Week 35: "God responded quickly!"

Wow, I am still in shock of happiness from the news from last week that I am officially an Aunt! Congratulations to Garret and Cami, you two will be the best team in raising the newest member of the Bernal fam!!

This week was really great, we had a conference with all of the missionaries in our Zone and we had a pretty cool experience. Recently in Honduras there have been some strong rain storms and the electricity has been going in and out pretty frequently. For this conference, there was going to be a powerpoint presentation, but without the light, things weren´t looking so ¨bright¨, haha. The President of our Mission , President Bowler got up and reminded us that as missionaries, we testify that when we ask Heavenly Father for what we need in prayer, if it is just, He will give it to us. In this moment all 70 of us got on our knees to pray together so that we would be able to receive the direction of our leaders to learn to become better missionaries. God responded quickly! Through those that were working on solving the issue, they found the solution and we were able to carry on the conference as planned. Again we knelt down together to give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the miracle that he had shown us! God works miracles, according to our faith!

Today for P-day we went to an island called Ama Pala in Honduras, here are some pictures!

Week 34: "What are those things called? Tacos?¨

Hi Family,

A lot of interesting stuff happened this week!! Someone´s cow fell over and the Elders had to help lift it up, we were given free ice cream because the vender said ¨he just felt he should give it to us¨, I tried some new fruits that I didn´t know existed (jocote and tamarindo, yum) and I just realized that also someone gave us a free watermelon. Lots of exciting things related to food, what´s changed right?

The food set aside, the most exciting part of this week when we taught a couple named Ismael and Carin, Carin has a baby on the way with one month pregnant! They have a portable little shack that they set up next to the hospital where they sell clothes. Awhile back we had met them in our everday contacting hour, we joked around that while they were offering clothes for sale, we as missionaries offer the gospel of Jesus Christ, but completely free! We set an appointment with them for this week and the day we showed up they told us that from the day we met they had been impatiently looking forward to the day of our next visit. As we began to teach about who we are and what we know to be true, Ismael asked us pulling out a necklace with the cross of Jesus around his neck, ¨¨I just have one question, in your church are you against the wearing of the cross of Jesus? My Mom gave me this necklace when I was younger, and I was planning to pass it down to my child as well. But if it´s not okay I can take it off,¨¨. We quickly assured him that it wasn´t prohibited to wear a cross necklace, rather that in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints we prefer to focus on the living image of Jesus, as we know that the third day he was resurrected, and continues to work miracles and direct his church in the world today. However all this time I was dumbfounded at his willingness to so freely give up a family heirloom, in hopes to put his life more in line with what he believed was God´s will. He taught me a great lesson of faith, and courage that no matter what we have been taught from our parents, or what traditions have been passed from generations back, our salvation depends on our willingness to give up our will for the will of God.

Also inspiring quote from my Mama that she wrote me today and I am going to put on my wall because she is wise and an all around wonderful human

¨¨do the harder right, not the easier (comfort) wrong.

the enabling power of the atonement makes the harder right easier¨¨

Here are some pictures of the family we have been teaching at this week´s District meeting and I will make sure to send photos of Ismael and Carin next week!

..and a picture of me eating a big taco

Also fun fact: In Peru they don´t eat tacos, or even tortillas! All of their dishes have rice. My compañion from the computer next to me just asked ¨what are those things called? tacos?¨ 

Love you, till next week!

Week 33: Greetings from San Lorenzo!

Greetings from San Lorenzo!

Because my email from last week wasn´t sent, heres last week´s news!!

This week was my first week training mi hija Hermana Posso. She is from Peru and has such a fun and energetic spirit to her. It is so much fun being with a new missionary because she is incredibly motivated to work. Our area is called San Lorenzo which is a lot more developed than Marcovia- to give you a little picture in your head of what it´s like we are now on paved roads, we live near a hospital and hotel. One challenge that we encountered this week was that many of our appointments began to fall through because they weren´t home! We started to feel like we were spending a little too much time just walking from house to house, and needed direction as to where we should go. We knew that God knew exactly who was in need of our help, and so instead of guessing and we decided to go straight to the source, through prayer! We prayed together first to know whether we should continue contacting or if we should go to our next appointment.. no surprise we both felt the same impression to continue contacting. Next we asked which street to follow, received the same impression, and on we went! It was really exciting to see how literally every time, we would say at the same time where we felt we should go we had the same answer. And we have started to do it every day so that we can be sure we are exactly where God needs us to be.

