Week 34: Staying in Diamond Bar -- YIPPEE!

So this last week was funny. Sister Hernandez and I had no idea which one of us was going to be transferred and we both felt like one of us was going to leave. So we were telling everyone that we needed to get pictures with them and saying goodbye at the end of the lessons.... JUST IN CASE we got transferred.

Heavenly Father is really funny and decided to let us BOTH stay in Diamond Bar TOGETHER!!!! We have 6 more weeks together and I am soooo grateful.

So the outcome of this week was that we have pictures with most of the people we are teaching so now you can see what they look like! #yourewelcome

but sad news.... two of our chinese elders got transferred! I am so sad. The ward just won't be the same without our three chinese elders running around!!

Are you ready for this week??? OK! Here it is........

Tuesday, we had district meeting and I had to give a training. HA! I thought I was being transferred so I went out with a bang and gave a somewhat decent training. I don't even want to talk about it.

Then we had lunch with beautiful Miss Adrienne. We showed her how to study the scriptures and how to cross reference the Bible with the Book of Mormon. She isn't interested in converting or trying another church because she thinks her church is the exact same as ours. :)

Afterwards we had the Plan of Salvation lesson with Tesan. It was a lot of information for her but she has such a good perspective about not being able to learn/understand everything all at once.

Wednesday we taught Tesan the gospel of Jesus Christ and spent a lot of time on repentance and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She is really interested in learning more about the Atonement because she has never been taught it fully like we do before.

Afterwards we saw Madilyn!! We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well and invited her to be baptized. She told us she still has a lot of thinking to do. She wants to become better at praying everyday and studying the Book of Mormon before she commits to anything serious. She loves church though and comes every week!!

Thursday we met with Vicky and read the Book of Mormon with her. Then we had a lesson with Tesan to teach her S.O.A.P. (scripture study, obedience, attending church, prayer) Tesan told us how she is sharing what she learns with her sister and also with her husband. Little by little she said... they will come around!! She just loves sharing the 'GOOD NEWS' she has found.

Then after that we met and had lunch with Stella and her sister! We shared our favorite scriptures and was able to teach her sister about the Book of Mormon and what it was about. She said that she would love to read it when she reads the bible everyday. She isn't in our mission but it was awesome to have her be so open!

Then we met with our other Madeline. We talked to her about being a good example by living the gospel. She struggles because her husband is not a member and so that has made it hard for her to stay active. But she was so willing to make changes this week and get going to church again. She told us how whenever the gospel is more fuller in her life, the better her life seems to go!

That evening we decided to stop by one of our potential investigators house named Dorcie. We met her walking on the street a couple weeks back. She let us in and we were able to teach her about the Great Apostasy and the Restoration. She told us that she needed to do more research so we gave her some sites. She told us she would be at church on Sunday!!

Friday was our last lesson with Elsa and Jeff. Elsa leaves for Taiwan at the end of this week for 2 months so we probably won't see her again. We taught her from the beginning about the Restoration and about baptism. She said that she wants to pray about what church she should join to see what happens to her! It was cute. I will miss her!

Saturday we taught Tesan about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. We were a little nervous for this lesson because Tesan loves her TEA and her coffee. We thought the easiest way for us to tell her about this commandment was to read the pamphlet. The second Tesan read over the part where it says no tea or coffee, she grinned and gasped but then just kept reading. When we were finished she said.... "I LOVE IT!! Lets go eat some blueberries!!" so we went and ate some blueberries! She accepted to live the Word of wWisdom and we came up with hot chocolate to replace the coffee in the morning for a while.

My favorite day, SUNDAY, is always amazing. Tesan loves church. She participates in every class. She announced her baptism in Relief Society and invited everyone and then she shared a missionary moment with everyone during that time as well. People think she is already a member. I can't even tell you how happy this all makes me!! Dorcie came to church too!!!! She walked right on in with a huge smile on her face. Surprisingly she knew SOO many members in the ward so she felt very loved. It was right where she needed to be. I am excited to visit her this week to see what she thought of it. Madeline came to church as well and stayed all 3 hours with us and Tesan. I could tell she was having a very good time and didn't want to leave. The genuine love the Diamond Bar members have for each other is unlike anything. Everyone never wants church to be over!!

This week was packed but packed full of happiness!!! I am on cloud 9 and am soooo happy to have 6 more weeks here and to top it all off I get to stay with Sister Hernandez!! The Lord is with us every day, I feel his love so strongly! And I am truly honored to have the privilege of being a missionary.

Sister Hernandez brought up a really good point about Tesan and mainly any investigator. Once Tesan felt the Holy Ghost and felt his love she didn't want that feeling to go away. She wants and hungers to have that feeling with her all the time. She absorbs every minute with the Holy Ghost and is so grateful and EXCITED to have it in a week. It makes us think... of how much we take that feeling of having the Holy Ghost with us all time for granted. We should ask him to be with us everyday and invite him everywhere with us but are we truly living in such a way that he can?? And how often do we even notice that he is with us? He is so gentle and quiet and peaceful that we can often become immune to the feeling and then it turns into ungratefulness. We are so lucky and so blessed!!

That's it Folks!! Please keep Diamond Bar in your prayers and all the missionary work in the church.

Stay Healthy and Humble!

xoxo

Sister Holt