Sacrament.

About one month ago, I was sitting in the English ward during their
fast and testimony meeting. A lot of people got up to share the things
that they knew, but one lady in particular really caught my attention.
As she spoke, nobody could understand her. She spoke Korean and her
friend translated for her.
A few years ago, she had moved to Houston from Korea. When she got
here, her biggest fear is that she wouldn't be able to find an LDS
church to attend. She talked about how she prayed every night that
things would work out. A few days after arriving in Texas, she heard
another lady speaking Korean so they started talking. It turned out
that the other lady was LDS also! Since then, this cute lady has been
coming to church every Sunday. What makes her even cooler is that she
comes despite the fact that she can't communicate with anybody besides
the lady that brings her. She doesn't understand the talks or the
classes, but she comes because she understand the importance of the
Sacrament. There are a ton of Korean churches out here, but she comes
to this one because in no other church can you find this sacred
ordinance performed with the power of God.
Hearing about this experience really caused me to think; would I be
that strong? Does the sacrament have priority in my life? The
sacrament is so special and it is such a privilege that we have to
partake of it every Sunday.
One of my investigators, Marta, was such an example to me just
yesterday as she showed me how important it is to her. She has been up
all night packing her house up to move and had only slept for an hour,
yet she showed up to church 45 minutes early so that she would be on
time and bought a brand new dress so that she could show respect to
her Heavenly Father. Her choices really taught me a lot!
I am so grateful to be out here and I am grateful for my Savior who
made it possible for me to use His Atonement each week.

Love,
Hermana Rupp

Focusing on the BOM.

As a mission we have been focusing on using the Book of Mormon in our
teachings more effectively because it can change lives. Doing so, we
have seen the spirit work miracles with those we are teaching. As I
have been studying and reading it each day, it has caused me to think
about how I came to know it is true and how the promise in Moroni 10
is real.

When I was in the Mexico MTC last year, I remember we had gone out to
a beautiful green field of trees to study the Book of Mormon. As I
read through the verses and things that I had previously marked, my
heart was filled with so much peace. The spirit once again testified
to me that what I was reading was true and that knowledge has made all
of the difference in my life.

I still don't know a lot and there are times when I am confused or
have doubts, but what I do know is enough. I know that the Book of
Mormon is true with all of my heart. It has changed my life as it has
helped me in both the bad and the good times. I am grateful that I
have the chance to share this happiness with others now!

Week highlights:

- It has been hot, hot, hot. The heat here is real. Even though it is
summer, nobody goes outside because you just melt like a Popsicle!

- We made 98 cupcakes for a Mexican birthday party. It took forever
because neither of us bake and we had some issues doing so haha. We
then used every pot and pan in our apartment to transport them to the
party.
At the party, we met a cute homeless guy named Barrera. He is old and
lives underneath a bridge. I saw him staring at me, so I went to talk
to him. Right when I got up to him, he shoved his hand out and did a
sweet handshake with me. I knew right then that we were going to be
pals. Now we are working to help get him to church!

- Our investigator Marta came to church! She is awesome and just gets
everything. We taught her the restoration and everything just made
perfect sense to her. She is from Cuba and has a crazy background, but
she has found so much peace and happiness from reading the Book of
Mormon. In just three days, she read the entire first book of Nephi!

- Lupita and her two sons also came to church for the first time. At
first, the boys weren't too happy to be there. By the end though, they
were both asking their mom when they would be coming back!

- Wednesday after English class, we played soccer. I am so bad, but
everyone is so patient with me haha. Each time we play without fail, I
kick at least one person, and miss the ball or kick it in the very
wrong direction. I have gotten the nickname of "Messi", who is a
professional player for Spain.

Love in the Air.

Here is a quick update for a really quick week!

Our cute investigator Lupita and her two sons came to the temple tour
that we had yesterday. The spirit testified to them so strong that
everything is true. They know that the Book of Mormon is true and also
want to go inside of the temple one day! They are gold!

There was a lot of love in the air or something, because turns out one
of our investigators wasn't so interested in the message we share, but
in Hna Coronado instead. After coming to church, he sent a text asking
her to be his girlfriend. Then just a few hours later, a guy I invited
to English class about two months ago texted, telling that he had
fallen in love when we met and asked if I am married. Haha

I literally can't remember anything else. I say it all of the time,
but this week literally flew by!

