tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59776197466367849792024-03-13T12:59:06.044-07:00The Cuernavaca ChronicleThe Letters and Insights of Sister Neuberger a Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-52676428838076095072015-07-29T20:33:00.001-07:002015-07-29T20:33:29.823-07:00Is This Really Goodbye?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g292OjngGog/VbmZ67CVQQI/AAAAAAAAAsI/DO13U_i2Zyg/s1600/DSC02593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g292OjngGog/VbmZ67CVQQI/AAAAAAAAAsI/DO13U_i2Zyg/s320/DSC02593.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri Light, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">I </span><span style="line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">don't</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;"> think I have words that truly describe the emotion of the end or what I feel when everyone reminds me that </span><span style="line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">I'm</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;"> now down to days! When I think of endings a quote always comes to mind from Elder Uchtdorf, "</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">” </span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri Light, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">To that I can truly say “Amen”, because every part of me right now is trying to resist the idea of my mission coming to an end. The thought of not waking up every morning at 6:30 am, putting on a name tag, and walking out the door to face whatever the world has to throw at us that day, is really hard for me to comprehend. I guess a part of me had grown to believe that this day would NEVER come and another part of me was praying it was somehow true. Being a missionary though is something that I know will never end. The only ending </span><span style="line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">I'm</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;"> really facing is the fact that </span><span style="line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">I'm</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;"> leaving Mexico, which I now believe to be the greatest country in the world! But the end does not mean I'll forget. It does not mean that I won't say a thousand times, “One time on my mission….” It will just mean a change up!</span></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cO6cHgTsZy0/VbmaFW0WeUI/AAAAAAAAAsg/lZTq7ffkl0c/s1600/DSC02598%2B%25281%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cO6cHgTsZy0/VbmaFW0WeUI/AAAAAAAAAsg/lZTq7ffkl0c/s400/DSC02598%2B%25281%2529.JPG" width="300" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri Light, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">Oh and what a change up it will be. I think its going to take a couple of weeks for my mind to wrap around the idea of washing machines, technology, hot water coming directly from the pipe, not having an aisle </span><span style="line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">dedicated</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;"> to oil in the super market (and then another aisle dedicated to mayo, another to beans, and another to rice), not having to shower out of a bucket, flush toilets, everyone having their own cars, asking for water and not getting flavor options, and about a million other things that I just crazy love about Mexico. I can honestly say that the mission grants us a chance to feel a love so full and so pure that it can only be called charity. Never in my life have I ever been so concerned about the older women trying to carry her groceries or the young man sitting alone on the street corner. Never have I gazed at a family and instantly thought how much happier they would be if they had the gospel in their lives and then walked right over and shared it with them. The mission doesn’t just make us believers, it makes us doers! Doers of good continuously, in every situation, in every thought. We make the good out of everything and even if all of our last plans fall through, we just keep smiling and think of a thousand more people we could help with the magical extra time the Lord has given us.</span></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">But as Uchtdorf so greatly puts it, “Endings are not our destiny. The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.” And truly there is no ending at all. I am merely g</span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri Light, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">raduating from an 18 month missionary to a Forever Disciple and I believe that to be a truly golden prize! Nothing will ever erase the work I have done here. More importantly, nothing will ever erase the mighty change of heart the mission has blessed me with. I will never </span><span style="line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">falter</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">, I will never yield. I truly know with all my heart that my Heavenly Father's love is real. He lives. He hears and answers every prayer and is so willing and ready to bless us. I know that Jesus Christ truly is my Redeemer, He is my </span><span style="line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">Exemplar</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 22.7199993133545px;">, He is my Best Friend. He is the only one who can carry me on and has done so more times then I can count. I know that due to their never ending love for us, God and Jesus Christ, have restored all the same truths that Jesus Christ taught when He was on the earth in our day. I know that those restored truths exist here, in the one and only true church on the face of the earth, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that Their only desire is for us to return to their presence again one day. I know that the joy we feel on that day will be truly perfect as we enter into the embrace of that loving family who has waited so long to see us! His plan is perfect and I will be forever grateful for the chance he has given me, a weak, imperfect servant, to take part in the greater plan that He has for the people of Mexico. I will choose to forever be the servant He has molded me to be!</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="7" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #0091bc; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 25.5599994659424px; padding: 0cm;"> </span></a><span style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 25.5599994659424px; padding: 0cm;">7 </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">I have fought a good fight, I have finished <i style="line-height: 25.5599994659424px;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; line-height: 25.5599994659424px; padding: 0cm;">my</span></i> course, I have kept the faith:</span></b></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="8" style="color: #0068cf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #0091bc; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 25.5599994659424px; padding: 0cm;"> </span></a><span style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #333333; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 25.5599994659424px; padding: 0cm;">8 </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Tim. 4:7-8)</span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">See ya Monday,</span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Calibri Light', sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 25.5599994659424px;">Hermana Neuberger</span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My family will understand this one:)</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-85682397510458358092015-07-20T17:06:00.002-07:002015-07-20T17:06:26.082-07:00Starting on a Journey<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Lucio, and my companion</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">The Lord certainly has a way of making everything work out perfectly! This week everyone in the ward was so excited for the baptism of Lucio, as were we! He was super nervous for his baptismal interview and because he was nervous so were we, because he probably would have just started talking instead of answering right. His baptismal interview ended up being almost 2 hours long, 2 HOURS, so we were panicked as we waited outside wondering what on earth could possibly be going on. Saturday we passed by quickly just to make sure that he was ready and to answer any questions. We were all laughing and joking on his couch when his phone unexpectedly rang.....and it wasn't good news. Last week a good friend of Lucio had taken a turn for the worse so he had left church early. This call was to tell him that his friend had died and they were requesting his presence in the hospital because the guy has no living family....4 hours before the baptism and the guy is more then an hour and a half away...So all sorts of crazy drama broke loose. Lucio burst into tears, "Hermanas, the only thing that I prayed for last night, over and over again, is that Dios (God) would just let me get baptized today. I just wanted to get baptized. Can we wait till next week or something?" My only thought was NO!, we are not going to postpone this. So we just delayed it with the start time being "whenever Lucio gets here." I was so wiped out from stress that I almost keeled over right there! How could this possibly be happening?! This is the man with whom we fought off iliteracy, jail time, and life threatening illness! What more could he possibly go through?!?!</span></span></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">But I guess the moral of the story is that he got there! And he was happier then ever, and everything worked out so we all went to bed Saturday extremely happy! That's the greatest part about the gospel. If the Lord wants it to happen it will all work out. I have an unshakable testimony of how powerful this message I carry is! It changes lives FOREVER and will have eternal consequences. The light it brings into the lives of others can't be denied. When people are truly converted the passion burns within them and brings about changes that would NEVER be possible without the hand of the Lord. I know this gospel is true and that is why I will share it with each and everyone of you. When we have something so precious and dear to our hearts why wouldn't we share it with everyone?? </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">All My Love,</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">Hermana Neuberger</span></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-57300310184729862272015-07-14T12:05:00.000-07:002015-07-14T17:19:05.475-07:00Trust In The Lord<span style="background: 0px 0px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.007843); border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; color: #333333; font-family: Palatino,"Palatino Linotype",Pahoran,Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 25.2px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">17 </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.007843); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino,"Palatino Linotype",Pahoran,Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.2px;">Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.007843); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino,"Palatino Linotype",Pahoran,Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.2px;">cheerfully</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.007843); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino,"Palatino Linotype",Pahoran,Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.2px;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.007843); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino,"Palatino Linotype",Pahoran,Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.2px;">do </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.007843); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino,"Palatino Linotype",Pahoran,Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.2px;">all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.007843); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino,"Palatino Linotype",Pahoran,Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.2px;">salvation</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.007843); color: #333333; font-family: Palatino,"Palatino Linotype",Pahoran,Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.2px;"> of God, and for his arm to be revealed.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun light shining in a cave below the pyramids</td></tr>
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Well I know it was quite a roller coaster week last week but this week was a lot of waiting and holding on tight to see if the roller coaster would end and Id be able to walk off unharmed. Luckily that's what Heavenly Father had for me in mind as well. Jose is still in the hospital, after a week, but is only still beating due to machines and has been that way for about 5 days. His family wants to disconnect him so they can just end the suffering, but the government can't do that due to the free healthcare and other laws. Its really sad, but we had the chance to say goodbye to him before he went into coma and Chynoweth even made it to his bedside which was the greatest thing ever for me because that's her convert. So for me everything in the end was all right and we know that José's already going to work as a missionary, looking for his dear mother. We saw Lucio on Monday and he told us that the final decision wouldn't be made till Wednesday (waited till Wednesday with way way way too much stress!!!!) and then the decision didn't come till Thursday! But if I had known the decision was going to turn out that perfectly I could have waited a life time to hear it! He came up to us in the street Thursday and told us, "Hermanas, IT'S A MIRACLE!" He then informed us that at the trial the lady who was accusing him had settled for 5 thousand pesos and nothing else. That's 40 thousand pesos less then what she had been arguing for the last three weeks! And with that settled the case is closed closed closed, in the form that in can never ever ever nunca jamas be revisited....and I cried tears of joy! So baptism ready, font soon to be filled, and another son of God ready to enter into the fold!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making friends with the cicadas</td></tr>
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On Saturday we went to go teach Lucio about baptism a little more and why we get baptized. We started explaining it, he cut us off, finished explaining it way better then I could have, and then said "yeah I know that, it's all here in the book. What's tithing? And how can I start paying it? The Lord has truly blessed me more then I can imagine lately and I need to show him that I understand its all thanks to him!" .......can you be any more of a miracle Lucio?!?!? I don't think I've ever met anyone before who is so excited to pay tithing.</div>
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We also started teaching Margarit this week and found that her family situation is way more complicated then we thought. Her children literally hate her and don't talk to her...despite the fact that they're all above the age of 20, still living at her house with their families, and she is basically sustaining all 5 of them with her next to nothing income. It's really sad, but we started trying to be friends with all of her children this week, and it worked! Because Sunday they ALL came to church and loved it! I just love how much the gospel can truly strengthen and bless families in more ways then we can imagine if we first just open our hearts!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little fun in a children's park</td></tr>
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More then anything my heart is full and my humility is that much greater! I know with all the surety of my heart that there is no greater or more perfect plan then that of our Heavenly Father. If we do our part, He will work out the rest. Our joy is greater when the trials take our faith, but we are given more faith to overcome, more faith to endure only if we put our full confidence in Him. I know that everything that we have passed through has not only strengthened my faith but has also blessed the lives of Lucio and has allowed His faith in God to grow 100 fold. Heavenly Father knows us. He loves us. He truly created the universe, the solar system, every life form here on this earth. But more then anything He is our Father and His arms will always be there to encircle us, no matter the circumstance, because to Him we are everything!<br />
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Love to Everyone,<br />
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Hermana Neuberger<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-84796969654983726232015-07-07T14:35:00.002-07:002015-07-07T14:35:46.349-07:00Greatest Man<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Well my mind currently can’t wrap around all
the things that have passed in the last week! It’s safe to say it’s been an
interesting one, from district leaders’ flip out because we found 10 new
investigators all in one day....to our district leader, for the first time ever,
being completely speechless, "simply stating, wow you can’t catch a
break!" So where do I begin with a week like that?!?! Well with my
testimony, I know that everything that we go through is this light truly makes
us better people, BUT only if we choose to let it do so! I know that the plan
of the Lord is perfect for ALL his children, ALL OF THEM, and He will never
simply leave us to suffer. If we turn to Him, He will truly send angels
to protect us and to keep us standing when our knees become to week to stand! I
truly believe in the ministry of angels both seen and unseen!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This week our new mission
president arrived and it has been one of the funniest experiences of my life!
He couldn’t be any more lost if he tried but he is so willing and wanting to get
to know everyone and just be a part of everything so I know he will do great
things! We had a multi-zone conference on Friday and everyone was ecstatic because
there were so many friends there. He started off the conference asking if
anyone had any questions, so we started in....and then when no one had any more
questions that was the end of the conference.....interesting! But they are
sooooo very different from the Kuschs that there will never be comparing that’s
for sure. We feel just a little sick and Hna Avila (the President’s wife)
is ready to turn the mission home into our personal hospital. We leave our area
and they want a direct phone call when we leave and when we get home safely.
They just want to talk to all of us and they could care less about the line of
authority (district leaders call zone leaders, zl call APs, APs call
president). Hna Avila was super worried Sunday because no one had signed
up to feed us, "Is that normally a problem hermanas?! I can totally feed
you whenever you need me to, I hope you guys know that, just call me!" And
I was like, aren’t you always gonna be gone like the Kuschs?? THIS IS GONNA BE
AWESOME!!!!! I think the greatest part about the Avilas, if that wasn’t already
enough, is that they brought with them one of their sons who has Downs syndrome.
His name is Sammy and he reminds me so much of Sara Bailey that I just want to
squeeze him!!!!! He soooo sweet and just awesome! During church on Sunday he
sat across from me and every time he looked up I just smiled at him, he
blushed, looked down, and then would peak back at me, so I naturally just kept
smiling during the whole class!!!! I’m so excited to have them here with us!!!
