A day full of miracles!

Family!

I can't wait to tell you about my week!! So first off, I am staying in SLO with Sister Harrison... AH!! So happy! We're both just super eager to work and find and teach. We've had an amazing transfer, but this one will be even better. I'm so grateful that I get to finish serving with sis. Harrison... she's become one of my greatest friends. Comp. love!!

So, Kaya is doing AMAZING! She loves her little baptism book and is just immersing herself completely. She's reading and praying every day, she went to a baptism with us this past week and she couldn't stop talking about how thrilled she was for August 1st!  She also loved church yesterday. The primary pianist has been out of town the last few weeks, so sister Harrison has been playing.. I absolutely love being in primary. The kids are so pure and the spirit is so strong there.. They're also hilarious. And we get to be with Kaya! It's the best.

So we had MLC on Tuesday, which was so powerful. We talked about urgency and the importance of remembering that the Lord is hastening his work right now. NOW is the time to pick up the pace and serve with all of our hearts, might, mind, and strength. We talked about what it means to be a Representative of Jesus Christ and just how sacred and special that is. It is such an honor to represent him... and also a huge responsibility. I know that His atonement is what makes me capable and that his grace makes up for where I fall short. Teaching and testifying of him every day is such a blessing that I have often taken for granted... it's become so special to me now.  After MLC, Sister Harrison and I set some goals as a companionship and personally. The next day (Wednesday) we had prayed fervently that we would find that day before we went out. We told the Lord that we desired to work and go where he would have us go, and find the elect... we had more of a sense of urgency and it was a day FULL of miracles.

First, we were walking by a park and we saw this woman sitting under a tree. We started talking to her and she just opened up completely... She told us that she hadn't grown up with any sort of faith or religion. She turned to Catholicism when her mom passed away six years ago because of the sorrow and the pain. She was completely lost, but didn't find what she was seeking. She told us that she still feels confused. She wants to know her purpose. We told her that our purpose as missionaries is to help her find that peace and clarity and asked if we could teach her and she was more than willing. We'll be meeting with her this week… keep her in your prayers. Her name is Becky! Right after we walked away from talking to Becky, we met Benjamin... Benjamin is in a wheel chair and is paralyzed from a skiing accident he had 3 years ago. Before his accident, he had not faith whatsoever. He was supposed to die and he told us that God saved his life and he has had too many spiritual experiences and miracles that he cannot deny it. Ever since his accident, he has come to know that Jesus Christ is his Savior… this man has more love for God than any one I have ever met and so much passion for the gospel. We walked with him and he asked as what we have learned on our missions and asked us to teach him as we walked. We taught him the restoration and the spirit was testifying to each of us the truth of it.. We had been walking and teaching for about 30 minutes and then he stopped us mid-conversation. He said, "Sisters, I want you to know that I specifically prayed this morning that I would find more truth... and that I would find the missing piece of the puzzle.. I also want you to know that I am fasting today. It is no coincidence that I met you." What was amazing is we had literally studied fasting and prayer that morning for another investigator who had cancelled…  it was so rad. And we were just in awe at how impeccable the Lord's timing was. We met with Benjamin again on Saturday and answered some of his questions and also established our purpose, we talked about preparing to make covenants and the baptismal covenant. He was completely soaking it up. He is a truth seeker!! We also met a few other investigators and are so excited for this week.

Faith is a real power.. the Savior said, "According to your faith, be it unto you." The Lord is so aware of the desires of his children. He was aware of Benjamin's desire to find more truth and he was aware of our desire to find those seeking truth. I know that if we tell the Lord we'll do something, exercise faith in Christ, and trust in the Holy Ghost, he will provide a way. I feel him walking with me in his work. I know that through Christ, we can be cleansed and we can be changed. Choose to deepen your conversion every day, choose to know him better this day.

I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers and your examples to me!

Love, Sister James

July 13, 2015

Sisters in San Luis Obispo's  "Bubblegum Alley"
 

The famous SLO's Gum Alley!

 



Sister Harrison and Sister James loving life

Paradise!

 

Find yourself in losing yourself!

Family!

