🔔 Jingle [Wedding] Bells! 🔔

Hi guys! I just want to wish a Merry Christmas to my American friends today and a late Feliz Navidad to my Latino friends/family, porque ustedes saben que la fiesta verdadera empieza el 24 jajajaja!

Here's some fun random facts of the week!

• I ate so much that I am currently sick and still don't regret a single plate from last night.
• I accidentally ran over a squirrel this week on the way to a teaching appointment... oops.
• Met and am currently teaching a woman who was taught by Elders in El Salvador but then got in a car accident and literally forgot all she learned! However, she said what she does remember is the elders, church and this special feeling she had around them. SHE'S SO AWESOME! (I will write more on her next week) 
• Went Christmas caroling with my district last night. Twice when we went to visit a home and the less active family wasn't there, on our way out they would be walking in! That is more than just luck! 
• I get to Skype my family TODAY!
• Got calls/texts at midnight to wish us a Merry Christmas from investigators who don't understand our strict sleeping schedules. Although we couldn't answer we thought it was sweet that they thought of us and made the effort.
• My Colombian investigator is getting baptized this Saturday! She's awesome!! 

This week consisted of multiple parties. Lots of Christmas festivities and 2 weddings! Last transfer I wrote about a fast Sunday where an inactive couple Hermana Johnson, Hermana Doyle and I found came to church together for the first time in years and how the woman came up and bore her testimony with me. Their code names will be Queen and King. Well they have been active ever since AND they were married this Friday! This is a step they took so that in a year from now they can be sealed in the temple for all eternity! However they might wait a year and 2 months so that I can be at the sealing after my mission. :') They're so precious and dear to my heart, I love Queen and King! Also a family in our ward was sealed in the temple! We didn't get to go to the temple but they looked so happy after. Marriage, it's so wonderful... Okay enough on marriage I can't be thinking about that right now haha! Let's get to the missionary experiences! 

My testimony of the scriptures was strengthened this week after having a really cool experience with an investigator. This investigator is the boyfriend of the relief society president's daughter! His code name will be Nefi, because his desire to learn more about the gospel and follow the Lord resembles the faith and dedication of Nefi. Also because of the following experience I'm going to share about him. I have been teaching Nefi since last transfer. He has always been very interested, attends church regularly, loves the lessons BUT he hadn't gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith. This was important to me considering it's an essential part of the gospel. We decided to wait on his baptism until he felt confident in that decision. About 2 weeks ago we expressed the importance of reading the scriptures to understand and expand our knowledge of the gospel. He started reading and Wednesday night I was the proudest hermana in the whole world, Nefi had read almost 3 chapters and loved it! He said he prayed before reading like we advised him to and in his words, "It was so weird... I like understood everything and I could relate to Nephi and his experience. It was like it was speaking to me." That my friends is something powerful called studying the scriptures with the help of the holy ghost! He was so excited to tell us all he had learned and how shocked he was that it related to current situations in his life. We read all together with his girlfriend (she's the best missionary to him, I can't wait to double date with them some day and attend their temple sealing :') ) and it was one of the most spiritual lessons I've had. We decided to set a baptismal date for January due to his desire and growth. After asking how he felt about January 27th he pauses and says, "Can we do the 21 instead?" Um HECK YEAH we can! Hahaha! We were so excited! I just love Nefi and his girlfriend who is so cool for bringing her boyfriend to the gospel. Their families will be so blessed! Also they're engaged!!!!

I had the coolest experience street contacting. We spent around 2 1/2 hours in one apartment complex meeting all these wonderful refferals and potential investigators. As we were walking out of one particular building I see these two little boys playing on the steps. My initial thought was, they're children, they won't be interested or even understand what you are saying so just keep walking. Suddenly another thought came into my head, "What if those were your little brothers and someone passed on the opportunity to teach them about their Savior, Jesus Christ." Without even warning my companion I called out to them, "HEY GUYS!" I asked them what they knew about Jesus Christ, showed them a children's video from the church that explains who Jesus Christ is and these kids were MIND BLOWN. Within a matter of minutes they had around 6-8 of their little friends gathered around us asking us to show them the "cool Jesus video" and to talk to them about the Book of Mormon. They all thought it was cool all because the two original little boys thought it was cool. Here's me and my favorite little missionaries. Lesson one: This truly is a chosen generation. Lesson two: NEVER pass up on the opportunity to testify and teach of Jesus Christ.

