SEPTEMBER 2015

SEPTEMBER 7th

 Hi everyone!!! Happy Labor Day!!! I hope that you're all having a fun
and exciting day :) not sure exactly what we'll be doing here but it's
kind of hard because it's Labor Day and everything is closed ha. Well
this past week was quite a week! Not sure if I told you all but two
weeks ago in district meeting our district leader had us make a goal
of how many baptisms we want to have this month. So my companion and I
thought about it and we decided on two! The very next day we decided
to invite someone to be baptized and she said yes! Her name is
Samantha and she is 14 years old! She's so great! 2 days after that we
invited Alan(son of Julia our recent convert) to be baptized! And he
also said yes! They'll both be getting baptized on September 19th at 7
pm :) we are so happy for them and we can see that the Lord just
brought them to us. It was really a testimony to me of inspired goals!
I've sadly never really had that experience on my mission, in the past
we would just set goals and forget about them. However with our
companionship now we are completely focused on it and with God doing
the work we achieve it!

Another great thing I love about our companionship is that we both
understand the importance of planning daily! So when we do our studies
and especially companionship study we use our time wisely and are able
to plan out all the details of the lessons we will have. It's been a
lot of help because I know that when we are prepared we are better
tools that the Lord can use :) I saw the blessings of this preparation
specifically with a lesson we had with Alan. We taught him the
restoration again but in English instead. At the end of the lesson we
asked him to pray right then and there and to ask God if Joseph smith
is a true prophet and if the Book of Mormon if true! He prayed and he
struggled during it but after the prayer was over we just sat in
silence for a few minutes. He opened his eyes and said,"the spirit of
God is upon me." It was a beautiful moment for us to see the faith and
desire of a ten year old to really want to know the truth :)

I'm really loving this area and getting used to most of the things. We
have a lot of less actives and many potentials to see! We are trying
to find a lot more people to teach and really focus on those who are
ready, not just visit people who aren't progressing. I actually went
to the Missionary Leadership Council this week for my first time. It's
a meeting they have once a month for the zone leaders and sister
training leaders. This meeting was literally the worst and best
meeting I've attended haha. They basically tell you all the things we
need to fix in the mission and why. They talk about numbers a lot as
well, which you all know isn't what I really like haha :) for about
half of the meeting I was just numb but then after we had a break and
got to the second part I loved it! Our theme for this month is
obedience and we really dove deep into that. The main thing I took
from it was "desire" our desire motivates us to do everything. And I
had to ponder what is my desire for staying on the mission, what
motivates me? In this counsel what we believe it really comes down to
is the love that we have for God. If that love is strong enough we
will be willing to do everything to bring people to him!

I continue to be amazed every day of the trust that Heavenly Father
has in each of us. Because he has that much trust in us we really need
to work on being worthy of that trust. Sometimes we have to give up
some things and put new things, better things into our lives. I know
that as we turn more towards God and put all our heart,might, mind,
and strength into his work we will be happier than we have ever been
before. Our understanding will increase and we will want to do all we
can to bring people to him. To share the happy news! I'm excited for
this coming week as I have 3 zone training meetings to attend to and
tech at. It's going to definitely be a growing experience for me, but
I'm excited and ready for it! We will also be having stake conference
so I'm really excited! If you could all pray for our investigator Joel
that would be so great! He is struggling to find his answer if the
church is true and is also concerned about baptism. As well please
pray for our area that we will be able to find those who are ready :)

Las quiero MUCHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

La Hermana Buys

Sent from my iPad



 SEPTEMBER 14TH

Well, this week was super crazy!!! It has continued to be 106 degrees or more and so it's been really hard to be outside for a long amount of time. One day we just had to stop into some less active members houses and just feel the fresh air and drink some water ha ha. On addition to that I ended up getting sick on Wednesday night because of the heat, food allergies(gluten and dairy) So I had to go home early that night and just sleep ha. I thought that my sickness would be over by the next day but it wasn't ha. I ended up sleeping for like 4 hours or so that day. And the sickness continued for the rest of the week. I called our mission nurse and it turns out that every time my body has gluten or dairy it takes several days for it to go back to normal because it's so exhausted. So I guess I pushed it too much and it was taking 4 days or so to get back to normal.

