Tuesday November 4th 2014

Hola Familial!

Well this week was super rough. There were some great things that happened as well, but also very challenging. Well first off I have a worm...I know super gross. I finally got parasite medicine from the doctor and will take the next dose in 2 weeks. We will see my blood test at that time and go from there. So yeah, super crazy, didn't think that would happen!

Well we have a new investigator and her name is Janira! She is totally golden because she has family members who are members of the church. Also her niece and nephew have served missions! We have shared with her the title page of the Book of Mormon and she promised to pray and read to know if it's true. We are meeting with her tonight, so I hope that she kept her promise :)

We also met with a less active this past week and she is struggling to go back to drinking coffee. Well it's super crazy how my trials can help someone else in their trials. I shared with her on how I can't eat gluten and it's super tough seeing other people eat it. However I know the reasoning of why I can't and that it will do harmful things to me. She agreed with me and had a little more hope that she could do it! 

Yesterday for p-day we went to Santa Cruz!! Oh my goodness I love the beach! I pretty much want to live there! We went with most of our zone. We did some shopping and eating and chilling on the beach. It was a much needed break! We will definitely have to go back mom and dad! :) 

I think the lesson that I learned this past week is that prayer is the most important thing. When we pray we have to exercise all of our faith and trust in God. I am so thankful for prayer because it is the only way I am able to go out and work everyday. Missionary work is rough but it's worth it because of the people we teach. Because of our wonderful brothers and sisters. 

Have an amazing week everyone!! Don't forget to pray and read your scriptures! TE AMOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Hermana Buys

Monday October 27th 2014

Wow!!! First off I want to say thank you so much for all of your words and I will do my best to respond to all of your questions! Ha! Ha! Well, this week was super crazy and so much happened!

Well I still haven't heard everything back from the doctor yet, it's a long process. ha. But I should be hearing back today!!! Woohooo!  Also we went on exchanges last week and I accidentally had gluten :/ it was really bad. The sister I was on exchanges with actually picked me up and carried me down the street. It was really funny, when I get that picture I will send it to you. Also, we got chased down by dogs last week ha! Ha! They were only little ones though so don't worry! It happened because we went into another area of ours that is a little more ghetto. 

Honestly last week was super hard. My companion and I have been working so much. It’s been tough, but we keep going. We didn't get to teach very much and I know that was hard on my companion. The people here are just completely focused on working all the time. So it is super difficult to get them to come to church. However, yesterday (Sunday) we finally saw the benefits of our labors!!

THE GOOD NEWS! Our investigator Andres has set a baptismal date!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He will be getting baptized Dec. 6th with his daughter! We are so excited! And his wedding will be on Nov. 29th. He has progressed so much and he is just so amazing! SO happy! Also for service we got to teach English Class last week! I loved it so much :) And I'm pretty sure that is something I would love to do in the future. I don't think I have been so happy in my life. I love helping people learn :) 

Also, I got to see the 49ers Stadium on the way to one of our teaching appointments. Isn't it beautiful! We are all hoping that we can get a tour of it someday! So that was super sweet! We also had a ward activity and it was a trunk or treat. I had a great time and all of the Hermana’s got together and decorated our car and passed out candy :) Oh and before I forget, next week I will email on Tuesday again. We are going to Santa Cruz next Monday!!! Wooohooo! 

Well I know that God lives and this is his gospel. When we follow his teachings we will be blessed. The road to discipleship is never easy, but it is always worth it. The right path is always the most difficult. I know that God will help us in anything we stand in need of. All we have to do is pray sincerely and ask for his help. I love you all and am so thankful for the role that you play in my life! You're the best parents anyone could ask for :) 

Te Amo Muchisimo!!!

Hermana Buys

E-mail below from Hollie. She had her p-day last Tuesday due to Elder Pino ( Quorum of Seventy) visiting the mission.  We will hear from Hollie again tomorrow and will send another blogspot posting sometime this week.   Enjoy the pics too.  They went miniature golfing on their p-day!

