CHRISTMAS

Feliz Navidad!

This was a great week because it was CHRISTMAS!!!! I got the best Christmas present of all, to Skype with my family! It was so awesome to get to talk to them. It's hard being away from family at Christmas, but it's great to be a missionary at Christmas time! What better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior than by getting to talk about Him with everyone I see!

skyping with the fam!

We had a great week! Everyone was busy, so it was hard to teach lessons, but we got to be with some awesome members for Christmas Eve and for Christmas! We also had Christmas Conference! The whole mission got together. We had lunch and watched a movie about Christ's birth. We read Luke 2 and President Mortensen talked to us about how we need to be like the shepherds. It was a great day! Hermana Kiser and I, along with three elders in our zone, sang The First Noel/ La Primera Navidad and it went pretty well. 

There is a slideshow on the mission blog at: CLICK HERE

We had a goal as a mission to have 600 convert baptisms this year, which is really high for our mission. We are going to end the year around 550 baptisms (which is still the second highest in the history of the mission.) We came to Christmas Conference a little sad that we hadn't met our goal. President talked to us about the story of Nephi in the Book of Mormon. Nephi thinks he has failed when he goes back to Jerusalem to get the plates. He tries offering his family's wealth to Laban, but Laban takes it and does not give him the plates. He does not obtain the plates in the way he thought he would, he gets the plates because he comes back to find Laban drunk and is able to kill him and put on his clothing. President pointed out to us that Laban was probably drunk because he was celebrating his new wealth. So far this year, 260 of those new converts have taken family names to the temple to perform proxy baptisms. On average each has taken 2.33 names. The new converts did 606 baptisms. 606 people on the other side of the veil have had the opportunity to accept those baptisms. President talked to us about how the work we do here leads to work we cannot see. Those new converts will share the restored gospel with their friends, they will raise their kids in the gospel, they will go on missions, and they will continue to go to the temple. The work will keep moving forward!

Christmas and Christmas Eve were great! We visited a lot of people who all gave us tamales! We had a combined sacrament meeting with both the English and Spanish wards, so that was interesting. It was mostly done in Spanish and there was a translator. People just sang the hymns in whatever language they wanted to.


I love you all and hope you had a merry Christmas and a happy new year! (I get to start off the new year by speaking in both the English and Spanish sacrament meetings)

Love,


Hermana Bettridge

Lots of pics this week!

1. My two companions from the mission, who were companions before I got here! (I got to see all my friends at Christmas Conference!)
2. Hermana Kiser and my friends from College Station!
3. Hermana Kiser and I! (Note the matching shoes!)
4. Hermana Sheirbon and I!
5. My old district! (I miss them a lot!)
6. How we really act!
7. Hermana Taylor, my MTC companion
8. Hna Andreasen, one of my MTC district friends!
9. Hermana Kiser and I found a cool house that made a dragon out of lights
10. The missionaries that meet in my building all jumping after church on Sunday because we got to skype our families!
11. The Sanchez family! One of my favorite families here! They invited us over on Christmas for brunch after church. 

🎄 Feliz Navidad🎄

🎄 Feliz Navidad🎄 

Hello!


No one got baptized this week, but it was still pretty good! ;)

We found some cool new people we are teaching.

Yesterday was even a little cold, and I had to wear a jacket!

(The day it snowed in Oklahoma this week it was in the 80s here!)






We are teaching a couple of different families. We found David, Rosa, and their five kids last week (the ones that came to church) and we started teaching them this week.

David is super familiar with the Bible and was excited to learn about the Book of Mormon.

(They have a daughter named Camora which sounds like the hill Cumorah.)

We also found the Salas family knocking. It is a mom and her four kids.

When we shared the First Vision with her she told us she felt a feeling she hadn't felt before and didn't want it to leave.

We committed her and three of the kids to prepare for baptism on January 21st.

There is this really awesome youth, Jackie, that just got baptized a few months ago.

She always comes out with us. Her dad, Jose, and brother, Juan, have been coming to church for a few weeks.

The dad told us he wants to be baptized, so we gave him a Book of Mormon on Sunday and are going to set the date with him this week.


Carol (our recent convert) is the best and comes to (English) lessons with us! We really love her, and her dedication to the gospel.

She sets aside two hours a day to read the Book of Mormon, has almost finished all of the talks from last conference,

and has started reading Daughters in my Kingdom and the Howard W Hunter book.

