Week 12: Temple

Week 12: Temple

Hola!

     Working at the temple was really weird because we were not actually in the temple we just watched the same 10 min video all day and asked people to turn off their cell phones. The next day we were in the Carpa de Recepcion talking to wave after wave of people. Thursday over 10 thousand people came through and Saturday there were even more but I haven’t seen the numbers yet. All these people come from so far away! traveling 4-6 hours just to come see the temple, and it is not even dedicated yet!
     The other day after my companion and I had presented the video and were ushering our group out into the hall where their guides were going to take them into the temple, when this couple approached me. This beautiful couple was practically glowing and seemed very excited to talk to me"Hermana Lambert, Mucho gusto usted es una familiar de Elder Lambert?"[are you elder Lambert’s family member?].
      I sort of paused and must have given them a look like"how am I supposed to know its just a last name" but I felt something special welling up inside me and I said yes. "Ben? Ben Lambert?" my smile was about a mile wide as I said " SI! SI! Es mi tio!"[YES!YES! That is my uncle] They told me about how he was their missionary how he taught them and baptized them and now they are here in the temple. We were all so happy, I wanted  to take a picture with them to send you guys but they were losing their group so they ran off. As they hurried a way she shouted back to me that they were they Familia Hernandez so that I could write you guys about them. It really was a very special experience :)
     When I am in the carpa sometimes I feel like I just walk from couch  to couch absorbing peoples problems, crying with them, offering a few words of advice then off to the next couch and it starts all over again. That and standing around in a hot tent all day makes us all exhausted by the end of the day. Add to that the fact that the past 2 p-days we were working in the temple and we had no time to rest ... lets just say some tensions are running high among the sisters. Luckily the sisters in my area are all pretty awesome so while we may be fraying at the edges no serious problems have arisen. I live with my companion Hermana Viallobos my old comp Hermana Wong and her new comp Hermana Wolferts

I am out of time but I love you all, write me snail mail!

les quiero mucho,
 Hermana Lambert

Week 11: Abrir La Boca

Week 11: Abrir La Boca

This past week there was an activity for the Primary in our ward called CCM For Kids where all the children did MTC (Missionary) training and then came with us on a few citas [appointments]. They wore the cutest name tags that said Futuro Misionero. Since just about the only kid from an active family in the Primary is the son of the primary president it was especially touching to see 9 little boys and 1 girl between the ages of 8 and 13 all turned out to help us teach the gospel. We had some amazing experiences with these kids. They just brought such a sweet spirit to our lessons. On Sunday, the primary prez invited one of the 10-year-old boys up to bear his testimony during sacrament meeting. His family is menos activa [less active] but starting to come back and his abuela [grandmother] is pretty active. Right now they are trying to bring his 22-year-old brother back so that they can all get sealed in the temple. He got up there and began to testify about the joy he felt when he was with las misioneras [the sister missionaries] and how he wanted to be a missionary when he grew up. That little 10-yr-old broke down crying on the stand but managed to choke out between his sobs "Yo se, que vive mi Senor. Yo se que el sacrifico todo por nosotros, y Yo se que esta es la iglesia verdadera." [I know that my Savior lives.  I know he sacrificed everything for us, and I know that this is the true church].  He had the whole church in tears as well. There is nothing more powerful then the sincere testimony of the pure of heart.

This Friday we had a Noche de Barrio (Ward Night) trying to get everybody to participate more en la obra missional [missionary work].  The theme was Every Member a Missionary. One of our investigators showed up to pick up his grand kids from an activity and decided to stay for the Noche de Barrio. At one point we divided up into groups and discussed different ways they could participate. His group was “Abrir la boca” [open your mouth]. Then we all got back together again and we had to share what we learned in our groups. Everyone in his group left so he got up in front of the ward and shared a sweet testimony. He told everyone that he was new to this church but that he was excited to be here and to join us. He told us that one day he was standing on the street trying to decide if he should go inside his house or stay out. He was going back and forth, back and forth, and was about to go inside when my companion Hna. Wong and I passed by. We passed by but then we stopped, we turned around, and we came back. We told him we had a message about Jesus Christ that would help him find more peace in his life--that would help him find joy in the middle of whatever trial he was facing and he thought of his son in rehab. When we asked him if he wanted to hear more of our message he said, “Yes”. That was my first day in the mission. One of my first contacts, and here he is preparing to be baptized! :) It was wonderful to hear. And if my comp had not opened her mouth we would have just passed by and kept walking.

