Monday, March 31, 2014

Joseph Smith and the True Gospel

Dearest Queridas;
first of all CONGRATS KENZIE HUEY!!!!!!!!!! california baby! watch out! youre gonna knock em dead! then we can all speak spanish together when we are all home! we can have a latino party! and make all kinds of latino foods and music and speak spanish! heheheh i cant wait to read about your stories adn adventures. its gonna be amazing! 
i served one change in Arcadia california. its hard! but you will find Gods chosen. i know you will.
 
this week:
taught with fellow members, our recent convert Joan to bless the sacrament. it was so sweet! i felt like THIS my friends is the WORK OF SALVATION! 
also, this week, we "rescued" another guy, Gustavo, who is same age as Joan and HE is now worthy to bless the sacrament. AWESOME! so we have a recent convert and a menos activo who is now ACIVO side by side blessing teh sacrametn. SALVATION IS SO SWEET!  i love my job. 
ok sometims i hate it but those moments make it ALLLLL  WORTH IT! 
 
Joan and Jorje. Priesthood rules!

 
last monday i, made my life a little more interesting. and dyed my hair....
im not a little more blonde. sorry. didnt ask anyone for permission. just after a while of the same stuff, you gotta experiment a little. ok i honestly dont know what i was thinking. ill attach a picture. please, lie to me and tell me you like it. . . . . even if you dont. its ok. 



jorge had his interview FINALLYt his week. after 7 MONTHS of teaching ( a perk for being in the same area your whole mission) he FINALLY HAD HIS INTERVIEW to be baptised. well.....
he didnt pass. AH! does that mean im a bad missionary? no. stop listening to the bad voices sis. gonzales. it jsut means you are doing TRUE conversion. 
i guess a year ago he participated in  an abortion. 
BUT ITS OK! he is TRULY repentant. he said to us "i want to make a personal covenant with god before my baptism covenant". yes we talked a lot about covenants. HE IS SO AWESOMNE! 
and now he is on track for the saturday after conference. the 12 de Abril. WOOOOOW! 
and speaking of conference IM SO STOKED!!!! 
time goes by so fast. i swear i was just listening to conferenc. what happened? think.... by the next one, ill hav a month before i go home! 
NOOOOOOO!!!! MY MISSION!!!!!! where is it going???? i stil llhave so much work to do! why????? 
 
ok ill be honest, somedays i just want to get hit by a bus and sent home in honor, and some days i NEVER EVER EVER want to go home. 
thats the mission tho right. 

last week, my awesome BF asked me something interesting about jose smith. 
my blessing says my love for him and the book of mormom will grow alot on my mission. how has that happened in the last 10 months, and is it ture? well, it IS true. id love to share my feelings about him. here is what i responeded to Mike that i would love to share with my dearest friends and family as well: 

let me express to you more of what i have learned about this influential, chosen, worthy man called of God. 
 
At first, at the beginning of my mission, i felt a little scared to share this story,because not many people will accept that we believe in profetas, angels, visions, and visitations from heaven. thats old biblical stuff. so i was scared to open my mouth. 
 
well. that has changed. now i know , THAT IS EXACTLY what makes us different. EXACTLY why and HOW we know that this truly is gods only true church! 
i read a bit of his biogrophy. he was not only a holy man, but he "gained favor in the eyes of man". he was a leader. a born leader! he didnt only get along with church people, but he was highly respected by many! he ran for PRESIDENT! didnt know that one before. 
 
and he was given such gifts and talents that he was well qualified , or god qualified him, to be a profeta. 
 
i remember a few distict moments where the spirit confirmed stronger than ever that he truly is the greatest man that lived next to our savior. 
 
when i was in the MTC, we watched His movie. and at the end, when he dies, he seals his testimony with  his blood,  i remember just beign so overwhelmed with the strongest spirit that if it werent for him,.  i would not be who i am or where i am today. going to peru with a promise of bringing joy to others. i wouldnt have the promised blessings from the temple. and that is what hit me the most. i had such a profound deep wonderful spiritual experience in the temple. when i went through the first time and every time after that. the feelings there are so real and so strong, it alone is a testimony that joseph smith was TRULY called of God. "by their fruits you will know them". 
 
