MONDAY JUNE 1 2015

June 1 2015

Hello Family!!!!!

This past week we had to bike the whole week!! It was crazy and so much fun! We are so lucky that we have such great members in our ward that were able to take us to appointments the last few days :) On Tuesday we had interviews with the mission President and so that is always fun! We had a good conversation and I had the opportunity to teach Sister Mella! It was super scary, but ended up being fine :) 

On Wednesday we had the meeting for Ipads!! We went to the meeting expecting it to just tell us how to use technology, however it was so much greater!!! Elder Evans and Randall came and taught us about "Missionary Work in the Digital Age" The first thing they started talking about is that our purpose as missionaires is everything! As long as we remember our purpose than we will be successful and we won't lose track of why we are on the mission. They really went into great detail of how God is giving us the "ipads" as a tool just like a pen or a liahona! It's there as a tool to help us! Along with all of the many great things I learned...I think the biggest thing is that through using technology we are going to learn how to conquer satan better. With the skills we will have to use we will know how to take away temptations and time wasters! Basically how we use technology will affect our future and our families futures. 

As we got toward the end of our week is when we really saw the members getting involved! On Friday we went to appointments back to back and for every one there was a member present! It made the lessons so much more powerful :) One of our appointments was with an investigator and our ward mission leader! As you all know, before we were having problems. Now though we are seeing a big change! He came to the appointment with us and really fellowshipped the investigator. It actually turns out that they were friends before! WHich makes things even greater! Another big thing is that we are having Missionary Correlation every week for an hour! 

I guess the last thing that I really wanted to mention is that most of our investigators are progressing really well! We are having a hard time with Maria and Jose because they think that they have to keep learning and know everything. We have already taught them twice and have set multiple baptism dates. Today is really the final moment to see if they are going to accept the gospel or not. So! Please pray for them if you could :) That would mean a lot! We really want them to recognize that they've already received many witnesses that the gospel is true :) 

Well I want to end by sharing my testimony that I know that this is God's work. He provides so many miracles every day and all we have to do is open our eyes and take away that umbrella that is covering our spiritual vision :) When we recognize these miracles we continue exercising faith and start to strengthen other people as well. In which, we are keeping our baptismal covenants and making our lives dedicated to his TRUE gospel! I know that the gift of tongues is real! I've seen in it my mission and it is only according to righteous desire when we want to help bless the lives of others. We can always receive more spiritual gifts as long as we are obedient and continue exercising faith in God. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Con MUCHO AMOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermana Buys


JUNE 8 2015

Happy Monday everyone!!!!!

Well, as you can tell this week is a new transfer, ah!!!! My companion got the phone call and is transferring out..We have been blessed to have a really good companionship and so I know it's going to be super hard for me. I loved what one of the Elders in our district told us yesterday, "You are the most united companionship I've seen in the whole mission." Wow!! That just made me so happy!! I'm so sad to lose that, but I know that it has to happen. I'm so happy though that we will hopefully be rooming together after the mission, so I guess that's what gives me hope :) I will defintely miss having her as a companion though!

This week before we got our car back we were biking and my companion had an accident. She scrapped her legs really bad and when we got home I had to clean it up. The next day we couldn't go out and she just had to let her leg rest since she couldn't walk. It didn't make me annoyed or upset or anything. For me it was actually really nice to finally serve my companion! She always takes care of me so it was nice to return the favor :) And when we got our car back we were even more grateful for it! 

Some great news from this week is that we received Ipads!! WOOhoo!! It's been a fun and interesting addition to the work. We arent able to do everything yet because we are learning one thing at a time, but already we are really enjoying it! It was super funny as well when we received them because we were all so worried and cautious with them. It took a little bit for all of us to remember how to use technology haha. 

Well, since my birthday is on Thursday and my companion is amazing!! She planned a surprise for me EVERYDAY last week! Monday she attacked my desk with notes. Tuesday I got a gluten free birthday cake and was sung happy birthday to. On Wednesday the Elders bought 13 balloons and we ate out as a District. Thursday I ate gluten free pizza with an investigator and less active! Friday she drew me a picture and cut it out into puzzles. Saturday she blind-folded me and bought a tiny pinata. Sunday we ate at the Matutes and they had a Tangled pink pinata that had lemon and salt candy haha. It was so great!! 

