8/26/13 I move helium tanks because I love Jesus

Hello family and friends!

I hope everyone is having a great week. It has been crazy warm here. Finally summer time I guess. Hope the start of school has been going well for some and also the mission for others. I have to say, this week has been filled with so much ridiculous and hilarious moments that its hard to put it all in. Just one of those weeks that go in the journal and make me think "oh man someone is going to love reading this one day". One of my favorites is when Hermana H decided it would be christlike for us to go refill the helium tank that our ward uses for the fair we have this week. So, we took forever trying to open the members shed and then we carried this super heavy tank into our car. Can you imagine two girls in skirts lunging a tank into a little car? Well that was us. :) Then we drove it over there and the people looked at us like we were dumb and said "you know that is really dangerous to transport a tank that way. You should have used a truck or something. And how the heck did you two put that in there?" It was funny and a little humiliating. After we got home with a fresh tank we went to a neighbors house to round up help to get it out of the car. When he did he looked at us and said, "Im surprised that this thing didnt break the seat" um.......yep. This is my life and what a great one it is.

So this week we got to go to the temple as a zone. It was so amazing! I love the spirit I feel when I go to the temple. Even walking around has a spiritual feeling to it. I was able to concentrate on the needs of those I teach and really just feel the peace of knowing that the savior and my Heavenly Father loves me. That is why I love to share the gospel. To help others feel that peace as well. Speaking of people we teach, there is this amazing hispanic family, well husband and wife, who we got as referral from someone in our english ward. We talked to Miguel last week and set up an appointment for wednesday in which we got to meet his wife Juana as well. When we came she was not happy to see us. She even said that she wasnt sure she wanted us in the house at all. We were shocked because we hadent said anything yet. So we kept talking to them about things other then the gospel like learning spanish. We then talked to the about the Book of Mormon and by the time we were done juana and Miguel were asking us when we could come back. I loved that, the gospel changes people. They are so much more open now to our message and are both reading the Book of Mormon together. Its so awsome. I love beeing a missionary!

I hope everyone has a great week! I love you all.

Hermana Cruz

8/19/13 I run from puppies because I love Jesus

Hola family and friends!!

It is great to be able to write this week. I feel like so much has happened that it is hard to write it all. Well I gues first off is that we are now in Springfield!!! So exciting. But we kind of feel like the hispanics went into hiding when we cmae because we are having trouble finding them. We moved into the Elders apartment after they left and even though they "cleaned" it, it is still driving me insane how dirty it is. Our fridge looked like a disaster zone. It is slowly but surly getting there. We love it though. There are two bathrooms which is awsome for when we are getting ready in the morning or for when we both run in to use the restroom. Also, our new elders are pretty cool. Elder Stradling and Elder Walsh. Elder Walsh is a new guy and Elder Stradling is new at training, being a district leader, and whitewashing an area. Buena suerte! Glad its not me. Naw, they are doing amazing though.

Funny stories of the week. My lovely companion has lived a little bit of a sheltered life and we were going to go this appointment that the elders set up for us before they left. We started to talk to the man and his daughters boyfriend came out so we talked to him too. He said he was going to an alternative school and Hermana H said "oh why are you going there?". It got really quiet and he just akwardly said, "because I wanted to". I was cracking up forever after that one and had to explain to her afterwards what an alternative highschool was. Its okay though because right after that we went to this house that has like 10 little puppies and after we talked to the girl there we were getting back in the car and they all attacked me. I jumped in the car because even if it doenst draw blood, it hurts to be bit so much.

We met a family this week, Rodney and Roxane who we taught the plan of salvation to. They just loved it. We are really excited about this family. We feel like the Lord has really prepared them to hear the gospel at this time. It is so exciting! I love this idea of trusting in the Lord. That was actually the topic of the devotional that we had last night, putting our trust in the Lord and not on other things. It was a really great lesson. The Lord really does show us that we can trust in him if we ask for that opportunity. He has given the invitation, he has promised to provide. I love that, we see little miracles like that everyday. For example, we go to see this lady up the road from us and there is a stop light that doesnt have a cross walk. You can only go when a car is there and the light is green. We always walk up to that light with no cars going the way we want in sight. We joke around saying, "alright God, we need to cross this street" and its funny because a car always ends up turning the corner so that we can cross. I love these little testiments to God's love for us. I know that he loves all of us and I am thankful for that knowledge.

I hope everyone has a great week. I love you all!

Hermana Cruz

8/12/13 I get soaked because I love Jesus!!

Hello family and friends!

Can't believe that my first transfer in the field is done. Aww!! So good, no great, news. Hermana Hendrickson and I are staying together . Anyways we are staying together and we ARE MOVING TO SPRINGFIELD!!!!!!! This has been a dream of the Spanish missionaries for about 4 transfers now but President McKee always said not right now. When President Andersen came it I think that almost everyone in the district, zone, and community talked to him about it and this transfer we are going. For those who don't know, Springfield is a small town about 25 minutes from where we live now and it is where all of our Spanish work is. the town itself kind of reminds me of downtown Turlock. It is not wealthy at all and there are certain areas we wont go after 6, but it is our town and we love it. We have been torn between spending time and Springfield and white house. But know we will be able to spend our time in Springfield and not feel like we are abandoning White House.

Greg's baptism went so well! The spirit was so strong and he felt it. He has been changed by the gospel so much. we will just continue praying and teaching him so soon he can be worthy of holding the priesthood. I sent my parents a picture of us at the baptism if anyone wants it just let me know. Its awesome because he was so mad at me for making him take a picture. (mom you would be so proud). He said I showed my true colors. Hector is also progressing really well toward baptism. He just got a job so we are pushing his baptism from Saturday to Sunday. He is so excited it is really funny! The other night we had our law of chastity lesson with him and we were so worried. We had never taught this lesson in Spanish. Luckily we had an amazing member with us who was a return missionary and he took right over and was amazing at it. HECTORS GETTING BAPTIZED! Thank you for all the prayers on his behalf. He is really amazing and the gospel will bless him so much.

So no dog stories this week. I know you all were looking forward to those. Its ridiculous how much dogs hate missionaries. I hope my future husband doesn't want a dog cuz it aint happening. However we have been enjoying the rain, its been crazy here. We have had a lot of beautiful thunder storms. Unfortunately sister Cruz has not taken the time to buy herself a rain jacket. (sorry mom). That's okay though because I have now had the experiences of working in pouring rain. haha its been fun. Its been raining so bad that our Zone Leader's apartment flooded. We had a lot of flash flood warnings by our place, but it has been all good. I love it here. I love the work and the people. I know that this is the place that I am suppose to be. I have seen the gospel change people's lives and I am thankful for the calling to help share it. Sorry this is a long one this week, the Lord has just allowed so many miracles that I felt that I had to share.

I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Hermana Cruz

Nashville Music Hall of fame

Sis Hendrickson and Sister Cruz

Sis Cruz Having fun on her PD

 

8/5/13 I eat gross melons because I love Jesus!

Hola familia y amigos!

I hope everyone had a really good week. Mine has been awesome. I have learned so much this week about the miracles and the power of prayer and the Lord. So first, all the fun and of course funny things that happened this week. I got to play volleyball on Monday which was a lot of fun; we dominated!!! Today I have convinced the rest of the Elders in my district to come to White House to play volibol and other games. I am really excited because Hermana H and I will be making homemade cookies which is something I've been wanting to do since I got here. It is going to be a great day!! Also, I got to actually mow a lawn today with the o turn lawn mower that I learned to drive last week. It was awesome and pretty straight for a first timer. I only had problems with turning properly because Elder Webb never taught me how to do that. It was really good though (if I do say so myself). Now on to my favorite topic, the food. I will probably die because of the food here, or at least come off the plain rolling. It is ridiculous! These people served us melons the other night which for those who know me, is a no go. But being a good missionary I ate and of course I was the one that they insisted eat about 3 slices of the melon because I wasn't talking as much as my companion. Then, last night was probably the best experience so far. We had dinner with this really sweet Hispanic woman who was really excited to have us over...I think. She spoke Spanish about a mile a minute so I honestly am not sure what she said at all. She gave us a huge bowel of jello and fruit (yum.....) and a whole peach. I was done after that, but then she proceeded to cook us dinner. Fried fish probably about a foot long each, mac and cheese, and veggies. I think I probably could have feed 3 people with the amount she put on my plate. Yep, I almost threw up and I actually had to tell her that I was really sorry but there was no way I was going to be able to finish it. So that was the fun/funny/probably lame stuff to tell you all, now on to the most amazing part of my week.

