I held a snake!!!
Is my last week in Modesto. I seriously cannot believe that I'm going into my last full week as a missionary. I hope you have gotten something spiritual out of my emails for the last 18 months or 72 weeks and I hope I can express in this email what my mission has meant to me.
The experience of going on a mission is something indescribable. You just have to go on one to understand what it's like. You learn so much in such a short amount of time and a lot of what I feel I have learned can't be described. I feel a burning in my heart to serve my Heavenly Father for the rest of my life. I hope that feeling continues. On a mission, you learn not only because of experience that happens to you but also because of experience that happen to those you are working with. You develop such deep relationships with people because of the blessing you have to be called to serve them. I've got a family here in California that will always be in my heart.
I have had transfers where I am more obedient than others. I've had transfers that I was more happier than others. I've had companions that I liked more than others. I have investigators been baptized, dropped, and in limbo. I've had tears of frustration and tears of joy. I've had days where you fake it till you make it and days where you are making it so much that some people think you're faking it. I've seen trials and blessings. Most importantly, I have seen myself grow along with my testimony.
Before my mission I felt like I had a testimony. I felt that these things where true. Now that I've been on a mission I realize that a testimony isn't just saying "Oh, I've felt that spirit." Now I can say that I know these things are true. I know that Heavenly Father restored HIS church through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that as we put the Lord and His work and commandment before anything else, we will be provided for. The Lord has shown this to me though my own experiences and also though the experience I've seen my investigators and members go through. Beatriz and Enrique are my biggest example. They put it all out there for the Lord. They decided to follow him and obey all of his commandments. That meant stopping drinking coffee and changing a few other things. Because they did that and accepted the will of the Lord they were able to face the other trials that were ahead of them.
I've also learned the importance of studying the scriptures. The Lord hasn't given them to us so that they can gather dust. Scripture reading is an act of faith. We are showing our Heavenly Father that we are ready to receive His revelation when He is willing to give it to us. We are opening up windows to receive answers for ourselves every day. Because of the simple action, the Lord as promised us he will bless us. His prophets and apostles have also promised happiness for obeying the Lord and demonstration our faith.
As missionaries we commit people to do things. The first commitment we extend to them is to pray, next read, then come to church, then be baptized. We don't expect those who aren't praying or reading to come to church and we don't expect those who aren't coming to church to get baptized. That applies to all members. If we are less active, we have got to start with the basics. We've got to start praying and reading then that will give us the strength we need to come to church. If we ever feel like we are wavering, we need to go back to the basics and have faith. Eventually the promised blessing will come.
I'm so thankful for all the things I've learned on my mission. I've gained insights on being a friend, being a wife, being a mother, being a sister. I've learned about budgeting and healthy eating. I've learned more than I can ever say. I hope that I can reflect on my mission for the rest of my life and always have this desire to be a Representative of Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for all the many blessings I've received.
I love you and will see you in a little over a week!
Love,
Hermana Porter
Baptism: Angel, Mikey, and Andres
On top of the super large silo. Super high up.
Elder Lino (from Peru. He is buying me llama)
and Elder Smith. We went on exchanges this week and I treated Hna Alacraz to
hecka expensive mexican food. I ended up getting food poising from it. The
elders came and gave me a blessing. Then Elder Lino told us the story of how he
met is girlfriend (or fiance because they are getting married August 5). It was
adorable.
Naomi got baptized!! Jessica decided, last minute, that she wanted her to be baptized so she could prepare to go on a mission. She is going to start helping her save money so she can be a missionary like us. She got her own scriptures and she is so excited. She said, "I can use these on my mission one day."
Yocelyn came to the baptism the twins and Naomi. It was
so good to see her again. Her mom and sisters didn't come but she it! I was so
happy to have one last photo with her.
This is the Contreras. They are so so SO cute. I hope that we can see them. There are so many people that want us to come visit, I'm not sure we are able to get to see all of them! They had us over for dinner last night and we had some SPICY tinga. It was so good though. They are talkers and they are so funny. Hno is the only Hispanic Man that smiles in photos apart from Hno Esparza. They also raise baby lambs.
