"Raising children ain't for sissies."

    Last Monday we were out in our area and we went to go visit a less active member in our branch. She has lots of dogs, three small dogs, Chihuahuas, like every other person in California. They are always jumping on and off the couches and like to be pet. So there was one sitting right between Sister Stephens and I and I started to pet it..... I look down at it and what do I see. FLEE'S! I had a mental freak out. I quickly inspected my hand to see if any were on me, I didn't see anything. My hair was down, so I was really scared that some would get into my hair, "ain't nobody got time for that." I wrapped up the lesson really quick, we said a prayer, and we were out. I shared with my companion what I saw so we decided that we should go to Walmart to buy flee stuff and go home and shower. So we did that. We bought Tea Tree Oil, went home and showered. I can say for a certainty that we do not have flee's! Hallelujah. 

    This past weekend was "Cinco de Mayo" weekend, so Old Town was filled with people. We thought that the Battalion was going to be busy so there was a special schedule. Turns out Cinco de Mayo and Mormons don't mix. We weren't busy at all. Who would have thought. 

    Monday, May 5th, we had a special Mission Conference. All the missionaries gathered together to hear a special guest. Since our mission Presidents wife, Sister Clayton, is Elder M. Russell Ballard's daughter we got to hear from him and started out by shaking his hand. There were a couple of other speakers also, the former Mission President and his wife, Brother and Sister Holtsofle (not sure if that's right), gave their testimonies and some advice. One thing that Bro H said was that "God has a way to micromanage us, if we are WILLING to serve" That really stuck out to me. There is a scripture, Mosiah 2:17 that talks about service. It says, "and behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Find a way to serve someone else this week, there is nothing else that will make you more happy, I promise. 

    Elder Ballard is super funny, that's why I love old people, so much humor and knowledge. He said, "Raising Children Ain't for Sissies". He has been an Apostle for 29 years! That my friends is service. I think the main highlight of his talk was centered on the spirit. He compared it to a light switch. There are certain things that can turn it off if we let it. But we must keep it on. Without the spirit we are in the dark and we can't be guided. I have a journal that says "The Spirit is the Key" ( thanks to Solanchi for giving it to me) and it really is! It is the key to true conversion, to feeling the effects of the Atonement, to knowing all truth. I'm really learning how to recognize the promptings of the spirit and also acting on them. 

I love you all! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL MOTHERS! SPECIALLY MY MOM. And Marissa! love you! 

-Hermana Recinos!

Pic: Family that came to the batallion and recently was baptized.

*CAUTION: Peacocks crossing*

    Most of our investigators live in the same area or close by, so we decided that we need to branch out and explore our area. We are driving up a hill and we see a sign that says, "caution peacocks crossing". We were startled for a second until we see at least 5 peacocks on the side of the road. It was crazy! Then I see one flying! (I didn't know they could fly) We stopped for a second to take pictures and as we were about to leave there was one right in front of the car so we couldn't move until it walked away. It was pretty fun. The other day we went by again and we saw one with its feathers extended, I couldn't get a picture of that though. :(

    This week has been pretty tough. We don't have investigators that are progressing. It's a little frustrating just because I know the blessings that come from this gospel and the joy that it brings, but they don't want to work for it. I wonder how our Heavenly Father feels. 

    What makes the LDS church different from other churches can be summed up in 3 things. Authority, Modern day Prophets, and The Book of Mormon. Recently, some people that we have been teaching are doubting all three of those things. I'll start with Authority. Authority, in other words, the Priesthood, it's the power or authority to act in Gods name. With the Priesthood we now have the authority to make sacred ordinances, give blessings, and receive the counsel and guidance of heavenly father. Second, Modern Day Prophets. One of the many ways that God shows his love for us is by prophets. We know that God speaks to us through Prophets. They receive revelation to help the world know how to return back to God. Without Prophets we would be lost. Lastly, the Book of Mormon. Written by ancient Prophets who lived in the Americas around the same time that the Bible was written. It contains the fullness of the Gospel. It is the key stone to our religion. It is another testimony that Jesus is the Christ. Some people say that the bible is enough, but we know that two testimonies are better than one. I know that as we read, ponder, and apply the message the Book of Mormon contains we will gain a better knowledge of the plan that Heavenly Father has in store for us.  We have the Book of Mormon because of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon and was called by God to be a prophet and to restore the SAME church that Jesus Christ established when he was here. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, that today we have a living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. He is our savior. 

    I've been trying really hard to help people with their doubts. In order to over come doubts you must have FAITH. We do not have the capacity to understand or to learn everything. If we could know all things there would be no reason to be here on earth. My purpose as a missionary is to help others come closer to Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel, through FAITH in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.

    I had a special visitor at the battalion! The SALAZAR family came! It was great to see them! 

Love you all! 

-Hermana Recinos

Pic 1: Us at the Midway Sis. Amendola (Bottom), Sis. Stephens (Top), Sis. Calderon (standing) Sis. Harris (middle)

Pic 2: Peacock! :D
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He is risen!

