Week 78 - Stony Point

Dear Friends and Family,

Today marks the last group email that I will send to you from my mission here in Santa Rosa, California. This will be my last week serving as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There's a large range of emotions that goes through ones head with that statement. A part of you that's ready to see your family and start the next chapter of life and another large part that will never be fully ready to leave being able to serve by the Lords side every minute of everyday.

There's a stanza from one of my favorite songs from the church that I think really describes my feelings at this time. 

"Never can I repay thee Lord, but I can love thee thy pure word. Hath it not been my one delight, my joy by day my dream by night. Then let my lips proclaim it still and all my life reflect thy will." 

I will never have opportunity enough to repay the Lord for not only what He has given me on my mission but what He has given us all through His Son. I can't give thanks enough for this opportunity that I've had, for this experience in my life that has made me a person I didn't know I could be. But there is something I can do to show of my gratitude and that is to love Him, Our Heavenly Father, forever and serve Him, because like it says that is joy.

So I may soon have to take off the name tag that I've decided is quite a fashion statement that compliments my outfits very well and does really complete them. But that will never mean that I have to stop proclaiming His word and strive to live in a way to reflect His will. 

There's not much more that I can say but I hope you all can feel of the sincerity I have in saying that serving as a missionary for Jesus Christ has been the best decision I have made this far in my life. Words really can't explain all that it's done for me which is crazy to say because this mission you see wasn't for me, but others who don't know what we know.

By losing myself I found myself. Now don't think I'm perfect I still have many a things to work on to begin to be worthy to stand before God but I now know how to be on that path.

I would like to end by bearing my testimony to all of you. I know, now don't take that statement for granted, I know that this church is true. That it is the very church Christ established when He was on the earth. That Jospeh Smith is a prophet of God that translated the truest book this world knows, The Book of Mormon. I do testify that The Book of Mormon is the word of God and is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that Our Heavenly Father loves each of us individually and that He has more love for me than I can comprehend and that He is always watching out for me. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that it is literally only through Him that anything can be accomplished. Because of Him everything is possible. I testify to you that He lives and loves us and that He suffered for each of us that we may return to be with Him again one day. Ok now stick with me for a moment. :)

También quiero dar un poco de mi testimonio en español porque es el idioma que aprendí aquí a predicar este evangelio verdadero. Yo sé que nuestro Redentor y Salvador es Jesu Cristo y que mediante Él y su expiación todo es posible. Podemos obtener todo mediante su sacrificio si aceptamos y usamos. No puedo explicar mi agradecimiento por esta experiencia en mi vida y por nuestro Padre Celestial y su hijo unigénito Jesu Cristo. Yo sé que está iglesia es verdadera y que Jesu Cristo vive. 

And there you have it. I'm so very grateful. I love you all it’s been fun to write to you every week! Have a great week and see you soon. :) 

Con muchísimo amor y agradecimiento,

Hermana Foster 

Here welcome home poster is ready to go!!!!

Her last zone conference.

The Aguirre Family

Week 77 - Stony Point

Week 77

Hellllllllooooooo everyone it's that time of week again. Missionary Monday. :) 

We have some stories this week as always. Our area right now is kind of hard there's a lot of tracting and finding and we are kind of in a down where we can't seem to find anyone at home after we first meet them. But there is a reason for everything and the Lord is so very merciful so there are always fun experiences and blessings everyday. So here are a few.

We get home one night and start getting ready for bed and the Elders called saying that nobody else is answering the phone and that he really needs ice and Gatorade because one of them has food poisoning super not good. So of course we jumped up to go and we went to the grocery store near us and fun fact the night time is the Hispanic time because literally every Hispanic and their mother was there oh my gosh it was nuts. They were SO many people and I promise you they were all Hispanics not white people except us.  We decided the prime time for contacting was actually about 10:00 at night.

At one point during the day we weren't sure where we needed to be so we said a prayer and an apartment complex came to Hermana Latimer and my minds almost immediately so we made our way there. Satan is good at his game as it was almost time for dinner and to go to the complex we needed to pass where our dinner was.

So for a moment we thought about just actually going to work in the neighborhood where dinner was but we both knew we had received some guidance and that we needed to follow it even if by the time we got to the complex we would have like 10 min and then need to turn around to go back for dinner.

But we went and wow were we glad that we did. We tried all the potentials we had there and nobody answered but we were of course contacting those that were outside along the way. We were surprised as to how many people actually were outside there it was great. It got down to us having to leave and as we were walking back to our car there was a man sitting on a bench that we started talking to. We could have passed him because we were late for dinner but the spirit just took over and we began to talk to him and to get to know him.

It was a testament to contacting everyone because we came to find out that he was the reason we had been led there. His name was Kyle and he told us a bit about himself and his story as we asked him if he had a belief in Jesus Christ, he told us he used to have a really strong faith but that now it was less but that nonetheless he knew that Christ was there.

