!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!

Wow, what a crazy week. I will never forget this last changes meeting. I knew that I would be going to a new area, new comp, new everything. I was waiting for the meeting to start when one of the Assistants came up to me and said, “Hermana Hipol, President would like to see you in his office.” My stomach dropped. Instantly all of the missionaries with whom I was talking began to gossip about how they thought I would be a sister training leader. Well…. I am not Sister Training Leader. I walked into Presidents office, he shook my hand and I took a seat. I will never forget what he said. “Hermana Hipol,” he said, “the Lord has a lot of trust in you, and I do too. I have a very specific assignment for you, and I just need you to hear me out.”

Well…. long story short. I am finishing the training of a new sister….. And I am training a mini missionary. Yep, I am training two new missionaries at the same time, I think that is a first in the history of our mission, Mother of Twins, as they call me now…. and I am reopening the area where I am.  They have been struggling a lot these past few changes, and I am not sure why I was sent here, seeing as I haven’t had a lot of success recently either, but I know that there is a reason. I think I was the only missionary going into changes meeting who knew their companions and area beforehand. It is all out madness…. but I love it!

I love this new area, and I feel that there will be a lot to learn here. I am in Orquideas Juayua, up in the mountains of El Salvador, one of the coolest areas in the mission. IT is such a tender mercy seeing as we are entering the warmest parts of the year, but the first few nights I totally froze! My companions, Hermana Little and Hermana Gonzalez are both such hard workers and have no fear of teaching or contacting. In the past two days alone, we have had 92 street contacts, and all thanks to their desires to talk with everyone. Since we are basically starting from scratch, there are times when it is frustrating because we don’t have a lot of lessons, and my comps are recognizing that the work isn’t all rainbows, but they are doing well now. We are just trying to work our hardest. Hermana Little speaks very little English, having studied French for five years but Hermana Gonzalez has been the perfect help, especially with the language, and Hermana Little takes all correction with such humility and grace. We really make quite the team.

With that… I know that the Lord will bless us for our efforts. These first few days have been a bit of a struggle. Not a lot of people have let us in, and we haven’t found a lot of new people to teach. We are going into elections week so it has been super crazy!  But we are trying to be obedient with exactness in our “Familia vista, Familia Contactada” and so I know that the Lord will bless us. I am not used to having such a small area. Really it is kind of shocking to see the different dynamic here.  And yet I am so happy. I am not discouraged at all, and I know that there is a work to do here. With the Lords help and obedience, he will guide and bless us with success. I feel so much heavenly assurance.

So yah that is all of the updates for now. Stay happy, stay awesome! I love and miss you all!

Yep, that is right…

I HAVE CHANGES! And not just me but, my companion as well… so they are closing our area… I know that there are a lot of factors involved with transfers but I cannot help but feel a little crushed, that someone somewhere lost faith in our area. The biggest blow is that we have to leave a baptism that we had this upcoming Saturday. It is rough, but I am excited to be able to go to a new area and work in another part of the Lords vineyard.

Speaking of work, this week I was studying the Christ like attribute of obedience. I found a quote that I loved;

“Men will work hard for money, they will work harder for other men. But men will work hardest of will when they are dedicated to a cause. Until willingness overflows obligation, men fight as conscripts rather than following the flag as patriots. Duty is never worthily performed until it is performed by one who would gladly do more if only he could” Thomas S. Monson

So…. don’t be just obedient… be consecrated… Be patriots.

Sorry, super short this week. I love you all keep up the good work of the Lord. Be epic!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Hermana Hipol

What an amazing week… I learned so much… I guess I will start with something profound I learned in my personal study. I was studying Jacob 5, the parable of the vineyard. I was really struck by the last bit that talks about our days and the missionary work in the last days. It really struck me that when the master of the vineyard talks about how this is the last time he will work in his vineyard. The coming of our savior is so close, I feel that something big is coming. The God of Israel is hastening his work and we get to be a part of it. But I also learned something that really hit me hard. The Spirit reminded me of Moses 1:39, and how our Heavenly Father obtains his glory, through the exaltation of man. So, when someone uses their agency to reject the message of the gospel, they are literally robbing the Almighty of his own glory. When we as missionaries and members do not work our hardest, talk with all that we see, we are literally robbing our Heavenly Father of glory that he could obtain. It really struck me that the glory that He can obtain, depends on how mortals use their agency… He has so much trust in us. I don’t know if I am spitting out spiritual conjectures but I invite you all to join in hastening the work of salvation. We have to do our part, if not for our fellow men, for the glory of our God. How epic our cause!

