Week 12

This week has been amazing and I use that term for lack of a better one! It all started with a great Zone conference, continued with Sisters Retreat, a super fun P-day, and ended with merciful answers to prayers. I already spoke a little about Zone Conference last week so I'd like to focus more on Sisters' Retreat. All 107 Sister Missionaries got together for 6 hours to listen to different speakers and go through different workshops. It started with a hilarious skit by the STLs and then we had a much needed workshop on managing stress.
 

Our Church Family Services psychologist also spoke about the differences between Self confidence, self esteem, and self worth. She mentioned that the bible dictionary's definition of repentance includes changing the way we think about god, ourselves, and the world. I have never thought about that, ever! Sometimes it is hard to have self confidence when people do not want to talk to you or are rude to you or when you feel like a lesson was just awful but during these times we need to remember the most important truths: 1. Heavenly Father loves me, and 2. He knows my heart is good. Then we repent and move forward.
I've been beating myself up lately because my trainer is going home and i still feel so incompetent sometimes but I am actively trying to change my thought process and focus on things I'm improving on. What I find most helpful is when I serve others and focus on their needs.

Then President Watkins gave us his "Lessons That Life Has Taught Me" speech about dating guidelines. He made us promise to implement these when we return and start looking for a special someone. My poor companion is going home next week so she felt a little targeted but I thought it was really helpful because some of his rules like being alone in public were very new to me but the more he talked the more I understood their importance.


Yesterday we went hiking to Pinnacles with the Salinas sisters and our Elders. It was so much fun! We were crying because we laughed so hard. It all started on the super long drive when we came across several cows. Sister Kofford rolled down the window and yelled "HEY COW!" and a few of the cows looked over. I got extra points because I got one to stop walking and turn her head. Then we found some holes in the ground off the path and went exploring in some caves. Later that night I realized how dumb that was and how merciful Heavenly Father was in helping us get home safely after all the risks we took.


On a more spiritual note,
We had a surprise speaker at Sisters' Retreat ... Sister Dalton (the former General Young Women President)! She talked about being P.R.O.S. as missionaries meaning we:
Pray (twice a day)
Read (the Book of Mormon 5 minutes every day)
Obey (all the commandments, standards, and rules)
Smile

She challenged us to live PROS even after our missions and I extend her challenge to all of you as well. Everyday I talk to people who have fallen away from the gospel or who are less active and the thing they all have in common is that they stopped doing the little things like reading the Book of Mormon and saying meaningful prayers, they then continued to disobedience and are now depriving themselves from the joy that is found in the gospel.

I love you all,

Hermana Quintana

 

Week 11

On Monday night we had to drive up to Salinas because we were sleeping at the Sisters' apartment there for the meeting on Tuesday but we decided to drop in at a less active's house on the way. She told us about her grandmother who was super sick and about how her mother would not let her go and would keep her on a respirator and about how sad she was. We wanted to share a quick message so we asked if we could start with a prayer. She picked me to do it and so I did. I asked for the spirit to be felt and for the family and then I said " ..and please bless Nana's grandmother to be able to rest in peace." We were two minutes in the lesson when Nana gets a text saying that her grandmother had just passed away. She just stared at her phone and then at me and said "Wow. That was really fast.... thanks!" I felt so bad! And that is the story of how I accidentally killed someone's grandma ;)

Yesterday we had a 6 hour Zone Conference. It was about an hour and half away from our area so we got permission to have a sleep over at the Salinas Hermanas' apartment. It was a blast! We had a Q & A portion with the mission presidency and wives as the pannel. There were a ton of questions about the "afterlife" most of which delt with education, work, and marriage.

President Watkins spent a lot of time answering the last one. He said that there were five things that we needed to look for in a future spouce:
1. An initial attraction, BUT be mature enough to look beyond physical
2. A proven testimony (keeps the lesser covenants without complaint or encouragement)
3. Hard worker
4. Commited
5. Happy disposition

I still have forever so I thought that I would be ok not taking notes but the more I thought about these 5 things the more I realized that they are really quite useful for many circumstances and not just to find a significant other.

 As a missionary it is very important to have a good, clean appearance because people form a pretty quick opinion of you. It is absolutely essential to have a strong, proven testimony so that it can become a rock for others who are struggling with theirs. Missionaries need to be able to work hard all day, every day. As Preach My Gospel states "The secret to missionary work is WORK!" As missionaries we also have to be fully  commited to our purpose. This is what drives us to get up every morning and go talk to perfect strangers every day. We also need to be happy! Missionary work is what we make it be and there is no reason why we should be sad. There is no greater happiness on this earth than knowing of the love Heavenly Father has for His children and it is our priviledge to share that knowledge with everyone.

