Week 9

Hola! This week was super cool and full of miracles and mercies from the Lord. So one day this week I bought candles and a lighter earlier in the day because I thought I would use them for an object lesson sometime. Then throughout the day we saw paper cups (another object lesson to teach the restoration) just randomly on the streets then we also saw matches a lighter in different places, each time we all noticed and said something about it but never connected anything then when we were getting out of the car to go to a lesson on the gospel of Jesus Christ there was another lighter right outside our car door and then we thought finally that maybe we should use the candles and teach the restoration instead of the gospel, and when we went in we asked some questions and it was clear that they needed to hear the restoration again, so that was pretty cool and the lesson was awesome and the spirit was super strong.

 Also the other coolest thing was when we met a lady the week before and she was very interested and wanted to learn about eternal families and the plan and it was really cool, then we made the return appointment but when we went back she wasn't there. Then when we tried back later the husband answer and was very clear that they were catholic and they were not interested. This was super sad because we knew that the lady wanted to hear more but we couldn't really go back out of respect for the husband. Then we were visiting someone else who lived by there she came home and pulled up right as we were walking by and she said hi to us and called us over and set up the appointment with us so it was super cool. Then we got in our car and were getting ready to drive away when her husband pulled up right as we were leaving and that was pretty cool. 

We have an investigator and she knows that it is true and she wants to get baptized but the problem is that her husband is a member but he is in jail for illegal immigration, and she and her husband wanted to wait until he got out so that he can be at her baptism. Then after that we found out that they were not married either, so there were a whole lot of things that needed to be worked out and we didn't know what was going to happen with the husband, and so we were worried that she was maybe never going to be able to be baptized. Then her husband got out of jail miraculously and they are giving him 72 hours to not be caught and if he isn't then he can stay (no idea how that all works out) but it is super crazy and intense. So we are having a wedding and a baptism all in that one day like back to back and it is so crazy but she is so excited and it is pretty cool to see everything work out after it seemed like it never would. 

Yesterday we also taught the funniest lesson ever. So many funny things happen everyday but we were teaching two teenagers about prayer, and we were having them read the scriptures and one of them was too shy to have us watch him read and he also said his voice sounded like a girl so he went into the bushes to read and it was pretty funny that the scriptures were being read aloud from behind a bush so you cant see anyone but only hear them coming out and for all the people walking by it was a little funny, but maybe you had to be there, but there were many great adventures this week and even a couple door slams, but there were so many great times and really cool lessons. It is always so funny to me when people will remind us of the appointments we have with them, as if they are afraid that we will forget. They have no idea that we think about them all the time, plan for them, pray for them, and there names and all there concerns and needs are written on our board and they are pretty much our whole life and they dont even know about it and me and my hermanas always laugh about how creepy we actually are and the people we have met once are so surprised when we remember their names and everything but we actually remember every person we talk to and we talk about them after so we would just never really forget. Plus we just love them all everyone! I love being a missionary and you really do just have that love for every person that you meet and it is pretty incredible!

We have this one apartment complex called Maple Valley and every time that we go here to teach someone we find at least one more investigator. It is the hispanic cool hang out I guess, and they are all friends so when we find one we will meet all there friends and none of them are members and they are all interested and now i think getting the missionary discussions has become the new cool thing or something but it is so awesome and this week has been a fresh week of finding and we found so many awesome people who are super cool and very interested!

One of these golden investigators was so prepared and awesome and wanted to learn more every single day and he wanted to come to church and come to the baptism and everything and he is so great but the saddest thing is that we found out that we were teaching him at his brothers house and he actually lives just barely out of our area so we had to give him away to the other missionaries, so it is sad that we can't teach him but it is still great that he is finding the truth, making changes, and is so happy. 

The other sisters had a baptism last week and it was so amazing, the girl was 15 and she is so awesome and so cute the baptism was super special and really cool a lot of investigators attended also and it was great. Me and my hermana gave a talk and our other hermana sang and it was pretty cool.

I was just reading in 2 Nephi 22 and this is a super great chapter I love it and it is so short that you can even just memorize it. 

My favorite parts are when it says

 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the lord Jehova is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation. Sing unto the Lord for he hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. 

Christ is also my strength, my song, and my salvation, my joy and my everything. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ and because of the real power and strength we can receive through it. I love my savior Jesus Christ and I know that he lives, and I want everyone to know it! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that it has been restored to the earth once again in all the fullness and that we have a living prophet on the earth today, Thomas S. Monson. This week I am feeling very blessed and grateful and I really just want to sing praise in every moment.

