Everlasting Beginnings.

Being a missionary is a really unique experience. You are put into all
sorts of situations that you probably wouldn't be in were it not for
you being a missionary. Sometimes I just want to remind everyone that
I am 20 years old and that I have no experience or wisdom whatsoever,
but people just trust us so much, and it is because of who we
represent.
We went over to a members house to eat dinner yesterday. After sharing
a message and asking them to think of someone that would need some
extra loving in the next week, they told us that the daughter of an
inactive family had been murdered. We had some appointments, but felt
like we needed to go over to their house and see them right after.
I have never seen anything as heartbreaking as I did yesterday. The
family was clearly in so much pain. As soon as we got there, I had no
idea what to say to them. I am not a mom or dad, and I don't know what
it would be like to lose a child. It's moments like that though that I
really have to rely on the spirit, the way that I should be doing
everyday. One reason that I love being a missionary is because we get
to feel how much God loves his children, and it is different than
anything that I have ever felt before. As we sat with this family, I
was just filled with so much love for them. We sang together, we cried
together, and we talked about how families can be together forever.
I am so grateful for the gospel and for the plan of salvation. I am
grateful that through Jesus Christ, "the grave hath no victory, and
the sting of death is swallowed up". I think of people like my
Grandpa, who I love so much, and my heart fills with so much gratitude
as I am reminded that this life isn't the end and that I will see him
and others that I love again. There is so much more than just here and
now.

"How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no
true endings, only everlasting beginnings."

Love,
Hermana Rupp

Teaching the English class on clothes.

Ropa Vieja.

The newest addition to my list of the many companions that I have had
is Hermana Haslam! She is from Lehi, Utah and has been out one
transfer less than I have. She is a great missionary and I am so
excited to learn from her and to work together! It should be a crazy
couple of weeks!

Yesterday was a special day because Lupita, Martha, Adam, and Gabriel
all received the Holy Ghost during sacrament meeting! They were all
just glowing. To top things off, Martha had the opportunity to speak
about her conversion! When we first met her, things were going down
hill. Life was going really hard for her. The gospel literally changed
everything though! There is nothing better than seeing the gospel
change the lives of those around you. We are now working with them to
go to the temple with their own family names! It will be awesome!

We are finding like crazy right now and as we have been talking with
everyone, we have seen a lot of miracles! We have new investigators
from Cuba, Beliz, Honduras, Mexico, etc. they are all so cool too!

The other day, we were eating with Martha and she had invited friends
and ward members over too. She made us some Cuban food! She had told
me at church that she had made some kind of meat that is called "ropa
vieja" which means "old clothes" in English. While we were all eating,
a lady asked me if I liked the ropa vieja. I told her yes and we all
started talking about it. I look over at my companion and she just
looks so confused! She looks at me and asks why we were all talking
about eating old clothing, and thinking that it tastes good. She
didn't get the memo haha. We all had a good laugh!

Well, the church is true and I couldn't live without the gospel in my life!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

More Pics.

Zone Conference.

Their zone won a competition, so the Mortensen's bought them pizza.

Playing tornado against her mission President.

Volleyball champs.

4 Baptisms.

Plot twist of my mission... We found out last night that Coronado is
leaving Fammerly and I will be staying here for my fourth transfer! It
was so unexpected! I spent the entire week saying my goodbyes and
prepping myself to go, but I guess that there is still something that
I need to do here! I am excited because there are so many
opportunities to teach the good and humble people that live in the
area.

To finish off transfer 10 of my mission, we had the baptisms of Lupita
and her two sons Adam and Gabriel, and Martha too! After spending the
whole transfer teaching and preparing them, they were able to enter
into the waters of baptism. It was SO special.
The week of a baptism is usually pretty stressful and things always
seem to come up, but it was a pretty chill week for the most part. The
day of the baptism was a little bit crazy though. Like the font almost
overflowed because it filled up faster than it ever has before. We
spent about a half hour getting water out using pitchers and bowls.
The service started an hour late because Hispanic time is a real thing
and everyone was late. The musical number that we were going to do
didn't work out because Hna Coronado and I broke the ukulele that we
were going to use, so we had to wing it on the spot with the good
elders of our ward... But overall, it was just things to laugh about.
In the end, the spirit was really strong. I had to speak at the
service which was scary, but the gift of tongues is real. I could feel
divine help as I spoke. Martha, Lupita, Gabriel, and Adam were all so
happy. They were all glowing after they were baptized!

I love the gospel and I am so grateful for this time that I have to share it!

Love,
Hermana Rupp

Tired.

This is going to be a quick one today because I spent all morning
playing basketball with my mission president, so now there is like no
time!

Before I came out on my mission, I was tired all of the time. I took
naps everyday and they were what kept me going. Then I came out here
and realized that naps aren't a thing and that you are even more tired
than before, which I didn't think was possible. Each week I tell
myself, "just make it to p-day and then you can sleep", but let's be
real here.. There is no time! As a result, I may or may not have
started dozing off in a few lessons this week. The struggle is real
and I feel so old haha!

One really cool thing that happened on Tuesday is that we met Johanna.
She is a sweet, sweet lady from Mexico. We gave her a church tour and
talked about the restoration as we did it, using the paintings around
the church. As we were going around, she kept talking about how she
felt so good being in there. She told us that just going by how she
felt being in the church, she knew that everything we taught her was
true! She is amazing and so close to the spirit, and she has been
since missionaries contacted her on the street.
Some English elders were out and saw her on her driveway. She felt
that she needed to accept whatever it was that they asked her to do.
They asked her if she wanted to learn more, and she immediately said
yes! Now we are so blessed and get to teach her because of it!

This week, I was reminded again about the power that the Book of
Mormon has. We taught a lesson to a recent convert that hasn't been
coming to church. We found out that she hadn't been reading in the
scriptures, so decided to read with her from where she was in 2 Nephi
27. Things stuck out to her that I payed no attention to. The spirit
spoke to her as she was told exactly what she needed to be doing. When
we talk to Heavenly Father, we pray. When he talks to us, it is
through the scriptures! That is why it is so important that we read
them everyday! The Book of Mormon can change lives!

Love,
Hermana Rupp