Hola de Hermana, 29-10-12

Hola mi familia asombrosa!

It hit this week that this is the first time either of us have ever been with a comp for more than two transfers.  I´m so grateful we learned that I´ll have the opportunity to go to the temple tomorrow!  I want to feel that peace and love again that are so strong there.  I testify the temple is the House of the Lord.  

I had a funny thought.  In the mission we´re told to lock our hearts, not have romantic thoughts that will distract us from the work.  I had the thought that can also mean to lock my heart from wanting another companion.  Something that sometimes is really hard to do.  Dad, our family jokes about arranged marriages are taking a toll right now because I actually look forward to picking my eternal comp.  But we´re working and am grateful that Hna V doesn´t feel baggy to leave.  

I am so grateful that the Bishop assigned me to speak this Sunday in sacrament meeting, the first assignment I´ve had to speak in sacrament meeting in the mission!  I want to focus on the WHY we do mission work, and WHY the prophets have said it is the MOST IMPORTANT WORK WE CAN DO.  And that people can do it without fear because God will prove to His children that earnestly want to know that The Book of Mormon is true that it is true.  And our work is to find those who are seeking.  And they will be blessed.

I´ve been making copies of the children´s activities in the Liahona to give to members.  Aunt Beth, when I told 6 year old Miguelito that you drew one of them, he said, Su tia es una excelente dibujante!  Thank you for using your talents to build the kingdom of God!  

I was pleased as punch to try an object lesson I thought of!  I created a series of mazes to represent our life on earth as we journey to the Vida Eternal.  As some less actives were navigating the mazes, I turned off the light.  And they had to remember to turn on some flashlights we had given them.  The flashlights represented the Holy Ghost we receive after baptism, and that we can only navigate life successfully when we are worthy of the Holy Ghost and use his help.  It worked perfectly and we used it with 2 Nephi 32 verse 5.  It was great.  We are also looking for the best ideas for a missionary activity to do in the ward if you can send me your ideas!  Spiritually powerful experience and something ward members can bring their friends to.  We need your ideas next week please!  If it’s a scavenger hunt, miniplan of salvation, what did you do with your wards in your missions?  

Please know ANYBODY outside of mission limits can email me, family or friends.  This is mission permited because of snail mail.  I would really appreciate your ideas for this ward activity.  Our mission leader wants your ideas too. 

Please pray for Dunia, a Honduranian who we started to teach.  She has a TON of issues to work out, and the courage to trust God more than men.  And 17 year old William and 19 yr old Marcos.  One needs to overcome addictions and the other has to travel.  

And please send Grandma Jan’s pizza recipe.  Several here want to try it.  

I LOVE YOU FAMILY!  You are children of God and we are here helping each other to get back to our Heavenly Home.  LOVE YOU TONS!

Hermana Ivy [-]

Hola de Hermana, 22-10-12

Hola mi familia increible!  

Well we didn´t have transfers today.  A surprise because Pres Bautista told me during my quarterly interview with him this week that I´ll be getting a new comp soon.  So I´m assuming that we´ll be having a lovely surprise emergency change sometime in the next three weeks. 

Funny story from this week.  We passed one night for Hna D and she had cooked a big pot of rice and chicken for her family and Marilu´s family (they right now are sharing two rooms, and we´re dealing with some roommate issues right now).  It smelled so good and we accepted when she offered us some with tortilla.  And then I saw her put an oddly shaped thingy inbetween two tortillas like a sandwich.  And Hna V started playing with her odd shaped thing.  She held up what looked like three soggy fingers and waving this little hand in the air, and then towards people´s faces...  Yeah, it was my first chicken foot.  A soggy three toed chicken foot in between two tortillas.  And I am so grateful I am not serving in Korea!  I tried but couldn´t stomach putting the thing in my mouth, so I used my fingers to pull off parts of the meat and fat to eat.  I didn´t know there were so many joints in a chicken foot.  They are about half an inch long.  And I was grateful for not upchucking.  Dad, I am so so so grateful I haven´t had to eat the other chicken apendage you told us about from Taiwan, and also think a fried chicken foot would taste better than a soggy one.  

I used to think of the scripture in DyC Ïf ye have not the Spirit ye shall not teach only applied to me.  If I didn´t have the Spirit, if I wasn´t worthy of it, then I wouldn’t be able to teach.  But this week more than once we were visiting less actives and we didn´t feel the Spirit at all.  And I felt frustrated because as I’d been studying for the lesson, about the Atonement, I´d felt the Spirit so strongly.  And so I doggedly barged forward trying to teach.  And we wasted an hour.  It wasn´t until later when I thought about the scripture in new light.  Sometimes the INVESTIGATORS aren´t ready, and when the Spirit is letting us know that THEY aren´t ready, we need to seek the Plan B that God wants to give us.  As Hna V said later, in this case, leave.  

And we were invited two times into a house of less actives that we visited about two months ago, and in that first visit their house felt strange for how little the spirit we felt.  And this week, two months later, they are ready for us and we felt the spirit as we visited in their home.  

I was also touched by a church segment about John Tanner.  A man who in early church history, was miraculously healed by two missionaries and out of gratitude, lived the law of consecration more fully than any other person I´ve heard of, giving ALL to the church thoughout his life.  It touched me to remember that I should live my life out of gratitude, and be willing to give give give to those in need.  John Tanner paid for 50 convert families to move to Kirtland, and I remembered how I felt in India, that I wanted to give money to those schoolgirls orphans who showed so much promise..  And that I have an opportunity to give to my comp in her need.  

