Firetrucks at 4am & Popped Bike Tires

 Hey everyone! This email's a little longer but I just had too much I wanted to share! It was a great week!!

We met a lot of awesome people this week and I'm super excited to see them progress! I'm trying not to get too attached to everyone yet though haha because something that I feel like a lot of the people we talk to really struggle with is keeping commitments or being completely honest with us. Hermana Silva and I say the mission's giving us trust issues hahaha. We don't get rejected a ton, which is nice, but it can get frustrating when we feel like we had a really promising conversation with someone who commited to church or a lesson, and they never show up, never answer us, or tell us they're too busy right as we stop by. A lot of people tell us they're not home when we know for a fact they're home and even see them at their apartment complex. But there are so many amazing people we're teaching too, so I just need to be patient in remembering everyone's free to make their own choices!

We have two awesome friends on date for baptism, Alfredo and Carlomanuel! They both have a strong desire to learn and be a part of the church, but we're still helping them as they follow word of wisdom. Pray for them in having the strength to sacrifice habits for the Lord!

On Friday night Hermana Silva and I had taught a few lessons at Cassia and had one more lesson planned for that night with a friend named Julian, but he hadn't confirmed and it was a pretty far bikeride. I was cold and hungry and neither of us really wanted to go, especially because we didn't even know if Julian would answer or let us in for a lesson, but Hermana Silva and I were both feeling a little guilty if we didn't go. We decided to say a quick prayer to know whether or not we should go, and the prayer helped give us the motivation to get back on our bikes and head over. Julian was home, and his girlfriend was too! His girlfriend isn't usually super involved in the lessons, but that night they were both excited and ready to sit and listen. It felt like they'd been prepared for that night, and I felt the Spirit really strong. They still need to be married and continue to learn before baptism, but that lesson helped me connect better with them, and it felt like Heavenly Father had helped answer our prayer and strengthen us for the lesson that night.

Our district leader, Elder Wood, just got suddenly transferred to a new area in the mission to be a district leader there, so one of the other elders in our district, Elder Jones, is our new district leader. It was literally an overnight change and nobody had any warning so that came as a shocker!

The tube in my bike tire popped twice this week.. apparently something was getting caught in the tire and popping it over and over! It's fixed now but we got stranded a few times until the other Hermanas came to the rescue and picked us up.

On Monday night, Hermana Silva and I woke up at 4am because the fire alarms started going off in our apartment building. Let me just say waking up to loud fire alarms is kind of a scary feeling haha buuuut thankfully it was a false alarm and Hermana Silva just had to stand outside in the cold in our pajamas for like 15 mins with everyone else in the building until the firetrucks showed up!

On Sunday and I started feeling a little down thinking about how I still struggle with the languages and don't know how much I'm really contributing to our successes. That evening, for our mixteco branch, a lady showed up at the church and told me her name was Roberta and I had invited her to church. When she pointed at me I was super surprised and a little confused. We invite people to church over facebook messenger all the time, but so far on my mission no one I've invited who's committed has actually shown up. The feeling that came with sitting with her in the chapel, explaining sacrament ordinances, and talking after the meeting was so amazing. It brought me so much joy to share it all with her! We're teaching her and her cute family tomorrow! Roberta felt like a little reminder from Heaven for me that I'm so lucky to get to share this gospel. I'm not saying God's encouragement will always necessarily come in the form of a person attending church, but Heavenly Father really does see us and knows how and when He can best help us in times of discouragement.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

This week, we sang a hymn for district council that I've sung before, but the lyrics really stuck out to me this time. (I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go)

"It may not be on the mountain height

Or over the stormy sea,

It may not be at the battle’s front

My Lord will have need of me."

Sometimes the Lord isn't asking us to do anything extreme or exciting to follow His will for us.

Sometimes He needs us to continue with the repetition or the mundane, doing things that don't sound too fun and things that don't give us any recognition. These things prepare us for greater work ahead, in this life or the next.

It can feel like all we do is work in our church callings, read the same stories in the scriptures, say the same things in our prayers. Take care of the family or go to work every day.

There have been so many amazing experiences on my mission, but there are also a lot of moments that can feel repetitive and not super exciting. It can get hard to feel like I'm doing the same things each day! But I felt God's love wash over me as I sang these lines and remembered that He needs me to be doing what I'm doing, even when the process feels slow.

The Lord sees ALL our efforts, and He's shaping us into exactly who He wants us to be. Someday we'll look back and see what we've become, even if it doesn't feel like our day-to-day efforts mean very much. The results really will come.

My invitation for you all is to make time for the small and simple things this week! I know that daily prayer and scripture study really are life-changing. The greatest outcomes take time!

I love you all!

Hermana DeMordaunt

PICTURES:

-firetruck outside the apt

-teaching our online English class for spanish-speakers!

-selfie w/ pretty sunset

-pretty sidewalk art

-me carrying my bike with a popped tire

-me carrying my bike with a popped tire pt 2

-service project! we took food out of a truck to donate to different service organizations/churches!

-our recent member joaquin giving us free crepes at his food truck

Ward Party & Exchanges :)

 Hellooo friends and family! This week was so fun and I can't wait to share some of it with you!

Saturday night we had a super fun ward party!! It was to celebrate all the cultures so everyone brought different food from where they were from and it was SO good! Except at the end I tried some rice that had chili peppers in it and wowww my mouth has never burned so bad haha. We had two awesome progressing friends come, Roberto and Carlomanuel. There were also a bunch of dancers from the nearby high school mexican dancing group who came and performed, so all their families came to watch and the church gym was nice and packed!

