Land of Cheap Shoes

Dear family,

Hey guess what? I am in León. Happy. Content. Ready to work.

Hey guess what else? I have TWO companions. 

 

Hermana Doughty (3meses in the mission): Massachusets (or however you spell it...) Practically the twin of miss Brenna Bergeson. I have to blink twice all day long because I honestly think that Brenna is my companion! She is absolutely lovely hilarious and a joy to work with!

Hermana Ibarra (11 meses): Monterrey Mexico. Wow. She is one spiritual giant (but still shorter than me :)!!! She is Sister Training leader with another sister in our ward and wow seriously she knows how to work with the spirit! I love working with her.

Because Hna Ibarra is STL she had some business to do in another area this weekend. That meant that Hna Doughty Hermana Valdes (companion of Hermana Cruz, other STL)  and I worked together! It meant that I was responsible for the training of Hermana Doughty and remembering where our investigadors live to pass for them on Sunday for church. It was an interesting experience that helped me learn a LOT!!!! 

This week I have been thinking a lot about the Sacrament and what it really means. I am so grateful for the time I have to really reflect on my Brother Jesus Christ and what he has done for me. It is a moment that all of us can reflect on our relationship with our Savior. It is a moment where we reflect on our week and say hey, God loves me and he has his hands in every thing.

I know that Jesus is our Savior and his sacrifice, his pains physically and emotionally was all for us and to know our hearts and desires perfectly.

I hope all is well with you this week and that you can see then hands of God in your life everyday!

Les amo!

Hermana Beardall

 

 

Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY!!!

Dear Family,

Hey I have got some news for you: La hermana Beardall tiene cambios. Su nueva area es...

LEÓN!!

yes, i have cambios and i am going to león tomorrow in the morning. 

please forgive my horrible grammar but the shift bar on this computer doesn't work very well. please bare with me!

i had beautiful experiences this week. sad but many happy experiences. 

wednesday we had a fhe with a and his wife. we invited members f. and l. s.  to join us as well. we talked about the law of chastity and the blessings of this commandment. the spirit was so strong and at the end we invited them to put a goal of a date to get married (oh by the way, they aren't married).  they told us that they want to wait until they are more financially stable before they get married so they can have a fiesta. we are working with them so they can understand the importance of the promise with god before the importance of a fiesta. 

we have another investigador named l who wow. really understands the importance of baptism. she is beginning to gain a really strong testimony of the gospel and reads everything we give her and all of the homework assignments the church gives her husband (her husband is working with a church program where they give him reading assignments). there are a lot of family issues that we have to work out but with time i know that she will be ready to be baptized with a very very strong testimony!

saturday it rained like no other. we got so wet i didn't think it was possible to get dry again. i have pictures but hey, que creen? because these computers are a little ancient (they remind me of my reader rabbit days) i am not sure if i will be able to send you pictures. i will try my hardest.

beautiful beautiful domingo. let me tell you about beautiful beautiful domingo: for the first time in three cambios (4 1/2 months) g, an investigador and my english student came to church for the first time. it was a lot of work to get her there but hey, she came. i was soooooo happy i began to cry. i didn't actually see her there because she came in at a different time than us but she sat with the former relief society president hermana l. d. and left her a note- half in spanish the other half in english. i was so so sooooo happy to know that she came even if she couldn't stay for the whole block. even though i didn't see her there in the church, i know that she was there. really you have know idea how happy i was and still am!

i am beginning to understand why god wanted me here in mexico, learning spanish, preaching the gospel. it is a blessing beyond belief and i know that it is a blessing from my heavenly father. at times i get frustrated with customs or the language but i am learning so much more than i knew i was capable of learning and it is all because god knows me better than i know my self.

as you begin a new year of school, don't forget your heavenly father loves you and knows your potential. he knows how capable you are of learning and is going to be by your side siempre especially in school. always remember honesty and diligent studies and i know you will see god's hands helping you learn especially in moments of difficulty. i am praying for all of you this week as you begin a new step of your lives and hope all starts well!

hey, speaking of studying, don't forget to study the scriptures too, okay? there are treasures inside waiting for you to find them.

love y'all! 

ill write y'all when i am in León.

con mucho amor,

hermana beardall

What A Wonderful World (I don't know why I titled it this but it was the first thing that came to my mind)

Dear Family,

Hey! This week has been an interesting week!

Today we played football or soccer as missionaries. I had no idea what I was doing but hey I had fun. If you know me you know I have no coordination but hey I think I made two or so goals (with pure luck)! 

Finally! J is back from her trip! Good news and Bad news. Bad: she doesn't remember that she went on a trip and... we still don't have her dates of birth and names  of her parents- all of the dates and names to fill her registration as a member of the church. She doesn't have a single paper or ID in her house and her son and herself too don't remember the details. If any one knows how to work with this PAHLEEZ help us out! We are absolutely out of ideas to fix the issue. Good news: although her memory is going, she remembers her baptism with all clarity of mind. She expresses her feelings and thoughts about her baptism every day we visit. You would think she was baptized yesterday she has such great memory!

