Coming in with a BANG(s)!

¡Hola! ¡Tengo muchisimo que compartir hoy!

1. This blog title is what it is because it's been the most eventful week and a half of my entire mission. 
2. This blog title is also bang(s) because my inner 2012 Lili got the best of me and decided to get bangs (the infamous hairstyle I had from 4th-7th grade) and talked my Hermana Doyle into getting some with me. Photographic evidence of our "compa bangs" is provided:

Wisdom teeth announcement
I am the most stubborn person when it comes to pain. I have this bad habit where I don't like to let people know when I'm experiencing pain cause I'm a strong believer that with time it simply goes away (especially with some GOOD Mexican remedios or Vaporu). Which time and time again has proven to be a dumb idea. SO I've been having jaw pains these last few... weeks. I went to the dentist confident that it wouldn't be my wisdom teeth because I was told before my mission they wouldn't be a concern. And... I will be getting my wisdom teeth removed here in VA next week. At first I was like NO WAY. But I've accepted it. I'm not that nervous anymore I am just shocked. Anyways, more news on that next week!

Facebook & Smartphones
We got both this week and it is the coolest thing. I am so grateful that the Lord has provided me with these tools at this time. I am humbled by the fact that He trusts me to use it to my best ability. I have a new Facebook account where I can post updates and communicate with ward members and teach investigators. As excited as I am it's weird to be back on social media. The mission helped me realize how addicted I was to it before coming. Now is the time to develop healthy habits with social media and use it as a missionary tool. I encourage you all to do the same! 

🔇No Inglès🔇
My hardworking and incredible Hermana Doyle is working so hard to improve her Spanish. In attempts to work diligently on that this transfer we decided on a companionship goal that if we speak English outside of the apartment we have to do push ups as a punishment that night. That's right, puro español people! For each sentence of English spoken outside of the apartment we will have to do 5 push ups. It's only been a few days and my arms are sore. You know what that means... this girls arms are going to be TONED.

Okay, I'm done with random updates. Time for some experiencias espirituales. 

Becoming like Christ. The concept of that sentence blows my mind because I know that is what God asks of me and I am just so far from ever reaching that goal. But this week during zone conference the best mission president in the world put this worry at ease for me. "I'm sure that on judgement day God will not sit there and point out the mistakes we made in our lives but instead look at the bigger picture; who we became." So often we are so hard on ourselves for mistake we make. This discouragement is often times what prevents us from progressing and growing. Repent, let it go and learn from it. What matters is what we do with our temptations, shortcomings and mistakes. Remember, what matters most at the end of the day is who we are.

"I believe in His perfection, and I know we are His spiritual sons and daughters with divine potential to become as He is. I also know that as children of God, we should not demean or vilify ourselves, as if beating up on ourselves is somehow going to make us the person God wants us to become. No! With a willingness to repent and a desire for increased righteousness always in our hearts, I would hope we could pursue personal improvement in a way that doesn't include getting ulcers or anorexia, feeling depressed,or demolishing self-esteem. That is not what the Lord wants for Primary children or anyone else who honestly sings, "I'm trying to be like Jesus." - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Miracle Mystery Family

I was just sitting there reading Predicar Mi Evangelio Sunday morning when out of nowhere we get a call. It was a man I briefly met knocking doors last month, he was using my ward mission leader's phone. When we met him last month in December he said he was busy, didn't give us a number or a return appointment but still we shared a pamphlet with him and our card with the address/time for church and our number. Then we never heard from him again. So back to the phone call, I answer and he says, "Hermana Tapia? Hey it's (his name)! I'm here at church with my wife, daughters, brother and my brothers girlfriend. Where are you?" At this point I had absolutely no idea who he was but if there were people at church that weren't members with their family then OF COURSE I could remember! "Uhh... yeah!" I said. Hermana Doyle looks at my puzzled and I whisper, "I have no idea who this is." We had visits and a meeting that morning before church so we couldn't just run over to the church. I explained to him that the time had changed to 1PM this year but that we had no way of contacting him. He told me he would come back at 1PM. Our ward mission leader helped us by giving them a church tour and getting their information. Sad news: they didn't come at 1 AND our (really wonderful) mission leader accidentally deleted their information... sad day. Pray hard so this family contacts us or comes to church again Sunday!

I went to the Washington DC Temple today but will talk about that on Monday!

Lastly, congrats to my AMAZING little brother that made both Mnt. View & Orem High Varsity soccer teams as a freshman! So proud of my boy! Just had to add this sister bragging section. :)

Talk to you all in 4 days! Los quiero!

