Meeting Christian.

About two weeks ago, I went to a Spanish leadership conference where
we decided to make some changes to the Spanish program in this
mission. Between all of the Spanish missionaries, we were finding
around 144 new investigators each week which is awesome. The problem
though, is that we were having a hard time getting people to progress.
Hispanics are awesome and they are always open to hear the word of
God. So we would teach them, but then we could never get back in with
them for various reasons. So we decided that in order to count someone
as an actual investigator, we now have to teach them twice before they
can be counted. That way we can see if they are legit, and we can find
the people who are really ready to listen and make changes in their
lives. The week we made that decision, everyone's numbers went down.
This week though, we saw a lot of miracles as a result of this change.

On Wednesday, we had some time so we decided to knock some doors. We
went to the same street of apartments that we always work at because
it's one of the only areas with Hispanics. We decided to start
knocking some buildings that we don't usually go around. The first
door answered, wasn't interested. The second one, nobody answered. We
knocked the third and this big, friendly guy opens up. His name is
Christian. He informs us that he was just reading a bunch of stuff on
cults and crazy religious things when we knocked on his door. We ended
up talking to him on his porch for about 45 minutes and he told us
that we could go back the next day!

We ended up meeting him at the library where we got to talking. He
opened up a lot and told us that he doesn't think us knocking on the
door was a coincidence because he had been praying for a while, and
that had answered his prayers. He then told us he normally never
answers the door for random people, but he felt different that day. We
ended up teaching him that day, and the next day too. He has started
reading in the BOM and loves it!

When we invited him to church with us and he told us that maybe he
would come, but he has had bad experiences in the past and he was
pretty scared. We tried contacting him Sunday morning, but no answer.
Church began and about 10 minutes later, we see him at the door in a
purple shirt and tie with his Book of Mormon in hand. He told us that
he hadn't planned on going that day and that he hadn't wanted to, but
he had felt an impression that he needed to! He ended up having a good
time and loving what he heard.

He is so humble, so kind, and so prepared! And he loves the Utah Jazz,
so that makes him even better! I am so grateful that I got to
experience this miracle and meet him!

The church is true!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

Blessed.

This past week was such a great time to reflect on all of the
blessings that I have been given, which are many! A few of the things
I was especially grateful for this week were: Christmas trees,
heaters, cough drops, tights, the sun, and that's just the beginning.

Thanksgiving day, we got taken in by three awesome families who each
fed us. We ate pasole at the first place, tostadas at the next, then
to finish off the night we had turkey El Salvador style. It was so
good and by the end of the night, I was SO full.
My favorite part of all of Thanksgiving though, was when we went and
spent it with a friend who lives in an assisted living type thing. She
has no family that lives here, and she doesn't talk much to her kids.
We called her the day before and found out she would be spending
Thanksgiving alone and that she had no plans. We decided to go
celebrate with her for a bit! The whole day when people would ask her
what she was doing, she would tell them, "I am spending Thanksgiving
with the missionaries!" We got there later than we planned and so she
thought that maybe we weren't coming anymore. When we showed up, she
completely lite up. We may homemade creme soda with her and had a fun
time. There was nowhere else that I would have rather been that day!

We have so much to be grateful for!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

Inviting=Power.

Even though I have been put for a while now, I am still learning and
figuring things out each day. I still have so much room to grow as a
missionary. It's so cool to see how the spirit makes up for our
imperfections though. I saw that many times this week!

One day, we were knocking the door of an investigator who we had an
appointment with. He didn't end up being home so we began walking to
our car. As we were walking, someone yells to is from across the
parking lot of the apartment complex. It turned out to be a guy that
we ALWAYS see outside of an inactive members house. We always say hi
to him, but that's it. Well he yelled hello to us and then said, "I
want to come to church, but you guys have never invited me!". I felt
so bad! I thought back on all of our interactions with him and
realized that we had never even tried seeing if he wanted to hear what
we share. I don't know why we have never said more to him; we
definitely should have. I am so grateful though, that he had enough
courage to come to us and open his mouth.
We began talking to him and teaching him, and it turns out he is so
awesome and willing to listen! I was reminded of the importance of
talking to everyone and inviting them to learn more, because just
inviting, empowers!

We also had some cool experiences as I saw the spirit touching the
hearts of those that we were teaching. Sometimes the words we say are
so simple, or sometimes they don't even make sense to the people.
That's why the spirit is so key in this work! That is why it is so
important that we do all that we can to have it with us. We are truly
conduits for the light.

