Week 69

Hello My Dear Family and Friends!

It snowed again, but then stopped. We all hope it'll snow on Christmas. We put up our Christmas decorations today and they look SO CUTE.  Thanks mom :)

Spiritual experiences:

Well, one big one comes to my mind, it happened yesterday.  This week has been a pretty stressful week, not gonna lie. I've felt a lot of pressure, feelings of inadequacy, and a bit of stress as the only Sister Trainer Leader for this new big area I have been assigned.  At the end of my personal study yesterday, I prayed and asked Heavenly Father for the strength and faith to do the responsibilities he has asked me to do, and more than anything, I really just needed to know if he was there, listening to me, and I asked if he would help me recognize that he was aware of me and what I was currently going through.  I ended my prayer, and not even 30 seconds later I heard my email sound go off.  I thought, "who could be emailing me on a Sunday morning?" Sure enough, and to my surprise, it was the lovely Hermana Smart, President Smart's wife from Puerto Rico.  Before Elder Juarez left to go back to Puerto Rico, as one of the 14 Elders called back, I had given him one of the nativities Mom made to give to the Smarts, with a note attached.  So, Sister Smart wrote me a note, thanking me for the gift, and said many wonderful things, and in the end said, "I love you very much", I just started bawling.  For many reasons, but the most important being that Heavenly Father was SO quick to respond to my prayer.  I knew in that moment that He had heard me, that He was aware of me, and was kind enough to answer my prayer literally right after I had asked.  Heavenly Father puts very specific people in our lives to help remind us that he's aware of us and we are never alone. I immediately felt at peace and knew that I would have His help to accomplish all that I needed to do, so I did not have to stress or worry about it, just needed to keep my faith strong and leave the worries to Him.

Investigators:

Tino and Maria: so, this week was crazy with them, but a lesson learned indeed.  So, Tuesday we had this powerful lesson on the Plan of Salvation and it ended with us extending a baptismal invitation, and both of them saying yes, and explaining their great joy in their decisions.  Hermana Laurie and I, left the house leaping and screaming and almost in tears out of the happiness we felt.  We went back on Friday, and had the complete opposite experience.  Tino had heard a lot of rumors about the Church that weren't true, and he was criticizing and demeaning our beliefs.  A definite  change had happened, and they both were very against the things we shared.  Hermana Laurie and I both knew that we couldn't leave their house without giving them the chance and opportunity to hear the message of the Restoration of the Gospel, and testify of its truthfulness.  Once we got to the First Vision, the topic of Joseph Smith became of interest, and not in the nicest of ways.  We had, had enough, and we boldly testified of the truthfulness of this message, and testified that the ONLY way they could know if everything we had shared with them was true or not, was by reading the Book of Mormon and pondering the things it contains in their hearts, and praying to know of its truthfulness.   They hesitantly accepted the invitation, and took it.  We'll be going back tomorrow to see if they have read and prayed, or not.  I'll explain more about this when we Skype! All and all, it was a pretty cool experience, haha!

Luz: so, yesterday we had a combined lesson with the Elders (Elder Ruiz, Elder Brito and Elder Gonzales) to transition one of their investigators, Luz.  She is super cool and married to a member.  It was such a cool experience being in a lesson with four other missionaries, all working by the Spirit to discern her needs.  The spirit was so strong.  We have a return date for tomorrow and we're super excited!  They invited us over for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, I don't remember which one, haha!!!

Tonight we'll be meeting with a couple more investigators of the Elders and going to an FHE,  I'll probably have a LOT more to talk about next week once the new area is moving along!

So, my sister (Tina) inspired me last week to make a list of tender mercies I see from the Lord every week.  I've seen that as I do this, it helps me remember how merciful the Lord is with me, and how I have seen His hand in my daily life.  So, here's this week's: 1) Hermana Smarts email to me with a message from the Lord at the perfect moment. 2) We came home on Thursday night to find a brand new bottle of Dawn dish soap nicely wrapped in a Christmas bag on our porch, so why is this such a tender mercy? The same day, we had ran out and we had told no one, but I knew that Heavenly Father was watching out for us, haha. 3) A member of the Bishopric of a Ward we've never gone to brought us brownie mix as a thank you gift from his ward for us for our service as missionaries. 4) Elder Ruiz took the time to sit down with us, go through EVERY SINGLE INVESTIGATOR in detail to help us begin this new area. While he was doing that, there was a man playing beautiful music on the piano in the chapel, and it was snowing outside, I felt so much peace and love in my heart from the Lord. 5) While trying to contact a reference on a really, really cold day, a lady invited us in for hot chocolate, and offered us dinner on Christmas Day, and a place to make a phone call to our families if we didn't have a way to talk to them. 6) We finally met a member in one of the English Wards we cover after trying to visit her for 2 weeks. We shared a message and video from "Light the World", and she started bawling, telling us how she knew that it wasn't coincidence that we came by, and that she had been struggling, and that we came at the perfect moment where she was just about to lose hope on the Lord. 7) people laughed at my lame jokes I made. 8) 14 Elders happily returned to Puerto Rico to help the people I love so very much. 9) a random member gave us a box of chocolate for no reason. 10) A couple less active families came to church Sunday for the first time in a long while. 11) We got 35 out of 36 on our car inspection at zone conference! 12) Hermano Aponte (from the High Council over missionary work) and his family, gave us special Christmas ornaments from Puerto Rico!

