I love being a missionary! (Have I said that enough?)

So I know we just spoke on Mother's day, but I haven't heard from anyone in 2 weeks - speak to me people! Haha jk. But really, how are you?

Hope y'all are doing well! This week has been AWESOME. I love training and I love my companion! It's a great opportunity for growth. We had such an awesome week! We've seen a lot of miracles.

Working with Juan is going really well. He really takes initiative in finding out the truth for himself. It's refreshing and awesome.

We're also seeing a lot of progress with a woman named Esmeralda. She is a member referral and we've been meeting with her once a week. This week she told us she would like to be baptized in the future, but she needs time to prepare - it is hard to leave her Catholic background. The member, her friend Vero, bore powerful testimony about her conversion story, when she realized her church and her background weren't going to save her, and she knew she had to leave them behind. It was so great to have her there. We're excited to help Esmeralda prepare for baptism! (not the same Esmeralda that just got baptized - just so we're clear).

There is this man named Alfonso who we keep visiting, and almost every time we go back to talk to him we meet a new investigator at his house! That house is a goldmine. It's hilarious how it happens every time we go there. We've already met Maria, Salvador, Blaine, Joey, and Richard all through him. Richard is the most recent one and he is an incredible find. He is a recovering drug addict who just had his children taken away 3 weeks ago by social services. He is done living his old life and wants to change. He feels we were placed in his path at that particular time because God is trying to reach him. He says he wants to know God more and change his life to be in harmony with God's will, but he just doesn't know where to start. He was a big miracle.

Jenny and Ivan just moved into the elder's area, so they are no longer our investigators. :( :(  We're sad and so are they, but I'm sure the elders will take care of them.

We've also had a lot of opportunities to serve this week! A single mom in our ward needed help moving, so we were able to help her on Wednesday and Thursday. Then on Friday this man (the brother of a former investigator) was pruning his tree and had almost the whole tree on the ground in his driveway. We were able to help him chop up the tree and get it in the trash bins for about an hour. He was surprised that we did it in our dresses - which really was pretty funny - but it was a good experience as we shared with him some of our message as well as with the former investigator. Then that night we got to help decorate the church for the reception of a family who got sealed in the temple the next day. It was a beautiful occasion. I love eternal families!!!!

Missionary work is just the best thing ever. This transfer is awesome. I am learning so much every day. Life is definitely never going to be the same when I get back! I'll never be able to come home and be a regular fisher again. I'm really starting to understand a lot more about this life and the plan God has for us. I love Him, I love His work, I love you!

Thank you for being awesome examples! Cuidense mucho!
Hna. Cannon

Yay!

Hello hello!

Well, this has been a good week. Training is going well and it's super humbling and pushes me to really stretch and grow a lot every day and strive to always be a good example. It's kind of a lot of pressure, but I like it. It is really pushing me, and I know the Lord is always preparing me for something else He needs me to do in the future. So basically we always need to be preparing and growing! That pretty much goes for everyone in the whole world.

I think I've finally gotten to the point where my body is used to the stamina required of me every day. My first two transfers I just wasn't used to actively working nearly all day every day - and every morning I'd wake up and feel like I didn't sleep at all, but I'd be excited for a new day! Now I'm still excited for each new day, but it's even better cause I actually feel awake for it.

Last week we met Juan. His wife is a member, and he's had all the missionary discussions before, and he has decided he'd like to be baptized now on June 8! So there's a miracle the Lord dropped into our laps. We've only met with him once so we still don't know a lot about him, but we're excited to work with him and help him prepare for his baptism.

My companion is super fun. I love joking around with her. It feels good to laugh all the time. We are still focused and diligent, but it is good to have fun sometimes. Really refreshing!

Here's the picture of Esmeralda at her baptism with Hna. Corniea and I! I love this little girl so so much. I will definitely keep writing her and her family. I wrote my testimony in a Book of Mormon for her, and she brings it to church every week. We gave her a CTR ring at her baptism and she never takes it off. She seriously is a beacon of light for her family. They are doing so so well now and have been coming to church every week. We're trying to work with the ward mission leader to help them develop friendships in the ward to encourage them to remain active. It's awesome and beautiful and I love it.

Missionary work is the best!

Hna. Cannon

First week training!

Heeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Family, it was so great to talk to you on Sunday! I love love love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Y'all are the best :)

So this past week has been AWESOME! Training is great! I love it. The first day I felt a lot of the responsibility and being a little worried that I wouldn't be able to do and be everything I need to do and be in order to help this new missionary be successful. But as trainers we made 3 commitments (study from trainer's leaftlet daily, update area book nightly, and use planning guidelines nightly) and we were promised that if we kept these commitments, we would not struggle. I have kept my end of the deal and the Lord is definitely keeping his! I feel confident in the Lord. He is strengthening me and helping me be and do everything I need to.