First off, happy Independence Day! We have so many freedoms and opportunities to be grateful for. Our 4th was awesome. We decided to walk all day since everyone was out and about! We had so many teaching opportunities! Our investigator, Kaya who is preparing for baptism on August 1st is progressing really well! Since she is 11, we decided to make her a baptism book! We decorated it, included some church activities, and made a calendar that she can place stickers on for every day that she reads her scriptures and prays. She was so excited about it! She's a cutie.

After hearing about the passing of President Packer, I decided to look through each of his talks from General conference. In almost all of his talks he focuses on repentance and refers to the verse in D&C 58:42. "The lord remembers our sins no more." He loves the savior and reading his words helped me come closer to my Christ this week. I know that the atonement of Christ has the ability to change not only our behavior, but our very nature I'm grateful for prayer.. One of my companions who is now home sent me something that the Lord knew I needed. Because this thought helped me, I thought I would share it and maybe it will help someone reading.

"You know what, God answers prayers. He doesn't always answer them in the time frame that we think or wish he will, but he always does. Don't allow yourself to be repetitious or give half effort in your prayers because they WILL help you feel fulfilled and you will have every power in heaven pulling for you. Give it all up to your investigators first and the rest will follow that. "

You find yourself in losing yourself!

My love for these people and my Heavenly Father is growing every day. I'm so grateful to be his servant, witness, and disciple. It is such an honor and blessing!

 

I love you all! Thanks for your prayers :)

Sister James

The ultimate companionship!

 



Happy 4th of July!

 

 

Rescuing souls

Hey everyone!

So this past week was wonderful, and busy, and flew right by! I missed some important things from last week, so I'll include them in this email! Last week, we received a referral from the SLO Hermanas.. They said this guy was pretty interested and gave us the address. We found the address and it was in the middle of nowhere on this farm with a loooong driveway.. for some reason, I just felt weird and bizarre. We figured it was a half-way house of some sort.. We asked for Larry and they said he wasn't there, so we started up a conversation with Doug. Doug is seeking peace and change in his life and was super sincere.. we talked about the restoration and The Book of Mormon and emphasized that it all points back to Christ. He stopped us mid conversation and says, "My friend Blake LOVES Jesus! I'm going to go get him." Blake came out and started crying and praising and singing hallelujah! I couldn't contain myself haha. They really, REALLY wanted to come to church the next day. So they came this week and last week! Every one's welcome, right?! Well, the Elders are now teaching them because Blake asked Sister Harrison out on a date... yep. Then yesterday, He got up in the middle of sacrament meeting and came back in with a flower for her. It was the best haha. You never know what you're going to get.. people are nuts, but they're still children of God.

 

Unfortunately, Bart won't be making his baptismal date of July 11th due to his work, but he's still doing really well!! He's so humble and willing. Please keep him in your prayers! We're doing a lot of less-active and member work. (Miracle: one of our less-actives, Waldo came to church this week and loved it!)  We're focusing on having 100% accountability.. and visiting every member and reminding them of the covenant they made to share the gospel and invite others to come unto Christ. Charity truly is the essence of this work.. It's about loving all. Companions, active members.. Every one! There is a purpose behind every person that the Lord places in our path and we can learn something from them.

Sister Brown came on exchanges with me in SLO this past week.. it was the best!! It was like we had never been apart and we just picked up right where we left off! We saw a lot of miracles and had so many great gospel conversations.. It's amazing how everything that I'm studying aligns perfectly with the work right now. I've been reading about the greatest missionaries in the Book of Mormon (Alma, Ammon, Amulek, etc.) And how they taught with power and authority, asked inspired questions, and followed the spirit. So many individuals we met this past week we're unsure of their belief of the nature of God, they're purpose, and why we're here. I had the opportunity to take what I learned from the way these missionaries taught and apply them to how I teach. I love the scriptures.. they're a gift from God.

I've been reflecting on all I learned at our mission conference with Elder Grow and wanted to share a couple of things!

1. This is the work of rescuing souls and how personal reactivation is.. I know that there are so many prayers given on behalf of those less-active members that we teach and work with. Our purpose is to remind them of those blessings and invite them to feel the spirit once again, and most importantly, to love them.