Truly they are a great light during a rather roller coaster kind of week....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So for the roller
coaster....On Friday night we stopped by to see Lucio, the greatest miracle of
my mission, and he was crying. What on earth is going on, was all I could
think?! He then filled us in on the fact that the court case that we all
thought had been settled a month ago when they dropped the charges had come
back up. Because he still didn’t have the 31,000 pesos he was officially going
to jail Monday morning for 8 years on false charges, despite all the
testigos....so naturally his tears were not the only ones shed. I couldn’t
believe my ears, but what followed was the most powerful testimony meeting of
my life. This dear old man who I just happened to sit next to one day on
the bus for 2 minutes has stolen my heart and showed me that our Heavenly
Father knows us much more personally then we can ever imagine! I have had the
marvillosa pleasure of watching Lucio transform in the course of a month from a
man who knew nothing of God or how to read, to someone who now can read AND
UNDERSTAND, but more importantly has a faith in God that cannot be shaken! We
started talking about faith and he shared his testimony that he knows that His
father in Heaven is looking out for him. He told us that he knows it for
sure because that same God sent his "angels" (us) to him. In
that moment I was so thankful for the family Palmas (my district: the office
secretaries and the assistants) and their ability to react fast. I called
Elder Jenson instantly to come give Lucio a blessing and they dropped
everything and came running just by listening to my voice. It was a
powerful blessing and the spirit was just burning as we left his house. So that
imposing doom is still hanging over our heads 13 days before his baptism.....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It was a rough day/night,
but we woke up Saturday morning with our dreams big cause we had so much to do
and we were crazy excited about how good our day was going to be! But naturally
you shouldn’t count your eggs before they hatch, the day quickly became
something that none of us were expecting! Everything fell through so we decided
to go visit Jose (a 72 year old recent convert of Hna Chynoweth who we visit
about every day because he’s amazing) early. We sent him a message to
tell him we were on our way but when we arrived he wasn’t waiting for us
outside....that’s a first! The door was open and there was Jose, hunched over
in a chair unable to breath. Luckily, missionaries are trained to react
super well in crazy situations so we kept our calm really well. Jose was
able to get air and started showing us how swelled up his legs were and telling
us about his other horrible symptoms. For a man that has been smoking
around 20 cigarettes every day of his life for the last 60 years, he’s
basically a living miracle. He didn’t want us to tell anyone, just to
sing him a few hymns. We naturally did not follow the first request, the
second one we followed through with. The other week I made him a disk of
the music and lyrics of every hymn, which he has now listened to 50 times
through. He loves the “Spirit of God” so we sang him that one as we
waited for the APs to arrive to our aid (we decided to give Elder Jenson and
Elder Morales a break because they had saved us last night). The APs
dropped everything and were there in minutes, love them! Jose was shocked to
see them but happily received the blessing. Afterwards he said, "I
already feel better. Do we want to have the lesson here on the patio or in my
house?" YEAH RIGHT, there was no doubt in my mind that he needed to get to
the hospital. We all went to work trying to find a member to pass by to
help us get him there but nobody answered so we just went to work. The
elders carried Jose down the mountain where he lives and I ran way out in front
to find a taxi. A taxi was the first thing that passed by, can someone
say miracle?!?!?, but the guy apologized saying he didn’t have time and needed
to repair something in his car first. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Was all I
could think to say as he drove away. I said a quick prayer and out of
nowhere there was the same taxi driver backing his car down the same road he
had just driven away on. "Okay.....I’ll do it!" We later came
to find that as he drove away a huge feeling to go back came over him that he
said he just couldn’t ignore, THANK YOU HEAVENLY FATHER!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The hospitals here are
sponsored by the government so the care is all free.....which means the lines are
hours long....and the care isn’t the best....but it’s free. For yet
another miracle, the mile long line parted ways as the elders carried Jose in
and he was immediately attended to. Elder Estrada went in with him while
we sat outside with Elder Corven. It was probably the worst three hours
of my life! We had no idea what was going on inside. All we could do was
sit there and watch all the sick and horribly battered bleeding people standing
patiently in line trying to get care. At one point an old man who was
waiting in a chair had a heart attack...he was dead before the doctors even got
to him. When he arrived he hadn’t been bad enough for the doctors to have
to rush him in so they had told him he had to wait an hour. And that’s
how I passed my Independence Day and I have to say that I am proud to be an American!
I have never felt so thankful for my country then I did in that moment. A
good part was that I stick out as an American so a ton of people stopped to ask
me what I was doing there and I had a ton of opportunities to share the gospel
with hopeless people who just needed hugs. With a few calls the elder quorum
was on top of things. From that moment till today, there was a member of
the elders quorum at Jose’s bedside 24/7 all of the brethren taking shifts :)
it was a tender mercy and one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The night finished with
little news of Jose and even less of Lucio. Elder Jensen tried to share
words of comfort but just felt hopeless. Safe to say Sunday was a
welcomed blessing. Everyone canceled about coming to church an hour
before everything started and we couldn’t find Lucio anywhere...stress.
We walked into the chapel with our heads down, and found Lucio sitting there waiting
for us with a huge smile on his face! It was a needed tender mercy. We sang the
Spirit of God....and I was in tears thinking of Jose. And from that
moment on it became one of the greatest sacrament meetings of my life! I don’t
think I have ever heard more powerful testimonies. There was a unity in
the ward, there was a powerful spirit in the air, and there was simply love
flowing from every individual! I left truly happier as if I had shed a
burden. As we were sitting in pricipios del evangelio when Hermano Javier
called us out. My comp and I were a little surprised but we followed him
out of the room to a lady who was waiting in the lobby for us. He simply
said, "she’d like to hear about the church so I thought you guys could
help." I almost started crying on the spot, but a giant smile won! In my
entire mission I have never had the experience of someone just showing up to
church and I couldn’t stop thanking the Lord. It was needed. It was
as if the Lord was telling us, "Everything’s going to be okay. Here’s a
family of 8 of my precious children who need your spirit and help. Go strengthen
them and I’ll take care of the rest!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Sunday night ended on a
horrible note. We arrived home and instantly called Elder Estrada to see
what he knew about Jose. He told us he would call us in a few
minutes...but after an hour we tried calling him again...still didn’t
answer. The meeting that our district was in with president lasted till
10 pm...so Elder Jenson called at about 10:20 for our data and to see how we were
doing. In the middle of the phone call the assistants called so we hung
up really fast from him. To hear Elder Estrada crying on the other side
of the line was all I needed to know....Jose had been put into induced sleep because
his heart was overworking, and then his lungs had failed, he had fallen into a
coma a few hours before. I broke down like I haven’t in a while and
instantly called Chynoweth....it was a hard conversation. After that
Jenson called to see how we were all doing....safe to say it was a really late
night for the Family Palmas......<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">All I know is that
despite everything! I have unfailing confidence in the plan of the Lord! Jose,
Lucio, Margarita, every one of them was a blessing from the Lord and I know
that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without their help and support! I’m so
glad for the knowledge I have of the gospel. I know with all certainty
that there is no other way to happiness then accepting and following the gospel
of Jesus Christ. He is my rock and my Salvador. One day I’ll have
the chance to thank Him for all He has suffered for me and for all the tender
mercies I have received at His hand. This work will never end, because it’s
the work of an Almighty God and it will truly change the world, as it has truly
changed my life! In the words of Elder Holland, "we cannot quit, we cannot
go back!" So forward we go! With the shield of faith ready to destroy all
the doubts and traps strewn in our path by the adversary!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-38548523532949717012015-06-22T21:02:00.002-07:002015-06-22T21:02:42.118-07:00Happy Endings<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Yeah, I know that this is still not my last
blog letter but I feel like so many things are currently coming to an end that it’s
just appropriate. In this week we will be receiving a new mission
president! As of this week I will only have one more friend from freshman year
who is still on a mission. As of this week I am officially a “valiant”
missionary. As of this week I am now one of the oldest sisters in the
mission (time wise) and the next in line for “death”. As of this week
everything just got way too real! I think the greatest thing is that one of the
assistants to the president will also be going home with me, so every time we
see each other he asks, "como esta....muerto?" (How are you, Dead
One) and it’s really funny. Last week at our food appointment, Elder
Estrada (the AP) was shaking my comp’s hand and she goes, "Ewwww, Elder
did you forget to shower this morning?! Because you smell like death!"
HAHAHA gosh my comps such a fireball! (Editor’s note: for those of you who don’t
know, missionaries jokingly refer to all aspects of their mission time with
terms of life. Their first are is where they are “born.” Their trainer is their
“parent.” And when it’s time to go home they are “dying.”)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Happy ending number 1: I
think President was trying to make me the happiest missionary every when he
moved me to this area because I’ve had the joy of sending off two groups of
valiants. When Garcia’s group was all gathering in the offices to go to
Presidents house for the final dinner, I was there waiting for the AP to show
us how to get to food. So naturally I got to spend like 30 minutes just
loving her! And just last week all the valiants were coming back into the
offices. I knew what day they were coming and had saved up a ton of
reasons to pass by the offices that day...and all of them fell through because
the elders were like, "We got it under control!" But Heavenly Father
had my back. The Hermana that it touched to give us food had just given
us money so I had to drop the money off for the elders. I snuck right
into the offices and found out that I had to pick up a few sisters also to take
to my house. I was upstairs and everyone else was down stairs and
stressed about flight plans so I didn’t want to enter and cause chaos....but let’s
be honest, yes I did!!! I sent a messenger (Elder Estrada) to tell Ferb that I
was upstairs and she hit me so hard that we almost fell over and took my
companion out all at the same time! I haven’t bawled saying goodbye to anyone
recently (because everyone’s going to be really close to Utah really soon), but
I instantly started crying! I haven’t seen her in like a year so it was the
best reunion/farewell ever where we just couldn’t stop hugging! Naturally
Skinner came running too and joined in on the intense hug, which made me laugh really
really hard! There were so many people to say goodbye to and I love them all so
much that I can’t truly accept that they’re gone! Every single one of the 25
were like my older siblings because they have literally been here since I
started the mission, a lot of them were trainers of people from my generation, I’ve
served with all of them, and almost all the elders have been my zone leaders or
district leaders! Some of them I don’t even know that well, I’ve just heard of
them because they’re legends, and I was surprised to find that they knew me! We
were in the offices for a good hour and a half.....and we ate real triple
chocolate cake!!!!!!!!! I have been so blessed to serve with the most amazing
people ever and make the greatest friends!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Happy ending number 2:
I found out a ton of joyful surprises this week while I was with the
valiants this week that had a huge impact on me. I feel like the mission
just tries to remind us over and over and over again that we will never truly
know the impact that we have on people. Truly the seeds we plant will be
harvested and I’ve had the blessing in my mission to see these seeds be
harvested! If you go back in my emails to about exactly a year ago, you’ll find
the story of Alberto, a man we contacted late one night in a cambi. We
only said about three things to him, (Here’s a card, the church’s direction,
and when we meet), but he felt the spirit and came to church the next day as a
complete surprise. We began teaching him and discovered that he smoked about
40 cigarettes everyday.....so it was something really hard for him to
overcome. Three weeks later, both Ferb and I left the area. We
heard that the other sisters dropped him really fast cause they didn’t think he
was going to progress. Ferb and I were truly sad because we had always
felt that one day he would be a stake president due to his ability to feel the
spirit! Well the night that I got to see Ferb again she told me the greatest of
news, Alberto had been baptized three weeks ago!!!!!!!! I started crying all
over again, happier than happy that the Lord had truly never given up on
him. Five seconds later, Elder Matos walked up to shake my hand and was
super excited to tell me news. "Hermana, do you remember the family
in the corner store in Chilpo?? The ones that you gave a Book of Mormon too and
basically taught all the lessons to by just gifting them folletos everytime you
passed by??" "of course I remember them!" "Well they’re
getting baptized soon! They want to tell you thank you for all you tried to do
for them!" WOW, was really all I could say and the best part is that that
is only the beginning to all the amazing things I’ve recently heard!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Truly we are instruments
in the Lords hands every day. There are times when I get angry because I didn’t
have anyone I contacted that day accept an appointment to return. There
are days when I feel like I haven’t accomplished a whole lot, but those are the
days when I’m focusing on my own success and not on the success of
others. As true instruments of the Lord, we talk to everyone to make them
aware of this great message we share. We share this message with everyone
to help them see how much the Lord wants to guide and bless their lives.
And we share it with all of our hearts so they can see the blessings. We
share and we share and we invite and we share all day long, day after day, week
after week, month after month, year after half a year. The number of
people we talk to is uncountable, but the work we do truly changes lives and
the lives that we touch are even more difficult to count. I’m so grateful for
the opportunity that I have had to see so many seeds bloom into gorgeous
flowers and to see the spirit of the Lord touch the hearts of the people that
we meet. One of the greatest parts of missionary work is the mark that we
leave behind. It may be in a month, it might be in a year, it might even
be in 10 years, but the Lord will make sure that our seeds were not planted in
vain and that one day, every person will have the chance to accept this glad
tiding and learn the truth! There is no greater work!</b></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-17174594102026912772015-06-11T20:42:00.002-07:002015-06-11T20:42:28.819-07:00Familiar Faces, Amazing Places<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">First off thank you for the Christmas
package Frontenac ward!!! Loved every letter and I’ll keep them forever!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These past two weeks have been
like an old comp rehash and I just can’t get over how much I love my companions!
