Monday February 9th 2015

Well I have to say that so many things happened last week..and I can't remember all of them. haha. Sorry!! So, I figure I will just share some of my highlights!! As you can see we went to the temple!!! We got our investigator Moises, his son, and his mom Ofelia to go to the temple. I have never felt the spirit so strong there! It was fantastic! It's super funny going to the temple with an investigator vs. going by yourself. They have other missionaries teach your investigator and it's just like wait what? haha. It's nice though :) 

We had such a neat experience when we went and watched the videos about families. By the end we were all crying and it was a tender experience. It's neat to see how important the family is to Moises and that is something he can connect with the church super well! We also saw Meet the Mormons and I think he really enjoyed that too! Of course they all wanted to actually go in the temple and were saddened that they couldn't enter at the time. But! now they have a goal to get there!!! And I can't wait for that day! 

After the temple was completely opposite of the experience we had inside. We went to go get food and Moises confessed to us some things he had been doing. That he hadn't kept the commandments..so we tried explaining the commandments but he wouldn't really listen. My comp. and I went home that night feeling good but a little sad at the same time. 

Well, we went to church the next day and the talks were on faith and obedience!! They talked about all of Moises's needs and his worries. He leaned over to my comp. and said "You told her what I'm going through didn't you?" haha. It was soooo cool!!! It is such a huge testimony to me that God really does care about our investigators! That he is there to help them find his path, to find the road to happiness! He knows what they need!!

I think the biggest thing that I realized this week is that the family really is central to Gods plan. We are so blessed with temples!! The process doesn't end after baptism. We are able to be married with our families for eternity! Isn't that amazing?? How can you pass that up or prolong it just so you can have some momentary fun?!? haha. The temple is where we should be focused on! I just want you all to remember that this week :) Remember the purpose of this life. I know that when we realize that we will truly know who we are and what true happiness is! 

I love you all!! I wish you a happy valentines day!! You bring me so much happiness and joy!

Te amo!!!!!!!

Hermana Buys

Monday February 2nd 2015

As with other weeks this past week was filled with many miracles!! Among the miracles is that I get to stay here in Santa Clara! :D It was also great to receive a package from the family as well as Kent and Anna. Thank you so much guys!!!!! 

Well, I am pretty sure that everyday I am reminded what a blessing it is to be learning Spanish. Last week we were going to eat at a taco truck with our district and we were ordering our food when we realized that it had to be cash. However, we didn't have any. Instead of going somewhere else this couple gave us 5 dollars. Then the taco truck gave us 2 dollars and we payed with our 2 dollars. It was such a tender mercy. We also were able to talk about them about the church! Even if it was embarrassing a little, it's nice to know there's people out there trying to help us :)

It's been really cool to see our investigators progressing! We had 3 of them come to church on Sunday! Not only did they come, but they loved it!! It's been really neat to see them come closer and closer to God. We were teaching Moses how to pray and at the end of his prayer he didn't know how to close, so he just said," God bless America." We were laughing so hard!! haha. 

Our other investigator Arthur just always is shocking us! He studied the Book of Mormon and when we came to visit him he showed us his discoveries. He calculated that time that it took Joseph Smith to see the plates and he wrote in his journal. The Book of Mormon and Bible are truth! He's been talking to everybody about his baptism and that after he's baptized he can go there! He proudly says, " I'm getting baptized February 28th!! haha!

Great news concerning my comp. is that she was called as an STL!!! And.. my old companion is engaged and will be getting married June 27th!! So there are big changes going on!! Above all I think the thing that was the neatest experience for me was last night. I decided to pray out loud for my nightly prayers. At first it was a huge struggle and I felt nervous and awkward. I thought of how our investigators must feel. As I continued praying though I didn't feel that way anymore. It was the best prayer I've ever had in my life. I haven't felt God's presence so near. I want to make all of my prayers like that :) And so...that is my challenge for all of you this week! To try and have more sincere prayers. Not just pray, but also try like I did to do it out loud. It makes a huge difference!! 

I love you all and I thank you for your support and all that you've done for me!! Continue sharing the gospel and looking for ways to serve your family and God every day :D 

Hermana Buys

Monday January 26th

This past week was certainly one of the best weeks I've had on the mission!! It was so great. Before I talk about the great stuff I figure I should mention the bad stuff first haha.

