It's Time to Move On - November 25

I´m so so so sorry but this email is going to be short. We´re running really low on time today because we have a lot to get done before I leave. Yes, I’m being transferred. I´ve got some big changes coming my way next transfer. Looks like I’m leaving my are and going to the Promised Land!!!!!! I´m so stinking excited but I´m also heartbroken to be leaving this area. I didn´t realize how much I love this place and the people until I was told that I have to leave. A piece of my heart still resides in Elche and now another piece will always remain here. 

 

My new companion only has two transfers left in the mission so I’m really excited to work with her. That´s not the only change though.....I´ve been called as a SHE which is a sister trainer. It´s the new leadership position that the church put into action this summer for sister missionaries.  Also, you know how last week I said that I wouldn´t be training this transfer? Well, looks like I was wrong. Along with our other responsibilities, will be training a new sister together. I´m literally in shock! SO many changes in just one transfer. I know that it´s going to be a big challenge but I’m really excited to face it because I think it will be a fun one. It´s another mountain to climb but I have a feeling that the view is going to be breathtaking!

 

I am so incredibly grateful for the time I’ve had here. It has changed me. It helped me grow and taught me so much. I remember my first two weeks here in this pueblo as if it were yesterday. I remember walking down the streets and knocking on doors 9 hours a day, every day of the week. I remember how many doors were slammed in our face and how many people told us what scum we were. I remember how difficult and discouraging it was. Back then I could have never imagined the growth and miracles that we would one day see. Just look what the Lord has done here. We have a baptism this Sunday and another 3 at the end of December! The Lord has been there every step of the way and there´s no way I can deny that. He led those who were prepared for his gospel to us and us to them. He provided a way for us to do what seemed impossible. I may not have been the best missionary here but I truly feel like I’ve done all that the Lord needed me to do here and that it´s time to move on. I will miss these people and this pueblo so much but I feel like I’ve gotten enough closer to end this adventure and head out to start a new one.

 

Adventure is out there!

Love you all! Come what may and love it

Hermana israelsen

 

Warmer weather here I come!!!!!!!

ALL THINGS GOOD COME WITH TIME AND EFFORT – Nov. 18

 GUESS WHAT?!??!! We had another family make the decision to be baptized!!! They will be baptized together next month! We´re so incredibly happy! The work here has progressed so much! I was looking through my agenda of our first two weeks here in this area and I actually started laughing. The difference between now and 12 weeks ago is astronomical! Haha! The Lord has truly put forth His hand and brought us to those who have been prepared for the gospel!

We found more people to teach this week and had a bunch of people come to church with us on Sunday! It´s incredible to see! The branch is getting more and more excited and has started to really get involved in the missionary work here. We´re all working as one big team to find those people in this village who need peace and joy in their lives right now. We have been working hard with a few less active members who have started to reactivate themselves again in the branch. We get to see the light come back into their eyes! I´ve seen for myself that all good things come with time and effort. AHHHH!!! I’m soooooo happy! Sometimes I’ll just be walking down the street and have the urge to scream ¨I love being a missionary!¨ But then I stop myself because I realize that no one would understand....cause it´s in English. ME ENCANTA SER UNA MISIONERA! There...that fixes that problem. 

It is absolutely FREEZING here!!!! I thought I was in Spain not Russia!!!! Ok, it´s probably just cold to me because I finally got used to the Spanish heat. I´m being a baby, I know, but I thought I’d just let you all know that it´s cold on this side of the world too. Just in case any of you were wondering!

Ok, so good story of the week. So we were inside an investigator´s piso (apartment) teaching a lesson and all of the sudden a little brown thing darted across the floor. My companion whispered into my ear, ¨I think that was a squirrel.¨ I told her that there was no way that it was a squirrel and that it was probably just their dog or something. Lo and behold a fluffy squirrel jumps up onto my lap and just looks up at me. A SQUIRREL!!! Yes, you are correct. They do indeed have a pet squirrel. Not like a domesticated squirrel from the pet-store but a squirrel that lives in the forest. I´m here to tell you that there´s nothing more distracting during a lesson than having a squirrel running laps around everyone´s heads in the room. My companion and I could not handle ourselves. We were laughing so hard and so was the family. We loved every second of it. Haha

This week was another fantastic week in the service of the Lord! I worked hard, made mistakes, tried again, got discouraged, found strength in the lord, had faith, and found success. We don´t have to be perfect. We´re going to fall down, sometimes every single day, but that´s where we get to show our strength and faith in the Lord. Are we going to sit down and complain about all of the things that made us fall and blame the Lord for letting us stumble, or are we going to take the Lord´s extended hand and get back up? If you are frustrated because you keep falling even though you are trying so hard, take hope. We learn something new each and every time we fall. Let the Lord pick you back up, brush you off, and get you back on track. I love this work and I love the Lord.

