Hay un Dios en Israel!

This week was filled with so many tender mercies, so many miracles, but I just want to talk about one very big one, well actually two….

I have quickly come to realize in these eight months that my mission is not going to be filled with hundreds of baptisms or things like that. Like the Savior, my mission is a lot about the “one.” When I came to this area, I quickly realized that the Lord did not call me here to find new converts, the work he needed me to do was hidden in a little wooden hut at the outskirts of our area… We have been teaching eight year old twin girls, Nicole and Fabiola. Their mom is a less active sister, and so they had gotten swept under the rug and forgotten about. But this saturday we found two little white dresses and they were baptized!

It was a joined baptism with the zone leaders. Five children were all baptized, and I think that it was the most beautiful baptism I have ever seen. The spirit was so strong!

So, even though these twins don’t count as convert baptisms, or for mission numbers, it really does not matter. Two little princesses got that much closer to their Heavenly Father.

I love this work, I love you all so much. Keep smiling, and find the “one” that needs your help and we will work miracles.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Hermana Hipol

Hola Hola!

Wow, I sure love you guys. I am apologizing in advance, this week’s letter will be a short one. You see, right now I am writing in a tiny tiny cubicle in some computer lab in El Salvador. It is pretty crazy….and so legit. Anyways, I love it!

This week had so many lessons to teach us, most having to do with patience. I love my area. It is so beautiful… and so hot. We are going into the hottest weeks of the year and to be outside all day…. I am getting my modesty tan on. But, Modest is Hottest, so no worries there.

We are still fighting trying to find those chosen souls that the Lord has Prepared. They are really good at hiding, but I know that the Lord will guide us. Our biggest miracle happened yesterday. WE FINALLY HAD AN INVESTIGATOR IN CHURCH!!

Sunday mornings are craziness always, passing by investigators reminding them and helping them to come to church? In my whole time here we haven’t been able to have anyone come, but yesterday the Lord had a little miracle for us. We had walked by all of our investigators and no one could come to church. So, we headed towards the capilla [chapel] and I just said a little prayer “Heavenly Father, I know you are a God of Miracles and that you will never cease to be God of miracles. I am just asking for a little miracle.” We walked into the chapel and there sitting in her own pew, was our little cook, Paty. She is not a member and a bit of an eternal investigator, but there she was with her little baby, ready to hear the good word of God.

I almost cried for joy. So the message this week is to be patient and to trust in the lord. He is a God of little miracles, and if we look, we will find them in every moment of every day. I love and miss you all! Please write!

Hoorah for Israel!

Love,

Hermana Hipol

Photos:

We have started teaching the local animals….. Let’s just say it is not their time.

Styling my comps dress and the good word of God.

!Hola¡ Saludes del lugar mas bonita en toda la tierra!

What a week, The Lord surely poured out his blessings out upon us these last seven days. I love being a missionary!

Hermana Little, my companion is a firehouse. She is so consecrated to this work and teaches me more and more every day on how I can be better. I think that I came here so that she could finish my training. Her Spanish has improved so much, and with all of these miracles these past few days, it has really boosted her “animo” to keep working her hardest. Thank you for all of the prayers for her.

This week has been so coooold!! It has also been windy (soooo not skirt friendly). But, this area is so beautiful!

This Friday we woke up before the sun at 4 a.m. to catch a bus to the mission office! It was so early, but we went to go to a multi-zone conference! Wow, I learned so many things. I loved it so much. One of the greatest things that I learned was that we just need to be happy. Our Presidents wife gave a good message to “be of good cheer” and always be positive. So, I am putting on a 24-hour smile and working hard! And the Lord has poured out his blessings on us, but to overflowing.

We now have a baptismal date! We are teaching 8 year old twins, Nicole and Fabiola. On Saturday we went to visit them, I got out my mini calendar, showed them March and told them to pick a day they wanted to be baptized. They are so excited, but I think we are more excited too!!

Speaking of more blessings, we have seen an outpouring of the spirit in our area. We have found some new families, and the lord has truly blessed us. Last night though, a miracle happened. It was about 8 at night and all of our “citas” had fallen through. We were struggling to find members to visit, but Hermana Little turned to me and said she felt we should visit a member family that lived a little far away from where we were. So, we started walking. We passed by a house with a huge family inside, eating dinner. Trying to be obedient to our counsel of “family seen, family contacted”, we turned back to contact them. We are going to meet with them tonight… But then we continued on our way. We passed a house and I heard someone playing violin. I recognized the hymn “Come ye children of the Lord” and so we ran a knocked. A woman answered the door, and told her that Hermana little played violin and that we loved that song. She quickly let us in and we found not just her but her husband and two children. They asked Hermana Little to play the violin. She has such a beautiful gift. She played a couple hymns and the spirit was so strong. We talked about the temple, tithing’s, and any questions that they had. They might not be as positive but as we knelt in prayer to finish, the spirit was so strong. I love this work!

So, remember, happiness is a choice. Choose to be happy because the Lord wants us to be a Happy People!

I love and miss you so much!

Where do I even start? This week was filled with so many lessons, so many things to learn, I have been so blessed.

This week there was city elections here in Juayua. Here the elections are super crazy! Tons of people go around and promise the world, free donut Friday and all that jazz. Oh, and they host parties in front of our house until two in the morning! #notcool. But they are over now, which is awesome! They do their voting on Sunday so yesterday we had an amazing church attendance… it was about half of what it normally is…. Also, to stay clear of all the political crazies we had to come home early, but it is all good.

This week we were also blessed with two earthquakes!! My companion and I were sitting teaching a lesson when suddenly everything started to shake! The poor sister kind of freaked out but I thought it was just the coolest thing ever…. the other earthquake was that night around one in the morning… that was a little less cool because it woke me up and I thought the world was ending. Oh, and the city went without running water for a day and a half!! We still don’t know why… But, once again, no worries. The Lord protects his missionaries.

This week was filled with so many opportunities to learn. We met with a lot of negative, honestly quite rude people who…. well let’s just say that it is not their time yet. But, there were so many times when I felt overwhelmed or, the people would ask a hard, really blunt question, and the Lord would just fill me with the spirit and let me know that everything would be okay. A lot of people get on us about the Book of Mormon, and use a lot of biblical references and stories that I have never heard of. I really have come to recognize that I don’t know the bible very well. But, at the same time, the Lord has strengthened my testimony so much of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I know that it is true and can withstand any argument that people can make about the church. But its purpose is not to argue, it is to testify of the truth.

I have really tried to focus on the spirit as I study and this week I found a couple verses that really hit me hard. The first is in Mosiah 13:11, when Abinadi is talking about obedience. I find it interesting to see that he points out that the priests know the rules and commandments of the Lord but the difference is that they have not “written them on their hearts.” I think that this is the difference between obedience and consecration. Anyone can be obedient… but obedience does not make someone consecrated. When the laws of obedience are written on our hearts, when it becomes a part of our desires and really who we are as people that is when the Atonement changes us and consecrates us into Disciples of Christ. So, be consecrated!

I just want to close with one more scripture in D&C 45:2. I found that by accident yesterday as I was studying the atonement. It hit me so hard. There will come a day when the summer is over and the harvest has finished… and I asked myself, “Where will I be and what will I be doing when the Great Jehovah will say the work is done?” The time is a lot closer than we think and we should always take advantage of the time we have. Our time is sacred. Our time is a gift. I love this saying in the picture. Translated it says, “Always give your best and the best will come.” Have patience in the Lords timing, but always give your all, so that we may “stand blameless before God at the last day.”

I love you all so much. You inspire me and motivate me- Remember to always put the Lord first.

Be happy, be epic!