Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

 Happy (early) Thanksgiving everybody!!!!! This week's been so busy but so good.

So at the end of Preparation Day last week, all the missionaries in our zone got invited to a dinner at the house of one of the stake leaders here in Simi Valley. Most GORGEOUS house I've ever seen. The house was on a huge hill, and the backyard had an infinity pool looking over all of Simi. They also had a self-playing grand piano. Pictures don't do it justice, but it was insane.

We had quite a few new people come to English class on Wednesday, so that was awesome!! English class is soo fun and it helps us so much with finding people to teach!

On Friday, we had Zone Conference! It was in Thousand Oaks, so we got to be in that mansion church building again. I'm so grateful for zone conferences and I feel like this one was just what I needed. Life's been kind of overwhelming lately with so much to do all the time, so being reminded WHY I'm here and WHO I'm representing helped me a lot.

On Saturday, we had exchanges! I got to be with Sister Anderson in my area and it was super fun! She has the best laugh ever and makes me feel like I'm funny haha. We had a great day and had a phone-call lesson with one of our friends, Fernando, who we ended up inviting to be baptized!

Carlos and Juan are both still preparing for baptism!! Please keep praying for them! Carlos should be getting baptized this Saturday, and Juan will be the following week! It's amazing to see their growth. I wish I could explain the amazing feelings in each lesson better. It's so special to hear their stories and see them turn to Jesus Christ!

We just got assigned to start doing live videos again for the mission english class page. But now we aren't teaching english, we do Dios Domingo every Sunday! So essentially we just teach a missionary lesson live. It's pretty fun!

Henry got the priesthood on Sunday!! Wow it was so special to see that. He has grown and changed so much since his baptism! I also gave a talk on temples on Sunday! We had gone to a member meal earlier that week and a member of the Bishopric who lived there asked me out of the blue if I could give the talk. So I guess that's one of the consequences of having member meals. Haha just kidding I was happy to do it :)

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: 

Alma 43:1

"And now it came to pass that the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them. And Alma, also, himself, could not rest, and he also went forth."

When I read this verse this week, the line "could not rest" really hit me. Alma was old, and he'd already dedicated so much of himself to preaching the gospel. But he could not rest. He couldn't imagine the thought of anyone missing out on hearing the message Christ had for them.

I want to do my very best each day on my mission (and after) and have that same desire. I want to feel restless to share my Savior's gospel with all those around me! I want that excitement and that energy.

My invitation for you all is to read from the scriptures every day this week, and then ACT on what you learn! Give the Lord all your heart, and He'll give you the energy you need! I'll do it with you all :)

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

Training in Simi!

Hi friends and family! Love you and I hope it's been a good week. Thanks for all your support!!

This week has been super good! We had transfers, but instead of getting our transfer news on Tuesday like we usually do, President Rodriguez waited until Thursday and it was torture. Jk haha but it's always stressful wondering what's about to happen to you for the next 6 weeks, and we had hardly any notice if we were going to have to pack.

Anyways we got our news and... I'm staying in Simi Valley and training! I'm so excited for this transfer and it's already been awesome. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to Hermana Crawford, she was such a fun companion. My new companion is Hermana Olmstead! She's from Michigan, she's played basically every sport and loves horseback riding, AND we have the same first name (so that automatically makes her cool even before all the other things).

We've had a great week and it's super fun introducing Hna Olmstead to all the different aspects of missionary life. It's also really cool to have a companion fresh out of the MTC (a spiritual POWERHOUSE) and have her new perspective.

Our friends on baptismal date, Juan and Carlos, are both still doing super well! Please keep praying for them!

On Saturday, we had a Thanksgiving party at the church with all of the members from our Spanish branch, along with the members from the branches in Thousand Oaks and Moorpark. So there was a really good turn-out! The missionaries had to sing a few hymns for everyone, which was a little awkward because everyone sang super quiet and I don't think anyone could hear us haha. I've never been more grateful I took piano lessons because that meant I got out of singing with them... but after a little bit someone offered to play the piano so I could sing too. . Also, we met a SUPER cool girl named Zicri who was brought to the party by one of the members (a guy she works with). She said she's looking for a church and also told us she'd invite us over to make Pupusas sometime. So I'm excited about her :)

There used to be two sets of Hermanas in the Spanish branch here in Simi Valley, but this transfer they just added a NEW companionship of Elders! That's really good news because it means our branch is growing! It's only a little tricky because we have to split our area, so we might have to let the Elders take over some of the places we used to go.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Today I want to talk about receiving answers to our questions!

