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

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.