2. There is no end to my mission.. I never wanted to be the missionary who was devastated to go home because he has a plan and I will serve him for eternity. Whether it is as a full-time missionary or a member-missionary, he has work for me to do!

We had the opportunity to read one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon last night with a less-active family. This chapter helps me reflect on my progress in my ultimate goal of returning to my Heavenly Father and receiving the gift of eternal life! I invite you all to read it with a sincere desire to be taught by the spirit. The chapter is Alma 5. Here are some of the promised blessings that were so powerful to me..

vs. 33 "He sendeth an invitation unto ALL men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, he saith: repent and I will receive you."

 vs. 38 "The good shepherd doth call you; ye in his own name doth call you, which is the name of Christ."

 

vs.48 "It is HE that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth oh his name."

Our Savior lives.. He loves perfectly and like Alma teaches, His arms of mercy are extended to every single one of God's children. This gospel is true and God is good!! :) I love you all!

Love, Sister James

6-29-15

The work is hastening!

Family!

I don't have a lot of time, so I will try to get to the nitty gritty and share all the wonderful experiences we had this past week. Sister Harrison and I had a really neat miracle this past week that I will share. We were visiting a former investigator when we saw a lady loading some things into her car down and across the street. We asked her if she needed help and she proceeded to tell us that her daughter was moving to Washington and she could use some help lifting a heavy dresser. We called the Elders and they came right away to help out. Go elders. We helped move some other things and had the opportunity to talk to them about what we do as missionaries, how we get called, etc. They were so intrigued about the idea of having a modern day prophet. After we finished, they offered us water and we all sat down together... the conversation naturally led into the restoration and as we taught, the spirit was working in them. Michelle has been to a baptism, and serves alongside the missionaries at the food bank in the area where she lives. (Bakersfield).. She is looking for a church and has so many questions. She has definitely been prepared! We gave Michelle and Cassandra copies of The Book of Mormon and invited them to read and pray about it.. It was so neat to see the result that came from following the spirit, talking to everyone, and serving. First observe, than serve... miracles happen :)

 

I went to Santa Maria with Sister Hunsaker for my exchange. We had a blast and she taught me so much! She likes to work and she is so good at listening.. listening to both the investigator and the spirit. I'm excited for my exchange with sister Brown this week :) It will be fun to be companions for the day and see how much we've both learned in these past 6 months.

 

We had the wonderful blessing of having a mission conference with Elder Grow of the 70 this past week! I loved every minute of it and learned so much. He has so much energy and loves the Lord and his work! He really focused on the importance of always finding.. It's so easy to fall into the trap of focusing on one golden, progressing investigator. We should always, always be finding and reaching as many of His children as we can. We are missionaries 24.7 and need to open our mouths at ALL times. It was cool because on the way back, we had to stop to fill up on gas. We started up a conversation with a man at the gas station and it turns out, he has a copy of The Book of Mormon and loves learning! He's read bits and pieces, but his wife is a devote catholic and wants nothing to do with the Church. It was simple, but we testified of the power and impact reading the Book of Mormon could have on his faith and his family. We encouraged him to give the missionaries a call and he committed to do it. It's the small and simple things! 

Elder Grow also focused the conference on goal setting and planning.. we should make no small plans! We see miracles as we take away the limits and trust in the Lord.. (I'll share more of what I learned next week. I'm out of time :)

The work is hastening!

 Love,

Sister James

6-22-15

Happiest city on earth and Lisa's baptism!

Hey family!!

SLO really is the happiest city in America!!I love it here.. I love the people. I love the gospel :) I'll try to cover the last couple of weeks.. so many wonderful things took place! So my companion, sister Harrison is amazing! We instantly clicked and have had a blast serving together already. Our investigators are so great here. We are teaching Bart and as of this week has a baptismal date of July 11th! He's a little Filipino man with the purest heart. He's so humble and always says, "all I want is to serve God." Every time we read something from the Book of Mormon, he says with his accent.. "This is a good one!!" Sister Harrison and I say it every time we see a miracle now haha. "That was a good one."

