Has anyone had a baby?

HELLO!!

Wow what a fast week. And the part that's super duper crazy? I COMPLETED 9 MONTHS!!! one of you could have had a baby in this amount of time. Super crazy. These 9 months have been SO AWESOME! So happy that I still have 9 more to go! 

So this week was basically normal. We had our intercambios of course. 2 this week. I was here in San Juan one day and in another area for the second. The people here get really confused when we switch all the time. Poor people but it's just a testimony builder that we all teach the same things and the word of God is the same no matter what missionary is here.  

I've seen some great things happening in our area. We have a family of 4 progressing and they are set to be baptized on July 2nd. We are hoping it all goes smoothly...we have a teach the majority of the lessons in 2 weeks. YIKES. It's all good. We have also met some new people. We are really trying to improve in our How to begin Teaching. its a crucial part to helping the investigators. The members also have been stepping up their game. We had a super member join us and he volunteered to help all of our investigators and we didn't have to say a things! he went and actually read the BOM with an investigator like he promised. Wow talk about member missionary work! 

During the intercambios well nothing super cool to be honest. My bike helmet fell off the back of the bishops trunk and got a little destroyed so we could ride our bikes the following day. We walked a solid 50 minutes to pick up my helmet thinking it was normal but nope. I'll be looking for a new one because this one probs wont help me a ton haha  

One of our investigators told us about a creepy spirit story that happened in her house but she was super chill about it...idk I feel like I would be a little bit more stressed haha. But that's what happens over here. You get closer to God and the bad stuff works harder.   

And last of all I saw that a less active was truly grateful for the missionaries that "rescued" her and her husband. Really there are a lot of people our there just waiting for the invitation to return. We should never give up on these lost sheep. They will come back,. We just need to act and look for them :)' 

That was a quick recap of my week! I hope you all have a great week! 

With all of my love,

Hermana Cross

 

Slip n Slide

Hello lovely people!

Another week come and gone. I can´t even believe it. the work of the Lord flies by. No joke. its dang awesome. I just want to be here forever haha. i actually love my area. Who knows why all the people before said it was bien chafita which means a big bummer deal haha. i saw some great things happening in our area this week. And some fun experiences :) there are always fun experiences to share haha

This week we had 2 intercambios. okay here's the thing folks. as sister trainer leaders, we really don't

have time. It's a struggle sometimes because all I want to do is read my scriptures but the hermanas need us more than my own selfish desires. But these intercambios were a blast! I was lucky enough to stay here in San Juan. for the first time without my companion. Well I was worried I wasn't going to know where the lessons were but i did! super success! on our first intercambio, it poured rain. and I mean it DUMPED rain. It's always fun because all the people say "you're going to get wet!" but its all good because the work of the Lord stops for nothing! but when we pulled over on our bikes to put all our scriptures in a bag, a dang car passed through a giant puddle and SPLAH! yep I got drenched from behind. wow it was something else haha. all I could do is laugh. in our other inercambio I as with a sister whose name is Hermana Cruz! MY LAST NAME IN SPANISH! i never thought he day would come when i would work with an Hermana Cruz she's newer and a little timid. and fun fact, she doesn't know how t ride a bike. our area is meant for bikes because everything is soooo far. but she was a trooper and wanted to bike. we made it almost to the end of the day on separate bikes but in the end, i carried her haha. man it is not easy biking up hills with a person on your pegs hahaha totally worth it though.

With my own companion, we had some good spiritual experiences. i really learned a lot form the spirit. I can honestly say that the bishop really does have the authority and power of god. the bishop went to  a lesson with us and man I just wanted to listen to him. It was the best. the spirit was so strong and it was a true reminder that the spirit is not something super loud or strong, but a feeling of peace and comfort that creates an atmosphere of learning and growing. it was awesome. also, this week we had new investigators in the church! We had 7 people there! A family of 4 and other individuals. guys i cant tell you how happy that makes me. A true miracle. Miracles are happening in San Juan.

And for he last fun experience, on Sunday we went to pass by for an investigator. i carried her on my bike again... but there was a ton of mud. she hopped off and WHAM! i fell. BUT I didn't get any mud on my skirt so that was a bonus. the entire time i thought " NOT MY SKIRT NOT MY SKIRT" and it was all good. just a little scratch on my hand and a sore shoulder but it was hilarious. that investigator will never forget her first Sunday hahaha

Well that was basically it! just remember the scripture

"cuando el espiritu llega al corazon, el corazon cambia"

or in English its something like this:

"when the spirit reaches the heart, the heart changes"

Love you all!!

Hermana Cross

The Right to Invite

Hello hello lovely people!

wow another week come and gone and to be honest again I don't remember a lot. i feel like every time I say that I end up writing a ton but I'm a little short on time today so I don't think it will be supery de duper long. this week we had our leadership council. that was super awesome! the first one I've ever been at. I felt like it was my first day of school when I moved to Utah but instead of feeling sad, I felt SUPER PUMPED! it was so cool seeing everyone and seeing a few old friends. Basically the council is the zone training we have the day after. It's like a training before the training. It's super spiritual. Like man you just know that we all have some serious work to do and the Lord trusts each and every one of us. it reminds us of who we are as missionaries and as leaders. President hits those points pretty strongly. it helps us know that we are more than just a missionary with a title.