And ya know it's true that if we are willing to open our mouth the spirit will fill it because I asked him why his faith had diminished and I'm pretty positive that was the spirit because I said it and then had to think about what I had just said. But he just continued saying that life had happened. After he explained some more things we had a moment to really testify about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how he is there for us in e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

I've learned more than I can explain about the atonement on my mission and being able to testify about it and how someone can use it and feel it, that's one of the greatest things. You could tell that he was thinking as the conversation was going and we left him with our number and as we drove away he was just looking at the card that had a picture of Christ on it. Being a missionary is hard, but being a missionary is great.

The very last door that we knocked one day while tracting was the best. We had to go through a gate and then we got to the front door and then past the door was another gate leading to the backyard. So we ring the doorbell twice but nobody answers and we can hear that there are people running around in the backyard past the gate.

Hermana Latimer and I both just felt we couldn't leave without contacting them so we took the mission quote “being fearless in finding”, seriously and knocked the gate they didn't hear so we knocked it again. A girl about 9 yelled and asked who it was so we said the missionaries and she yelled back who the heck are the missionaries.

So the cute girl comes to the gate and opens it and we introduce ourselves and she gets really excited and says "ohhhhhh you're believers, believers in the J" We were slightly confused so she went on to explain the J is none other than Jesus.

She then proceeded to yell at her dad to come meet the believers so he came and we meet him and offered to share the video, he nicely declined but his daughter was the greatest human ever and kept saying "well why not mom would watch it" and he gave the classic response "well moms not here".

Anyway yea so we continue talking with them for a little bit and the man explains his wife might be interested so we leave a pamphlet and right before we leave the little girl freaks out and starts yelling that her fortune cookie came true. We all were just kind of looking at her and she said that her fortune cookie that day had told her that she would meet some strangers who would offer a pleasant surprise. She totally freaked out and gave us hugs and she pretty much made our week.

That was that and we parted ways and we couldn't help but think that maybe her mom will read the pamphlet and call us and then bam they will all be converted because we were seriously prompted to not leave until someone answered their front gate... So that was so good.

That's all for today everyone I hope you all are doing well. I love my mission sometimes it's so so hard, let me tell you, this is by far the hardest thing I've ever done. But at the same time the absolute greatest. There's a lot of mixed feelings in this last transfer of the mission I think it stresses a person out more than they realize. It's feelings of being very done with somethings and being ready to leave but then at the same time with other aspects never being ready to leave and wanting to stay. And that doesn't even mention the part about how this is really what life is for me now so to think about not doing it kind of twists ones mind around.

I hope in these emails you can feel of my love for this gospel and our savior Jesus Christ. Remember that love this week and study to help it grow a little bit more. You're all the bestest and I love ya!! 

Con sinceridad,

Hermana Foster 

So proud of herself for finding a Lisa Coke bottle

Eating Mexican ice cream

Playing with the filters on their tablet

More filter playing.  She loves Hermana Latimer!

Week 76 - Stony Point

Buenas Días Señoritas, 

Ok so just some stories from the week. 

First our car like broke a million times so we had to get a tire replaced and then it was in the shop for a whole day because of some problems so that just created a bunch of fun situations in figuring out how to get around since our area is huge and crosses freeways. But we did take a shuttle service from the car dealership to the church building and the driver was a kid just out of high school and that was a more than a interesting ride he asked us how we like to party. But it was a good week!

We meet a name named Juan that had actually been taught by the missionaries before. He remembered quite a bit from the lessons and we actually left him with another Book of Mormon after we talked for a while about some principles. It was an awesome discussion and we were able to see how a powerful testimony can change the atmosphere of anything. He wasn't quite taking us seriously and that always drives me nuts because people must know that I'm not out here as a 20-year-old doing this just for funnsies but because they need it. So I bore my testimony and explained that concept that I'm not here for me but that I'm here because the Book of Mormon has changed my life and that the only thing I want is for someone else to feel of its joy. It made things take a turn and he actually thought about the words we were saying after that so that was a good experience and a testimony builder about testimonies. 

We also were trying some less actives this week and we drove to one house to find that's it's bright bright yellow with a huge tree in front, that's beside the point but I literally mean bright yellow, we go and knock and a woman of the family answered the door. We started talking with her and she told us about how they had stopped coming to church for things that had happened but she said that they were in the past. We continued conversation with her getting to know her and Hermana Latimer and I both felt this huge amount of connection and love to her. We laughed a lot during the conversation and gave her our number, it was nothing to different than contacting any other less active until the very end.

I asked her if I could give her a hug before leaving and I did and she gave me the biggest and tightest hug ever and just held onto me and then did the same with Hermana Latimer and began to cry. We asked if she was ok and she told us that she was and that she was just so happy we were doing missionary work and that it was really really good to see us.

It was one of the happiest moments in the world to just tell her that we love her and that she can call us at any time she said of course and that was the end. It was so quick but so full of the spirit and one of those moments were you never want to stop being a missionary set apart to help people feel of Christ in their lives. The Lords plan is perfect and the love of Christ is beautiful. 

So the Lord is good and being a missionary is great and I'll add in a quote I loved from my studies this week to end things off. "It matters very little what people think of us, but it matters very much what we think of Him. It matters very little too, who others say we are; what matters is who we say Jesus is."

DISFRUTEN SU SEMANA! 

Hermana Foster

Xander, quite possibly one of Sam's favorite little people on this planet