We're also teaching Kaya.. She is 11 years old. Her mom is a less-active member, but has the desire to come more often. Kaya wants to be baptized and has a baptismal date of August 1st. Her sister was baptized a couple of years ago, and immediately fell away and went inactive, so we're trying to avoid that by helping them come regularly and helping Kaya see the significance of the covenant she is making. She's so sweet and simply desires to follow Christ. I love her prayers.. they are so sincere, as it should be. She just talks to him. She came to church yesterday and loved it!

Tuesday we drove down to MLC (missionary leadership council) In Oxnard. We discuss the needs of the mission and also decided when we will be having exchanges this transfer with the sisters. Our first exchange will be this week, so I'm looking forward to that! We focused on our CVM target "we are consecrated servants of Jesus Christ." At the beginning of my mission I had thought of consecration as keeping away worldly thoughts and desires. I've come to understand that consecration is much more than that. Consecration is repentance.. it is work. It means we change. Consecration is conversion, passion, and devotion. It is humility It means we are WILLING to give the Lord our all and submit our will to his.

Neal A. Maxwell said, "Increased consecration is not so much a demand for more hours of church work as it is for more awareness of WHOSE work this really is. Consecration is following Christ.

President Felix let us go down to Ojai for Lisa's baptism.. (even though it's a couple hours away) he's so great and so personal. I'm so grateful I was there.. it was special and such a spiritual experience for myself and all who attended! Lisa's baptism was so powerful.. I've never seen some one so eager and she was just glowing after.. she was so cute. She went up to Bishop Thomas right after and said, "So how soon can I get my calling!?" haha. I gave a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost.. Lisa has taught me that nothing is worth losing the spirit and letting the spirit come into your heart and allow it to change your life completely. I think the toughest part about missionary work is helping others have the desire to change their desires.. many people are complacent and just don't see a need for the restored gospel or a need to change. A missionary doesn't change hearts and desires, the spirit does. I have a testimony of the power of The Holy Ghost.. I cherish that gift. And all I have to do is live worthy of that gift, teach and follow the spirit, and invite with sweet boldness.

 

I know that I've come to know my savior in a way that I couldn't through any other experience. The Lord has taught me every day of my mission.. I know that I was called to the California Ventura mission to have these experiences and witness these miracles. I know HIM now.. I am continuing to learn about his love and his nature every day. If any of you are considering a full-time mission, I encourage you to pray fervently. If it feels right, go. If not, the Lord has work for us to do who ever we are and where ever we may be. Choose to serve him.. he is aware of each and every one of his children. He loves us. The gospel is true!

Love,

Sister James

7-13-15

What a great day!

Lisa's baptism!

 

San Luis Obispo and Sister Training Leader!

Family and friends!

I am leaving this town that I love so much, but the good news is.. I'm being transferred to San Luis Obispo!! I haven't been up north, so I'm really excited :) I've also been called to serve as a sister training leader! I'm grateful for the opportunity I will have to learn from and work with more of the sisters. Every day of my mission gets better and better, so I know it will be wonderful.

I'm so grateful that the Lord gave me the opportunity to serve here in Ojai.. I learned SO much about myself and about understanding others through the atonement. And I'm so grateful for sweet Sister Scoresby.. she is the most compassionate, caring person I know and will do great leading out this area with TWO companions (They're going to have a trio here). I love the people here so much, but look forward to those I will meet in SLO!

We had such a busy week... so many good things happening!  A lot of service and appointments. Our area has grown immensely and the enthusiasm the ward has for missionary work has grown so much from when we first arrived. The lord is working in this area and the spirit has led us completely.. it's all Him! Lisa blows my mind... we joke that she is a member in disguise. She is facing so much opposition with her family and friends as she is making this decision to join the church.. the adversary is working on her, yet she is so strong. She knows it is true and will not deny it, despite all that she is going through. We've met with her every day this week and she has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying fervently. She's marking her scriptures and sharing her favorite verses with us. She says that the feeling of the spirit is so worth the sacrifices she is making. She's inspired me that the gospel should be our first priority.. always and that if we want to receive truth and strength to withstand, we must diligently read and pray. We had a lesson with Janice and Lisa was eager to come! She's not even a member yet and she bore powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and the change that it's brought to her life. I know the adversary is working on her because she will do so much good and help build his kingdom in so many ways.. she is so special to me! She will be baptized in two weeks and really would like me to be there, but SLO is pretty far up north from here, so we will see! I'm just grateful that I had the opportunity to be a part of her process in receiving the gospel and learn from her example.