On Sunday morning our doorbell rang and I knew it could only be one person,
GARIE! We hugged it up, like seriously don’t think we stopped hugging, and
laughed for way too short a time and then she was gone! Two days later Hna Sturt
was in my house and we were happy as two larks. The next day Hna
Hernandez was sleeping with us and we were happy all night and just trying to
make every second count in the little time that we had....because we might
never see each other again :( (yeah the Familia Neu was separated two weeks ago
when Hernandez and her comp were emergency transferred to Chilpo). And today I
topped it off with a visit with Chynoweth and Skinner. All I lack is the
beautiful face of Ferb! BOY HAVE I BEEN BLESSED!!!! Like more than I could ever
imagine! Great friends, great times :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I wanted to write an odd to the
family Garcia to put here as a thank you for just how amazing they have been in
the course of the last week. On Saturday I received a phone call from a
voice I instantly recognized. Apparently President Kusch had given the Garcia
family permission to kidnap me for the night and to do whatever, with the tag
line, "I trust you guys." So we went to dinner, but better than
anything I just got to spend more time with GARIE +her amazing family and hear
all about things in Chilpo and in real life! AND THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE THE
MIRACLES SHE TOLD ME!!!! When we were together in Chilpancingo we had been
teaching two cousins who were our ages and they were the most amazing people
ever. Adi had gone to church three weeks in a row and was reading the
Book of Mormon. She just couldn’t get over how good she felt every time
we came and how perfect our timing was when we first found them. When we
left Chilpo it was really hard to leave them, but we had faith that we would
soon see their faces in the baptism video that we get to watch every three
months. Well while Garie was walking along the beaches in some city south
of Acapulco, she ran into Adi who had recently moved there for work!!! Talk
about small world! She hadn’t been to church after we left because the elders
had only passed by once and it was really awkward. But the Lord put her
in Garcia’s path and now once again she’s meeting with the missionaries! Truly
the Lord is mindful of all of us, AND he doesn’t give up on anyone until they
have returned to Him!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So that was the Garcia/Neu
miracle of the week (that and that everyone remembered me in Chilpo and were
quite confused why I wasn’t there with Garcia). But there were also an
incredible number of miracles that went down in our area this week. Last
week we hit rock bottom; 0 investigators, 0 con fecha, and 1 in church who is
an eternal investigator so it didn’t really count. I was mad at the
world, but I tried to take a daily dosage of humility pills and just see what
the Lord had to offer us. Because we didn’t have anyone to teach we just
rolled up our sleeves and went to work talking to anyone we could find.
The Lord not only answered, He gave double! I think the greatest example is
that of Lucio, an old man of 75 that we had just started teaching. He was
quitting smoking really really really well until the day we found him on a
street corner smoking a whole box because he had just found out that he was
getting thrown in jail for something he hadn’t done and there was nothing he
could do about it. We were crushed because finding him had been such a
miracle! Well we saw him in the street this week and he had the greatest news,
HE WASNT GOING TO JAIL ANYMORE, for once justice had come through and the real
criminal was going to jail. Well more than ever he was ready to
progress. It’s been a miracle in itself that he has been able to progress
even a little bit because he can’t read and his comprehension level is about
that of a 12 year old. We use a lot of pictures as we teach him to help
him remember things. This week we talked it over and felt impressed that
we needed to give him a Book of Mormon and invite him to read it.....yup a Book
of Mormon to the guy who doesn’t know how to read. We taught him a small
chunk of the first lesson and then I promised him that if he had faith in the
Lord, He would open up the means that Lucio could read it. We came back
two days later to the biggest miracle of my mission! Lucio simply said, "I
know it’s all true!" We were a little confused, "You know what’s
true?" "I know the whole Joseph Smith story is true!" We were
blown away because we hadn’t even talked about Joseph Smith yet so we calmly
asked him how he knew. Turns out he had read the lesson one pamphlet 4
times in preparation for our visit because we always ask so many questions and
he wanted to be able to answer them for once. The man, who doesn’t know
how to read, read the pamphlet four whole times AND got an answer! That’s what
I call a miracle!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"</span><span style="color: #333333; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thou hast seen and heard all this; and will ye not
declare them?...All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; who among them hath
declared these things unto them? The Lord hath loved him; yea, and he
will fulfil his word which he hath declared by them" 1 Nephi 20:6,
14</span><span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Lord fulfills our promises. He puts power to our
words. I’m here to declare this message because I know He is here
supporting me no matter what!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-5495169781037854232015-06-02T17:55:00.000-07:002015-06-02T17:55:00.254-07:00Smell the Coffee<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>I think the greatest
blessing about being a missionary is the continual confirmation that "whom
the Lord calls, He qualifies. That doesn’t mean that you’re the only one who
could do it right. At times you might think others could possibly do it
better, but more than anything the Lord knows that you can do it the right way,
HIS WAY, and that’s why He wanted you and only you! I think it’s also important
to remember that "whom the Lord loves, He chastens" and sometimes the
chastening makes you feel like you’re crawling through the dark and all alone
instead of following His glorious light. If there is something I learned
this week (a rather hard one), is that there is a reason for all things and
though the answer won’t always come at this exact moment or right when we need
to know that there is still hope, we will ALWAYS have a chance to feel the
power of God’s love. We will always have a chance to feel His blessings
and power in our lives and it’s those tender mercies that make us strong during
the greatest/most difficult times in our lives. One of my favorite quotes
(I believe it’s from Pres. Eyring’s talk, “Mountains to Climb”) says,
"With faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the hardest along with the happiest
of times can be seen as a blessing" (see the talk for a better quotation).
As President Kusch would say, ADELANTE CON VALOR (and I would add, with faith
in Christ)!!!!!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>We got a call about Elder
Perry passing away Saturday night, it was really shocking cause I didn’t think
he would be the next one even if he was 92. I for sure remember that
night in SLC when I mistook him for Bro Hillemeyer in our ward, it was actually
the first thing I said to my companion when we found out. Pretty funny! I’m feeling that Elder Rasband will be the
next called. He has like over 10 years as a member of the presidency of
the seventy, but I know who ever the Lord calls will be the right person and
will just be amazing!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt;">In one of
Sunday's</span></b><b style="line-height: 15.95pt;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt;"> talks a woman told a story of a chef whose daughter came to him
complaining of too much stress and too much suffering. He didn't say anything,
but took her into the kitchen where he began to boil water in three pots. In
the first he put some carrots, in the second an egg, and in the third some
coffee beans. After a few minutes his daughter became impatient and asked what
it all meant. He showed her the carrots and how they had become soft. He
cracked the egg and it was now firm from the boiling. And he had her sip and
smell from the third pot. He then explained that we can respond in one of three
ways when things get difficult and the water starts to boil. We can
shrink and become soft like the carrots although we were strong and firm to
begin with. We can let our tender hearts become stiff and unchangeable like the
egg, or we can release the best of ourselves and make use of the trial to make
something and everything around us better. I thought it was a good analogy and
should be taken for its meaning. Unfortunately, a couple of members thought
that it was bad to make coffee a positive thing in an analogy. Oh well, I think
you understand the point. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I will try my hardest to not endorse coffee haha. But it
was an extremely hard week and I have to say that I might have let myself become
an egg, but a letter from Hna Garcia about how much of a difference we made in
Chilpo made me realize that I want that same change here. I want my area
to be its own branch so members can get to church always and just have a super
strong community and so many more opportunities to share the gospel. I’m
gonna become coffee!!!!!!!!! ;)</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Love to all,<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-80160543689842419692015-05-26T18:39:00.001-07:002015-05-26T18:39:18.332-07:00It Wasn't Us<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">kind of</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"> second week "ish" opening an area. Naturally, our miracles were up and it was time to get crazy to work. It was a rather hard week, but we were trying so hard to reach every possible goal we had set. We passed by everyone's house on Saturday and found next to no one. The people we did find couldn't come to church the next day, so we were really stressed, scratch that, I was really stressed! We spent the good portion of 2 hours calling every investigator, MA, reference, AI, and contact that we could find a number for to boost them up and invite them to church. We got next to no answers.....</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">So the next morning we went to work knocking doors, trying to find people at home, trying to remind people of the importance of the sacrament...and nothing, no one was home. So we ran to the church for ward council and spent the little time we had before and after the meeting calling more and more people and still getting more answering machines then anything else. We said a quick prayer and then just put on the smiles to say hi to the members that were arriving. Basically it was one of the weirdest feelings of my entire mission. Yes, I was still crazy stressed as always but I was at peace. There was literally nothing more I could do!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">Church started and we had two investigators there, and so I was happy and thankful and telling the Lord all about it. I decided not to look around that day or keep turning around to check the door because I couldn't imagine who else could possibly walk in. At the end of church, I stood up and turned around, and SHOCK.... there in the back was an old investigator that we had not even called because we hadn't been able to find her in two weeks. And just two rows behind her sat a family that we had contacted the other day!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So maybe the Lord still has plenty of miracles in store for us. "¿Por que ha dejado Dios de ser un Dios de milagros, y sigue siendo todavia un Ser inmutable? Y he aqui, os digo que el no cambia; si asi fuese, dejaria de ser Dios; y el no cesa de ser Dios, y es un Dios de milagros!" (Mormon 9:19) I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who is so willing to bless our lives but also lets us stretch ourselves first so that we can become all we need to be!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love to All!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-42550223475229727782015-05-18T20:58:00.002-07:002015-05-18T20:58:49.622-07:00Cuernavaca Good Times<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Well I can’t even begin to describe the positives of this area,
because there are far too many and the whole place is so beautiful! I love it
despite the fact that my knees are about ready to fall off due to the crazy
hills and thousands of stairs. I think one of the greatest parts about
this area is that the office Elders and the Assistants to the President share
the ward with us, so the meals that they actually come to are a blast! I
officially feel like a secret agent due to the office Elders. This week
has been interesting because not one of the food appointments has been in our
area and if I’m getting lost in my own area imagine how great it is when I have
to go explore in someone else’s. BUT luckily the "headquarters"
has my back. I call in to tell them where the food appointment is (they naturally
have no idea where it is because they rarely leave the offices) they type the
address of the member into Google maps and BAM, I’m getting a fully guided tour
to the house of the member. Something like this, "are you looking at
the blue house? Okay so you’re going to walk five more houses down to the
orange house and there will be an alley way....don’t go into the alley
way." hahaha thanks Elders.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>The not so convenient part is that President Kusch lives around
the corner which can be rather embarrassing. I haven’t even been that
lost this week, but the other day coming back from lunch we had no idea where
to get a bus to get back to our area so we were crossing streets and looking
crazy lost. Out of nowhere we hear someone call out, "Hey Hermanas,
are you lost?" I turned around, thrilled and hoping to see a member, only
to realize that the question was in English and there were President and Sister
Kusch laughing at us from their car....que pena!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>More than ever this week I was incredibly thankful for the power
of the priesthood and priesthood leaders. This week my insomnia came back
and it hit harder than ever. I didn’t get any shut eye for about 3 days
and after 5 months no problems, I wasn’t use to overcoming it. By day
three I was so beat I couldn’t even express Spanish and smiling made my head
hurt. Worse than ever, I knew my comp was exhausted too, first week on
the mission and all, so I couldn’t complain. I finally broke down and
asked for a blessing which resulted in a family council (offices elders and
assistants). Their advice and help was amazing and I’ve been dreaming
again. I’m so thankful that the Priesthood truly has been restored to the
earth and is here in this church! What a blessing it is to ask for aid and receive
it from on high.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>This week we also had the last zone conference ever with President
and Sister Kusch and everyone was rather down....well almost everyone. My
newbie comp (no pun intended) was dying of sleep by the second hour and had a grumbling
stomach by the fourth hour. I guess the whole goodbye to the president doesn’t
have nearly the same effect when you just met them 5 days before. The
rest of us were hanging on to every word and just loving every moment of
it. It’s going to be super hard to say goodbye to them, but I’m grateful
for the chance to have served with them!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-61237147528112760112015-05-17T20:54:00.003-07:002015-05-17T20:54:59.986-07:00Back to the Beginning<span style="color: red;">Editor's Note:</span> This letter was from last week and I failed to get it posted. There should be a new one tomorrow so stay tuned.<br />
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Once upon a time, late at night, a group of 25
brand new missionaries arrived at the offices in Cuer</span></b></div>
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<b>navaca. They were
quickly divided into different houses to get to sleep. The Hermanas Neuberger,
Sturt, and Johnson were all chosen to sleep at the sisters’ house in Palmas,
leaving a crying Chynoweth in the offices. That very night Hna Garcia was
one of the sister training leaders and little did her and Hna Neuberger know,
but they would one day become the greatest of friends.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JDMek10m4Sc/VVlhSKWFXqI/AAAAAAAAAm4/dUYEQoFPVrI/s1600/DSC01971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JDMek10m4Sc/VVlhSKWFXqI/AAAAAAAAAm4/dUYEQoFPVrI/s400/DSC01971.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>In Cuernavaca with Hermana Chynoweth</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Fast forward to this
week, by a magical turn of events, and having failed to meet up with my
companions, I got dropped off at the offices to wait for them (PERFECT!) right
at the hour when all the people who were going home arrived aka Garcia.
Last P-day she sent me a pick of my dream, she found Calle 15 de Septiembre,
and in the offices she brought me chump change and conference Ensigns. That’s
true love right there, she knows me WAY too well!!! So I got to hang with her
for a little bit and the AP ended up having to drag me out the door to comida
with the promise that she could sleep with us that night. Boy what a
night it was. I was so happy and we talked for hours, while all the other girls
in her generation were in some other house! I also got to spend almost all of
Sunday with her and I am now sporting the Garcia wardrobe! I’m so glad for the
time we had together and would have loved to go with her to see her family who
are just the funniest!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>With new transfers saying
goodbye to Hna Skinner and Hna Chynoweth was a little difficult but okay because
we are all still in the same zone and we will be seeing each other every
martes!!!! (President must really love us). We truly had the most amazing week
of all weeks as we taught 142 lessons in total. That’s the power of a
trio and divisions! And I don’t think I’ve ever taught more spiritual lessons in
all my mission....or laughed so hard for hours straight. Everyone was
really worried about us getting separated when transfers came and how we would
handle it, but at the end of the day we all know that we’re headed to be where
the Lord needs us most and we’re so glad that we will be together again really,
really soon (12 weeks). <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2axMQqMU3YU/VVlhP_C6zgI/AAAAAAAAAmw/p7J-ym7qQoc/s1600/DSC02016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2axMQqMU3YU/VVlhP_C6zgI/AAAAAAAAAmw/p7J-ym7qQoc/s400/DSC02016.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Saying goodbye to Hermanas Skinner and Chynoweth</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>So I think it’s safe to
say that the last 6 weeks have been the craziest of my entire mission.
