Temple Open House

Well it's been a bitter-sweet week - saying goodbye to lots of wonderful people! Like my district!

This week ended with a fantastic activity all about the temple! (For those of you who are wondering what could be so special about a building, keep reading.) Everyone got to go on a tour through the church, learning about temples.

This is a temple. It's bigger that a church or chapel. In the temple we make covenants with God that allow us to be with our families for ever. In the temple, we learn more about God's plan of happiness and more about our Savior Jesus Christ.

In the same way the a high school diploma is necessary to enter the university, there are steps we take to prepare to enter the temple. So in the activity, we all got to learn step-by-step what one does to prepare.

These steps are simple things: have faith in Jesus Christ, read the scriptures, pray, be baptized, keep the commandments.... We can hop from one step to the next, toward the temple.

Why is the temple such a worthy goal? There are a hundred reasons! One of my favorites is simply the feeling that's there. My favorite room is the Celestial Room; it's a place to ponder and feel the Spirit. So for our activity, we made a little replica of a celestial room so that everyone can get a taste of what it feels like to be in the temple.

Raquel and Alberto Arias testified to everyone about the power of the temple. They dressed in white because, in the temple, everyone wears white to represent purity.

I was grateful for the peaceful spirit that we felt in this activity. And it was so fun to spend time with my friends here in El Paso!

We ended the activity with food and "temple games" like building sugar cube temples!

Lots of wonderful people here in El Paso!

Oh how I'm going to miss them all!

I'm excited to see Sister Hendricks continue to do incredible things here in the Transmountain Ward. She's the best!

I am so grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve the Lord here in the El Paso. I have learned so much about our Heavenly Father and His love for us. I am grateful that I get to continue to serve Him and learn more about His love throughout my life.

Spiritually Fed

(Note: I apparently forgot to post last week's blog. So here ya go - better late than never. - Amy)

This week Sister Hendricks and I got to try menudo for the first time! It's great to try new things and it was so nice of Hermana Adame to make it for us! I feel like I've passed some sort of test and I'm a true Mexican now ;)

We also made gluten free cupcakes this week (mix, courtesy of my family) to celebrate my birthday (one month late). So delicious!

Now, on to things that aren't food. Life here in the Northeast is great! I love how every day we get a chance to feel the Spirit! Anyone can feel the Spirit. It's that warm feeling when you made a good choice; it's the inexplicable comfort that comes to a person in a time of crisis. The Spirit is a messenger from God and always testifies of truth.

This week we taught two sisters-in-law about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was so strong that one of these sweet women started to cry. I was so grateful for the chance we had to sit and feel that communication from the Lord together.

 I am slowly learning that there are things that are in our control, and things that are not. As we learn to distinguish between the two, we are able to feel the peace and comfort that comes from knowing that we've done all we can and the rest is up to Him. Or, in more eloquent terms, "Dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

Hope you all have a great week and remember that when hard times come, you never have to face them alone!

Every Day is a Choice

This is our good friend Aurelio! We've been teaching him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ for almost 4 months now and we love it! (I'm not kidding! Being a missionary is the best! We make new friends everyday and then we get to visit them and help them to make their lives better)

Aurelio is an artist!

This week, our ward will be having an activity focused on something very sacred - temples! Since ancient times, God has always commanded his people to build temples and dedicate them to Him. In temples, we make covenants (promises) with God in which we learn more about Him and receive strength and protection.  (If this is all new to you, visit temple.lds.org).

I've recently learned something very important - that every day is a choice. We can chose to be full of hope, faith, and love or we can choose to be tired, disheartened, and discouraged. We can choose to feel support through the enabling power of Christ's atonement or we can choose to just drag ourselves through the day. When it's all said and done, we can see miracles every day if we choose to do so.

Hope you all have a lovely week!

Miracles and Tacos!

Well I've been in El Paso over a year and I FINALLY tried the infamous Chico's Tacos! They're delicious - rolled tacos drenched in a tomatoey sauce and covered in cheese with green chile!

The funny thing about being a missionary is that you count time in transfers (6 weeks periods) rather than in weeks or months. Every transfer you start a new planner and many missionaries like to decorate them. This week I had a good time looking over old planner from my mission. Aren't they pretty?

Great news! One of our favorite people is back from vacation! This is Laura! She is one of the happiest and sweetest people I know and we're so glad that she's here in El Paso again!

Did you know that 90% of life is your attitude? I've been setting the goal to always look for the good. And you know what? When I look for it, I always find it! You should try it!

Have a great day!

Every Rose May Have its Thorns, but Every Cactus has its Blossoms

Did you know that cactuses bloom? This cactus taught me a good life lesson on silver lining. There is beauty all around us, we just have to develop an attitude of looking past those cactuses and seeing the beautiful blossoms!

This week we met a woman who seemed interested in learning about the Gospel, but was in a rush and so she told us, "You've got five minutes. Go." So we taught her a five-minute lesson about how God is our Father, how he's revealed additional scripture, and how each one of us can learn for ourselves whether these things are true as we ask God through prayer. We reached our five minute mark, then she paused and said, "Okay you've got five more minutes, well ten actually! Come on in!" It's interesting how universal the Gospel of Christ is: you can talk about for hours on end or you can teach it in five minutes. We were grateful for the chance we had to share more with her and her daughter.

Sister Hendricks continues to amaze me with her cooking inventions! This week we made "elephant ears" but with corn tortillas that are fried in oil, then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. On our second attempt, we cut the tortillas first so that they turned out like sugary delicious cinnamon tortilla chips. I swear, Sister Hendricks is going to start the next big novelty Mexican restaurant!

Life here is lovely! Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Only in El Paso

These folks get an A for creativity! It's a little hard to see, but this is two people, standing on neighboring roofs, to hold the pinata for a crowd down below. I think we're not in Portland, Oregon anymore!

Our brave friend Kimberly had back surgery for scoliosis this week! She is so sweet and kind, even when she's in a lot of pain! She is such an example to me of patience and charity. The least we could do is leave a heart attack on their door! (Hearts, courtesy of the Munoz family!)

This week we were assigned a new car! This one has a fancy screen that tells us the temperature, but sometimes, I'd really rather not know!

This week, a phrase popped out at me! I think someone read the scripture in a meeting this week. "Newness of life." That's what Christ promises us. Who doesn't want a fresh start? Another chance? A new resolve to do better and to be better? Christ invites us to change and He's the one that makes that change possible.

Have a lovely week! 

Flautas and Forklifts

Our cooking adventures are escalating here in El Paso - this week we invented breakfast flautas! That's right! Scrambled eggs, turkey, and cheese, rolled into a flauta!

Our next great challenge will be the dessert flautas! We're thinking of opening a restaurant one day and calling it, "The Magic Flauta." (If that's not funny to you, you either need to brush up on your Spanish or on your classical music history.)

Great news! Sister Hendricks and I get to work together for one more transfer!

Being a missionary can be an adventure! The other day, our missionary-ing took us on to a construction site. You know, the kind that has a big sign, "hard hat zone." What brought us there, you might ask. Delicious tacos and aguas frescas! A friend from the church has a friend who sells delicious food and he happened to be parked there for the lunch hour, so we braved heavy machinery and confused looks from workers to go get some amazing street tacos!

And some food for thought! With some of the people we teach, I've been pondering the family a lot this week. Want to know how to have a happy, unified family? The answer is absurdly simple - build your foundation on the doctrine and example of Jesus Christ. Love. Patience. Respect. Selflessness. It's oh so simple, and boy is it hard!

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1630305341001

Hope you all have a lovely week!