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

Picture Titles

Looking at Hermana Belliston's blog this afternoon, I realized I totally forgot to include the captions for her pictures last week! Oops! Well, here they are, in order of the photos from the last post:

1-2. International night!!
3. The two little girls are Sofie and Layla. They are the cutest things and I've basically adopted both of them.
4. Familia Martinez - he used to sing in a mariachi and is so cool. He has a phenomenal voice, which I love.
5. Sorry for the creepy eyes, but this is Cindy, Carlos David, Nilmar, and Janeth. We're teaching them and they loved the activity.
6. This is Karla. We just put her on date for the end of October:) she is so cute and we love her!!

Noche Internacional

Hola y'all,

This week went well! Lots of laughs and good times.  We had the international night this weekend which was incredible! Oh my word heather I loved it.  So basically I get to enjoy all the great Hispanic culture and amazing food, but I still have target and Walmart and no parasites.... I'm a big fan. Anyway, there were tons of people there and so much good food.  When I get home, ask me to make you tostones, mangu, carne molida con platanos, baleadas, tacos de carne asada, agua de sandia etc. It's the best food and from all of the countries.  It's amazing :)

Sorry this weekly is really short... not a ton to report.  This week we were able to teach Karla and put her on date.  She has a lot of things she has to do before she gets baptized, but we had a very good lesson about the Atonement of Christ and how we can do everything with His help. We read through Mosiah 14 and it was very powerful. I testified about how all of us have gone astray.  We've all made mistakes and wandered off.  Thankfully the Good Shepherd knows exactly what we need 100% of the time.  My favorite verse is the end of verse 5, and with His stripes we are healed.  Truly.  He always invites us to come so that He can heal us.  This Gospel is amazing and meant for everyone.

...and loving it!
Hermana Belliston

Something Like Cake

Hola yall,

K, the best thing about training a new missionary is that everything is so new and different and hilarious to them. For example:
We were teaching Cindhy this week. Her lesson went a little long so we were already 20 minutes late to our dinner appointment, but then she offered us tres leches cake so we couldn't decline! We sat down and then Cindhy asks if we'd like orange juice, too. Hna Smith is still working on understanding the people, so she readily agrees and Hna Dibble and I die laughing. Hna Smith hates orange juice, but she didn't know that's what Cindhy had said. So Cindhy brings out a big glass of orange juice and Hna Smith's eyes got big, but she smiled and said thanks. But it gets better. We start eating the cake, and I look down and see mold on my strawberry. I look in the middle of my cake and yep, more mold.  Hmmm, I thought.  I ate it and chugged some orange juice. We all finished the cake and left. As soon as we got out the door, Hna Dibble and I burst out laughing. Hna Smith had no idea she'd just eaten moldy cake and almost died when we told her. It was sooooo funny. Pobrecita. Surprisingly, we eat things like that all the time. I still haven't got food poisoning though, so.....

Dinner at Hna Macias house. Background on Hna Macias.... she gives all the misioneras princess names because she cant say our last names. So I'm Cinderella, Hna Dibble is Ana Ferris (not a princess) and Hna Smith is actually real life Elsa we decided. So we all got pictures with her daughter Karlita. And then she fed us these tacos. Okay folks. I literally touched the tip of my tongue on the meat and my whole mouth exploded. My lips when numb and I thought I wasn't going to make it. That's what happens when you cut up 7 jalapeño peppers and put them in a stir fry. 

Aside from that, the tacos were divine. 

This week went well :) Lots of teaching and studying. It's so great to be in a trio. We just laugh all day. Our ward was so relieved to finally see a new face and to get to feed someone new! They actually think Hna Dibble and I are members of the ward :p It's possible that we are. Man I love these people :)

Sometimes we do a lot of shopping on Pday...

So we had a downer week on Sacrament attendance... only our sweet Natalia came. But there will be more next week! We have planned Darwin's baptism for this weekend, and Natalia and Camila for the first week in October.

We did a booth for the temple! It was so fun!

I don't know if I sent our labor day brunch picture last week.... 

but we had brunch with Josh at Waffle House .

Hna Powell came to say hi and we got a generational picture!! 

I love being a missionary. I learn so much every day. We had a mission conference call with President Adler and he encouraged us to teach our people about faith and hope. We have some people who are beginning to doubt the truth of our message. I was thinking it's much better to help people realize how much faith they have rather than point out that they are doubting. Christ always pointed out the faith. I know as we cheerfully do all that we can, we can watch miracles happen.  What a joyful thing the Gospel is.

...and loving it
Hermana Belliston

Mija!!

Hola y'all,

This week went really well!! It's kind of a blur for sure.... but we welcomed Hna Smith!!! Wahoo.  She is SO great.  She came from the Mexico MTC so she's got a little different experience and speaks a lot better than I ever did for sure! Hna Dibble and her are basically the same person, as in the things they've done in their lives, but then we have really similar personalities.  Haha! We were at dinner yesterday, and Hna Cielo fed us enchiladas (the best enchiladas I've ever eaten to be honest), and Hna Cielo put down a plate of four enchiladas in front of Hna Smith and she looks at us and goes, "Nice! is that for us to share?" Nice try, chica.  We each ate a plate of four enchiladas, and 3 glasses of agua de sandia, and 3 pieces of watermelon.  It was divine and just about right, but poor Hna Smith was dead! Haha, it was a good time, though.  Good initiation :)

 Classic Trio!! It's a blast and a half!

Those enchiladas though....

So, every week we play soccer on Saturday.  The past three weeks in a row I've gotten nailed in the face by the ball and this past week was no exception.  So that's the update on Soccer.  I've gotten worse, not better as we would have hoped.

Kayla is the daughter of Denisse, someone we're teaching. I LOVE her.

Zone conference a little while ago!

Not a lot happened this week, but life is going well.  I'm loving it.  Being a missionary is the best way to go ever.  I've been learning a lot about the Atonement and Repentance this week and it's a beautiful thing.  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and that is my favorite thing to teach as the central part of Heavenly Father's Perfect Plan.

Wow! I love y'all.  Have a great week.

....and loving it
Hermana Belliston