I'm Gonna be Rich

Hey everybody! Hope you're doing great! This transfer has flown by and we get transfer news tomorrow!! I literally can't believe it.

Two of our friends, Hugo and Adelaida, accepted a baptismal date this past week! Hugo was a media referral and he's super cool! He bikes to the church for every lesson and service. He's also going to English Class and it's fun to hear him say words in English. We're working with him on some of the commandments, so we've had to move his date a little farther back, but we're so excited for him and his desire to learn! Adelaida is the cutest gal ever! She speaks Spanish and Mixteco, so it's super fun to talk to her some in Mixteco during our visits! Pray for her as she prepares for baptism and we keep teaching her!

We had MLC this week and it was soooo good!!! As always!

Hermana Nielson and I got sushi one day this week. Had to put that in here because I LOVE SUSHI.

This week was fortune friday!! So we went to Panda Express and got our fortunes to guess our transfer news. Mine said, "A financial investment will yield returns beyond your hopes." So basically I'm gonna be rich. Not sure how that has to do with transfers but I'll take it.

On Sunday, we got the chance to join the youth in their class and talk about what it's like to be a missionary. It was super fun and it definitely felt weird being in the missionary's shoes. I felt like I should be one of the young women sitting there asking questions, but somehow I was the missionary answering them. I just wanted to convince everyone in there to go serve a mission! It's the best thing ever, and I really hope my testimony touched someone there!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Today I want to share an analogy we heard at MLC this past week. President Rodriguez told a story of a little boy who asked his dad how big an airplane was. His dad pointed at the sky, where an airplane flew across the clouds. The little boy said, "It's really small."

When his dad heard this, he decided to drive his son to an airport nearby so he could say a plane take off from up-close. As they came close to a plane lifting into the sky, the young boy's entire perspective changed. All of a sudden, the plane was huge.

The father turned to his son and told him that that's what our relationship with God is like. As we get closer to Him, we realize how big, how powerful, and how good He really is. Our entire perspective is changed.

My invitation for you this week is to pray about a way that you can see the true character of God and get closer to Him. He wants you to know Him!

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

 

Temple Trip & New Mini Van🤩

 Hellooo everybody! I hope you're all doing great!

First things first: On Thursday we had our mission temple trip!! We all took a bus to the LA temple where we got to do endowments! It was such an amazing day and the Spirit was so strong. After the we got back, Hermana Nielson and I were so exhausted from waking up early and such a long drive, but we still had a bunch of time for missionary work. So we got Mexican ice-cream from La Michoacana and that helped us through haha.

We had interviews with President Rodriguez on Friday. One of the things we talked about as a zone was how we'll never really know how great of an impact we made on our missions until after this life. President said we might not see the outcome of our efforts immediately, but we are making a difference! That was definitely something I needed to hear!

On Saturday, we had a super fun multi-cultural event where a bunch of people from the ward brought food from their home country and dressed up and brought flags/decorated. The food was SO GOOD! A lot of people are from Mexico in our ward so it was mainly mexican food. The missionaries all brought hot dogs to represent America haha. Hermana Nielson and I had to put them in a crockpot earlier that day to cook them all because none of us missionaries had time to grill them or make anything nicer. So our hot dogs were pretty pathetic compared to the bomb mexican dishes But we were still proud of our ourselves.

Update on the Mendoza family! Sooo Cornelia and Pascual Mendoza are newer members of the church, along with their son Diego. Pascual is paralyzed and has so much faith even though he's in severe pain often. Please pray for their family. Their son Luis is 15 and not baptized. Missionaries have been teaching him for a while, but the problem is that he prefers English and his parents prefer Spanish, so it's been easier for him to not get as much attention during lessons. We've been trying to have separate lessons with him and Cornelia and Pascual's neice, Romalda, recently. The last lesson we had with them was awesome and I'm super proud of them! We've been talking about baptism a lot with them and so please pray for them! It's been fun to teach them, but it's also been a little bit of adjustment because I'm not used to teaching teenagers in English.

