Week 43

Birthday party from my Logan area (should have been with week 42)

I think I came to another mission! wow everything is so different here! (and actually literally, in the beginning we were so lost that we ended up out of our mission boundaries a couple times because we are right on the border :o) it was definitely a shock to me and especially to find out when we got here that not only are we pink washing but that we are also opening this area because there was no one working it last transfer and there is no one being taught here! the houses are more spread out and the hispanics are mixed in there somewhere and that is the main challenge right now is finding them all. we have been trying lots of different things to do finding and get this area started and going. we have heard crazy stories about the elders that were here before so i guess there is lots and lots to do! the great thing is the members here they are all so excited to finally hacve sisters and they already love us and our willing to help us and they are excited for the missionary work. We have been working a lot with the members here to try to get referrals. The missionaries down here are super great! and they know how to work so i have learned a lot already from our leaders! Me and Hermana Vergara are very different I am finding out but that is good and means there is lots to learn! She is a great teacher and very clear and bold. I love taching with her the challenge right now is getting the lessons! oh and hermana vergara is from mexico and spanish is her first language so we speak spanish all the time and she helps me so much it is such a blessing also the other elders in the ward are both mexican and we all only ever talk in spanish so it is great for me because it helps so much in buena vista we were all gringas (white girls).This has been a crazy week! oh and i did not sleep for the first 5 days of this transfer and I felt like I was hit by a supernova but i kept going somehow like always and now i am sleeping and feel great! I have been studying and thinking a lot about sacrifice today and I know that it is only after we sacrifice that we can recieve more faith and all christlike attributes. The more understanding we have, the happier we are. I love the commandments. The commandments and the laws are a manifestation of Christ and his attributes and they are the way to become more like our Savior and to be HAPPY! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ it is so happy and incredible! I know that we all have the power to change through the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that the power and strength we can recieve is real and wonderful! 

AMOR PAZ GOZO, Hermana Egan

Week 42

HOLA MI FAMILIA Y AMIGOS!!!!!!! LES QUIERO!!!

I AM LEAVING BUENA VISTA! MY HEART AND SOUL GO OUT TO THIS PLACE. I LOVE IT AND EVERYONE HERE. BUT I AM SO EXCITED TO ADVENTURE SOMEWHERE ELSE AND MEET ALL NEW PEOPLE AND LOVE THEM JUST AS MUCH!!!!!!!!! My new companion is going to be Hermana Vergara! I know her a little but and she is great so I am super excited!!!!!!!! we are also pink washing!!!!!!!!!!(both missionaries are new in the area and before was elders and it is white washed by sisters) which is super fun! and kind of crazy because i white washed(both missionaries are new in the area) this transfer! i am super excited! and i was called to be a sister training leader so i am very excited for that and to be able to serve more missionaries in a new way!!!!! I am so grateful for the time that I have had to serve here. I am so grateful for the experiences and opportunities that my heavenly father gives me everyday. I know he has blessed me with so much charity on my mission, and cannot say that i feel it for every person i meet in the same way but there have been such certain people that i love so purely and it makes it really hard when you are so invested in them but i know that we have made a difference and have helped them. this week we have a few super intense lesson and with a lot of tears but super spiritual and great! there are so many people here that i will miss but there has to be at least someone that i can help down in clearfield! oh that is where i am going did i forget to say that? Clearfield 20th. SOUNDS GREAT! CAN'T WAIT! I feel like my whole mission so far has been one transfer up here in logan! wow the time is running and we have got to run with it! God loves you and hears you! 