At church on Sunday, we talked about the Brother of Jared, from the Book of Mormon, and the different answers he received from God.

He and his family/friends were commanded to build ships so that they could cross the sea. They built the ships in the way that the Lord commanded them to, but after they were finished, they realized there were a few problems.

1) The ships were shaped like a tight dish, so they didn't know how to get air to breathe.

2) They didn't know how they would steer.

3) They didn't have light. 

The Brother of Jared prayed to God to get help. God gave him answers, one at a time. Each answer was different.

1) Breathing  --- The Lord gave him a SOLUTION. He told them to put small holes in the boat that they could open to receive air, and then close again before water came in.

2) Steering  --- The Lord told him to TRUST. He said that He would guide their ships in the right direction.

3) Light  --- The Lord told the Brother of Jared to CHOOSE. He told him to think of a solution himself and then bring it before the Lord.

I really love this story because it's a good reminder that God always gives us answers, but they don't always come the same way. Sometimes He gives us SOLUTIONS, exactly when we need them. Sometimes, He doesn't give us the exact answers we need, but He tells us just to TRUST Him. And other times, He tells us to CHOOSE for ourselves. He will help us recognize if the decision we make is right or wrong, but we have to take a leap of faith first.

My invitation for you all is to write down a question you have and pray about it! Then write down the feelings that come to you. I know God has an answer, whether it's a solution, a reminder to trust Him, or an invitation to choose for yourself.

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

 

Power Outages & Fire Evacuations

 Hi friends & fam! Miss and love you! This week has been SO crazy and SO full of miracles!

I hit 15 months of being a missionary last Thursday! We got Urban Cafe to celebrate. It's SO good and it only exists in areas in my mission. I'm so spoiled here.

So a bunch of missionaries had to get evacuated this week because of a fire in the Camarillo/Ventura area. We had a windstorm and so the fire spread really quick, and over a hundred structures, mainlu houses, were burned down. We were only like 15 minutes from the fire, so Hermana Crawford and I were so stressed for a few days that we'd get evacuated. President told us to have our emergency bags ready and our phones charged in case we had to leave in the middle of the night sooo that was scary. But thankfully we didn't have to leave.

The worst thing that happened to us was just that half of Simi Valley had its power turned off because of the fire. So all the stoplights were out. And our apartment had no power for over 24 hours. RIP all the food in our fridge and freezer. Also Hna Crawford and I are both scared of the dark, so we weren't the best duo at night haha.

I had an exchange with Sister Adams this week! We had so much fun and taught some awesome lessons.

We saw miracle after miracle with our friends this week. I feel like we've seen so much progression and growth in them in such a short amount of time. One of our friends, Juan Velasquez, has been being taught for about a month now. He is amazing! He's one of the kindest people you'll ever meet and gives some of the most beautiful prayers I've ever heard. He doesn't have a car but he walks (super far) to get to church and lessons. He says he prefers it because he loves nature. Earlier this week, he accepted the invitation to be baptized November 30! We're so excited for him!!!

Our friend Carlos also accepted a baptismal invitation this past week! He's from Peru and moved here to the U.S. less than a year ago. We met him when he started coming to English class! The Spirit has been so strong in every lesson with him. In the lesson where we invited him to be baptized, he shared with us that the day before he came to English class and met us, he had had a dream where he was scared and felt like he was being overcome. He said that in the dream, he started praying really hard, and as he prayed, the darkness went away. It's amazing to see how our friends are being prepared to learn about Jesus Christ. I'm just in awe that God's trusting me enough to let me be a witness of it.