Hermana Silva made some brazilian fudge for the ward party which was so good AND she made me brazilian black beans this last week so let's just say I've been fed well.

On Sunday, Fidelina and Angelina were confirmed members of the Church and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost! I'm so happy for them. Talking about the blessings of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost so often has really put into perspective what a HUGE blessing it is to have the Spirit ALWAYS with us! The Spirit can guide us in every moment if we're putting ourselves in a place to recieve. I definitely don't think I could fully understand the magnitude and power of baptism and the Holy Ghost as an 8-year-old, and I don't think any of us can completely understand it in this life, but getting to share this blessing with others has helped open my eyes to its importance!

Monday we met our new district! They mixed the english and spanish-speakers, which they don't normally do, but I'm excited for this transfer and to get know them all more!!

I had an exchange yesterday with a brand new Hermana! Her name's Hermana Nelson and she literally just got here this last Friday. I was so nervous to lead out area with her because I wanted to help give her a good first impression of the mission but I still don't always feel like I know what I'm doing half the time. It ended up being a great day overall, a couple ups and downs with figuring out getting to lessons on-time with our bikes, but it all worked out and Heavenly Father's hand was definitely involved!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

This week I want to share a quote I read from the talk "Fear Not, Believe Only!" by Elder Holland.

"Yes, we might sometimes want to run away from where we are, but we certainly should never run away from who we are - children of the living God who loves us, who is always ready to forgive us, and who will never, ever forsake us."

Life isn't always going to be easy, but our Heavenly Father is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He wants us to remember that our identity as children of God NEVER changes, and He'll be there for us through both the high and low points in our lives.

My challenge for you all this week is to pray and ask God how He feels about YOU. I promise you you'll be blessed to feel His love, especially as you focus on recognizing day-to-day blessings.

I love you all & have the best week!

Hermana DeMordaunt

PICTURES:

-ice cream to celebrate my 3 months!! (this ice cream was wayy too expensive for its size but good memory so it's okay I guess haha)

-the 4 hermanas of our zone!

-group picture with cornelio, a pretty new member who just recieved his mission call to salt lake city!

-our new-member friend Santi got the priesthood!

-cute jackie and me!

-dinner at the ward party

-comp pic in the library study-room :)

1st Transfer DONE!

 Hi everyone!!

We just got our transfer news this morning, and... I'm staying here in Santa Maria with Hermana Silva yay!! I'm relieved now because we wanted to stay here! My P-day's on Thursday just this week because of transfers :)

Two of our sweet friends got baptized this last Sunday! Fidelina and Angelina! These two girls have been coming to church for a little while now because their aunt, who loves the church but sadly has a boyfriend who's been keeping her from getting baptized, has been taking them with her. They're now our newest members of the Church and I'm so happy for them! Say prayers for her parents, because we hope that they can be inspired by their daughters' examples!

Happy late Halloween!! We didn't really do anything for Halloween, just wore each other's name tags in front of our district and told them we were dressed up as each other haha. Halloween night we had a missionary zoom and then just got ready for bed. I walked out of our room into the kitchen area and Hermana Silva said, "I put up our Christmas decorations!" We just have a little tinsel and a tiny tree but it made me laugh that she literally put up our Christmas decor Halloween night haha

The mission has taught me so much about being grateful. A lot of the people we teach live in pretty poor circumstances. I know I have a lot of friends serving in other countries who are seeing this poverty on a really extreme level, but it's sad to even see the people here in California who moved here from Mexico to work in the fields, rented out an apartment with a almost a dozen other people, and work all day to afford the tiny 2 rooms they all share. The living setting tends to be really dirty and overcrowded. Most people we teach drag over their foldable chairs from the plastic kitchen table for us to sit on as they sit on their bed for lessons. We have all been blessed so much and I definitely feel a stronger desire to share what I have with others! Most of all, I'm really grateful that I get to share the best thing of all with each of these people: the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

With this transfer ending, I've thought a lot about my progress over the last 6 weeks. Sometimes it's hard to see progress when it feels like I'm doing the same things over and over each day. It's also been amazing but overwhelming to be studying two languages at once. We had a lesson 2 days ago with one of our new members, Joaquin, and he started telling me that he was impressed with how my Spanish had improved over the last month and how he wished he could learn English that fast. It really meant a lot to hear him say that and it felt like a little tender mercy for me. It was a way for Heavenly Father to remind me that I made it through this first transfer and He helped me make progress. He'll strengthen my abilities little by little.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

This last week I've been thinking more about the importance of not just praying, but remembering who we're praying to.

While I was in the MTC, we had a big devotional where I specifically remember the person who got up to pray accidentally using the word "me" instead of "us" a few times and correcting himself.

"Please help me - us - to feel the Spirit..."

"Please strengthen me - us..."

I know it was an accident, but I actually really liked that he kept specifically referring to himself, because it almost felt like he was focused on his direct connection with God rather than just the crowd. It made me think more about the way I pray, especially in group settings. I have to admit that a lot of the time I'm too focused on what everyone else is thinking about what I say and forget the fact that I'm talking to our Creator! A Heavenly Father who has so much power, who gave us everything, but still wants to hear from me! My prayers feel so much stronger as I imagine the God I'm speaking to and let my entire focus shift to Him, instead of what anyone else thinks.

This week, I want to challenge everyone to focus on remembering WHO we're praying to, especially in group settings! Prayer is one of the greatest gifts. We have such a miraculous, intimate way available for us to speak with our Father in Heaven.

I love you all! Have a great week!!

Hermana DeMordaunt