Hola, hola!
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| It was really rainy this week. Rain in Houston means flooding. So, here was a kind of miserable day when we had to walk around in several inches of rain that covered my shoes. #ThankGoodnessForCrocFlats |
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| Me when I opened my call last year! I look like a baby (and am way skinner! #thanksmission) And I had no idea what was coming. 😊 |
This week marked one year from when I opened my mission call and found out I was going to Houston! I can't believe how much has happened in the past year! I know I was assigned here for a reason, and my mission has allowed me to have experiences and meet people that truly have changed my life. This next week will mark 20 years of me being on Earth 😉 My birthday is this Sunday!
If you want to mail me a card or something I would love it!
My address is:
404 Oxford St #2206
Houston, TX 77007
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| We started out the week by dyeing eggs for P day last week. The elders didn't think that sounded fun (being the only sisters in the district is sometimes the worst!) But we convinced them it would be fun, and it was! (Mine are the sparkly ones) |
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| Then we built a nest out of sticks, put the eggs in there, and took a cute pic featuring our feet. #CheetahPowerIsStillThere |
This weekend was supposed to be the baptism of Lyvan! (The most golden investigator!) But, something crazy happened! We went over Wednesday night to go over the final details for his baptism. He told us he had some bad news, he had found work several hours away in Snyder, Texas and would be moving the next day. What??? Yeah. So, we immediately got into contact with the missionaries there. I started panicking because we found out how small the town really is! The missionaries are English speaking, and there is only an English branch with around twenty people, all who do not speak Spanish. Lyvan only knows how to say a few things in English. So I was panicking and didn't know how he would stay strong.
It still isn't looking that great for him, but it turns out one of the missionaries there was actually assigned Spanish speaking! He just hasn't taught anyone in Spanish for six months. But, I know everything will be okay!
This weekend was Stake Conference. They added a new stake, so Elder Hayman of the Quorum of the Seventy came. (The word "stake" comes from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah. (See Isaiah 33:20, 54:2) He prophesied the Church in the last days would be like a tent, held secure by stakes. A stake is a geographic area and is made up of several congregations. As the Church continues to grow, more smaller congregations (wards and branches) form, so there is a need for more stakes.) We got to hear from Elder Hayman, as well as from President and Sister Mortensen. It was really good, and I learned a lot of things!
Elder Hayman told us a story that came from one of his missionaries when he was a mission president. When the missionary was younger he would go to his grandma's house every day after school. They would watch a telenovela together in her room, then she would send him out of the room and close the door. He always wondered what she was doing alone in her room, and so one day he opened the door. He saw her sitting alone in her chair with the scriptures open on her lap. He asked her what she was doing, and she said she was studying the scriptures. He said, "but grandma, you can't read." She told him that she couldn't read, but the prophet had asked them to study the scriptures for thirty minutes a day. So, she would sit there with her scriptures open and think about the scriptures for thirty minutes a day, and the Holy Ghost would teach her.
He thanked all of the Spanish speakers in the room for showing their faith and coming to the conference. The conference was in English, so those who didn't speak English had to sit and listen with headphones. Someone sat to the side of the room and translated the entire conference. He said he knows translations aren't the best, and that it can be hard to sit there like that for so many hours. But, they would be blessed for their obedience. I feel so blessed to work with the Spanish wards here. I get to spend so much time with so many awesome, faithful people.
He also talked about how missionaries go out and teach people. They grow their faith by doing things like reading the scriptures and going to church. They learn more about the Savior, and they realize things in their life are not in line with what He taught, so they change (repent.) Eventually, they are baptized and receive forgiveness for their sins only after they are baptized. But, repentance proceeds baptism and forgiveness. He said we need to apply this principle to ourselves. He said we can't fool ourselves into thinking we are in good standing with the Lord if we are not partaking of the sacrament weekly. We need to be growing our faith and changing (repenting) daily. As we do this, we receive forgiveness when we partake of the sacrament and renew our baptismal covenant (along with other covenants) weekly. The sacrament exists because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is the only way, and has given us the way to be clean of our sins and to be able to live with the Father again.
On my mission I have come to realize how important the sacrament truly is. Before my mission I went to church weekly to partake of the sacrament. I even did it because I knew I was renewing my baptismal covenant by doing so. But, throughout my mission the sacrament has come to mean so much more to me. Words can't even describe how much I have come to realize how sacred the sacrament really is.
I love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Bettridge
Fotos:
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| We wanted cute Easter pics, so we took this picture of us (cute) in front of this trash pile by the sidewalk so we can always remember what our area was like |
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| We woke up on Easter and I said "I want to take a picture with some bunnies." We went to our ward mission leader's house for dinner, HE HAD GOTTEN TWO RABBITS THE DAY BEFORE FOR HIS GRANDKIDS TO HAVE AN EASTER ACTIVITY! So we were pretty excited! I look really tired in this picture because that is what I look like now. |
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District meeting |
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