I know a lot of this email is just events ha, sorry about that! I guess the thing that was really spiritually uplifting for me this week was that we took Maria y Jose to the temple! They were in love with it! The most precious moment was when the sisters asked them if they would commit to getting married and sealed in the temple. Maria and Jose said yes! That was a miracle to me because they aren't even baptized yet and they already have the goal of the temple!! They still have some challenges to overcome, but I know that they'll get there.

This transfer has really shown me how important it is to be self-less and go out and serve. This is one of the big principles that my companion has shown me. I've also learned that you really can't and shouldn't please everyone. The person you want to please is your father in Heaven and if you're doing that then you know you're doing what is right. As the mission goes by faster and faster I realize that I really don't know much. I continue to learn and try to improve and set higher goals. I'm thankful for changes and obstacles that help remind me of my purpose! Not only on the mission but the purpose and mission of my life. I know that the gospel is true! I know that God puts us where we need to be because he loves us and wants to help us change. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Buys

JUNE 15 2015

Hello everyone!! First things first, my new companion is Hermana
Blanco! She is originally from Colombia and moved to New York when she
was 8. So it's super funny that my past 2 companions have been from
New York!! Another cool thing about Hermana blanco is that she joined
the church when she was 14! also she has been on the mission for only
six months so I'm the older one in the companionship haha. It's funny
for me because I'm always the youngest for everything ;) haha.

Well I must say that my birthday was pretty great! I was woken up by
Hermana Villanueva calling and singing happy birthday to me :) it was
the best! Then I opened up the package that Mom and dad sent! Best
thing ever!!! I actually have a video of me listening to the tape
recorder ha. I was crying when I started it and heard Derricks voice
:) THANK YOU SO MUCH!! To do something fun for my birthday my
companion and I went to this food place where they make special
smoothies and have granola and other yummy things on top it was great.
You will all want to try it when you come :) My birthday was made even
greater though when I found out about the birth of Milo! Oh my it's so
great that we share the same birthday!

The way we ended my birthday was super funny though! We were walking
home from an appointment and we said hi to this man. He turned around
and said "oh you're Mormons" we said "yes, we're missionaries" and
then he tried to explain that his relative was in jail and showed us
3$. I told him we don't have money and he left. We tried to offer a
prayer for his relative but he wouldn't let us. He ended up coming
back to our side of the street super drunk and angry. He said some not
very good things and it was scary! Luckily we made it home though.
That night I remembered that being a disciple of Jesus Christ is never
easy and Satan just wants to do everything to discourage us. We
already know that though,  so we've already won the battle!

Well, this week as I've received a new companion and had to lead the
area it's been really successful and also challenging. It's been
challenging in the sense that I am trying to show and teach her
everything and I feel so unqualified ha. So I'm praying that I'll feel
more confident with it and that we both share responsibility over it.
It's been successful in the sense that we've already found 2 new
investigators! We also were able to teach a lot of people. The people
in this area are already super receptive with our companionship. So
I'm excited to see what these next 2 transfers will bring! And a
miracle that we saw yesterday was that Maria will be getting a nerve
block shot. This will hopefully make it so that she can walk again and
not have to take pills. Also it will make it more likely for her
baptism to move closer :)

Well it is my hope that my emails all leave you on a spiritual high so
I'd love to share his quote from general conference, "muchas cosas son
buenas, muchas son importantes, pero solo algunas son esenciales."
(Many things are good, many things are important, but only few are
essential!) Please remember this as you go through your week! Remember
the essential things and put them first. God always promises that as
we put him first everything else will fall into place. I'm a testimony
of this, as I've been on the mission I haven't had to worry about all
of the little things. As I've focused on God and put my trust in him
he's made everything work out :) I know he'll do the same for you! I
say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Hollie Buys


JUNE 22 2015

Hello family!! Well I'm sure many of you are surprised to see me
emailing on Tuesday haha. This week our pday got changed because of
zone conference ha. So surprise!!! Well I hope you all had a wonderful
Father's Day on Sunday :) When it was Father's Day I was thinking of
how blessed we are to have dad! He is so amazing!! I also was wishing
that I could be there at home with the family. Even without being
there though I still felt you all near by :) One thing that I never
thought about before on Father's Day was being thankful for my
Heavenly Father. I don't know why I didn't before, I just hadn't. I'm
ever so grateful for him and for his limitless love. For giving us
bodies and families and this experience here on earth. As well for
giving us the opportunity to return to live with him and be together
with our families forever. Wow! That's a BIG DEAL!