From leaving Chilpo, to the twin fest in Amayuca, to emergency transfers to the
greatest trio of all time, to saying goodbye to Hna Garcia, to training and
white washing an area...it’s been quite an adventure. I guess that the
key and joy of the mission: making every moment the greatest wherever you are
and with whomever you are! I’ve truly made the greatest of friends and had the
most amazing experiences. I know that when we are all working hard for
the same purpose that it’s impossible to not love every moment of the work we
are doing. This is the work of salvation and I’m so truly glad for the opportunity
that we have to be doing it!</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><b>Love to all,</b></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><b><br /></b></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><b>Hermana Neuberger</b></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><b><br /></b></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JxOH_2XRmbg/VVlhSLt5pyI/AAAAAAAAAm8/mGENJupHVbc/s1600/DSC02019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JxOH_2XRmbg/VVlhSLt5pyI/AAAAAAAAAm8/mGENJupHVbc/s640/DSC02019.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>La familia Neu (two daughters and a granddaughter). I'm so proud!</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p><b><br /></b></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-60981753680512820772015-05-04T17:18:00.003-07:002015-05-04T17:18:39.511-07:00They Ran Us Right Out of Town<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">So I guess I’ll just start out with the biggest
surprise....I’m no longer in Amayuca. It’s weird to think that a month ago I
was saying goodbye to everyone in Chilpo and now I’m already gone from Amayuca.
But that’s the mission. I’m sure you’re all wondering why? A question
that can be summed up in one word, Twins!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Remember last week how we
were all laughing (President included) about two human eating white people
running around the corn fields of Amayuca? Well on Tuesday night we were
contacting someone when we got a call from a member. She simply told us
that some crazy lady (the “don’t eat me” lady from last week) was trying to
start a law suit against us and that she was also trying to convince her
neighbors to band together to run us out of town. The warning was just to
not go to that part of town and it would all settle down in a couple of days.
Okay, sounds good and we hung up thinking that everything would be alright. We
had just walked in our door when the phone rang and poor Elder Ramos only said,
"You guys have to get out now" (in his flawless English). "There
is a huge mob coming for you guys, so pack!!! Were on our way to pick you
up" IS THIS A JOKE!!! And now we see how quickly the truth can be changed
and blown WAY out of proportion. Apparently after talking to us the
member had called our ward mission leader just to warn him, who had called the
first counselor, who had called the elders, who instantly called President because
they were so scared. The story grew from an angry lady’s talk to an
imaginary angry mob that was coming to lynch us....I truly don’t think I’ve
ever laughed so hard. The best part is that we never unpacked from Chilpo
because we were still awaiting the call that would tell we were headed back to
good old Aeropuerto, therefore packing took a whole 5 seconds. The Elders
picked us up and took us to the stake center where we met our very confused
zone leaders, who had no idea what was going on. We stayed with the only
other sisters in our zone for the night...and long story short, basically our
entire zone finally got to bed about midnight due to the whole twin fiasco. We
made it to the mission offices the next morning, where we got to once again
tell the dramatic story of the twins (something we were getting REALLY good at)
. .
. . and then we found out that
Hermana Garcia and I were getting super separated . .
. . all laughter gone! She only
has 11 days left, safe to say I was super disappointed!!! On the positive side I’m
back with Hermana Chynoweth, my MTC companion, and Hermana Skinner, a sister I’ve
known and loved all my mission. I’m serving in Palmas, the President’s
home ward, and my areas is so beautiful that I’m actually okay with serving in
Cuernavaca. I’m finally back to huge hills littered with houses and a ton
of greenery, ITS SOOOOO PRETTY!!! So here starts my area of firsts: first trio,
first area in my entire mission that I’m not opening, first time serving in
Cuernavaca, first time getting emergency transferred, first time having a ton
of missionaries in my ward, and first time not being sad to change.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>I think there has been an
overkill of happiness in the last couple of days and I am not the least bit
sorry for it!!!! Life is just good and I’m counting down the days till I get to
see Hermana Garcia again (just 5 days when she comes through on her way home)
and I get to see my baby, Hermana Hernandez, tomorrow so life just keeps going
up! Who knows what’s going to happen with transfers in 5 days, but I don’t like
to think about it. For now I’m just enjoying! <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Between false doctrine Friday
(Hermana Skinner was having a hard day) and a crazy amount of golden investigators
I don’t even know where to begin talking about how amazing this ward is! There
is naturally a ton of work to do because the ward has 600 members and only a sacrament
meeting attendance of 100, BIG PROBLEM, but that’s all about to change because
there is serious power in this trio. I think in the last couple of days I
might have taught the most powerful lessons of my mission! <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>On Sunday I was talking
to a member and a man standing nearby overheard my name. He looked up
shocked and said, "did you say Neuberger?" I was super shocked and
said yes. "You know Elder Stutz. I know you. I’ve heard all
about you! It’s so nice to meet you!" That got the ward really excited
soooooo Hey Thanks Tanner ;)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>I’m excited for
everything that life has to bring!!!!<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Love ya,<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b>Hermana Neuberger<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-44713397934826858862015-04-27T19:57:00.000-07:002015-04-27T19:57:10.620-07:00Anybody See the Gemelas?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Whelp.....no bishop, no relief society
president, no ward secretary, no ward missionaries, no primary presidency, no
young men’s presidency, no Sunday school presidency, and yes, I like you, am
quite amazed that this ward is still somewhat functioning! But they are and it’s
probably has something to do with the fact that the entire ward is
family. Things have been a little different but.......</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5UOQ29LnKms/VT713BMg7VI/AAAAAAAAAlo/G4UQhsr_6Y0/s1600/DSC01895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5UOQ29LnKms/VT713BMg7VI/AAAAAAAAAlo/G4UQhsr_6Y0/s1600/DSC01895.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">P-day exploring</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Now for the greatest plot
twist of my entire mission: Amayuca is a REALLY small town so rumors spread
fast, like REALLY fast, and they grow even faster. Now for the rumor: In
a very small town near ours, two twins were apparently playing </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ouija board</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> and became
possessed by evil spirits. So they naturally did the only normal thing to
do under the situation....they ate their parents and then they took off to
live in the fields living off of wild dogs. Yup, that was the beginning
and then...the story is that it was actually two guerras (white people) that
were here on vacation and now they’re going around eating unexpected people in
the street. So every so often we had heard kids in the street whispering
gemelas (twins) as we passed, but we had no idea what was going on so we just
kept walking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D5F2lwAD0N4/VT712JSa0II/AAAAAAAAAlg/F0MsFKgTMao/s1600/DSC01886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D5F2lwAD0N4/VT712JSa0II/AAAAAAAAAlg/F0MsFKgTMao/s1600/DSC01886.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe this is what gemelas look like</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A few days later around
sundown, we were super lost and looking for directions and decided to ask a
lady who was walking by...rather quickly. As we turned to talk to her she
didn’t respond...weird. So we called out again and she only looked worriedly
over her shoulder and then kept trotting down the street. So we walked
quickly after her hoping to get her attention and her help. HORRIBLE
IDEA!!! The poor lady took off running when she saw we were gaining on her and
yelled over her shoulder at our pleas for help, "DONT EAT ME!" You
can only imagine how confused we were until the next day when one of our
investigators told us that the neighbors had seen the gemelas the other night
on her very street (aka us ;))<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fWyoSGYWB-E/VT718zyoaQI/AAAAAAAAAl8/4oBNM02YF8o/s1600/SAM_1210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fWyoSGYWB-E/VT718zyoaQI/AAAAAAAAAl8/4oBNM02YF8o/s1600/SAM_1210.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe if we had a sign</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So now peopl<o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 15.95pt;">e run from us
because the rumors have spread to include that the twins are nuns, that they’re
always by churches, and they have secret allies (aka members). The other
day a member said, "Good thing the people here are scared folk or I’m sure
you guys would have been lynched by now! Hahaha imagine that" .....ummmm
hahahaha. All the members think it’s the funniest thing to ever happen and my
comp and I are having a fabulous time with it. I personally find it
hilarious!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">For all the walking we have been doing we are
still sitting on a whole lot of zeros but the Lord has a greater plan for us. I
recently found a quote that I really like that says:</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: 5.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Heavenly Father knows us, loves us,
and desires everything necessary for us to return to His presence. And
sometimes that includes trials, troubles, and challenges (see </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-pet/1.7?lang=eng#6" target="_blank"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #0091bc; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">1 Peter 1:7</span></a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">). If Heavenly Father were to free us from our challenges simply
because we asked, He would deny us the very experiences necessary for our
salvation. We must learn to trust in God’s plan for us and submit our will to
His. As we align our desires with His desires and acknowledge our complete
dependence on Him, we may qualify to receive “the end of [our] faith, even the
salvation of [our] souls” (</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-pet/1.9?lang=eng#8" target="_blank"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #0091bc; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">1 Peter 1:9</span></a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">).</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know
with all my heart that Heavenly Fathers plan for each of us is so much greater than
that which we can comprehend. We have two choices in this life, to
overcome or be trodden down and I personally enjoy the first one so much
more. One day in the future we will be able to see the big picture of all
our struggles. I feel like recently I’ve been crying out "hope yah
know, I had a hard time" when there is no one who knows more perfectly
then the Lord that I was struggling. Let us never forget how truly he
knows us, in a way more complete then we could ever imagine, and is willing to
go to whatever length to help us if we but ask Him!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks
for all your love and support!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">See you
soon,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana
Neu</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-17957348121790051222015-04-06T22:32:00.003-07:002015-04-06T22:32:39.115-07:00Into Outer Darkness<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well hello there from the
bountiful dead grass fields of the sweltering Sahara of our little city (holy cow that
pool across the street is taunting me!).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Day 1: No house</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day 2: No light....and
for many days after<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day 3: No air (and
literally my comp can’t breathe! We think she’s allergic to Morelos...she’s
still super clogged and sick)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day 4: Random Guests<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">
Stayed home because my comp had a fever and still couldn’t breathe. I
took the time to organize our three area books into one area book with all the
antiguo investigators organized into colonies and then in alphabetical
order....yup I’m crazy, but organizing always helps me to de-stress! While I
was lost in a maze of over 600 registros there was a knock at the door (odd because
we know literally nobody). I opened it to see a woman and three children
standing at my door. Ummm, I didn’t order Girl Scout cookies.... But then
I saw the little old man in the back and I started straight up laughing.