Thanks for the love and support!

Xoxo
Hna Rupp

Humility.

This week, I got a new companion and I absolutely love her! Hna
Coronado is from Peru, but now lives in Utah. This week would have
been a lot harder I think had it not been for her. I have been so
blessed as she has taught me so much. We have worked hard this week to
find new investigators and have seen miracles as we have found more
people to teach. We have four new people  with dates set to be
baptized, and we had a reactivation in our ward! So many amazing
things are happening in this area!

A few weeks back, President Mortensen gave us the challenge to focus
each month on a Christlike attribute from Preach My Gospel. Last
month, I decided to focus on humility. I studied it and tried my best
to live it, but it was hard. I felt like nothing was really changing
and that my actions throughout the day didn't really reflect it. Well
this past week, Heavenly Father decided to put me to the test. The
past 7 days were full of a lot of prayers as I was reminded that I
cannot do this on my own.
The hardest part about being a missionary isn't getting doors slammed
in your face or rejection, it is feeling inadequate. In an email that
my mission president sent in response to the church's recent statement
regarding same-sex marriage, he said some of the wisest words that I
will never forget and that really helped me out.

"The Adversary would like nothing more than to rob us of hope; to tell
us we aren't good enough, aren't smart enough, will never measure up,
that we have some limitation that can never be overcome, etc. If we
don't believe it initially, he will try to use great numbers of people
to tell us the same thing so that we feel compelled to believe.
Unfortunately, we see that he succeeds more often than not in the
world leaving people filled with sadness and despair. He cannot and
must not succeed with us. He will not succeed if we remember to feed
hope. Our hope comes through our understanding of the Plan of
Salvation and the central role of the Atonement of Jesus Christ that
makes it all possible."

Through Jesus Christ we can overcome any weakness, we can have hope in
time of trials and difficulties, and we can receive the strength
needed to push forward. Satan wants nothing more than us to forget
that. For this reason, we must keeping feeding our flame everyday
through doing the small and simple things like family and person
prayer and scripture study, going to church and the temple, paying
tithing, keeping the commandments, etc.  All things can be overcome
through Jesus Christ, as we place our faith in Him.

I am so grateful for the gospel and the hope and happiness that it
brings! The church is true!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

Ivonne's Miracle.

One of the best sounds in the world is hearing the water in the church
running as the baptismal font fills up. But just as the servants of
King Lamoni, there is often times something waiting at the waters
edge.

25 But Ammon said unto him: Nay, but I will be thy servant. Therefore
Ammon became a servant to king Lamoni. And it came to pass that he was
set among other servants to watch the flocks of Lamoni, according to
the custom of the Lamanites.

26 And after he had been in the service of the king three days, as he
was with the Lamanitish servants going forth with their flocks to the
place of water, which was called the water of Sebus, and all the
Lamanites drive their flocks hither, that they may have water--

27 Therefore, as Ammon and the servants of the king were driving forth
their flocks to this place of water, behold, a certain number of the
Lamanites, who had been with their flocks to water, stood and
scattered the flocks of Ammon and the servants of the king, and they
scattered them insomuch that they fled many ways.

Just like the Lamanites, the adversary is always trying to stop the
work of God. One thing that is for sure though is that Heavenly Father
will ALWAYS win. This is His work and He is in charge, and that is the
great lesson that I learned this week as we were preparing Ivonne and
her kids for their baptism.

