me Hermana GoodSlave and they're making me a TShirt hahaha I love this family so much.

We went to visit a woman on the 12th and I invited her to be baptized, my first Spanish invite, and she saiiiiiddddd YES! 11 de Mayo! Hopefully she comes through but it was so amazing. She started crying and said I feel it, I feel it, I feel like I need to be baptized. I pray for her every day. We brought one of our recent converts to a lesson with us, we had a testimony meeting and she bore her testimony for the first time. It was beautiful even though I couldn't understand it all. My first couple contacts were super awkward. I need to not be scared to talk to people lol I have a gift for making things awkward already, now through Jesus into it and people run away. Just kidding they've all been nice. One was a teen we gave a mormon.org card to and the other was two men and one happened to be inactive but said he'd love for us to come by. He's english so we referred him to the english elders. We went to visit a potential investigator and I prayed for a miracle. Turned out the man we were going to see was busy but his 19 yr old son happened to be there. He said he works like 3 jobs and it was a "miracle" we found him home. MIRACLE. We need to teach him. haha then we went back a few days later and he HAPPENED to be home again with his dad. Perfect. Nope. We didn't have another woman so we couldn't teach him even though it was sooooo tempting! But we kept saying we'd be blessed for our obedience haha We've had a few times we've been prompted to go visit someone who ended up really needing us cuz they were having a rough time. So it's been good.

I ate cactus yesterday! It was so good. My first real mexican dinner. Best food in my lifeeee! I loved it :D

I love the mission. I love being here. I love the people. I love everything about it. My life felt like something was missing before, but I feel complete now. I know this is where I'm supposed to be. I can't wait for my language to improve so I can help more people.

I love you all have a great week!

 

Hermana Gutknecht ;)

You know you've been at the MTC too long when..

Triangles make you crazy

Fake. Contagious. Coughing. Between pauses make you CRINGE.

Knee caps are considered scandalous…

DEM KNEECAPS!

You judge girls by the length of their maxi skirt.

Microwavable food is considered gourmet compared to MTC food.

You make this list…

Chewing gum is rebellious.

TALL= Naptime! (Lang. learning comp. thing)

Funeral potatoes are heaven…ha see?!

Gym time is like recess.

Walking across the street feels like jailbreak.

15 minutes of free time is equal to 1 hour in real life.

You see the skirt you’re wearing 4 times a day. Sister missionaries sponsored by DownEast.

Papa Johns never looked so good!

You pronounce is Papa “Juans”.

Everything is funnier in Spanish.

Mormon jokes. All day. Every day.

Saying “guys” is a swear word.

You come in contact with an Elder other than a handshake- feel like you committed adultery! SINNER!

Waking up at 5 am on PDay is perfectly okay.

Your name tag is lost- you feel naked and as if you lost your child. Neither of which are good feelings FYI.

Packaged sandwiches are the secret to making through the MTC…alive

The real world is so close yet so far away – Spiritual prison

Not knowing what day it is because every day is Sunday!

Nail polish is considered “Worldly”

You go to alterations for a spiritual thought.

Girls think shower time is Mormon sing along.

A testimony is never enough- “True conversion”

English speakers are lazy!

You rationalize “Teaching by the spirit” because it sounds better than “winging it”

You use a sharpie to touch up clothes and shoes.

You laugh at people who leave their dork dot on.

English and Spanish make a baby in your brain and come out your mouth.

You treat the Elders from “The District” like celebrities.

You measure time in weeks.

You think running to catch the door takes less effort than swiping the card.

Your clock radio accidentally plays Neon Trees and you feel like you need to repent.

You stand outside in the cold for an hour waiting to go into Devotional

First names are a weird mystery.

You consider non-missionaries “real people”

You sing Dora or Blues Clues at least once a day

Wearing sweats is a gift from God.

“Swiper no swiping!” means not eating today.

You tape up 12 pictures of Jeffery R Holland.

In the 3 hour classes you check your watch and warn everyone else not because you want to die.

You plan weddings for your elders and their girlfriends.

You’re not fazed by girls crying every day.

You stalk the District Leader for letters.

Your mind gives out and you start thinking some of the MTC food is actually good.

You get in trouble every day for calling missionaries by only their last name.

You figure out which showers have hot water.

Last MTC update!