She really is a fourth floor, last door situation. We prayed at the beginning of last transfer where we should knock.

We felt like we should knock a street called Wellington, which is really long.

We spent like a week knocking, and Carol lives clear on the end.

We started her family history with her so she can go to the temple to be baptized for her ancestors.



Last P Day we went downtown. We went to the science museum and hung out at a park. (See pics above!)


I hope you all have a great Christmas and find ways to make your Christmas Christ centered! 

Check out Mormon.org for some great ideas.


I love you!

Love,

Hermana Bettridge

Hola

Hello!

Ivan got baptized! He told us he was so happy and that he felt the Holy Ghost

This week we ended up dropping everyone, but then it was okay because we found 12 new investigators who are all pretty solid! We met this one cool family on the sidewalk and just gave them an #ILUMINAelMUNDO card because they didn't act interested and then they randomly came to church and brought their four kids! We have a return appointment with them this week.

Us with Santa at the Ward Christmas party. 

Us with Albert at the Mexican, karaoke bar he took us to for dinner

I don't have a ton of time to write today because we are going to the museum with the elders for p day. But, he are some pictures from the week!


Also, here is a video of Hermana Kiser and I practicing for our sacrament meeting performance of "Silent Night." (The performance ended up being 10x better than the video! Which is especially impressive because I taught myself how to play the piano in one week.)

Love you!

Love,

Hermana Bettridge

Six months!!!

HOLA!

Hermana Kiser, Carol and me

Me, Hermana Kiser, Carol and the elder that performed the baptism

This was kind of a hard week for me, but some awesome things happened! The most exciting thing that happened was Carol's baptism! We are so excited she took that step to follow Christ! She was so happy! Also, I will HIT MY SIX MONTH MARK THIS WEEK! I can't believe I am 1/3 done!

This last week Hermana Kiser and I learned how to play the piano so there could be an accompanist at the baptism. It worked out because when Carol was nervous we said "It's okay! We are nervous too! We are playing the piano in public for the first time in our lives and we are nervous too but we're doing it because we love you!" So we played the piano and it wasn't that awful!

Our investigator, Ivan, will be getting baptized this Saturday. He is super excited! His grandma is an active member of the Spanish ward. He is ten and is so cute! A few weeks ago he told us he didn't know if the Book of Mormon was true, so we told him that he needed to pray and ask Heavenly Father. He said he wanted to do it now. He kneeled down and said "Heavenly Father, is the Book of Mormon true? In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." Then he sat in silence for like thirty seconds with his eyes closed and said "It IS true!" Super cute! Yesterday we taught him about missionary work and service and we talked about Ammon (who he thinks is the coolest for the arm chopping) and he asked if he could be a missionary like us one day. We told him "of course!" He said he hopes he gets called to Hawaii. Then I put my tag on him and we learned the song "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission." (See video below)

Natividad, unfortunately, did not get baptized on Saturday because she drank coffee. We are continuing to work with her and we know she can do it!

Houston Spanish North Zone!

We have been loving the #LIGHTtheWORLD initiative! I have loved focusing on serving others in a specific way every day like Christ would! I would encourage everyone to accept the challenge and go to mormon.org to find ideas to serve.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

#ILUMINAelMUNDO

Hola, amigos!

Hermana Kiser and I were both sick this week, so that wasn't fun, but we didn't let it stop us! We had a great week and a great Thanksgiving!

Albert and Carolyn at the grocery store

This week we were handing out cards (about Christmas!) in a Mexican grocery store parking lot and we ran into one of our recent coverts, Albert. We, half joking, asked him if he wanted to hand out cards with us. He handed out more cards than we did because he literally chased people down he was so excited. The next day he texted us and asked us what time we were going to hand out cards because he thought it was so fun! So, if you are in need of some fun this week, go street contacting with the missionaries!

Our awesome investigator, Carol, went to visit her daughter in Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. She lives in a town around three hours from where I live, but my parents drove up to meet her! They loved her and I am so happy they got to meet her. She is getting baptized on Saturday and we cannot wait!!!