And so, I would like to conclude my email with a brief testimony of my Savior and older brother, Jesus Christ. I know that He lives, I know He walked the earth and during His earthly ministry set the perfect example for us to follow in our lives. Although our journey through life will never be quite as perfect as His which is why He atoned for our sins making it so that we could repeatedly repent and try again after mistakes are made. This gives me hope because I mess up so much every single day! But because of Christ and his important role in our salvation we are never out of reach of Christ's atoning sacrifice. Being able to share this with God's children makes me realize how important my role is as a misiónera. I have seen this gift bless and change the lives of my investigators and members and it's only possible because He lived and died for us. I know He lives and that He loves us, because of Him we are never alone and I am ridiculously proud to wear his name on my tag and represent him for these 18 months.

Have a wonderful Christmas! I love you all!

Con amor,

Hermana Tapia 

A "Winter" Wonderland

¡Hola!

¿Cómo están todos? There is no way it's been a week I feel like I emailed just two days ago. The weeks are going by so fast! This week was filled with lots of lessons, beautiful people that I love, una fiesta navideña, humbling experiences and a wonderful baptism for my sweet girl Winter.

Winter had a wonderful baptism! I'm so proud of her and her example to her family. We had the young women sing and the primary children give the talks and prayers. Then Elder Nash who found Winter and her family baptized her. It was so wonderful to see her family there who hadn't been to church in years decide to attend and be reminded of the spirit at church they have been missing since they stopped attending. President and Sister Huntsman came to the baptism as well and loved it, they support and love us so much. Winter loved her baptism and we are so happy for her. We had hot chocolate and cake at her house last night after her confirmation and she loved talking about her baptism and receiving the holy ghost. Despite being so young she has a mature and bright spirit. She also decided she wants to "be like us" and serve a mission when she turns 19! I'm so proud, I really love my Winter girl. Winter is squatting in one of the pictures to not embarrass me for being the size of an 11 year old, hahaha! Also we found out her baptismal suit was on backwards 5 minutes before the baptism started so try to not make fun of me, it was only my second baptism okay! That's my defense! jajajaj!

After much fasting, praying and tears we decided we will have to stop teaching DJ within the next few weeks. He recently had something happen that lead him away from us and back into his addictions. Because he is ashamed of his actions he has been overcome with a feeling of unworthiness and has been avoiding us. The other day we got to talk to him on the phone. When I spoke he got emotional and said how great it is to hear my voice and how I have been a light in his life that he doesn't deserve anymore. I tried so hard to testify to him otherwise but there was only so much I could say. He is very unhealthy and unhappy. We love him but can't do much for him anymore. It really breaks my heart to watch him make bad decisions. I thought, maybe I didn't teach him well enough or maybe he didn't feel God's love for him through us. But at the end of the day everyone has their free agency which is the freedom to choose our own actions. But it's been hard letting him go and being so limited on our ability to help him. But I have faith that he will change his habits and come into Christ, while I am serving or in years but I know it will happen. All I can do now is pray that he will remember all he has been taught and apply it to his life.

All other investigators are progressing at their own pace, I love them and have met wonderful people this week that I can't wait to continue teaching!

The weather was horrible this week. It was ice cold outside + 400 mph winds + humidity + snow + shivering so bad our bodies shake and we can barely move - the sun ÷ the time it takes us to walk around from appointment to appointment and talking to people on the streets who are equally as cold and hate us for stopping them = December in Virginia. It seems that no matter how many layers of clothing I wear the humidity slips the cold air through the layers and into my body. Hand/toe warmers are basically the reason I'm still alive. Hahaha! I was also overcome this week with a feeling of homesickness now that Christmas is right around the corner. I was filled with loneliness and a longing to be with my family to celebrate this time of the year. Determined to stop being selfish and seek council from my Father I said a prayer and tried to have an attitude of gratitude only thinking about the blessings of my day. Later that day I read a conference talk given in the Christmas devotional given just a few weeks ago. A talk by Elder Kevin R. Duncan really hit home for me in his talk, Heavenly Gifts. He talked about Christmas as a new missionary in Chile and explained much of the struggles I am having, his words were just what I needed to hear in that moment:

"If Christ had left His heavenly home and come to earth to suffer and die for us, I could certainly leave my home and put up with a few little discomforts to share His wonderful message."

