I am so grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ ~ Fairdale Week 13 ~ Mission Week 23

Hello everyone!

Man oh man has it been a crazy week! I don't even know where to begin. This letter might be a little disorganized, but hopefully I can get my points across.

First is Flor!!! I love her. We ended up finding her in an area that was just given to us and added to our area. She had been seeing missionaries 7 years ago but had lost contact with them. Her step son is also a baptized, less active member. In addition, she has actually been to our ward a few years ago and remembers it! She is absolutely stellar! She is also one of the easiest people for me to understand... and to communicate with! Praise the Lord!  We had the most amazing lesson with her last week. We watched the restoration video to see what she remembered, and then afterwards she had lots of questions for us to answer. It was incredible! Somehow we were able to answer every question and doubt she had. At the end, we asked her if she had more questions or was confused and she told us that everything, every doubt or struggle she had had in the past was answered. It was such a spiritual lesson that was truly guided by the spirit. I don't know her needs, but God does. It was so evident in that lesson. I feel like through God I truly know her. She also has an amazing family and we are going to be teaching all of them! Yay for families!

Next is our crazy near death experience. These actually happen pretty frequently, but we won't go into that :) But this one is worth sharing! Through this experience, I truly have a testimony of revelation and receiving it even when we don't realize what it is and being obedient missionaries. It was a bizarre experience and had Hermana Barajas and I had decided to do anything different that day things could have turned out differently. So, we now get a car Wednesdays and Saturdays and we drop it off at the elders at night. We were on our way to the Elder's and had left a little bit earlier than normal. In addition, for some reason we decided to take a different route than usual to get to their apartment. While we were driving, we witnessed a car accident, directly in front of us. It was with a huge truck and a small car, and the truck hit the car pretty hard, the car spun out of control, and then hit the lamp post. It was pretty obvious that it was truck's fault, and that people in the car could be hurt. We stopped to go check on the people in the car and to see if they needed witnesses for the accident. The side that was hit the hardest had a women inside who was pregnant. It was obvious that she was scared and hurt. While we were out there, the driver of the truck came up. It was very obvious that he was wasted. It took all I had to be Christ like towards him and to not tell him how angry I was with him for deliberately breaking the law and putting someone's life in danger. I then remembered my name tag and whose name was on it. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I needed to act like it, and Christ would have still treated him with love. I was able to be peaceful about the situation because of that. I am so grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ! It helps me remember that I need to be Christlike at all times. Afterwards, they asked us to stay to give a statement to the police. The drunk man was arrested, and we gave our statement. We left the sweet family with our phone number on a card and asked them to call us if they needed anything. Everyone in the accident was okay, although mildly injured. Before we left, the pregnant women's mom had arrived at the scene. She came up to our car in tears, and told us how grateful she was that we had stayed with them and for the statement we gave. It was a truly humbling experience, and one that I won't ever forget. It also makes me realize how grateful I am to live and how precious of a gift it is to have life. Had we done something any different, Hermana Barajas and I could have been hit, and we wouldn't have been able to witness the accident and help the family through the ordeal. I am so grateful for this experience.

Lastly, we found a new family last night, the Estradas, and had an incredible lesson. The highlight for me was kneeling down with them in prayer. With the husband, wife, and their three children. It was incredible. Enough said.

Hasta la pasta!

Hermana Failner

In that moment I truly felt the love that God had for Judith ~ Fairdale Week 12 ~ Mission Week 22

I don't have a ton of time this week, so sorry for the shortness.

We had a really good week this week! We worked hard and saw some miracles. The highlight of my week was having a lesson with an investigator Judith. She has been going through a really hard time and I have known her over my last two transfers here. She was really hard to get ahold of, but we felt like we still needed to try her. Now we have been able to start officially teaching her! We had an incredible lesson that really alleviated a lot of the worries that I have encountered being a Spanish speaking missionary. We took an English member out with us. In the past, the language barrier between everyone can be hard to navigate, but we decided to try something different. Before each of the lessons we had that night we prayed specifically with the member and that we all could find a way to communicate and bring the spirit in the lesson. It made all of the difference! Somehow we were all able to understand each other and we had some of the most powerful lessons I have ever had. With Judith we watched the Restoration video and asked her questions about it. We found out that she truly believes that God does not love her and that she is alone. We were all able to help her. The spirit was so incredibly strong. One of the most amazing parts of being a missionary is that I have never felt God's love for others as  much as I have. In that moment I truly felt the love that God had for Judith. It was overwhelming how much love and peace I felt. It brought all of us to tears. Moments like these are the reason why I keep going. Missionary work is extremely difficult, but the tender, sweet moments we have make it all worth it.

