Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Tue, Mar 29, 2016 1:26 pm He is Risen.

Happy Easter everyone!



Zone conference!



This week has been very special to me. Very dear and sacred to me. I have had so many opportunities to gain a stronger testimony of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and His powerful Atonement and resurrection. I love that I have been able to share this testimony with all who I have met too. So I hope that as you read this, you think of our Savior. You think of His love and perfect sacrifice that He did just for you.

One of the experiences that I have had with the Atonement is when we heard about the death of a young father in the community. We have so many friends here, members and investigators, that have been so close to this young man. All of them have been so shocked about his sudden and tragic death. He died unexpectedly due to an accident at his work. As one of our members was telling us about his funeral, I just had so many emotions. I am so sensitive when it comes to all these things. For a brief moment, I felt overwhelmingly sad and depressed...for his family, for him, for all those he influenced in life, and for death in general. It was just so sad. But as soon as this thought came to me, another thought more powerful, beautiful and hope inspiring came to me. I thought of my testimony of Jesus Christ and His resurrection. I thought of when my grandma passed away and all of those doubts and feelings seemed to hit me all at once. It was at this time that I came to a knowledge of the goodness of my God and my Savior. I have a testimony that Jesus Christ resurrected. And because of this we will all live again. We will all have new life. I hope that all of you have been able to see the video #Hallelujah that the church has for Easter. We truly can find new life in Jesus Christ. All shall be made alive. This life does have worth, it does have a purpose. We live because we will live forever. We are here now to show our God that we trust in Him and will do the things that He asks of us. I have come to know that the saddest things in life are sins and death. But both of these things disappear as we learn about the forgiveness and resurrection we receive through Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. 


Pupuseria with Hermana Torres :)


We made pupusas with our favorite Hermana Torres
We were able to see Carolyn and Alex on Sunday. We had a beautiful lesson with them. We watched the video Hallelujah with them and they loved it. The Spirit was so powerful. Carolyn loved it because she said that Christ gives her such hope that this life is not the end. Alex loved it because it applies to absolutely everyone. In this video there are people from all over the world, rejoicing in Jesus Christ. They all hold up pictures of their loved ones who have passed away. But they all know that they will see these loved ones again. 

"She got a bubu. It was a critical moment." Hermana Cendreda

We have been able to have 3 lessons with Rita this week...and they were all over the phone. It was interesting to have lessons over the phone but they have worked really well. They have been so filled with the Spirit. She is so prepared this time! Please as you read this email...take a second and say a prayer for Rita. She needs it so much! 

"I love dogs. Haha." Hermana Cendreda
I had such a neat experience this week as we were finding. I absolutely know that God is directing this work. What we need to do as missionaries...and members...is be worthy and willing to have the Spirit. As we were driving to an area to find people to teach...I had the tiniest idea to go somewhere else...a complex that we had been to before. It really was such a small idea, but I figured it was from the Spirit. Something that Sister Cendreda has taught me is that "the first thing that comes to your mind is the Spirit, and the second thing is you personal doubt and fear." So we went...I prayed that God would help us find the person He was sending us to. As we got closer, the Spirit continued to grow and grow. Once we arrived at the place, the Spirit continued to direct us left then right and then told us to park. We parked and received the impression to start knocking doors at the bottom of the street and work our way up. We reach the bottom of the road and there is a lady outside on her porch. She was on the phone so she couldn't really talk to us but, she is Latina! Her name is Julia and she said that we could come back. After this miracle, we just looked at each other and were like WHAT? How in the world did we find her? It was so incredible. 

Well family I want to share my favorite scripture with you about the resurrection. It is a scripture that has always given me so much hope. This is when Mary and other women go back to the tomb where Jesus Christ's body was. The tomb was empty. Angels appeared to them and said,

Why seek ye the living among the dead?

He is not here, but is risen:
We cannot dwell on the dark and dreary, but remember the goodness of God. He send His Son to die for us...that we may not forever be dead. But that we might have life in Christ.
 Love, Hermana Hoth









Monday, March 21, 2016

Mon, Mar 21, 2016 4:07 pm Rejoicing in the Lord

                                                                       Dear family and friends,





What a beautiful week it has been! The sun finally came out for a few days, Sister Cendreda and I are diligently finding all the Latinos in Surrey, and we are loving every second!! I have never had a companion like Sister Cendreda before. She is ALWAYS smiling, making jokes, and making me laugh so hard. Haha everyone in Mexico calls her "fresa" which means she is a barbie or sassy. Who knew that I would have so many sassy companions?!? But really, I'm so grateful that we are working so hard together and that I can be with her before she "dies" in the mission. Every time we see a plane flying over, which is all the time because we're so close to the airport in Richmond, I remind her that she has only 5 weeks left. At first she didn't like it, but now she is the one who says it first! We're just preparing her so it's not so much of a shock when she goes home!