Safe to say we’ve been found, again, by the Garcia family. I have to say
that President was all but asking for that to happen when he sent us to an area
20 minutes away from Garcia’s grandparents’ home...and into a ward where her
grandpa was branch president way back in the day and her father served as high
council men. So I woke up my sick companion to let her know that her
aunt, cousins, and grandparents were outside our door, only to come back down
the stairs to find them in our house....this is so illegal (highlight of the week!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day 5: Sunburnt, fasting,
and crazy lost....lucky all the cambi drivers had pity on us and gave us free
rides<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Day 6-7: The sweet relief
of general conference!!!!!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> We
basically lived in the stake center all weekend watching the conference in English
(so we could hear their real voices) with all the American elders and then
quickly changing the station to Spanish during the last session for the Latino
speakers. If there are two HUGE things we can pull out of conference it’s
the importance of the family and of personal conversion. I think the
greatest part about conference is receiving answers to all the little things we
need to hear. I’m grateful for the opportunity that we have to hope in
the powers and redeeming life of Christ! I know that He lives and has made the
pathway possible to return to our Heavenly Home. I know that I can never
thank Him for the price that He paid for me but it’s truly a blessing that I
can show my appreciation for everyday as I remember to apply it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With an abundance of
Love,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-79072607870636441722015-03-30T19:21:00.001-07:002015-04-06T22:33:16.476-07:00River of Tears<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kind of depressing, I
apologize!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I’m gonna try to make this upbeat and exciting
but I haven’t slept in two days so the banging in my head is crazy getting to
me!!! I guess the biggest news of all is that they took all the American
sisters out of Guerrero.....and now I think you understand just about
everything.....</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qS5XqCkGonM/VRoDsVsJ2MI/AAAAAAAAAkY/AmkyF7x8Dtw/s1600/DSC01833.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qS5XqCkGonM/VRoDsVsJ2MI/AAAAAAAAAkY/AmkyF7x8Dtw/s1600/DSC01833.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The call came late Saturday
night and was soooo unexpected that we just sat there crying for 2 hours
straight (and Hna Garcia NEVER cries!!) We sent a text to inform the bishop,
who then instantly called (sad, angry, and confused all at once) and could
barely put a sentence together. Basically, the whole thing was like a
really bad dream. We had a baptism planned for this Saturday...and the
next...and the next...and the next....and the next...you get the point, things
were about to get SOOOO good! Apparently are reaction was sad enough that the
zone leaders called the sister training leaders to make sure everything was
okay.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next day at church
was emotionally horrendous to say the least. First off, let’s just
remember back to that one time when we stressed out more than necessary about
the fact that Elders were coming to our ward....well I think this Sunday just
was meant to make us know how much the ward loves us. They passed around
the food calendar last week and we had a food appointment for everyday of the
month of April (even with women who NEVER feed the missionaries) and the Elders
had two. Not saying anything bad about the Elders...just feeling super
loved! Everyone kept coming up to us all excited about how they were going to
feed us and then we would have to tell them the bad news. We had an
investigator who couldn’t make it to church, his wife is an inactive member,
when we told them that we were leaving they started laughing and said good
one. You can only imagine our faces, AND THEIRS, when we had to tell them
it wasn’t a joke! All of our investigators cried through church, but the worst
of all was saying goodbye to Guri (who should have been baptized a month ago
but still doesn’t have permission) who couldn’t stop crying and had me crying
for a good 20 minutes. Everyone wanted photos, everyone wanted to hug us,
everyone wanted to march to president’s house and protest (there were a lot of
jokes made about marches and camping in tents, but they’re not really funny to
those who haven’t experienced Chilpo), and more than anything everyone wanted
to know when we’re coming back! We told everyone to keep going and that we
would be back for all their sealings in the temple/mission call openings REALLY
SOON! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SnjR1uFgUrs/VRoD3Qy5e6I/AAAAAAAAAk4/xctCSC328-s/s1600/DSC01840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SnjR1uFgUrs/VRoD3Qy5e6I/AAAAAAAAAk4/xctCSC328-s/s1600/DSC01840.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I won’t go into detail
about my day of tears...I think you’ve all got the picture by now. To end the
night we went to the FHE on the privada! Then it was picture fest with all the
Calixtos and way too many tears. The bishop took us into his house at the
end of the night for a private goodbye and said the nicest things! After the
hundreds of missionaries that have passed through that ward, we go down as “the
greatest duo of all” :( it was so heartfelt that I just shattered! The kids couldn’t
grasp the fact that we were leaving and just kept asking "cuando van a ir
a nuestra casa, tias?" (When are you coming to our house, aunts?) The other
half of the privada, still Calixtos, but in the other ward, were also crying
saying that they felt like we had been their missionaries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h4dJLNurmxE/VRoD2BIM1zI/AAAAAAAAAkw/_j9Un6pCDHQ/s1600/DSC01835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h4dJLNurmxE/VRoD2BIM1zI/AAAAAAAAAkw/_j9Un6pCDHQ/s1600/DSC01835.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And then we left.
We closed the door, we jumped in the car, and we drove away....and my heart is
shattering right now just thinking about it all over again. I broke down at the
bus station, I broke down on the bus, and I think it’s safe to say that I’ll
never forget my family in Chilpancingo!!! More than anything I’m just grateful
for the knowledge that I have that the Lord has a greater plan for us. He
is so aware of what we need that He is willing to cut us down at our highest
just to make us better. From the moment we got the call to entering the
bus I’ve found myself on my knees whispering prayers for strength and
comfort. I know this is all for a greater purpose and though it hurts
now, I can see how my prayers were answered in so many ways all over the
place. I think one of the greatest answers to prayer is that I got to
stay with my best friend, Hna Garcia, to take on our new area together. I
don’t think I could have gone on without her and for that tender mercy I am
truly grateful!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cjHnKae2ITg/VRoD6N4kX5I/AAAAAAAAAlI/-ho4GAf_Odw/s1600/DSC01868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cjHnKae2ITg/VRoD6N4kX5I/AAAAAAAAAlI/-ho4GAf_Odw/s1600/DSC01868.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So where am I know?? I’m
back in Cuautla in a little nothing town called _____. I swear everyone and
their mom is a member and the ward only likes hermanas (they just throw out
their Elders) so they’re super excited to have us. Crazy side is that our
bishop is inactive.....LET THE FUN BEGIN!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The mission is a
spectacular thing!!!!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Plus Hna Garcia’s
grandparents and aunts and uncles all live 20 minutes away soooo I think Prez
is trying to make us as happy as possible ;)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You know I love you!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-32909660130364845032015-03-23T20:18:00.002-07:002015-03-23T20:18:37.379-07:00His Day<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
week was a roughy.....that being said, the Lord truly provides!!!</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sunday
morning I woke up wondering how we were going to have anybody at church.
We received a phone call early in the morning, from the elders that we share
the ward with, calling to apologize that they had basically taken all the cars
to pick up investigators for church because they had so many that wanted to
come (talk about salt in the wound). We hit the streets early and tried to
round up a few, but found door after door of nothing. It was REALLY hot,
which didn’t help much! As a last resort we stopped by the home of a MA (less
active) family that we randomly found the other day. They’re from
Chalapas and moved here about 2 months ago but their records were never
transferred. So we drop in Sunday morning and they’re all barely awake
and a little shocked to see us. We share a quick thought and then ask
them what they think about going to church in an hour. Awkward silence, (in
which I should mention that this family is very very very humble and doesn’t
have the money for the bus to get to church). "Don’t worry, we have
a car and a member that are going to pass by for you (HUGE LIE). Can you be
ready in an hour?" The family was so excited and went right to work...as
did we as we crazy called everybody to see who could come get them. In
the mean time we stood on a street corner madly calling other investigators to
see what we could rally up!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well we
got them to church!!! And the ward welcomed them sooooo well (I love this ward family!!!).
Then we just waited to see what else would happen in the next 20 minutes before
church started. Maritza was waiting for us in the chapel and I was so
shocked I almost forgot to say hi. Guri walked in 5 minutes early with a big
smile on her face as normal. Pretty sure all the ward is super annoyed
with her family because she’s basically a member just still can’t be baptized because
she doesn’t have permission. She participates more in Young Women’s then
everyone else :) Next entered Damaris (a MA since age 8 who we’ve been
reactivating) all smiles for her first day of real church in 10 years! And
seconds behind her entered our fabulous investigator Adi, looking a little
confused, but equally determined. I think the biggest miracle of all was
when another MA that we had magically found on the street showed up with her
nonmember husband, her first time in church in 8 years! She was thrilled and a
lot of the members remembered her from way back in the day! Lastly Bernadita
and Andres walked in with about 20 minutes left in Sacrament Meeting. (They’re
so on fire and trying so hard to get everything together. Bernadita bore
her testimony about the importance of temple marriage during a lesson last week
and it brought the spirit so strong I couldn’t stop smiling. They have a
goal to be sealed before the end of this year, and it’s for sure our goal
too). The elders came running over to us at the end of Sacrament Meeting
with their jaws gapping wondering how many investigators we had at church that
day. We started laughing because really most of them were MA (soon to be
just members, because they’re here to stay). Everyone was just so happy
and it was beyond perfect!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This
week we’ve been sharing D&C 64:33 (</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wherefore, be not<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314);">weary</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314);"> </span>in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314);">well-doing</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314);">,
for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314);">small things</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.00784314);"> </span>proceedeth that which is great)</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> with all the members at comidas because
people have been really stressed. They feel like our ward missionary
efforts are falling apart, that the visits they are doing are for nothing, tension
is high, desire is falling, and we wanted to let each of them know how much we appreciated
all of them! This ward is truly the greatest ward I have ever seen! And it’s
true, sometimes we feel like all of our efforts are having no effect and that
nothing is progressing. That’s when we just have to remember that this is
the Lord’s work and to make a canyon the river has to flow for quite a long
time!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Neuberger</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-34953793532607526062015-03-16T18:35:00.001-07:002015-03-16T18:36:28.401-07:00From Coast to Mountain<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Well first off, and in biggest news, MY BROTHER
TRAVIS IS ENGAGED!!!!!!! We had a party for him Friday night because I just couldn’t
stop smiling!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In other less important
news, my hand is not broken (in my opinion). The very high tech medicine here
said that it was broken (I don’t know what x-rays they were looking at) and
then proceeded to wrap my whole arm in a mixture of popsicle sticks and one of
those long cloth bandages. I left the hospital with my hand in more pain
then when I arrived and with my arm wrapped from elbow to fingertip.
After a day of the world freaking out that I had broken my hand only to find
out that I had broken my pinky, I was embarrassed enough to refuse to wear the
crazy contraption. So now my hands no longer swollen and my finger works
well enough and it’s no big deal (as long as Hermana Kusch never finds out).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vk97eice2M4/VQeECrUVWGI/AAAAAAAAAj0/i60G_GtPvFE/s1600/DSC01775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vk97eice2M4/VQeECrUVWGI/AAAAAAAAAj0/i60G_GtPvFE/s1600/DSC01775.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Beach in Acapulco prior to zone conference</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Last week I’m convinced didn’t
truly exist! Between the trip to Acapulco all Monday and then off to Cuernavaca
on Tuesday until Thursday night my week was gone. I spent a long time
sitting in offices waiting on visa papers. A highlighting moment went
down when I was doing my fingerprints and went to do my left hand (broken).
I was supposed to start with my pinky but, due to its broken nature I was going
to start with my thumb. The lady, thinking I didn’t understand Spanish,
said "no its this one first" while grabbing my pinky and giving it a
good shake....I guess my face said it all on that one cause the scary immigration
ladies never give hugs :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6pJLg6OWEJc/VQeECiF13gI/AAAAAAAAAjw/stclqgEl5VE/s1600/DSC01782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6pJLg6OWEJc/VQeECiF13gI/AAAAAAAAAjw/stclqgEl5VE/s1600/DSC01782.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The saddest thing that
happened this week is that the Hermanas in Galeana were emergency transferred
at the crack of dawn due to kidnapping threats. First Obrera and now Galeana,
and holy cow are we going to miss those girls! The scary part is that the theme
is going from area to area....and my area is the next one in that
sequence. The best is that our members realize it too! The other day at
dinner the dad, who looks like LeBron James, slammed his fist on the table and
said "if they even think about coming after you, call me up and I’ll teach
them a lesson or two!!!" So I feel super safe with Beto behind me :D<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LUgNuicSO1M/VQeECJtCX7I/AAAAAAAAAjs/Qa6vjJJzRPU/s1600/DSC01766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LUgNuicSO1M/VQeECJtCX7I/AAAAAAAAAjs/Qa6vjJJzRPU/s1600/DSC01766.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy with the children</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I think the greatest part
about this week is the little things that we ourselves didn’t have the chance
to see or experience, but that we were told by other members. Recently it’s
felt like we have been pouring in all our hearts and souls and obtained very
little but it all changed for me Sunday. It wasn’t different because a thousand
random people came to church. It wasn’t because our internal investigator
finally got permission from her parents to be baptized. It wasn’t even
because there were a lot of people at church. It was just the gratitude
in the voices and eyes of amazed members as they talked about the changes they
could see happening in their inactive family members and investigators. I
think a quote from a man my friend Elder Junge was teaching this week sums up
missionary work quite nicely, "Just think about it, your lives from
the minute you leave the pillow until the minute you get back into bed, the
sole purpose of all that time, is to bless and improve the lives of others.
Have you ever thought on how much good you've already done? How many lives
you've already changed? It’s got to be a giant number. And it’s something you
should never take lightly."
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It all reminds me of the
council of my dear brother at the beginning of my mission. The numbers
are one thing, but the people are another. We can choose to impact the
lives of everyone we come in contact with every day or we can walk from
appointment to appointment haphazardly. What counts more than anything
else is the effort we put into every moment and when you’re pouring in the
whole energy of your soul the impact is unmeasurable. It’s a number that
we will never know, but it’s a number far greater than anything else on the
mission. I’m so grateful for this time I have to focus only on the lives
of others, to make a child smile, to carry an older ladies groceries, to make
our members smile and know we love them. Reaching out truly brings an
abundance of joy that we can all feel!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">May we all reach out more
this week and try to be a little better,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Hermana Neuberger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-9199034806861369472015-03-02T18:02:00.008-08:002015-03-02T18:03:53.704-08:00Not Like the Rest<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>A quick shout out to the
Bezzant family for thinking of me and sending a Christmas card! The pop up
nativity is now the center piece of our table! You guys are amazing!<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>It’s safe to say this
week was the farthest from normal, one reason being that I spent over 6 hours
on a bus and then two days on a couch, a second reason being that we had a make-up
zone conference where we watched meet the Mormons :), and third because the
week went by sooo fast that I don’t even know what day it is anymore!<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>On Thursday we were
teaching a lesson when we received a call from the zone leaders. My comp
left me teaching while she answered the phone, but I found it difficult to
concentrate because about a thousand possibilities were flying through my head!
She scribbled down a note in her agenda, "You’re going to Cuernavaca in an
hour." WHELP, thanks for the notification elders. We ran home and
made it to the bus station. So I spent 3 hours on a bus with Hermana Sturt (MTC
buddy) to go sign about a thousand visa papers and then spend the night with
none other than Hermana Chynoweth!!!!!!!! It was the greatest MTC reunion yet because
I haven’t seen Chynoweth for real in about 7 months and I’ve truly missed her!
The next morning we made it to the bus station....only to find that the tickets
were sold out so we enjoyed three extra hours sitting in a bus
station....followed by another hour waiting in a bus station for our comps to
show up hahaha<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to
ask, why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be
more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth.