Con amor,

Hermana Egan

Week 8

Hola!

This week has been incredible! So much has happened this week it seems like the last time I wrote was forever ago, and it is hard to remember everything! But yesterday was a wonderful day and a day of miracles! We had four teaching appointments and all four fell through. We had thought, prayed, planned, and prepared so much for these people and about them, and we were so excited to teach and then we stand at the door so happy and ready and no one comes out. This is one of the sorrows of missionary work. It is hard not to think how come? We are trying so hard to do everything and give everything and then the lessons didn't work out, and where are the miracles? I was wrong to doubt because there are always miracles and God has a plan that is much greater than I don't know much about, so we just need to have the faith and go where we are led. anyways, we taught three on the spot incredible lessons!!! wow, so incredible! The lord softened the hearts of the people we taught and I have never met such people that were so prepared to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of them is a soccer player and he was wondering all the questions that this gospel answers and we taught the restoration and gave him a book of mormon and we are going back to teach his whole family. After that we randomly ran into a recent convert on the street, and we asked if we can go see his sister who is not a member. He is the coolest person ever! It was so incredible to see the change in him. He was so enthusiastic and he was just sharing his testimony and he was glowing. The spirit was super strong through him and everyone could see that he knew it was true. It was amazing he invited another non member to the lesson, and we taught an awesome object lesson and everyone understood and we are going back to teach them again. The one non member was a little unsure about getting the missionary discussions but Steven is already the greatest missionary (he is 18 and he is planning on serving a mission soon) and he was telling him that its his choice and he doesn't have to do anything just listen and learn more and he was just bearing his testimony and it was so awesome. Yesterday I definitely saw the effect that the members can make in God's work. Anyways, the last lesson we taught was so amazing! we talked to a group of people outside at a park and it was super cool. One of the people we taught plays football at Utah State and he wanted to know more about Joseph Smith and he wants the discussions but he is so busy with football camp starting in a couple days but we made an appointment with him tomorrow before it starts so we will see. Then there was two other guys who we also have appointments with, but they were pretty drunk so they will likely not remember but we have their information so it is great. Anyways the last one was so prepared it was crazy! He is just looking for this gospel but he didn't know it! He has read the bible six times and knows a lot but he says he doesn't believe in church and no church is true so he wont go to church. wow, how amazing! He is so much like Joseph Smith and I am so excited to teach him more about him. He was telling us many things in the churches that do not make sense to him and all of his questions were the right questions and it was so cool. He doesn't agree with the trinity and he says that how can these churches all say something different with just the bible and they just interpret it a different way. It was super cool to answer all of his questions as we taught the restoration. we told him all about the book of mormon and he was very interested he has so many questions and is very skeptical but he is definitely going to investigate the church and we are so excited. He says he will have the book of mormon read by our next visit in a couple days. Miracles are real, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is restored to this earth again today. I love being a missionary! don't get me wrong the work is amazing here in logan but we also get a fair share of door slams and funny experiences with people avoiding us and closing all the blinds and windows when they see us coming, but we just try to laugh those off and continue on with faith! :) One of our investigators told me that he will name his son egan. hahaha Everything here is so great! My hermanas are my hermanas and my best friends! We are super close and they are great missionaries that are excited about doing this work! I love the area here in logan and the members are so great! The dinners are an interesting experience everyday and they will always want you to eat more and more and sometimes you say no and they still put it on your plate. hahaha i am lucky that my hermanas have helped me out a few times. The spanish is coming along great! When I teach people are impressed with my spanish for how long I have been out and I feel that I can teach anything pretty freely with the language, the comprehension is definitely a struggle for me though. I am fine until they will start telling a story and then I am completely lost and just rely on my companions and smile or not depending on their facial expressions hahaha.

I love the book of mormon. I know that it is true. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that the prophets in this book lived and that Christ came to the people in the Americas after his resurrection. I know that this book is a gift from god and that it is the word of god. There is power within this book and God will teach us as we read what we need even for that day through the holy ghost and through its pages. I love this scripture:

I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move accoridng to your own will and even supporting you from one moment to another- I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants. 