i remember, when we went to the salt lake temple. in the cealing room where we were sitting, the window was  an image of joseph smith and the first vision. when i was in teh mtc that moment with you came back to mind. and i thought, why would the pioneers take so much time to make such a complex window of joseph smith and put it in a CEALING room....? that again is when it hit m,e, because of him, and the restored gospal of christ, YOU AND I  and our family and my family can be to gether FOREVER! if joseph smith was not called of god, we would not have those promised blessings to" have ALL that the father hath."
 
and now i am reading the book of mormon. and this time, is different than any other time i have read this amazing book. and it truly truly is, a fruit of joseph smith. 
 
and that, my dear, is how i KNOW that we are the truth. 
 
i feel like my testimony of him is still growing. everytime i testify of him and recite the first vision in spanish, my bravery to share grows. i dont feel like a crazy mormon any more. i feel like it is SO important for people to understand! 
 
so i am growing spirituall. mentally. physically. and god is shaping me. 
what a blessing. i am so so blessed
hurrah for israel. 

love
Hermana Gonzales 
 
My latest toys. My ukulele and my libro de Mormon.
 
 

Monday, March 24, 2014

Triple Baptisms!

Queridas Amistades,

just another happy week in the forest( el bosque means forest)
we had another baptism this week. idk what happened? its like all of a sudden the heavens opened up and God said "let there be baptisms!" and BOOM! three in a row! so angie is now an official member of the church along with her uncle martin. my cute midget friend. 
 
 



}next week, JORGE! he finally accepted a date°!!!!! after 6 months my friends! jprge has been recieving charlas for 6 months!!!! and this saturday is his baptism! AHHH! at last! and i know heavenly father is so pleased. i know IM  pleased... just imagine the heavens! 
Joan, who was baptised last week recieved the priesthood sunday and next week will be blessing the sacrament. AWESOME! this is salvation my friends. and it is SO SWEET! happy sister Gonzales.
 
but we know there is always oposition. i love my companion more and more every day. this morning i held her while she cried and expressed some deep feelings with me. turns out, she is carrying around some MORE baggage. its a fight every day for her to be happy. she told me how when she was 6 years old her grandfather molested her. and this last year he died. and she is sad. i know that this companionship is inspired. and i cried with her. i love her so much. 

 
this week, hna oldroyd, went home. last week i spent time in th clinic with her. turns out the docs here dont know what sh has. kidn of like hna downs. and she went home. WHY ARE ALL MY FRIENDS LEAVING ME! 
sometimes i wonder if ill get sick..... but i think again, no. beacuse heavenly father knows that if i went home, i would get married. i think we all know that. and the chances ofme coming back would be slim....so.... i know im pretty protected from sickness. adn i know i have a lot of peopole praying for my health. liek my mother. i know she prays for taht. i have the best support. 

in other news, i baught an UKULELE of my very own this week! and played it at the baptism. its so pretty and its my very own. and i LOVE IT! grandma robson, you will be proud. we will jam next oregon coast trip. so stoked! however all the songs are in spanish so.... ill try and learn new ones. 

OH YA! funny story, this week, durring a lesson we got a call for the office., the elder said on the other line
hermans, hna rejala needs to be in teh office in 45 inuts. she is going to lima and her plane will be leaving..." yes DURRING THE LESSON! 
so we said the last prayer adn hit the ground running. . . it was a MIRACLE we got ther ein time. but then i was left a lone. with out a comp. so 3 office elders were my "comp" until i found  a new one. and thank heavens i found one. Cintia. BABE! she is preparing for her mission and she helped jorge A TON feel good about his baptism THANK YOU CITNIA!!! 


well thats the latest. im still developing my spiritual eyes. learning to see challenges and joys in a spiritual point of view. the church is true. and heavenly fathers hand is in ALL things. he hears ALL prayers and answers every single one. but in HIS time. thats for sur.e 


les amo muchisimo
con amor
hna Gonzales 

Monday, March 17, 2014

I'm a Survivor!

Queridas Amistades,
 
thats right! i survived this week! and its the first time, in a long time, i really feel like Heavenly father is proud of my work. that i have fully accomplished what i have come here to do. it wasnt done perfectly, yes i still wish i could change things, but something ive learned is that through christ, i am perfected. and thank heavens for that! my work has been pleasing in the sight of my father in heaven. maybe, to my leaders, our numbers werent amazing, but i still feel like i was a good and faithful servent this week. 
 
monday, and tuesday, in the clinica con han oldroyd. and we laughed to gether as we watched the adorable video made by my siblings. Emperor cuzco meets the missionaries. she got a kick out of that. as did i. thank you kiddos for making us feel better. laughter is the BEST medicine. 
 
spent monday (after cleaning up the flood in our apartment) and tuesday in the clinic with this beautiful sister. Sister Oldroyd from Utah. she is amazing and strong and we are now GREAT friends. 
hang in there sister. loveyou!

