He Won't Forget Us! June 24, 2013

OUR SAVIOR KNOWS AND LOVES YOU PERFECTLY!

Best day ever! Just finished playing 4 hours of soccer! Yeah baby! I LOVE SPAIN!!!! Playing soccer with these incredible Spaniards ever week has done wonders for me. My footwork is better than it´s ever been in my whole life. The greatest accomplishment of the transfer came this morning when we were picking teams to play soccer and I got picked first! Ok, I think they were just being nice but still. I was pretty stoked! I may not be the best one on the field but with all the practice I’ve had out here I can finally hold my own against them. Man, I love soccer.

On to more important things. Oh yeah! All those who think I’m the biggest brat in the world please raise your hands....how on earth did I forget that last Sunday was father´s day?! I´m so incredibly sorry! I HAVE THE BEST DAD IN THE WHOLE WORLD!! Thank you for always being one of my best friends. I love you so much! If you look in the dictionary under the word ¨charity¨ you´ll find ¨Brent Israelsen¨. I love you dad! I´m truly blessed to be able to call you my dad! Thanks for everything! HAPPY FATHER´S DAY! How about we just pretend that I sent that last week ok?

Funny moment of the week. On Friday we were walking to an appointment and we came across a massive tennis match in the middle of the street. This guy was just going for it in the middle of the street. You would have thought that it was the U.S Open or something. Here´s the thing though, he was sort of missing a few minor things like a court, a ball, a racquet, and an opponent. This guy was having a full out tennis match by himself. Haha it was pretty strange but we took a minute and watched the game to show our support. It was pretty intense if I do say so myself. We think that the guy was a slightly out of his mind but we enjoyed ourselves so all is well.

  

This week was really slow for us. There wasn´t a lot of success at all but we found the good moments in each day. This week as I was reading the scriptures I came across a scripture that hit me in a way that it never has before. I´m going to teach what I learned in the same way that I’ve been teaching our investigators this week. Think about some scars that you have? Do you remember the story? Who was there? What happened? Each scar has a story right? When we look at these scars we are reminded of all of these things: what happened, when it happened, who was there, and how much it hurt. In the Book of Mormon we learn about some of the most important scars in the history of the earth. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, forever bears the scars from the atonement. They are a constant reminder to him not only of the atonement as a whole but of each one of us. In 1 Nephi 21:16 it says, ¨Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.¨ Think about how often you look at your hands. A lot right? Well. Every time the savior looks at his hands and the scars that they hold he is reminded of us. He thinks of each one of us individually and remembers EXACTLY what he felt for us. He will never ever forget you because you are engraved into the palms of his hands. He will always have that reminder of you. 

When we are resurrected we will have perfect bodies without any scars or blemishes. We, imperfect beings, will have this wonderful gift. It´s interesting to think that the only perfect man to ever walk the earth will not have this gift. Even in his perfected and glorified state he will always bear these scars of the atonement. He truly paid the price for us in every way possible. My invitation to you is to take a little time every day to remember your savior and to think about everything that he has done for you and how he has always been there for you even in the moments that you truly believed that you had been abandoned. It breaks my heart to think that I sometimes forget about the one man that NEVER forgets about me. Know that you are not alone, you are not forgotten, and you are not abandoned. I testify that Christ lives. That he is full of mercy, love, forgiveness, and second chances. He will never abandon you in your moments of heart-ache, struggle, confusion, or grief. He will never forget you. He can´t because you are engraved into his hands. I love my savior with all of my heart and I know that he truly knows how to comfort me in my time of need. He will never forget us.

Our Savior knows and loves you perfectly. How well do you know him?

Con todo mi amor de España,

Hermana Israelsen

"The Lord Will Provide a Way" - June 17, 2013

 

First things first.....The sister I met when I first arrived IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Inviting her to baptism was the sweetest moment of my mission thus far! Wow. I could go home and feel so accomplished right now. I love that woman with all of my heart and soul! There is no doubt in my mind that she was someone that the Lord prepared for ME. Our bond only continues to grow each week. She´ll be baptized which will be one of the happiest days of my entire life! Seeing someone that you so dearly love come unto Christ is something that I can´t quite describe. I don´t think I will ever get tired of being a missionary! 

