Staying in La Mesa

    La Mesa which is my area is great! Our members are the best! So eager to share the gospel and feed us! We have a couple of investigators; we are teaching 2 families. The Gonzales family, they've gone to church twice! The other family is the Bahenas, hopefully they will be coming to the Battalion! We have another investigater named David! He's great! He has a great heart and really wants to change but he works on Sundays so he hasn't been able to come to church! 
     Transfers are this week! I will be staying in La mesa with Hermana Calderon! Hopefully this transfer we will see even more miracles! 
       Last P-day we went to the temple! I love the temple because it is so peaceful. It's a place where I can go and not have to worry about the mission, but focus on my savior and what he's done for me. When I get home I want to make it a prioroty to go to the temple at least once a month! There are some people that go to the temple once a week! I'll get there! 
     Last Friday there was a potluck for Father's Day, so gooood! David, our investigater went! Hno. Marquez gave him a church tour without us asking or even knowing! The Members here are great!!
      We see a lot of people that fall away from the church and it is sad. There's a young man here who has been a member his whole life, but lately he has been falling away. He's caught up with worldly things. Friends, girls, drinking, smoking etc. He's been in jail a couple of times. We've taught him several times and he says he wants to change but is missing the action. He decided to leave his home and his family because he doesn't want to change. I've been thinking lately about the people that fall away, why is it? It all boils down to their testimony. When we don't have a testimony about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ we are bound to fall some day. Of course, a testimony doesn't grow overnight; it takes time. It took me 19 years to build the testimony I have and everyday it is strengthened. We must read, pray, have faith, and repent daily in order to receive and strengthen a testimony. When we do that we stand steadfast and immovable. The worldly things don't matter anymore, what people say against the church doesn't influence our faith. I know this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that as we pray and read the scriptures we will strengthen our testimonies. I love this gospel and I love sharing it. I know my Savior lives and loves me. That is what helps me move forward in this work. 
-Hermana Recinos

Pic- The Zone

 
       

Sechs Monate

     This week I will be hitting my 6 month (sechs monate-German) mark! It's crazy how fast time goes by! I know the rest of my time on my mission will go by even faster so I will be working my hardest to accomplish what I have been called to do which is to invite others to come unto Christ. Everyday I have the opportunity to do that! At the Battalion Historic Site, at the Temple and in my area. What I've noticed on my mission is that the Lord always provides a way to find those that he has prepared to meet the gospel. I've seen this especially at the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. Everyday we get visitors from all over the world. Finland, Germany, China, United States, Australia, France, Italy, Iraq, Mexico, Guatemala, Spain, Venezuela the list goes on and on! As a missionary I have the opportunity to get to know them and introduce them to this Gospel.
    On Sunday, Father's Day( Happy Father's Day to all the dads! You're all the best! But my dad is better:)), it was 8:45 and 3 young men walk in. We close the Battalion at 9 so I took them to the back and explained a little bit about the Battalion, who they were and what they did. These 3 guys were from Iraq and I'm not familiar with their beliefs but these guys were Catholics. I introduced them to the Book of Mormon and explained a little bit about what I was and gave them a copy in Arabic. They were intrigued and wanted to learn more, luckily the San Diego mission has Arabic Elders so I was able to send the Elders to them. MIRACLE! 
-Hermana Recinos
       

The Park of Miracles

      There is a park a block away from our chapel and we call it the park of miracles! We decided to go to this park on Saturday in the afternoon and the park was filled with people. We go up to this one group of four people and asked them if they have seen missionaries before? They said yes but they weren't interested. We walked away and went to the next person, his name was Dan, he was sitting underneath a tree reading. We talk to him for a little and find out that his mom and sister are LDS and that he's gone a couple of times to church! We sang a song, and prayed with him but he didn't want to meet with the missionaries. Hopefully we left him with something to think about. We talked and sang to a few other people. My companion really likes to sing, I do too, but it's kind of scary some times. The last person we talked to was Calvin. He's probably in his 20's and is going to a Christian college and is playing baseball for them. We explained to him what we do and why we do it. He was really impressed, we asked him if we could stop and share more with him and he said yes! Since we are Spanish speaking we gave him to the Elders, hopefully they will be able to see him! All in all we taught six lessons while we were at the park. 
      Yesterday was another day with miracles! We started to go through our area book and there were a lot of people who had previously been taught by missionaries so we decided to go contact them again. We didn't find any of them instead we found other people. We talked to this lady named Nina. She was in a rush so we just introduced ourselves and asked if we could come back another time and she said yes. We weren't thinking about setting a specific day because she was in a rush and since we have a busy schedule because we are at the Mormon Battalion Historic Site but just when we were about to leave she asked when will you be becoming! So we set up a return appointment with her! Then we street contacted this guy, Jeremy, asked him if he has seen missionaries before, he said yes. He lived in Salt Lake for about 6 months for work. Turns out the lady we talked to, Nina, was his mom! That day we also sang a lot! We also received 2 referrals for other missionaries. I know that when we work hard the Lord puts people in our path so that we can share the Gospel with them. 
      Today we had a brunch with all the Sisters in the mission and Sister Clayton (Mission President's Wife). There was food, so it was good! Haha. We sang the Primary Song, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" which is probably one of my favorite primary songs. They asked the question: "What if the Savior was your companion?" That got me thinking, why are they asking "what if." It shouldn't be asked that way because there isn't a possibility that he's not (I'm hoping this makes sense). We know that what we do as missionaries wouldn't be possible without the help of the Savior. He's not just there for us as missionaries but he is there for everyone. He always has his hand extended out to help us, now it's up to us to reach out our hand for help. He is our companion, but are we his companion? President Clayton shared a scripture today that I'd like to pass on to you. Usually in the Scriptures when you read about a yoke, you think of bondage, or something that weighs you down but in this passage of scripture it's a whole different meaning. It is in Matthew 11:28-30 