Monday, Ivonne called us. She had pulled something in her back and she
was stuck on the floor and couldn't move. We ran over to her house to
find her facedown and she was in a lot of pain. She asked us to help
her move because she didn't want to go to a doctor since it is so
expensive. As we moved her, she just screamed in pain (good thing we
had CNA Christensen who has experience with moving people), but we
eventually got her up. Seeing the state that she was in, we realized
that if it was serious, she wouldn't be able to be baptized. We also
realized that because she was feeling bad, we wouldn't be able to
teach her and her kids the rest of the lessons in time. We knew that
anything was possible and that with God everything could work out, but
we didn't know what to do.
We left her house feeling confused and stressed and so we began to
pray to know if we should continue forward with the baptism for that
Friday or if we should postpone it. We asked Heavenly Father for a
clear answer so that we could know exactly what He would have us do.
Throughout the whole day, nothing came and we felt the same as we had
at her house.
We got home that night and decided that maybe still not knowing what
to do was an answer to our prayers, and that we were supposed to
postpone things. So we began calling members of the ward to let them
know. As we were doing so, our mission president randomly texted us
asking about Ivonne and if she was still going to be baptized on
Friday. We let him know the situation and told him we didn't know if
it would still be happening and he responded saying,
"Plan on it. She will be better by Friday. Remember who is always at
the water. Assure her that she will be ready."
We knew right then that Heavenly Father was answering our prayer and
in a very direct way. We both just cried and felt a huge burden
lifted. We called everyone back and told them we would be moving
forward with the baptism.
The next day we went to Ivonne's house and talked to her about
everything. She has such incredible faith.. More than we had. She told
us that despite everything, she knew she would still be getting
baptized on Friday and that is was just Satan.
After that, things still came up and we still had a lot to do with
them, but throughout it all we felt so much peace and we knew that it
was the Lord's will.
Friday night came and it was probably one of the best days of my life.
Ivonne, Stefanie, Eloy, and Eliana were all baptized and two days
later, they received the Holy Ghost. It was so special.

Out here, I have continuous confirmations as I have the opportunity to
see miracles everyday. The church is true!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

Another Baptism.

You know that moment when your phone is on the verge of dying, and the
battery light starts blinking? Or when the gas light comes on in your
car, letting you know that you aren't going to be able to go much
farther unless you make a stop at the gas station? That's probably the
best way that I can describe how I feel right now; a lot like the
dying phone, or empty gas tank in a car. If I had to use one word to
describe my week, it would be stressful. This isn't the kind of stress
that I felt when I was going to college or getting ready for a test
though, it comes from wanting the best for the people that I love so
much out here!

It was a busy, busy week working with our amazing investigators! One
of which was baptized on Saturday! We had a crazy couple days of
planning and prepping, but everything turned out beautifully! What
made Kevin's baptism even more exciting it that our other convert
(Litzi) spoke and bore one of the most powerful testimonies that I
have ever heard. The gospel has truly changed her life. Kevin, like
Litzi, is only 14 years old and they are cousins. She is the only
active member in her family, and Kevin is the only member in his. They
come to church each week and they live and love the gospel. Because of
that, I know that one day the hearts of those who are in their
families will be softened!

We have a lot of exciting things happening with Ivonne and her kids
too! A long time ago we set a baptism goal for the 27th of this month
with her and Stephanie. When we brought it up to her last week, she
told us that she definitely wants to be baptized, just not this week
because she doesn't feel ready. I pulled out the list of baptismal
interview questions with her and we went through them. As we did that,
she realized how much she actually does know and how much that she has
grown during this time. So her, Stephanie, and two of her other kids
all decided that they want to be baptized this Friday! For us that
means a lot of preparation and planning again, but I am so excited.
This family is so special and ready to take this step. They are so
humble and willing to accept these changes into their lives.

That is one thing that has really stuck out to me during this transfer
is how the gospel is here to help us change and be better!
Ivonne, being the little missionary that she is and recognizing how
she has been able to change her life, introduced us to one of her
friends last night. As we talked to him, he told us that he drinks and
parties every day, but he doesn't want that kind of lifestyle because
he knows it is wrong. What made it sad is that he told us that he
can't change though, because he has tried before and failed. You know
somebody is genuinely hurting and desperate for something better when
they break down crying to you, and when they are a grown man that you
just met 10 minutes before.

In The Book of Mormon, it teaches us that we all have weaknesses and
faults, but we can overcome them!

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give
unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient
for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble
themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak
things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27)

The gospel definitely isn't for the perfect. It's for those who want
to change, and we all can through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His
grace is sufficient to strengthen us when we are weak. There is One
who can give us the support that we need when our load is too heavy to
carry on our own. We are NEVER alone and it is NEVER too late.
Heavenly Father is merciful and loves us more than anything. He wants
us to come home to Him. That's his entire purpose.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is beautiful and it is true. Nothing makes
me happier to have the knowledge that we can change if we just have
the desire, and I know that with all my heart!

Love,
Hermana Rupp