I hope you all had a great Easter, I'm in the MTC so I'm sure mine was better! ;D

This week has been incredible! So many amazing experiences I will never forget! The MTC is an amazing place, there's no where else like it. I cannot believe I've been here 6 weeks - it's been too fast! I love everything I feel and learn here but it just makes me more and more excited for the field!
On Friday I did finish the Book of Mormon. I saved the last chapter to read in the Celestial room and prayed about it there. What an awesome opportunity!
So on Saturday we taught our progressing investigator, Daniel (our first teacher, H' Alexander, taking the persona of one of HIS investigator Daniel from the mission) and it was so weird! But great! We have taught Daniel 3 times and he really hasn't been progressing. He had an affair and has a bad relationship with his family as a result of that. He doesn't feel God's love and doesn't know he's a child of God. We've taught repentance to him three times and completely thrown out lesson plans to focus on his needs. I think we did it the wrong way but we did the best we knew how. It was so frustrating because when you're doing these role plays at lest for me I get involved with them as if they're actually real people. It broke my heart when he told us he didn't feel worthy to pray or didn't know he was a son of God. But those are the times I testified in my awful, broken Spanish what he needed to hear. My companion was frustrated and wanted to give up and drop him because he wasn't keeping any commitments. I told her we can't do that because we haven't exhausted every effort on our part. If he's not understanding, we're not teaching well enough and we're not showing him how important this message really is. Well we didn't teach for awhile after that things got crazy in our schedule and by the time we were to teach again we were just annoyed. We we're talking about how others have had success, had investigators pray in front of them, baptism dates, we had NOTHING. What were we doing wrong? We went into the lesson ready to back track and start from square one to focus on faith and prayer because those are the simple building blocks of testimony which is what we felt he needed. We get in there to teach and he said his faith had grown, he's praying more often, feeling God's love. WHAT?! There goes our lesson plan... So we threw that out and started teaching the Plan of Salvation. It's so cool when things like that happen and you and your comp are on the same page and go the same direction without having to say anything. Well after we tried our best to teach by the spirit with no preparation on this lesson we asked him to come to church for Easter. He said yes! We asked him when he came to know our message is true if he would get baptized, YES! And then we asked him if he would offer the prayer and guess what? He did! It was so great!
Easter Sunday... oh my! So much to share! What a beautiful and glorious day to be a representative of Jesus Christ who gave His life for us! I'm giving my life in a different way to Him!
I missed all my family and friends but there was no place I'd rather be than here. I know this is where I'm supposed to be. The spirit was in great abundance as we rejoiced in our Savior, Jesus Christ! In the morning we had a special Sacrament Meeting with ALLLLLLL the missionaries. We stood outside the devotional hall for an hour, in the cold Utah morning, waiting to get in to get a seat. We were asked to be quiet in order to meditate on the Lord and His resurrection. Obviously it's really hard to keep that many young missionaries quiet for a long period of time haha so we started singing praises to Him! To invite the Spirit we sang I Need Thee Every Hour, EFY Medley, I Know that My Redeemer Lives, The Spirit of God, etc. It was incredible! Later on in the day Bro Doman (1st counselor in branch pres) said he walked by when we were singing The Spirit of God. He said how amazing it was to be at the MTC on Easter, to witness us missionaries singing that Hymn, waiting an hour early to sit in meeting upon meeting on Easter away from our loved ones - What a PECULIAR people!! hahahaha
Well the sacrament meeting was fantastic. The Sacrament was administered to over 3,000 missionaries and only took about 15 mins. As it was being passed they showed a slideshow with pictures of Christ. I have never felt the spirit more fully during Sacrament than I did this day. It made me think of when Christ gave the sacrament to the multitude or what it will be like at Adam-ondi-ahman. So amazing.
I had to teach a member on Wednesday morning with Hermana Griffin because my comp was at Phys Therapy. Sis Griffin has cerebal palsy and is a little slower with learning. She's so great though I love her. I was worried because we both know little Spanish and Hermana McBride usually takes over. But you know, when I had to switch roles and take the lead, when I had to speak, I did! It was probably our best member lesson yet. I spoke with nothing really in mind and he understood and loved our message. Even Hermana Griffin did better than she thought. She asked me how to say something and I told her if you don't know the words use other words to say the same message and it clicked and she did all on her own! It was a great experience and made me realize the Lord helps me when I put forth all possible effort to open my mouth!
I got to host the new missionaries on Wednesday! It was so fun! One of my sisters was overwhelmed and to tears when she got there so I helped her adjust and gave her a little pep talk. Funny how 6 weeks ago that was ME! haha I loved it though.
In-field orientation was yesterday. That was super fun but longgggggg. It got me stoked for the field! I know it will be so hard but so great. We had to say goodbye to H Clifford last night. All the Hermanas were crying. He's the best teacher we could possibly have asked for.
Well my time is up for now. Love you all. I pray for all of you each night and I hope you are doing well.
Love always and forever, Hermana Gutknecht