"28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Sometimes we are asked to do hard things (papi), but when we develop a relationship with our Savior the things we are called to do can be accomplished. When we take upon his yoke we receive blessings. The scripture promises us rest and as missionaries that's what we never have enough of, but that's okay because we know its worth it! Love you all! Sorry forgot my camera! no pics! 

-Hermana Recinos

Cowles Mountain hike.

    Last tuesday we went on a hike to Cowles Mountain. It was pretty tiring, it wasn't a hard hike, but it was super hot that day! 

Sister Calderon and I 

       This week has been a good week. We have a couple of people that we are teaching, but none of them want to do the commitments that we leave them. It's a little frustrating because I know the blessings that come from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We were at the temple on Thursday and we had a surprise visit! President Hutchins came! When I saw him I was so happy! First reason was because he's awesome and the second because at that time we were talking to a man, who is familiar with the church. He has taken the missionary lessons 4 times and is really sad. His last daughter was going to get married in SLC and he was sad that he couldn't go be there because he isn't a member. He has lots of doubts, especially about early church history. President Hutchins was telling him about modern day revelations but he just wouldn't have it. We tried to explain, share our testimonies but once a person has closed their mind and heart the spirit can't testify, and sadly that happens to a lot of people. 

  Yesterday morning we were studying at a park, it was a really nice day. We were reading the scriptures and 2 teenagers, Chang Kai and Bree (BF & GF) asked us what we were reading! We told them The Bible and The Book of Mormon. They asked us what that was then they sat with us and we explained and shared a couple of scriptures. I shared one in Mosiah 3:19

 "19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

This is one of my favorite scriptures! It reminds me of the talk that Elder Bednar gave called the Characteristics of Christ. We as humans will make mistakes, it doesn't matter who we are, we are imperfect. The only way that we can be better and do better is following the example of Jesus Christ. He has shown us the way to eternal happiness. It is through his Gospel, having faith, repenting daily, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. There is so much opposition in the world. We need to build our foundation on a rock, on Jesus Christ and his gospel and that way we will not falter. It's easier said than done, but it's possible! I know this church is true! I love sharing it! I love meeting people, no matter if they reject us or accept us. I love the mission! 

-Hermana Recinos

Our pet Max

 

     We have a pet, his name is Max, he's a baby skunk, and he stinks! For some reason, every night, without fail, our pet Max, stops by a pays us visit. Sometimes is happens during the day, several times a day! It's horrible!! Our apartment smells so bad, one night I had to sleep with a febreeze spray, it was that bad! My companion laughed at me the whole night. Hopefully Max will find a new home somewhere else, sometime soon! 
      We went to go visit a recent convert yesterday. We called ahead of time to see if it was okay to go visit her. She said that she just wanted to stay home and sleep and that she didn't want anybody coming over. We knew she was sad so we decided to stop by a store, buy some flowers, get a card and drop it off. We knocked on the door for a good 3 mins, she didn't answer, so we left the flowers on the door, slipped the card under the door and left. A few minutes later we decided to go back. We knocked, rang, and called for a good 5 minutes until she opened the door. She was happy about the flowers and the card and by the time we left she was happy we stopped by! Persistence becomes annoying when it's not done out of love. We love her a lot and she loves us! 
    Funny thing that happened at the Battalion. There was a little kid who peed and one of the senior couples (Elder Rasmussen) had to clean it up. Haha he wasn't too happy about it. 
    This week we had a special Training for all the Sisters that are serving in the Battalion. Bro. Rasmussen who works for the church in the visitor center department came to visit us. He took tours to see how we were doing them, but he didn't say who he was, luckily I wasn't the sister to take him on a tour! Our Mission President, President Clayton, talked to us and gave us a little pep talk. He said that there are 2 sets of glasses everyone puts on. The glasses of obligation or the glasses of opportunity. This isn't figuratively speaking, but more mentally speaking. Every morning we can either wake up and say; "Ok another day of work that I don't want to go but I have to" or "another day of school, I don't like school." We just put on our glasses of obligation. When you "put on" the glasses of opportunity it's a whole different view! You can go to school expecting to learn something new, you can go to work with the mind set of having the opportunity to be able to make money for the things you need. This is helping me a lot while I'm on my mission. Every morning we wake up a little before 6:30 to work out. Recently instead of thinking I HAVE  to work out, my view of things have changed. I think more on the lines of, I GET to work out and strengthen my body. I have the OPPORTUNITY to share my testimony, not the obligation to do it. As do all of you! You have the opportunity to work, to be in school, to raise a child, to help someone else, so don't look at it as an obligation because then life becomes numb. 
I love you all! 
-Hermana Recinos