Mosiah 2:21

I love that it says 'by lending you breath'. God has given us everything good in this world, and if we serve him with our whole souls we are still unprofitable servants. I am so grateful that we have a loving heavenly father who has given us so much. He has given us a plan for happiness and salvation, a way to live forever with Him and our families forever in happiness and this way is through Jesus Christ. I am so happy every moment because of this truth and I know it is true because the Holy Ghost has testified to me of the truth even every single day. 

Con Amor,

Hermana Egan

Week 7

Hola! 

One week in the field today, and it has really been the greatest week ever. Each day is super busy and super fast but i feel like i have been here forever at the same time. My first area is logan and north logan. Our area is really big because we are in the spanish branch which the boundaries cover 4 english stakes, so pretty big. It is great! I love my companions so much already! They are super great! We are in a trio. My trainer is Hermana Rickett who is super sweet and really great, she is from texas, she has red hair and she is a great teacher and missionary! I have learned a lot from her already. My other companion, Hermana Mejia, has only been out about a month and she is hilarious and great. She is especially great because she is fluent, she is from arizona but her parents from mexico. It is definitely a blessing to be with her and she helps me and Hermana Rickett out a lot. The spanish is coming along and I am learning pretty quickly. I understand a lot in church, but it is hard when teaching, it mostly depends on the person some i understand most but depending on where they are from some are super difficult to understand and then those are more of the moments when i am so grateful to have Hermana Mejia. It is only us three in our apartment but it is really fun and I love my hermanas. It is so great to be a missionary! This week has been so great! I have done so much and have met so many people that I feel I have been here so long! I already love the people that we are teaching! The lord gives us many miracles every day and I am so grateful for his help and guidance in everything we do or else we could never do it. Yesterday when we knocked a door, it was a young women who let us in and started crying she said that God has a sense of humor to send us to her at that moment and she is going back to church on sunday. It was so great to talk to her she was so amazing and I just wanted to be her best friend. Most of our day is filled with appointments and teaching. We also get a lot of referrals, but when appointment fall through then we go tracking and do doors, and that is my favorite thing ever! Well actually I love teaching the most but I just love it all! When you knock a door, you just get a little rush and it is so exciting to see who will answer and get to know them. So many of the people who aren't interested are super great and so nice to us and I just want to be their best friends, but they don't want us to come back. We are also teaching a lot of people though I was so surprised when I got here how many investigators we have it is incredible. I am starting to learn all of the names and the areas and it is great! We started running in the mornings and it is super great! Today is my first P-day here of course and it is only the morning and it has been so great already! We went to the Logan temple and it was super great! It is always fun to go to a temple for the first time and the logan temple is super pretty I love it!

Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long suffering towards the children of men? Behold,l I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. Alma 26:16 

This scripture is exactly how I feel every day! But Ammon says it much better than I can. I hope I can become a missionary like Ammon. I am learning more everyday, but this is an incredible work! There is just not enough time in a day. We are always running around trying to make it everywhere but it makes the days fly by. We had the coolest lesson this week with Julieta! She is coming to church and she is so great! We were teaching the restoration and when we taught about prophets the spirit was so strong and she was so amazed and humbled and grateful to know that we have a living prophet of God today. It was super cool I cannot explain but she just wanted to meet him right then and listen to him, and we watched him give a short talk and it was so amazing. Also, I think I have tried more foods in the last week than I have in my entire life. I haven't liked it so much but I can do it if I don't think about it and only think how much I love those people. Everyone wants us to eat all of their food. We are lucky that Hermana Mejia can eat forever so she usually gets the seconds so we don't need to.But the people are so great and so nice! I love everything! I love this gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ with everything I have. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord and to represent Jesus Christ. There is everlasting joy in the truth and it is such a miracle to see someone receive the truth and joy and to change their life. This is the greatest joy and I am so happy every single day. 

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

Alma 26:12

I love the scriptures! They are a gift from God, and there is power in them. They help me and teach me more than I even know they will. So many times the scriptures I have studied that morning are exactly the scripture the person we teach later needs and that is the coolest thing and another miracle that the Lord gives us. 