 
Friday, we had our Noche De Hogar in El Parque Grande! AL FIN!!!! a big, public FHE. we had over 60 people there in the park. we watched a cake eating contest, and talked about traditions, thank you mom for always having funny traditions at our house. came in handy here in peru. we watched a typical Trujillano dance. called Marinera done by hermana Lenni. a young sister preparing for a mission. it was AWESOME! i want ten! you tube it. its freakin sweet! and any excuse to wear a big fan skirt is a good excuse. and i played the guitar. did a rendition of there is sunshine in my soul and sang. and people recorded it. so maybe its on youtube somewhere. good luck finding it. and the member who was supposed to do the second number didnt show. grrr so i did a second with my companion. then we watched a mormon message about the moments most importante in ou lives and the another about temples! cause um 
hello we are building one on teh beach! and its AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL! after the video president talked and sang and played the guitar too. adn i sang with him. and it was awesome. then, like every FHE we had a refreshment. popcorn and Chichamorada. a delicious purple drink that i WILL learn how to make. MMMM!  and we had great contacts, aND GREAT referencias for the other areas. yes we had members from 4 different wards. we went real big baby!
we go big, or we go home. and its too late to go home.... so we HAVE to go big. and we did! and it was AWESOME! after so much opposition. ah! i feel good. 
then saturday, (so awesome!) we went to the stake releif society celebration. where each ward had to present their own written song. and since we were out of our area, we went FIRST so we could go back to el bosque and prosolite. and my ward NAILED IT! our reliefe society is more unified today, than they were yesterday, and i know heavenly father is happy. we sang, and i played guitar. and women recorded on their phones. i felt like a mormon taylor swift mixed with kapp perry. so sweet. i wish i could have heard the other songs, b ut maybe it was better that i didnt. cause i heard, the other wards didnt do so hot..... they  read lyrics or changed workds to already existing songs. we were the only ORIGIONAL! coool..... and those who now me, KNOW i cant write songs..... thats the talent of hermana downs. i think she would be proud of me. :) 


then later, that night, we had a baptism, hermano Joan. (pronounced yo-han). thank you for your prayers. it was a very spiritula night. and his family, who are not members and they came to church too to see his confimation! (btw we had 10 investigators in church yesterday. MIRACLE!) THE service was amazing. we combined with the neighboring ward. so we had a total of 3 baptisms. a mother and daughter and joan. and we had cake at the end and joan gave the sweetest testimony. wow , its moments like that that make it allll worth it. and he participates sooo welll in sunday school. i hope he serves a mission. 
hes just so strong! so awesome!!! OH and he plays pro soccer. but not on sundays. ATTA BOY! sometimes i feel like a proud mommy. . . its such a good feeling.
 
Joan and the singles ward (JAS). on the left, second dude over is Jorge.... he will be baptised on the 29. he has been investigating for over 6 months. he has come  A LONG WAY! and FINALLY we are getting close to baptism. keep him in your prayers. 
 
any ways. 
 
shout out to to the grove creek 7th ward primary! thanks for the valentines cards! SO ADORABLE! melted my heart. and i feel so so loved!
shout out to aunt bobbi and her stories of bravery in book club. way to go Tia! youre an awesome missionary! 
and hermana Joan Newman from good ol Texas. hang in there! your testimony may be stronger than you body, but thats waht matters right? thank you forthe words of encouragement and the scriptures. the DC scripture made me cry. 
everyone!
sometimes we just need to be Still and Know that He is God. and we are all in his hands. ITS SO TRUE! 
we are so blessed. i dont know how i survived this week, oh wait. yes i do. i survived cause my savior saved me from myself. and he carried me though. 
what blessings!
i love you all. thank you for your prayers. keep it up. God is answering!!!! and he answers because he listens. and that is the good news of the GOspal. 
con amor
Hermana Gonzales
and ps }yes that is a giant peruvian beetle. grosssss 
 
 

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Cambios!

