Highlights of the Transfer.

Yesterday, we got the sad news that Hermana Dryden and Elder Jorquera will be leaving Oakcrest! We were all at a members house celebrating one of their kids birthday when we got the call. After that, we all just sat around the table and cried. This has been the most amazing six weeks of my mission. Serving with these four missionaries has been the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Oakcrest will not be the same without them! 

I am so grateful that I have been able to spend the last six weeks with Dryden. I think that sometimes we got along TOO well haha. She taught me a lot, especially to love the people (even more than I already do). Her love for them radiates. She will be missed so much not only by me, but every person that has had the chance to meet her! 

Spending time with Jorquera has also been the best thing I could ever ask for! One of the most important things that I learned from him is that being a missionary is so much more than just teaching lessons. He changed my entire perspective on missionary work!

This transfer has only had highlights. I don't think that I have ever laughed so hard or smiled so much!

Some of the best moments include: 

- Getting stuck in a ditch. I don't think that a lot of people would have handled that well, but Dryden and I were taking pictures, laughing.. just making the best out of the situation. No matter what our situation, we can choose to be happy! 

- Teaching English classes. It is such a cool thing seeing people try so hard and then succeed! 

- Pranking the elders ALL OF THE TIME. We found all sorts of ways to get them and they were so kind and made sure to return the love!

- Spending Christmas in the country, then having a crazy New Years Eve party with the coolest Mexicans ever. Holidays away from home couldn't be any better than what I experienced in Tomball. 

- The Belasco family having a total change of heart. They went from telling us one day that they didn't have any desire to change their church, then decided to come to our church the next Sunday. Since then, they have invited us back every day except for one within the last four days! 

- Literally being forced to speak in Spanish. With Dryden and I being at about the same level, I have had to learn to depend on my Heavenly Father a lot more. I have been so blessed with the ability to say what I need to, when I need to! 

-  Working with Eduardo (the reactived, inactive). He has such a firm testimony of the gospel and I was able to learn a lot from him. Watching him grow and change was something I will never forget! 

- Eating such weird things that I got sick (That actually happened yesterday).  We literally eat whatever and whenever. It's the best. Being sick without your mom is quite the experience! I am so grateful for my mama, especially after last night! 

The list could seriously go on forever!  I am so happy for this time that I have had serving here this transfer with these four great people! I so excited to see what this new transfer will bring! 

Love,

Hermana Rupp

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We have seen so many miracles this week! We have been so blessed and I have learned and grown a lot!

Last Saturday, we saw one of our investigators and all was well. We went to see her again on Tuesday and everything had changed completely. When we got to her house, she began telling us that her step dad had gotten in a fight with their neighbor and was in jail, and her mom was downtown trying to bail him out.

She told us, "It's crazy how everything can change just like that." 

After a while of talking to her, we decided to go get her some pizza to get her mind off of things. We were gone for about an hour and when we returned, things had gone from bad to worse. Her mom and her were both crying and she handed me a note. In the short time that we were gone, they received an eviction notice, and they are being forced to leave by January 9 because of what had happened with her step dad. Just like she had said, things could change in the blink of an eye.

We started visiting her a lot more because of the possibility that she will be moving out of our area, and a miracle has come from that! The person that gave them the eviction notice is the Relief Society president in our ward. Because of this, we learned that the mom of this girl doesn't want anything to do with our church, but she still continues to let us in! What a great blessing and miracle it is that we have the opportunity to continue to visit her daughter. 

It has cooled down and been raining a lot here! Because of raining season, there are ditches on the sides of the road that get SUPER muddy when wet. Normally, we park in them because there is literally nowhere else to. We learned what a terrible idea that is if it has recently rained though. 

We were going to visit an inactive family, and I drove and parked where we had once before. I couldn't tell that it was muddy, but we figured out pretty quickly that it was when our car stopped moving. Dryden jumped right out and started trying to push the car as I gunned it, but nothing happened. It was dark outside, it started to rain again, and we were in the country with not too much around. After about 40 minutes of trying literally everything to get us out of the mud, we had only managed to get ourselves even more stuck! 

As I sat there, I quickly said a silent prayer just asking that someone would come and help us because I didn't know what to do. About 5 minutes later, a man with long hair, a beard, and a beer, asked if we needed help. He told us that his dog had wanted to go for a walk and so he decided to take it, although it was raining outside. Twenty minutes later, his truck had pulled us out of the mud and we were on our way again.

I know that God answered my prayer. He always does and He always will.

Sunday brought another GREAT miracle. The missionaries always stand at the door, welcoming people in. Sacrament was about to start, so we began shutting the door. All of the sudden three of our investigators walked in! We were totally shocked, especially because earlier that week, we had talked that same family and they had told us that they are happy in their church, and have no plans to change it. I don't know what changed their minds, but they came and stayed for all three meetings! It was really cool. 