Hermana Tapia

Hermana Doyle & Hermana Tapia: The Sequel

¡Hola!

I had such a great week with my compa Hermana Doyle! It is so good to have her back, I have missed her so much... she's incredible! We also had a successful week and I have so much I want to share!

First things first, I have to tell you about my experience eating raw pig hooves. Oh. My. Gosh. Last week Hermana Gonzalez and I met this inactive couple that were super sweet and invited us over for lunch on Wednesday. So Hermana Doyle and I get to there and the house just smelled AMAZING. The wife is from Peru so we knew we were in for some GOOD food. The husband who is from Bolivia says he has appetizers for us. He comes out with a huge pickle jar containing Bolivian Curtido (Not sure if that's spelled right). Which is carrots, onions, green beans, jalapeños, cauliflower and raw pig hooves SOAKED in vinegar for WEEKS! It reminded me of a Mexican salsa so I was optimistic about trying it. He serves it, I try it and turns out it's not that bad! I was like OKAY, I can do this! Long story short, that food didn't last 10 minutes in my stomach... hahaha! I won't go into detail but my newly diagnosed stomach problems mixed with all that acid was NOT a good combination. I am okay now though! I now know why the Lord didn't send me to Bolivia... jaja!

Miracle moment at McDonald's! It was Saturday night and we were about to send out church reminders/a spiritual thought to investigators but were looking for a place to do it that would have people that we could teach. I see a McDonalds in up ahead and without hesitation turn into it. We go inside, see that it's empty but decide to stay there and order some hot chocolate. Before we even start to order the young man at the cash register sees our tags and his face just lights up. Turns out he was baptized in Guatemala 2 years ago and stopped going when he came to this Country because he doesn't speak much English and didn't know where to find it. WHAT?! We give him our information and we were all so excited. As he is serving our hot chocolate Hermana Doyle turn to each other and say "We needed to come here for him." Such a cool moment.

Updates:

• DJ- We met with him and he bought us Donuts at Dunkin Donuts and things are going much better for him, he's getting back up onto his feet.
• Minnie- Hermana Doyle and I are teaching her English and she is SO excited! 
• Winter- Sad about moving to California but excited to teach her family there about the gospel. I love my little missionary!
• Nefi- He is having some family problems that effects his baptismal date so we are postponing it until things get better. He feels that is best but he is still on fire and SO wonderful. He still has the strongest testimony of the Book of Mormon I know.
• Banana- We are also teaching a little girl who is the daughter of a member. Banana was actually adopted by this member because her parents abandoned her when she was younger. The members just took her in and love her as their own. Baptism is something they wanted her to decide to do on her own so it has taken time but she has decided to be baptized! We are so excited for her and love her dearly. 
• Mario, Peach and their kids- They came to church this Sunday! It was so great! We also had a fun lesson with them one night. They are progressing so much and I love them! Here is a screenshot from a video we took with them singing Happy Birthday to Elder Inouye. We were all laughing cause they couldn't pronounce Inouye. Jajaja! They're the best!

ALSO! Happiest of birthdays (yesterday) to my absolute best friend in the whole world, Elder Inouye in Chile! I'm just a little bit (really) jealous of all those Chileans that get to spend time with the kindest, most thoughtful, (most attractive) and funniest person I know. :') I hope you have a completo and mote con guesillo!

Hermana Doyle and I were asked to teach a Primary class this Sunday so we taught them about the life of Jesus Christ and the importance of the "CTR" (Choose the Right) theme for primary this month. The humility, simplicity and purity of their answers really touched me. I asked the class at one point why they think it is important to choose the right. A little boy raised his hand and says,"Because when we are bad Jesus feels sad and our family's feel sad." This answer that seems so simple is actually a really hard concept to grasp for some of my investigators. And it's so true. We often think our decisions only impact ourselves but in reality it effects those who love us. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the restored gospel in my life and that it teaches basic and plain truths like the importance of choosing the right and simply knowing that we are children of an all-knowing, merciful and loving God. How many of our problems would be solved by applying those basic concepts and remembering them? Many. Hermana Doyle's grandma sent her CTR rings that we got to hand out at the end of class. They loved the rings! We took a class picture with the rings and encouraged them to remember to always just do what Christ would have them do. The class taught me that we tend to complicate life so much! Moral of the story: be a good person and remember who you are. The gospel is so simple and true. 