yup! this week was cambios (transfers) and ask me if im going to a new area? NOPE! still in good ol El Bosque. by the way, for those of you who dont know, el bosque means "the jungle". but its not really a jungle,. there are a lot of trees, a lot of bugs. a lot of dogs, and cats, and birds, and flowers, but no pumas or jaguayers. sorry. there are dogs that LOOK like lions if that counts.... well still here. its the best.
AND our hna asignada (sister training leader) got transferred..... and so we are with out an hermana lider. i didnt get a call from the office, but my zone leader said that IM IT until we get one. the new sister coming in only has 5 months on her mission. so...... im it. training, and leading until something happens. AHHHH! kinda like the unofficial official.... what ever right? ill go and do.
 
well, this week, we had a baptism.... WOOOOOO ONE MORE ALMA! (alma = soul) hot dang. remember hno martin with our FHE in the dark? my friend in his wheel chair? well you bet he is a spiritual giant and NOTHING slows him down! this week was his baptism and confimasion. and in sunday he showed up in his white shirt and tie and his book of mormon. next week he will recieve the priesthood! yess!!!! it took the whole bishopric to baptise him, yes, three men in the font. it was beatiful. his niece will be baptised in two weeks. we alredy have permission. her name is angie. pray for her.
 
 
 
 
this week, my comp got her pinkey smashed in th taxi door. we let it sweel up for two days, and finally, she couldnt take it any more. poor thing. seriously it was twice as big as her normal pinkey! and it was BLACK! like black black! like the night sky B.L.A.C.K! and she couldnt sleep. makes sense. well. hna paiva came over and we did what any other sister missionaries would do. we set up an opporasion table on a chair, with lots of rubbing alcohol, and we went to work. we POPPED that bad boy!!!  oporasion on finger time. Blood went everywhere, puss, the nail almost came off... the whole nine yards. it was GROSS! and my daughter was so brave. we had to heat up a sewing kneedle and poke through her finger nail in 3 places to get all the gunk out. it looked really painful. but she felt better after. and now she is healing well. bless her heart.
 
 
 
 
 
so in the middle of the baptism, the relief society president turned to me and asked me if i would WRITE a song for the relief society..... i asked her for when? she said, tuesday! (AHH!!) i asked her, what is the occasion, she said each ward will be presenting a song. and before i knew, it i was saying, "si, si por supuesto!" AH! TAKE IT BACK TAKE IT BACK.... nope there they go.. the words right out of my mouth! so.... i cant really write songs... in english LET A LONE! but now i am currently writing a song on the guitar for our ward, in spanish.... pray for me....so far its pretty good. :)
 
apartmeng problems. today, durring studies, we were quietly inturrupted by a streem of water coming from under the door. turns out, the owner, who wasnt there, her washing machine flooded her whole apartment and came into OURS! ahhhhh!!! she didnt answer her phone, so we called the leders, and spent the mornnig of p day sweeping water into drains.... woow! also, we have a rat. rat killing time. its in the kitchen of the owner Luci, so after planning, we respond to our screeming dueƱa and help her rat hunt. havent found it yet. still wondering if it really exists. but hey, called to serve right?
 
 FHE in parque grande.. after LOTS OF OPPOSITION! we ARE having our FHE in the park dang it! and it WILL BE this friday! and yes 4 wards WILL be there wheather they like it or not! ah! met with the stake preident this week, and th ward counsils of eachward and got permission from the park owner. done and done. el bosue and 3 other ares WILL KNOW about the traditions of our fathers. our traditions of family night. and THEY WILL BE BAPTISED!!!! whew! pray pray pray! they only thing we dont have..... is chairs..... and we cant take them out of the church....
 
in the midst of all this. sometimes i just need to stand back adn know that "all flesh is in his hands" and i need to "be still adn know that he is god" and i have power and strength beyond my own., i just pray that heavenly father notices my sacrifices and will bless my area accordingly.
 
please pray for Joan and ana and her two kids. joan is an 18 year old who SHOULD AND WILL be baptised this weekend. but doenst feel ready. (he is more ready tahn he thiks) and ana, is moving away from her abuseive husband to start over with her two kids. we can baptise her and her son. bless her heart, she is under a lot of pressure. pray for them. thank you for your prayers. THEY ARE TRULY FELT!
 
 
i love you all. i miss you . but i dont. i am lost in my own little world. its crazy here.
oh ya. and mom. remember that skirt you got me from mexico? well,..... ana wore it to church the last two weeks and...... i dont know if im getting it back. sorry.....
love you all.
the church is STILL TURE! truer than true. and we are SOOOO BLESSED! even though, at times it is hard to see.
 