Hermana Nielson and I just got switched from our car to a Toyota minivan so we feel like moms driving that thing around now hahaha

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

I just wanted to share a quick quote I read recently that I liked!

"Because the Lord knows we need growth, He generally does not point and say the clear direction. But if a decision is wrong, he will let us know--we will feel it for sure. I am positive of that. So rather than saying, 'I will not move until I have this burning in my heart,' let us turn it around and say, 'I will move unless I feel it is wrong.'"

Sometimes it can be hard to recognize when it's the Spirit and when it's our own thoughts. Learning to hear the Holy Ghost is a process, but I know it can get easier the more we follow his guidance!

So I want to invite you all to act on any promptings you receive, even if you're not sure if they're from the Spirit. If they lead you to do something good, then do that thing! You'll start receiving more and more promptings as you act on the first ones!

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

Like Unto Moroni

 Hey everybody! This week has been good, nothing too crazy's happened but here are the updates!

I had two exchanges this week, one with Hermana Howell and one with Sister Parr! I love them both soooo much!

Our friends are doing great and I love getting to see them progress! Keep praying for them and for us to find those who are ready to be baptized and make covenants with God!

One of our newer friends is named Consuelo. I found her last week on exchanges with Hermana Howell. She was watching her kids swim in the pool at their apartment complex. We stopped to talk to her to figure out where an apartment was, but then we ended up giving her a church invitation and setting up a lesson! She has the cutest smile EVER and is basically always smiling and laughing! She's been in the United States for a year with her kids and I can tell she wants the best for them, but it hasn't been the easiest move. We had a lesson with her this last week and it was cute because she came outside all dressed up, with 3 water bottles and 3 cokes so that we could all have drinks as we talked. We testified about Jesus Christ and read the scriptures together, and the Spirit was SO strong! I felt like I was walking on air after that visit ended.

There was a baptism on Saturday for two of the Elders' friends. They are really young and they're the daughters of a member in the ward! One of them got super scared when she was about to get baptized because she didn't want to go under the water, so we ended up waiting a really long time while she worked up the courage to get baptized. I basically played through the whole hymnbook on the piano during the interlude haha. Finally she got baptized!! It was a really good baptism and it reminded me of when I was baptized.

On Sunday, the English ward had just gotten out of church and the Spanish ward was starting. I meant to go up and talk to a guy who was coming to the Spanish ward for the first time, but I accidentally walked up to the wrong guy. He was an older man from the English ward but I thought he only spoke Spanish, so I started having an entire conversation with him in Spanish and he just went with it. In the end, I asked (in Spanish), "Have you had visits with any of the missionaries here?" (since we were trying to figure out which missionaries in the ward had been in contact with him), and he responded (in Spanish), "I served a mission 40 years ago in Spain." That's when I realized he was actually already a member, not a new friend at church. Long story short, super awkward interaction. I was so embarrassed hahaha. It will take a while to recover from that one.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

I want to share something from the Book of Mormon today. In Alma 48, it talks about how Moroni (one of the captains of the Nephite army) was a man of God who did his very best to serve Him. Verse 17 says, "If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever." Pretty powerful words, right? This verse has always made me think about how perfect Moroni must have been.

Right after, in verse 18, it says that Moroni "was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah... for they were all men of God."

Now, flashback -- Ammon and the sons of Mosiah were once super disobedient. They were some of the most unrighteous and unbelieving people. They made some really big mistakes. Through repentance, they became missionaries who changed THOUSANDS of lives. And here, Moroni is being compared to them.

It's amazing to think about what God can do with each of us. We can ALL be men and women "like unto Moroni." No matter who we were in the past. God sees so much potential in each of us, and with His help, "the very powers of hell" really can be shaken.

My invitation for you all is to find a way to become more like Moroni this week. Read about him in Alma 48. God can take imperfect people like us and turn us into some of His greatest leaders.

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

Passion Fruit & 13 Months!!!

 Hey friends and family! Miss you all so much and hope you're doing great!