Among all of this we had 3 Zone Training Meetings! One of them I wasn't able to make it to, due to being sick. The other two though were super great! I was able to teach with the other STL and the first one we taught about desire. The second one we taught about finding and making the work go better! I really enjoyed both of these meeting and being able to meet different zones because we all have different perspectives and ideas that we can learn from! I have to say though that my favorite thing to teach was desire! Oh my goodness, desire is such a big part in the mission, relationships, life, everything! And I'm just super passionate about it! ha ha. Our desire is the reason that we do everything and so if it's not the correct desire we have to start back from phase one and really try to gain that desire!

After going to all of these meetings I can really say that it was inspiration for me to receive this calling. Even though it's only been a week, I really feel like I am a lot more confident in myself. I am not as afraid to share my thoughts with other missionaries and I understand it as more of a discussion instead of just us teaching. There really is an input from everyone. I like it because it is an opportunity to stretch myself and really learn how to prepare wisely and especially when we don't have much time ha ha. So even if I only have this calling for one transfer I look forward to the next one we will be having :)

As far as investigators go..we are really working on finding right now! The only solid ones we really have are getting baptized this Saturday so we want to continue to have a lot of people to teach ha ha. So far though we should be having their baptisms Saturday at 7pm!! Sis. Gilvarry and I are super excited for them!! It was so cute to see that Alan really just wanted to be baptized last week and he could hardly wait for this next Saturday to come. I think we all should be like that! But since we're all baptized already just put that excitement for church, right?!? :)

The last thing that really made my week I would say was Stake Conference :D We were blessed to hear from our mission president and his wife. Also! From the Presidency in the Oakland Temple! WOW!! They told us many wonderful things that they had witnessed in the temple over the years that they've been there. The spirit was really strong and I just became super excited for when I go home. In the sense that I will be able to go to the temple as much as I want! After hearing their talks it reminded me of the goal that I have to work in the temple after and I really feel like it's something that I should do :)

I just wanted to end with my testimony! I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is God's true church! He restored it through the prophet Joseph Smith who did see God and Jesus Christ. I know that we have the Priesthood here on the earth and because of it we can have forever families! How blessed I am to know that my family is sealed and will be together forever! There is not a greater gift nor blessing that I could have greater than this!! I know that God loves us and he hears every prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Con MUCHO AMOR,

Hermana Buys
 


SEPTEMBER 21ST

 Hello Family!!!!!!!!!!! This week was terrific! It started out super great because I was able to go on exchanges! I learned a lot and was able to go and see the house that dad grew up in! (The one in Pleasanton) It was super neat as well because the sister I was on exchanges with will be going home the same day as me. Her name is Sister Niu! It's been super cool as well because I met her at the beginning of my mission and then we served together in my last zone :) She taught me a lot about including members and becoming their friends first. Too often as missionaries we just try and get referrals from members instead of gaining their trust first. So that was a great thing to learn.

Honestly this week just flew by ha ha which is super good cause I love it when things go by fast! On Friday though we had a Zone Conference! I think it was one of my favorite one's I've been to on the mission. They had a lot of different ways of teaching that made it easier to understand. One of the segments was about the attributes of Christ! We watched a bible video for each attribute showing an example of it! I felt like this was the perfect thing for me because I was able to really understand the attribute in a different level and apply it to missionary work. Recently we've been talking a lot about the apostles and how they went fishing after Christ died and when he returned that's what they were doing. I was thinking about it and it really is something we can all relate to in different ways. The way I always think about it though is that when I go home from the mission I can't go back to who I was before. I have to keep progressing and be at a higher level of commitment! As well I have to keep progressing in the mission and make my end better than the beginning!!