Training:

I´m training a wonderful sister.  I have been so incredibly blessed by the Lord. I´m training the sweetest girl you will ever meet. She´s so eager to learn and has a lot enthusiasm and optimism.  Training is pretty intimidating I won´t lie but it’s also an incredible growing experience. The situation with our companionship is a little weird right now because we´re in a trio. My trainer is still with us for the moment but I’m the trainer so all of the roles are switched up. It´s kind of weird being in charge of the companionship when there´s an Hermana in it who has 7 months more experience than you do, but we make it work. My trainer and I found our rhythm in teaching. We work incredibly well together and now we have a third member to help us out. I love these two sisters so I’m totally willing to be in a trio to stay with them. My trainer is getting pulled from the companionship pretty soon but all is well here in Elche. 

And in other news.....I FINALLY HAD MY BREAKTHROUGH WITH THE LANGUAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes folks, I can finally communicate and hold my own! I still can´t quite understand every word that is said to me or express every thought perfectly but I can hold my own. I´m speaking Spanish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You honestly don´t know how exciting this has been to me. Miracle, miracle, miracle! There is no doubt in my mind that it is due to the help of the Lord. Becoming a trainer was a terrifying idea to me but I moved forward in faith that the Lord would provide a way and he most certainly has. He drastically improved my Spanish in a single week. MIRACLE! This is just another testimony to me that the Lord is truly at the head of His work and that He is aware of each and every one of us. He knows our concerns, worries, struggles, and weaknesses and knows how to address them perfectly. He will never hang us out to dry if we have faith in Him. All things are possible to those who believe. I know with all of the conviction in my soul that if we give it all we have, turn to the Lord, and have faith, that he will make up for the rest. On my own I am weak but with the Lord I can move mountains. 

Sorry that this email is a little shorter than usual. I just want to say that I truly do love this gospel with every fiber of my being. It breaks my heart to see people walk away from the church and their Savior because I know how much they are walking away from. This gospel brings a joy and purpose to our lives that words can´t adequately describe. Nothing brings greater happiness to our lives than this gospel and more importantly, our Savior. Remember Helaman 5:12. When the Savior is the center of our lives we will never fall. He will always be there to catch us.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I live it and I love it.

The Lord Will Provide a Way

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Israelsen

I am a Trainer - June 10, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Big news.....I´M GOING TO BE A MOTHER!!!!!! Now before you get carried away, let me explain. In the mission we have these ¨family trees¨of sorts. I don´t have time to explain the whole family tree but I’ll just say that your trainer is your mother. YEP! President called me on Saturday and told me that I’m going to be training. That was news that rocked my little missionary world! This is TERRIFYING TO ME!!!!! I am only half-way through my own training and now I have to abandon that and train a new hermana. I´m absolutely terrified right now. I´ve been in shock all weekend. I´m terrified because I really don´t know the language. I´ve improved drastically from the time I arrived here but I’m FAR from being able to do this on my own. I can speak and get my point across just fine but I still can´t understand the majority of what people say to me. If it´s gospel related than I can follow almost the entire conversation but as soon as there´s a change in topic I’m completely lost. It´s that darn theta! I love the theta but it just makes it incredibly difficult to understand anyone and they all talk soooo fast no matter how many times I ask them to slow down! Thinking about the fact that I’m going to have to do all the talking from now on FREAKS me out. Without the help of the lord this task is LITERALLY impossible. The other thing that I’m afraid of is that my trainee (hija) is going to absolutely HATE me because I don´t have a clue what I’m doing. I´m still learning how to be a missionary myself and now I’m expected to teach her to do things that I still don´t know yet.  I’m just scared that she´s going to lose patience with me very quickly and feel like she got jipped with her trainer. I´m heading down to Malaga in the morning to go pick her up. I still can´t believe this is actually happening. There are a few of my fears and doubts but they get cancelled out pretty quickly with my testimony.