The success in our area is coming… slowly but surely. This week was so crazy…

Zone Leaders called us an on Thursday we left and they worked with us. We had some amazing lessons and I felt the spirit so strong! On Friday, the Sister Training leaders also came to certify us and they gave us a lot of positive feedback. To certify, you just teach the lessons, trying to apply all the things that you have learned, basically teach a perfect lesson. Usually we certify with a leader pretending to be an investigator, but this time, they left with us and we certified in real lessons. They were with us from ninety-thirty to about four thirty. It was so crazy but I learned so much!

The best part of this week was when I had an interview with my mission President. I love him so much, and he is such an amazing example of humility and consecration. I have been struggling with a couple things and have really compared myself with the success of others. I know that I shouldn’t but, I am human. I told him how I was feeling, and that I compare myself way too much to my trainer (shout out to Hermana Judd, I love you so much!). He got really quiet and then said, how he often feels very inadequate, especially when he thinks about President Cordon, the mission president before him. But then he told me the story of David and Goliath that he first went to the King. The King gave him all of his own armor to go and fight, but it didn’t fit. David went to face Goliath with just a sling and some stones. He couldn’t do it with the armor of the King, but at the end he came away victorious.  Then with tears in his eyes President said, “If you offer your work with a broken heart every night on your knees, begging the lord to accept your offering, the Lord will accept it.” I am trying to focus on what I can do, but without being too hard on myself, trying to be accepted of the Lord. The world is filled with our own Goliaths, but the God of Israel is at our back to support us. Never forget the love and power of our Heavenly Father.

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love and support!

Hurrah for Israel

Love, Hermana Hipol

I cannot believe that it is already Monday again…. The time has gone by so fast this week.

In my personal study of the Book of Mormon I received some amazing personal revelation. I recognized that I need to be a lot more humble… that a lot of the trials that are passing right now are partially thanks to my pride. We work our hardest every day and we can feel the spirit but I feel that we are kinda “wandering in the wilderness” a little bit. I was studying the story of Nefi and his family and I recognized a pattern. Moses never entered the Promised Land, and because of the pride of the Israelites, they waited 40 years in the wilderness. Nephi and his family waited 8 years before they crossed the sea and entered the Promised Land and during this time were tried, and humbled through a lot of experiences. The Jaredites also waited many years before they could cross the ocean and come to the Promised Land. Joseph Smith never saw the Salt Lake Valley. Jesus Christ did not baptize a single person in his 3 year mission (Juan 4:1-2).  But this time, I have recognized is just the Lord, humbling and refining me all with the purpose that I can one day enter into the “promised land.” We might go months or years without seeing the fruits of our labors, but I am coming to see that our “fruits” come through the success of others.

So whenever you feel like you are wandering, recognize that the Lord is preparing and refining you into the person that he wants you to be.

1 Nephi 17:13 And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the Promised Land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.

It was a week filled with so many tender mercies… I love my Savior so much.

On a funny side note, we went to visit a sister and her slightly alcoholic nephew was there… we invited them to be baptized. She said no, because she was catholic. He waited a moment, and then said, “I was baptized in the Evangelical church.” This little lady looked like she had drunk lemon juice and been slapped in the face. “YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE CATHOLIC!” She said… He just shook his head and laughed… I had nothing to do but join along…  It was so funny! I love the people here…

Thank you so much for all of you love and all of your support.

I love you all! Keep the faith!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love, Hermana Hipol

Hola a todos! Tengan muy buenas dias!

Wow, the time has just flown by. I cannot believe that it has already been six months. Six months of lessons, six months of Spanish, six months of trial and refining, and six months of growth (spiritual, that is).

Really I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father. This week was an adventure but taught me so much, as always. There were moments when I sat in front of the phone debating whether or not to make the call and throw in the towel, but just when I hit rock bottom, I recognized that Christ is the rock at the bottom, and if he is our foundation we cannot fall. We might stumble, or wobble, but we will never fall. Like Peter, we have to keep our eye on the savior and not on the tempest or the size of the waves. But, when we begin to sink, when our faith wavers and in our moments of weakness the Lord stretches out his hand and saves us. The Lord saved me this week and I forever am indebted to him and the sacrifice that he made for me. Should you have the chance I invite you all to look for a video called The Atonement and Missionary Work (in Spanish it is La Expiacion y la Obra Misional). It is two clips from talks by Henry B. Eyring and Jeffrey R. Holland talking about missionary work and the atonement.