G: Some of you asked about G. Wow. Let me tell you that Satan is working so hard with Gand her family right now. Luckily with the help of V we know how to work with G. Her mom wants nothing to do with the church and she tried to return the Book of Mormon we gave G without the permission of G. This week we have planned to work with V and G together so that she can have confidence in us or more importantly the message we carry. 

A: A and his "wife" (they aren't married) have been having many family issues this week.  They have a daughter and they are really worried about the well being of their family. We have been really working with them so that they can work through their trials and find the help of their Savior. 

Something that I have been learning this week is that it isn't just our investigadors that are learning. Also, I am learning with them. I have seen that the Lord is blessing me with personal experiences so that I can share specific principles with my investigadors in a way that really comes from my heart and not just a run of the mill explanation of faith or patience or whatever we are teaching. 

When you have a new experience or a trial that you are passing in your life, know that God knows how much you can learn from it. 1 Corinthians 10 :13 God knows your potential and knows how you can reach it. 

Have a good week! Talk to you next Monday!

Les amamos (yo y Hermana Noh) mucho!

Hermana Beardall

MAKING PROGRESS!!!

Hey fam,

8 Min to write. Here we goooooooo.....

This week we had to leave a lot of our investigadors but the Lord is blessing us with more.

J, one of our investigadors (all of his family are members but him) is going through a hard time because his dad only has hours to live. But, it is bringing him closer to his Heavenly Father and after 5 years of enseñanza he strongly has a desire to be baptized- be baptized and have an eternal family. It is amazing to see how the Lord prepares His children so that they can accept the gospel and live the plan of happiness. 

My companion and I did divisions with sisters in our ward that are preparing to serve a mission. I went with Hermana Vale. (Divisions is where you and your companion split with a member so that you can visit more people at the same time). It was a beautiful experience because Hermana Vale had a friend that she wanted to share the gospel with. She was nervous but when we began the lesson the Spirit was definitely present and both Vale and her friend G felt the Spirit. We gave her a book of Mormon and a chapter to read. We will see how this goes!

Well, times up! I am glad to hear from all of you! Congrats to all of you that are working towards serving a mission- it is the best decision you can make!!

Love y'all!!

Hermana Beardall

p.s. the patriarch in my ward is going to provo. he said that I could send letters with him. we will see how that goes. if not, I will be sending hand written letters to you this week and they should get to you in a month or so... haha sorry but that's life!

HOLA FAMILIA!!

Querida Familia,

Wow! This week was full of beautiful moments!!

1. FSY!!!

The cheer en español: MUY BIEN! MUY BIEN! MUY BIEN MUY BIEN MUY BIEN HEY (insert the sound of clapping here) FSY!!!

The first part of FSY the Sisters in my district and I taught about how the Book of Mormon is the clave de nuestra religion (sorry I couldn't remember how to say it in English). It went pretty well I think, but really what I want to tell you about is the second part. 

The second part of the day, we broke of into companies and missionaries. A group of missionaries went with a company and we taught them how they can be a missionary and teach a principle of the gospel. My group was very beautiful and amazed me at how much these youth know the gospel. Although a few of them were nervous to teach, they all had an amazing spirit with them as they taught! There are some amazing missionaries comin from Mexico pretty soon!

2. SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE: DIVISIONES

Yeah, you heard that right! I went to San Miguel de Allende ( My first area!!!) For divisions with my sister training leaders! Can you guess who was my companion? Hermana Miguez!!! I was sooo happy to be in my first area again and see the people I love! One of my very first investigadors, Sandra, got baptized this week. Wow. It was amazing to see how much the gospel had changed her life. She was nervous but oh so happy to finally be baptized. It was amazing to see how much the area had grown in five months (WOW) and  like I said see the people I love: my comp, investigators, and members. It was a beautiful experience where I learned a lot.

Coming back from San Miguel, my companion, Hermana Noh informed me that we had to leave Hermana Adriana for now because she has no desire to be baptized. It was really hard for me to let her go because she has a special place in my heart, but something beautiful happened too. Do you remember Aarón Lujan? Well, you see right now all of his family are members except for his Dad. Guess what. Carlos Lujan has accepted a baptismal date. Years later, the Lujan family is seeing miracles- first Aarón and now Carlos. The most beautiful thing is that his family finds him reading his book of Mormon in his room and that the book has a permanent place next to his bed on his bedside table. The Lord is surely blessing the Lujan family!!

And the Lord is surely blessing my family at home, too!! Thank you to all who wrote beautiful letters to me this week. I will do my best to answer all of them. The rules have changed a bit and now I only have one hour to write so it might take me a while to write all of you back! 