We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the
font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being
soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font? You will have
occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I
offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not
easy because <i>salvation is not a cheap experience.</i> Salvation <i>never</i> was
easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great
Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never,
ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to
spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. I believe that
missionaries <i>and</i> investigators, to come to the truth, to come
to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to
pay a token of that same price.<span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been
easy. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the
depths of our soul. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on
to Calvary. The only way to eternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the
Life. (Holland)<span style="color: #444444;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Every part of my mission
has been incredibly different; from opening my first area, to the extremely Catholic
Tepoztlan, and now in Chilpo. With the ups and downs of each week, I
often find myself asking the same kinds of questions. We leave for the
mission field hoping for success, but what we fail to realize is how many
different forms of success exist! I’m truly grateful for the success I have had
in learning more of my Savior Jesus Christ. I’ll never come anywhere near
to feeling as He felt, but I can do all with in my power to represent him every
day and make sure that others can gain the same testimony. I’m proud of the
name I bear and the message I get to share and through it all it’s something I
will treasure for all my life! I know this church is true. It is not
simply another church among the res,t but it is the one literally directed by
Jesus Christ. He is carrying me through it all and lifting me at my
lowest. With Him I can truly do it all!<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-21659543900326151892015-02-23T15:14:00.000-08:002015-02-23T15:14:10.605-08:00With All Our Fe'<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.95pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WE DIDNT GET
TRANSFERRED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Were still here and were hoping against hope that Hermana Garcia and I will be together until she "dies" in one more transfer....but I guess we
will leave that to the future. Yes, I’m still with Hna Garcia, the fake Latin
who was born and raised in Provo, Utah but has her entire extended family
living in Morelos (inside mission boundaries). Before she also was studying at
BYU and members ask us all the time if we knew each other before. I think
people often under estimate how big BYU is, but we have fun making up stories
of how we met at BYU and all the horrible impressions we had of each other
before the mission!<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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send last week that apparently didn’t send) Once again I have no time....so
here goes the fast track!<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This week we made the
stuttering decision to drop everybody (well almost everybody), and then prayed
that the Lord will fill our time! It made me super nervous to go from 25
investigadores a 6 pero the Lord knows what we should do. Our first appointment
was with a MA who’s family has been inactive for basically all of her life so
she literally does not remember ANYTHING. We’ve been teaching her for
about a month now and she’s really excited to come back to church. She
has a school course that she takes every Sunday so she can’t make it to church,
but it ends in the beginning of March. We had an extremely powerful lesson
with her about the importance of the Sabbath day and her cousin from another
ward was randomly there and bore testimony with such power that we didn’t want
to leave the house. The lesson ended with her silent comment, "I can’t
wait to go to church" (perfect!). From there we left just glowing
and smiling all the way down the street. A man in a pick-up called out to
us and we just waved as always not really thinking anything of it until he
stopped and pulled over (not always the best situation). He introduced
himself as Mario, a MA that we’ve been searching for for a month and told us
that he had taken his whole nonmember family to church last week and that now
they want to listen to the lessons.....ummmm YES! Well, we continued walking
and passed a house where we had contacted the husband a few days before and
decided to knock. The wife answered and graciously let us in all excited
because her friend is a Mormon and had been telling her a ton of good
things. Safe to say it was one of the greatest days ever!<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This week also had one
amazing day that just spun our heads around and had us all smiling so big we couldn’t
sit still but I think the greatest thing that we have seen happening here is in
the lives of our menos activos (MA). Recently we have been focusing our
efforts with the bishops and teaching weekly the MA families that he would love
to see sealed in the temple by the end of this year. We were psyched two Sundays
ago when they all showed up to church, then disheartened when only one showed
up the next Sunday, but this Sunday changed it all and they were all there
again. We have been focusing a LOT on one of the husbands, Luis, who we
recently realized though he has 4 years in the church knows very little about
anything. We taught him about the importance of the sacrament and what it
really means and then asked if he had any questions....he got really silent and
then said, "In my 4 years ¨(as a member) I think I’ve taken the sacrament
a total of three times. I guess I just never knew how important it
was. But now that I know I’ll never miss it again!" And thou
he was a little late Sunday, he was there for the sacrament and smiling!
(miracle 1). We had a great chat before church with Andres (a member of one
of the MA families) and though it was one of his first days off work in over
two weeks, he was there, AND FOR ALL THREE HOURS!!!! First time in years!
(miracle 2). Another couple arrived just in time for the testimony of the
final speaker, song, and prayer...but they made it ;) During Principles of the
Gospel, the husband raised his hands to share and simply bore his testimony of
how thankful he is for answered prayers. He had been praying for someone
to care that he existed, to care enough to pass by and get him reanimated about
the church and the next thing he knew the missionaries were there. I’m
just so glad that I was ready to answer that prayer! He said when he realized
just how blessed he was by the Lord that he made a personal commitment to never
miss church again no matter what it took or if his wife couldn’t make it
(miracle 3). All of that was just too much, way too much, but if you can
image it, there were even greater miracles! We are also teaching a part
member family, Monica and Alejandro and their three children. The only
nonmember is the dad, but all the others have so much time without church that
they feel like nonmembers. We’ve been teaching them twice a week and yet
still can’t get them to church. With the help of others we were able to
target there biggest concerns and give them answers to questions. When we
committed them to go to church this week it was super indefinite and we walked
home a little down that they weren’t going to be there. BUT THEN SUNDAY
CAME, oh blessed Sunday of joy and surprises (see past miracles). We got
there SUPER early with an investigator that can’t walk too well and therefore
wanted to be super early and seated fast. Church started with no one and
I was a little down but super grateful about the fact that there wasn’t room
for us to sit anywhere near our investigator due to the crazy amount of people
surrounding her. Then little by little every miracle started happening
and my face was just splitting with a smile. That’s where this family
comes in to play, you see I was already giddy and excited, and then I heard the
door open. Naturally my comp and i turn to see who it is and I didn’t
know if I should start crying or stand up and shout....I stayed with a face
splitting smile that hurt my jaw. There was the family slipping into the
back pew!!!!!!!!! I looked up at the Bishop, whose jaw was on the floor (I mean
this family has been inactive for like 10 years), and we both just couldn’t
stop smiling at each other!!! (MIRACLE 4!)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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so grateful for so many things! No tenemos muchas personas a ensenar y todavia
tenemos algunos de los mejores momentos de todo la mision!!!! </span></b></span><b style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 15.95pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">El Senor siempre esta en
nuestro lado! Yo sei con todo mi corazon!!!! Y estoy bien agradecida por este
conocimiento! (Editor’s translation: We don’t have many people to teach and
still we had some the best moments of my entire mission!!!! The Lord is always
at our side! I know with all my heart!!!! And I am very grateful for this
knowledge!)</span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 15.95pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love,</span></b></div>
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<b style="color: #444444; font-size: 11.5pt; line-height: 15.95pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger</span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-31173100554975027962015-02-09T15:21:00.002-08:002015-02-09T15:25:02.908-08:00A Little Crazy<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This week was a classic week of finding new amazing
investigators, falling appointments, 1000% help of members, miracles, smiles,
and in the end good results. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how willing the
members are here to help us out. We try to repay them through little notes of
thanks and any little act of service we can do but it’s never enough! The
members feel bad because their reference well is starting to dry up. When we
first got here we were receiving 2 or 3 from each member and about 20 each week
and now they don’t know anyone else. We’ve been leaving them with the
commitment to pray that the Lord will put someone else in their path and I know
they are doing it because they love the work as much as we do!<br />
<br />
This Sunday we were a little down because 2 hours before church we had about 20
investigators that were going to be able to make it. We passed by to make sure
they were up before we passed by with a member and a car....and somehow in that
30 minute time frame they all went missing. But the Lord knows what He is doing
and all those who had a desire to be there were there with a huge smile on
their faces. We have been working really hard with a few MA families this week,
by request of the bishop, in hopes that they can be sealed at the end of the year.
As Sacrament meeting started it was mostly the normal crowd, but then ever so
gradually slowly every MA family came in!!! It was nothing short of a
miracle! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are the members taking care of us?!?!? ARE THE
MEMBERS TAKING CARE OF US!?!?! I think its safe to say that's the
Elders basically hate us.....the other night one exploded on the phone to
me. Here is the story: we called them to ask for permission to go to
Zumpango today(a super dangerous/ghetto pueblo) with a family from the privada
that had invited us....it didn't go over well because we had just gotten home
from the birthday party of the Bishop, his wife, and another b-day on the
privada, Jose Jaime. Plus they had overheard the sisters of the ward
reminding us like thirty times about Hermana Nayelis b-day today and making
sure that we were coming to that party. Elder was like, "WHY DOES THE WARD
HATE US!?!?! WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT!!!! Maybe when we have more time they'll
like us as much as they love you guys!"....."Well, Elder we only have
8 more days here then you guys do".....I think it's safe to say that we're
trying with all our might to pay the members back for all the amazing things
they do for us. We make thank you cards for all the comidas that we get
each week and it makes some of the sisters cry. We make birthday cards
for everyone that we can find on the ward list that is going to have a b-day
that week. We remember every detail about their lives so that when we see
them again we can ask about how things are going. Any chance we have for
spontaneous service, WE ARE ALL OVER IT AND REFUSE TO STOP! Other than that and
the future missionary name tags that we've given to all the
children and the huge smiles on our faces.....I think it’s just safe to say
that we're super happy!!! At the end of church I just love standing in the back
by the door so I can give everyone a hug and tell them how much I love
them. Plus we are officially tias (aunts) on the privada, every
time we enter the kids come running "TIAS, TIAS, TIAS!!!" And it
makes my heart swell with joy :D</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.......on a sad note they're making
transfers early and the president has already sent a ton of emails
explaining that transfers are going to be SUPER different this change because
"we have to adapt to the ever changing and dangerous environment of our
mission".....soooo were super stressed and SUPER sad cause he has also
already told everyone that transfers are going to be weird and he doesn’t want
to hear complaints and how we should always remember that transfers areof God
and not him.....The missionaries here in Chilpo have recently been locked in
their houses due to more building burnings and riots.....BUT because my area is
far from the center we were allowed to work so ;) Hoping for all the best!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Last week, Hna Garcia and I started reading a conference talk together every
night before we go to bed. Every night when we finished my testimony is
confirmed that truly each one of them is called and inspired by God! Their
words are perfect and I am always enriched by reading them. A talk we read
recently talked about the importance of the Sacrament in a way that we often
overlook. We talked about it a lot and decided that it was what we needed to
share with the MA families so that they could always remember the true
importance of the sacrament and the need to take it each and every week. We
left them with the commitment to prepare to take the sacrament, which naturally
they all agreed to, but the real miracle was when they were all there Sunday
afternoon to participate in this spiritually replenishing ordinance.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lots of Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-84625390566087035932015-02-02T19:53:00.002-08:002015-02-02T19:54:16.395-08:00Magical Missionaries<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First off can I just get a list of all the people who aren't married!!! Holy cow is cupid out and about on BYU campus! I'm super worried about all my friends who get back from missions this semester cause there is no guaranteeing that they'll still be single in 6 months! But congrats to all you love birds :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The fact that I've been gone for a year BLOWS my mind because it only feels like a few months to me! Then again there is so much happening at home that I can see how a year has passed! To everyone who keeps asking, yup I'll see you in a year;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've recently been making up a ton of object lessons. For the past couple of weeks our bag of rice has been the joke of the ward and now that we're not carrying it around anymore, all the people who never saw that lesson are rather depressed and want us to show them. Sometimes the treasures of the gospel are just hidden secrets ;) But our new lesson is a "magic" trick, which isn't really magic at all it's just a task of distraction while Hna Neub quickly shuffles around the cards. The kids think it's the greatest thing ever and the parents are just stunned trying to figure it all out. Sunday we were eating on the privada, which is always an experience because they're all Mormon, they're all home and they leave their doors open so that everyone can come in and out with no problem and eat whatever dinner they want. We sat down to give our lesson and all the cousins come running in to get something, the mom calls her kids to all come listen, and BAM all the cousins decided to join when my comp informs them that I'll be doing magic. I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my life!!!! My comp and I just start giggling in English, "how on earth are we gonna pull this off, they are all breathing down my neck!?!?" But with an alacazam and probing questions not one of the 60 eyes saw what went down. Magic done and our cool points went through the roof...plus a few future missionary badges to seal the deal ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm officially out of time so my amazing week will have to be described in very few words, something that is rather hard for me. Our greatest miracles are two young women who just seem to get it! There names are Guri and Laydi and they are destined to be great. We taught Guri for the first time two weeks ago and were just blown away that an 11 year old could understand better then any person I've ever taught in all my mission. "So if the church was lost from the earth after the death of Christ, that means that God needed to call a new prophet to restore the church just like He has always done, right?" (JAW DROP) "Um, Yeah, that's exactly right!" "Wow, this gospel just makes sense!" Yes, Guri, yes it does. To those who truly desire to know the truth of all things the Lord is incredibly willing to open their minds to the truth! The saddest part is that Guri's parents only want her to go to church and accept everything....but they don't intend to let her be baptized...safe to say it's been really really hard because she is so prepared and wants to go to the temple! Were fasting and praying for miracles and have refused to change her baptismal date. I know that if it's what God wants, He will open the doors. On Saturday the bishop came with us to talk to the parents and we finally got to see the dad for the first time!!! We changed his mind from 2-3 years to 2-3 months so poco al poco vamos a ver el mano del senor cambiando los corazones de otros!!! (Ed. little by little we see the hand of the Lord changing the hearts of others)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Laydi is also a blessing in my life! The first time we talked to her she told us that the thing that interested her most about our church was the high moral standards that we teach, usually not the first response we get when we talk about the Palabra de Sabiduría o Castidad (Ed. Word of Wisdom and chastity). The other day we were asking her about how her prayers went sobre Jose Smith. The room got quiet and she looked up with big eyes, "I don't know how to tell you hermanas......the only way to describe it is that I felt...well just Padre (Spanish for awesome/amazing/perfect)" and then the other day we asked her how her prayers were going and her response, "I have such a testimony that God truly is listening to my prayers cause He's not only answering but He is also sending a ton of blessings along with the answers!" She told us recently that she is so happy in church y nunca va a dejar de venir (can't think of how to say that in English, sorry!!) (Ed. never wants to stop coming). I'm so excited for her growth and joy in the gospel, it's amazing!