#46 [Cidra - 22] Jan. 27th, 2014

Happy Marissa is Cool Day! (It's the 27th day of each month.)
 
This week was a good one, there were a lot of miracles. Yesterday was probably the best day on my mission so far because it was the ending of one of the most spiritual weeks of my life. I guess I just had a lot of "Aha!" moments about the Gospel, and I loved it.

Before I forget, I want to send a Birthday Shout-out to ASHLYN MARIE RIRIE!!! I dunno if she reads the mission blog anymore, but let her know I love her and thought of her the other day on her day of birth. I hope she got the card I sent...

ANYWHO... I want to include in this week's email the things I've felt in regards to two investigators that we have.
•    G__ S__ got baptized yesterday and it was a straight up miracle because we haven't even known him for a whole month. About three days after the very first lesson, his grandson called us and told us that he went to the hospital and some tests came back telling him that he has a brain tumor, but he wanted to be baptized!
    G__ is a very prideful guy, but with good reason, because he's extremely intelligent. He's never been into religion, he's always considered himself too tough for it. Obviously, he's a believer, but he's never asked very many questions because he knows that God exists and that He has a plan, but we are just all supposed to believe in what we have been told through the Bible. However, when his grandson, A__, came back to live here from Florida and started sharing things about the Church, that got his attention, and so we met him on New Year's Eve. Every time we've visited him, it's been difficult to teach him because HE wants to teach US. But ever since he decided he wanted to be baptized, he's been pretty good during the lessons and very receptive. I felt humbled to know that Hermana Archila and I got to teach such an intelligent person such as him, and I almost felt like I didn't know enough sometimes. But all the questions he asked have answers: answers that can only be found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it has been amazing to see his faith growing. Even though he doesn't know everything about the Church, he knows it's true, and he was willing to be baptized yesterday. I really can't explain how it's been, seeing this change in him. And I always thought that he wasn't necessarily getting baptized because he really believes in all of this. But yesterday, it was incredible. His baptism was genuine, and I could see that in him afterwards. Hermana Archila and I have spoken about it since, and he really did "[become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things...even as a child doth submit to his father." (Mosiah 3:19). This man, who refused all his life to ever be broken, bent yesterday as he submersed himself in the waters of baptism. And it was amazing to see.

•    W__ is another miracle we've witnessed this week. He is the most receptive Puerto Rican I've met so far on my mission. HE came up to US asking for a Book of Mormon and when I first met him, I was nervous about it because there are a lot of people put in our path who want to tear down our faith in the restored Gospel, who ask us questions to confuse us. And a lot of times, there are people who refuse to be taught, and even if they listen, they refuse to apply what they learn. But W__ isn't anything like anyone I've met here. He is genuinely searching for answers. The first thing he said to us when we first taught him was, "I want to know what you guys believe. Why are you so happy and what is it that you guys have that I don't. Why am I NOT a Mormon?" He knows a little bit about the Church; he knows about the Word of Wisdom, and has seen the temples, but that's about all. He came to Church yesterday for the first time and it was really funny because he said that it felt like everything wrong was happening before to inhibit him from visiting our Church yesterday morning. But he made it, and he even stayed to see G__'s baptism! Last night, we went to his house and taught the Plan of Salvation and he was blown away about the doctrine of Eternal Marriage and Families. He said he wants to know if the Church is true and he said he was going to be getting up every day at 5:30 a.m. to read from the Book of Mormon and take the challenge to ask God if it's true because he wants to know for sure. He said he's coming to Church next Sunday and also accepted the invitation to be baptized on the 9th of February. We are really, really excited about him. He is a very, very special soul. I'm thankful we found him and met him and have been able to share the Gospel with him. But the funny thing is, HE found US.

I know the Lord is working alongside us. I've seen His hand so much this past month. There are so many things that have happened that I know were tender mercies of the Lord and I am so thankful I've been lucky enough to see them and experience them for myself. I'm just very happy I came out here. I've become such a better person because of everything I've learned.

