Goin' Quick

Well folks,

Life is passing by way too quickly. I got an email from the mission office with my official return date: January 29th, 2016. So mark your calendars folks! It's 3 months away!! So yeah, anyways... Also, this week FLEW by! Wicked crazy. We had a zone conference on Tuesday and we got Black Boxes: little devices that monitor your speed and driving patterns. The whole mission has 'em now and the vehicle coordinator knows when you're speeding and stuff. Ai ai ai! Haha, jk. It's not a big deal for me because I've never been much of a speed demon, but for other missionaries it has been a major adjustment. But yeah, there's nothing like driving home at night after a job well done and you're just chatting it up, and then our good friend "tiwi" says: CHECK YOUR SPEED. hahaha. Good times. Don't get any ideas, Dad. 

Wednesday we had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders and I got to go to Weston with Sister Thompson! My best friend!! It was so fun! We had a blast, contacted a TON of people, and laughed a lot. Also, those leaves though. Everyday they just get more and more stunning. Then this weekend we had Stake Conference! Elder Paul Sinclair, an area 70, came to the conference and he is a hoot and a half. He's just a big ol' teddy bear dude, and I learned so much from him. He talked about doing hard things and using our talents to serve others. He shared a story about when he was a newly called stake president and the previous stake pres always visited a young family in the stake whose father was dying of cancer. This stake pres would go over there with his wife and they would sing hymns and serenade the entire family to try and boost their spirits. And so when newly-called President Sinclair heard about that he wondered, "What can I do for them? I'm not musically talented!!" So he was talking with his family about the situation and his young daughter said: 

"Well, you could cry with them." 

I LOVE THAT

It reminded me of President Uchtdorf's talk from conference about simplifying our discipleship. We don't have to do anything complicated to show people that we love them. 

Also, Sabbath Day observance was talked about a TON. Keep that day holy, ok? You know what I'm saying? But most of all, I just felt an outpouring of the spirit over the entire congregation during the adult and general sessions of the conference. Truly there is great power in a gathering of faithful saints! 

MIRACLE STORY: A few days ago I read the talk, "O Remember, Remember" by Henry B Eyring that reminds us to write in our journals every night and think of how you saw the hand of God in your life that day. So I've been trying to take that counsel to heart. So the other day I lost my flash drive and I had no idea where it was. It had our music, fotos, important files, the works. You know, kinda a big deal. So finally we were taking a lunch break at the church and I decided that I needed to find this thing. THIS IS SERIOUS. And I decided to pray. Immediately afterwards I jumped up and began to search. I looked inside the building for a bit, but to no avail. So I took things outside. Nothing. Then I went to the car. Still nothing. I went around to the back to open the trunk and as I looked down to open it, right there, on the pavement was my flash drive. Just a little beacon of red joy on the black-top. It was beautiful. It was an answer to prayer. It had been chilling out there overnight. Just waiting. No biggy. And you best believe that I wrote that experience in my journal :)

I know that God hears and answers our prayers. I know that faith is a principle of action and power. Lately, I've been learning a lot about faith and prayer and how they go together. It has led me to have some amazing experiences. God is concerned about the simple things in our lives, and He is concerned about our well-being. If you have a prompting to pray- PRAY! If you have a prompting to serve someone- SERVE! It is as simple as that. I love you all! Thanks for your emails and words of encouragement and love. 

You are the best in the whole world!

Con amor,

Hermana Frei

It snowed.

Lets just all appreciate the subject line of this week... Yes. It has gotten pretty chilly quite rapidly. Like last week we went to Boston for pday and it was high 70s and I didn't even need a sweater. Now look where we are. Good grief, Charley Brown. But it's so great! Fall is upon us! After our run a few days ago, Sister Barney and I stopped to gather some leaves off the ground and they are BEAUTIFUL. Holy smokes. New England is the best place in the world. 

Also, more news: we got 3 New Investigators! The power of asking for referrals and visiting part member families! 

GUYS. THE FIELD IS WHITE.

Do you realize that? 

I realized that I haven't mentioned one of my favorite books in a while... The Power of Everyday Missionaries! Our good friend Clay lets us know that God's promise that the field is white and ready to harvest doesn't have an expiration date. And I know that is true. These past few weeks have been such an eye opener for me. 

Update on our people:

• Jimmy is on date for October 31st! Happy Halloween, you know what I'm saying? :) He's a super good dude, just trying to be a better husband and father. The entire family is super excited to one day be sealed in the temple. 
• Juan is sooo stoked for December 5th! On Friday we went over to his house and his cute lil' mom taught us how to make tamales... We made like 80 tamales to feed the 5000 at the International Night that we had on Saturday! It was AWESOME. Have you ever wondered how cheese gets in the middle pupusas and frijoles get in the middle of tamales? Yeah, me too. But my eyes have been opened! 
• We met with Ennobel, our miracle dude who showed up at church and he's great. Taught him the restoration, he loved it. There are so many people in his apartment just waiting to hear the gospel. I can feel it. Also, the less-active man that brought him to church is SO COOL. We had dinner with him and his family and it was a blast! They are the coolest little family and they just love each other. Literally the only thing that could make their lives better is the gospel. Like, really. 