1 Nephi 3:7 has been running through my mind all weekend. "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  If this is what the Lord wants me to do then I’ll do it. I know that the lord will provide a way for me to do this. I don´t know how, but he´ll do it. These next 3 months are going to be the hardest three months of my entire life but I think I’m ready. I´m not ready to train, lead, or take charge in the language but I am ready to be tested. I think I’m ready to fully rely on the Lord and put all of my trust in Him. I´m ready to be pushed to my limits because I know that the Savior will be right there with me. When we begin to understand the atonement we welcome hard things into our lives because we realize that without trials how on earth are we supposed to appreciate or use the atonement. How on earth can we begin to appreciate the atonement when we have never faced anything difficult in our lives? It´s in those moments that we don´t think we can go another day that we truly appreciate and understand the atonement. It takes on greater meaning to us. We see and feel the purpose of the atonement. I´m going to struggle a lot this next transfer and there are times that I’ll probably fall but the Lord will always be there to pick me back up. The Savior is my strength, my support, and my reason to move forward with each day. With God, nothing shall be impossible. I´ll be able to do this somehow. The Lord WILL provide a way. I´m excited for this because the lord is going to be able to mold me into the missionary that he needs me to be. Simply trust in the Lord and let him take care of the rest.

 I have absolutely NO CLUE why the Lord wants me to be a trainer now but I know that he has a plan and there´s a reason for this. Guess I’m about to find out.

Sorry I don´t have more time to write about much else. I have so much to do today to prepare for my hija to come to Elche. 

Thanks for all of your love and support! I never said that this would be easy, I only said that´d it would be worth it. 

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Israelsen

June 3, 2013 - “EXPECT TO SEE A MIRACLE EVERYDAY AND YOU WILL”

“EXPECT TO SEE A MIRACLE EVERYDAY AND YOU WILL”

Wow wow wow wow wow! This week was awesome!!! AHHHHH why do I love this work so much??? Oh yeah, it´s because it´s the most incredible work on the earth. If it´s the greatest work on the earth than of course Satan is going to do everything he can to stop it but I testify that NOTHING can stop this work from progressing.

 

I LOVE SPANISH!!!! I’m positive that this is the language I was supposed to speak because I adore it! I love Spanish. Now if only I could speak it fluently....patience.

So here are some little moments of the week. Yesterday we were waiting for a bus outside of our apartment and watched one of those MASSIVE garbage dumpsters catch on fire and burn to the ground. It...was....AWESOME!!!! The fire was so stinking huge! They just let it die out so there´s that....

I’m so glad that it´s a new month and that we got more money because by the last week of May we were pretty much broke. Not joking. We made it through two weeks on 12 Euros. Hahaha…it was actually kind of fun! It was our fault because we weren´t able to turn in our reimbursement sheets on time to get money back for buying stuff the mission covers so we had to wait until yesterday to get that. All is well now though. We´re back to having money. Hahahahaha!

My Spanish is coming along! I can finally see that it´s improving. I´m beginning to be able to hold my own conversations and teach the lessons in Spanish without a problem.  I can get along now. I still have a long way to go but it´s coming quicker than I thought all thanks to the Lord.

Now for the best part of the email.

This week was truly amazing. I definitely saw the power of positive thinking.  Last week I got sick and was sick all of this week but I made a promise to the Lord that I wouldn´t let it hinder the work in any way. I faced the week with optimism and a smile and the Lord poured out miracles to us this week.

The first one was with one of our investigators. When we first met her she wasn´t interested in the slightest. She blew us off about a dozen times but my companion and I both felt that we had to keep trying, that we had to be patient. We finally got to teach her but she still kept insisting that she didn´t want anything to do with the gospel. We decided to step up our game and got a member involved. We had a lesson in the member´s home with her and taught about the restoration. As we were testifying about the first vision, something changed. The spirit took over and I was able to watch someone´s heart open up to the gospel right before my eyes. I could physically see her change of heart. WOW!!! The spirit that was in that room was amazing! That lesson changed everything. Since then she has been progressing like you would not believe and she accepted a fecha! I can´t tell you how much of a miracle that was. 