Just so everyone knows, the mission office will not be receiving our (the missionaries') mail anymore, so people will have to send me mail directly to my current address. As transfers are coming up in about two weeks, I want people to know that their letters need to be mailed to this address for the next two weeks. If I'm transferred, I'll let you know where I am the following P-day. My current mailing address is:

Calle Las Flores
#51 Parcelas Polvorin
Cayey, Puerto Rico 00736

Now I'll write back to this week's email from you guys. THANK YOU FOR EMAILING ME EVERY WEEK! I love hearing from you all!! (Well, I mean Mom and Dad)...

I plan to send some thank-you notes to the people who wrote to me from the ward Christmas party, too. Those will be coming soon. Also, I plan on sending a box of stuff home. Mostly a bunch of letters and other miscellaneous items I can't necessarily use while I'm here. So if you get a package from me, just put it in my room, please! :) No rush, though. I'll send it eventually.

I remember riding scooters to school with Madeline. I think we did it a few times. I also remember walking with a bunch of kids from the ward. Good times. That feels like another lifetime ago...

You are so very lucky that you get to go to the temple as often as you do. I definitely took that for granted while I was home and don't plan on committing that same error again. I can't wait to see the new movie(s), too!!! :)

Rach is a genius for sending a letter to S__! I wanna do the same, but probably do something cooler so I don't copy her idea and make her mad for it. :) Jeff, tell her to get excited.

Well anyway, I feel like that's really all I've got to say. I'm finishing my second journal on the mission. I am excited about it. I love reading my first journal entries and seeing how much of a child I was.

I will be attaching photos. I miss you all a ton and hope everything continues to go well in your lives! I pray for you every day and night and all the times in between! :)

-Hermana Erickson

#45 [Cidra - 21] Jan. 20th, 2014

Hello, happy Martin Luther King's Day!

This week was good, we've got a lot of new investigators that we're excited about, and I think I mentioned them last week, but we just went back and taught them again this week to find out that none of them had progressed! It's frustrating when we have such great spiritual lessons and the people decide not to act on the invitations we extend to them. But hopefully that'll change.

We have a baptism on Sunday. His name is G__ and he's a members' grandfather. We're excited about him and think it's an absolute miracle that he's getting baptized. He asks a lot of questions, like I mentioned before, but it's amazing to see how the Lord prepares him, because his questions are always related to the things we plan to teach him that day. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, and there are no problems there. We'll be teaching about tithing and the law of the fast sometime this week. 

Hermana Archila's English is great!! We teach G__ in English, since that's his first language, and she speaks SO well! She's nervous, obviously, but I feel that if she has the opportunity to go to an environment that obligates her to speak the language all the time, she'd be even better and gain a lot of confidence. I'm thankful to have her as a companion and for the opportunity I've had to train her. She's a great missionary and makes me proud. I'm proud of all the daughters I've had on my mission so far! :)
 
I rode on the trolley for the first time this week and it was such a fun experience! There were only 3 other people on the trolley, and we talked to all three. None of them were interested, but that didn't get me down at all because I felt like I was at Disneyland riding on that thing!! :) It was probably the highlight of my week. But on a more spiritual note, I've definitely seen the Lord's hand in this work this week because we leave the house, not knowing how we're going to get to where we need to go that day, nor do we know how we'll be getting back, but the Lord ALWAYS provides! It's amazing!

So we got permission from President Smartt to go to church with our landlord (the retired Baptist pastor), and we went yesterday evening. I'd never been to a different church service other than ours before in my life (other than a Catholic Mass, but I couldn't hear anything that was said), and it was an amazing, eye-opening experience for me. It made me realize how very lucky I was to be born into the true church; I've never had to go searching for the truth in my life, or leave a church meeting feeling empty/like I hadn't learned anything. Last night, I experienced what it feels like to NOT feel the Spirit in a church meeting, and it was really so amazing. All the shouting of "hallelujah!" and "praise Jesus!!" was distracting, but it made it interesting as well. I loved all the songs we sang, too! I even played the tambourine!! I could tell the difference from the moment I walked in the door! The people were really nice, and they thought it was cool that we were there visiting them, so that was great because I was nervous that they'd get upset that we had come. But it was a good learning experience for me and made me ever more grateful for the gospel in my life.

