Summer is Here

Hola!

This week summer really got here; it was hot! Despite being out in the heat for several hours of the day, some great things happened!

First off, I guess I sent the wrong address last week? My real one is:

Hermana Carolyn Bettridge

15903 Yorktown Crossing Pkwy #1223

Houston, TX 77084

       

My mom sent us these glasses so we wore them in district meeting

In this area we teach free English classes at different schools. The parents of the kids in the district can go to the classes so they can better communicate with their kids' teachers. The school year ended, so we had a fun graduation party for them. They got diplomas and everything. I will send the pictures when I get them. One of our students, Imelda, is super cute and she spoke in front of everyone (in English!) about how much the class helped her. 

Also this week we got to go to the temple with Lesley! She is so amazing and was so happy to go! She got to do the baptisms for some of the names she found. Uvaldo (Yulieth's dad) got the priesthood yesterday! He was so happy! He will be able to baptize her this Saturday, and they are all so excited! I love serving in this ward, they are all so amazing and they do everything they can to help us out! Life is good 😊

But, the best thing that happened this week was that we had a fireside for the Spanish program! It was so good! Lesley spoke about her conversion. Albert from H3 also spoke and did a great job! I sang a song with Hermana Jones and Hermana Andreasen, and I got to see all of my friends and some people from the past wards I have served in. 

When we were at the fireside last night someone mentioned how before they met with missionaries they didn't understand why we need Christ or why He had to die. I think this is a common thought people have. The Atonement of Jesus Christ (when He suffered for our sins in Gethsemane, died on the cross, and was resurrected) is something I am still trying to understand; I don't think it is something anyone can really fully comprehend. 

Why we need a Savior

I know that before this life we lived with God as His spirit children. In His presence there was a limit to how much we could progress, so we had to leave for a time. (Just like how we can't stay in our parents' house forever! We eventually have to leave and go to school to learn and gain experience and eventually move out!) We also didn't have a physical body like Heavenly Father. So, Jesus Christ, under the direction of Heavenly Father, created the Earth. We read in the scriptures that He created the Earth in order to test us, to see if we would keep the commandments. (There is a lot in those statements. That is the purpose of the creation.) We can't see Heavenly Father or remember our pre earth life, so we have to walk by faith, this is part of the test! But, He has given us agency or "freewill," the freedom to choose if we're going to keep the commandments

This test of keeping the commandments began with our first parents on Earth, Adam and Eve. God placed them in the Garden of Eden and gave them two commandments: to multiply and replenish the earth (have kids), and to not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So, they had this commandment to have kids, but before they ate of the fruit they had no knowledge of good or evil, they were like babies! They were also immortal. In the Book of Mormon we gain additional insight about Adam and Eve in 2 Nephi 2 we learn what would have happened if they hadn't eaten of the fruit.

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

If they hadn't eaten of the fruit they would have remained in their immortal state. They would have never died.

23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

That is huge! They weren't able to have children until they partook of the fruit. They were our first parents. We came to earth by receiving a physical body from our earthly parents. If they hadn't eaten of the fruit we wouldn't have been able to come to earth. 

God knew this was going to happen. (He knows everything!) This was all part of His plan, but they needed to choose for themselves. 

24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

When they ate misery and suffering entered the world. But, because of this, we are able to experience joy! If there was no bad we wouldn't know the good. Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to experience happiness, for this, He allows us to go through trials and hard times. 

This was all part of His plan, but there is a problem. When they ate of the fruit two deaths entered the world: physical death and spiritual death. Physical death: we all die physically. (Before they ate of the fruit there was no death.) Spiritual death: we sin and separate ourselves from God. (In the Garden they were in the presence of God because they didn't have sin. When they ate of the fruit they had transgressed, they were expelled from the Garden because they couldn't be in His presence anymore.)

We read in the scriptures that no unclean thing can be in the presence of God. But, we are not perfect. We make mistakes every day. Even if I decided to be perfect from this moment on I am not able to erase the things I have done in the past. With sin I am unclean. I am unable to be in God's presence again. 

For this, we need Jesus Christ. This is why He is our Savior. He literally saved us from spiritual and physical death. This was all part of Heavenly Father's plan for us, He knew we would make mistakes, so Christ was chosen before the foundation of the world to be our Savior so that we could all return to Heavenly Father's presence. Christ overcame physical death for all of us. He died, but was resurrected three days later. Because of that, one day we will all resurrect too. We will die and be separated from our physical bodies for a time, but eventually we will get them back (in their perfect form!) Christ also atoned for our sins and saved us from spiritual death. Before His death on the cross He went to the Garden of Gethsemane. There He took upon Himself all of our sins. He lived a sinless life and was perfect. For this reason, He was the only one worthy to be our Savior. He suffered and payed for our sins. He bled from every pore. More than just our sins, He felt every pain, sadness, sickness, and trial we have ever felt and ever will in our lives. He did all of this so He could understand perfectly how to help each one of us. If we accept His sacrifice into our lives we don't have to suffer and pay for our sins. If we accept this sacrifice and apply the Atonement into our lives we can be saved from our sins. In Alma 7 we read some of my favorite verses about the Atonement. 