Pic 1- Sister Contreras came back to visit! 

Pic 2- Sister Tucker came back to visit! 

Pic 3- ​Sister Calderon, Sister Rex, Me, Sister Tucker, Sister Contreras, Elder Hernandez, and Elder Blackley.

Pic 4- Cute cards I found, I love turtles!!

              

The Accident

    I survived my first week in La Mesa, barely (kidding). We got into a little accident this past week but no worries we are fine. We got rear-ended by a lady and then she got rear-ended by another guy. Whoopsies. The car is fine, minor scratches and the bumper is a little off. California drivers I tell ya, they are Crazy! 
   This week has been good! La Mesa is a huge area! There aren't lots of Spanish people, but we are determined to find them! The members here are AWESOME! They are so loving and kind and really like to feed the missionaries and I'm ok with that! One sister brings us food every Sunday! I love it! It's a little branch, but it's growing! 
    Every 3 months there is something called MTE's or Missionary Training Experience.  We receive training on the things we can do better on so that we can see more success in our area. They taught us about teaching Simply. something that can be really hard! Now I am not saying that I am a genius or anything but I am learning a lot, and sometimes when you go too much in depth things get complicated and confusing for some people so it is important that we teach the basics. Usually after every MTE'S we see miracles and we did! We talked to many people, asked if they would like to learn more and they accepted! 
    We are now teaching a Part-Member Family, the husband it not a member but he accepted a date to be baptized! June 5th! Yay! 
    About once a week we go to the Temple and walk around. On Saturday we were at the Temple and we were really hungry so we went to the cafeteria. There we meet a sweet, sweet lady named Liza who goes to the temple every week and is usually there for hours! Liza has a disease, she has problems speaking and walking, she is physically disabled but she knows exactly who she is! She has such a great Testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and her Divine Potential. She is always happy and loves to talk to everyone. We sat with her for dinner and she gave us a pep talk. This was right after the accident and it was exactly what I needed to calm my nerves. She talked about the Holy Ghost, how it's a guide, a constant companion, and the comforter to us. I love the Holy Ghost! I am going to quote one of my favorite movies. Don't judge. It's from A Walk to Remember. I am going to change it up a little but the main character says, 'It's like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it', and that's the same for the Holy Ghost. I invite you all to watch the clips, Patterns of Light: Spirit or Revelation, by David A. Bednar, he touches upon the Spirit and the light of Christ, and the blessing it is to have it! 
    I love the mission, I love all the people I get to meet, and I LOVE this Gospel. I know it is true and want to share it with all the world! 
-Hermana Recinos

Pic 1-​Mission President Clayton. He's an Anesthesiologist (spelled this right w/o spell check whoo-hooo)

Pic 2- Las niñas en Sweetwater- gotta love em! 

Pic 3-​ Skyping home!

Transfer calls.

    Every six weeks we get a transfer call, ours was today. I am leaving Sweetwater:(((((((((( I loved this area and this branch. I don't know where I am going yet, or who I will be with, but I do know that I will be training! Aghhh it's scary! I don't know what I will be doing!!! There's slang for missionaries here, when you train you become a "mom" and the person you are training becomes your "baby".

    It was great seeing my family on Sunday! I'm not too home sick so that's good! I cried a little but it was good! (found out after facetime, that I could have done a hangout, whoopsies)

    Not much happened the rest of the week. We don't have many investigators, so recently we have been training to contact previous investigators but we haven't had much luck. We did find some people, though. Sweetwater has a lot of potential so hopefully Sister Stephens will see miracles next transfer.

    For Mother's Day our branch had a party! DJ,food, and dancing! It was fun! It reminded me of back home and our Christmas parties! It was sooo hard not to dance.  As missionaries we sang, that didn't go too well. Found out, I'm  pretty bad at singing. 

That's all I can think of to write, I'm too nervous!!! 

Love you all!

 -Hermana Recinos

Pic: Sister Nicholls and I! She ISN'T my new companion.