Love you lots,

Hermana Quintana

Week 10

Yesterday we got this really cute Star Wars piñata and we beat it with a basketball. I knocked out one of the cones! I was super pumped! We also got mustaches from the 99 cent sotre and tons of candy! The Elders were super late so they got to pick up the candy from the floor. haha!

Things are going pretty well in the area. Last Sunday was the craziest day EVER!!! We get a call from a random number asking us the address of the church and the times for the service. It turned out to be someone we contacted a few weeks ago but we forgot about because he never picked up his phone, anyway... he came to church! Also, we have been really pushing member missionary work in all our dinner appointment messages and it finally paid off. The Bernal family showed up with a WHOLE family of investigators, Christian also showed up with a friend and her family. All in all there were 10 investigators and we ran around like headless chickens trying to get everyone in the right classes. We ended up just taking all of the adults and hearding them to Gospel Essentials which was taught in Spanish that day. The kids really liked primary and we got to talk to the investigators after church and they really liked it. The Bernal family's friends actually participated a ton in Gospel Essentials and had a lot of questions. We are going to go visit them this week and they promised to come to church again next Sunday.

This was an incredible blessing because we have been struggling a lot with finding new investigators. We fasted and prayed a lot and it was a great comfort to see the hand of Heavenly Father working in the hearts of the members. It really makes all the difference in the world when members are the ones inviting their friends.

We had a Lockwood day last Saturday which means we drove into the middle of nowhere. We were pretty upset when our appointment wasn't home and had to drive all the way back. But Sister Lindsay made the best of it by teaching me about the marvels of Indiana Jones and Star Wars. It was actually a blessing to be able to have a few minutes to unwind from the stress of last week; it was kind of a killer. There is apparently a great song to the tune of Miss American Pie about Star Wars...

I'd like to end on a more spiritual note by sharing an amazing quote by Pres. Talmage. I've been reading Jesus the Christ for a bit now and i find it more and more facinating and harder and harder to put down. Today I read about prayer. He said, "Prayer is made up of heart throbs and righteous yearnings of the soul, of supplication based on the realization of need, of contrition and pure desire." He then goes on to explain that Prayer is for the supplicant, that God without prayer is still God but us without prayer can never be saved. It really got me thinking about my prayers. I pray more on my mission than I have ever prayed in my life. I find myself kneeling in supplication for patience with myself and for strenght to keep going. It is such a comfort to know that Heavenly Father in all of his mercy established a way for us to openly communicate with Him.

Love,
 Hermana Quintana

Week 9

This week was the fastest week of my life! I truly felt like I just winked and it was P-day again. Last Monday we left to San Jose after dinner, traffic was super bad because of construction but we made it to the Sisters' apartment in my trainer's old area. We had a sleep over because I had advanced training early the next morning. It was fun to see how other sisters live and interact. We don't really see other missionaries because we live so far away but at the same time it was nice to come home. It was really weird to be in the city, especially at night. The people in my area are very nice and always say "hi" back so I tried contacting a man on the corner when we were walking to the sisters' apartment at night. My trainer kind of freaked out because this man and the area were sketchy and it could get us in trouble. Oh boy!

Advanced orientation was really fun. I got to see some of the missionaries I came out with and hear about their areas and see how much they have changed already. I don't really think I've changed that much but I really hope that by the end of my mission there will be a significant change... hopefully something spiritual and not a widening of the middle.

The Spanish program is really fun. I love contacting Spanish speakers, they are super friendly and always wish me blessings when I give them a card and talk about Jesus. It was really freaky when we contacted a little earlier than usual on Thursday and there were a whole bunch of white people on the street. We usually don't see any. They were kind of rude and wouldn't take my card or talk about Jesus!

Yesterday we went to Carmel beach again for a zone activity. A whole bunch of missionaries showed up as well as a young man who was released last transfer but came back to visit with his friend. It was so weird to see him without a tag and then I thought of how I'm going to have to take of my tag and that really freaked me out! But then i remember I still have forever and I calm down.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary in the California San Jose Mission. It is truly the place where I needed to be. Our baptismal date is super excited and even picked out her white dress for her baptism. I see the light in her eyes and I am so thankful for the blessing it is to be able to see that. To see her grow in her desire to come closer to Christ.

A big thank you to my family! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Hermana Quintana