So many great things are happening and life is beautiful. I know that God lives, He is real and He loves us. His plan is perfect, His promises are sure. Hold to the Iron Rod!

Con amor,

Hermana Frei

Well,

Howdy!

It has been a wild week full of miracles and wow. Guys, what is even happening?? 

Yesterday was so wild. We had only picked up 1 new investigator for the week and we had no idea where the other 2 were going to come from... but we had faith! and more faith! #FaithHarder. So we attended all 3 units in our building and I partook of the sacrament 3 times!! Because we had investigators at each ward. #letsgooooo and in the last meeting one of the brethren from that ward pulled us out of Sunday school and he said, "Sisters, will you stop praying so hard?" And we were all, "Why, what happened?" Apparently a Dominican kid just showed up at the church wanting to be taught the lessons! We met him, taught him a few points of the restoration and set a return appointment. Holy moly cow. I started to cry. 

Guys.

God is so good. He cares about us, He loves us, and He wants us to succeed.

Then! We had a flop lesson with some new investigators... Lets just say we won't be going back there any time soon... And it was 8:35pm. We had less than an hour on the clock and we needed to find someone fast. So normally we don't walk the streets of Worcester that late at night, but we had our good friend German, ex-cuban CIA member, converted Mormon with us. So we were doing good. We tried to visit a few formers, but nothin. But on the same street as one of our formers we saw a man sitting on his porch, smoking away. We approached him and he looked up and looked at German and was all, "Cuba?" 

THEY KNEW EACH OTHER.

STOP IT.

HAS THE DAY OF MIRACLES CEASED???

We promptly introduced ourselves, taught him a lil' bit, gave him a restoration pamphlet because he asked us, "do you have anything for me to read before you come visit me?" And that was that. And we got home at 9:15. With 15 minutes to spare my friends!! I would say, "that's how it's done, folks." But really it wasn't us. God is guiding us every step of the way. And He has blessed us with members to be our bodyguards and great missionaries. 

Anyways, tune in next week for more crazy stories and miracles! But really though. I know the church is true! I love the simplicity of the gospel and I love being a missionary! Ponderizing for this week is: Mosiah 16:7-9

I love you all! Have a fantastic week and keep working hard! Stay sweet!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Frei

"Hasta La Vista, Baby!"

Hahaahahaha. This week was so great. Sometimes I just can't. So many precious mems. Like yesterday when we were watching conference, Sister Ferrin, a lady from the English ward, brought a HUGE basket full of candy. The good stuff. Like Reese's peanut butter cups. So we were all chowin' down the last session and we got a lil' bit of a sugar rush. Sister Barney was out of control and I couldn't stop laughing. And Conference was SO. GOOD. Brace yourselves for "Insights on Conference" in T minus 5, 4, 3, 2...

• PONDERIZE! It's the next big thing, people. Bueno, it rocked my little world. As many of you know, I HATE memorizing things. How I have learned Spanish I have no idea... Good grief. But I can definitely ponderize some scriptures. This week's scripture: D&C 20:37 
• SIMPLIFY! Haha, I loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk on making the gospel work for you. Discipleship isn't complicated. It is so simple. Go back to the basics, look to the Savior as the ultimate example, and be happy. Love it.
• EXALTATION is the goal. If I had a dollar for every time someone said that phrase then I would have at least $4 I think. The point is they said it a lot. And just like in the scriptures, if something is repeated in general conference several times then you know it's important. Something I've learned since I've been on my mission is that we have a very unique perspective on salvation as Latter-day Saints. Think about it: we believe that very few people will go to hell, and most people will receive salvation. However, we strive to live the higher law so that we can attain EXALTATION.
• IT WILL ALL WORK OUT! It really will. Neill F Marriott is the sweetest lady and super fun to listen to. I loved her talk, and I know that not everything will work out right now or in 5 years. But it will eventually work out if we trust in and follow God's perfect plan for us. 

Well, I could say more, but I felt like I was writing a google review for General Conference. I guess in summary, all I have to say is: 5 stars. 

Some exciting missionary work news: on Tuesday the Assistants to the President threw down the gauntlet and extended a challenge to the entire mission. They challenged us to find 3 new investigators this week and every week that follows. At first I was like, whoa. Daggum. And then Sister Barney and I took the challenge to heart and we just started doing work. We talked to EVERYONE. People in the elevator (that has been our sweet spot lately), people at service, random people on their porches. Anyone and everyone! And Friday night was kinda rough. After all of our efforts nothing was shaping up. And then we realized we had some appointments set up on Saturday and Sunday with a guy we met last weekend and a family of formers. We confirmed with those people, found some members to come out with us, and WHAM! Miracles happened and we ended up picking up 4 new investigators! It was AWESOME. I have a testimony that when God gives a commandment he makes it possible for us to accomplish it. I have truly had my faith strengthened. 

Brief update on Juan: he's a rockstar! That kid is so awesome! We had an fantastic lesson last Tuesday about tithing and personal revelation and he is sooooo excited for his baptism. It was great. What a champ.

Anyways, the church is true! It helps us to receive essential ordinances, to serve others, and to become greater disciples of Jesus Christ. I love our beloved prophet and apostles. They are so wise and so close to God, and they show us what it means to live consecrated lives of discipleship. I love you all!

Have a great week!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Frei