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So if our investigators aren't a miracle in themselves (we had 17 new investigators this week which is record for my mission), the members here will not stop blowing my mind with their desires and their awesomeness. Adolfo volunteered last Wednesday to come with us to see less actives on Monday in the afternoon, and then five seconds later he volunteered Moroni to also come with us. We laughed cause we're Hermanas so we can't walk around with two 22 year old boys. None of the people in ward council understood why not so we had to keep hinting at it till they understood and then they all just started making jokes about sister missionaries and temptations (good times!!!). But Monday they came with us and as we were planning stuff out Karen and Jazmin walked by on their way to do visits, PERFECT! Adolfo freaked out about how perfect it was and we did divisions, Adolfo(RM), Jazmin(RM), and I and Hna Garcia, Moroni(RM), and Karen (we're getting her on a mission if it's the last thing that we do). It was an hour and a half of miracles and we seriously didn't have words when we all got back together! Everyone was just silent and smilng they were so happy! I watch all these RMs and just their power and all I can think is how much I want to be like them. Each one of them is so powerful and so amazing in different forms that we just want them with us always! The best part is how willing they all our to help us....it's because they all still want to be missionaries ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Which brings us to Sunday, the greatest day of every week of my entire life! We put in so much effort to get investigators to church; coordinated rides, had members pass by for them, passed by ourselves and still came up pretty empty handed in church because it's a vacation weekend. But let's just remember that it's church, the greatest place on earth, so I instantly had a smile on my face! Everyone walks in smilng at us and at the end there was a ton of hugs and so much love shared! Recently the Bishop's been focusing on teaching the members what a testimony really is and making sure that people don't just get up and tell stories for an hour. The result, almost everyone in the congregation bore their testimony and their was time for everybody because the testimonies were short and incredibly powerful! Church can not be a better place!!! This is how it is in my mind, let's take everyone that i love, the people I wish I could spend all day with, the little children who just want to hug us and talk to us and love on us, so much smiles and laughter, and then throw in a spirit that's unmatchable, a bishop who is so excited to make everything happen, teachers who are extremely prepared, and presidents that want everyone to feel welcomed.....WOW, there is nothing better! We have a lot of MA that we're trying to get back right now so the instant they walk in the building we try to make them know how much we love them. They don't have to worry about if anyone will be their friends or if anyone will talk to them because currently there are so many people talking to them that the missionaries can only get a few words in and we're fighting to get a seat next to them :) After church, and we get out late, people just want to stand in the hall and talk....basically I'm having Frontenac memories like none other!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the FHE on the privada Sunday night the bishop wanted me to sing.....i thought he was joking....not joking....well that happened and it actually turned out super well!!! We sang How great thou art and everyone had such big smiles on their faces that i just kept smiling more. I love hymns because the words are truly prayers and just my testimony expressed in the best way possible! I just love this gospel cause there is no greater joy! Sure I've been happy before, but its never been anything like this!!!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lots more love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-75730216683953413952015-01-19T16:46:00.001-08:002015-01-19T16:46:42.094-08:00Sugar Overload<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">This week is easily summarized by the things that always bring a huge smile to my face; Chocolate, children, testimonies, and baptism!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">To begin this week I received not one, not two, not three, BUT FOUR packages from that fabulous mother of mine (they never arrived for Christmas). Now if you know Mama N you know that her packages are not normal. Pretty sure the post office is still trying to create a regulation that will not allow her to pack her own boxes, because the amount of stuff that is in a Mama N box is beyond crazy. So just imagine 4 packages worth of candy then make that 10 packages worth and you might come close to the amount of candy I received. I just started handing it out to all the missionaries in my zone and ended up with one box....of all the best stuff that was "unsharable". During ward council I gave away more candy and then the children stole my heart and I gave away a ton more. Though it sounds like I gave away A LOT, and lets be honest, I DID, we have to remember that this was 40 pounds of chocolate sooooooo the sugar hangover has been SUPER intense! I have the greatest mom on the face of the earth :)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Saturday we had a chance to be the missionaries to lead Josefa Garcia Lopez into the waters of baptism. We met her our second Sunday and thought she was a member because she has 4 years attending church. She never had the chance to get baptized because she wasn't married and her "husband" didn't want to get married. Due to some tragic events the road was cleared and she could now be baptized like she's always wanted. I'm pretty sure she has one of the strongest testimonies of the gospel that I've ever heard. She was overjoyed that Hermanas were called back in Chilpo and were the ones "baptizing her" because the first missionaries to teach her four years ago were hermanas! For the baptismal service my comp and I sang "Oh My Father" mixed with "Lead Kindly Light" and it was fabulous, the least I could do for such an amazing woman. The light in her eyes was just incredible....wow what a baptism!!! The members were also laughing super hard about all the little details that we had in order and kept smiling and shaking their heads saying, "only hermanas" ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also this week we had the chance to teach Lady for the first time (and I was on splits with Hermana Sturt so it was basically the greatest day of my life!), talk about beyond prepared. She has around three months attending church, but has never been taught by the missionaries so we're trying to teach in more a question way because she knows a ton and has a huge desire to be baptized before the end of the month so her sister will still be here to see. Another of our investigators got her answer this week that the church was true! We received a reference from the Galeana ward of an investigator that's been attending the wrong ward for a month that's ready to be baptized! And a 12 year old bore her testimony to us this week at church and we were like wow that's so great....then she asked, "so can I be baptized?!"....wait what....I guess we could pencil that in! The work here is just incredible!!! The members are amazing and just bend over backwards to help us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This Sunday, my comp and I were leading Josefa's kids to their classes when we entered only to find a room of about 12 kids without a teacher. BUT, unlike most kids in this same situation, they were all seated, had offered an opening prayer and were singing an opening song. My natural love for children came out, plus the fact that I knew all of them and loved them even more, and I asked if we could teach them. There was a resounding yes and then it was spur of the moment games and activities where we talked about the roll of God, Cristo, y El Espiritu Santo.....basically it was the most fun thing ever and all the kids were soooo happy. Basically I couldn't stop laughing the entire time and when the primary president knocked on the door to tell the teacher that there was only five minutes left, she was first surprised to find the missionaries teaching and then the resounding "NOOOOOOOO WE DONT WANT TO GO TO PRIMARY!!!" that the kids screamed out! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm just so grateful for all the people who are surrounding me, the crazy amount of ready people here and the great growth that I receive everyday when I put my faith in the Lord. I don't think I'</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">ve ever been happier in my life and </span>I'm<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"> trying to make all those around me fully aware of the joy they bring to my life and how happy I am for each of them!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So much love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-28758925709235687992015-01-14T21:42:00.003-08:002015-01-14T21:42:28.256-08:00Man-Eating Monsters<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm pretty sure I am currently serving in the craziest of all missions ever but I won't go into details! Life is still super good and I've never felt safer in my life. Mexico is amazing!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Recently there has been, well they're calling it a plague, of mosquitoes. But let me be completely honest with you, these are not mosquitoes!!! I've never seen a bug like this. They look like gnats and they don't just stick their little straw in your skin, they bite, and then stick their whole head in. I don't know how so little a body can take in so much blood but they hurt like the dickens and when you shoo them away you re left with a hole in your skin that does</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">n't stop bleeding! (and one just bit me as I wrote this soooo </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">the irony). Basically my already too white skin was quickly covered in quarter size red bumps, over a hundred, and i only have lived to tell the tail thanks to my comps 100% deet </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">bug spray.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cMmja36wn80/VLdSzXdGgtI/AAAAAAAAAig/EQJorPB2ZtM/s1600/SAM_1064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cMmja36wn80/VLdSzXdGgtI/AAAAAAAAAig/EQJorPB2ZtM/s1600/SAM_1064.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">'Because I know someone wants to know, my comp is Hermana Garcia and though her name can be deceiving, shes American. Born and raised in Utah, just about as Mormon as she can get. BUT both of her parents were born and raised in Mexico and her dad's actually from Cuautla (a city in my mission) so she has a lot of family near by (REMEMBER THIS!). Shes done with the mission super soon so were hoping that she dies with me. Basically life is one big laugh!</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NEsh6YcrIkE/VLdSsJPzRoI/AAAAAAAAAiA/3KKu5gNh2to/s1600/SAM_1053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NEsh6YcrIkE/VLdSsJPzRoI/AAAAAAAAAiA/3KKu5gNh2to/s1600/SAM_1053.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was Hna Garcia's bday this Sunday and it was a fabulous day. We hit the streets early and went crazy knocking every MA and investigators door and teaching little spiritual thoughts because everyone invited us in. We ended up being a little late to church because Lady wasn't completely ready when we showed up to pick her up. We sat down and I looked around in sorrow cause no one else was there. But then magic happened as little by little all the other investigators began to arrive. I had huge smiles as I stood up to help them find seats and everything. At this moment most of our investigators are teenage girls. With our investigators we doubled the size of the young women's (11) and it was fabulous. But the number one best part of sacrament meeting was when Hna Garcia turned around, gasped, and then turned back to the speaker with this huge smile on her face. YUP, her grandparents were sitting right behind us!!!! Probably one of the funniest moments of my mission life. We both had huge smiles on our faces and were slightly laughing and to make matters worse all this went down while the new elder who has threeish days in Mexico was trying to bare his testimony in front of an entire congregation. We then had all the ward missionaries stand in front so that we could know who they were and Adolofo would not stop making faces cause he felt so awkward and my comp and I were just even more all smiles! The bishop's family had a special cake made for Hna Garcia that was probably the most delicious thing I've ever tasted and Pochi did a REALLY good job of smooshing her face in it which had us all laughing for a good 20 minutes. The night was topped off by a lesson with a new investigator that we got the chance to teach with Angel Moroni, I don't think it gets much better then that!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Were looking forward to a great new week!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana N</span>euberger<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px; text-align: center;">!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-28722551736509742472015-01-06T20:21:00.001-08:002015-01-06T20:21:39.592-08:00Adolfo Saves the Day<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Wow, wow, wow, what another amazing week! So many good things happened and I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to remember them all so I'll just try to highlight the greatest in a form that is not to "novelish" for all the readers.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Adolfo is a </span>YSA<span style="background-color: white;"> in our ward that returned from his mission about a year ago and has about 4 years as a member of the church. He's basically the new Mohamed (a helpful member in a previous area), and wants to help us with everything with the extra added bonus that he knows how to do missionary work and knows everyone in all of </span>Chilpo<span style="background-color: white;">. Basically, he's a huge help to two very lost missionaries who still can't figure out the labyrinth of streets that make up the 40 colonies in our area. Long story short, this week we were a little ill (if you want to know how ill you can remember back to the story about the lady who didn't have a bathroom that lived on a hill....basically that ill) and when you combine ill and lost it doesn't always make the greatest combination. As we were trying to make our way to an appointment, we found ourselves walking ovals and I thought I was going to pass out right there in the street. I was trying to keep cool (as I was sweating bullets) but in my heart I was praying so super hard that there was a member who lived nearby who would miraculously open their door, see us, and invite us in. In the midst of my agony, who else do we see then Adolfo walking down the street with a huge smile on his face. We were slightly confused because he doesn't live anywhere close nearby, but I was just about ready to let out the Hallelujah chorus because he knows where every member in the ward lives. He told us that he had been returning home when he randomly decided to try and find a faster route cutting through the colonies instead of taking the </span>avenida<span style="background-color: white;"> (Yes, I believe in miracles). I'm </span>soooo<span style="background-color: white;"> thankful that Heavenly Father hears and ANSWERS prayers....especially those of a "dying" missionary. We began walking up the street with him to see the closest member, all under the pretext that that was who we were looking for, but then they weren't home (</span>NOOOO<span style="background-color: white;">!!!!). Adolfo, the RM that he is, gets all excited and asks if we want to contact their neighbors. At this point I'm grasping a car and trying not to show that IMO in pain. After contacting three neighbors I just burst out, "I need a bathroom, NOW!" and Adolfo runs us to his aunt's house where both me and my comp die for an hour and then feel amazing! The whole rest of the day he took us everywhere and kept asking us how we were feeling (we got some quite delectable home remedies). We went to visit a MA family that gave us the greatest </span>agua<span style="background-color: white;"> of all time and as I was enjoying myself, eating the left over pieces of </span>guanabana<span style="background-color: white;"> in the bottom I hear, "</span>NEU<span style="background-color: white;">, what are you doing!?" The whole room gets really silent and I look at Adolfo super confused. "Why are your fingers in your mouth, Neu </span><span style="background-color: white;">I can't cure a patient </span>that's<span style="background-color: white;"> trying to kill herself! Can someone get the poor thing a spoon, please?" The whole room bursts into laughter and I went super red, but holy cow I just love the people here and am so thankful for everyone of them!