Well anyway, I'll reply to your email now.

Mom! That's great that you're motivated to exercise!! We'll have to go walking around together when I get home! I miss doing that with you.

To answer your question, no, we don't have iPads. And yes, today was another holiday in Puerto Rico.

Glad to hear everyone's doing okay and still active in the Church. I miss you sometimes. Just kidding! :) I miss you all the time! Love you!!

-Hermana Erickson

p.s. My hair is loonngg!! :) :)

#44 [Cidra - 20] Jan. 13th, 2014

HAPPY 10 MONTHS TO ME! HAPPY 13 MONTHS TO RAE! I can't believe how quickly time is FLYING by.

This week was really great. It was full of surprises! Our investigator, A___, actually didn't get baptized this Saturday. It's a long story, but he's not ready and I feel like he has a problem with expressing how he really feels, or in other words, he's one of those people who struggles saying "no." We went to pick him up at 3pm and he wasn't there; when we called, he didn't answer. So our WML called, and he answered. He said he was at Burger King with his friends and said he couldn't go to the baptism because he'd promised his friend's mom that he'd have her back at home by 5pm and if he went to the baptism, he wouldn't be back in time to keep his commitment with her. Psh. OKAY!? Someone who has a chance to make a promise with the Lord and then throws that in the back seat for a commitment with some random lady definitely does NOT understand the importance of this covenant. I was amazed more than anything else. So we'll see, but I don't think he even wanted anything in the first place. But at least he didn't get baptized just to please US. That's what I'm most grateful for in all this.

Two of the sister missionaries that Marissa has trained -- Sisters conference

We found some new investigators this week that we're excited about. A family of women, M__, I__, and her 12 year-old daughter C__. They're such great people!! We taught them the Plan of Salvation because M__ has lost a lot of relatives and when we first met her, that's all she could talk about; she showed us all of the pictures of her dead relatives and so we knew that sharing that doctrine would be perfect for her. We explained and shared from the Book of Mormon and taught from the Bible as well. It was such a great lesson and we feel like they're going to progress a lot.

We taught a family of 4 yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. We played Restoration Jenga, and the parents were amazed at how true the story of the restoration is. They loved the lesson and we're going back on Thursday. I'm really excited, this family is amazing and I feel like they're very prepared to receive the Gospel.

I'm really excited for the next few weeks here in Cidra. Things without the car are going great, it's almost a game every day trying to figure out how we'll get from one place to the next, but it's amazing how the Lord provides for us. I've realized that this change has been such a blessing because it's helped me realize that this is HIS work and this is HIS glory, and before, I felt like I could do practically everything on our own. I rely on Him a lot more than I did, and it's helping me to be much more dependent on the members even though I honestly hate it so bad. I HATE ASKING FOR HELP! ...But it's a really good lesson and I'm thankful that the President followed through on the revelation he received.

Anyway, to kill the suspense, I'll tell you about the crazy dream I had. This past week, me and Hermana Archila were talking about how weird it would've been to be Mary, like, to find out you're pregnant but still being a virgin. But in my dream, I gave birth to twins and had NO idea how I'd conceived or anything like that. But I KNEW they were mine, and they were so cute! And I named them and everything, but I was scared to bring them home and show them to the family because Rachel and I had only been gone for a week at school and we went to the hospital and then I came home with two little bundles of joy! And I felt bad because Mom and Dad are still too young to be grandparents. And I was scared to bring them home just because I was nervous about what the ward members would say! Hahahaha. The dream was all in Spanish, too, so that was cool. But anyway, that's just one of the many MANY weird dreams I've had out here. :)

Well anyway, enough with the weirdness, I love you and miss you all so much and I am so thankful for all your support. Thank you for raising us the way you did, Mom and Dad. I love you so much and am so thankful to be part of this family! DAD- I listen to Saturday's Warrior and think of you! "We've all got Daddy's nose!!!"