First of all Greg is preparing well for his baptism and we are really excited for him. I think he is starting to get really nervous though, but I know he will be okay. The Lord has worked so hard on him and there have been so many prayers given on his behalf that I believe he will be fine. Saturday we had a missionary day with the youth of the White House ward which was absolutely amazing!! Member presence brings miracles!!! I say it all the time because it is so true. So a whole bunch of missionaries where a part of it, but Hrm H and I got to take out 2 laurels from the ward to Springfield. We had a lot of appointments fall through though we did have 2 good lessons with some of our investigators. So we had an hour and decided to take the girls knocking. We split up and I was a nervous reck trying not to show it. I am not the best at knocking because I just have this problem starting a conversation with people. However, Katy (the Laurel) and I were able to teach 2 lessons and got 2 new investigators! It truly was a miracle and just shows the promise that if you open your mouth the Lord will help you with what to say. Its just that action of doing it. Also some of the Sisters that came to help worked in our area of White House with their girls. They were able to find us 2 new investigators from that. I loved it.

Now for the best news of all........HECTORS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!! I know right? We have been praying so hard for him and he has finally agreed. August 17th. we went a different route with him talking about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and he said he wanted that so he would be baptized. Aww, we are just so humbled by the power that the spirit has had on him. He really is just so ready for baptism and a great example of just how diligent we should all be in studying the gospel. Well as you all can tell we are really excited for him. Great things are happening here in Madison. Saturday we are having 6 baptisms at the ward building. Its crazy!

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Hermana Cruz

7/29/13 I need to stay away from dogs period....because I love Jesus!

Hola familia y amigos!

I hope everyone has been having a great week. It has been absolutely amazing here. No, I have not turned into a country music fan, I don't have to listen to it to much. The story behind my subject line this week... well actually I have two great stories from the life of Hermana Cruz to tell. My life is crazy! Even the Elders from our district have realized that all they have to do is call us when they are having a bad day, and we would tell them something about our day which would make them laugh. So the two main events this week was, one our nice neighbors decided to give us their old couch. Now we already have a couch but we decided to accept it. We then had this grand idea to take our old couch back into our spare bedroom to study in there because sometimes our neighbors our loud. So picture two sisters in our pjs taking a big green ugly couch through a small hallway into a back room.....yep. We realized that it just wasn't going to work and about 5 seconds later we realized that the couch was now stuck in the hallway. We finally got it out, after about 20 minutes but yea that is one idea that will haunt me. Okay next story; I did stay away from biting dogs this week, however I just have a problem with dogs in general. We were reading at a member's home and her big dog came and got on my lap. As I was trying to get it off it licked me, RIGHT ON THE MOUTH!!!!!! I had to wash my face after that. I don't think I want a dog when I get home. they either want to kill me or kiss me and I can't handle this hot and cold emotions. :) Also, rode my bike this week and one day Hermana Hendrickson forgot our GPS and so we were trying to guess where this one Lady lived. Hermana h decided to take us the long way around with a lot of hills. Our motto was "ten pounds lighter!" Not sure how well that worked but it made me feel better.

So I have to tell everyone about my week.Its so crazy because we are not sure what we've done to warrant such miracles this week, but they have been happening. We were really hoping that Hector would have a baptismal date this week and unfortunately that didn't happen. He is just still so worried about knowing enough, but he is progressing really well. However, we have been teaching another guy named Greg for about 3 lessons now. I'm not sure if I've talked about him before but he got kicked out of scientology (which is the scariest "religion" in the world, I'm convinced that it is Satan's church) and is now looking for a different religion. Well we have been meeting with him, its weird though because he has meet with missionaries before but haven't had the best experiences yet something keeps making him come back. Its a little sad because he had no concept that he was a child of God and that he had a purpose. Anyways, he randomly texted us this week and here is how the conversation went.