PARA SER MISIONERA ES LA MEJOR!!!!!! HOY ES UNA BIA BONITA!!!!!!

con carino,

Hermana Egan

Week 41

GREAT THINGS HAVE HAPPENED!!!!!!!! Caesar Hernandez was baptized on saturday and it was a joyful day for everyone and for the rama Buena Vista! It was the biggest baptism I have seen on my mission. We had to have it in the chapel because there were so many people there! All of his family are super strong members and he was never interested and every one thought that he would never be baptized. Every one was waiting for this day for a very long time. It was so amazing for me to be in this area for so long now because i have been able to see the work that has been done here and the progression and changes of the people. My very first week of the transfer I taught Caesar's son, Larry, and we gave him a book of mormon and he was super awesome! Larry was baptized a few months ago and that was one of the main things that helped his dad to change and soften his heart was the change he saw in Larry that he could not deny. I taught Ceasar when I was in the south and I was so glad that I was only moved right here so I could still be a part of his baptism! Everyone could feel the spirit. The family is super strong and they are converted, it is a miracle. After the baptism his daughter in the bathroom asked me if i taught her dad and with tears in her eyes hugged me and said "you helped my dad, thank you so much." It was so humbling and amazing to know that as missionaries we can be a part of the lords work in bringing salvation to every soul. 

Another miracle is that we are teaching someone named Pili! She is someone that I met when I was serving in the south she is friends with some less actives in the branch and i met her over at there house. she is catholic and when we were teaching she seemed a little uncomfortable because she is very firm in that and uninterested but then a second time when we were visiting them she was there again and i was able to become friends with her and by the end she felt a lot more comfortable with the missionaries and we were all talking and laughing. anyways i felt so good about her the second time even though she didn't seem very interested or promising but i went for it anyways and asked her if we can come visit her and teach her more and she said yes and gave us her address! and she lived in the other area (the north) but then i got transferred up here which i so cool that we are able to teach her!  we have had a couple lessons with her and she is hopefully going to come to the relief society activity on saturday! 

The other miracle is one day this week i was super sick. (the most sick i have been so far on my mission) but I knew that I will still work as hard as I can and not stop or slow down because I have made that decision a long time ago. I never want to waste the lord times and there is no time to waste when it comes to the salvation of souls! but anyways, we went out and i tried my best not to look or act sick or miserable. the miracle is we taught amazing lessons that night! and during the lesson while we were teaching i felt the spirit working through us and i did not feel sick at all i felt light and happy and great! and we were able to teach wonderfully! then as soon as we left and the door closed the sickness hit me again immediately. It was a manifestation that i was not feeling better by natural causes or because i was simply better but that heavenly father had blessed me with health to be able to do what i needed to for His work and the re-occurring sickness in between appointments was a blessing in itself (even though i definitely did not see so at the time) to be able to recognize god's hand and help. 

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. His atonement is a real power that we receive after our action and repentance. He has healed me. I cannot explain the pain that I had and the joy that I have to know that, I have sinned, but that I can become clean and pure through my Savior and that I can live with my God again. It requires something of our souls to know God and to feel Christ's atonement. It is not easy to repent, but there is no greater peace and joy. I know this because I have experienced it and have felt Christ's redeeming love, and it has changed me. I know that I can always change with Jesus Christ and can become a little more like Him each day. 

sigue adelante con fe!

Hermana Egan

Week 40

BUENAS DIAS!

This week has been a great one! we found two new people to teach who are super ready to hear the gospel! and we are so excited to teach them! in our first lesson with joel he told us that he wants to come to church and he wants to be baptized. that does not happen every day. it was great! they both have so many questions which i love! this transfer is flying by. there was a musical fireside on sunday we sang in the choir and the spirit was so strong we had investigators come and they loved it. This life as a missionary is very funny and very sad and very happy. It is so much of every emotion there is every day. I do not think I have ever been so emotional before in my life! so that is a little weird. but it is great! we are learning and we are progressing! This is a quote I loved from my study this morning! 

Shun discouragement. One of Satan’s most powerful tools is discouragement. Whisperings of “you can’t do it,” “you’re no good,” “it’s too late,” “what’s the use?” or “things are hopeless” are tools of destruction. Satan would like you to believe that because you’ve made one mistake it’s all over. He wants you to quit trying. It is important that discouragement is cast out of the lives of those who are waiting. This may take a decided amount of work and energy, but it can be accomplished.

When we have the spirit with us we will not be discouraged and we will not be afraid. I know that my Savior lives and that He is with me. He is merciful and forgiving. His arms are always open and extended towards us. I testify of His spirit and His never ending love in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

CON CARINO,

HERMANA EGAN