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

Words cannot describe the love I feel for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He lives today. I know that I am nothing without Him. I know that because of what He did I am able to feel peace and joy in my life, despite all of the mistakes I have made. Because of Him we have second chances, and all that is wrong can be made right. 

There is an awesome video here that talks more about why we need a Savior and what the world would be like if He hadn't come.

LINK TO VIDEO

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

Love,

Hermana Bettridge

Fotos: 

                                Us at the temple with Lesley and her friend, Lorie!

1. My friends and I at the temple!

1. More at the temple!

1. Us at a member's graduation party! (That is Hermana Alvarez in the back, she is one of the best members here!)

1. Hermana Black!

1. Us at church with Uvaldo's kids

 Hermana Kiser!

 The best!

 Hna Calderon! I literally cried when I saw her ❤️ 

1. Albert!

 

                                                                    Lesley!

Hermana Jones!

El Templo

Hola, hola!


The best part of this week was that we got to go to the temple! I love the temple so much! I can't wait until I get to go to the temple whenever I want. 😊 There was also a ward fiesta that was pretty fun! There was really good food (homemade tortillas!)

We did family history with Lesley and were able to find some names for her to take to the temple this Friday! I love Lesley so much! She loves choir, but she decided to skip her last choir banquet because it was on a Sunday and she wanted to keep the Sabbath Day holy. She is amazing!

Other than that, it was just pretty much us trying to find new investigators. We did A LOT of knocking and set up some return appointments, but it didn't really lead to anything. We did find a cool lady named Alejandra who is a former investigator. We went over to see if she had interest in learning again and we ended up talking for almost two hours, so she's cool.

This week I have been thinking a lot about how much I love the Book of Mormon! But, I know there are a lot of people who don't understand what the Book of Mormon is or why we even need it. The Bible was written by prophets and apostles who were living on the other side of the world (like in Jerusalem.) But, we know that God loves all of His children. At the same time the Bible was being written there were people living in other parts of the world. God sent prophets to these people, as well, to teach them about Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon, like the Bible, was written by prophets and apostles who were living around the same time. The difference is that it was written by prophets that were living on the American continent. They wrote their experiences on plates, and the prophet Joseph Smith was led by an angel to find them and was able to translate them by the power of God.

The Book of Mormon doesn't replace the Bible, but by reading it we can learn more of what prophets taught about Christ! Reading the Book of Mormon has brought me so much closer to Christ, and I have learned so much more about His life.

I would love to send a copy of the Book of Mormon to anyone who would like one! Just send me your address.

I love you all! Have a great week!


Love,




Hermana Bettridge




Fotos:

The Temple

We got to hold these newborn puppies! (They will be gross pit bulls one day, but they're cute for now)

Our district. We took a "texas" picture.

Bear Creek Here I Am!

Hola, hola!

Lesley's baptism and my new companion!

Well, this week has been a little crazy because after 7.5 months of serving right next to downtown I am now serving in the suburbs! I am serving in the Bear Creek 2nd Ward. It covers part of Katy, Texas and the part of Houston that is right next to Katy. It is a Spanish ward, and I am not covering an English ward anymore. So, if we find investigators that don't speak Spanish we have to pass them off to the English missionaries. But, I really like the ward here! Everyone is super nice and wants to feed us! It is a nicer area, so it's a little harder to find Spanish speakers who are interested in learning more. But, it's fun! I haven't had a white person slam the door in my face in awhile.


If anyone would like to send me letters I would love it! My new address is:

Hermana Carolyn Bettridge
1590 Yorktown Crossing Pkwy #1223
Houston, TX 77084

My companion is Hermana Twitchell. She is from Cedar City, and we actually both went to SUU fall semester 2015. (But we didn't know each other.) But we are both going back to SUU after our missions. She will be going home in 11 weeks, so we might be staying together until she leaves. 

Before I left H3 Sister Fraga took us to dinner! (I love her!)

We actually had a baptism on Saturday! The hermanas had been teaching Lesley for about a month. She is so amazing! She is a senior in high school. She doesn't really have support from her family, but she has friends in the church that helped introduce her to the gospel. She has such a strong testimony and is just awesome! I am excited to teach her the new member lessons. She graduates from high school next Friday, but it's Faith Meets Families that night (when the new converts in the mission go to the temple to do baptisms for the first time together.) She said "I want to go to the temple! I graduate in the morning, so it's fine!" 

We don't have a ton of other investigators right now, so we are finding a lot! We are teaching a cute ten year old named Yulieth! (Like Juliet) Her dad is an inactive member. We are helping him prepare to get the priesthood so he can baptize Yulieth and her eight year old sister in a few weeks. I like that the majority of my mission has been spent teaching kids! 😊
Church was good yesterday! I was asked to bear my testimony on the Book of Mormon in sacrament meeting. Lesley was confirmed, and Yulieth and her family came! The best part of yesterday was skyping home! I was so excited to get to talk to my family (including my mission mom, Hermana Sheirbon!!!) It was weird to think the next time I talk with my family will be at the airport when I go home.