IT'S PRESIDENT NELSON'S BIRTHDAY!!! I'm so thankful for our Prophet and I know he truly speaks for God!

Two days ago I hit my 13-month mark woohoo! I can't believe how fast time is flying. It's crazy and I'm just trying to enjoy every day I have here!

On Thursday we had Zone Conference, which was amazing as always!! It was in Santa Barbara so it was so fun to drive there! Santa Barbara's sooo pretty. At zone conference, we talked a lot about controlling what we can control, and then leaving the rest up to God. He'll always make up the difference when we do our best.

Later that day, we had a really good lesson with one of our friends, Guadalupe. It honestly started off super chaotic because her little grandkid was running around and yelling and driving his mini car through the house. Hermana Nielson ended up with a microphone in her hand as she taught the lesson because he was trying to get her to do karaoke hahaha. We were trying to feel the Spirit together but it was really hard. I said a prayer in my head and kept having the thought to show them a video. I couldn't think of any short church videos I knew that fit with the topic we were teaching. But the thought kept popping into my head so I figured I should at least try to follow the Spirit. I turned on my phone and scrolled through the videos on Gospel Library, but nothing looked right. I kept praying that one would stick out with me, and just then I saw a video that felt like the one I was looking for. It ended up being the perfect length and fit exactly with the topic we were teaching. As Guadalupe watched the video, I could feel the Spirit enter the lesson. After, it was really quiet and we were able to testify about what they needed to hear. I am so grateful for little promptings from the Holy Ghost, especially as we're teaching such an important message to people.

We also had a lesson this week with Cornelia and Pascual (who are new members of the church) and their son and neice, Luis and Romalda (who are not members of the church... yet). It was a great lesson but it was superrr long because Cornelia and Pascual only speak Spanish, but Luis and Romalda prefer English so we had to switch back and forth. Cornelia and Pascual's family has been dealing with some really hard financial situations because of Pascual's paralysis, so one of the members was able to come over during the visit and actually help them get signed up to be fed through the church. It was amazing to see how grateful they were and Cornelia got teary-eyed as she was offered the service. It was really special to get to see someone who was in desperate need of the help receive it through our church's donations!

As we were walking into Cornelia and Pascual's lesson, one of the people I've been messaging about English Class on Facebook for the past month (his name's Jesús) saw me walk into the lesson! Apparently he lives right next to them and was outside working on his truck! He messaged me about it right after and that gave him the courage to come visit the church the following day and get a church tour, which he'd been nervous to do! So it was such a miracle that he just happened to be outside and saw us by Cornelia and Pascual's house.

One of our friends works on a ranch that grows passion fruit here, and he gave us a huge bucket of passion fruit the other day! Anyone who knows me knows I'm obsessed with fruit so that was the happiest day ever.

I had an exchange with Hermana Howell this week! It was super fun!!! It's her first transfer on the mission and she's already killing it! She has such a good attitude and it felt like the day with her flew by! We talked to some amazing people and got to teach some new friends too.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: 

Yesterday, I listened to a SUPER good BYU devotional (definitely recommend listening to it). It's called "Wrestling with Comparisons" by J.B. Haws.

In the talk, he shares a story about his two sons. When they were young, he was playing catch with them outside. One son could not catch the ball no matter how hard he tried, even when his brother kept catching it. Even though he couldn't do it himself, he was so sincerely excited each time he saw his brother catch the ball, cheering loudly and telling him he could do it.

Brother Haws says, "Somehow [his inability to catch the ball] did not dampen his enthusiasm for Parley's success. Somehow he knew his contest was not with Parley. He could have joy in Parley's success."

I was so touched by this little boy's excitement for his brother. I know sometimes it can be hard not to beat ourselves up when we see someone else succeed at something we just can't seem to get. But imagine how much pain that's inflicted on both ourselves and others could go away if we could just feel excited about everyone's success around us!

My goal is to get to this point. I want to be able to feel complete and genuine pride for the success of those around me, especially when I feel like I'm falling short in those areas! I want to invite you all to work on it with me! When you start feeling jealous or wanting to compare, pray specifically for that person. Give them a compliment. Be proud for them and with them! I know that's what Christ does every time we succeed.

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

Thankful for the Bible

 Hola hola amigos!! It's been another great week!

We had MLC on Wednesday and it was soooo good. We talked about how important it is to testify of Christ in every lesson, and how if we're not testifying of Him, we're missing the point. Also made some awesome goals for the mission.

One of our newer friends, Ruben, accepted the invitation to be baptized later this month!!! He's SO cool and I'm so grateful we get to be teaching him. He has a pretty hard past and I'm so happy that he's sought out the gospel to find help instead of being angry or turning away from it. He was a media referral, so Facebook just keeps working wonders for missionary work! We had a really good lesson with him this week and as we were teaching him, another woman named Sonya walked over and asked if she could sit and join us, so we were able to start teaching her too!

One of the most amazing experiences as a missionary is seeing your friends progress. I feel blessed to be serving in Oxnard right now and seeing some of my friends who were baptized a few transfers ago as they've grown after baptism. Raul and Santiago, who were both baptized my first transfer here, got to bless the sacrament for the first time in church these past 2 weeks! They were both super excited to do it and told me beforehand that they'd be blessing it. I'm so amazed by both of them and the way they're letting Jesus Christ truly change them. They're blessing so many lives and it's really special to get to see that.

On Friday I had exchanges with Sister Anderson!! We had an exchange last transfer too so it was super fun to be together again! She's a super talented singer and it was so fun to talk about music with her. We had some good lessons together! One of them was a member-lesson with their unbaptized son, and I don't know these members too well but the Spirit was really strong in that room. We talked about prayer and I shared with them how as missionaries, we pray more than I had even expected before my mission. We pray every time we leave the apartment, before we have a lesson, before we do calls, etc. When we testified about the power of constant prayer, I felt the Holy Ghost testifying to me that what I was saying was true.

I don't always bring my physical Bible into lessons with me, but before one of our lessons this week, I felt like I should. When we got to the lesson, this woman had her Bible out and ready. We taught her about the sacrament and read about the last supper in the scriptures with her. She has a very passionate Christian background, and I'm glad she was able to testify to us about Christ. But during the lesson, I definitely realized that she'd come to this lesson with more of an intent to argue than to listen. It started feeling like she was trying to find something to fight us on, even though we were reading about something we both believed in. We just tried to leave her with love and our testimonies. When I walked out of the lesson, I felt like it had been hard to get her to hear anything we had to say, but I had the thought that the Holy Ghost had inspired me to take my Bible into that lesson. It's a powerful book that helped us relate as Christian believers. Even though she wasn't completely ready to hear our message right then, we were able to build off of common ground as we read in the Bible together. She was willing to at least listen to a part of our message as we read because of her passion for that book, even though she wasn't ready for all of it. Someday she will be! 

Real quick I gotta shoutout Taco Inn. It's a restaurant here that has $1 authentic tacos every Tuesday. Soo that made Hermana Nielson and me superrr happy this week :)

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Okay this week you get to learn a little more about Mixteco! woohoo!

So in Mixteco, there are a lot of words that mean more than one thing, or they're dependent on the tone. Here are a few words that have more than one meaning.

"Kandixa" means both "to believe" and "to obey."

"Kundani" means both "to know" and "to understand."

This week I was thinking about how it'a interesting that these words are so connected in the Mixteco language, and then I started thinking about how my spiritual life could change if these words were more connected for me personally.

What if I truly believed every commandment or guideline that I obeyed? Sometimes I think I just do things because that's what I'm told to do. I want to be obedient because I believe in my Savior.

What if I don't just testify that I know that something's true, but that I understand why it's important? I want to both know and understand my Savior.

So here's my invitation this week:

Next time you hear the word "believe," think of the word "obey." And when you hear "obey," think of the word "believe."

Next time you share your testimony and you say the words, "I know," think of the words, "I understand."

If we feel like we're better at one of the words, God can help us with the other. 

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt