The Members Are Trying to Kill Me! :O (Week 13)

HOLA!!!

Como estan?!  :)  I hope all is well for you guys!!  This has been a really slow, uneventful week, but it has been a good one! :) We again, did not get to see Ya... or So...  It has been really frustrating. But I know that it will be okay in the end, and that if they are ready, they will be able to visit more with us. :) We have been able to see lots of less actives this week though! :) Hna. Roos and I are focusing on formers and less-actives, sense it has been stressed to visit them more, and we are hoping to see much improvement by that! We have been able to see Ma…  and An…, who are Focus 15’s, and they are so nice! For the longest time, (Since I got here...) we have been trying to see them, and we have not until last week! (We weren't able to not on their part, but ours.) Last Sunday we invited them to an activity at the church for Thursday, and they came!!!! :D It was so much fun! We played volleyball and we just have enjoyed visiting them. :) We went over to their house last night and taught them the Restoration, and it was wonderful! We are hoping that this will help their family a whole lot! :)

The music fast was wonderful! I loved it so much! We ended it this last week, and I have been small miracles come from it. The main thing I learned from the fast is to be obedient in exactness and to be strong. My companion and I decided to listen to the Book of Mormon of CD whenever we were in the car, and we informed our roommates of our goals, and they were very supportive. Out of the two week that we fasted, we had 5 baptisms! It was amazing, and I am so grateful that we as a zone could do it. I know that sacrificing music seems like not much, but now I am sensitized to what I should and shouldn't listen to, and the Spirit can always be with me because of this experience! :)

An…'s baptism was wonderful! All the Hermanas got the opportunity to do a music number, and the Spirit was very strong! I knew that An… felt the Spirit! Many people came to the baptism, and even some who are investigating the church! It is so exciting to witness the work that we are partaking of! It always reminds me of when I was baptized, and I love being able to recall what it was like for myself to enter the waters of baptism. :) The best part of it all was probably that An…l's older brother, Pa…, got to baptize him! It was so cool! I love being a missionary!

So... I MET ELDER RASBAND.  WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!  If you are not familiar to who that is, he is the president of the 70!  On Saturday night we were sitting at our little table during temple tours, and a car pulls up and he rolls down his window and says, "Hi!  I'm Ronald Rasband.  I'm a general authority and I like to visit with missionaries.  Come shake my hand!"  And we were all just like: :O  It was so cool! :)  He asked us who we were and where we were from and it was just so cool! Loved it!

I ALMOST DIED LAST FRIDAY.  Not really... But anyways!  So we were eating at a member's home and we were having mol'e!  It was the first time I have ever ate it, and I knew it was going to be weird, because well... It is chocolate covered chicken pretty much... It is... Interesting. Anyways!  So I had taken about 3 bites and I started to cough because my throat was getting itchy!.... Then it started to burn.... Then I couldn't breathe! :P  I whispered to Hna. Roos, "Uhhhh.... I think I'm allergic to this!"  And her eyes got really big and whispered back, "DON'T EAT IT!!!"  So we told the members and they ran and got me some allergy medicine, I took it, and within 15 minutes I was better. :)  So no more Mol'e for me! :)  I am not too upset about it! Haha :)

I forgot to mention last week!  I got the chance to meet the Armstrong family from Meet the Mormons! :D  On January 18th, there was a fireside that they gave that we got to go too, and it was so awesome!  We got to hear from Dawn, Anthony, and Craig!  There is definitely a lot that was not said in the movie, but it was really awesome!  I learned a lot from it, and I actually got to talk with Dawn!  (Mom, she says hi!  Cause I told her you were a big fan! :)  And she loves you!)  It was really cool! :)

Well, not much else is going on this week!  It is currently raining!  I LOVE THE RAIN! :)  Hope you guys are not freezing to death!  You are all in my prayers!  Thank you for all the support and love!

Con Amor,

Hna. Rachel Duncan

PS: I GOT A HAIRCUT! :)

THEY SEE ME ROLLIN'... THEY HATIN'! (Week 12)

Hola guys!  How is everything going? :)

 

Hope all is well! Transfers are this week! But thankfully, I am staying here in Mission Viejo with Hna. Roos! YAYYYYYYY!  The one thing I love about this mission is the fact that for Spanish, there are only 2 areas, and 1/2 of my mission will (hopefully) be spent in both areas, that way I get to really know the people here!  I love the Hispanic culture and people.  They are so humble and they would simply do anything for us! I LOVE THEM SOOOOO MUCH!!!

The cool thing is next transfer, I get to co-train!  I know this simply because there will be 2 new Hermanas coming, and one will probably go with Hna. Roos and one with Hna. Williams, and there will be 5 of us!  Therefore.... I will be in a trio! WOOOOOO! :) And I am sooooooo excited to meet the new Hnas!  Especially Hna. Garcia!  :)

 

This week has been good!  Lots of miracles for our zone!  In the past 2 weeks, our zone has had 4 baptisms! :)  AND THIS WEEK THE ELDERS IN OUR DISTRIC ARE HAVING ONE!!!! Woooooo!  It is a 21 year old guy, named A...  he is super cool! :)  His older brother has been a member for little over a year now, and he is preparing to go to the Temple!  Speaking of which, we gave 2 Temple tours in Spanish!  I forgot to mention that... I GIVE TEMPLE TOURS!!! Oops! haha :)  Every Thursday and Saturday!  So I get to go to the temple every week!  And luckily today we get to go!  I love seeing the Temple!  :)  Anyways!  The temple tour with A... was WONDERFUL!!! His brother was so helpful and he bore his testimony to him and the spirit was so strong!  A... was a little concerned about baptisms for the dead... he literally thought we baptized DEAD PEOPLE.... It was funny, haha :)  Anyways, then we gave a tour to a older couple who are preparing to go to the temple for themselves!  They were so excited and your could feel the Spirit so strongly! :) YAY!  We didn't get to teach Ya... at all this week... But we did get to see her yesterday!  Every time we plan on seeing her, she is either asleep, out with friends, or taking a shower... So it is kind of hard! haha :)  But we are doing our best! :)  We have been trying to get in contact with So..., a recent referral, but we can't get ahold of her.  So this week we are going to REALLY try to see her!  I'M DETERMINED!!!!

We got to give 2 temple tours in Spanish last Saturday!  They were so wonderful!  One was for A.., (who is getting baptized this Saturday!!!!!) And Elder Ortiz and Elder Delcamp got to come as well! :)  It was so cool because his brother, Pablo, he is preparing to take out his endowments, and so he got to bare testimony to his brother of how the Temple has blessed his life, and it was just so amazing! :)  The other tour was for a older couple who are preparing to enter the temple together!  They are so excited!  WE ARE SO EXCITED! :)

So! I contacted my first set of JW Missionaries!!!! IT WAS WEIRD.  We were in a window and my companion was talking to one guy and two girls were walking by and I wasn't going to just let them go, so I went up to them and introduced myself and asked them if they were interested in learning more about Christ, and they said, "We are actually Jehovah Witnesses.  We are signing missionaries and we help those who are deaf, do you know what sign language is?"

........ Really?

I explained that I DO know what sign language is and told them that I was CALLED OF GOD to serve the people of the Hispanic culture, and they gave me the up and down and were kind of sassy, haha. :)  They asked me if I knew anyone who was deaf, and I honestly don't, so I told them no, and in return I asked them if they knew anyone who spoke Spanish who could use our message, and they said, "No, but if we do, we will let you guys know."  OKAY.

 

I HAD MY FIRST CREEPER EXPERIENCE! :D (Wooooooo....)  So.  There is this one apartment complex that a lot of members live in that we go visit a lot throughout the week, and we had a few appointments there.  We ran into one of the members on the street as they were walking to the store and we were talking with them for a little bit.  I looked towards the main street and there was this guy walking towards us, so we all moved off the sidewalk so he could pass.  Well.. He stopped and stood right next to Janet, (member) and just waited there, and we just looked at each other, and Janet said, "Are you wanting to speak with them?"  And he nodded his head.  So they left, and we just awkwardly stood there and started talking with him.  His name is Pallab and he is from Nepal. He can speak English, and he was good at it, but he had a hard time understanding us.  From the very beginning, the Spirit was telling me we needed to leave.  We asked him if he wanted to learn more about the church and he said yes, so we scheduled an appointment with him for tomorrow. (Gulp.)  And in the meanwhile of all this, he is smoking.  Randomly he offers us his cigarette, and we just were like.... Really? But we kindly declined. (Obviously..)  And asked him more questions, and he said he had been here for 5 months and he was a student.  We got all his information, and started walking away.  Not 10 seconds later, he is calling us back, and asking where we lived.  That kind of concerned me... We told him that we lived 10 minutes away and that we would be able to see him.  Then he asked if we had a car, and we said yes... Images of the movie Taken and Saratov Approach started playing in my head, and I was thinking, "Great, I'm going to die."  I don't know, the atmosphere overall was super creepy, and he was talking really creepy, and I am now super paranoid, haha.  Thankfully, we are doing a pass-along lesson, since we won't be able to teach him anyways!  So the elders in his area will be coming with us so we can introduce them to him.  But in the meanwhile, please keep us in your prayers!  D:

 

So.  Funny story.  Super quick, cause I'm running out of time!  On Sunday we were on our way to the Bishop's house for dinner and we were getting out of our car, and we heard this really loud, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" sound, almost like a weed-whacker.  5 seconds later we see a grown man on a mini Vespa.  I. DIED.  It was sooooooooo funny.  Then 5 seconds later, ANOTHER grown man came past on HIS mini Vespa!  XD  My companion and I looked at each other, and then I started singing:

"THEY SEE ME ROLLIN'.... THEY HATIN'!!!!" And Hna. Roos about died, haha :)  It was so funny. :)  You would have had to be there, haha. :)

 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you all soooooo much! :)

 

Con amor,

Hna. Rachel Duncan

 

Spanish of the week:

Estoy emocionado! (Es-toy-ee-mosh-ee-nod-o)

I'm excited!

 

ADIOS!!!!!

Foliphobia! (The fear of leaves) ^.^ - Week 11

Hola Everyone!!!!

 

Wassup?! :) This week has been a great one! Not a lot has happened, but we have seen miracles! :) We FINALLY saw Ya-- for the second time again last Thursday! We taught her about the Book of Mormon and we read the introduction with her and even the beginning of the first chapter with her. She was so excited and she seemed so interested! :) We bore our testimonies of the Book of Mormon with her, and the Spirit was so strong. We asked how she felt about getting baptized, and she said she needed to know more, which we expected, so it is okay. But we have no doubt that she will get baptized! :) We are so excited! We are planning on HOPEFULLY seeing her today and teaching her the Plan of Salvation, and if not, we are re-teaching the lessons for Em--, her mom. :) YAY!
I had my second ZTM!!! Wooooo!!! It was wonderful! I loved the training we had! We made some wonderful goals together as a zone, and overall, I have no doubt that we will see miracles this upcoming month!  As a zone, we decided to do a music fast!  One of my best friends did that while on her mission, and I felt strongly prompted to share it with everyone else! (THANKS KYLIE! ;D) So as a zone, we are fasting from all forms of music for 2 weeks until our next meeting, to see if we saw any improvement. Just in the past week I have seen many tender mercies in our zone, and in the past week, our zone has confirmed possibly 3 new baptisms. Hopefully they will happen! But I know that sacrificing a little music will be so worth it. After all, it is only music. But I know that we will be blessed by it. If we feel like it is worth doing longer, we are planning on potentially doing it for a few transfers! :) :)

We got in contact with a less-active and her daughter, who is 8, wants to be baptized! So we are going over to her house later today and teaching her! Her name is Vi--. :) We are excited! Ja--, the less-active, her husband is not a member, so we are hoping that while we are there, we will be able to see an opportunity to teach him. :)

 

So. Funny story.  My companion and I were dong a window right next to the library, and we were just talking while we waited for people to walk by.  As we were talking, I saw that Hna. Roos had a little spider crawling on her head!  So I was really calm and said, "Oh! Hold still! You have a spider on your head!" and flicked it off with my pen.  The look on her face was PRICELESS.  She stopped breathing and had tear brimming, and started breathing pretty hard...  Hna. Roos is TERRIFIED of spiders, haha. :)  So we started talking about horrible experiences with Spiders!  I was in the process of telling her the story about Leslie George, when a spider randomly fell from the ceiling during seminary, and in her scriptures.  (It happened twice, haha! Love you Leslie!) Just as I finished telling her the story a HUGE yellow thing fell right in-between Hna. Roos and I, and we FLIPPED. .....Turns out it was only a leaf!  We started running around screaming and laughing and we just about had a fit.  Hna. Roos was bent over laughing so hard, she couldn't breathe!  It was sooooooo funny!  So, we now have foliphobia! :) I would say that that was the highlight of the week! :) haha :)