Know that I love you and....

DON'T FORGET TO READ YOUR BOOK OF MORMON. God speaks to you through the Book of Mormon and he has things he wants to tell you.

Tengan una semana de éxito y felicidad!

Les amamos (yo y mi compañera) MUCHÍSIMO!!!!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Beardall

p.s. there are a lot of pictures this week. hope you get them.

 

 

HERMANA BEARDALL LOVES YOU!!!

Hey family,

Guess what....

HERMANA BEARDALL LOVES YOU!!!!!

It's true, I love y'all a lot.

This week in our Zone Conference, we recieved the news that all the missionaries in the Stakes of Queretaro are going to participate in FSY. WAHOO!!! We are going to spend a whole day with the youth in FSY (previously known as EFY) and we are going to teach them about Chapter 5 of PME- El Libro de Mormón. I am very excited for this experience because out of the 400ish youth participating in FSY, about 50 of them are investigators. This is a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with the youth that aren't members and find new families to teach. I am excited to see how things will go this Wednesday. (see more next week)

This week we visited one of our investigators, M, that is absolutely ready for baptism except for one major detail- she is afraid of her family and their response to her baptism. She is 21 years old and wow does she have a strong testimony! She told us that everything we teach her has helped her make the hard desicions in her life and helped her have paticence in family difficulties. She is a very strong daughter of God with a strong testimony of the gospel. I would like to ask that you can keep her name in your prayers this week!

Yesterday we had a beautiful experience at church and at the baptism of another ward. We had a new investigator, A, come to church and of his experience, he told my companion and I that he could feel that God was at his side the whole time. He enjoyed going to church because he felt peace there. For me this was a sign that God has his hands in His work and gives His spirit to his children so that they can understand his gospel and his plan for us.

Also, E, the Hermana who has two kids that only speak Misteco (or something like that) came to the baptism that Hermanas in my district had this Sunday. They were extremely nervous because E doesn't speak spanish very well and her kids nothing. But again, the Lord showed me that he is with his children in His work of Salvation. E and her kids went to the baptism and they felt comfortable and a peace. When the ordenance was performed, even the kids were watching intently. 

The mission is growing here in Queretaro and in all places in the world because God has His hand in His work!

I hope you have a beautiful week and I will write you en ocho días ( in 8 days or how they say one week here :) )

LES AMAMOS MUCHO!!!!!

 

Con amor,

Hermana Beardall

P.S. Hermana A. M. (investigador) says hi and thanks for allowing me to come to Mexico :) she's a sweety :)

A Week With New Beginnings and Beautiful Things.

Hola Familia,
I hope your week went well I loved your photos and I hope you enjoyed San Diego :) Keep taking (and sending me) photos!!!!! I love to see what you are doing :)

This week we had the opportunity to visit A M and do service activities. She broke her foot and has nine pins and a plate which means that the house doesn't have anyone to clean it- not true!!!! We can clean it!! :) We cleaned her house and her bandages so that she could feel better about staying in bed all day. With this time that she has in bed every day she has the opportunity to read the Book of Mormon. She enjoys reading and has LOTS of questions and I enjoy explaining with the little Spanish I know what the scriptures mean :)

We also met a woman with two kids in the street. Her kids don't speak Spanish. They speak Misteco (or something like that...). We talked to the mom and invited her to church. We gave her a pamphlet of the Restoration and we noticed that the little boy wanted to see the photos so my companion and I gave him a photo of Jesus and children. Although we can't speak his language, God can because God speaks the language of the heart. The whole time we talked with this lady I could tell that God was speaking to her and that she could feel his love. We are doing all that we can so that E and her two kids can come to church and receive a testimony of the Gospel!

This week in my studies, I learned a lot about the Holy Ghost and how we can receive personal revelation through him. As confirmed members of the church, we have the blessing of the constant guide of the Holy Ghost. Every day he can testify to our hearts the things we are doing are things that will bring us closer to Christ and warning us of things that will make us stray further from Christ. Not only does he give us counsel for what we should do with our lives on a daily bases but also how we can learn more about Christ, how we can become more like Him, and how we can experience joy like Him.

For every person, we have different ways to feel the spirit. I want to challenge all of you to look for your ways you can feel the spirit. God will give you his words of comfort and guidance through the feelings and promptings of the spirit.

If you aren't a member of the church, I would invite you to pray for guidance from God.You too have the ability to feel the spirit and know what God is saying to you. God is calling you. Talk to Him. You will feel his love and guidance more abundantly in your life.

Hope this week is full of new beginnings and beautiful things!
Les amo,
Hermana Beardall

p.s. Perdon pero no tango fotos de esta semana. Voy a tomar mas fotos esta semana. Les amo muchísimo! :)