Hola Familia!!!!

I received the package and I was really excited as you can see! Ha! Ha! I That was so lovely and so sweet!! 

This past week was super challenging but super great. And without fail I was able to receive a letter or a package everyday. Wow, So thank you so very much! I hope you feel my love for you like I know you do for me! Wow I couldn't ask for a better family!

Well yesterday we heard from Elder Pino. He is super nice!! He talked about the importance of our mission calls and how it is personal to each and every one of us. It was a great meeting! Great news! We will be having a meeting with Elder Bednar Nov. 15th!!!!!!!!!!!! It will be by the Oakland temple so I’m stoked! Also we had 5 of our investigators attend church on Sunday that was amazing. People here really struggle with attending church so I was so happy.

I have some news about the doctor. First, I want to share what he said though, because it was hilarious. He asked to check my stomach to see where the pain was. After he checked he said that he couldn't tell because I had so much stomach muscle. I was laughing so hard because I've never had anyone say something like that to me. Well the doctor is still waiting for the rest of the tests to come back. One thing I do know for sure though is that I have an infection of some sort based on the tests. They aren’t sure if its a parasite or not, but it is an infection. I will find out in a few days and let you know next week. So yeah, craziness!!

My coolest experience this week was that I taught about families. And I read the Proclamation. I never have loved reading that so much! I felt so peaceful and like my chest was on fire. Because I know that the Proclamation really is inspired of God. I was so happy to be able to share this with families because they realize too that Family is the whole center of the gospel, wow! I Have so much I wish I could say. I will write more in a letter though.

Te AmoOOOOOO MUCHOOOOOOOOOO!!

Youre the BEST FAMILY EVER!!

Hermana Buys

Wednesday October 13th 2014

Week 2 in the mission field!!!! Woohooo!! I can't believe it, this Wednesday it will be 2 months that I will have been in the mission!!! Well this week was just fantastic! I don't know if any of you have heard of it, but the church came out with a video called "Meet the Mormons" It is amazing!!! It talks about 6 different families and how the gospel helps bless there lives. If you can go see it then do it!! haha. We got to watch it in one of the churches it was so inspirational!!! They also have really good reports about it from non-members and different types of people from all over the world!! There's also a song in it called glorious and David Archuleta sings it haha. Its beautiful! 

Well, great news!! We will be getting Ipad Minis and online proselyting sooner than we thought! We should have facebook and ipad missions by November!!! I'm super excited because this is something I know how to do quite well. And it will make the work a lot more easier haha :) Our mission president also assured us that there will be different ways we can make payments on the ipads :) So my challenge today is for you all to share a spiritual thought on social media :) The other great part of the week was that we went to the temple, woohoo!! Oh my goodness the Oakland temple is so beautiful, Im pretty sure I want to get married there someday hehe. It is my favorite temple. I hope that you and Dad liked the pictures that I sent! It was really cool because it is the 50 year anniversary of the temple dedication :) 

This Sunday was so awesome because one of our recent converts Irrazema brought a friend to church! Her friend had 2 daughters and is really interested in the church and has many questions for us. So we really hope that she will become our investigator soon, wooohoo!! The gluten free diet is going fine! I was able to buy some good food and since I'm spanish speaking everyone pretty much feeds us tortillas. I still have to tell everyone that I have allergies, but it works! It was really funny on Saturday because a member asked me in Spanish what my allergic reaction to nuts was and I said "muerte" which  means death! haha. Their eyes just lit up and we all laughed so hard. They probably thought I was joking, but I was like no, I actually will really die. 