This week I was reading in Jesus the Christ about Christ fasting for 40 days. At the end of His fast Satan tempts him. He tells him "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." I really like what Talmage said about this experience. "Hungry as Jesus was, there was a temptation in Satan’s words even greater than that embodied in the suggestion that He provide food for His famishing body--the temptation to put to proof the possible doubt implied in the tempter’s “If.” The Eternal Father had proclaimed Jesus as His Son; the devil tried to make the Son doubt that divine relationship. Why not prove the Father’s interest in His Son at this moment of dire necessity?"

Satan is sneaky! I know this is one way he tries to trap us. He tries to make us forget who we are. We are children of God! He loves us! He allows us to be tempted and go through hard things because He loves us and wants us to grow. In Romans 8:16 we learn: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God"

So, never forget that! Satan will always try to make us forget who we are. He wants us to think less of ourselves. But, we are children of a God who loves us and will never forget us. Because He knows Satan is sneaky He has given us so many things to help us, one of which is prayer. We can always talk to Him and He will answer.

I hope everyone has an amazing week! I am going back to H3 on Saturday for Lyvan's baptism so I am super excited!




Con amor,




Hermana Bettridge




Fotos:

Albert took us to a second dinner that night. 

Hermana Twitchell and I with a cat we found while knocking (We both love cats)

Us with a member's cat (It was a week of orange cats)

Skyping my family! (Including my mission mom, of course!)

Ya me voy (I'm Leaving)

Hola a todos!

Us with some love graffiti 

Well, we got the news and I am finally leaving H3! I have mixed emotions; I am sad to be leaving everyone I have come to love, but I am excited to go have new adventures somewhere else. I have been here for seven and a half months, which is a really long time! Almost half my mission. I will miss Hermana Black most of all! She is the best, and I know she is going to continue to see miracles with her new companion! :) I won't know where I am going until I get to transfer meeting tomorrow, but I will either be going to another part of Houston, back to College Station, or to Conroe. We will see!

We have seen a lot of miracles this past week. Lyvan is excited to get baptized in two weeks. Yesterday he fasted without us having to remind him. And he went until 8pm and did a full 24 hours! I will be coming back for his baptism. We have continued to find cool people who seem like they are ready to progress, so that's super exciting!

We also had a super fun ward party that was for Mother's Day/ Cinco de Mayo. The men pretended that they made the food for the women, but we went outside and there was a taco truck. Abril came! (My old investigator!) And we started teaching her again.

Yesterday in Relief Society the lesson was on the need of a Savior. The teacher had us bear our testimonies at the end about the Savior, and it was really powerful. I am SO GRATEFUL I know about Jesus Christ and what He did for me. We talk with a lot of people everyday who don't believe in Him, or who believe in Him but don't understand the importance of the Atonement. I would invite you all to watch the video below and think more about Jesus Christ this week and what He did for you!

Alma 7:11-13 (from the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ)

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.
Love,



Hermana Bettridge

http://www.mormon.org/becauseofhim


Fotos:

District meeting! We went out by the "Melbourne" sign and stood in our age in the mission order. We tried to do the evolution thing. (Hna Black went to the MTC a day before me because she went to Mexico.)

Karen's kids and I! They are super sweet!! I hope she gets baptized so they can grow up in the gospel. 

I said goodbye to Jocelyn at our lesson on Friday. I am going to miss all of these adorable kids!

Elizabeth on Sunday. She is the sweetest too!

My pit bull friend from the street. 

I ate my last torta with Hna Nunez. She feeds them to us every single Sunday!

Una semana mas

Hola!

This was a great week! We met some cool new people that have interest, and the weather is not too miserable yet. We went to the zoo today, so that took up most of p day. Unfortunately I do not have a ton of time to write today. 

One crazy thing did happen, Lyvan came back! Lyvan was our old investigator who was SO SOLID and then got a job far away and had to move. The job ended up not working out, so he came back. We are working with him, and he will hopefully get baptized in the next couple of weeks.


We are continuing to work with our other investigators, but they are sadly not coming to church or reading! We will continue to look for new people to teach this week.



We had Zone Conference this week, and it was AMAZING!!! We love President, and I am super sad he is leaving soon. He is super inspired! He had us make these long lists, like every former investigator that has ever come to church, part member families in the ward etc. He told us to work through these lists to find people who are prepared. We have been, and amazing things have been happening! This last week we were visiting less active families that haven't been to church in awhile and we found around twenty people at one house who are family members of someone who got baptized several years ago. Several wanted to listen to us share a message, and so we are excited to go back and talk to them more this week.

District Meeting

I don't have a lot more time, but I know this truly is the Lord's work! That's why I am so happy to be here! I know as I trust in Him even more we will see more miracles!

Love,



Hermana Bettridge




Fotos:

Zone conference! I got to see Hermana Calderon!

Hermana Black and I

A goat at the zoo

Hermana Black and I with the lionesses #Queens

Us by the fountain at the zoo

Weird sculpture