    It's Easter! Our ward had an Easter activity! It consisted of; face painting, carne asada, tortillas, piñata, and candy! Being there reminded me of back home, it was great! While the adults were hiding the eggs for the kids, as the missionaries, we shared a little message about why we celebrate Easter. We talked about Jesus Christ, his life, his atonement, and his Resurrection. Now before we teach, most of the time we prepare for it, so in order to prepare for this I read in John 20. It was when Mary Magdalene saw the resurrected Christ. He repents a couple of times in this chapter "Peace unto you" and I really liked that. Christ tells her to go to his disciples and tell them that he has risen. Most of the disciples believe her, but there was one, Thomas, who didn't believe until he actually felt the prints of the nails on his hands. He says: "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
What stuck out to me was "they".. All those that believe in Jesus Christ are the 
"they" (hope this is making sense). But because we believe in Jesus Christ, our older brother, our savior we will be blessed. We have not seen him, but we've felt him in our lives. He lives and he loves us. That brings me a lot of peace. 

    I know that Jesus is the Christ. That he suffered and died for us personally. Because of my belief in him I have received so many blessings, my family, friends, and opportunities to grow. I will never be able to comprehend the pain he went through, but I will strive everyday to show my appreciation and love for him by keeping the commandments and sharing this truth to everyone. 

Love you all! hope you had a great Easter! 

-Hermana Recinos

Pics: Easter activity, and Hannah and I. 

Four weddings and a no show.

    We had temple shift on Saturday the 12th and we saw 4 weddings. We really like seeing the weddings mostly because we get to plan for ours, haha. Even though that's a long way from now it's always good to be prepared;)That same day we were going to have a baptism. Everything was planned. The baptism was at 5:30 so we went early to get everything organized. Around 5pm members and missionaries started coming. Ten minutes before the service was about to start our investigator texts us and says they can't do it. Probably the worst text I have ever received. We had to tell everyone that our investigator was a no show and that he wouldn't be getting baptized, which was pretty embarrassing, so we had cake and went our separate ways. We were pretty sad and confused. We weren't sure what happened. As we were leaving the chapel to go find our investigator we see them pulling up into the church. For a split second I thought, "he came back to be baptized", but I was mistaken. We sat and talked, although that didn't really help, still don't really understand his way of thinking, but i'm trying. After our lesson, there was another baptism going on so we decided to go to it. It was great, not sure what our investigator thought. 

    This week I've been working on  patience but boy is it hard. I thought I was a pretty patient person before my mission, but once I got here I found out I wasn't. The definition of patience is "the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious." The perfect example of this was our Savior Jesus Christ. As missionaries we are representatives of Jesus Christ so we strive to be like him. Although it's impossible to do that, it is possible to work our hardest. Patience and charity kind of go together. Charity is the pure love of Christ. As we strive to love everyone, as Christ did, and have patience we will be able to better serve them. Hope everyone is having a great week! Love you all! 

    Because Easter is coming up the church has made a website to remember the meaning of Easter check it out!. 

Visit this website mormon.org/becauseofhim 

It's awesome! 

-Hermana Recinos

Photo: Sister Stephens' awesome idea on how to keep track of our investigators and members. 

Transfers/General Conference and so much more!

    What a week! It was transfer week! I am in the same area, Sweetwater, but with a new companion. Her name is Sister Stephens! She is from Ohio, she's been out for about 10 months, and shes 5' 8". So we are one of those companionships, you know one really short person and the other really tall. Haha but she is awesome! I knew I would like her because she loves Chipotle just like me!!!!!!!! We've gotten it twice since we've been together and we've only been together 1 week! We've set a goal where we can only eat it once a week because then we would be poor if we didn't. She's great, super funny, and just awesome! 

     Sister Stephens taught me about tools. I now know what an Allen wrench is; my dad would be proud. Our first night together we disassembled and assembled a bunk bed, moved it from our apartment to an apartment that was upstairs. Now if we assembled it correctly, we don't know, but the Sisters who now have it aren't complaining so that is good. The next day we had a shift at the temple. We met a Brazilian couple that were so amazed by the Temple. I mean who wouldn't be but they actually searched up the temple before they got here. We talked to them a little, got their information and want missionaries to go by a teach them!! Miracles! The lord is truly hastening his work! 

    Change is good! That's what I've learned this week! Sometimes we get comfortable where we are. Whether it's at work, in school or in our life, we stay within our comfort zone. What change does is it gives us the opportunity to grow and to learn. It takes us out of that cycle that we fall into, and helps us be better. Sometimes the change can be uncomfortable, makes us uneasy, but when you have a positive attitude, a grateful attitude, the whole situation changes. You have the choice, whether it's going to be a good change or a bad change. It all depends on your attitude. In the tour that I give there is a quote that I love that basically sums up everything (i might have used it before, but oh well.), "Despite our difficult circumstances, we CHOSE  to be happy"

    General Conference is the best! For those who don't know what it is here's a little info on that. Twice a year the leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, hold a conference. We receive the counsel of our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, his counselors, and those who are chosen to talk. They share their experiences and testimony about the restored gospel. You can do to Lds.org to watch it! DO IT! You won't regret it! 

    One of my favorite talks was about having an attitude of gratitude. Ha that rhymes! President Dieter F. Utchdorf really has a way to hit home. He spoke about having a life IN gratitude instead of a life OF gratitude. He said something along the lines of "Seek gratitude as a way of life that stands independent of our situation in life." No matter our situation, whether good or bad, ALWAYS be thankful for each situation because in its own way it is there to help us. As we live a life of gratitude we will have a sweeter life. He also said, "Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power" It's our choice! 

    All the speeches given were AMAZING! I encourage everyone to watch or read the talks, even if you saw it the first time. I know I will! 

Love you all! 

-Hermana Recinos!