Missionary Work

Missionary work is one thing that I admire greatly in this world.  I mean, if it wasn't for the missionaries, I wouldn't be where I am today, and that thought alone scares me.  I am blessed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints going on....2007....+ 5 years.....which would make 6 years now!  Holy Hannah that is a long time!!  ;P  Those 6 years have been the best years of my life, and I will tell ya it wasn't easy.  And to think that it all started out with two lovely ladies; women who were willing to put their lives on hold for a year and a half to serve the person that meant the most to them in their lives: Jesus Christ.  I could never show enough gratitude to all the missionaries that have taught me and my family throughout the course of those 6 years.   

This past conference, the Prophet Thomas S. Monson made a worldwide announcement that would change missionary work forever.  He said that effective immediately, young men will get to start their missions at the age of 18 instead of the old age of 19.  ;)  Young women will also get to serve sooner, the age dropping two years from 21 to 19.  From what I have heard from a friend the number of mission applications went up 471%!  How big of a blessing is that!?  I mean the more missionaries in the world, the more happiness they can send to people all around the world.  Drinking alcohol, drug abuse, swearing, premarital sex, and discrimination sometimes gets a rap of a certain type of happiness, but it's not.  In a world full of temptation, it's hard to stay on the straight and narrow path, but it's possible!  Who's to say you are weak?  Who's to say you can't?  It's possible.  The happiness of Jesus Christ is the best happiness there is, and he is there to help you every step of the way.  Find the missionaries and talk to them..bam, BaM, and BAM!!  :)

Alright, I will get off of my soapbox now and talk about this awesome person named Aaron.  He is serving a mission in Argentina, and has been out for almost exactly one year. I'm so proud of him, and his accomplishments!  He wrote me once, and told me about a speaker he had in the Missionary Training Center and his thoughts on the talk.  Well he mentioned an apple, and it's seeds.  He said that you can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can't count the number of apples in a seed.  My interpretation of the whole thing was that everyone has seeds, but when you plant the seed of love of the gospel in someone else then you don't know how far that love will go.  I am glad that he shared this with me, cause I have thought a lot about what it meant, and even though he may have got something different out of it, I'm glad that I have the ability to spread love of Christ to others.  So you don't have to be a missionary to share the gospel with others, but simply love the gospel enough to share it.  Of course this is no excuse not to go on a mission!!  I mean check out all the things you get to see...

If you go to Argentina you can see awesome monkey's wandering the streets...although this one looks like a gorilla.  ;P

You get to see awesome green leaves, and trees and stuff.

You get to hold small monkey's that pee on you...oh and make kids smile.  :)

You get to make new friends.

And you get to teach people the gospel EVERY DAY!!...and of course be a huge part of their baptism. :)

So missionary work is fantastic!  It too is really hard, especially when you are in a foreign country.  Your kinda like well how do you know?  Well I had the opportunity to serve a mini mission in Nashville, TN when I was 16.  It was the hardest, most awesome thing I have ever done in my life.  I was set apart as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and was dropped off with my two companions Sister Blackham, and Sister Austin.  They were some of the best teachers in the world, just saying.  :)  I too met awesome people...


I have to say that I forgot her name,but she is the kindest woman I have ever known.  She told us a story, where she once had 10 pairs of socks, well when she thought about it she didn't need 10 pairs of socks, she only needed 7 for each day of the week.  So she said she gave the rest away to someone who needed them.  How blessed I am to have met someone so giving!  I was also the first Mexican to ever hug her...she said so herself. :P

This family was really awesome, and she was a great cook!  Beautiful children too!

We got to do a lot more than I thought a missionary could do.  For example:

Sit in a ginormous rocking chair.  It was probably big enough I could use it for a bed.  :)

Visit the Factory, and talk to the old man who worked in the wood store.  He was very kind, and a very knowledgeable aged man.  

Buy a sword: Sister Austin

 Buy an ax:  Sister Blackham

Buy a Nerf Gun:  Me  :)

What did we do with them you ask?  Well that is for us to know, and you to maybe find out.  Let's just say it involved the dogs, shelter, and lots of fun.  :)

Throw gang signs up in the street because we arrived at home 15 minutes early.  It's what you do when you have extra time yo.  :P

And of course bike ALLLLLLL the way to church my last Sunday there.  I thought I was going to die.  I also thought I was going to kill the people driving cars, for showing too much thigh for my liking.  It's hard to keep a skirt down when you are riding a bike too big for your small legs.  I literally had to JUMP off when we stopped.  Can you imagine a small Mexican riding an over sized bike with a helmet that looked like a turtle shell on her head, jumping on and off bikes, and struggling to keep her dress down.  My companion Sister Austin had on a slip that was pretty long so she let me wear it.  We changed behind the church, when we were leaving to go back home.  Needless to say, it didn't help too much.  It is hilarious now that I think about it, but not so much in the moment!  ;P  Fun times, fun times!

I also can't forget how we celebrated Sister Austin's 6 month mark.  We burned nylons, and socks.  That my friends was a fun night. Check her face. :)

We make funny faces too!  My name tag is different from all the others, because when they ordered mine, they ordered an elders slider tag.  Since I didn't have pockets on my shirts we had to improvise.  So tape, and marker did extremely well in my time of need.  I also have two name tags now, that I love a lot.  :)






I had one priceless time serving the Lord, and I grew so much more than I ever thought I could.  Since I had only been a member a short time, my knowledge of the Book of Mormon was limited, but one thing I did have was a testimony.  I cried once because I really had no idea of what to say, and I felt bad, but my companions assured me that everything was going to be ok.  I got yelled at by this elderly man in the street, and I got a door slammed in my face.  Was I sad?  Of course!  I didn't understand their reasoning behind their actions, but I still knew that Heavenly Father loved them.  That meant that I had to try extra hard to do the same.  Loving people who do you wrong is hard, but hating them is even harder.  Living life with grudges is no way to live, so forgiveness and love are all important to our overall well being.

I have loved the time that I had to serve people, and sharing my testimony with them.  I hope to continue doing the same.  Maybe not with a tag, or with a skirt on, but with love.  Always with love.  Love for people, love for the gospel, love for Heavenly Father, and the special art of loving those for who they are.  Missionary work is important, so let's do the best we can to keep it above and beyond it's potential.