The other fecha was with a guy whom we met.  He´s about 22 and has been prepared for the gospel for a while now. We met him while we were toking (knocking) doors on Saturday and he let us in. We explained the book of Mormon and talked about our purpose as missionaries and he was eating it up! My companion and I looked at each other at the end of the lesson and we knew that we were feeling the same thing. Wow! That was a HUGE testimony builder to me that there ARE people that the Lord has prepared for the gospel. The Lord is truly preparing his people to receive the gospel and we just have to find them through the help of the spirit. 

This work is HARD! In fact, it´s the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I can honestly say that it is the greatest thing I’ve ever experienced. We get rejected, mocked, and yelled at every day but none of that bothers me at all because nothing can compare to the happiness that this gospel brings. I cannot explain the joy that I have felt as I have watched people change their lives to come to the Savior. I have seen it with my own eyes and there is no doubt in my mind that this IS in fact the true church of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

I testify that no matter what challenges you may face the Savior is always with you. As you face disappointment, sorrow, rejection, pain, and every other trial you can imagine you have the opportunity to stand shoulder to should with our savior, Jesus Christ. He knows everything you have every experienced and more. He is truly the ONLY one who knows how to help you perfectly because he is the only one who has felt what you have perfectly. My invitation to you is to come to the Savior and become whole in him. By myself I’m weak but in the Lord I am strong. Let the Lord be your strength, your reason to move forward with each and every day. When we come to understand the magnitude of the atonement nothing else seems as important in our lives than to come unto the Savior. Have a good attitude and think positively. Good things come to those who remain faithful and optimistic in times of difficulty. I promise that! I’ve seen it a million times over. Keep smiling even when you don´t feel like it.

When you feel like you can´t go another day just remember these words.  The Savior never said that it would be easy.  He only said that it would be worth it.

Just like Elder Holland said in this last conference, if you are lacking in faith or testimony at this moment feel free to lean on mine because I know without a SINGLE doubt in my whole soul that God lives. We have a loving Heavenly Father and a merciful Savior. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in fact the kingdom of God on the earth. It is the true church! No matter what happens NEVER lose faith; NEVER lose hope, and most important NEVER EVER EVER turn away from the Savior. He is my Savior, my Redeemer, and my best friend.

FIND joy in the journey

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Israelsen

May 27, 2013 "A Week of Miracles"

“A WEEK OF MIRACLES”  

Dear Friends and Family,

Wow wow wow!!!! The lord truly works in mysterious ways! We have seen miracles this week!

I’ll get to that later. First off, guess what? I’m sick.....again!!! That makes 3 times in 6 weeks. Hahahah it´s actually kind of funny. I mean I’ve never been sick more than once a year or once every year and a half and then the second I enter into the field my immune system decides to take some time off. Hahaha! It´s really not a big deal at all though. more just of an annoyance but it doesn´t interfere with the work in the slightest. We´re still doing exactly what we do every other day, I just keep my distance from everyone. I´m doing perfectly fine! Another thing, our last name is ridiculous! I love it but NO ONE can say it here! Most people just know me as ¨hermana¨. So there´s that.   

Now to the good stuff. Missionary work is incredible. MADRE MIA!!! I don´t know how, but we now have 6 progressing investigators which means that they are coming to church, reading, praying, and keeping all of their commitments. Wow.

We have another investigator who is SOOOOOO close to baptism! She knows the truth but says that she just wants to know ¨for sure¨ so we´re working on that.  Another investigator of ours is truly a miracle. At the beginning he was completely uninterested.  Little by little we were able to teach him and we have seen a MIRACLE with him. We have been able to watch him change his life right in front of our eyes. Wow!  He´s SOOO kind to us and gets soooo excited to see us. Wow wow wow!!! MI-LA-GROS (miracles)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our investigator I met after first arriving here, is progressing SO incredibly fast! We asked her to start reading the book of Mormon last week and she´s already in second Nephi chapter 10! She has become one of my best friends out here even though she has 10 years on me. I´m POSITIVE that she was one of the people that the Lord has prepared specifically for me. I can´t describe the bond that I have with her. It´s all thanks to this wonderful message of the gospel. Tender mercies and miracles every day. 

