Christmas Festivities

December 9, 2013

Mis amigos,

So some interesting things have been happening here in Bakersfield. First off, with transfers! Drum roll..... I'm staying here in Bakersfield! Hermana O will be here also. But we're moving into an elders apartment! Talk about gross. We'll be doing a lot of cleaning tomorrow. We're excited to start off this transfer strong. We have good goals for this transfer, and we're hoping to see miracles!

We had a baptism this week! Her name is M. She is amazing. She grew up going to primary. She found the church through her teacher and wanted to be baptized. We were there to teach her. We got her ready for her baptism in 4 weeks. The service was amazing! The Spirit was so strong and there were so many people that came to support her. The room was full. Which is never heard of. She was so excited and happy to be baptized. I wish you all could meet her. Her testimony is so strong!

Along with the baptism, she invited a bunch of the girls that live in her group home. We're teaching two of them and one of them has a baptismal date for the end of the month! We'll be really busy with that, but I'm super excited to teach her!

We also had our ward Christmas dinner this weekend. It was great, but overwhelming! We had 4 investigators, 2 recent converts, and lots of less actives we are working with who showed up. It was great to be so busy! One of M's friends asked us how to be baptized. So we set up a date with her.

As transfers are coming up, we decided to give gifts to our district. We picked up a lot of random stuff from service projects, so we thought out which gifts would be best for who, and gave them gifts. One got a unicorn snowglobe (just so you have an idea of the type of gifts we gave). They all loved them and thought it was hilarious.

We were able to go watch the Christmas devotional last night! We watched it with a family that acts a lot like ours, so it was great to be there. We got to do part of their Christmas tradition with them, so it felt like I was home for a little bit.

But I wanted to talk about Christmas! Particularly the talk from Elder Nelson. Christ is truly the Prince of Peace. Through this Christmas season, when times our hard, we can remember that Christ is always there to provide us peace. We just need to turn to Him. He can give us the hope we need if we just turn to him. And it's not just the Christmas season. It's all during the year. He loves us, and that's why He died--for us. Don't be afraid to use that wonderful gift of the Spirit. Isaiah 9:6.

I love you all! Have a wonderful day. You're in my thoughts and prayers constantly!

Con amor, 

Hermana Lau

Donde esta el bano?

December 2, 2013

I love the Christmas season. It makes talking to people so much easier! You just say Merry Christmas to random people, and they are blown away! Breaks the ice so much faster than usual. And then you can talk about how Christ isn't in Christmas anymore, seg-way into the Gospel, and have a street contact! I like to teach the Gospel as mischievously as I can (without them knowing I'm teaching them). It's like I'm a spy! I guess I am on a mission.... :)

So let me tell you about my week! It's been a great week. Especially Sunday! Ah, let me start with some of my favorite people....

“M”! She's the 15 year old investigator we have that's getting baptized this week! She's super sweet, and everything is inline for her baptism. Small miracle: she was sick this weekend, but she needed to go to church one more time to get baptized on Friday. So when she told us she didn't feel very well to go to church, I promised her if she went to church, she would feel better. I put faith in the power and authority of my calling. When she was at church, she bore her testimony, and said that as soon as she walked out the door to come to church, her cold went away. I was super excited! The Lord is definitely a God of miracles.

And let me tell you about “A”! She's a ton of fun. She's as much of a friend as an investigator. We had a great lesson with her where we watched the Joseph Smith movie (the hour long one). The Spirit was extremely strong during the lesson. We were able to testify about how Joseph Smith is a prophet. She's still struggling with the concept, but it helped her understand a lot better. I don't blame anyone for struggling with the concept. It took me a while to gain a testimony of it, but with lots of prayer, I was able to know for myself that Joseph Smith is a prophet.

One of our less actives we've been working with. She works in the prison system, and due to her job, she hasn't been able to come to church for months/years. We've been visiting her and while we have, her job changed, and she isn't working on Sundays! She has such a strong testimony and she came to church yesterday. She bore her testimony and it was great! She also told us she would buy us mace and teach us how to use it. She got us a mini real Christmas tree, so the tradition is still going strong!

For Thanksgiving, we went to 3 people's homes for dinner. They were all delicious! To answer Mom's question, it was a little combo of them all. The first one was all members, the 2nd one was members, less actives, and nonmembers and the last one was members, less actives, and an investigator!  We were stuffed, to say the least. I baked probably a hundred pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to take to less actives. It went well and we got into a lot of doors! And they were delicious also.

On the Spanish front: another funny story! You know how I talk in my sleep? Well, Hna. Ostler told me that I've been talking in Spanish recently. She says it's pretty good. Last night, for example, I guess I asked "donde esta el bano?" Then I got up to go use the bathroom. I didn't know I said that before I woke up. Haha. I'm trying to change my thought process to Spanish. It's been good and it's helped me keep up on my Spanish. 

I'm so grateful for all of you! Thanks for all of your support. I'm so glad that I'm a missionary. I love the opportunity to change and help myself become a better person, but almost to help others feel joy from coming closer to God and Christ.

Also, one thing I've learned this week. Attitude and perspective is everything! If we are optimistic and positive, then it's easier to go through life and it's much more enjoyable. And you're much more happier.

Con amor, 

Hermana Lau