This week we were invited into the home of a woman named Gabriella who we had meet in the street before and had a lot of questions for us like what was the Book of Mormon, who was Joseph Smith and what was so different that Mormons believe? We were ecstatic to hear questions like that and quickly set an appointment to meet with her. The day of our visit we sat down to explain to her about how God as a loving Heavenly Father had sent his son Jesus to come to the Earth to show us the way, and to establish his church. In the Bible we have the records of the prophets of old and Jesus´s coming in Jerusalem, but that there was also another set of records which contained Christ´s visit here! to the Americas! When we explained that this record was called the Book of Mormon, and that a prophet named Joseph Smith had been instrument in the Lord to translate it, she nearly leaped out of her seat to be able to read the chapter of Christ´s visit in which we spoke of. The funny thing was that this is something that we teach and explain all the time, but this time I felt different teaching it- I felt a tingling sensation start from my head to my toes, if it were possible it was as if someone poured light into my body, and in that moment I knew that it was the Spirit was testifying to me, and to her, that it was the truth. Because that is what the Spirit does- it offers undestanding, and for that reason it was no surprise that she was hungry to hear more because the Spirit had let her know, maybe not in the same way as it had let me know, that what she was hearing was true.

I would also just like to say that San Lorenzo is the cutest little town and the members here are so fantastic. This Sunday was my first Sacrament meeting (because of General Conference which btw WOWW) and it was testimony meeting (when the meeting is dedicated to whoever wishes to share thir personal conviction of the truthfullness of the gospel may share) and as a branch of about 30 members, practically every member got a chance to bear their testimony. Though the number are small, it reminds me of the blessing that no matter where we are in the world, no matter how big or how small the numbers are, the organization of the church is the same, doctrine of Christ is taught the same, so that we may ¨may come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God¨. God is not a God of confusion, He is the same yesterday today and forever and has revealed all possible to his children so that they may have a clear picture of how they can return to His presence. I know it not only because I chose to believe, but because I too have had questions, I too have had doubts, but one who has questions and doubts has two options: investigate the wisdom of man by checking out what Google has to say or by investigating the wisdom of God through his Holy Scriptures. The spirit that gave light and understanding to Gabriella and I this week is the same spirit that will give understanding to those who seek it.

My companion is a complete goon and has already peed her pants (well, skirt) like three times in the street from laughing so hard and I love her like crazy.

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and I´m praying for you all too!


Hermana Bernal

Week 32: Hallelujah

Hi family and friends!

Happy Easter!!! So good to hear that you guys enjoyed it, This week it was especially exciting to share with people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ because the day of his resurrection was already on everyone¨¨s minds! While contacting we have been sharing cards that have a video that is really beautiful to remind us of the gift that all of us are blessed to have- the gift to be able to live again after this life. And if we have done well, we¨ll be living with our families for the rest of eternity. I attached a link of the video :)

The past couple of weeks we¨ve been teaching three youngsters who¨s families are members and have been preparing to be baptized. Saturday they were baptized, and the morning of their confirmation we went to pick up one of the boys, named Bryan with 10 years, to wait for the bus that takes us to the church building. We arrive, knock on their door, and hear nothing until his mom responds ¨¨he{s sick, hes not going¨¨... This was incredibly unsettling because as Paul taught in Acts, a baptism without the reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost is incomplete, and if he couldn¨t go his baptism wouldn¨t count! Frustrated, we went back to the bus stop to wait until we both felt prompted to return to the house and try once more. This time as we knocked on the door his mom didn¨t even answer, and Hermana Avila and I decided it would be best for us to pray. We prayed that he might wake up, that he might remember this special day of his confirmation and open his little eyes to make it to church on time. After calling his name a couple more times with no answer, we called up a mototaxi to take us to church because at this point the bus had already passed and we were going to miss the Sacrament. We waited a good 10 minutes until finally it came, and took us a different route than usual and all of a sudden we see pass by a boy dressed in his white shirt and sure enough it was Bryan!! Seeing him was one of the most exciting moments, and we arrived in perfect timing at church not only for him to be confirmed, but also for him to be able to take the Sacrament. It made me so grateful to know that God had carefully prepared the means and timing for us to fulfill his work. It really was a miracle, and all because of one prayer! I know that there are no coincidences, and everyday we have the choice to see the blessings in our life as miracles or as casualities.

