July 6th 2015

July 6th 2015

July 13th 2015 

Wow, what can I say this past week was filled with so many miracles,as usual! :) The week was so amazing because we received  many referrals from members/missionaries. As we have been trying to contact all of them we haven't had the greatest luck finding them at home. However, that is okay because we just keep on trying. It's been so neat this transfer because we have been blessed in different ways than I noticed before. I never really thought how special it is when someone gives you a name for someone they want you to teach. It's like getting a golden ticket! haha Remember in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and they are all searching for this golden ticket! When they finally find it they are able to go to the factory and see all of the unlimited possiblities haha. I know it's kind of a funny way to explain it, but it really is like that. Them giving us that "golden ticket" really shows that they trust in us. 

Our other miracle of the week was the baptism of Angel Sanchez! We had been planning on his baptism for today however when we went and visited him on Friday he wanted to get baptised on Sunday. And he didn't want to wait any longer. His mom wasn't baptised because she still needs to get married but we feel that soon it will be her time to be baptised!! The baptism was so great and was one of my happiest moments on the mission! Even though we didn't have much time to prepare for the baptism everything ended up working out. As Angel was in the water about to be baptised my companion and I were holding the towel for him so we could give it to him after. As he went into the water we saw his face and he was just smiling. It was such a special moment.

All of Sunday actually was super special! The whole day we were basically running around like crazy people. We went to an English sacrament meeting in the morning because we had a baptism to go to for my companions old investigator in her last area. Sacrament was so great because they talked all about service. At that moment I realized again that I have a testimony of service and a place for it in my heart. Afterward we were able to go to 2 of our meetings in our ward and talk about the new law of same sex marriage. That was such a great meeting because it reminded me that Gods laws never change and that whenever people do things contrary to our beliefs we don't have to take their side just to be nice. No, we need to stay strong to our beliefs and not let anyone else tell us differently. And of course we do all we can to love them. 

After those meetings we went to the baptism and it was super beautiful! I saw some people from my last area there so it was super special. As soon as that was over we came back to our area and got ready for the baptism!!! Hermana Villanueva came back for the baptism and it was super nice to see her!! She's doing great in her new area and is just as great as ever! It is actually so neat how you can have so much love for every single one of your companions. That's one thing I learned as well that you can always keep loving more and more. There's not a maximum amount of love! 

Oh and my last exciting news is that we got a new Ward Mission Leader!!!!! We are so happy and excited to see the work in this area just take flight!! haha. Our ward mission leader is Hno. Ruiz and is the brother that we eat dinner with every Tuesday! Well this week is going to be super great as well! My companion and I will have the opporunity to speak in Zone Training Conference about finding ha. So wish us good luck! I love you all so much!!!! You are always in my thoughts! Only 7 more months till I see you all :)

les amo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermana Buys

July 20th, 2015

Hi Family!!!!!!!

we had transfer calls and...........................................I'm staying here in Redwood City!! haha. I'm happy but also sad because it will probably be my last transfer here. Also 10 missionaries in our zone will be getting transferred so we will have a bunch of new missionaries. This transfer will be a short 5 weeks as well. ha. So I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can :) 

Last Pday we had a bbq and one of the polys cooked meat for us! It was so good as you can tell! We listened to music and ate some smores as well. It was a great activity since we haven't really done much with our zone this past transfer. And what made it even better was that the smores were gluten free!! haha. 

Well, as I talked about last week that I had to teach ZTM! It went well! The Zone Leaders talked to my comp. and I after and they said that the message we shared was what President was looking for :) So it made us super happy!! It still was scary but worth it.

I know that our miracle last week was referrals, but it is still a miracle we are continuing to see! It's insane I really don't know where all of these referrals are coming from. It is truly a blessing from God. Because really this past transfer was one of the hardest ones on my mission. But as I'm going through these trials I just keep seeing more and more blessing and success!!

Another miracle was that we have another baptism coming up! Our investigator Kenya will be getting baptized August 1st! So next Saturday!!!!!!! She went to the temple(visitors center) last Sunday and told us that she had an amazing experience. We asked her if she'd like to be a member, she told us YES!! haha. We were so astonished and so we planned the date then and there. It's so great because we had only taught her 2 lessons. ha. So in order to make sure she knows everything for the baptism we will be seeing her about everyday this week and several times next week. When their time comes you just have to be ready and fully embrace it!! :) God always has a plan already there for us. 