Well, I had my first experience of someone not wanting to talk to us haha. Yesterday we were talking to people in the park. We walked up to a family and I asked for their names and they said just leave us alone we are trying to enjoy our Sunday. I was super surprised cause I've never heard someone speak to me in that way. I was sad for them because they missed out on a great message. I hope they will be more willing to listen one day :) For general conference we watched it in the church! One of the sessions we watched it in a members house and that was my favorite. They made us gluten free waffles, I was in heaven!! haha. So yeah i have had some good food so far :) Well today for pday we are going to go mini golfing im excited!! We also have zumba tomorrow for Relief Society so I will have to take a lot of pictures, I can't wait!!

The missionary work is becoming a little more easier for me which is good :) The coolest experience I have had was the other day! We were teaching Fidel Osorno at the train station about the Gospel Of Jesus Christ. I shared some experiences about faith and he was just really understanding everything. He shared some experiences of his life as well and the spirit was just so strong! Instead of us making a challenge, we asked him what he thinks he should do better and he answered! It was amazing cause he knows how the gospel can help his life and now he is going to make sure that his job doesn't interfere with church!! Blessing!!! Well, I can't wait to receive the package you sent, that's super sweet!!! I will be jumping up and down haha. I will send you another email to answer all your questions. 

Have an amazing week!! God lives and loves you! He supports you in all of your trials and is there along the way. Te Amo Mucho!!!! 

Hermana Buys

Wednesday October 1 and Monday October 6 2014

Hollies first e-mail e-mail sent the day she arrived in the San Jose California Mission

Hey!! I havent been able to read your whole email. I will have to read it on Monday, sorry!! I just am able to send a quick email today. Just wanted to let you know that I made it safely! I get my companion tomorrow and thats when the work starts. The mission president is really nice and we were lucky to get to take a nap at his house haha. Tonight we will have testimony meeting and be informed of all of the stuff. I am already in love with California and cant wait to start the work. Its still like Im in a dream ha. Love you all so much!! I really enjoyed so much talking on the phone and I will talk to you soon!!! 

TE AMOOOO MUCHOOOO!!!

Hermana Buys

Monday October 6th 2014  

My favorite people!!!

1st of thank you for the package and that I was able to talk to you all on the phone. That was fantastic and such a blessing! And Happy Birthday dad!! I will definitely be writing you a letter and will talk to you more in that. My 1st area is in Santa Clara!! Yes, I am Spanish speaking still!!! Woohoo! My address is 3480 Granada Ave. #147 Santa Clara, CA 95051!! I heard that my area is one of the most desired ones in the mission and that I am super spoiled ha! Ha!. My area is a car one, so my companion is driving. My companions name is Hermana Bingham and she only has 12 weeks left of the mission. She is super sweet and we both have the same priorities so it is great. We are really spoiled as missionaries here. We are fed pretty much everyday. Some days I even have 2 meals a day, that’s only happened a couple times though. I have found some gluten free food, so it’s exciting! Well one of the cool things about my mission is that we don’t go door to door. We only talk to people in public places. Also, there are 7 different languages in this mission. So there is quite a variety! In my apartment complex it is mostly Indian people. So Heavenly Father definitely knows me ha! Ha!. I said I wanted culture, and I definitely got that. It’s actually been surprisingly warm here for the fall and is like 90 degrees or so. I’m loving it! I’m enjoying being a missionary and I had the opportunity to go on exchanges the other day! I went with an English sister and we spoke to 30 people in 1 day!! It was so great! I was on a spiritual high! Well, I’m so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord. I love you all so much and think of you very often. Especially during this time of year! Please send me pictures in email and in the mail! I love to see your faces, ha! Ha!. You’re the greatest and don’t forget God loves you and so do I! Have a FANTASTIC WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!! 

TE AMO,

Hermana Buys

Hollie Was able to go to the Oakland Temple when she arrived to her mission in San Jose California.  Brings back great memories of going there to do baptisms for the dead. Such a beautiful temple overlooking the bay area!

Pictures below from Mexico City CCM (MTC) prior to leaving for San jose California

Hollies first companion in the mission field. Sister Bingham from Salem Utah