Yonk, Lewis, Cendreda, Hoth ~ St. Pats Day Planning







So this week...we worked so hard every single day. We found so many Latinos...who weren't exactly interested! But we're still finding them! We just have so much fun and have good attitudes about it all. We have made an extra effort to always be grateful for what God blesses us with. He really is so good! So before we start our nightly planning session every night, we tell each other what we are grateful for. Without a doubt, every time I start with "I am grateful for...." She always yells "ME!!!!". Haha, she loves me! 





We love working in the garden with our favorite Hermana Torres!



Hermana Hoth, Julia, Cortez, Kenia, Emily, Lotina, Cendreda


Hermana EMILY Hoth, and Emily


Despite all of our hard work, we had a lot of people cancel on us...more than a lot...all of them. We had basically all 0's in our results when it got to Saturday. We looked at our results and were like WHAT? How is that even possible...we've been working hard every day! But we just kept pushing forward and working! Just like God wants us to do! And God blessed us, as He always does. As He always promises. 















Our miracle this week happened yesterday. Yesterday was such a beautiful Sunday. I started my day off with incredible studies about the keeping the sabbath day holy and fasting. I decided that I would fast for the day. Sister Cendreda and I have been praying so hard to see one miracle baptism before she leaves and so this is what I decided to fast for. I felt the Spirit fill me as I went throughout the day. The Spirit was so strong as we partook of the sacrament and I gained so much revelation from that and my studies. Think of it...every week we can partake of the sacrament. The bread and the water...they represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ...His sacrifice...His Atonement. His sacrifice, body, and life are being offered to us every single sunday and the thing we need to do is get there and be at the church and partake of it. But that is just so hard for some of our investigators to see the importance of coming to church every week. So I just imagined for a moment...me not going to church one Sunday. I think the whole day I would be thinking about the sacrament that is being passed around to all those that are there. Christ's life is being offered to everyone there and even me...but I'm not there to partake of it. Either because I feel like it's not important or what I'm doing is more important. I hope all of you can think of that. When you're not at church..the only one you're hurting is you. The sacrament is there being passed to everyone..it is being offered to you. What you need to do is be there and be willing to reach out and take it. Anyways, after sacrament meeting we had the most powerful Sunday school ever! Rita came to church and she stayed all 3 hours! I was so happy she was there for this powerful lesson. The Spirit was so overwhelming as we learned about who we are as God's children and our potential. Rita was so touched and when the teacher asked her to say the closing prayer she said "I'm just a little flustered." But she said it anyways. It was a beautiful, powerful prayer. She thanked God for helping her with Lenin and thanked Him for the ward and the missionaries. She cried and said she just wanted to be baptized!!! After the prayer she gave me a huge hug and a kiss on the forehead. Then during relief society...that powerful spirit stayed with us. There have not been many times where I have felt the Spirit that strong before! I felt the Spirit telling me to ask her to be baptized in April. By the end, when we were saying the closing prayer, my Spirit felt way too big for my body. I just couldn't contain it. After the prayer was done, I turned to Rita and said, "Never forget the Spirit we have felt today. God wants me to tell you that you can be baptized. You can be baptized in April." She set a date for April 16...this is such a miracle for me! I know God answers prayers and fasting is so powerful. Fasting is rejoicing! I am rejoicing so much in the goodness of God. God is so good...I pray that you will all turn to Him more!



Love,
Hermana Hoth


Last p-day, we danced with the Hermanas! It was such a good workout! Holy cow! We danced to EFY music and MOTAB. So that was super fun! 











Monday, March 14, 2016

Mon, Mar 14, 2016 1:57 pm "Our message, which is centered in Jesus Christ, is of great value and importance."


                                                   Dear family and friends,

I love my mission. This week, I gained a stronger testimony that literally all we do as missionaries and all we should do as members of God's church upon the earth is centered in Jesus Christ. We are His disciples. We are the light and the example to the world. I have realized this week, that I am so much like Peter in the Bible. President Uchtdorf gave a talk on how Peter is a great example of the missionaries today. Both fearful and fearless. Peter was a fisherman, but was called to the great work of the Lord...he was probably the last one to think that he would be the chief apostle to Jesus Christ. As we read about his life, we see that he had many moments of weakness and being fearful, but as he gained his witness of the resurrected Christ, he was fearless. He shared his testimony and conversion with all until the end of his days. I, like him, have so many weaknesses, like we all do. But we are called to this great work. And as we gain testimonies of Jesus Christ, we cannot help but sharing and testifying boldly to others. This week, as I have walked the streets of Surrey, I have often compared myself to Peter...I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I wear His name on my heart for the whole world to see. I declare His everlasting truth and proclaim my witness. What a sacred and special calling it is to be a representative of Jesus Christ, our Savior. 