 

For the past 4 days, we have had a race between our roommates to see who can get home the soonest, so that we can scare them.  The first time was great, because we hid in their shower and scared Sister Smart really bad.  Then the next night they scared us by hiding in the closet by the front door.  The third night we got home and turned off all the lights and planned, then we planned on hiding in their room when they got to the apartment.  It was starting to get late and I still needed to take a shower, so I told Hna. Roos that when they got home, to tell me and I would turn the water off so they couldn't hear us!  5 minutes into my shower, Hna. Roos shuts the lights off and I turn the water off!  I stood there for 5 minutes until I hear a "RAAAAAAWR!" and a "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Coming from Sister Lafluer and Sister Smart.  Then Hna. Roos knocks on the door and says, "You can turn the water on now!"  And the sisters thought that was soooooo funny, haha. :)  But this is the best part!  So last night we got home at 9:12, and we were joking around that the sisters were going to be late, and we decided to take a break from the whole scarring thing, or else it would get really old.  We started planning, then got ready for bed, and we were going to call in numbers and I told Hna. Roos that I had to go to the bathroom first.  I walk in to the bathroom and turn the light on, and then the shower curtain practically explodes and Sister Smart and Sister Lafluer come screaming out of the shower!  I LOST IT.  These were my exact words: "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFLIP! FLIP! I FLIPPING HATE YOU GUYS! I HATE YOU!" (I don't hate them, don't worry!  But when you are in that kind of situation, things just fly out of your mouth without permission...)  And I fall on the ground whimpering like a baby and they are laughing soooooooo hard. My companion comes running in and just looks startled with her mouth wide open and says.... "Well. Okay."  But it was soooooo funny, and sooooo horrible at the same time.  I just love having roommates! haha :D

 

Love you guys! Hope you have a great week! :)

 

Con amore,

Hna. Rachel Duncan :)

 

Spanish of the Week:

Que paso?! (K-pas-o)

What happened?

FELIZ ANO NUEVO!!!! ^.^ (Week 10)

WASSUP?! Hola! Como Estas?! :D

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! C: I hope it was a great one! :)

This week has been full of miracles! We have witnessed the hand of the Lord in our service countless times this week! We taught Ya-- for the first time this past Tuesday and it was so wonderful! We were fortunate enough to eat breakfast with Sister Murray, who is in the YWs Presidency and she was so helpful! We taught her the Restoration and she was very receptive of it! She seemed so interested to know more, and the Spirit was so strong! We invited her to pray to know if what we had taught her was true and she did so and after a minute or so of pondering, she told us yes! We invited her to be baptized on January 17th, and I think she was very overwhelmed, that she simply said, "I don't know!" But she was soooo happy! I have no doubt she will be baptized though! We were talking with her mom the next day and she said that she was so much happier when she got home and giving her a lot of hugs, and I know that it was because she felt the Spirit. :) We are so excited! Unfortunately, the past three days we had lessons set up and they all fell through because they had a friend from Mexico come and stay with them for a few days, but Em-- told us that Ya-- really wanted to see us. But we are seeing her later today, and we are so excited! :) We are planning on teaching her about the Book of Mormon! :)

We had a lot of windows this past week, and we met a lot of potentials! We have been trying to get in contact with them, but we haven't had any luck. But we are still working on it! Unfortunately, a lot of the people we contacted gave us wrong numbers or addresses.... Which is really sad.. But it is okay! :) We are still trying to find them! :) 

Not much is going on!  Our heater broke the other day and so it was FREEZING! Ugh.  But all is well now! :) 

Please pretty please keep investigators in your prayers! We are soooooo close!  Also please keep my family in my prayers and my best friend Zachary!  They have been sick for the past few weeks! :( Sad. :(

Love you all so very much! I hope your new year is FABULOUS!!!

Oh! I have a challenge for all of you!

We are challenging all the members to read the Book of Mormon every day since it is the New Year, so that they can finish it by the end of the year! I extend this challenge to all of you! If it be personal, or with your family, please do so! I promise you it will enrich your life forever! :)  Thank you everyone!

I love you oobers!

Con Amore,

Hna. Rachel Duncan

Spanish of the week:

Que tenga buen dia! (K-tang-a-bu-en-dee-a) Have a great day! :)

Apartment View

Mountain Snow

Rachels Many faces

Hermana Duncana and Hermana Murphy