Mom and Dad with Carol

One of my favorite parts of the week was black Friday! Not for the shopping, but because we got to help a member decorate her house for Christmas! It got me really in the Christmas spirit! (As if I wasn't already)

We ate Thanksgiving dinner with Ivan and his family

 

Yesterday we were asked to speak at a youth fireside about preparing to serve a mission. So, I gave a whole talk in Spanish and it went well! Everyone always asks us how we know Spanish and I always say "Dios nos ayuda!" (God helps us!) Honestly, that is the only reason I am able to communicate with people. I know that He really does qualify the called.

This week we started contacting using the Christmas initiative. We know Christ is the reason we celebrate Christmas, but what kind of things do you think Christ would want us to do to celebrate? Christ would want us to do what He did, He would want us to help others. We need to serve others and treat them with Christlike love. I would encourage everyone to watch the awesome video below about Christ's life and how we can make Christmas more about Him! (It's only three minutes long... 😉) Also on mormon.org is an advent calendar that gives service ideas for every day in December.

Here is an example of ideas for December 1st:

Thursday, December 1st

Jesus Lifted Others' Burdens and So Can You
Pray and ask Heavenly Father to make you more aware of those around you that need help carrying their burdens
Volunteer to help a friend move
Read Matthew 11: 28-30 and then discuss with others how the Savior can help us through life's most difficult challenges
Snowing outside? Lift up your shovel to clear an elderly neighbor's driveway
Share an experience on social media when prayer helped you carry a burden
Do you know a caregiver for an elderly or disabled adult? Take some time to visit the caregiver. Ask if there are any errands you can run for him or her.
Students: offer to carry someone's backpacks for him or her. Try and think of someone who could really use some kindness.

I am going to do these things every day and I will keep you updated on how we do :) I would encourage you all to follow the link and #LIGHTtheWORLD this Christmas!


I love you all!

Love,



Hermana Bettridge



Video Link:

https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world

Advent Link:

https://www.mormon.org/christmas/in-25-ways-over-25-days

Hermana Kiser's Birth Week

 

Hello !

Hermana Kiser and I partying at Zone Conference!

This was a fun week because it was Hermana Kiser's birth week! We are also excited because we found out last night that we will be staying together in H3 (the area of Houston we are in) for the next six weeks!

We had an amazing zone conference this week! President talked to us about the importance of commandments.

(More pictures from the mission presidents blog can be found by clicking HERE)

I hope everyone has an amazing dia del acción de gracias!

Love,



Hermana Bettridge

Us with Carol! She is getting baptized next week!

 Us with Natividad

Hermana Kiser and I at Zone Conference

Our district at Hermana Kiser's birthday party!

Us at the ward Thanksgiving party with Natividad's son (he wanted to keep the party hat on) (we accidentally broke the turkey table decoration)


Here are a few more pictures of Carolyn from another blog:

(More pictures from Carolyn's mission president's blog can be found by clicking HERE)

"God will make America great again." - A church sign

Hello!

This was an awesome week for us because we got to go to the temple! This week we also had a big service project and a Spanish fireside. This upcoming week will be awesome too because we have Zone Conference and we have the service project again. And it is Hermana Kiser's birthday tomorrow!

Hermana Kiser and I!

Hermana Sheirbon and I (My mom!) 🎉 

My district at the temple

The week started out with the service project. The Houston Health Department and Project Saving Smiles teamed up to provide dental care to at risk second graders. Hermana Kiser and I got to teach the kids about dental sealants and how to take care of their teeth before they saw the dentist. I was surprised by the number of kids who had just moved here and did not speak English yet. (Thankfully we speak Spanish! 😉) We are going back this week too!

Natividad and Carol are doing great and came to church this week! Natividad's kids loved primary. We also started teaching a nine year old named Ivan. His grandma is a member. He came to church on Sunday and loved primary! He is excited to get baptized.

We had a Spanish fireside which is the coolest thing ever! All of the Spanish missionaries in the mission get together (so I got to see all of my friends!) along with our investigators, recent converts, and whoever wants to come! Recent converts bear their testimonies and talk about their conversion and the missionaries all sing. It was so powerful! President Mortensen also spoke (he served a mission in Puerto Rico and he still speaks really well!) He talked about finding peace. I know that the peace we seek comes from having a relationship with our Heavenly Father. We are children of God and He loves us. He truly hears and answers our prayers.

My old district at the Spanish fireside

Que tengan una buena semana!

❤️ Hermana Bettridge

Five Months

We decorated pumpkins with Deysi's kids

Happy November!