PDay Visit to Dentist in White Rock





















I want to show you that really everything we do is centered in Jesus Christ. Here in the mission....AND at home. All of these lessons that we learn here, we MUST take home. We MUST live forever. The mission is the time for us to learn these great things that God has given us, and then the life after is when we apply it. We can never forget that. We can never forget who we represent.


Our Stake Pres. in Surrey stake made these shirts for Pres. Burt and us because Pres. Burt always says  we are so good. Our new slogan!



We had the most incredible Zone Conference this week, here in Surrey. President Burt and Sister Burt are truly so inspired. I know that they receive direction straight from Heavenly Father to lead this mission. We talked a lot about our morning studies. Our morning routine and being exactly obedient in the hours of 6:20am to 10:00am. I learned so much, and more importantly I have noticed that what I learned is written on my heart. I have applied it and am living it! We were committed to talk about our studies throughout the entire day with our companions! Well that was good motivation to have amazing studies if we are going to talk about it all day long. Let me tell you, this meeting literally changed my life and the way I do missionary work. As we fill our mornings with the Spirit, the mood for our day is set. We are on the right track and then we have a whole day given from God to apply those things! The Spirit has been so strong with Sister Cendreda and me! We have been so inspired and have been lead countless times by the Spirit!! Also, quick side note, God committed me during this meeting to get out of my comfort zone more. It has been amazing to see my comfort zone grow and grow on my mission, but I realize that if I am so comfortable with teaching and talking to people now, I'm not growing. "There's no growth in the comfort zone, and there's no comfort in the growth zone." This is so true. So I've been stretching so that God can help me grow! I love it! You should all try that as you talk to people about the gospel!

I want to share my favorite miracle with you from this week. So Saturdays are our walking days. It was POURING RAIN! Seriously so much rain. We were walking by Surrey Mall and weren't really feeling it there. We said a prayer and the Spirit told us to go to Bear Creek park which was only like a mile a way..in the pouring rain. Haha so we started walking over there, and miraculously a member picked us up half way and took us to the park. So when we got there....um...there was no one...except for 5 people walking around the running track in the rain. So we are like, "Have you ever contacted people on the track?" We said nope at the same time and started walking toward the track. We decided to walk the opposite way as everyone so we could talk to them. And the first person we meet was Juan. He is 18 years old and has had a hard life so far. He was so cool and we just started explaining what we did as missionaries. He just looked at us and was like, "Why are you here?" meaning "What in the world are you doing here in the rain, in this park, on the track???" We testified to him that God knows him and so he sent us to him because God knew that Juan needed Him. We talked to him a bit longer and we could tell he was so touched that God would send us to him. We left him with our number and invited him to church and then that was it. I wrote in my journal that night, "I love how God is aware of all of His children, and He uses us (his missionaries) to help His children know that." But wait...this miracle gets better. We were passing some potential investigators off to our zone leaders yesterday right before our church started and theirs was ending. They looked at us with huge smiles and asked, "Do you remember Juan that you met yesterday?" Haha!!! Juan showed up at church yesterday! The elders set up a time to meet with him this week! They said he really liked it. My heart is so happy to be an instrument in the hands of God. That was such a special miracle for me.




We sticky noted our less active--she Loves Us!




Our dinner with Alex and Carolyn. We love them!!! 

I wish I had time to tell you about all of the amazing things we get to see here!

This week, I learned about the power of the Spirit. I am so grateful that we can not only have the Spirit as a Comforter, but also as our protector. I have learned that God truly leads us as His missionaries. God always provides a way!:):)




We had a great lesson with Carolyn and Alex! I really love them so much! Carolyn is so sincere and just wants to follow God! We were able to teach her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are planning on getting married next year, so I'm excited to come back to BC when she gets baptized! I love the people I have met here in BC. They have changed my life so much! They are so special and have definitely become a part of me!

I hope you all have a great week and really take my commitment to get out of your comfort zone and live the gospel out loud..not so others can see you! But so others can see the goodness that God has blessed you with! I love you all!


Love,
Hermana Hoth