We also met a new friend named Ernesto! The English Elders had knocked his door and had a really short interaction with him, but he gave them his phone number. We got in contact and ended up having an amazing lesson outside of his house a few days later! He's pretty young and super excited to learn! He kept thanking us for visiting him. He came to church on Sunday and Sacrament Meeting was all about serving others. Right after the meeting ended, he told me he was going to walk over and go help one of the members (an elderly man) get up from the bench in the chapel. It was sweet to see how quickly he wanted to apply what he just learned in Sacrament.

I'm so amazed by the way I've seen Heavenly Father prepare people for us recently. Just a few weeks ago, we had MLC and prayed for baptismal goals for our zones. It was a really spiritual experience, but I definitely let the doubt creep in for a little bit. Finding people prepared for baptism was sounding a little far off for me. I realized I needed to trust more in the goals we were making, and our mission truly has had SO many baptism miracles since MLC! It's been a good reminder for me that this isn't my work, it's God's work.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Today I want to share a scripture I love!

Mosiah 4:19

"For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?"

This entire chapter in the Book of Mormon is so good, but I love the reminder here that we're all beggars. We are all so far from perfect, and we're all in need of God's grace. When I see it with that perspective, it feels a lot easier to feel united with those around me. It makes me want to serve people more.

My invitation for you all is to find someone new to serve this week! Someone you maybe wouldn't have thought to serve before. We're all in need of service, and we're all children of God!

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt

The Biggest Church Building Ever

 Hola hola a todos!! Happy (late) Halloween!

This last week has been so good! One highlight was definitely MLC. The Spirit is always so strong there. One thing we talked a lot about was member-involvement with our friends. It's amazing how big of a difference it makes when we're teaching someone and we have members who join us in lessons or who help them feel welcome at church. All I can say is, after my mission I sure hope I'm always the member that's reaching out to help the missionaries and people learning about the church. I have so much respect for the members who sacrifice a lot of their time for us

Right after MLC, I had a half-day exchange with the Sisters in Thousand Oaks, Sister Adams and Sister Hatch. I haven't done any trio exchanges before but it was SO fun! I just got to be their third-wheel. Haha jk but it did feel funny sitting in the back of their car as we drove around. I felt like their little kid or something. We did a lot of door-knocking (people in Thousand Oaks have cooool Halloween decor btw), and we also walked around a park for a while to talk to people. ALSO I got to eat Cafe Rio, and the workers there always give the missionaries a discount. ALSO ALSO, the church building there is MASSIVE. Like two stories, two chapels, and an elevator kind of massive.

One of the friends we started teaching this week is named Jose Luis! We had two amazing lessons with him! He has so much faith and wants to get closer to God. As a missionary, it's so special for me to get to see people seek God out so deliberately. He took an uber to get to both of our lessons at the Church. He shared some of his past with us, and we had several new members in the visit who shared AMAZING testimonies about when they joined the Church. They had to sacrifice a lot to be baptized. It's such a privilege to hear these people's stories. 

Halloween was fun!! Pretty normal day for us. Hermana Crawford and I made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast! I kinda dressed up as Dorothy, but we're not supposed to dress up for Halloween so it was only an indoor costume for a few minutes and then I had to change my hairstyle when we went outside. I never wear two braids so the costume was too obvious haha. The rest of the day I dressed up as a missionary.

Another friend who we're teaching right now is named Juan Velasquez, and he is SO cool! He was a referral from social media! He came to church a few Sundays ago but then left out of town, so we've been having video call lessons with him. We finally got to have another lesson with him in-person on Halloween! We had to work hard to get that lesson to happen haha. We thought he was planning to meet us at the church, but then last-second he told us he didn't have a car and could walk to us, but it would be an hour. So we told him we'd drive to meet up with him. Long story short, after a few wrong meet-up locations, we finally ended up having a short lesson in the Planet Fitness parking lot. It wasn't the most ideal meeting place, but we felt so much peace as we testified in that little lesson! I walked away from it smiling so big. And huge thanks to Sister Brown, a member from our ward who drove all over town with us to get to that lesson.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

Today I just want to share a scripture that I love!

2 Nephi 29:7-8

7. Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

8. Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I know that God gives us more of His word because He loves us, and I know that He is still a God of miracles!

My invitation for you all is to read from the Book of Mormon every day this week, and to spend a little extra time in it than normal! It will bless your life so much!

I love all of you!

-Hermana DeMordaunt