Today I went to the temple and all the sister missionaries who are going to work there got to tour it before the VIP tours we are giving this week and before the doors open to the public next week. I was the first person to walk through the doors in the first tour in over 33 years. It was amazing! I could not believe the spirit that I could feel in the temple, and it is not even dedicated yet!! So many amazing things happened there and I had so many thoughts I want to share but I am out of time so maybe next week.

I love you all. Remember to open your mouths and share the gospel with those around you. These are your friends and family! Don’t be afraid to share with them the great gift that is the gospel.  Don’t deny them the chance to have the blessings in their lives that will allow them to have eternal joy with their families!

Les quiero mucho! [I love you all very much]

Hermana Lambert

10: Prayers

Week 10: Prayers  Hola mis queridos :) Another AMAZING week in Agricolae Oriental! Besides melting like a popsicle in the heat of the sun that is. I am getting so tan it is crazy. Or so I thought until I stood next to Hermana Wolferts who has only been here 2 weeks, and I looked completely white again... well, at least I can claim the ivory. The first few days were jam-packed with citas (appointments) and we had a lot of members present-- especially with the youth which is our goal. The goal for the mission for each companionship, is to have 10 members present at discussions each week but I don't think I have ever even had 5, so we have been working on that and this week we had 7!!! We would have had more, but the same old story. When our member comes with us our investigators don't show, when our investigators show up, our members don't.  But I am happy with our progress and know that we can do better next week.             The latter half of the week was less than excellent, but so it goes. We had 8 menos activos {less actives} in the Capilla again!!!!  And this time we had 2 investigators :) I was so happy. We have had multiple experiences where we knocked on the door of someone who hadn't been to church in years, we (pseudo) fight our way in and are about to share our message only to have them burst into tears and tell us that they were just waiting for some to come and show them the way. So many have told us that in their prayers they had specifically asked that morning that they could find the path again and that God would show them  where they needed to be. They explain that they felt lost and that right before we knocked they were praying to find comfort and love. Those moments fill me with joy. I look them in the eye and say, "Hermana estamos aqui como representantes de Jesucristo. Estamos aqui para decir lo que el diria si el estuviera aqui."  {Sister, we are here as representatives of Jesus Christ.  We are here to say what he would say if he were here." We tell them to come back to church. That they will feel Christ's love. That they will have more peace in their week. We promise them un buen de bendiciones {abundant blessings} if they will only come to church y participar in la santa cena {and partake of the sacrament}.        One lady, I don't know how I was bold enough, but I called her to repentance. I looked her straight in the eyes and told her to repent, stop smoking, be more kind to her daughter, and to come to church with us. And she did. I love these people and I can feel how much Heavenly Father loves them to.          I bear testimony that Christ lives, that he knows each of us individually, that he answers our prayers and that he wants nothing more than to bless us, but blessings are predicated upon obedience. I know that for every commandment we keep we will receive blessings. Why postpone the day of your blessings? Why wait to repent? Repent today. Change your life for better today. If we love God we will keep his commandments. The only thing we can give to God is our will, our agency, our decisions. Only when we consistently choose him can we show how grateful we are for all he has given us. I love you all, Peace out, Hermana Lambert

Week 9: La Super Entrenadora

Week 9: La Super Entrenadora

Hola!

 Well I got my new companion, she is a convert from Honduras, she has only been a member for 20 months, and she is absolutely gorgeous. Today has been the fastest week of my mission and it wasn't even the week most filled with work. Well, at least quantifiable work. We have looked up a lot of old investigators, contacted a lot of people and looked up a lot of references, but we have 0 new investigators and before Sunday we had 0 progressing investigators, but THEN... J.S came to church! we have been teaching him almost from the beginning but he never comes to church so we have had to drop him a few times. He finally made it and says he wants to be baptized.

This week was kind of rough on the investigator front but we had a lot of success with our less active families.  We got 8 of them to church this week! some of them had not been in over 7 years! I was so happy :)

I love you all! send me mail! If you send it by pouch it only takes 2 weeks :)