And how our Savior gave the most anyone could ever give to all of us, in our need for salvation and exaltation.

I LOVE YOU FAMILY!  I´m so grateful for all the good you´re doing!  We are so blessed, and I´m grateful we are in positions to give and not just receive!  I LOVE YOU!

Hermana Ivy [-]

LETTER FROM BISHOP PRADO WARD, HUEHUETENANGO, GUATEMALA, 10/16/12

Dear Brother`s, I am HECTOR G, Bishop Prado Ward, Huehuetenango, Guatemala. I don`t speak english, but I`m gona try to explain my gratitude feelings I hope you understand my words. Your daugther SISTER IVY its in my ward, and just I want to say THANKS por this great sister, she`s an example of faith, love and diligency, in the ward we are very gratefull por her job, and I think  you shoud have to know. Really i can`t say in english all our feelings, but CONGRATULATIONS, for your beautiful family and thanks to give permission and support her. She`s helping very much in the ward. We are blessed to have her here. HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Hola de Hermana, 15-10-2012

Hola mi familia increible!  

This week has been amazing.  Time is flying by.  Transfers are next Tuesday, Oct 23.  And that means that I only have six months left!  Sometimes when times are hard it seems like an eternity.  But then in those quiet moments just before sleep it hits how little time is left.  And those are the moments when I have to be patient with myself and feed my faith bucket, that I´ll be able to do all that I need to do in the time that I have.  And that I am actually doing what God wants me to do.

Yesterday was sweet.  We had our fast and testimony yesterday, and I knew in the morning that I wanted to bear mine.  So we went up, and I bore testimony of the Atonement.  And that we need the Atonement to be cleansed from sin and that we are cleansed as we are obedient and repent.  And I testified that other tools we have to repent and reach our potential as children of God are the scriptures, prayer, church, and the leaders in the church.  I testified that Obispo G has been called as a representative of Christ here in Prado to help us as children of God.  And that while we are not perfect, God gives a little of His perfect love to those He calls so that they can administer to His children.  

Obispo thanked me after.  And I felt the Spirit and gratitude for the opportunity to sustain him as my bishop too.  And I felt that he is one of my good friends from the war we fought before.  

Two young women in the ward have already decided to serve missions!  At great cost and sacrifice.  Sulmi only lives with her mom, who is fairly old and doesn´t have work.  But Sulmi told us that she has faith that her mom will be able to find someone to live with and that the Lord will take care of her.  Also, Jacki has decided to go.  Her mom doesn´t want her to because her older brother served and came back and isn´t a good example, and her daughter who served honorably came home and has many many hard trials.  But Jacki still wants to go because she knows it´s the right thing for her to do.  

And I remembered some of my latina companions in the CCM who served at great cost.  One, Hna G, left to serve even though her father was dying.  I still remember her parting testimony.  I didn´t understand much of the Spanish, but the Spirit testified that she knew what she was doing was right, and that the Lord would bless and protect her family.  Hna E. was a convert of one year and left even though she didn´t know everything.  And Hna H told us that her mother was very very ill, and that she too was alone, but that she had decided to serve because she knew God would bless and protect her family.  I´ve met others who have left without the support of their family and don’t receive any email.  My companion left home to serve a mission because she wanted to set a good example for her younger siblings, and has told me that her parents when she visited them to say goodbye, said horrible horrible things.  And all of them still left because they had their testimonies of the gospel.  And they wanted to share the good news and glad tidings with their brothers and sisters.

Mom, maybe that´s what you can send in a package to Hna B for the missionaries like what you sent me for my first Christmas, simple testimonies written to these Elders and Hermanas who don´t get much support, with those small $1 pictures of Christ found in the distribution center or Deseret book.  

The mission is not easy, but it is worth it.  We have afflictions, we suffer in body mind and spirit.  We suffer hunger, thirst, and fatigue.  We labor in the spirit.  Sometimes we leave the kingdoms our fathers would give to us.  We learn to work with companions.  And we depart into the wilderness and journey many days, praying and working for the Spirit.  And we suffer privations, which someone told me is something that we give up, like a year or two of schooling, good work, or maybe even running water.  And yet the Lord says be patient, go forth, and be comforted, and He that He will grant unto us success.  And He blesses us with His Spirit sufficiently to do the work even when times are hard.  And we can have the hope and faith that blessings are here and are also coming.  Alma 17 and 26.  And the sweet moments that we have where we feel God´s love for His children makes everything worth it.  Like feeling warm brilliant light and fire in your body testifying that this man, who has sinned so much, can not only be cleansed and made whole through the atonement of Jesus Christ, can become a leader to bless and save many many people.  And that we have really been called by a prophet of God to represent His Son Jesus Christ, to preach His gospel and save His children.

Go serve a mission, it will bless your life!

And you will have many sweet and tender moments if you will look for them.  Like seeing your bishop on the front stand cuddling with his young boy during the closing hymn, weeping just a little.  It looked like something like what you probably have done Dad, when I was young.  And someday I´ll be able to with my husband and our children.  And I´m so grateful I´m here preparing for them!

And you will have moments of fun.  My dear locita compañera decorated my plaque with stickers.  She called me locita first and it fits perfectly for both of us.   

I LOVE YOU FAMILY!

Hermana Ivy [-]