I am here for my Savior, to express gratitude for all He has done for me, these little discomforts are nothing in comparison to all He has done for me. This reminder was the turning point in my week. I just remember I'm working for my Father in heaven and my Savior who have done so much for me and suddenly cold weather, homesickness and tiny struggles really don't seem so bad. :) I am grateful to be here. I encourage you ALL to listen to that talk it is incredible and I bawled like a baby the whole way through! Hahaha!

That's all for now! Talk to you all on Christmas next Monday! Love you People!

Con amor,
Hermana Tapia

The Time Satan Sent a Blizzard the Morning of My First Baptism & Nearly Ruined Everything :)

The title sums everything up. I had the most stressful week of my life BUT HEY! Missionary work is still AMAZING, now let's talk about the blessings of adversity because somehow it ties into this! This week wasn't actually the greatest. It was kind of REALLY hard and stressful for me if I'm being 100% honest. I had to work a lot on personal stuff that was really hard for me. I got discouraged so many time that made me realized I was too hard on myself and it had stopped me from progressing. Discouragement is a tool Satan uses against us to stop us from progressing. BE CAREFUL AND BE AWARE OF IT! As I became humble enough to accept my weaknesses and relied on the Lord to help me change I was blessed as was my companion and my investigators. But like one of my favorite quotes says, "A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor." It seems it's always the most challenging times in my life where I learn and grow the very most. It has really helped me understand why adversity is necessary in our lives. It's evidence of God's love for us, that he loves us enough to make us who we need to become even when the learning process can be challenging. I invite you all to watch a video called "The Will of God". It is short and simple yet powerful and helps us understand how to seek and feel God's love through trials:

I just want to say I love my fellow Virginians... they're my people, my friends, my hermanos/hermanas, mi familia... but I can't help but laugh at how terrified they are of snow. When an inch of snow falls they shut down their businesses, cancel school and hide in their homes. They go into this emergency hibernation mode, hahahaha! Although I find it amusing, it also was the reason the baptism ALMOST got cancelled this Saturday. But THANK GOODNESS the show went on! 

The baptism was wonderful! I will use code names to not confuse you all, the recent convert and his wife love Mickey & Minnie Mouse so that will be their code names for today. If you go back to my first transfer in Old Town you will find a story of me with a sweet woman (Minnie) I once met at an elderly mission couple's home one Sunday for dinner. She opened up to me about her struggles with her husband, we cried and talked for hours. I promised her things would get better as she remained faithful and the Lord had a plan for her and her baby. She said she would pray so that I would get transferred to Little River. Guys, it was HER HUSBAND that got baptized this Saturday! It has been a crazy, incredible journey! I remember when I first got here my companions were terrified of Mickey and he never wanted to talk to us... NOW?! Now he has given up all his addictions, is an INCREDIBLE father and husband, is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is just kicking Satan's butt! We're also his best friends now, he finally likes us! Minnie is SO happy! I don't know what I did to deserve the opportunity to meet them and be an instrument in the Lord's hands to watch this incredible conversion. I LOVE my mission, I LOVE the people I teach, I LOVE the gospel and I absolutely know it is true! If you would have told me the night I met Minnie that I was going to teach and later baptize her husband I would have thought it was a joke! But here we are, the Lord is powerful, He is All-Knowing and I don't care who you are or what you're struggling with, if you have the desire to change and follow God you can and you will. Mickey asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost at his baptism, I got to sing a special musical number, "Caundo Me Bautice" and nearly the whole ward was there, we almost didn't fit in the room! Minnie and I totally hugged and bawled during his baptism, Mickey gave a beautiful testimony that ended in him bearing his testimony of his Hermanas Misioneras and that made my life complete. Here are two very special pictures to me, the day I met Minnie in my first area and the day we attended her husband's baptism. What a special family and story that I will cherish forever.

I'm liking this code name thing so it's going to continue. Remember the 11 year old who is reactivating her whole family? Her codename will be Winter! So basically she's the little sister I have always wanted and is getting baptized this Saturday! She is still beautiful, strong and an amazing example to everyone! She is done with all the lessons and I was asked to sub for her class this Sunday at church which was so fun! If you know me, you know I love children and teaching them about the gospel. Winter also got to sing at our ward Christmas concert last night that I also performed in with the missionaries and sung "Mando a Su Hijo". Here is a cute picture of Hermana Gonzalez, Winter and I after the Christmas concert. I'm excited to share about her baptism next week! 