So, another really big tender mercy was during Zone Conference.  President and Sister Killpack will invite the MLS couples and Stake President's from our Mission area to our Zone Conferences sometimes.  There was a senior couple behind me and I talked to them a little bit and explained that I was a missionary originally assigned to Puerto Rico.  After I gave my training and sat down, the husband tapped me on the shoulder, and said, "Now, would the Lord create a hurricane to bring Hermana Green here to help lead these missionaries in the Utah Orem mission?" And he sat back, smiling.  I started crying, as I received yet another confirmation, that I was where I needed to be!

Hope y'all enjoyed those tender mercies as much as I did! The lord is very aware of our needs, and He is involved in the details of our lives.  If we take the time each day to recognize and reflect upon them, we will truly be amazed and so blessed.  I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord that I see each day.  He gives me strength and hope, and reminds me that I am never alone and He is always watching over me!

Oh, our Zone Conference combined Christmas party was SO FUN.  So, from 9-12 we were receiving trainings and I was translating the whole time for Hermana Laurie and man my brain was FRIED, but it was really fun!  Our district plus the English Elders, that are in my Stake with Hermana Laurie and I sang, "Angels We Have Heard on High", the first verse in English, the second verse in Spanish, the third in English, it was a blast - you'll see pictures.  Then we had a really yummy lunch and then played games.  For our White Elephant gift exchange I bought a whisk.  I know, that sounds lame, but it had to be something both Elders and Sisters could use, plus it had to be under $2 in value, so that was the best gift I could come up.  My companion bought a tiny cheese grater, HAHAHAHA!!!, I love her!!! So, I ended up with brownie mix, that Hermana Cazares brought, cant wait to make them.  At the end of the party, we sang some Christmas hymns and got our Christmas gifts from our families and friends.  It was a great day.

Also, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED with the gifts for the children of the Ponce and Mayagüez Stakes in Puerto Rico!  My heart is so, so happy! THANK YOU MOM, SISTER BRADFORD AND SISTER BIANUCCI! We couldn't have done it without you all. I love each and every one of you! I am grateful this Christmas that my family elected to not receive of gifts this Christmas and gave all that we had to my investigators, converts and members who are in need in Puerto Rico.  Our family truly received the greatest gift this Christmas and my heart is overflowing with joy and happiness.  Thank you family and friends for your contributions, hard work, love and support!  Hermana Vasquez from Puerto Rico sent me the cutest message yesterday thanking us for her gifts. I'll send you a screenshot of it with translation of what she said. She's adorable.


I went on exchanges with Hermana Zayas this week and it was fantastic! We bonded over Puerto Rico and had a great time learning from one another. We went to this one member's house, who is from Puerto Rico and is like 21 years old. She gave us Puerto Rican food and gave us la masa para hacer las empanadillas, I was so happy!! My heart and stomach were full.  So, during my exchange, we went and had dinner with Mirna and Elian. They were a reference originally for us, but it turned out they lived in American Fork which is outside of our Area. They got baptized a couple of weeks ago, and I was able to teach them four times in the week I was training with the American Fork Sisters. They are such a sweet family. When I sprained my ankle, Mirna, got out some oils and lotion, and rubbed my foot and was helping it not swell as much.  I told her no way she had to rub oils on me, because it was a foot, but she insisted.  She is so humble, and it just reminded me of when the Savior washed his Apostle's feet.  I was overwhelmed with tender emotions.  I gave them a Nativity and they were so happy.  I told them I would come visit them with you. They're excited to meet you both, haha!!  We've gone to a lot of Ward Christmas parties and it's been great for Hermana Laurie to practice her English.  Oh, I forgot to mention last week, we went to the Provo MTC and visited her sister! That was pretty cool.

Exchanges with Hermana Zayas, Mirna & Elian, Masa Para Hacer Empanadillas

OKAY HERMANA PEARCE IS THE HOMIE. I can't believe she went to Puerto Rico to give some humanitarian aid, and took the time to go to my old apartment and get my Puertorican stuff that I left behind in the Hurricane, and send it home to you! I owe her everything. THANKS SARAH!

So life is crazy.  Life is good.  Can't complain.  I am so happy that the 14 elders are back in Puerto Rico.  I've heard from a couple of them, and I am so happy for them, and for the people.  I can't wait to go back and help them out after I am finished here in Orem.

Keep on Lighting the World, I am so grateful for you all.

See you next Monday on SKYPE, can't wait to see you all and talk with you!!!!!

love,

-Hermana Kali Rae Green

Spanish tutoring with Tyler! And sister Panton in the back. I love this family so much. 

Cleaning our car, taken right before I whacked myself in the head with the vacuum and had my jacket swallowed by it right after HAHAHA