Intentionally Trying

Hola y'all,

Cool story.  We've been having a hard time finding new people to teach. It's been a really long time since we've found someone new, and Hna Smith kept feeling like we ought to go see a lady named Francisca , but our week was already packed, so she prayed about a specific time we should go see her.  The next morning, she got up and said, "we need to see Francisca at 4pm." Okay, so that's what we did.  One of the coolest moments.  We drive up, and Jose (Francisca's husband) and his friend were sitting outside just chatting.  We parked the car, and not 10 seconds later, Francisca pulls up in her car with her son.  Prayer is real.  We had a lesson with them, though it was nothing phenomenal.  Heavenly Father answers prayers in very specific ways sometimes :)

Right after we saw Francisca, we were knocking some doors round about, and an old guy called us over.  We talked with him for a couple minutes, then he looks at me and goes, "Excuse me ma'am, are you pregnant?" I was pretty taken aback, but I said, "no, I'm not." "Oh okay.  It's good to have meat on your bones!" It was a pretty sneaky way of telling me I was fat.... haha but I just about died laughing.  Good ol' Dennis.

This is Fam Vargas from Guatemala.  She cleans Steph Curry's dad's house, so that's awesome ;)

Yesterday night we got home and were making some dinner.  Sister Halverson and Sister Johnson were home, just chilling in their room.  All of a sudden Sister Johnson shrieks (I have never heard someone yell louder) and both Hna Smith and I run in to see what on earth is going on. Giving them a little credit, it was the largest cockroach I've ever seen.  It was on their wall and they were trying to get it outside by trapping it with a cup. I just died laughing as I watched them try to catch it.  Good news - eventually they did and now it's outside.

Anyway, the highlight of the week was the primary program.  WOW, I love kids!  Cindhy's son Carlos David and his friend Nilmar both participated, and it was the best thing ever.  They sang with huge smiles on their faces and gave great parts about baptism.  I think the highlight for me was when little Mia got up very first and said "Soy una hija de Dios," and got down.  She's 3 and said something that a lot of 80 year olds don't know.  I loved it.  I couldn't really understand anything the kids said, but it was so great and I loved it.

This is Nilmar and Carlos David, my homies.  They both looked so sharp in their white 

shirts and bowties, and they both were pretty proud that they looked like members ;) 

I have been rereading a lot of the conference talks from this past conference.  I particularly liked Elder Uchtdorf's talk.  At one point he said "Discipleship is not about doing things perfectly; it's about doing things intentionally.  God knows you are not perfect, that you will fail sometimes.  God loves you no less when you struggle than when you triumph." I love that.  I am certainly not perfect and I take a lot of comfort knowing that as long as I'm trying, Heavenly Father accepts that.  I know that Heavenly Father always loves us and wants us to be happy.  He makes everything work out, even if we don't see it that way.  

Life is good.

....and loving it
Hermana Belliston

Donde este, echele ganas

Hola Y'all,

This week was crazy.  Lots of things happened! We dropped Hna Dibble off at the office on Thursday! After nine months of serving with one of the best missionaries I know, it was time for her to go to blessed Piedmont.  We took lots of pictures with our favorite people and just generally had a good time.  The whole ward is very concerned to know if we're doing alright because it's been such a long time! But it's all good. 

This is the Spanish Equipo de Hermanas.  Hna Bucknum, Hna Smith, me, 

Hna Dibble, and Hna Workman.  Hna Workman just went home, so now it's down to four.

Terrific Trio

This week, we went out to breakfast with Hna Cruz, Hna Vizcarra, Cindhy, Carlos David, Jefferson and Kaylin.  They were soooo funny.  I just about died laughing the whole time.  Funny story, though - Cindhy ordered coffee, and we hadn't taught her about the word of wisdom yet. Well, Hna Vizcarra told her about it, and Cindhy told us she'd never drink it again.  Well, that was way too easy.  We explained the Word of Wisdom more in depth the next day, and she bore a very powerful testimony to us about the truthfulness of the Gospel.  She explained that she was talking to her mom and daughter who both live in Honduras about the Gospel and about how it's changed her life and the life of her son.  She sees the fruits of the Gospel.  She said she particularly loves how we never tell her she HAS to believe something that we teach - we always teach her to pray to Heavenly Father to see if it is true.  She said her mom questioned the Book of Mormon, and Cindhy just said "you can't say it's not true.  Read it, and pray to Heavenly Father to know that it's the word of God." It was a very sweet experience to hear her testify of the truthfulness of the Gospel.