Okay people, Hermana Doyle and I are off to get haircuts (Results featured in next weeks email...it's a surprise.) I love la obra misional, I am grateful for the life of our beloved prophet who passed away Thomas S. Monson and know he truly was called of God, just like it is written in the Bible. I am grateful for the plain and simple truths of the gospel that are often complicated and twisted by the world. I love being able to share those truths with others and to get to forget myself and serve God's children just like Jesus Christ did. Also! I will be going to the temple next week (I'M SO EXCITED) so I will be writing on Thursday and not Monday of next week!

Los quiero!

Con amor,

Hermanita Tapia

Transfer 4, Here I Come!

Transfer 3 is officially over and transfer 4 starts tomorrow!

🥁 Transfer news 🥁

• I'm staying in Little River! 
• Hermana Doyle and Hermana Tapia make a come back! HERMANA DOYLE IS COMING BACK!
• I love/will miss Hermana Gonzalez.  She's going to Sudley! 

Weather forecast: If you've seen the news lately you know that the weather on the east coast is nothing short of TERRIBLE. There were actually strict rules that we were only allowed to leave our apartments if we had set lessons between 12-7PM because it was just so cold. Luckily we had appointments with wonderful people this week so we weren't stuck at home. But wow, this weather is absolutely terrible. Good thing we have investigators and members that love and take care of us! I am alive and well!

Update on Winter: Her dad gets moved around a lot because of work and so they will be moving to California at the end of this month and we are so sad! Although, Winter is excited that Utah and California are so close so we can visit each other when I get home. One day we were visiting with her, her grandmother and her father. We were talking about serving missions. One of us asked her where she would like to go and after about 30 seconds of thinking she exclaims with pure excitement, "OHIO!" Out of all the places in the world... hahaha she's so cute.

Update on Minnie: Our best friend Minnie was having a hard week so we spent lots of quality time with her. I realized Saturday night when we were done with all our lessons and stopped by to see her that I really love her so much. She's like a sister to me and I know we did not meet for the first time on this earth. I'm so grateful I'm staying in Little River because I think I would be heartbroken saying bye to Minnie. She is such a hard working, hilarious, loving, accepting and bright person. We are sure we were best friends and probably went Latin dancing together all the time in the premortal existence, hahaha! I'm grateful for the people the Lord has put in my life, I've said this once but they make a bigger impact on me than I could ever make on them. Minnie thought she needed me but I think I need her just as much.

One night we had just barely gotten out of a lesson and it was 8:45PM. We end proselyting at 9:00PM exactly so we knew we had enough time to contact at least one more person. We ended up knocking on the door of an investigator we found in our area book that Hermanas taught months ago. This super sweet Salvadorean lady opens the door and says, "Oh! Come in, it's so cold outside!" (I am finally seeing the blessings of this weather). We come in and share a short message and introduce ourselves. Before we leave she tells us how shocked she is that young women our age choose to walk in the night knocking doors in this terrible weather and leave our families just to share the word of God. In that moment I reflected on the motives behind what I am doing here. I instantly thought of my mom. I received bad news about her health a week ago and thoughts ran through my head. Like how she's at home sick and struggling and how guilty I felt being away from her. I thought about my experience praying about coming on a mission because of fear of leaving my mom and brothers and reading the following scripture at the conclusion of my prayer:

D&C 31:

2 Behold, you have had many afflictions because of your family; nevertheless, I will bless you and your family, yea, your little ones; and the day cometh that they will believe and know the truth and be one with you in my church.
3 Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation.

In that moment I realized how the Lord has promised me He would watch over my family while I am serving. How no matter where I am that if I do what he has asked of me he will guide me and protect me but most importantly he will guide and protect my family. Anyone who knows me knows how guilty I felt leaving my mother and how hard it still is for me. But everyday as I learn, serve and grow I go to bed everyday knowing my family will be blessed for my efforts. I found myself giving the woman that answer. I later realized it was an answer to her prayers and also one to mine. I really want to say that I love and trust the Lord and know He is so aware of our needs and the needs of our loved ones. I also testify that our decisions strongly impact our families and the best way to show love for them is by putting God first and letting your actions testify of His love for them. I know this is true and although I am not perfect at this my efforts have blessed my family and continue to do so. The peace that has come into my life from serving is really all I could ever ask for from my Heavenly Father. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The beginning of a new transfer is kind of like the beginning of the year for everyone else. It's a time to set new goals, reflect and start with a clean slate. I testify that this fresh start is offered to us every week as we partake of the sacrament at church. I encourage you all to set a specific goal that will bring you closer to your Savior and Heavenly Father, partaking of the sacrament this Sunday is a great place to start! I love this work and am ready for transfer 4 with my best friend Hermana Doyle in the best area in the world, Little Rio! Love you all!