The church is true!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

The Spirit Changes Things.

Time just seems to keep getting quicker and quicker, and I am trying
to soak up what I have left!

This week was busy. We had so much to do, and saw lots of cool miracles!

Friday, we helped some less actives move to a new building in their
apartment complex. We got to their apartment and had 2 hours to pack
up almost all of their stuff. It was insane and I learned that you
should always start early.. That was a good lesson for me because I am
the queen of procrastination!
We also got in with our investigator who has been working a ton and we
set a new baptismal date with her. She wants to be baptized so bad,
she just works every Sunday so she can't come to church! We promised
her that she would be able to be baptized next month. We talked about
faith and action , and this morning we actually went with her to get a
job application for Chickfila. Things are looking up!

On Saturday, we were walking around by some apartments trying to get
in with a potential, when all of the sudden a guy started yelling at
us from a different apartment complex across the road. He asked us if
we spoke Spanish, then when he found out that we did, he asked if he
could talk to us. We walked over to him and he started hammering us
with questions, but he had real desires to know the answers. We talked
with him about what a Mormon is, what makes our church different, what
we believes happens after this life, and a lot of other things. He
started off by telling us he was Catholic, but ended by telling us he
is looking for a church and wants to come to ours! Things like that
don't usually happen, so when they do, it is really exciting and we
get super stoked! (Probably a little too pumped up sometimes haha).
The same day, we knocked on the door of this guy that has gone to
minister school and he has heard a lot of crazy things about our
church. He did not have the best opinion of us. He started asking
questions about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. We shared with
him what we believe, but he wasn't really having it. All we could do
was invite him to pray about it!  He asked us if he could have a Book
of Mormon so that he could see what it was about and read a few
passages. We gave one to him and and he kept repeating to us, the same
things that he had read on the Internet and learned from his pastors.
He was not budging from what he had heard and I knew it. I knew that I
wouldn't be able to change his mind, so I did all that I could to
create an environment where he could feel the spirit. I looked him
straight in the eyes and testified and said, "I know with all of my
heart that the Book of Mormon is true. It has changed my life and it
can change yours too." I could feel the spirit when I said it and I
knew that he could too. He looked at me differently and asked in a
quiet voice, "Really?" I shook my head and told him yes. He looked at
us for a second and then said, "Well thanks for the book." Then he
turned around and went inside.
Some of my favorite experiences from my mission have been moments like
that where I get to see someone being touched by the spirit. It can
change an entire situation!

Another super cool thing that went on this week is that I got to
listen to Elder Packer (President Packer's son) speak! He is touring
our mission right now, so I got to go to a special conference with
him, and I am going to another tomorrow. It is always so cool to feel
the spirit that the leaders of the church bring with them. Each time
they speak, I can feel and know that they truly have been called of
God.

The church is true!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

Fall is Finally Here.

It is finally starting to feel like fall here! The gloves and hats
have come out, and I am a happy girl. We have spent much of this week
outside in the chilly weather, knocking doors to find more people to
teach. We have quite a few people in our teaching pool already, they
just aren't progressing. As a district, we set a goal to each find a
family to teach and to help enter into the covenant! In order to make
that happen, a lot of effort is required. So this week, we went to
work!
I came home each night completely exhausted and sore (which could
partially be due to how out of shape I am haha). I wouldn't trade this
time for anything though! It is the best.

The church and all of its teachings are true!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

More Rain, No Miles, and Last Transfer.

Well, I am officially beginning the last transfer of my mission and I
can't believe it! Time has flown by. I am so grateful for the time
that I have had to be here, and for the time that I still have left!
It has been the best thing that I could have ever chosen to do!
Hermana Dryden and I will be staying together which I am super excited
about because she is awesome! I have so much fun with her! It should
be a really great six weeks!

Throughout my entire mission, I have been blessed to have a car. Along
with the car comes the responsibility to make sure that you only go a
certain amount of miles each month. Well this last week of the month
was a struggle! Our area is huge and covers multiple cities, so we
became the ultimate mooches. We also walked and knocked a ton this
week! My love for tracting is real though. I love getting to know
people, and there are never any dull moments when doing it!

Since we have been finding like crazy, we have a huge teaching pool!
So many wonderful people are willing to listen and to learn about the
gospel! Now it is just getting them to progress. When people begin
progressing is the best because that is when you truly get to see the
gospel change someone's life!

I am so happy and grateful to be a missionary! The church is true!

Love,
Hermana Rupp