OH MY! ALSO! I FORGOT! LAST NIGHT, I experienced my first EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd only been asleep for about an hour, when Hermana Archila and I just woke up at the exact same time and she said, "It's an earthquake!" Apparently it was rated 6.5, so pretty crazy. The epicenter was in Mayaguez, on the other side of the island, but we felt it, and it was strong. It felt like we were getting tossed about on the sea! (Which, if you think about it, that's really what happened...) But it got me freaked out a little bit because I have NO idea what we'd do in the case of a serious natural disaster. But I fell back asleep without any problems. I was scared, but I prayed myself to sleep. Do you know if Rae felt it at all?

But anyway, thank the Lord that He watches out for and takes care of us. I love you! Bye!

-Hermana Erickson

#43 [Cidra - 19] Jan. 7th, 2014

(A day later due to Three Kings Day)
 
Hello, Fambamily!!

This week has been a good one. Happy new year, by the way. So on New Years Eve, we met one of the members' grandparents who is interested in the church. His name is G__ and he asks a lot of questions. We teach him in English and it's so so so weird to teach in English, but it's been really good, especially for Hermana Archila because she now has a reason to study and practice in English. I can’t decide what I like better, teaching in English, or teaching in Spanish. But we did end up staying up until 1 am or so because our neighbors were going insane with fireworks and the music. It reminded me of the fireworks we do on the 4th of July at Keith and Juliann's house. They were that spectacular. People were also lighting lanterns, like on Tangled!! It looked amazing! It was a lot of fun.

On New Years Day, we got a phone call that affected everyone: we aren't allowed to have a car or use bicycles. All missionaries in the PRSJ mission. We don't know why, but it was a big change. So we cleaned out the car and had it in the church parking lot by 11 that morning. We've been on foot ever since. It's been interesting... especially because public transportation doesn't exist here. So ever since we haven't had the commodity of a car, the members in Cayey have really stepped up to the plate to help us out. It's been really nice to see how supportive they are. Although it's been difficult, I also feel like this is exactly what they needed to get them more involved in missionary work. This change is also requiring me to have a lot more humility as we have to depend on them a lot more, and on the Lord. (More than we already do!) We've met a lot of great people though since were on foot now; we're meeting people I don't think we would have ever met had we still been riding in the car to get to the places we need to go.

Sunday, we didn't have any investigators at church. One of our investigators, A__, is getting baptized on Saturday, so we are excited about that. I’ll be sure to let you know how that goes next Monday.

Our landlord threw a party yesterday since it was 3 Kings Day. (It’s basically Christmas all over again) and so Hermana Archila and I took advantage of the opportunity to serve the people there. As he is a Baptist pastor, he knows a lot of people, so there were over 70 people there. Lots of people stopped and talked with us and loved that we were there helping. She and I were the waitresses, basically, and took away people's plates and washed the dishes. It was a fun service activity.

But because of the holiday, we didn't have p-day yesterday. It was nice to hear from all of you. Thanks for writing to me every week. You guys are great and always make me laugh.

Like Rae, I wrote a lot of new years resolutions, but I didn't bring my journal along with me either, and since I can’t remember any of them right now I guess you won’t get to know what they are. But I also received the package from Bro. Brown with all the testimonies in it. I loved it! I’m not sure what I will do with them either though since they're in English, but hopefully the Lord will send me to work on the islands and I’ll be able to put them to use.

Well anyway, I love you all and miss you a lot. Have a good week!

Hermana Erickson #2