Well, if you thought my week couldn't have gotten any better...it did!! Saturday and Sunday were the best days of my week!! The first amazing thing is that we went to dinner with a member at a fancy Mexican restaurant! While we were there a waiter came up to my comp. and I and asked if we spoke Spanish. We told him yes and he began to tell us how he has been less active for 7 years and wants to return! That the reason he got out of the habit was because during that time he moved to Mexico. So we got his information and are planing on going to see him! After that happened the member asked us to explain what went on. After we told her she gasped! She said that she was praying we would have a missionary experience at dinner and that we could bring someone back to God again! And right there her prayer was answered :D

After dinner we were able to go and get ready for the baptism! Oh my goodness! It was the BEST baptism I've ever seen! The spirit was there when we sang, testified, and throughout the whole meeting. My favorite part was when it was Samantha's turn to be baptized. We looked at her and tears were just streaming down her face. At first I thought she was scared..but then she told us that she was so excited and so ready to be baptized! That hit me really hard! It was another testimony to me that there are literally people out there starving spiritually they are waiting for the gospel and to be baptized and they need it now! And as a missionary I need to be doing all of my part to make sure that I find them and invite them to be baptized!

My other favorite moment of the week was when we went to the visitors center yesterday!! We went with Alans family and were focusing specifically on his dad Joel! It turns out that Joel and Julia had gone to the visitors center 6 years ago, but it didn't have the impact that it did yesterday. Joel told us that if he had felt the way he did yesterday but 6 years ago than his life would be a LOT different now. WOW! Even though we may have regrets I know that God knows the correct time for everything to happen in our lives. And right now is Joel's time! He is still very nervous about baptism but yesterday was exactly what he needed! And right now he is praying to know if he should be baptized on October 10. I know that God will answer his prayer and he will receive that confirmation that what he's doing is right!

I just want to share my testimony that I know families are eternal! There is nothing, nothing greater than to be sealed to my family forever! The temple is the place where we need to always be. There are so many people in our families that need that work done. We have a body and a temple recommend so we need to go the temple work them :) I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

LES QUIERO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Hermana Buys



SEPTEMBER 28TH  

Hello Family and Friends!!

This week was a pretty great week as usual. It actually just flew by so quickly that I'm still in awe that it's a new week, super crazy! We only have this week and next week and then the transfer will be over so it's a little bitter sweet since my companion will be going home soon. Well I started off my week super fun by going on exchanges with the Fremont sisters! I was able to go to Fremont with Sister Walton and I got to know her really well! She actually came out into the mission field with me but is English speaking so she will be going home the transfer after me. As I was out in her area I realized that as missionaries everyone is always working really hard to find and it's a continuous process. We shouldn't just look for them at the last minute when we don't have many of them anymore. However we should be constantly trying to find them because they are everywhere! It was a great thing for me to learn because my companion and I are really focusing on finding. It was also fun to see how different each missionary is with their investigators and members.

We ate dinner with a member while on exchanges and this is literally one of the most amazing members I've met! She's been a recent convert of about 5 years! She converted with her 2 kids and she is Vietnamese! She works at a nail shop and everyday she talks to everyone about the gospel. Every client, friend, and family member! She shared some of her experiences with me and I was just amazed! It's really cool to see members who are really trying to do their best to keep others on the right track and to spread the gospel. Coolest dinner ever!!

One of the other things I really enjoyed this week was being able to continue seeing the progress of recent converts! We've been able to see many baptisms and so with that comes the responsibility to continue to take care of those converts. It's been really neat to see them keep progressing and holding onto the gospel. One of our converts was even able to enter into the temple! Even though we couldn't be there she told us that it was even better than she had ever imagined! And this was just doing baptisms! So I'm really excited for her future :)

I also thoroughly enjoyed the General Women's Broadcast! The songs were perfect along with the videos and talks! I was laughing because my companion and I totally called it that Pres. Utchdorf would speak, and he did! ha. My favorite talk was by Sis. Wixom! I loved how she focused on Divine Nature. During Sis. Wixom's talk I realized that understanding this value is something that I really need to work on.ha. So my next goal is to study all about that. I really have a testimony of going to conference with a question! I know that we can all receive that answer and then follow the direction we receive. There is always something that we can improve on :) SO I encourage everyone to come up with a question and take it to conference. Then listen closely and you will find your answer!

I'm looking forward to this coming week as we have general conference, exchanges, Pres. Mella joining us in a lesson with an investigator, and finding more people! Can't wait to see more miracles!!

Les AMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxox

Hermana Buys