Week 8: Transfer 1, MIAMI. the best place on earth :)

I AM IN FLORIDA. What??

We Flew the Nest of the CCM

Our District at the Mexico City Airport

I can't believe I have completed my first week in the mission field.  It's crazy.  So different than what I was expecting, but I love it.  How can I not?  I am serving the Lord. :)

I arrived at the airport to so many lovely and happy faces waiting to greet me. :) My Mission President is hands down the best man in the world(besides my family, of course).  His wife is so amazing as well. I am extremely lucky to be in this mission.  We ate a delicious American home cooked meal at the mission home and then had lots of training.  They then gave us Books of Mormon and had us go out on the street and give them away.  What?  I had only been there for not even 2 hours but it was an amazing experience.  First door, slammed in the face.  Second door, slammed in the face.  But then the Lord blessed us with a golden investigator.  She asked for directions to the church because she was coming on Sunday.  She asked us for 2 Books of Mormons for her and her son because she wanted him to have that influence in his life. Ok... how perfect is that?  Well.. of course she isn't in my area, so I hope the missionaries that are teaching her and taking really good care of her. :) I know that they are.  Then we met another kid on his porch getting ready to smoke that said he needs the gospel in his life and asked for a Book of Mormon and said that he would read it before he went to bed.  Wow.  The Lord is good to those he calls… Ok

I want all of you to know that missionary work is not that simple and not that easy.. because what was in store for me was nothing like that.

We slept in the hotel that night, which was wonderful!  I don't think I have ever slept better in my life. :) Then we had transfer meetings.

Here is the news that you have been waiting for.

I am in the Riverside South area, teaching only Latinos and Latinos only.  More Spanish practice for me.  We have our own ward here and it is bilingual.  Thank the heavens. :) The members of the ward are always wanting to help the missionaries, so they feed us everyday and they feed us the best food!! So.. pray that I won't gain weight.  I probably already have. ;)

My companion. Ok.  She is amazing.  Seriously!  I love her.  Her name is Hermana Lightheart and she is from Springfield, Oregon.  She has been on her mission for 8 months and she served in this area for one transfer before I got here. :) She really knows her stuff, and I have already learned so much from her.  I can't express how amazing she is.  Especially putting up with me. ;)

Hermana Lightheart and Hermana Snow

Elders and Sisters in the Riverside Ward

These Elders are in our ward.  Elder Flores is the District Leader and Elder Gomez is only one transfer ahead of me.. we are the babies in the family.  We had just finished eating dinner at a members home. 

Hermana Lightheart and I live in a house.  I sent you the address in the letter that I sent home so that you could look it up on google maps.  You are going to laugh.  We lock ourselves in our cage every night.  Yes, we are in the heart of MIAMI baby! :) 

We harvest every single day for an hour.  Harvest blessings are amazing.  No wonder why this mission is the highest baptizing mission in the US.. and the best mission in the church. ;)  Every Wednesday night the ward has a FHE and they do activities and share spiritual thoughts.  I was a little confused about what was going on.. mostly because it was in Spanish and it was my first day in Florida and I just was so overwhelmed.  The ward members were fabulous though and showed me so much love.  The people here are fantastic.  You all need to come out here and meet them.  You would love them.

Thursday I taught my first lesson. In English. We have an investigator named P**** and he wants us to teach him about the Bible.  The problem is.. he has a huge problem with the Word of Wisdom, so every time we go, he never remembers what we told him because he was soooo gone.  He hits on us every time we walk into the house and so... needless to say.. we are really going to have to crack down on this kid.  He said that he wants to make a deal.  We teach him about the Bible and he will teach us English.  His mom just sits there and watches us the whole time.  The last lesson we had with him, he was really stressed and told us he needed to go to the bathroom.  We could smell smoke coming from the bathroom and see it coming through the cracks of the door.  When I say my clothes are going to permanently smell like smoke.. I am not joking.  Everyone here suffers with the Word of Wisdom. haha I have come to love the smell because it means that the person is taking a great leap of faith and learning more about our Savior.  

We were leaving a teaching appointment on Thursday and we got in the car and were about to leave.  I saw this mother and daughter standing on the corner of the street.  I told Hermana Lightheart that we needed to get out and go talk to them.  It was weird and awkward because they were in a really intense conversation, but we did it anyway.  We asked them if we could share a harvest blessing with them and they accepted.  We talked to them for a while afterward and invited them to be baptized.  They said that they would love to learn more and would love to come to church.  Ok . Miracle.  But... now they aren't answering our phone calls.. so pray for A****** and E***. :)  I know that they would really appreciate the gospel in their lives.  It would be something that would bless them a lot!

We also taught the F**** Family.  J***, the dad, is a member but he is less active. T*****, the mom, and the two kids, M****** and J******, are not members.  We taught them how the gospel can bless their family... and THEY ACCEPTED BAPTISM.  We are going to see them tonight at a FHE with one of the members in the ward, but we are giving them a date tomorrow for the 7th!  Pray for them.  They are so prepared and I know it will really bless their lives, but the devil is evil!  We asked them why they wanted to be baptized and they had the best answers.  I honestly couldn't believe that they were saying those things.  The little boy, who is 11, said he wanted to be baptized because he wants to be born again and have a new start in his life.  Ok.... who says that kind of stuff?  The Lord has really prepared them. :)

Friday we went to teach P**** again.  We knocked on his door but a different kid opened the door.  We had never met him before.  He said to come back later because P**** was working so we went and talked to other investigators and went back to P****'s.  This kid was still there and we invited him and his mom to listen to the message.  This kids name is B****** and his mom is M*******.  They just lost their home and are now living with P**** and his mom M**** until they can find another place to live. 2 NEW INVESTIGATORS! :) So we ended up just teaching B****** because P**** was not even interested in listening and had no attention span.  B****** knows a lot about religion and wants more of it in his life right now because of the difficult time that he and his mom and going through.  We invited them to church and even went and knocked on their door Sunday but they didn't answer.  Pray for them as well.  I know that the Lord didn't send us there twice that day for no reason.  These individuals really, really need the gospel.

Saturday we met a lot of amazing people while we were harvesting.  One of our investigators, M******, accepted baptism for the 7th as well!  Keep her in your prayers as well.  I know that this will be difficult for her, but she can do it and it will bless her.  She is straight from Cuba and I can't understand one word she is saying.  haha  I just go off what I think she is saying and testify.  You can never go wrong with your testimony.

Sunday was stake conference so our ward got on a tour bus and drove all the way to Miami Lakes Stake.  It was awesome.  I met a lot of great people in the ward.  President Richardson and his wife spoke in stake conference.  It was also fun to see a bunch of missionaries that are in our stake as well. :)

President Richardson spoke about the importance of members being missionaries and helping the full time missionaries.  This isn't easy, but we see the most success when the members help us out and give us referrals. So.... my challenge to you is think of someone this week that can use the gospel in their lives and give that referral to the missionaries.  They will be so grateful.  It shows that you care about them!  I know that they will love you for that! :)

The work is really hastening!  The 6th stake has just been created in South Florida!  THAT IS AMAZING!

I love you all so much and know that I think about you everyday.  Keep up the hard work and enjoy a Swiss Navajo Taco for me.  Good luck with Swiss Days and tell everyone I love them and am sad that I am missing it.. but Florida needs me.

I sent a package today.. so keep your eyes open! :)

Love you sooooooo much!

Hermana Snow