Camila and Neftali were confirmed this week which was amazing! They were both so happy to finally be full members of the Church and they know that it's true.  Their simple testimonies are the best you can get. 

Well, this is the best thing to be doing.  I know this work is the work of Heavenly Father.  He is the Master Planner.  He is so detail oriented and never forgets a thing! Sometimes things get hard, and sometimes we can't see the reason that things happen, but He is 100% in control.  He knows exactly what's going on, and truly desires to help us if we'll just ask Him.  That's all He asks.  We visited Hna Cielo this week, and her counsel for Hna Dibble was "donde este, echele ganas" which basically means, "wherever you are, do your best."

I love y'all and hope you have a great week :)

...and loving it
Hermana Belliston

Words of Eternal Life

Hola y'all,

Oh my what a week.  Something super powerful.  It was crazy and flew by so fast.  But here we are, at another Monday!

First off, we got transfer news yesterday! Hna Dibble, after 10 transfers in this area, is heading up to Piedmont for her last transfer, leaving Sister Smith and I down here in Charlotte :) It'll be a blast and I'm ready to love it.

On Saturday after the women's session, we were watching it with Daisy Cruz and a bunch of hermanas from the ward.  After, we let them know that one of us would be leaving and they gave us five minute hugs and just let us know how much they loved us and how much we mean to them.  It was really sweet and made me remember how much I love these people and how much they mean to me.  They are the greatest ever.

We were able to see Camila and Neftali get baptized on Friday! Camila's baptism was early in the afternoon so she could get to a dance performance, and she was SO excited to get baptized.  She has been waiting for such a long time and it was a dream come true for her.  I've never seen such pure desire in anyone in my life. Something special with that is that Mario got to baptize her.  I also was able to witness the baptism, and it was phenomenal to watch her come up out of the water, SO very happy.  Neftali also got baptized on Friday, just later that night. She was also very excited and it was fun to watch her give a tour of the church to her friends that she brought.  It truly is a really beautiful thing to watch people make covenants with Heavenly Father.  Heavenly Father is aware of each of us and exactly what we need to be able to come back to Him.

Also, General Conference was incredible.  I have such a strong testimony that President Nelson is a Prophet of God.  He truly speaks exactly what Heavenly Father needs him to say.  Their role is crucial in our spiritual progression and I know that to have a living prophet is such a blessing and necessity.  I loved the focus of conference of being focused on making ourselves holier. I know that it is so important that we do that. We can do that as we continue to listen to them and sustain them.

So I'm not allowed to email photos of baptisms, so if you want to see any, ask Mom :)

This is us watching conference at Denisse's house :) It was a blast and a half!!

Well, I can't believe it's gone by so fast, but I'm starting my last six weeks in the mission.  If y'all have any advice for me, PLEASE send it this way.  I could really use it.

....and loving it
Hermana Belliston

"He is on my side and I don't have to worry."

September 30, 2019

Hola Y'all,

This week went really well.  Lots and lots of meetings! Mostly just meetings....

We were able to have quite a few lessons with our people, and just as an update, Karla, Cindhy, Carlos David, Camila, and Natalia will all get baptized this month :) They are excited and I can assure you I am!  We've been working with all of them for a pretty long time.

This week, we had a phenomenal zone conference.  President talked about making our prayers more meaningful.  One thing he mentioned was that we kneel next to our bed, and envision our Heavenly Father sitting there next to us, listening to what we have to say.  He encouraged us to talk to Him personally and let Him know how much we love Him.  At the end, he asked us to ask our Heavenly Father what we can do for Him, and then get off our knees, ready to obey whatever He asks us to do. I've been doing that lately and I've been loving it.  I know that He answers prayers.  He's on our side and we don't have to worry.