Love you all!
Hermana Failner

Mexican Thanksgiving is filled with turkey tacos and pasole! ~ Fairdale Week 11 ~ Mission Week 21

Hello all!!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We had a really awesome one! A family in our ward, the Thorns, had a big Thanksgiving at the church for all of the missionaries and other people who were single or didn't have family. It was so much fun! After we got to play games... and just eat more! In addition, we were also invited to a less active's house for another Thanksgiving dinner. I was so full! But it was a great experience! Mexican Thanksgiving is definitely a bit different. It's filled with turkey tacos and pasole! Yummy stuff. I thought I was going to die from all of the food we were fed, but it was very worth it!

This week has been a week filled with lots of service. It has been really nice! First, we have helped a recent convert Emanie and his family paint their house. It has been quite the project but has been a lot of fun! In addition, we helped a less active member and her husband who isn't a member move into their new house. They had 11 people help move everything into the trucks... and then no one showed up to help move it all into the house. So us and two other sets of elders took on the project. We had a great lesson with both of them and was so powerful. Her husband is starting to get taught by the missionaries again! In addition, we also helped one of our investigators set up her Christmas decorations and lights. Service is such a powerful way to spread the love of the Savior and to bring others to Christ. It has allowed me to truly forget myself and has brought me a lot of joy.

In addition, we found an amazing new investigator and a less active! First, we found Mareny, a less active that we have been trying to track down for months now! It was a miracle that we found her. We had a great lesson with her and can't wait to keep seeing her! Furthermore, Hermana Barajas and I were looking in potentials for people to go teach and found Francisco listed several times. Both of us have felt so strongly that we needed to try him and find him again. We recently found him and found out that he had been taught by missionaries previously, but they had lost contact due to moving. He is so prepared and is so awesome! We will be teaching him and his family!

I love you all!

Hasta la pasta.

Hermana Failner

I am finally starting to feel that my Spanish is no longer as a big of a language barrier ~ Fairdale Week 10 ~ Mission Week 20

Hello everyone!!

This email is going to be very brief this week, I have been really sick and I really just want to sleep. I have had a fever for the past four days, my voice has been completely gone, and I have a sinus infection. Being sick as a missionary is awful! But we have seen some blessings this week for sure!

The highlight of my week was finding a new family to teach. There names are Marisela and Mario! I contacted Mario on an exchange and it was really, really powerful. They seem to be very prepared for the gospel. We taught them the restoration and it was really powerful! Marisela, who is catholic, asked a question about why little infants need to be baptized and that she really felt like they shouldn't. It was such a perfect question to ask! Were able to use Moroni 8 to show her that her kids don't need to be baptized until they are 8. This is usually one of the hardest concepts for us to teach and explain to catholics, and it made complete and total sense to her! It was an amazing experience. This lesson was also the first time I truly felt that I could express myself and use the exact words I wanted  to in Spanish. I didn't feel like a robot, and am finally starting to feel that my Spanish is no longer as a big of a language barrier. I can't wait for it to continually improve!

Until next week.

Hermana Failner

It was one of the most effortless yet most powerful lessons I have ever had ~ Fairdale Week 9 ~ Mission Week 19

Hello everyone!

Well, this week was interesting. It has been really cold here! But it is good for us! We have really been blessed and it's been awesome to see!

Cesar is still doing well! He is coming to church and we will be starting addiction recovery with him on Saturday with the help of a member family and also the bishop. It's been awesome to get so much support for Cesar so he can overcome this! I am excited to see what happens with all of this! He is doing amazing.

Next, we had a great lesson with Isabel, another investigator who has read the Book of Mormon twice and has an incredible testimony, and who comes to church... she just needs to figure out how to get married to her boyfriend. We had a great lesson with her and related the issues she has been having to the brother of Jared. How we need to come up with a plan when we have a problem, take it to the Lord, and then He will provide. The spirit was so strong in the lesson! We committed her to searching the scriptures and to come up with a plan that she could take to the Lord about what to do. It was a really powerful lesson and she related to the brother of Jared so much. She is amazing.

We also had a great lesson with Aroceli, another investigator who is amazing! We also had a member, Hermana Perez, out with us who speaks Spanish! It was such a powerful lesson about the plan of salvation, and then about baptism. We read in 3rd Nephi about when Christ explains to the people what baptism is and what she needs to do. The spirit was so strong. It was one of the most effortless yet most powerful lessons I have ever had. It flowed and was more of a conversation. It was amazing. I want to have more lessons like this!

We have had a great week, and I cant wait to work hard and to find more people to bring to Christ.

Love you all!
Hermana Failner

I have learned to not be afraid and to truly act on the promptings of the spirit ~ Fairdale Week 8 ~ Mission Week 18

Hello everyone!!

This has been one of the craziest, most bizarre weeks of my mission thus far. I don't even know where to begin. I'll talk about investigators first.

Cesar is doing great! He wants to start another addiction recovery program and we are getting that started with him this week. He is doing amazing! He came to church and went to the fireside we had that night as well. His ability to understand the scriptures and to apply them in his life really amazes me. The ward has also been incredible about fellowshipping him. I have so much hope for him! It's exciting to see the growth that he has every day!

