I Love to See the temple!

February 18, 2014

Hola Familia!

I could never say that I have not learned anything on my mission. I learn something new every day. Whether that means, I learn how to be a better person, teacher, or friend. Or even if that means I learn how to back out of a parking spot with snow behind it. I learn something daily.

In that case, I learned a lot in the past week!

I didn't get to email you all yesterday, because of the Holiday, but that was good news for me because we got to go to the temple instead. I LOVE THE TEMPLE. There is an unexplainable peace and reverence inside the walls of the Lord's holy home.

Yesterday, we had the unique opportunity to attend a short conference on the 7th floor of the temple. The senior couple that drove us found out about it and we were able to attend. It was remarkable! We were able to go to the special conference room that most people don't get to go to, and we had a few speakers talk about (in more detail than outside of the temple) the sacred temple ordinances. I learned so much.

ALSO I got to see the new temple video! (Finally!!!!) Not the new new one, but the new one. It was absolutely beautiful, I cried almost the entire time. I was so grateful to be able to attend the Temple yesterday.

It snowed a TON this week. Okay, not that much compared to New Hampshire, but all of Virginia was freaking out. It snowed a little more than a foot, which meant school was out....and we couldn't drive. We were stuck in the apartment all day Wednesday. I got a lot of cleaning done...although it didn't last past Thursday (Surprised dad?).

We have been working with two of our investigators, Sara and Liz. Sara got to the US about a month ago, and she is staying with her cousin Liz. Liz has been investigating for over 5 years now. She has such a strong desire to get baptized, but something always got in the way so she is losing hope. But since Sara met us, she has been reading the Book of Mormon and asking LOTS of questions. We are trying to help her get baptized before she leaves for Peru again....NEXT WEEK. We will need lots of prayers and miracles, but we have the faith!

Liz's sister is in the Hospital right now because of her extreme anorexia. It is really doing a toll on the entire family. But Liz has committed that she will be baptized when her sister is out, so she can come to her baptism. Soon!

We started teaching Noel, Rosemary's son, this week. The first lesson was chaotic and confusing. He has lots of questions and personal opinions. He had 2 sister missionaries, his mom, and Melissa (who came with us) all throwing answers at him. We prayed that the next lesson would be better. IT WAS! We had a great lesson with him last night. We read with him and promised him the blessing of the truth through the Holy Ghost. He wants to know the truth. We see a lot of potential in him.

Melissa keeps coming out with us. We love it! She loves working with us and bearing her testimony. She has grown so much since I met her, and even more since her baptism. Her understanding is increasing. We had a talk on modesty with her, and she looked like she was about to faint (haha) but then we brought over a pile of Sister missionary hand-me-downs in our apartment and she got excited.

On the way to one of our lessons, Melissa said to us in the car "You guys make me want to be a missionary" and since then, she is thinking about going on a mission!!!!!!!! Even if she doesn't go, the process of deciding and preparing is life-altering. I am so excited for her. She is literally a light to our entire Ward.

Yamilet is incredible. But she is so darn frustrating! She has a testimony, she knows it's true. She comes to church every Sunday, she reads the Book of Mormon, and she says her prayers. She lives and loves every commitment! But she says she still doesn't have the "desire" to be baptized. She asks us to pray for her to have this desire, and she is as well, but for some reason she just doesn't want it!

We took her to the temple visitor center on Sunday night with a family that is good friends with her. It was remarkable. We watched the video on the family and afterwards we sat in the room and talked. Yamilet never cries. She cried! The spirit was SO strong. We all bore testimony of eternal families and how the gospel blesses families. I was so grateful for that experience. We are hoping that the experience helped her with her "desire." We care about her so much.

This week, when we went to go see Yamilet, Hermana Sorensen pet a stray cat outside and it started following us. When Yamilet opened the door, the cat ran in. We spent the first part of the lesson laughing our heads off and trying to get the cat out of her apartment! The rest of the lesson the cat sat outside the door meowing.

Things are looking excellent here in Little River. We are still planning and prepping for our huge event, Mundial Mormon! We are all really excited, and stressed :)

My companion and I are learning a lot together. She is unlike any companion I have had so far. I am learning a lot from her. I hope she is learning from me!

Our mission theme for the quarter is "Step out of the Boat." Meaning, when Christ came to his apostles walking across the water, he invited Peter to join him. Peter did in fact walk on water. BUT, he had to take the first step of faith, but stepping over the edge of the Boat. Oftentimes, when we are on the boat all comfortable, it is really hard to make the step. We are unsure if we will actually going to be able to walk on water, if the miracle will actually happen. BUT, by taking the step we are exercising the faith that it will happen.

I encourage all of you to "Step out of the Boat" and exercise your faith. I promise that walking on water and other miracles are possible! They happen every day in the mission field!

Never forget the goodness of this gospel. There is a sweet goodness from being a part of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I testify to that! Although life itself is hard, it is our reaction that determines our consequences. As Dieter F. Uchtdorf said "It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how your life's story will develop"  

So....react well :)

I love you all! Thanks for everything.

Con amor,
Hermana Spencer

Dallin: Happy Birthday! I cannot believe how old you are getting! I still think of you as the cute little brother who was once shorter than me! I hope your Birthday was fantastic, and I hope that you are still charming all the ladies. As well as doing your fair share of mission prep! Keep it up. Love you! OH....congrats on regionals! I hope you had a blast :)

1.Me and the Carliles...love them!

2.Me and Hermana Sorensen in front of the Temple

3.Yamilet and us after we caught the cat!