There is nothing better than seeing others come unto Christ and seeing them find the peace that they are seeking. There is so much to love and we can't afford not to have the spirit.. I'm learning so many things every day and also having a blast while serving! :)

Our Savior Lives. He loves us.

Love you all!

Sister James

6-1-15

 

Sister Training Leaders

 

 

I love Ojai!

Family!!

This past week was amazing... I love Ojai, I love the people and the experiences I am having! We are really focusing on the youth in our ward and took more of them out with us this week... these are our future missionaries and they have such a powerful influence on those we teach.  We had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting as well!  A returned missionary from the Ojai ward gave his homecoming talk, so the whole meeting centered on missionary work! We had four investigators come, which was such a blessing! Lisa and Allie, Louise, and Shirley all came and a less-active member that we have been working with also came.

Our investigator Lisa is so prepared... You have all heard the term "Golden investigator"… she is everything beyond that haha. She is preparing to be baptized on June 13th. She is living the word of wisdom completely, reading the Book of Mormon diligently (she is now in 2 Nephi 6), We gave her a pearl of great price and doctrine and covenants on Thursday and she's already almost done with the pearl of great price. We've been meeting with her almost every day.. it has been such a miracle. She's such an example to me! She gave us a call on Saturday to let us know that Allie is feeling that she is not quite ready for baptism on the 13th, but that Lisa still wants to continue with hers and lead by example. We felt the same way and so we are looking forward to adjusting our teaching to help Allie understand and really focusing on helping her have spiritual experiences to prepare her for baptism soon. We had a Relief society/ YW activity this past week, so it was perfect! It was pretty funny because Janice showed up and it turns out that Janice and Lisa are really good friends! And they both know a lot of the members (this is a small valley…everyone knows everyone).

We happened to do service for Janice this past week and Lisa and Allie actually came with us and helped.. they are so wonderful! Janice really loves to learn, but expressed to us this past week that she's hesitant about the commitment. She even has developed a testimony of the 1st vision and of the prophet Joseph Smith.. but wants to move slooow,  which is okay because this work is about the people and what they need, not about what the missionary wants. We'll continue to work with her, serve her, and help her recognize the spirit.

We haven't been able to meet with Viviana, but we met with her mom, Ellie.. I have mentioned her before. We hadn't planned on visiting Ellie that day and the spirit prompted us to visit. I'm so grateful that we followed the spirit because it was exactly what she needed. She opened up and got very emotional.. she told us that she has never felt peace in her life. Never.. which I thought was heart-breaking. She's always helping everyone else in her family, that she's never been able to find who she is. She told us that just before we showed up three weeks ago, she had been praying to find that peace. She knows that we didn't come by coincidence and that she will find the peace she is seeking in the restored gospel.

I'm so grateful for the precious gift of The Holy Ghost and for the promise that "He WILL show you all things what ye should do." Each individual we meet is so different, they have different desires... and sincere questions of the soul. (especially here in Ojai.. People are deep!) If I rely on my own wisdom, I cannot understand what they need.. HE knows what they need. I'm so grateful for the spirit, leading me and guiding me in this work and giving me the words to say.

There is power in daily repentance and daily scripture study.. it's changing me every day! The adversary is a very real being.. Thankfully, our Heavenly Father has provided us with tools to fill our lives with the savior's teachings to be able to withstand temptation. Live every day in a manner that shows your value for the atonement of our savior and put the atonement to work. I'm learning that I can't convince or persuade any one to come unto Christ... I can't convince anyone that the gospel has been restored. All I can do is invite, testify, and love people into the gospel. We all must have personal experiences with the atonement and we must all ask, seek, and knock for ourselves. We have the ability to receive personal revelation and answers... We have the perfect example - our savior Jesus Christ. The praise of the world didn't mean anything to him.. If we follow the example of Christ in seeking to please our Heavenly Father, we will find lasting happiness... the gospel is true.

Love,
Sister James
5-25-15

Lisa giving up her coffee

 

Our perfect investigator Lisa!
 

 

We're so white!