Also, today we had changes and I found out that I¨m leaving my beloved little town of Marcovia, now off to a more developed area called San Lorenzo where I won¨t get to see as many pigs, horses and cows everywhere, but the work is the same and I¨m so grateful the opportunity to be able to train an hermana from Peru! Tomorrow we meet, next week I¨ll send photos!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=p2wdMwpYByI


Hermana Bernal

Week 31: Happy Father's Day

Hey family and friends!

This past Saturday was Father's day here in Honduras and so we decided to plan an activity in the church building and it was such a fun time! Attached are the photos of the event. 85 people arrived and it was so great to allow our investigators to see that Mormons have fun too!

My companion Hermana Avila is in the last stretch of her mission with only 3 months left... Something that I have learned from her is that we can more loyally follow the example of Jesus Christ when we stand for what is right no matter what others are doing around us. Sometimes we let things slide around us that we know are incorrect, but we must remember that the day we made a covenant with our Heavenly Father, we promised to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. As a missionary I have plaque with His name to remind me everyday of this covenant, but as members we don't need a plaque to have His name written on our hearts.

Love you so much, till next week!! Here are a couple of fun photos from this week!

Hermana Bernal

Week 30: Baptism of "Joven" the orphan child

Hey all,

This week we had the great blessing to see the baptism of a joven named Eduardo. It has been really awesome to see the change in this boy, because he comes from a pretty tough family situation- orphaned as a child, passed around by various families who couldn´t handle his behavior, and now living with an uncle in law and their family who are members of the church. As we have taught him the worth that he has as a child of God, and the plans that our father in Heaven have prepared for him to have a happy and successful life, bit by bit we have noticed a change in his composure and brighter countenance, and it just makes me feel so grateful to know that no matter what home situation we come from, the gospel brings light and hope. Even the simple knowledge that we are children of God was something he had been missing and it reminded me of a quote of one of the leaders in the church Boyd K Packer when he said ¨The study of doctrines of the gospel will change behavior better than study of behavior." Eduardo is living evidence!

Till next week! 

 

Hna Bernal

Week 28: White As Snow

Hey familia!

This week was a great week. My companion Hermana Avila and I have been continuing to work with many of the members who have forgotten their testimonies, and with the help of many visits with members we are reminding them that like our bodies need food and water everyday to be nourished physically, our spirits as well are in constant need of nourishment. This week our lessons were centered on how after we are baptized and confirmed, we are washed completely clean of our sins, and the weight of any past guilt or shame may be lifted because we are now able to start anew. But how long does that last? How long after baptism are we perfectly clean, without sin? Our Heavenly Father has created us with weaknesses, and as humans we are bound to make mistakes, but we have been blessed with the opportunity every week to partake of the Sacrament- the symbol of the body and blood of Christ that renews this covenant of and allows us to become as white and pure as the day we were baptized. I love the scripture in Isaiah:18 that says Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Right now in Marcovia we are in the super windy season and its pretty funny because by the end of the day I have a very attractive layer of dirt on my skin, reminding me that every day we have the need to be washed physically and spiritually. What would our bodies look like if we bathed only once a week? What must our spirit look like if we haven´t given it a nice deep clean when Sunday comes around? I am so grateful for the opportunity that we have to have fresh starts and new beginnings. I am grateful for this gospel, and for the one that makes it all possible, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Hermana Bernal