Next is Eva! She is amazing. She had been taught by the missionaries before, and we found out that she was all the way in Alma! We had such an amazing, spirit driven lesson with her. It truly was one of the first times I felt completely in tune with the spirit and did exactly what it told me to, even if it was a little crazy. The impressions I got during the lesson I really questioned, but I decided to act on them. I'm so glad I did. She has a baptismal date now and is doing well. it was really amazing because after Hermana Barrajas and I came out of the lesson she told me that things I said and the direction I took the lesson were the exact thoughts and impressions she had! It was such a cool experience. I have learned to not be afraid and to truly act on the promptings of the spirit. Every day I am learning more and more of how to discern the promptings of the spirit.

Lastly, Saturday was the craziest day. I don't even know where to begin. We got a call from the APs saying that they were going to take our car. They broke news using the story of Job and how all of his property was taken... and yet he still was faithful. They then announced to us that they would be taking the car in the next hour. So, our car was taken and moved to another area that needs it more right now. it was sad. And it's winter. And freezing. Haha. The joys of missionary work. Next, we had an appointment in a place where we can't ride our bikes to because of the gravel. We called our appointment to see if he would be there and he said he was there with his whole family waiting. The ride we had with a member fell through. So... we walked the 5 miles to our appointment. Once we got out there, he told us that he had to leave to get medicine for his daughter. After our long trek, we decided to work in another trailer park. In this trailer park I was bitten by another dog. yes, another dog. Even with my boots and leggings it bit the skin that was out of my boot. Luckily the leggings did protect it and the bite is just red and bruised. Luckily this time there was no broken skin and no ER visit! I have no idea how we would have gotten there since our car was taken. Later, as we went to another trailer park, a car stopped us and told us that there was a coyote about 20 feet away from us and that we needed to turn around and run. 10 long miles later, we still here and alive. It was a crazy day!

In addition, in this past week, we were also informed that Hermana Barrajas and I would be trying out something that the mission is thinking of implementing in other Spanish areas. Now, in the area we are in, any English people we come in contact with we are permitted to teach and no longer send English referrals. So now we are teaching both English and Spanish people. It has been an interesting change and has made us a lot busier. I have also realized how rusty my English has become! It is so much harder for me to teach in English than Spanish. But we have faith and have found some great people. It is a crazy change, but Hermana Barrajas and I are ready for just about everything after the week we've had.

Nos vemos!

Hermana Failner

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit me ~ Fairdale Week 7 ~ Mission Week 17

Hello everyone!!

Wow, lots of changes have happened this week! La Hermana Wilbur se fue! My companion was transferred and now I have new one, Hermana Barrajas!! She is awesome! She is a native from Mexico, but she has been living in Brooklyn. Seriously, her Spanish is so awesome. I could listen to her talk all day! She is really helping me with Spanish, especially with my terrible accent. I'm hoping she'll rub off on me :) We have lots of fun together and have been working so hard! We have so many ideas for the area that we are in and I can't wait to see how it will grow. Our area is tiny and it's looking like expanding is going to be possible now! We can't wait to see what happens.

I was so nervous about leading an area, but believe it or not, it has actually been great! Everything just continues to function and we have seen so many miracles. We have prayed so much for inspiration and have been doing a lot of finding in some different apartment complexes and neighborhoods that I haven't been to a ton. It's been awesome to see!

In addition, probably one of the biggest highlights of my week was Cesar. He has been doing so well and is now calling us again every night again. He tells us about his reading in the Book of Mormon and applies it to his life. He has a desire to come to church again and we even got him to Stake Conference! It was so perfect for him and he said it was exactly what he needed to hear. In addition, we had the most amazing lesson with him on Saturday about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how he can live his life and overcome his addictions. We have always wanted Cesar to get into the 15 step program, but he has always said no and that he wanted to overcome his addictions on his own. Now, he has officially accepted to do the program and says that he truly has the desire to change! It's amazing to see. The ward has also been so incredible in fellowshipping him. Cesar is doing so amazing right now and I am so relieved that we haven't lost him. He is going to do amazing things. He has strengthened my testimony so much and always makes me want to teach by the spirit and teach my investigators what God wants them to hear. I don't know what the people's needs are that we teach, but God always does. I have really learned that while being out here.

Random thing of the week: Guess who is the designated driver now?! Me!!! Haha. It's been great to drive :) Hermana Barrajas is a little scared of me and my driving, but it's been a fun adventure :)

One last thing I forgot that I will add pictures for this next week:

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit me! We got to go out to ice cream and just talk! It was such a fun surprise and so great to see them! Transfer days are so crazy and ice cream was just what we needed :) I got to show them around the apartment and my area. It was so great to see family!! :)

Hasta la proxima semana! Les quero mucho!

Hermana Failner