A super exciting and fun thing that also happened last week was that we had a ice cream dance!! One of our members is a DJ and so he came and played music for us. We had a really good turn out and my companion and I got everyone dancing! When they all arrived they didn't want to do anything. But when the DJ started doing line dances it got everyone involved :) The best part was that our Investigator Edwin came to the activity and brought his dad along. His dad isn't investigating but we are starting to see him every few weeks for activities so it is definitley progress!!! 

To finish our week off we were going to go to the visitors center with an investigator family, however the got sick and couldn't make it. Because we already had a ride they were able to take us to the Outgoing fireside!! As always, it is such a great motivation to continue working strong. To love the people with all of your heart and to share the message of Jesus Christ with everyone. I learned one very important principle as well. Pride doesn't just mean that you are into yourself. Another way that we can be prideful is by not doing or completing the things that the Lord asks for us. We really have to understand and gain a testimony in him, that if he believes we can do something than we can do it. God is the all powerful being and he trusts us and believes in us. JUST DO IT!! :) I have a testimony of these things and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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

Hermana Hollie Buys :) :) :)

July 27th 2015 

As usual it was a crazy, hilarious, random week!!

The week started off random when we visited Maria and Jose Monday night. We went to talk to them about the ten commandments and after we explained it they said that they had a problem. They told us that they didn't want to give up their mexican music. We were like what?? Why would you need to give music up? It turns out that they thought to be baptised they needed to give up listeneing to any music other than church. Super funny right?? I was laughing inside. I don't know how they got that. We didn't say anything like that to them ha. Glad that they told us though :) 

Another funny experience was on our way to a lesson on Thursday! There was tons of traffic and we finally got out of it. As we were driving my comp. didn't take the right turn so she had to turn somewhere else. When she turned we saw a car that looked like one of the mission cars. We kept driving closer and we saw that it was indeed a mission car. In it were Elders and they kept turning in circles over and over again. We were so suprised that they were doing that. We laughed really hard and turned back around. Luckily they saw us and turned around too and got back to work ;)

Well, Wednesday morning I was lucky to study about the signs of the coming of Jesus Christ when he came and visited the Americas! We went to service that afternoon and were at a small old folks house. They were reading in the bible about the death of Jesus Christ. I found it super interesting that I was able to read about the signs of his coming in the Americas and also see what was happening in Jersualem. It was like all of my studies were intertwinned! It gave me a bigger understanding of what actually happened and how important the Atonement is!!

Another thing I noticed during this week is that God is in every single part of the work. We had a lesson with Edwin our investigator. He has been struggling with coming to church and he was telling us reasons why but it just didn't make sense. I asked him if there was anything else that was really going on. He didn't say anything and so we shared the lesson. At the end of the lesson though I felt prompted to ask him if he had any comments or questions. After I said that he shared with us something horrible that happened in his past and that was the reason why he didn't come to church. Wow, we were both sooo shocked. It was amazing to see that the spirit spoke to him to let him know that he needed to share this with us. I'm so grateful that he did so we can give him the help that he needs. This experience with Edwin has taught me that repentance is real and the Atonement is real. And I'm so grateful that we were able to promise him that repentance will take away all the pain. I can't always trust in other things but in repentance and the atonement I can. 

To add to the excitement of this past week we got a call on Thursday night. We will be receiving a Mini Missionary!! She is a girl that was in my last ward in my last area. I am so excited!! She will be staying with us from July 31st-Aug 14!!! I know that it's going to be a great experience for us as a companionship and for the area and especially for her!! Even though I've never trained before I feel like the excitement of a mini missionary is pretty close to the training call feeling, haha. It's going to be a new adventure and we cant wait! I will take a lot of pictures and send you some next week :) 

Well I just want to leave my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He is literally our BIG BROTHER!! I felt that today. I know that he loves me and he loves every one of you. I know that this is his gospel. I have a testimony of prayer and that the Holy Ghost is real. I know that it is the comforter and  it brings peace into our lives. I know that it's one of the best gifts that we have been given through our decisions to be baptised. Please always live worthy of that gift. And seek to feel it, listen to it, and follow its promptings! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Con Mucho amor,

Hermana Buys :D  :D :D