One of the inactives that we have been working with also came to church and is officially reactivated! He got up and bore his testimony which was so powerful. It has been such a blessing seeing him grow and come back to church. 

We had some pretty funny things happen this week too! 

One hermana in the ward invited all of the missionaries over for dinner. Dryden and I showed up early to help her out. Right when we got there, she took us to the sink and gave us a big bowl of jumbo shrimp to clean. I had the pleasure of decapitating, unshelling, and cleaning those bad boys with my hands and I almost died. Luckily, I am serving with some great people that didn't want to make me suffer more, and Elder Jorquera ate the shrimp for me later on haha. 

We went to a members house with the elders to teach them English. They asked us what we had done on new years eve, and we told them we had gone to a party (no worries, it was at a members house and it started with a prayer haha). One of the elders told them that they had gotten sick that night from food that he had eaten earlier that day. He tried telling them that someone had given him a burrito that he had forgotten to refrigerate, but eaten anyway. Instead, he told them that a member had given him a PERRITO (a dog) and he had eaten it without refrigerating it. They were mortified, but we all had a good laugh once they realized what he meant. 

I love serving in Oakcrest and I love being a missionary! 

Love, 

Hermana Rupp

A shed that someone made into a home. Lindsay said it is very humbling to see the way some of their members and investigators live. 

Their very stuck car. 

Spending lots of time with her favorite investigator Bessy before she moves. 

Memorable Christmas.

Hey family and friends!

I hope that everyone had a happy Christmas! Being a missionary during this time of the year has been the best! It was completely different, especially celebrating with Hispanics. Mostly everyone that we know out here celebrates Nochebuena, so everyone was having their crazy parties on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas. We spent both days with members of the ward and the elders that we are serving here with. Christmas day, we talked to our families and I got the good news that I am going to have a nephew! I am so pumped for that! After, we spent the day in the country, in a barn, outside. Only in Texas would that happen. 

We were so spoiled by the members who fed us A LOT, and just made sure that we had a good day.

We actually celebrated Christmas on the 19th of December after our mission's Christmas Conference, and opened packages and letters. I am SO grateful for everyone that took the time to write a quick note or send me something! I am truly so blessed. 

It was such a memorable Christmas here in Texas. Instead of focusing on the things I am normally so caught up in, I was able to feel and remember the true meaning so much more, which is Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for Him. The knowledge of Him and His life has changed my life. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to see others change too. 

Love,

Hermana Rupp

Lindsay's companion decided it would be funny to try and push her in the water infested with snakes, eels and fish (according to Lindsay), she really thought she was falling an grabbed onto the nearest thing, which happened to be an Elder. haha. 

One of her favoritey investigators. A 14 year old from El Salvador.

On Christmas Day.

Getting in the Elders trunk to scare her companion. 

Making guacamole! 

At IHop on Christmas. Don't worry, we gave her grief for this! 

Feliz Navidad!

FELIZ NAVIDAD! 

What a happy time of year it is, and being a missionary has only made it better! 

I don't remember too much of what happened this week, only because it has gone by SO QUICK. I can't believe that it is Monday again. Here are just a few quick highlights of what happened of the things that I do remember.

- We found many opportunities to serve! We did everything from hard core cleaning and painting trees, to teaching people English. 

- I hit my six month mark in the field!

- We had our Christmas conference as an entire mission. We basically celebrated Christmas early and it was so fun. 

- We also had our ward Christmas party. After spending the week delivering flyers and telling EVERYONE about it, our favorite family (the Belasco's) showed up! What made it even better is that our ward is full of fellowshipper's who took them and befriended them right when they walked in!

- Last week, we met an inactive guy who a member found. He is 23 years old, and has been in Texas for just 5 months.We visited him last Saturday and he was solid! He wanted to come to church the next day, but didn't end up showing up. We continued to invite him to do things and he'd tell us that he would come, but then he never did. 

We decided to visit him yesterday before church, and we felt like we needed to talk to him about temples. He is an RM, so we talked about the covenants he made. The more we talked, the more it hit home with him. The spirit touched him and 2 hours later, he was sitting in the chapel for the first time in months! It was so happy. 

So much more happened.. This is just the tip of the iceberg of our eventful week! 

I am so grateful that we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ this week! I am so grateful for the incredible gift of His birth, and for His perfect example! I know that He lives! 

Have the happiest Christmas! 

Love, 

Hermana Rupp

Some recent converts that made Lindsay a cake on her birthday!

Bowling on a P-day. 

The Balasco Family.

Some Texas pride! 

The whole mission at their All-Mission Christmas thing.