love you all
con mucho amor
hna gonzales (con s)

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Missionaries Need Your Support

Dearest Family and friends
first of all i need to repent
im sorry for not sending a letter last week. ONE OUR WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH! 
sometimes i wonder if i had done internet time in school like i do on my mission, i would be smarter..... oh well. 
 
well.... andi didnt get baptized. sorry to let you all down. it isnt his time. but its ok. i planted a really deep seed..... one day he will be baptised. even if it means he dies and i do his temple work.... 

my comp went to lima last week, so i was with out a companion, so i had to find members to accompnay. to explain one of the pix, i had 3 different companions in one day! it was like shifts. and it was an awesome opportunity to share the work of salvation and help them catch the vision !!!  so that was afun day, 
 
 
 
this weeked was stake conference and we had a general authority come. a 70 de area. well, of course, cause there is opposition in all things. yes ALL! i got a call from the office elders asking if we could host some sisters who were traveling from afar, stay the night in our room. but we didnt have matresses. so what was i doing durring stake conference? finding matresses..... come on. seriously?? the elderes couldnt find them? no. so i was in and out of the meeting answering calls from the elders.... how embarrassing. well, we find them. and understandingly, the hermanas who stayed with us were cranky from a long day of traveling and dentist appointments. so we gave them our beds, i shared an air matress with my comp, we planned int he bathroom so they could sleep, and tried to remember what the general authority taught to be a more patient missionary. hah. so fun. i dont know why they didnt call the hermana asignadas to host them.... but hey. another opportunity to serve, i will never turn down. 
 
this week, i called out our whole ward council for not supporting us in a fhe in the park. i had presented this idea 6 weeks ago.... and no support. so i presented it to the missionaires in the surrounding areas adn the ward missionaries, and they were all on board. so we got it all planned out and when i presented it to the ward council again, in writing, i think they panicced a little. like they felt like it was out of their hands. when really, they never put their hands IN! i, (with the spirit) said, I KNOW we are lacking details. for that very reason we brought it to YOU to help us think of it all. we cannot do this work alone. this is the PURPOSE of ward councils. yes we SHOULD postpone it another week so that we can do it, and do it well WITH ALL PARTICIPATION. 
i kept saying to myself (dont cry dont cry be a tough girl. be tough) didnt cry. but you bet when i got home i had a good pillow fight with my comp. hahah very theraputic. i would recommend it to everyone.....
 
we will be having a baptism this saturday, for martin. my little friend in his wheel chair if you remember the pic from a few weeks past. he is SO AWESOME! and the next week, will be his neice. and im praying, when the rest of the family sees these baptisms, they will be inspired to actually listen to us and put off excuses. 
for more strength, of you could pray for wendi, a teenage girl who needs permission from her dad to be baptised. 
and for joan. 19 year old who has the air of a latterday saint already. he is awesome! 

ok the other pic, as you can see, i got about 62 but bites. and of course, the next day, got an AWESOME package from my family for dia de amistatd (v day) complete with wonderful bug spray. ...... a little late. but the itch  cream came in VERY handy! lets just say, ill be rolling home, with scarred legs. sorry mike. its a good thing your love is UNCONDITIONAL and more than skin deep..... lol 
 
 

shout out to Bro Buchet, the best seminary teacher in the world! (hope he reads my blog) cause i got an awesome letter from him this week. YOU ARE THE MAN!!! 
all is well. we are going in faith. we are working hard, searching hard, planning activities como locos, being humbled every day. (read a talk this week on pride. i have A LOT  to repent of) and..... losing myself in the work. 
sometimes i dont know what write about. its like normal life now. sometimes i cant imagine what i will do for teh rest of my life. i feel like THIS is my life calling and nothing else..... o how i wish i could do just this the rest of mylife. i want the whole world to read the bom. i want them all to read alma 31 this is the prayer of a typical missionary. my prayers. it touched my heart. i love the work i love my savior. i love jose smith. i love EVERYTHING! yes its dang hard. but i absolutely LOVE IT! I AM SO INCREDIBLY BLESSED!!! 

keep supporting the missionaries. we cant do it alone. we arent supposed to. thanks for you love and prayers. 
con amor

hna gonzales 
xcoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo