by K Fletcher

This week was loca

One of the sisters had appendicitis and was out of commission until Saturday, so we were in a trio between two areas for 5 days! It was so very much fun and absolutely exhausting. But you know what? It is worth it! This is all worth it! I just want to share an excerpt from a letter to a friend (another missionary) to demonstrate how I feel right now:

"GUESS WHAT?! IT'S A NEW WEEK. AND WE ARE GONNA GO CONQUER THE WORLD, BECAUSE WE ARE MISSIONARIES. (picture a mission-approved eye of the tiger theme playing right now) WE'VE GOT ALL THE POWER OF GOD ON OUR SIDE AND WE ARE GONNA HELP HIM ACCOMPLISH SOME MIRACLES.

I don't know what changed in the last, like, 13 hours, but I am crazy pumped up for this week. IT'S GONNA BE AMAZING. You should keep an eye on the TV, because Newport news, Virginia is probably going to be translated or something, so that's cool.

Haha, I'm just kidding, but this area has such incredible potential. It feels like I'm never going to leave. I've got a solid transfer after this, I'm almost guaranteed to stay here so I can do some great things!

Also, something that maybe helped with this whole attitude change is that I finally broke the comprehension barrier. You know that point where you feel you are finally understanding most of what everyone is saying. I finally hit it! #5monthsin What a blessing. And while I'll have to fight to learn the language the whole rest of my mission, I feel like it is actually possible now.

ALSO we are going to baptize someone in May. So spoke my mission president. In the month of MAY, if we are faithful and diligent, every companionship in my mission will have a baptism. Miracle May. That's the one.

I'm so excited for missionary work. It is so much fun. It is so great. We can do anything. It's amazing. Miracles are real. God is real. This church is true, and we are awesome."

Our greatest miracle this week was that of an investigator coming to church, for the first time in 3 weeks. We taught her the 'Keep the Sabbath Day Holy' lesson, and while we had an original plan I felt very impressed to speak primarily about the Sacrament. Because that is the whole reason. It is why we come to church it is why we keep the Sabbath day holy -- Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. And before we even finished the lesson, Delia said that she would like to come to church. And then she did!

Yeah. Basically this week was extremely difficult, but oh so rewarding, and I think that is what missionary work is all about. I'm so excited right now. I wish everyone was as excited about missionary work as I am at this moment.

So get excited! Go out, and change the world!
Con Amor,
Hermana Fletcher


by K Fletcher

Answers to questions, and a garbage day!

Updates on the investigators!
- Maria and Carlos are doing very very well. They still haven't come to church yet, which breaks my heart, but Maria and her daughters came to a ward Easter activity! Basically our whole brach was there and tons of screaming kids, chocolate galore and enough food to feed Utah.

- Delia is a somewhat new investigator and she lives with her son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. She also came to the activity! It was so lovely to see so many people there, we were just smiling all day long.

- Zacario has been much harder to get a hold of. His work schedule has ramped up and we haven't been able to meet with him as much. It's also hard because we need that third female now in order to teach him. But we look forward with faith that we will be able to get more contact with him.

- Esther and Angelica are two new investigators, friends that live in the same manufactured home park. They are two of the most lovely people you will ever meet and have been in the states for less than 6 months! It's incredible. They are so cute and I look forward to getting to know them better.

Our members are absolutely the best. Most recently we visited the Ramirez family, who have always been excellent fellow shippers with Eduardo. Yesterday we taught him about teaching and learning in the church with that family and President Chamberlain.  Everyone pitches in with such wonderful comments.

the Ramirez Family
 Selfie courtesy of Branch President Chamberlain
And then one of the Hermanas in my district had appendicitis, and not even an hour after her surgery Hermana McCoy (former RS president) and President Chamberlain were calling to see if everything was alright, if she needed food, priesthood blessings, etc. You couldn't ask for a better branch.

What's really interesting is that there are 6 Spanish missionaries assigned to the stake, and all of them are in my branch! We each have roughly drawn out borders on our areas that we proselyte in, but we have open communication and easy passing of contacts and the like.

Speaking of contacting, he have been doing so much of that lately! It's super fun, but it can be hard thinking of new ideas and things to do. So this Saturday we were brainstorming how to connect to people better and we decided service was the way to go! But there isn't any organized service here and people have a tendency to turn strangers down, so we did community service! We popped out, bags and gloves ready and picked up trash for 2 hours in one of our common areas.
(picking up trash)
 
The best part was halfway through we ran into a group of children playing, and of course they asked us what we were doing. We told them, "We're pickin' up trash! Look how dirty it is!" Then one of them cries out, "We gotta help 'em!" "Let's be nice to the earth!" and suddenly we have a dozen helpers running around and cleaning up their community. It was super fun and totally worth it.

The kids and us after picking up trash
 slushie break after that

Two miracles:
1) While out contacting we run across this man who shakes our hands and asks what church we are from, we say The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and he says "I grew up Mormon!" We come to find out that he had made the decision to leave the church, but, all of his family was still active. His son had just moved in with him and he wanted to offer his son the chance to learn about the gospel. I'm sure many prayers from faithful family members were answered in that moment! We got his information and will be sending the English ward to him soon.

2) Contacting. Our last one for the night. We see a man and think that Family History might be the best approach for him, so we pull out a card, hand it to him and he gets so excited. He has tons and tons of family history on paper. His family even had a "family tree gathering" as the church calls it, to gather family history information. And he had no idea he could put it all online. He also said that he had been missing a chunk of about 400 years and that with familysearch.org he just might be able to find it.

Miracles abound in the mission, especially when we strive to follow our mission President's counsel.

One last story: We are walking around contacting and we hear Mariachi music. Well of course we are going to go talk to these people. What comes next is literally the most Mexican scene I have seen on my mission. 4 Spanish speaking people, white trucks, blasting Spanish music, beer, cigarettes, Chihuahua, EspaƱol. I imprinted that on my mind. And all four were so nice! We had met one of them before, but all the rest were very interested and happy folk. I look forward to seeing them again.

Sorry today's post was a little long, but a mission is great. It really is.
I love you all and hope you have a splendid week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Fletcher

Diago, the cutest little boy on the face of this planet.
So sometimes we find some really sketchy structures

    by K Fletcher

    General Conference: The Super Bowl of mission life

    Well, it was General Conference. To quote one of our investigators, "The Super Bowl of mission life". How true it is!

    This was one of the first times I went into general conference with a question I really wanted answered. And while I'm still not sure exactly what my answer is, I learned more than I ever have before. It was a lovely experience. Even before my mission it was already the best time of the year, and being on the mission amplifies it to a greater extent. There is such a peace that comes from the gospel. I sometimes wish we could have general conference every month! But alas, we have to make due with every 6 months. At least we get to revisit conference in the Ensign issues.

    I don't have much to report this week. It was a little bit slower, and no crazy stories, but I just want to share something about my mission. One thing I really love is that I can already see a difference in myself. I like myself so much more now than I did even 5 months ago and it is such a pleasure to be shaped and polished by the Lord (although the actual polishing isn't as pleasant!).

    This isn't going to be a long post, but I just want to tell you that He Lives! This Easter, here in Virginia, spring came upon us all at once. And with every beautiful flower and every sunny sky, I can see the world testifying of Him. Has He left Himself without witness? I say unto you no. For all things therein testify of Him.

    And I testify of Him!
    Happy Easter!

    Con Amor,
    Hermana Fletcher
    Spring is here!
    with Hermana Johnson


    by K Fletcher

    Well, this week has been a roller coaster ride of emotions


    This week we have been working with a family, los Pineda, who the ward has been pushing and pushing so hard to be baptized but the mom is pushing back just as hard. The father desires and is ready for baptism but we are trying to find the balance of helping both of them according to their needs. Our flexible decision currently is to invite both to be baptized, but make it clear that they do not have to be baptized together if the mom is not ready, and then continue to teach the children and read with the mom for as long as necessary.

    We also made a hard decision to drop los ninos, because they have received the whole first three lessons (broken into very small chunks) and their mothers will not take them to church. We will still occasionally visit, but it is what is right for our area.

    I also had a visit from my Mission President this week. He told me that my father was in the hospital. That was a shock. He had had a major surgery and is currently in recovery.

    And we had transfer calls. Hermana Johnson and I are staying here and Hermana Phillipy is going with Hermana Reed to open a Spanish area in North Carolina. It's going to stretch us a lot, me with only a transfer of Spanish, and Hermana Johnson with only 3.

    It's been a week of significant decisions and choosing to be happy no matter what happens.

    But do you know what? It will be alright in the end.
    Because He Lives.
    Jesus Christ lived. He walked the Holy Land, working miracles and teaching truth. Then He was crucified. But His death was not the end. Because of His Resurrection, we will live again. Because of His sacrifice, we can rise above sin to experience true joy. Because He lives, we can find His help
    and healing every day of our lives.

    I want to invite each and everyone one of you to go to the church website
    Watch the video. Share it. Bear your testimony.

    "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of Him: That He lives!  For we saw Him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that He is the Only Begotten of the Father—
    That by Him, and through Him, and of Him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God." -D&C 76:22-24

    We are sons and daughters of God. And because Jesus Christ lives, so will we! And right now, we live for Him. I love you all so much and want you to know that. I pray for many of you by name. Remember that He is our Savior, our Redeemer, and most importantly our Hope in this life and Eternal Happiness in the world to come.

    Don't forget it.

    Con Amor,
    Hermana Fletcher
    Hna Johnson, Fletcher, and Phillipy in Newport News, Virginia

    by K Fletcher

    "THE PROBLEM WITH THE GOVERNMENT IS THE WOMEN!!!"

    So we have this investigator named Zacario and he has some CRAZY dreams and he always feels the need to share them. Actually, when we mentioned there being a living prophet on the earth today he got really excited and just asked, "Can he interpret my dreams?!" It was great.

    So he's telling us about this dream where there is this little kid that invites him onto a train. On the train the little kid disappears and the stars are speeding past the window like he's going a thousand miles and hour. Then he gets off the train and stands under the stars and this imposing voice speaks from nothing and simply says, "EL PROBLEMA CON EL GOBIERNO SON LAS MUJERES." And that's the whole dream. We laugh so hard about it almost every day.

    Other than that we are really trying to help our investigators progress. They all have a desire to learn and want to be better, but it's the action part of it that they get stuck on. It's fun to see people change their life to come unto Christ.

    We are also working so hard on helping a recent convert find that desire to stay in the church. It is the traditional feeling of things being so much harder than they were before, because, it is so different than their life was before. But we taught the plan of salvation and had him remind us why it is important. If we have that eternal perspective, everything is able to pull through. If we know why we are suffering each and every trial it is more simple to choose the right way instead of just the easy way.

    I have a new phrase I learned this week: "Vale la pena" It is worth the pain.
    And how true this is! This life is worth the pain. This gospel is worth it. Because the value has already been paid. The pain has already been felt and because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ it is worth it.

    And that's my message for today.
    On the other side of missionary work (also known as Preparation Day), last Monday we went to Colonial Williamsburg!

     We visited an old insane asylum. Behind us is one of the 'rooms'
     Super cute horse pulled carriage
      Painted on the side of a building
     Me with my Ward Mission Leader, who works in Colonial Williamsburg
     The beach with the huge bridge crossing the peninsula
     Las Hermanas!
    And then this morning we woke up early to go to the beach and watch the sunrise over the Atlantic ocean. Que romantico! jajaja.

    Pues, everyone have a lovely week and do something new. Explore your hometown and do that thing you've always thought about doing. You are lovely and you have worth. Remember, you matter!

    Con Amor,

    Hermana Fletcher