Love,

A freezing cold Hermana Tapia

Another Day, Another Tamale

Holaaaaa!

Hermana Tapia reporting back with a wonderful baptism for Kat! (The Columbian investigator) Kat is actually the wife of a less active member (who is from Mexico, woot woot!) and since teaching her he has been reactivated and he baptized her this Saturday!!! All these wonderful couples are just strengthening my testimony of the gospel and how it deeply impacts families and marriages.

I never took the time to share with you that I actually met Kat my first transfer in Old Town. Long story short: she mixed up phone numbers, my trainer and I ended up going to her house and realized it was outside of Old Town area and in Little River as was sat down on the couch and they asked how long we'd been in serving in Little River. Woops, not our area! We worked things out but before leaving I felt like I needed to bare my testimony. Kat related so much to me and my conversion story and I was so sad I didn't get to teach her. Then I get transferred to her area right when she started losing contact with the Hermanas. They couldn't get a hold of her and she was never home. She finally contacted us one day and opened but about what was going on, we went over and we were so excited to be reunited! I love her and her family so much. Especially her 2 year old daughter that finds me and sits by me at church almost every Sunday. I had no idea that night we met her that in a couple months I would be attending her baptism. Kat and her family have taught me so much and I will never forget them. She has one of the strongest testimonies I know and the spirit was so strong as she shared it after being baptized. Here's Kat and I that one night we accidentally met when I was in Old Town and at her baptism. (Is it just me or is anyone else seeing this pattern where I met people in my first area that are now deciding to be baptized??) 

I'll have you all know that I have yet to catch any of the nasty cough & cold bugs going around Virginia. Did I mention almost every single one of my companions have been terribly sick at some point and it didn't hit me once? Yep, I'm just a little bit proud of my immune system lately. Just wanted to share that, no relation to missionary work whatsoever.

Hermana Gonzalez and I have been praying for a family to teach since the beginning of the transfer. Now that we are on our last week (Transfers are next week, we find out Saturday night where we're going!). We were working extra hard to find that family we had been praying for and we found them this week! Here's a little run down, Mario is the dad he was baptized at 20 and left the church when he came to the US because he didn't know where to find it. His wife Peach (I'm losing my ability to think of creative code names so bare with me) is a strong Catholic who feels there's something special about her husband's faith and is willing to learn more about the gospel. We saw them twice this week. The first time we went over we had them and their 3 little girls around the kitchen table. We used the restoration cups featured in my email a couple weeks ago and they were so attentive and asked awesome questions! They all understood it so well and I was amazed at how smart their children were! At the conclusion of the lesson we invited them all to read the Libro de Mormon individually and as a family and to pray to know if it is true. Peach was speechless. She said that it all made sense but that she just didn't know what to do or what her extended family would think of this new religion. Before we could say a word their second youngest daughter mumbles something softly. We all turn to look at her. Embarrassed now she sinks into her chair. "What was that sweetie?" Says Peach. After 5 seconds of silence the little girl finally says in a soft voice, "I said, you can't know if you don't read the book." Words of wisdom you should all listen to! Hahaha! It took every ounce of facial strength in my face to stop from creating the biggest grin. So basically Peach has incredible children and she is willing to read and pray about all we teach them. I love this family so much already and I cannot wait to see what 2018 has in store for them and me!

We are teaching and meeting so many wonderful people and I realized this week how much I love and how attached I am to the Little River members and leaders. I wouldn't trade anything for the people I have met. ALSO WE SAW DJ THIS WEEK! He's working hard, we love him. Also, a little update on Winter, she's still amazing and adorable. We had a movie night with her this week and watched The Joseph Smith Movie. At the end she said "Wow... I LOVE IT!" HAHAHA!

Explanation for the subject: Since Christmas I have had tamales from the following countries this week:

• El Salvador
• Peru
• Nicaragua 
• Bolivia 
• Guatemala 

I don't think there was a single day this week I didn't have tamales... They were so good but Mexican tamales still have my heart. Hahaha!

Happy new year! I am so excited to continue working in la obra misional this year. I love being here, it's tough at times but so amazing. Los quiero mucho!

Hermana Tapia