Lesson Learning and Blessing Earning

Hola a todos!

Wow, my blog titles get cheesier every week, I'm so sorry! Hahaha! Hermana Doyle and I went on a fun trip last p-day to downtown Fairfax and so I didn't have much time to write a weekly email but I am alive and well!

We have had a really great few weeks! News is out: I am leaving Little River and will find out this Saturday where I am going next! I am so sad because I have been here for 6 months! 1/3 of my mission. It feels like I am leaving my home ward again. But I am also excited for what is next!

Lesson learned this week: practice what you preach.

In case you haven't heard we had a snowstorm Thursday that was so terrible we couldn't use our cars. Hermana Doyle used the most of our time and walked through the storm for a little to some wonderful lessons! By night time we got permission to use cars for scheduled appointments. We had a lesson with Kat and re-taught the Commandments by playing a buzzer game I made up with a light up toy Aunt Karry sent me when I got my wisdom teeth out. Here's how the game goes; there are either two teams or two people against each other. Hermana Doyle and I take turns explaining a commandment and when the explanation is over the first person to hit their color on the buzzer shares one blessing we get from keeping that commandment. It is always so fun and people get so competitive haha! We were on the last commandment which is to honor and obey the law of the place you live in. In that moment my stomach dropped to the ground as I realized we had forgotten to get a pass for the visitors parking lot in Kat's apartment. Towing here is Virginia and DC is brutal! They are everywhere and they are so quick! We quickly wrapped up and I made a comment that we had forgotten to get a visitors pass. Kat looked concerned and told us to run. My pride got the best of me, this has happened to me before but I have never gotten towed so I was confident it would be there.
We run.
Look around.
And our car is gone.
We are standing outside at 9PM in the middle of the snow with no car.
Hahahaha! Lesson learned people, keep the commandments! They will bless your life and keep you out of bad situations!

Really though, I have been learning a lot about obedience and how important it is in this life. I have seen loved ones and have found myself in sticky situations that could have been avoided had we only kept God's commandments and been obedient. There is a HUGE difference in my life from when I am doing things that are in line when the gospel and when I don't. Preach My Gospel says it perfectly: "Obedience to the commandments brings us peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come. Obedience shows our love for God. Disobedience brings us sorrow." If anyone seeks lasting happiness and peace ask yourself how you can be more obedient to God's commandments and the peace and joy will come! I PROMISE that!

Here's a recap of my last Sunday in Little River: (next Sunday is conference so this is technically my last real Sunday)

• Minnie gave her first talk in sacrament.
• Kat and her husband got a calling!!! 
• Winter's grandmother who came back to church after her baptism gave the lesson in relief society. 
• Amazing investigators came and have been coming regularly since last month and love it! 

It was such a great Sunday. To see the growth of the ward, the recent converts, the less actives... it is so rewarding to see how far these people I met months ago have come as they learn and strive to enduring to the end. I remember how different they were when I met them, some of them wanted nothing to do with us! I was in the back of sacrament watching Minnie give her talk and looking around at some of the most incredible people I have ever met. And when we went over for dinner our sweet Banana ran to show me her faith plant. She explained she has been reading and praying and now her plant is growing. You should have seen the excitement in her little face! This is what missionary work is ALL about. I really felt like I gave this area all I had even if it wasn't much it was enough so that the Lord could do the rest. I will forever cherish my time in Little Rio.

We had our ward Easter activity this week and us and the Elders got to teach the kids about Christ's Atonement through a fun easter egg activity. Inside of each egg was an object that represented a part of Christ's ministry and death. The last egg was empty which represented the tomb after his resurrection. The kids were blown away! hahaha! The easter bunny (Hermano Loza) made a surprise visit and half the kids started crying and screaming ahahaha! I have never laughed so hard in my life. I had a golden picture of Obispo's daughter being forced to take a picture with him. We were happy to though. I am so excited for easter weekend coming up, especially CONFERENCE!!!!

General Conference is this week and I can't wait another second!!! I am so excited! I want to invite you all to take the time this week to listen in God's prophet here on earth today, Russel M. Neilson. Number 6 from the 13 Articles of Faith reads:

"We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."

As stated in the Bible many times, God has promised to always send prophets to lead and guide his children here on earth. And really, what is there to lose? I invite you all to watch it and to write down any question you have about God, life on earth, personal issues and listen attentively, you will hear your answer in the Conference. I do this every conference and it has strengthened my testimony that these are men called of God and are inspired through revelation. God loves us and knows us and his apostles and prophets are evidence of that in our day.

I know and love the truths in the gospel, I share this because it has made such a huge impact on my life and on the lives of the people I love here in Virginia. I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week and pray it doesn't snow again... jaja!

Love always,

Hermana Tapia

🎶Drop It, Drop It Low-Low 🎶 ("It" being your nets)

Hola again!

A friend of mine included this quote in her weekly email last week that really hit me. It's regarding the story in the Bible where Peter and the rest of Christ's apostles decide to go back to fishing after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and seem to not have a clear idea of their scared callings or really any idea of what to do next without Christ. President Jeffery R. Holland explains what the Savior probably felt and said when finding his apostles back on the shore simply just well... fishing when there was work to be done.

"Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn't it obvious then, and isn't it obvious now, that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples - and I need them forever. I need them to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our father in heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is the work of almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me."

I don't know about you but sometimes... I am Peter. Going back to the same mistakes, same situations and same problems and sometimes it's really because we honestly don't know any better. Even after leaving our own personal nets and following the Lord. I'm not going to lie, recently I have been really frustrated with myself because of how much I do exactly what Peter and the other apostles do ALL THE TIME. But every time without fail we can be confident that Christ will come back for us and invite us to change and leave our nets a second time... and a third... and a fourth... and a fifth....etc. Because we will NEVER be perfect and if we were how would we be able to realize the difference between being simple fisherman and being fishers of men like Christ asks us to be? And this is no easy task people, we have to literally leave our nets behind and trust that the Lord will make of us so much more than we can ever make of ourselves. Even if we retrieve for those nets once and a while and make the dumb same mistakes or even beat up ourselves because of times we have gone back. Even if we give up on ourselves I testify that the Lord hasn't and never will. He's waiting for us and willing to come back and get us as many times as needed if we sincerely repent and follow him.

Anyways, that has been on my mind all week and I realize I need the gospel just as much if not, more than my investigators need it! We all do! We didn't get to see lots of people this week because of work and busy schedules but the people we did see are doing great!

Guadalajara: Came to church last week with her niece and to church this week with a friend! Also we had a huge Noche de Hogar (FHE) with Mickey, Minnie, ward members, the Elderes, some less actives and Guadalajara... it was SO FUN! 

Nefi: GOT MARRIED THIS WEEK! Their wedding was so beautiful and they had their engagements taken at the DC temple because that is their goal but the next step is... baptism! But... they moved into an apartment outside of our area so I will be teaching them for the last time this week... But it's all good cause there are missionaries there too and they gospel is true everywhere! 

I am still cool enough to get invited to parties guys... I went to my first birthday bash as a missionary this last week and it was "LIT" to say the least. I don't want any is you getting jealous but I'm including pictures. The little girl is the daughter of an amazing investigator we will call Balada. She is from Honduras and has a husband from México. They are a great family we found a couple weeks ago that we have just come to love. They are so prepared and willing to learn because they love each other but they love the Lord the most.

English class miracle:
We have been teaching a family English for about 2 months now. And we always felt a TINY BIT guilty cause they never really showed interest when we would share a gospel message at the end of our English classes and as much as we love to serve we know our primary calling is to teach the gospel... But we really love and didn't ever want to stop teaching them. So we continued with our English lessons and prepared short, powerful messages to share at the end. But THIS WEEK the dad randomly asks, "So what time is church on Sunday again?" We tell him the time. And he says something around the lines of, "Okay, cool cause I talked to my boss about getting Sundays off so we can start going to your church and he said starting in April I can get Sundays off for the rest of the year cause we want to go to your church, it sounds great!" UM WHAT?!?! OKAY!!! All this time we were thinking they only wanted us for our English... maybe I'm bad at reading people? Anyways! Super pumped about our English class fam!

Okay friends, remember to leave your nets and follow the Lord this week and that selfless services has the power to bring people unto Christ. Los quiero mucho!


Love always,
Hermana Tapia

Literally & Figuratively "Blown" Away

The weather in Virginia only got worse this week.  We received weather warnings about dangerous winds that resulted in trees destroying homes, buildings & cars. The power also went out in lots of cities and people were without any electricity for hours! Luckily, we were safe and sound and had warm water and light the whole week!

The DC temple closed for 2 years yesterday so we planned to go to the temple one last time with Kat on Saturday so she could go in for the first time! We were so excited to enjoy the temple on its last day and due to the weather... it had to be cancelled... we were so sad... And when I didn't think the weather could ruin more of the day, as we were getting ready to go to the church and set up everything for Banana's baptism we got news that the power went out in our church building. We were freaking out! We ran over to the church and the power was on! A brother from the English ward came in and told us it was a miracle that the building had power because no other building in the entire block had power. That was SUCH a blessing. Our sweet Banana was baptized and it was such a sweet day. Like I have mentioned before, a family in the ward took her in years ago and has raised her since. Her birth family ended up coming! The spirit was so strong and we are actually going to start teaching some of her family members! We are so excited. I love Banana dearly.

Guadalajara came to church again this Sunday and she is doing really well! She is progressing so much and has such a strong desire to learn more about the gospel. She LOVES the Book of Mormon so much, her love for it is so contagious. Words can't express how much love we have for her.

We have been teaching amazing people that have a desire to know if the gospel is true but feel they are too busy to read the scriptures, come to church or pray about it so they settle with the idea that maybe it just isn't true. This was something we have worried and prayed a lot about because conversion has to be a personal effort and requires dedication. Hermana Doyle and I were inspired as we walked past the floral section of Giant last Tuesday. We ended up getting mini pots with flowers and reading Alma 32 with some investigators:

21) And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. 

28) Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

After explaining the chapter we explain that faith without works is dead. We can't just say we have
faith, it has to be accompanied with works. So we gave them each a pot and invited them to water the plant and give it sunlight every time they read their scriptures, pray and attend to church to gain further knowledge and understanding. Like a reflection of their faith. It has been such a fun activity and our investigators have a better understanding of what is required of them to gain a personal testimony. I testify that the Lord loves us and wants us to know that He loves us and has a plan for us but we can't know if we don't do our part. I would encourage you all to water and give sunlight to your spiritual seed.

Can you tell I'm excited for Spring? Hahaha! I love you all, have a wonderful week!

Con amor,

Hermana Tapia

Cloudy with a Chance of Miracles

The weather this last week was CRAZY! It snowed, then it was 80 degrees outside then it rained the rest of the week... all in ONE WEEK! And don't get me started on the fog here! But.. I love it! Hahaha! Hermana Doyle got pretty sick because of the weird weather but she is already getting better. The only thing that came pouring harder than the rain were the miracles!

I have to say, one of my favorite parts of being a missionary has to be getting to learn SO much about my Heavenly Father, his perfect gospel and plan for us. I can literally feel how much it is changing the way I treat others, the way I feel about myself and my overall view on life and trials. The gospel brings us joy which is lasting happiness and as we expand our knowledge of it our testimony grows as well. The cherry on top is applying what you learn and really living the gospel; it's just so rewarding. Two things I have loved learning about in my personal study is 1. The life of Jesus Christ and 2. The church's 12 Step Addiction Recovery program.

Getting to know Christ:
We have an investigator we will named Guadalajara (older Mexican woman). She has grown up Catholic but has always felt uncomfortable with some practices and has had lots of questions. She is very interested in the gospel and feels there is something special about it. This week she expressed to us her doubts about Jesus Christ and that he actually came to earth and died for our sins. She asked me how I came to know that he really did live and die for us. I am so glad she asked me this because it was something I had never thought about. I shared with her how reading about his life, praying for understanding and living in a way that made me worthy of becoming like Him really helped me gain that testimony. How are you supposed to believe in someone or something you have never really taken the time to learn and study about? I have felt my testimony of my Savior grow as I have read about his earthly ministry and tried my hardest (which is really not that good but He understands :D) to apply it and become as He is. If any of you have any doubts about our Savior Jesus Christ first of all I want to say that I personally have come to know that He lives and knows us perfectly and that learning about Him and making that effort to get to know Him yourself will also help you to know. Guadalajara was really emotional that lesson and has since read about the Savior, read the Book of Mormon for the first time and came to church for the first time Sunday and LOVED IT! I am so excited for her, she says she feels a change in herself as well.

12 Step Addiction Recovery:We also have this investigator we found a while ago but has recently been really interested and we have been able to meet with him regularly. Before each lesson we would ask him if he had time to read the Book of Mormon to which he would always respond, "No." BUT THIS WEEK, he responded, "Yeah!!! But just a little..." he brings out his book and opens up to 2 Nephi 5. He had read 5 chapters and talked for 10 minutes straight about all that he learned and how it applies to an addiction he is trying to get over and how it helps him become a better dad... it was so wonderful. I almost wanted to cry! Hahaha! This investigator, "Nacho", lost his wife and kids to an addiction years ago, became homeless for years and recently has gotten back into work, lives with his sister and is working to overcome his addictions and change his life. He shared in our lesson this week that things have been so different since we came and knocked at his door and how he hasn't felt this peace before. I have been studying the Addiction Recovery program the church created and applying it into my own life with addictions I have. I may not have terrible, dangerous or life threatening addictions but we all have things to work on. As I have applied each lesson into my own life I gain a testimony of the teaching and am capable of teaching it with sincerity to Nacho. We incorporate each step into a lesson and he's doing so great. I love these people so much. Their progress is such a testimony builder to me :)

Templo Time!We went to the temple again this week with a less active we helped prepare to receive her endowments and it was BEAUTIFUL! When a member of the church receives their endowments in the temple they make sacred covenants with the Lord, it is an amazing experience and something I got to do prior to coming on my mission! I loved every moment of it and I wish I could live in the temple. My goal is to someday have a home that reflects the spirit of the temple. Funny story, a member from Old Town and his wife were invited to the session and inside of the temple I wasn't wearing my missionary tag so when this couple saw me they ran to me and I hugged his wife. Next thing I know this hermano opens up his arms and gives me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek! I WAS AS STIFF AS A STICK! I haven't hugged a male in 6 months... It was so awkward. He pulled away from the hug confused. He realized I was still a missionary and apologized and explained that he thought I had gone home and was visiting...honest mistake! My response to the hug shows how awkward I am with physical contact with males now hahaha! A couple in our ward was also sealed for time and all eternity the same day. I just love the temple! 

There is so much to learn about God and his gospel, I promise you all that if you take the time to study his scriptures and words of His prophets that you will all know it is all true as well. Los quiero mucho, until next week!

Hermana Tapia