The phrase that struck me the most was when Elder Holland said, “I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation was never a cheap enterprise. Salvation was never easy.” I have thought about the Saviors mission. All that he accomplished in three years. He suffered, was rejected, and had no food, hard companions, and not a single baptism that we can read in the bible. And yet, his mission changed the world. There is a song that I love to listen to in the morning and one part of it says,

The hardest thing I have ever come to see
Is a man down on his knees in agony
A drop of blood falls down on olive leaves
And for a moment, he suffers there for me

I might only have six months in the mission. I might not have many baptisms, but I would not change a thing. In these moments when I fell that I cannot move on, I am standing shoulder to shoulder with the greatest missionary this world has known, and it is an honor to be side by side with the Lord of heaven and earth, the mission is not easy, but salvation was never easy. I love this scripture in 1 Corinthians 1:17, it hit me so hard when I read it:

For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

The Lord blesses me so much, in little ways. This week we met with a sister that was inactive when I came to the area. She is now active, received a calling, and told us that this past Sunday she had received her Patriarchal blessing, and in her blessing was told she would be a temple worker. She is now preparing to enter the temple. This young woman (in the picture) is a less active and for the first time since I have come, told me that she is saying her prayers. My faith might be no bigger than a mustard seed… but that is all the Lord asks!

I love you all. Thank you for your support, your love, and your prayers. I pray for you all. Keep the faith, fight the fight!

Hurrah for Israel!
Love,

Hermana Hipol

What an amazing week it has been. I have learned so much about who I am and about the atonement this week. This week in my personal studies I really focused on the atonement and the Law of sacrifice. It is so beautiful that Christ gave us a perfect sacrifice, and the only thing he asks of us is that we be willing to sacrifice all that we have and all that we are to know him. It is not only a sacrifice of our time, talents, and the things that we usually think of when we think of the mission. He also asks us to sacrifice our sins, our grief, our habits, and be willing to trust him with our hurts so that he can heal us. I was super stressed this week. I had a little bit of a break down but after a blessing and a lot of prayer, I recognized that my success in the mission, is not always measured by numbers, that if I will just give it all that I have, the Lord will bless me. I think our biggest efforts and successes have been in reactivation and retention. Yesterday we did not have any investigators in church but of all the inactives, less actives and recent converts that I have taught, there were seventeen. This week we are going to “start over” double our efforts and put our faith in the Lord. I know he will bless us.

This week we met with a recent convert that is still struggling to overcome an addiction. I love this person so much, and it broke my heart to discover that they were still fighting this battle. They opened up to us and told us that they were willing to do anything. “My conversion,” they said, “is not something that I can do half way. I want to change. I want to be a better person.” We had a beautiful lesson about repentance and the atonement. We invited them to an YSA activity. Then came the time of trial. They came to the activity. On Sunday, they were in time for church and listened intently to all of the talks. In Principles of the Gospel class, they shared their testimony of repentance and sacrifice, how we should be willing to give all to the Lord so he can make us into the people that we need to be come. This is the atonement. This person taught me what it means to be truly repentant. We can do all things, we just have to actually “do” them.

You know, I think that there is an unspoken rule that missionaries always have to be positive, that there is nothing but goodness and happiness and rainbows in the field. Today I would like to break through this social taboo that we have put on missionary work. This week was hard.  We couldn’t find a lot of new people, and the days were long and strenuous. I am not sure why, but a lot of people that were once positive have hardened their hearts and rejected us. We are probably going to have to drop a young woman that I have taught for all my time here and it breaks my heart but I know that the Lord has bigger and better plans. As missionaries, while the most important work cannot be measured, still have to submit numbers and a lot of times the numbers do not reflect the work and the effort that we put in. This week all my stresses and emotions sort of culminated into a great mess. I felt super overwhelmed and questioned what I was doing here in a third world country. I went to my room and poured out my soul in prayer, pleading for understanding from my Heavenly Father. Nothing…. about fifteen minutes later the phone rang. It was our district leader. As usual, I just brushed the tears aside and asked how I could help… He just responded and said, “Hermana I am calling because you need help.” I told him a little about how I was feeling and what I was struggling with. He responded, “Don’t, worry Hermana, you are one of the strongest sisters that I know” Being the nerd I am I just responded, “Yes Elder, but even Superman has kryptonite.”