Something that stood out to me in the council was actually something that wasn't planned. We were eating our delish sandwiches and I wandered over to talk to sis Egbert and pres Egbert. I was telling sister Egbert that Cassie was getting married (congrats Cass) and we talked a bit. She asked how I like San Juan. I could only saw "well...it's pretty!" she then encouraged president to tell me the story behind San Juan. it will be a quick summary. Way back when when president arrived, he had to close down a few areas. he asked everyone which one he should close and they all said San Juan. So he closed this area. Back then it was a branch. he promised the branch president that if they worked hard, they would become a ward, have missionaries again, and have success. (talk about a true promise of a representative of Christ!!). Any way, 8 months later, pres put Hermanas here in San Juan. they had baptisms 9 months straight!!! That is dang rare here! the branch became a ward and all is well. President then told me "So Hermana Cross, that is why you are in San Juan. Don't believe what others say about the area. it's all in their heads". BOOM!!! It hit me hard. i knew it was inspired. maybe it didn't hit my comp the same way but for me, it meant everything. LETS GOOO SAN JUAN! 

hmmm another highlight of the week. we had our first intercambios or divisions or idk what it's called in English. i was with an American. it was fun! i seriously feel so blessed to be in this position. I LOVE helping the sisters. More than that, they help ME! I am beyond grateful to do what the Lord has asked of me. I know there will be lots of blessings for the Hermanas and me in the future.

There have been a lot of people who have been inviting us to their church when we invite them. We have to gently tell them that we cant as missionaries. One lady was all worked up about it and sad "well I will listen to you if you come and pray to my virgin maria with me in the catholic church" LIKE WHOA!!! i think lots of people have forgotten the 2nd commandment. But it's chill...people have the right to invite. that's why we do it ALL THE TIME!! :)

Well that's a bit of what happened.! love you all!!!

Hermana Cross

Land of the Flies

hello hello!

Wow another week. Let me tell you, it's been a long one. But at the same time fast. Who knows! I sure don't haha. This week was good. Just starting to learn this little pueblo and figuring out the happs over here.

To begin, here are some details about San Juan. First of all, it is BLAZING HOT. oh man I

San Juan

thought I sweated a lot in the last area but man was I wrong. And there are more hills over here. what a blessing in disguise...well I have to see it that way haha. In the beginning of the week I didn’t even use my sheets as a blanket. And oh man when it rains, it rains HARD. Not only rains hard, but also the lightning touches down over here. I always just laugh because the situation is just funny. Two sister missionaries biking in pouring rain. okay maybe it sounds like "oh poor sisters!" but in reality it's crazy fun :) The flies, there are so many flies. Flies in the house. Flies in the stores. Flies in every lesson. Flies. Flies. Flies. AND they are flies that bite. Little boogers I just want them all to die or go bite someone else. My legs have a good solid amount of bug bites. it's because there are a ton of canals over here and it's heaven for all of the bugs. so it's a normal lesson if we are all swatting the air and slapping our legs and arms haha very reverent I know :)

Facts of living in a pueblo:
1. i crashed on my bike but didn’t have a single scratch because I didn’t fall on the ground.
2. I almost got bit my 2 giant dogs. It was dang scary
3.Sometimes your old ward has activities with your current ward and you get to see old members
4. One of the little puppies next door almost died from eating poison but the neighbors went into action mode and poured milk down the puppy’s throat and cut a piece of his tail off. sounds cruel BUT HE LIVES!!! 

There were some good moments this week. We are teaching some people but they all seem to have some sort of challenge. Some with marriage and their divorcement, others with their time and the politics that are happening. Yep here too they are crazy about their politics. We just want to help this little town grow and progress but satan is holding it down. We'll just have to work harder so they can all be baptized!

We met some new people and something that I learned is that Christian people know how to pray. They really look deep into their heart and pray with all of their energy and might. It helps me see where I need to improve. We pray all the time. Every morning. every study. every lesson. Every moment. Sometimes it's easy to forget that we need to pray with how we feel in that exact moment, instead of the usual day to day prayer. Also I have come to enjoy every moment we are biking. I think the blessing in disguise is that we see so many of God's beautiful creations. We met a less active and he said "i believe in God because everything is too perfect. Every part of us has a purpose. It's too perfect to just come out of nowhere" In that moment I thought of the hymn How Great Thou Art. It truly is a beautiful world. I know God lives because I live. During the week we talked with different people who dont believe they can be forgiven 100%. My heart breaks when I hear that. The atonement of Jesus Christ is infinite. He has suffered, bled and died for each and every one of us. it is possible to feel free from sin. Free from the weight of guilt. he wants to take our chains of heart ache and sorry. He is the way to true happiness. I know without a shadow of doubt that Jesus Christ lives. That he loves us. He is the only begotten of the Father. 

Have a great first week of June!!!
Hermana Cross

The district
San Juan
San juan
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Face off!

San Juan

The District

Cool stuff you can find