DJ is still breaking my heart and making me really dislike free agency. Keep praying.

Snow is a missionary's worst enemy because when it snows we aren't allowed to drive our cars. What does this mean for a missionary in the DC South mission? Well, we cover multiple cities and our investigators live quite a ways from each other. We had amazing members and investigators take us to and from our appointments and dinner Saturday, bless their hearts. I wanted to take a picture of the snow for you all but literally after Saturday it stopped snowing and by Sunday morning it was all melted! So it decided to snow for the baptism and our super busy Saturday evening... Hermana Gonzalez and I are sure it was Satan trying to ruin the baptism. There's no more snow but praying we don't have more snow days. I'm including a winter missionary selfie because I'm so excited to wear warm winter clothes!

Anyways, adversity is a learning opportunity, the gospel changes lives, snow is my worst enemy, I love being a missionary and I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Con amor,
Hermana Tapia

I'M A MOM!!!! ❤

¡Hola queridos!

Sooo, on the mission when you become a trainer you become a "mom", you love your companion like your own daughter! This means I'm officially a mom! I'm excited to introduce you to my my nueva compañera/daughter, Hermana Gonzalez! Did I trick her into thinking I only spoke Spanish for the entire transfer meeting up until the very end? I most definitely did. And did she completely fall for it? Yes, yes she did. Hahaha! It was a great way to break the ice, we get along SO well and I love her! We have had a great and very eventful first week together. I never thought I would have a Latina companion since I'm a native Spanish speaker but here we are just killing it. (also SO grateful I don't have to teach her Spanish, the Lord knows I don't have that much patience... yet!) She is a Paraguayana, she's so funny and hard working! We are different in many ways yet hold the same love for the gospel so that has allowed us to establish a great friendship and love for la obra misiónal Here's a cute picture of us hugging for the first time when President announced companionships. (How adorable are President and Sister Huntsman in the background? I just love them, they're seriously like parents to us. Pretty sure I could dedicate an email to bragging about them... stay tuned.)

Sad news, DJ is struggling hardcore... please keep my bff in your prayers. He's going through a really hard time and things aren't looking too good.

The Columbian investigator is doing so well! She passed her baptismal interview and then her mother-in-law had emergency surgery the week of her baptism which made things hard cause her father-in-law was supposed to baptize her. Her mother-in-law's surgery made it impossible for them to travel to Virginia from Pennsylvania. But her mother-in-law is all better and they should be coming this week so we can move forward! She has made many friends in the ward and loves it! We love her!

This week we saw so many blessings. We received a call one night from our zone leaders about a less active member who wants to come back to church and wants his 11 year old daughter to take the lessons. This little girl instantly fell in love with the gospel, brought her inactive family to church on Sunday that led to getting their records from their old ward, them loving our ward and deciding it is time to come back. This little girl is reactivating her father, grandmother, aunt, uncle and niece. She is also a spiritual powerhouse and got really emotional in our lessons this week. She has such an old spirit and this thirst for the gospel of Jesucristo even though she is so young. She reminds me of myself when I was her age, so curious and desiring of a relationship with God. She is also set for baptism this month. Her and her family can't wait. Here's her and I at church on Sunday. I love her SOOO much!

I have my first baptism this week with the woman from Peru's husband!!! I can't believe the time has come. I feel like just last week they were on the verge of divorce and their relationship was so unhealthy and NOW we go over and they're either serving each other, cooking together or cracking jokes. And when he's at work she just talks and talks about the incredible change in him and how his decision to repent is blessing her life and the life of their newborn. AH! I just love them so much, I wanna pack them in my suitcase and bring them home to Utah with me! I never want to leave them! My dear Tia Karry was saying how their example is proof this is the work of God; what 19 year old girls can save a marriage? They can't! It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord is saving their marriage through us. What a privilege it is to be His hands here in the DC South mission. I know that as we follow Him we can all be His hands and help move forward the work in these days.

Here's my new district! Literally everyone is new to Little River except for Elder Andrus (The district leader) and I! We now have an all Spanish district so that's exciting! I was told my cheeks are getting chubby in my recent pictures so basically there goes the last of my self esteem. Hahahaha! I'm kidding! I am going to be honest though I have had to get rid of some skirts... hahaha! I love you wonderful people! I will talk to you all next week! Don't forget to serve someone to today! Los quiero! 

Con amor,

Hermana Tapia