There was silence on the other end of the line and then he responded, “Hermana, we are stronger than Superman.”

The mission is a refiner’s fire. Sometimes it gets a little too hot. Sometimes we get burned. But there is nothing in our way that we cannot overcome. We have strength from a god, the God of our fathers, Almighty God of Israel. I glory in my Jesus for with his strength I can do all things.

I guess that is my message to all of you, that we are stronger than our super heroes. We just have to believe that we are. The time has come to dust off our capes, and abandon our secret identities. The world needs heroes, needs people to stand up, stand strong, and aggressively live the standards that they profess to believe. I know that if we do our part, we will come off conquerors.

I love you all. I pray for you. Keep the fight!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Hermana Hipol

¡Hola and Buenas Dias from El Salvador! I hope that this email finds you all well and happy and abundantly blessed by our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to teach and to serve. This week was so amazing, and really flew by so fast! Time passes so quickly here in the field, and there are so many times when I wish it would slow down a bit. But, the Lord is Hastening the Work, so we got to keep up with the pace.

This week our trio was brought back to a duo, as Hermana Roa received her new companion. Hermana Avila and I were able to go to changes meeting without receiving changes, and it was amazing to see all of the new missionaries and the missionaries that are preparing to leave. It was shocking, by may of this year we will have lost about 60 missionaries, and almost all of them are our zone leaders, district leaders, training leaders, assistants, and secretaries…. tons are leaving! I cannot wait to see what the lord has in store for this mission and this part of his vineyard.

This week the sun hit us full on. I am not sure I was totally ready, but we keep working our hardest… and drinking tons of water. I was really touched in my personal study by a promise that I read in the Book of Mormon:

10 They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.

So, yeah, the Lord will bless and guide us…. if we don’t melt first. 🙂

Anyways, this week we met with President in a couple different meetings, and this change we are going to have a major refocus on the Book of Mormon, using it in every lesson, in contacting, in everything. As my companion and I have tried to do so, the change in the spirit we have felt has been amazing! I love the Book of Mormon. I know that it is true, the truest book of all of the books that have ever been written. I has so many promises, so many lessons to be learned. I am reading it for the third time for my mission, and it as if I have never read it before in my life. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that it is true. I get to bear testimony of it all day every day. Read it, dissect it, and enjoy it. It will bless you and teach you.

This week I also taught my first multitude… It was so humbling. We had an activity in a poorer area and met with a bunch of investigators and recent converts. I gave the spiritual thought. There were about 40 people there and I just shared my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how the gospel has blessed my family. The spirit was so strong and I invited them all to repent and be baptized. I felt like the prophets of the Book of Mormon. It was really epic.

Anyways, I love and miss you all. Keep the faith, fight the fight.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love

Hermana Hipol

Wow!! What a week! For starters, this week I was in a trio! Because of an unforeseen illness, one of the Hermanas in our Zone had to go home, leaving her companion, Hermana Roa. So, she came with us and we got to work both areas…. It was madness! But it was a very humbling learning experience. Hermana Roa is from Columbia, and has 15 months in the mission. She is amazing and such a great teacher! She is also a chef, so we ate well this week. She also really likes lion king, as she often breaks into rounds of “in the jungle.” She, Hermana Avila and I got to work on our fitness goals for the year and have started Zumba. Guess what! Hermana Roa told me that I am the first gringa she has seen that has rhythm!!! I don’t know how many gringas she knows, but we will go with that.

This week we had an amazing zone conference. The assistants shared an amazing video with us. It followed some young kids in their spiritual progression as they grew up to become missionaries. They had the music to “Armies of Helaman”, and “I hope they call me on a mission” in English. I had not heard those words for so long, it brought tears to my eyes… I realized I have been prepped my whole life to become a missionary and I am so grateful for my family and all of the examples I have received.

With the new year coming, there are so many things that I want to do. The lord has blessed us with 365 days to dedicate to him and his work. 365 blank pages to write an epic story! And it all begins with the little things. I invite you all, if you have not already, make goals and focus on how this year can be the best year of your life thus far.

I love you all. Keep the faith!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Hermana Hipol