We had a Mission Leadership Council, and Elder Martino came and spoke to us.  

He was incredible and gave us so many great ideas on how to become better missionaries. 

We got to go to Fahrenheit this week which was a blast.  

That's where all the good views from Charlotte come from :)

Fam Cielo! They are the best old couple to exist.  They are so great! 

They gave us a Spanish lesson when we ate with them and it was the best thing ever.

We also had Spanish conference and Hno Sabogal and his wife 

from Greensboro cooked a Peruvian dish for us which was amazing.  

Niurka and esposo. They are so sweet and we love them to death.

Our English class! Only two came on Thursday but we took a picture anyway

Sorry for the short email! There's not too much that happened this week, but that's the best stuff :) Love ya lots!

On the road to Damascus... Had to have this picture.

...and loving it
Hermana Belliston

"Ya no nos sentimos solos"

September 23, 2019

Hola y'all,

Life in the NCCM is great :) we had some pretty great experiences which I'm excited for you to hear about.

Firstly, on Tuesday morning, we got a text from Daisy Cruz, a member, asking us to translate a paper her son had received at school. Sometimes it's really awkward to translate suspension notices to a really feisty Hispanic woman. Long story short, her son got in a fight at school and got suspended for 2 days. So we told her and she just sent us a sad face emoji. Ha, but then later that day, we saw her at the church, and she pulls us aside and says "I've told him over and over that he cant get in fights at school. I even told him about Joseph in the bible when he ran away from the Pharaoh's wife. I just tell him to run like Joseph!" I don't know why we thought that it was so funny, but we died. Just run like Joseph!

Another good time was when we three got in a discussion about the Celestial kingdom. I was sitting in the back seat, just letting Hna Dibble and Smith talk. They were asking if we could have music and dance and go to concerts and drive in the Celestial Kingtom. Bueno, I have no idea and I don't think anyone has bothered to ask the Lord. Hna Dibble said, "ya know, I just love living. Being alive is such a good time!" I agree. Being alive is such a great time, but I can't imagine the Celestial Kingdom is all that shabby....

But, for the news of the week, Cindhy and her son, Carlos David, are on date for October 26th!! Its been a ride with them. We've taught her since May, and it's about time she gets baptized! We had a great lesson with her and the stage was set just right. We talked about commandments and how we have to follow them to receive blessings. Now, last time we asked her to set a date, she got scared and said she'd already been baptized and didn't think it was necessary and that she didn't want to. So, wow, we backed off and didn't ask her again. Well anyway, we had this lesson and just asked her again. She got quiet for a minute, then said, "ya know what? I've been thinking about it for the past couple weeks. It just keeps coming back. I know it's something we need to do and Carlos and I want to do. I don't know enough yet, but I think I'm ready." Wow. It was amazing. We all were holding our breaths, but then we set the date and started talking again. She said, "You came into our lives at the perfect moment. There aren't coincidences. We came to this country, all alone. We had no one. I was so lonely and I didn't know what to do. But now, we don't feel lonely anymore. Ya no los sentimos solos." That was such a big testimony builder to me. I never want anyone to feel alone and I'm so glad that Cindhy has found her place.

Exchanges in Piedmont!!! We went out to dinner with the Vazques familia :) wow I've missed them!! I went with Hna Bucknum and Smith.  We had a great time! On the exchange, we went to a Peruvian restaurant to eat with some members.  They own it and wanted to feed us.  I asked Hno Calderon what it was and he said "mongoncito al italiano."  Hmm.  Mondongo.  Oh.  Cow Stomach.  Yep it tastes NASTY.  and smells worse.  So long story short, Hna Smith got her first taste of real hispanic food :) haha my stomach hasn't been the same since.

NASCAR! It was fun to go around on the track and learn about all the car things.  

I don't actually remember anything, except that it's really expensive to do anything there. 

 Hna Macias.  Probably one of my favorite humans on the face of the planet.  

I love her to death.

And the Raleigh temple open house is going on, and Pedro went with his wife! 

He got baptized back in May and was so excited about it :)

Missions are awesome! Love it here :)

...and loving it
Hermana Belliston