Monday, May 30, 2016

Mon, May 30, 2016 1:25 pm A Joyful Disciple of Jesus Christ.

Dear family and friends,

Oh my goodness. I love my mission so much. I have loved the blessing of working in Surrey Spanish again. Surrey is such a special and sacred place for me. It is a second home where I have come to know the Savior and my Father even more. It is where God has trained me to feel the Spirit. To understand when I should testify, to know what to say as I testify, to know who to talk to, to know where to go and where not to go. I know that the Spirit is our companion and our protector. He is the one who gives us the strength to press forward and love living the gospel.

I have been thinking a lot about my favorite missionaries. Alma the younger and Peter. And this morning I learned so much about what it takes to be a joyful and powerful disciple of Jesus Christ. In Alma 4 we read that the people were so wicked, they let their riches and their pride take control of them. And we know that when there is pride...destruction always follows. But Alma, wasn't discouraged. He went out and began to "preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people." Alma had a huge job, like all of us do as followers of Jesus Christ, but he knew that the Lord would give him strength. Alma saw that there was "no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them." I LOVE THIS! There have been many moments in the beginning of my mission when I had no idea what to say. Then I began bearing my testimony in those moments. And I have enjoyed and loved sharing my pure testimony of Jesus Christ with Surrey, Vancouver, Sidney....and now KELOWNA! I know that this new transfer is so inspired of God. I am so excited to serve the Lord up in Kelowna now! I read "Fear not, I am with thee." by President Uchtdorf. He says about Peter, "Nothing kept him from fulfilling his mission to raise his voice as a missionary and a witness of his Savior, Jesus Christ." I desire to be like this. I can feel that the Lord is helping me become like Peter. Letting go of all my fear, gaining a pure testimony of Jesus Christ, and sharing it with ALL. I hope that we all can do this!

So this week....hmm...has been so special for me! My last week in Surrey...being a Spanish missionary...asking everyone for a Spanish referral. I have loved my time here. I have loved being with Sister Wilson, my dear friend. We worked so hard...and I know that God has blessed us. Our reward for working so hard was getting permission to go to the Garcia family's sealing on Saturday. This is a moment of my life that I will never forget. We love the Garcia family so much and have seen them work so hard to be sealed in the temple. My heart was so filled with the Spirit and with joy. I know that the work we do inside the temples is true. It is eternal. I invite all of you to go to the temple often and fill your lives with the Spirit of the Lord. It was incredible to see the joy on their faces..they know that their family is forever. 

Garcia family sealing!
Hermana Hoth and Hermana Wilson with the Garcia family at the temple!
Hermana Hoth at the temple!
It was so hard to say goodbye again to my favorite family...The Duran family. Rosa and Raul are so special to me. After church yesterday, we went to teach them in their home one last time. God is so good to have allowed me to be part of their lives again. I am so grateful. I was able to share my testimony with them and testify of eternal families and the plan of salvation. It is all true. They, then, shared their testimonies with me. Rosa told me, "the work that you have done here has not been in vain. We have learned so much." We were all crying, but it's okay because I know God will take care of them. Soon they will have an eternal family too. 

Hermana Hoth, Michelle and Ulysses



Rodriguez family
Hermana Hoth, Riquelme family



Wilson and Hoth





Sister Arnoa



Emily, Rosa, baby Emily, Raul


Sam, Jared, Hermana Hoth
I have had many opportunities to share my testimony with the members here. They are all my family. I love them so much. As I shared my testimony in our last mission correlation meeting, many of the members cried...and of course I cried. I just can't even imagine how good it will be to see all of them again. 

I feel so blessed. I know that God is our Father. He knows us and knows exactly what we need, what we want, and what we desire. He hears our prayers, no matter what language they are said in. He hears us and speaks to us through the Spirit. Remember Him because He always remembers you. I love you all and pray that you are all doing well. Remember Joshua 1:9.

Love,
Hermana Hoth....soon to be Sister Hoth again!:):)

More pics from the Mini Mission last week!

Peggy


Mosquera family