So! I do have a diviated septom and will need surgery. However, the mission wants me to get it when I go home and not right now. Also! We went over to Olivia(an investigator) house and were teaching her. She takes care of Jane and Jane's visiting teacher came over at the same time we were teaching. Instead of the visiting teacher just coming and saying hi she interrupted our lesson and was telling our investigator she is a bad person. She told her that she goes to the wrong church and needs to be baptized. Then she was trying to argue with us on if Olivia and Jane would go to the Spanish or English ward. Olivia only speaks Spanish so of course they would come with us! This wasn't the full extent of her craziness haha. Lets just say it was a bad visit. Sometimes it's better to not have a member present lol. So we left that lesson and prayed that we wouldn't have to have that situation, it was BAD. ha. 

On the bright side! We continue to see miracles with the new method of teaching the first three lessons! We had Ramona pray about a baptismal date in front of us and we just sat there after the prayer and listened. The spirit was very strong and I felt as if I had a heating pad on my chest. After the prayer she said that she would keep it in mind, yay!!

We also had the baptism of Nicole Chavez! Her parents joined in August this past year. Before the baptism it was all crazy and hardly anyone was there. Then our mission president showed up and it all worked out!! There was a lovely spirit there and we were blessed to hear the testimonies of her parents! Baptism truly is a blessing to see!

That same day we went and taught Arthur Ochoa a lesson. We were worried that he was pushing away from us. Before the lesson we felt like we should talk about temples. So we did! Turns out that his daughter died long ago and he wondered what would happen to her! When we told him how she will have the opportunity to accept the message like him he was soo happy! He prayed to know if he should be baptized and his answer is yes!! Temple work is soooo amazing!! He will be getting baptized on February 28th!!

It's so cool to see God working through my companion and I. We don't know how all of these blessings just come to us, haha. We are learning though that when we work hard and work smart, it opens the pathway for God to be there :) I have a testimony that this is his work! And there is no greater work than that :D 

Con AMor,

Hermana Buys

Monday January 19, 2015

Not too much happened this past week, but the few big events that happened were amazing!!!!! One our members took all of the missionaires in our ward to the Cheesecake factory! It was heavenly, ha. They have gluten-free cheesecake and everything!! This family actually might be moving to Utah in a month or so. So you'll have to find them mom and dad! :)

A little bowling on P-day with the Zone!

We stopped by See's Candy celebrating Sister Turley's one year mission anniversary!

Well we had a big meeting with 3 zones and our mission president of course! This meeting has changed the whole way that we do missionary work, it is awesome though!! Since Pres. Mella has been President for 6 months now he has permission to change the way that we do things in our mission. So...he did! haha. Our  new mission vision is D&C 18: 10-16!! It talks about how the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. So, our primary focus is on finding the one!! I love it!! We are really focusing in on finding joy in the journey! Also on making our mission more according to preach my gospel!! So,we are no longer counting contacts but just naturally going out of our way to talk people. We want to find more meaningful contacts through activities or creative ways rather than just finding on the street. The biggest thing that I learned though is that there are 3 most powerful tools in conversion. They are prayer, church attendance, and book of mormon.

I could go on and on about this meeting haha but I don't want to take up everyones time! Another great thing that happened this week was Alex Boye came and did a fireside! We took a returning member with us and it was exactly what she needed to hear. Alex talked about letting everything go! Don't hold onto regrets, bad feelings and all the things that we really don't need. Follow the footsteps of our savior and truly become like him!! He asked a question, "What are you doing that's keeping you from loving your Savior fully?" So, that's my question today! Because I know that we all have something that is holding us back.

Well, my companion and I are super excited for this week because one of our investigators is getting baptized!! I will be sending some pictures next week :) and...I know that life as a member is not always easy. It's not meant to be that way though!! God has to mold us and shape us to become the best we can be. In order to do that we have to struggle! But, you know what..he will never make us struggle beyond what we can do. So! I think if we can remember that and remember that there are so many reasons for us to be happy.  Then, we will come to really understand what the atonement is :D

Con Amor!!!!!!

Hermana Hollie Buys

Monday January 12th 2015

This past week was super amazing!! It wasn't really a normal missionary work, but nonetheless it was fantastic! Before I forget, we heard from Elder Quinton L. Cook. He is such a great man! He is really sweet and loving. For the 1st hour we were with him we did a question and answer thing. Then the last hour he just spoke to us. This was by far one of the most spiritual experiences that I've had. Everything he said I felt like was directed personally to me. He talked about how important we are to the members and that this work is going to make a difference. Sometimes we just do things day to day and can't see that we impact anybody, but we do! Elder Cook left us with a promise that those who we love, our future spouses, and everyone we come in contact with will be blessed by our service. WOW! You can't have a greater blessing than that right? It was wonderful!!