This gospel changes lives, the book of Mormon changes lives! I´ve seen it! It has changed mine. I can´t begin to describe how much I love this work and how much more I love my Savior. Every day I grow closer to my Savior and every day I fall to my knees in awe of Him and his works. I love this gospel with all of my heart! Thank you for all of the love and support!!! 

Come what may and love it!

Con to do mi amour,

Hermana Israelsen

May 20, 2013 - Finding Joy in the Journey

May 20, 2013 - Finding Joy in the Journey

I seriously feel so blessed! The work is incredibly hard but I have such a wonderful companion! We get along so stinkin´ well! We´re SO much alike! Tender mercy!  The investigator that we found last week is coming along! She really really loves meeting with us and is taking what we teach her really well. She has a LOT going on in her life right now so we´ve just been trying to get her through some of her trials. I just adore this woman with all of my heart!  I don´t know what happened exactly but her and I have developed a bond that I can´t quite describe in words. I honestly feel like she was one of the people that I was supposed to find. The lord is so merciful because I needed her so much! She has been such a blessing out here for me!

Yeah!!! A member approached me after church yesterday and told me that she and my mom’s good friend knew each other from the misión. So cool!!! Small world! This sweet member has truly kept an eye out for me. She´s wonderful!

Elche has officially stolen my heart! I could live here forever. So there´s a soccer team here that is a PRETTY freaking big deal to the people. It´s insane how much these people love their soccer team. They played yesterday and the people had a TWO DAY celebration to prep for the game. We were blown away. Not just a Little drinking and laughing in the streets but a full out PARTY ALL OVER ELCHE!!!! Imagine if the superbowl were to be held in your town and EVERY person in that town was obsessed with one team that was playing. I seriously don´t know how to describe it. THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of people were out in the streets in their Elche team gear cheering and partying like the world was going to end. It was AWESOMEE!!!!!!!! They had a parade, a pep rally in the center of the city, parties, and people driving through the streets waving their massive Elche flags. Everyone was with their family and friends just having the greatest time ever! It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! Elche is now and forever my soccer team. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it here! I never want to transfer!!!!!!!

The first week out here was incredibly difficult for me.  This week, however, was a million times better!!! Oh my lanta! The strange thing is that nothing was different from that first week. I had the same struggle with the language, same rejection, same investigators, same people, same área. Only one thing had changed - me. I didn´t magically pick up the language, experience a crazy miracle, find a ton of investigators, or even see much success this week. I simply stepped back and changed my perspective. I realized that entering the field had caused me to turn inwards and focus completely on myself: “I’m so tired all of the time.  I can´t understand the language. Why is this so hard for me?”

This was the source of the majority of my struggles. When you´re so consumed with yourself and your own concerns and trials of course you´re going to become discouraged and even a Little depressed. How could you not be sad when you´re only thinking about your own struggles.  I was in desperate need of a large dose of selflessness. Once I realized that I’m not here for myself and that this work is so much bigger than me my whole attitude started to change. I remembered that when I accepted the call to serve as a missionary I also accepted the call to surrender my time and concern into the service of others. It wasn´t until I turned my focus and concern onto the members, my investigators, other missionaries, my companion, and the people of Elche that I started to find the joy of missionary work. Suddenly my problems didn´t seem as significant or important to me. I made a decisión this week to FIND  joy in the journey. As my attitude and perspective changed so did everything else. I was no longer burdened down with worry and discouragement. I found strength that I didn´t know I had. Yeah, the language is a struggle, I’m exhausted all of the time, and not everyone wants to listen to us. That´s just fine! This work has begun to change from a struggle and an obstacle to a ¨marvelous work and a wonder.¨ How lucky am I to be able to wear the Savior´s name for the world to see each and every day. How can I truly feel alone when his name is right next to mine. As I have turned my time, concern, effort, and will over to the lord he has given me a new perspective. He has given me a greater love for the people and the work. He changed everything! That change in focus and attitude has changed this week from enduring to enjoying. I have truly started to find the joy in the journey.

Love you all!! Thank you for all of the love and support! I love this work! I love this góspel!

Ï never said that it would be easy. I only said that it would be worth it.¨

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Israelsen