Training is an incredible opportunity for growth. Never before have I made someone else's happiness and success such a priority in everything I do. I am nearly living my mission for her right now. Before I was focused on the investigators and how I can improve in order to help them. But now I'm focused on helping her progress, and I know that if I can help her be a successful missionary, together we will be able to help way more people than if I just take the lead and help the people right now. Help her in order to help others. I am growing a lot in the attribute of charity - something that is very needed. In disagreements with previous companions we both had our pride, and it would interfere with our unity. But now I am so focused on her happiness and success that I can never let my pride get in the way. I always want to work together and be unified and help her succeed. I've never really been so focused on another person before. I'm sure this is a lesson I should have learned long ago, but better than never, right? It is very fulfilling to try to help her with Spanish and help her with her teaching skills, and to see her confidence build as she improves. It's awesome.

Esmeralda's baptism last Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy for her and her family. It was awesome. I forgot to bring my camera :/ but I will send you a picture next week :)

As I said on the phone, Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the quorum of the seventy came and spoke to us in a mission conference yesterday! He said SO many awesome things. I am definitely continuing to receive revelation as I ponder my notes. It was awesome. He definitely came as a servant of the Lord to help us do His work. Right after the conference the Lord put such an awesome person in our path! We were able to use a lot of what we had just barely learned in the conference. We went to bring a Book of Mormon to someone named Alfonso, and we met his friend named Blaine. Before we even said anything to him he was really defensive and said, "I don't know if God exists, and I don't want to talk about it." We just said that's fine, we're just here to bring a Book of Mormon to your friend. But we got to talking and he ended up bringing up a big 45 minute discussion. It was such an amazing experience! Blaine has so many great questions. He believes strongly in Jesus Christ, but doesn't know if God exists and doesn't feel like he's answering his prayers. He's recently lost his home and wonders where God is during this struggle. He is also gay and doesn't understand why God would make him this way if he's made in His image. He fears judgment day, and he does really want to be saved. We're meeting with him again today and we're both really excited. We used almost all of companionship study planning for it. He has a lot of potential. God definitely placed him in our path. We're meeting with him again today and we're both so excited for our lesson with him! It was really fun to prepare for. He's got some awesome questions. It was fun to study for him this morning.

The field is ready to harvest! Yeah!

Hna. Cannon :)

3rd transfer, 3rd companion, same area, TRAINING!

Hello hello!

 

So as you see in the subject box, after ten weeks in the mission, I will be training this transfer! I'm excited. And I'm glad I get to stay in the same area! I don't know anything about my new companion yet, but I will meet her tomorrow. Yay! It's definitely humbling to be called as a trainer. I hope I can be the companion she needs and help her to establish patterns and things that will help her for her whole mission.

 

Weaknesses are never more evident than they are as a missionary. Before, it was okay to make mistakes and I just worked through things. But if I ever mess up in a lesson or something I feel awful because people's salvation is on the line! I've definitely been demanding perfection of myself. But I'm trying to remember that that's even more than the Lord asks of us. All He asks is for everything we have. I can't give Him perfection right now, but I can give Him all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I am grateful for the experiences I've had in the mission so far that have humbled me and helped me to grow. I feel that I've learned a lot and I'm excited for the opportunity to train and help a new missionary grow as well.

 

Esmerelda is getting baptized this Saturday! We've been working with their family for so long. They've been receiving missionaries for years and just haven't been progressing. But this last transfer their whole family has come to church 3 weeks in a row, their dad is preparing to receive the Melchezidek priesthood, and he is going to baptize Esmerelda this Saturday! It's been a long journey, and I am so excited to see their family grow. It's not just a baptism, it's their whole family coming back! I hope this will continue so their younger children can be raised in the church and learn the principles of the gospel in their home.

 

Jenny is doing really well. She told us she is so ready to get baptized. The only problem, as I've mentioned before, is they need to get married first and that's not something Ivan wants right now. So that's really hard because she's being very faithful and can't progress in the gospel. But everything will happen in it's proper time. We just have to pray Ivan will change his heart.

 

We were out for a run one morning this week and got to rescue a little dog. He was really friendly, had a collar, and seemed a little scared. We took him to a house close by and the woman was really nice and let us leave the dog with her for animal control to come get. She said the owners will be really happy to have their dog again. We ended up getting to tell her a little about the church, and we're going to send the elders to her. We'll see what happens!

 

I got to try an interesting food this week. It's called mole and it's meat covered in this really interesting sauce that has chocolate in it. Apparently in Mexico they only make that dish for holidays or when they have special company over, cause it takes a lot of work. So that was really sweet of the members to make it for us. It's definitely unlike anything I've tried before.

 

About the pictures: 1) Here's a stop sign we saw and thought was pretty cool :) 2) A member in the ward has some snakes. I was okay with the one I was holding, but right as my companion took the picture the member put the other snake right by me, and she took the picture right as I felt it crawling on me. It was pretty funny haha. 3) This is my district!

 

Love you all so much!

Hermana Cannon