Con Amor,

Hermana Egan

Week 6

Hola! Today is our last day in the MTC! I am super super super excited to get to Ogden and to meet my mission presidents and my trainer! This last week has been amazing! The fourth of july was really great and we had a great devotional and we watched the fireworks which was a huge deal to us being in the MTC. We get really excited about everything here. I will miss a lot about this place though, these last six weeks have been so great, and it might be safe to say that this was the single best experience of my 20 years. It is super sad to leave all the amazing people and friends here and especially our teachers. This week I learned a lot about humility and the greatest thing that hit me was that when anything goes well that is when I will look up to heaven and give praise and thanks to God, and when something doesn't go well that is when I need to look into myself. Without the Lord's help, this work would never be possible. I have a testimony that we are all God's children, and that we each have divine talents and a special role and responsibility. I learn this through a perfect square, and how if any number was any different, it would not work and it would not be perfect anymore. Maybe sometimes we wish that we could be a different number or a different way but we all have something great, and i have really seen that with my district we are all so different with different personalities and styles of living but we all come together and work and we all bring something truly great to the group. I know that each of us have special blessings and talents from God and these blessings are given to us in order to bless others.

 

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we should rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

forever is composed of nows

happiness does not have the past, it does not have the future, it does not have a day, but it has a moment.

I am happy every day, and really every moment, and it is pure joy because of my Savior Jesus Christ. Today is a great day. Christ lives. We are on this earth as part of our loving heavenly father's plan for us. Through the atonement of Christ and his infinite sacrifice we are all able to become clean and forgiven from our sins and to receive strength from Christ. Through this life and as we act on our faith we can become like Christ and return to our father in heaven to live forever in happiness with Him and our families. This is our message of joy, peace, and hope. This message means everything to me. There is nothing I would rather do than share this joy with others, and today is a great day as I am a representative of Jesus Christ in order to share his message and teach of Him. Share your testimony through everything you do and through your actions and with love. If the members and missionaries both work together we will see many miracles.  

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Egan

 

Week 5

Hola!

We only have one week left here at the MTC! I cannot believe it! I feel like I came here just yesterday. I am so excited to go out, but there are many things about this wonderful place that I will miss so much. Our district is like a family and our teachers as well they have taught me everything and are the greatest people. Today our district had the opportunity to clean the temple while it is closed, and it was so great! The temple workers are so caring and funny and I was just talking to a cute lady who worked there for a few hours while we cleaned. You would be amazed at how carefully we cleaned every little detail, and I have never loved cleaning anymore than I did today when I knew that I was cleaning the house of the Lord. The spanish is coming along, it is still a struggle though during lessons, but now that we are the old missionaries getting ready to leave we do a lot of the training for the new missionaries, and that is when I remember how far we have come, and what we were like when we first arrived. We hosted the new missionaries that come in and help them do everything when they get here and that is fun to help and to remember your first day. I am so excited to meet my mission president and to get to Ogden, but I will miss my companion Hermana Barker so much! It is sad to leave but most of my district is coming to Ogden also, so that is great that we will still see everyone around, but I will miss my companion. Thank you to everyone that emails me it is so great to hear from all of you!

This is a scripture that I love right now.

It is in Alma 32:27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye will do no more than desire to believe, let this desire to work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

I love this scripture so much. I love how it says a particle of faith, because I know that is all we need. Even if we have any particle even if we have the desire to have faith or the desire to believe and we begin to act on it and we pray to our Heavenly Father who loves us and we will feel Him there and listening and His love and our faith will grow. In the next verse it talks about if we cast out our seed with unbelief and resist the spirit of the Lord. I like this because I know that faer and doubt are opposed to faith and that we can only have one or the other and both can not exist. Whenever we are worried about our lessons or during our lessons that is when we don't have the spirirt when we worry about what we will say or how we will say something in spanish. But when we only focus on the investigator and listen to them and love them than the spirirt is so strong and it doesn't matter if we said something wrong they can feel the peace and it is great. I have learned a lot about faith through teaching and it is something I will be working on for a while but it is truly great that the Lord will help us. If we have faith, we are worthy, and obedient, and ask the Lord he will always help us and I am so grateful because there is no possible way this work would be successful without the Lord. He is why it is possible and He is so involved in everything that we do. I have seen many miracles in just these last 5 weeks. I know that Christ lives, and that He is the way through this life because he has gone the way through this life, I know that through Christ we can become like Him and we can return to live with our Hevaenly Father once again after this life. I am so grateful for the scriptures, for a living prophet today, for revelation given to us today, and the Lord hand in my life. I am grateful for prayer and for truth. This life is a great one. I love my savior Jesus Christ and I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to represent Him and to bring His glorious message to others.

If ye have not charity, ye are nothing. Moroni 7:46 I know that if we pray and ask to be filled with his love then we will have so much joy as we forget ourselves.

Adios

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Egan