Remember to try a little harder today to be a little better than you were yesterday.

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Hermana Israelsen

“I GLORY IN TRIBULATIONS” – Joseph Smith November 4, 2013

This past week, I spent a lot of time studying about the trials of our faith. I thought about Joseph Smith and how he learned to glory in tribulation. As a I thought about Joseph and his incredible attitude, I began to think about my own trials and how each one has so profoundly affected my life for the better. I spent a lot of time thinking about the trials that I have gone through since coming to Spain and I can clearly see the purpose of each and every one of them now. So today I thought that I´d take the opportunity to share with all of you some of the things I have learned as I have passed through some refiner´s fires.

- Being isolated from other missionaries and feeling so alone. The language barrier didn´t help in the beginning either because I literally couldn´t communicate with anyone. In those moments when I felt so utterly alone, my Savior came to my side. I learned for myself that the Lord will never abandon us. He walked alone so that we would never have to. I developed a deeper and stronger relationship with my lord and savior than ever before because sometimes he was literally the only person I could talk to. I can tell my Heavenly Father everything through prayer and he always listens. He blesses me with his love and peace in those times when I feel like I am forgotten. He let me know that he is aware of me through the little tender mercies that happen each and every day. 

- The struggles at home as my amazing sister went through a very difficult trial while I was in the MTC. I learned for myself that the Lord can truly make our burdens light. When my soul was wracked with pain and sorrow the Lord filled me with comfort and hope. The Lord gave me faith and a knowledge that everything would be ok and that it was all in His hands. I felt the atonement in action. The Lord made my burdens light and took away some of the pain and anguish as I turned to him. I also learned to look outside of myself and help others while I myself was struggling. I found that focusing on others is one of the greatest ways that we can find relief to our own struggles and pains. It´s amazing how effective it is!

- Opening up a new area for hermanas. The Lord truly humbled me and stripped me down to the core so that he could build me into what he needed me to be. I learned to find joy in the journey.

-Being asked to train a new sister after only having 6 weeks in the field. I don´t think you understand how absolutely terrifying that was for me. I am not kidding when I say that I still couldn´t understand ANYTHING of what people were saying to me when I got dumped on my own to train. Those were the most TERRIFYING 2 months of my entire life. Walking out the door every day almost brought me to tears but I did it. Just getting out of bed in the morning was an act of faith. I faced anxiety, depression, and fear that I have never faced before in my life and I never want to face again but I truly learned how to put ALL of my trust and confidence in the Lord to face my fears and do what I knew was right. I learned how to say, ¨not my will be done but thiné¨. I learned how to say, ¨Thank you Lord, for loving me enough to cut me down¨. Those were two of the hardest months that I have ever had to face in my entire life but they made me grow faster than anything else. My motto those few months was 1 Nephi 3:7. If the Lord asks me to do it than he will provide a way. I am living proof that the Lord will ALWAYS provide a way for us to do what he asks. Nothing is impossible with the Lord.

- My struggle with the language has taught me to have patience with myself. I´ve come to know how to learn by the spirit and ask for divine help when I am incapable of something on my own. I have come to develop a strong testimony that all good things come with time and effort.

-Getting incredibly sick in the field. I saw a miracle. I saw evidence that the Lord provides miracles in this day and age. There is nothing else to describe it other than a miracle. I also developed a testimony of the power of prayer. I know without a doubt that the Lord gave me that miracle because of all of the prayers from home. It was the faith and love of those prayers that provided me with a miracle. Thank you!!!!

-Opening another new area and training. It has been difficult but I have learned a lot. We get rejected and yelled at each and every day but I have learned to love it. I´m proclaiming the reality of our Heavenly Father and our Savior and I don´t care if people think I’m crazy. I only care what the Lord thinks of me. It´s His view of me that matters. I have learned the importance of diligence and faith. That sometimes the Lord has to test us to make sure that we will be faithful in all things and then he will bless us. 

First comes the trial of our faith and then comes the blessings.

I remember praying for a trial of my faith in the MTC. That was the prayer that changed my life forever. I will forever be grateful for that prayer because it has made me into who I am today. Like it says in 1 Peter 1:7 my trials have become more precious to me than gold. They have changed me inside and out. I wouldn´t know the Lord like I do without them and that is a gift that is more precious than anything else on this earth.

Love you all!!! The Lord lives and I love what I’m doing!!! I glory in tribulations!!! LOVE YOU!!!

Hermana Israelsen