At zone conference president Mella made a remark that relates
completely to this. He told us to imagine every day when we go out to
do missionary work that Christ is right beside us. He is sharing the
gospel with us and just doing everything side by side. I love this!
And it's so true because the spirit is always with us guiding us and
helping us know what to say. I really want to remember this so that
every day I go out into the world and do my best. Because he is there
to help us!

Well one of the great highlights of this week was that I was able to
talk to my recent convert in my last area, Arthur. We had a good
conversation about the gospel and how he needs to start living it
again. He's having some problems right now and is struggling to
remember the baptismal covenant. As I had this experience with him it
made me realize how our Heavenly Father must feel when we go astray.
He's not angry, but sad. He just wants us to come back and have true
happiness again. I'm so grateful to have been a part of Arthur's
experience because it is marvelous to see someone's life change from
the gospel. And I will continue rooting for him :)

The other highlight of this week was Edwin! We came to the lesson with
him prepared to teach church, prayer, read, obedience, but no,
Heavenly Father had something else in mind :) we ended up teaching him
about baptism again. He told us that is what he wants to do! He's been
praying about it and it feels good. The only thing that's stopping him
is going to church. So he told us himself that he needs to change that
and come. He now realizes the importance of it. He also mentioned that
his family thinks that he is crazy, but it doesn't bother him. Wow! He
is so ready to be baptized and we loved what he said about his family
thinking he's crazy. Because a lot of people don't understand what we
do as members. They don't have that same goal as we do and we can't
always please the world. But we are always pleasing God and making him
happy!

I close with my testimony that I know this is Gods church. I know that
his gospel is perfect and that every fiber of our being needs it. Our
spirit needs it. Please don't forget to feed your spirit everyday by
reading the scriptures along with other church books and praying  :)

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Hollie Buys

JUNE 29 2015
Hello everyone!!! As usual this week was quite an experience. Of all
the weeks in my mission I could easily say that this was one of the
hardest. It's been really difficult because everything that I hold
dear to on the mission has been kind of attacked this week. To say
that I'm having a difficult time adjusting to the companionship is an
understatement ha. It's been really hard to communicate because when I
do I am attacked. When I shared what I felt and heard her response I
was so shocked that I was shaking. I've never have felt that way
before. Now I'm not sharing this to make people feel bad. I just
wanted to let you know that it's not always easy out here haha. It
took me several days to convince myself from wanting to return home.
But today I am still here :)

I really believe that the reason I'm still here in the mission field
is because of the love my savior has for me. I really had to come to
understand that this week. I'm learning to be patient and loving even
when those around me don't show those same traits. I know that the
hard times are just for a small moment and that afterward will be even
greater. I thought it was very fitting as well that we talked about
charity in Sunday school. I truly felt like that lesson was for me! As
I've tried to have more charity we saw 2 major miracles this week!

The first miracle is Angel! His mom and him were going to be baptized
in May. Because of doubts the mom was not baptized and now does not
wish to be. When we were thinking about this we thought of asking
Angel what he thought. He told us last week that even without his mom
he wants to be baptized. So, we saw him again this week and he had
talked to his mom about it already. She told us that she is okay with
it! So he'll be getting baptized on July 13th!

The second big miracle was our summer ward activity! We've been
planning it for a whole month. Then 2 weeks ago our ward mission
leader disappeared. He wouldn't answer any of our calls or messages.
And he didn't come to church. When we finally got ahold of him we
scheduled a meeting. We went and he was there but never came to the
room we were in. The day before the activity he told our bishop to
cancel the activity. So we got together with the bishop and had a
calling party. We called different people to bring things to the
party. Because of our bishops help the party happened! Our
investigators came! A bunch of less actives came and it was a success.
Even when everything appears to be falling down you just have to try
again one last time. And that last time is the effort that is most
important and essential. It shows if the thing we are hoping for is
really worth it or not.

I have a testimony of Gods hand in all things. He sends others to
watch over us and help us in our hard moments. He sends us blessings
everyday. We just have to look for them. I know that God really does
make weak things strong. We just have to do our part to let him mold
us. Sometimes it's a long hard process, but the process is what is
great! I have a testimony of these things in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.

Les amo!!!!!!'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Hermana Buys