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We were really excited as we were walking home one night that there was a light on in the house of a reference. So we ran around the corner to contact the reference in the five seconds we had before dark. First off the door was wide open. Second, there were a ton of people around the kitchen table. Third (and easily the best part), the dinner was for the pastor of the church that she currently attends. If I can just say . . . awkward moment;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yesterday, we forgot to answer the elders' question about what we were going to do today and then we went to an appointment so our phone was on silent. During the entire lesson I just felt the phone ringing nonstop. I was so stressed I couldn't even focus by the end of the lesson, by which point every member of the bishop's family had called us. We finally got out of the lesson and called the bishop back. "oh hey hermanas, the elders just wanted me to tell you guys that you need to call them" Really elders, you called our bishop?! So I gave my favorite elder a ring (the Mexican LZ is my favorite because he's already laughing when I answer the phone just waiting for my jokes) "bueno" "Elder, what on earth is going on?! Is the world ending tomorrow?! Will President Monson be giving a fireside?! Is President Kusch here and wanting to talk to us?!" "No hermana we just wanted to make sure you guys were okay...." and that sums up the elders! The bishop's family thought it was the funniest thing ever and laughed about it all through dinner. It was only made better when the LZ actually showed up at the bishop's house to give him something and the whole family was trying to hide their smiles. If I haven't said it enough already, GOSH I LOVE THIS WARD!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Which brings me to one of the greatest miracles of the week! The people here just seem to get it. They understand how great a blessing the gospel is in their lives and they are so ready, so willing, and so forward in sharing it. In my mission I've experienced wards that never give references, people who give them, but don't want you to say their names, but I have never experienced members who want to take us to meet all their neighbors or when were walking with them in the street just start pointing at 30 houses and rattling off names of people we should see. It's truly a miracle and such a testimony builder to me! Recently we went with a sister to talk to her neighbor who didn't want anything to do with the church, as we were walking back to her house she wasn't depressed at all, as usually the members are, instead she had a huge smile on her face and said, "well at least we planted a seed!" She then went on to give us two more references. The way the ward here works truly makes me think about my own life, the one outside the mission, of what I've been failing to do. Do we all look at everyone of our neighbors, family, friends, associates, and random people on the street and think "they need the blessings of the gospel, I'm gonna go talk to them so I can give their information to the missionaries" because that's how this ward thinks! How many are perishing in unbelief because I was too embarrassed, scared, or worried to give their names as a reference to the missionaries? How many people would have accepted? I guess those are things that I will never know, but I do know now the power of member missionaries. It is truly only through our actions and are personal desires that we can accomplish our goals. We cannot sit around hoping that someday, by some chance a pair of missionaries will run into or knock on our friend's door and they'll accept the gospel. We don't need to wish because we can give them that gift first hand! The next time the missionaries pass by your house, don't leave them hanging when they ask for a reference, start listing off everyone you know, because here is the real question: Who doesn't need the gospel? And who are you to judge if someone is ready or not? The Lord knows their hearts. They are children of God and He wants them also, not just you, to return to His presence once again one day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the words of my fabulous bishop (who entered the RS room agitated that there were very few people in church), "Where are those who you visit teach? Are they here? If they aren't here, why not? Vacation isn't a good enough answer! If you don't know their every need, you're not doing your job! This is where they need to be and they need to know that this is where you want them to be! It's not difficult, were asking for three hours of your time in the course of month at the minimum. But it's not me that's asking, this is your Heavenly Father that's asking! And I wouldn't be surprised that if on the day of judgement He looks at you and says, "well I'm glad you made it back, but I'd like to ask you something, where is so and so, why aren't they here too? Was it too much to ask for you to go and see them?!" Think about that sisters. What are you going to say to the Lord?! Repent!!!! And go find them that are lost!" May we all heed my bishop's call. This isn't the work of a few, it's the work of many, and it's the work of God!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love you all soooo much,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy Neu Year ;)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">May we all try, and not just try, but be a little better this year!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-9360641602035965572014-12-29T19:03:00.001-08:002014-12-29T19:03:37.877-08:00What Didn't Happen?<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4599990844727px;">I am about to recount the greatest week of my missionary life!!!! I hope my sheer giddiness doesn't show too much ;) This week seems like a month because so much happened and I'm now living 4 hours away from Tepoztlan...but we'll get there in a moment.</span></span></span></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4599990844727px;">Monday - After I finished sending my email home and finished yet another P day, we found ourselves with time to fill and no appointments. As missionaries, when times like these come the only thing to do is get on your knees and ask the Lord for His guidance that you can make those hours worthwhile, and boy were they worthwhile! We ended up going to O</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">cotes</span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4599990844727px;"> to knock the doors of two </span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4599990844727px;">references (for the 100th time) and, MIRACLE, they were both home and ready to hear our message. We also found out that for one of them we were actually knocking the wrong door, but the women who lived there invited us in and was super excited to listen. We then were walking through the square at the end of the night and I felt impressed to contact a woman in the three minutes that we had. Turns out it was Gloria, an old investigator that we had been trying to find at home </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">repeatedly</span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4599990844727px;"> for two weeks. Gosh, it was such a good day!</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because it was Christmas eve/Christmas nobody wanted to talk to the missionaries, or were on vacation, or had all their family in town, but it was okay because (like so many other missionaries across the world) we took to the streets caroling for everyone and knocking the doors of everybody we knew. I'm pretty sure I've never had a more rewarding Christmas. It sure wasn't white, but it was raining cats and dogs all Christmas eve and about 50 degrees so we found almost everyone in their homes with ALL their family because the parties at the Catholic churches were canceled! (huge blessing and miracle). The people were thrilled to see us. Safe to say that caroling isn't a thing here, so nobody knew what we were up to but the Latin comps took to it like it was a totally natural thing and just loved it. We ended every visit with a joyful chorus of "we wish you a merry Christmas" just like back home. Safe to say I had the biggest smile on my face the entire time!!!! By the end of the night we had so much candy in our bags that we just started giving it away to random strangers cause there wasn't room. We also had about 7 sweaters and 2 umbrellas that were borrowed from members and MA that were worried about our health being soaked through in the rain ;)</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The real drama went down Christmas day at 10:30 in the morning, Albino Ortego, #14, Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico. We were headed to make our first rounds of caroling when the phone rang....and in the process of pulling it out of my bag I dropped it, sending the pieces in different directions, and ending the call. "hope that wasn't important" were the joking words that came out of my mouth, oh how little I knew. Instantly the phone of the other sisters began to ring, "......ummmm it's the zone leaders asking for you Hermana Neu" WHAT?!?! "Hermana Neuberger?" "yes?" "Pack your bags, you re shipping out tomorrow morning from Civac at 9:30" WHAT?!?! I managed to hide all my shock and surprise and then lie to everyone that he was just asking about our plans, don't know why they ever believed that. The day passed just as fabulous as Christmas eve! After lunch we ran to the president's (of the branch) house to skype our families and they had everything ready. I wish I had a video of the Neuberger shenanigans that went down in the hour that we were trying to get the skype to work because they were priceless and soooo labeled my family that I was almost in tears about how perfect it was. First there was no sound, then there was no video, and then, when we had tried the laptop and tablet with no success and were going to resort to a phone call the skype decided to magically work! What a great chat/dance party/giggle fest with the greatest family ever! Everything was super great until I told my family that I was transferring, in English, while my non-english speaking comp and the other Latin comp that lives with us were sitting near by. Later, my family brought it back up again.....but there were English speakers in the room and they freaked out, leading to a Latin freak out when they found out what was going on....and then a lot of tears. The night was REALLY REALLY REALLY rough to say the least. My comp refused to leave my side and I couldn't get her to crack a smile. Words cannot describe how much I love that girl and how much I'm going to miss her! Truly my "daughter" that one, and I know she's going to just keep being a spectacular missionary! That night we all slept together with 7 blankets on top of us and it was the first good night sleep in days because we weren't all shivering to death!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next morning, we showed up to the church to find a group of 30 Elders....and I was kind of wondering if the whole thing was a joke of some sort. All the Elders were so happy and shouting with joy and it was the Zapata gang, so basically all the coolest American Elders, so I got crazy animated off their excitement AND THEN FOUND OUT WE WERE HEADED BACK TO GUERRERO!!!!!! </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A little bit of history for those who have forgotten or don't know, three months ago they took all of the missionaries out of Guerrero due to civic unrest on the account of 43ish students that went missing on their way from Chilpo to Iguala (might need to check those facts cause I'm also forgetting). There were huge riots and a whole lot of problems, so for safety all of the LDS missionaries serving in this mission were sent to the state of Morelos (where I have always served and never left). </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So at the chapel on Friday, once things got a little settled down, all the companions not being transfered had left, and more hermanas had showed up, they called us into the chapel where President Kusch gave us a brief devotional and then told us our new areas! "Hermana Neuberger, you will be serving with Hermana Garcia in the Area of Aeropuerta, Chilpancingo...its one of the most amazing wards in all of the mission, enjoy" YES, SIR!!!! So I hope you can imagine how the 4 hourish bus ride to Chilpo was. There are now 34 missionaries in the state of Guerrero (4 in Iguala, 10 in Chilpo, and 20 in Acapulco) of which only four are sisters (WOW). We took a private bus with all the missionaries that would first </span></b><b style="line-height: 18.4599990844727px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">pass through Chilpo and then on to Acapulco. What a great trip it was!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They dropped us on the side of the road in Chilpo where we all waved frantically goodbye and wished each other the best of luck. Our zone leaders/district leaders started giving directions and sent us in all directions. We ended up at the house of our bishop, who then drove us to our house.....where we remembered that to open a door keys are very necessary, and keys were not something we had. The keys to our house were still in Cuernavaca....small overlooked detail. We are currently living in Heroico (shout out to Elder Stutz), thank goodness there are other sisters here in Chilpo! I think the only way to describe my new ward is missionary paradise! I feel honored to be here. The people here are so excited to have missionaries again that we have been invited to so many things we don't even have time. Due to the fact that we don't have keys to our apartment we don't have access to any of the information about old investigators or anything, but that was not at all a problem. The bishop sat us down and started giving us a list of people to go see and members who could help us get there and take us around. Basically the last two days have reminded me a ton of a Sunday in Brazil with my family when we passed by the house of one member, who went with us to the house of another member, and then we went to another house gaining more people as we went. Words just cant even come to describe how amazing the people are here and this ward (whistle) Heaven!!!!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our Bishop is part of a family that has their own street, and they're all members. They cover two different wards, with the ward boundaries running right down their privada. Every Sunday night they have an FHE with the whole family, more then 70 people and last night we were invited. COOLEST THING EVER!!!! I'm so in love with how amazing this family is and think it would be pretty cool to do something like this in the future with my own family....but only if we can live in Mexico or Brazil ;)</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I cannot even begin to express how happy I am, how hot it is, how fabulous this ward is, how lost we are, and how much excitement is pumping through my veins with every hour of every minute of every day!!!!! We just want to get out there and work (we actually worked this morning instead of taking a Pday) so that we can show the ward that were going to match their awesomeness. I have never felt so blessed in my life!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With so much love,</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger</span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977619746636784979.post-22366570143227910632014-12-15T19:27:00.005-08:002014-12-15T19:27:56.065-08:00Funny Thing<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm sorry to report that there is not a whole lot to report about this week because we spent three days living in Cuernavaca....so we had about two days to work.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">FUN FACT: My comp (dear little Hna Hernandez) is DEATHLY afraid of cows. I'm pretty sure I have never seen anything funnier in my life!!!! It's also a fabulous experience because when are there not cows in the street? Let me try and paint the picture for you of how it usually goes down. So we're walking down a beautiful country lane, laughing and joking, nobody in sight when we walk around a corner and bam, there in front of us are 4 to 8 cows munching on the grass on the side of the road. Instantly my comp freezes and is like, "oh no, oh no, oh no! Espera Hermana, espera! Alguien va a venir a ayudarnos." (Wait, Sister, Wait! Someone is going to come and help us) Ayudarnos con que? (Help us with what?) Was my question the first time this went down. They're just cows. Basically it ends up with me walking closer towards the cows dragging my comp who is clinging to my arm just begging me to stop and flinching like crazy every time the cows move. We finally get passed them and she instantly starts consoling me, "</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14px; line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Véase</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">, no pasa nada" (See, nothing happened). I need a video of it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Soooo really thats my whole week basically, I'</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">m super sorry. Enjoy the pics instead</span><div style="line-height: 21.2999992370605px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hermana Neuberger</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1S7HFQ4pqvw/VI-ltnhhOPI/AAAAAAAAAgs/xrFmT_RgXMA/s1600/DSC01503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1S7HFQ4pqvw/VI-ltnhhOPI/AAAAAAAAAgs/xrFmT_RgXMA/s1600/DSC01503.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Christmas Tree</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fXNvet_nJSo/VI-l78wbhqI/AAAAAAAAAg0/KUgV6-CL6rA/s1600/DSC01517.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fXNvet_nJSo/VI-l78wbhqI/AAAAAAAAAg0/KUgV6-CL6rA/s1600/DSC01517.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The hike above the city</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-psDpQy8Hbnk/VI-l77U4C1I/AAAAAAAAAg4/NLcWJ2ZJabs/s1600/DSC01564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-psDpQy8Hbnk/VI-l77U4C1I/AAAAAAAAAg4/NLcWJ2ZJabs/s1600/DSC01564.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just making pinatas</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lbMjBpsRX0I/VI-mI0IVnnI/AAAAAAAAAhE/4V0ZwHhmgYY/s1600/DSC01576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lbMjBpsRX0I/VI-mI0IVnnI/AAAAAAAAAhE/4V0ZwHhmgYY/s1600/DSC01576.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new zone jerseys</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08863472019175838779noreply@blogger.com0