Hollie had Thai food this week. Looks yummy!!!

Other things that happened in the week were exchanges! I actually went on exchanges 2 days in a row ha. They were both in English areas and it was super fun! It was neat because we met a lady and she only spoke Spanish, so we talked and now she is a potential investigator that we will meet with this week! On my other exchange we met this guy who tried to accuse our church of doing crazy things. He just wanted to prove us wrong, we just bore testimony though and went on our way. I've learned not to get upset with people anymore, but just feel sad for them. They just need God to fill up that space where the hole is :D 

The family that we moved is doing good! They will most likely be getting a home here soon, so that's great! We had a lesson last week with all of their family and it was wonderful. We were just about to start teaching when Moses asked "When can I be baptized?" Sister Turley and I were super shocked, but so happy! We just see over and over again God putting people in our path. We received 2 other new investigators last week as well. It's so true that the Lords work is getting faster and moving along :D 

The mission talked to us and we are starting to use pamphlets with our teaching more. We are doing the lessons a lot more simple and taking more time to plan for each investigator. It's a change and a little hard to get used to, but I love it! We already can feel the spirit so much more in our lessons! Well, I feel so blessed to be a missionary!! I love this work and all that it does for everyone involved in it! :D I know that God lives and this is the true gospel that has been restored in its perfect form :D 

Te Amo!!!!!!!

Monday January 5th 2015

Last week was crazy!! On top of normal missionary work my companion and I did service for a family for 22 hrs. So we are super super tired haha, and that is an understatement. Now, you all are probably wondering why so much service? Well, the family we did service for is one of our less actives. She was getting kicked out of her house and they had to clean/get everything out. They still don't know where they are going to live but we just had to help them. We basically threw away things and pushed dead cars and stuff like that. It was a lot of physical labor and luckily we had the help of many other missionaries. 

Even though there were many moments where I thought that we should just leave and go teach lessons, I didn't. What I learned was that as a missionary I am called to serve. Not to just teach lessons and get my 10 hours of service every week. This is souls that we are talking about and sometimes you have to do things you wouldn't normally do. Out of the service we've done we got the mothers son to attend church with us! He all the sudden decided he doesn't want to be an alcoholic anymore and he's stayed off drinking for 5 days!!! He wants to learn more about the gospel and the rest of the family wants to as well. Just by serving them we have seen all of these people start to change their hearts and open them for Christ. This was just a big miracle to see and I continue to see them change! They have many family problems but I know through the atonement they will be able to overcome all of their issues! 

We also found a golden investigator who found the church website and requested a bible. We came and taught him and gave him the book of mormon. He already wants to go to church and his deepest desire is to know why we are here and what happens after this life. Hermana Turley and I are seeing soooo many miracles. I'm so grateful for this work. I could do nothing without my Heavenly Father, I would just be sitting on the ground right now. I have a testimony that God is in every tiny detail in our lives. Just look for it and you will find!! 

Te Amo con todo de mi corazon!!

Hermana HOllie Buys

December 29 2014

This past week was amazing!!!

Here's my new companion from West Valley City Utah:

On Tuesday we helped clean a hoarders house and that was a scary experience. It is so crazy how as people we just hold onto everything. Not just material items, but maybe things that people have done in the past. When we have been offended or maybe hurt someone else. After cleaning this house I realized that I want to do a better job at keeping things clean myself. I want to forgive more and love more and just do better. I guess it was kind of like a New Year Resolution moment for me. Isn't it true though? We can all strive to be doing better!!!

Christmas Eve was super fun. We were able to have a Bethlehem dinner with a family. We acted out the story of Jesus birth and did a little gift exchange! We also had a sleepover with the other 4 sisters in our zone and made gluten free waffles!! 

Christmas was the best though!! I loved, loved, loved, loved, talking to all of you!!! Thank you so much for the good time! I love and miss you all so very much and that was just the best Christmas present ever!!!

New pajama's on Christmas eve!

After we finished talking to our families, we had dinner at the Navarro’s house. They are just the best member missionaries ever!! They always have referrals for us! What was really fun though was going to the Chavez family home! We made cupcakes and sang Christmas songs with the kids! 

Even though I wasn't home it was pretty close to it. I had an amazing Christmas and I'm so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Well, since this week is New Years, we will be having a ward party on New Years Eve, and we are invited to a member’s home for dinner! Should be a lot of fun!! I heard that the New Years party here is the best! I will take a lot of pictures for you mom and dad :) Oh and I saw fireworks the other day, it was pretty great!

Love you all!

Hermana Buys