It's crazy that I have been a missionary for five months now! I absolutely love it though and the time has gone by so fast!

Us with Destiny and her siblings. We made day of the dead cookies my family sent us

My favorite moment of the week happened while I was on an exchange. I was with another hermana and we went to teach Carol. She asked Carol how she met the missionaries. Carol said, "They came and knocked on my door. They found me!" It was so cute! It made the 100s of doors I've knocked with no success worth it! Carol is doing amazing! She finished 1 Nephi this week and loves the Book of Mormon! She also came to church for the first time on Sunday and loved it! She cannot wait for her baptism on December 3rd! She is also super excited to go to the temple and be baptized for her mom and grandma.


Destiny and Natividad are also doing awesome and are preparing for baptism. We are also still working with Deysi and her family. I would appreciate if you would keep Deysi in your prayers. We fasted with her this week that her husband's heart would be softened so that she and the kids can come to church and be baptized.


We are continuing to teach our investigators, build the wards here, find new people to teach, and teach English classes. And we jam out to Christmas songs in the car in between all of that. I really hope Hermana Kiser and I stay together next transfer because we both like Christmas more than the average person and want to spend it together.


Today we are going downtown to go to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, so that should be fun! This is going to be a great week because we get to go to the temple and we have zone conference! We are helping with a big service project over the next two weeks. We will be spending several days working with the Houston Health Department and Project Saving Smiles to provide at risk elementary school students with dental care. Hermana Kiser is a nursing student, so maybe we will get to do something cooler than everyone else too! :)



Have a great week!




Love,




Hermana Bettridge

Our zone! (Texas Houston North Spanish!) We talked about how we are all the pistons of the engine at zone meeting.

Dia de Halloween

Hola and Happy Halloween!

Today was fun because it was dia de preparación and Halloween! Our P-day lasted until 4 today, we proselyted from 4-7, and now we are in our apartments.

This was a crazy week! We taught 23 lessons! (Which is a lot for us!) This week we saw a miracle with a new investigator, Carol. We found her knocking last week and taught her the Restoration on Monday. She loved it! When we came back she had read 1 Nephi 1 six times! So, we set a date with her to be baptized December 3rd! She is super excited to get baptized! We are working with lots of other awesome people right now too!

We were also able to set a baptismal date with our investigator, Natividad! She came to church this week with her kids and they loved it!

I know I talk about temples a lot and many of my non Mormon friends do not understand, so I will explain one purpose of temples. 

We read in the New Testament in 1 Peter 3: 18-19 what Christ did during the three

days between his death and resurrection.

18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the

unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the

flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

We read in this scripture that Christ went and preached to those who did not have the opportunity to learn about Him and His gospel during their lifetime. Everyone will have the chance to learn about Him! But, we read in John 3:5 that baptism is the key to living with God again.

These people do not have bodies. They are dead and are in the world of spirits. They can not be baptized.

In 1 Corinthians 15:29 we read about what Christ's original church did for these people.

29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the

dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

They were performing baptisms for the dead. Christ's church has been restored on the Earth today, and the temple is where these baptisms are performed. In the temple we can be baptized in place of our ancestors that did not get the chance to learn about Christ. They then can accept or reject the baptism after they learn about Him. I am so grateful for the knowledge that those who have passed on without ever hearing about Jesus Christ can learn about Him and accept Him.

I hope you all have a great week and a fun Halloween!

Love,

Hermana Bettridge


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Hello! 

It is crazy to think I am a fourth done with my mission now! This was an awesome week!

This week we got to go to a fun wedding/baptism! We got fed some really good tamales! Here is us with our investigator, Destiny. She is going to be 

baptized in a few weeks.

We started the week by working with the Houston Food Bank to distribute food. They gave us this giant box of chocolate and cookies for helping, so we had fun handing it out to homeless people on the street

The two most beautiful things in Texas: Taco Bell and he Hermana Kiser

This awesome, old lady in our ward gave us these dresses! (Look back at the picture, I know I look bald)

We do not have a ton of investigators right now, so we are going to be finding a lot this week! We are super excited because we know Heavenly Father has prepared a lot of His children and we just have to find them! I love my mission!

I hope everyone has an awesome week! We all have hard things going on in our lives, but we have a Heavenly Father who loves us! We can always turn to Him, no matter what!

Love,

Hermana Bettridge