"Hey can I ask you a question?"

"Yea sure you can ask us anything Greg"

"When can I finally be baptized?"

WHAT!!!!!! Yes we were in shock. I was going to write today how he comically committed himself to come to church yesterday (which he did), but now I get to tell you all that Greg is going to be baptized on August 10th. We are so excited for him, and even if this stems from a need to be excepted somewhere, it is also motivated by a tiny inch of faith which I know the Lord is very happy with. Its so great. The miracles that we have experienced this week. Wow, that was big, but little things as well; random rides from members and great lessons with investigators. I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord and how mindful of us he is right now.

Well that was my week, sorry about the false letter. My bad. I hope everyone has a great week. I love you all!

Hermana Cruz

7/22/13 I got bite by a dog....because I love Jesus

Hello family and friends!

No worrying the dog only nipped me, there was no blood. It was just a tiny mom protecting her puppies which were underneath the porch that we didn't see. But it does make for a good story. This week has been so crazy and Im glad that I have time right now to email. First of all I just want to say that it is amazing how much I am growing to love the mission. I think that just about everyday this week I have been going home feeling the spirit so strongly and just feeling so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission. It has just been so amazing so far. Service this week was on the farm again and I got to ride on a tractor and I was taught how to drive a lawn mower. It was so much fun! Also, once again I will say how beautiful Tennessee is. We have been having some crazy lightening and thunder storms lately. It has rained a lot here.

So, story behind the dog incident. My companion, who is amazing by the way, is also the Sister Training leader of our zone. She had to go to a meeting with another sister all day Tuesday which means I was another companion. Sister Larson was her name and she had no idea about the area and was an English speaking missionary. Well, I don't know much about the area yet and I don't really speak Spanish well so.... yep. My companion and I tentivly made plans for that day because I really didn't want to knock. I think that is the one thing I am the most uncomfortable with. But of course like I said before, I think the Lord just likes to laugh at me because of course all our appointments feel through and so what did we do for about 3 hours? We knocked. :P Of course. Actually though it turned out to be pretty fun and I met some really great potentials. I still am not the most comfortable with door knocking, but its not the most scariest thing I can do now so I guess that is what the Lord had in mind.

I have to tell everyone about three very amazing people in my life right now. the Johnsons are the senior couple in Madison and they are absolutely amazing. They want to do everything they can to help the missionaries in any aspect that they can. I talked to Sister Johnson about what I should do for my bug bites and she went and bought me skin-so-soft from Avon as well as gave me this salve for itching that she bought at an Amish store. And she wouldn't even let me pay her back. They are so sweet and exhibit Christ like love that I really hope to have one day. Also the other person, Hector Regal. He is a Spanish man that we are teaching who lives a few blocks from us. He is so ready for the gospel and loves to read the Book of Mormon. He even said he wants to be baptized!!!!! What!! But, he doesn't want to commit to a date because he is afraid that he doesn't know enough yet and also he is illegal so he cant really get a job and has to rely on his brothers family. Its kind of sad and we don't want to push him too much, but we have already seen the blessings the gospel has made in his life. We took him to church yesterday and during Sunday school he actually answered questions! This really shy man talked about why he loves reading the Book of Mormon. We are praying so hard for him and it has been such a blessing getting to teach him.

Okay last, the reason why this letter is so late is because Hermana Hendrickson and I as well as two of our Elders went to downtown Nashville today!! It was so much fun, though it was really really wet. We got to see really cool trinket stores, ate at a trailer park hamburger joint, and went to the country music hall of fame (which was actually pretty cool because there was a lot of old folk music stuff like bluegrass). Yes mom, I did take pictures... :) It was a lot of fun and I am excited for this week. I can't believe that I have been out 2 months already. Crazy. Well I will talk to you all next week! As the Hispanics say, "gracias a Dios!"

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Cruz