May 26, 2014 Letter

My dear family and friends,

Another week has flown by here in San Luis. It's crazy how fast time flies in the mission so I'll try not to think about it. 

Okay, updates on people- J and F, well they are super sweet, but they aren't progressing much...there is a good chance we will drop them. Sometimes it's hard to do that, because we love these people, but we have to remember that there are other people who the Lord has prepared and are waiting to hear the gospel.

 

We haven't been able to teach Sergio this week, but he came to church again, so that was great and we plan to see him this week,

 

We are also teaching J and V. They are great people. Previously they didn't come to church because he was working on Sundays and she didn't really want to go without him. But this week he told us he had talked to his boss and she said he could have Sundays  off! We were very excited for them and they committed to coming to church yesterday. But when we went to pick them up yesterday no one was home. :( We don't know what happened, but we are going to visit them this week and we're hoping they will be able to come next week.

 

We also have a few new investigators: J, G and A. They are very receptive and excited about learning about the gospel. I love it! G and A came to church yesterday as well and have a baptismal date for June 24th. 

 

Well that's about all for now. I love you! Have a terrific week!

Love,

Hermana Serena Loveland

Dad- You rock! I'm still pretty sure that you are a superhero or something. I don't know how you have time but it but you are always serving others in many different ways. Thanks so much for your example! Also I really love that talk! I was reading it the other day. Good stuff. :)

Mom- The chocolates were in good shape when they arrived, no worries. :) I have not received any letters lately. Who knows what happened with them..Hope they'll show up soon! :)

Katie L- Happy birthday! I hope you have a great day and Ross and the girls spoil you! :)

Jeremy- Thanks for the email! Mexico is great and I really am getting tanner. ANd my hair is getting blonder. I kinda stick out here...a blonde american girl riding a bike in a skirt...haha it is a great time! I hope you are taking good care of the truck! 

Wesley- Wow. Quite the email. Thanks for being a good friend. Though I wouldn't recommend doing that again. Be careful, punk. :) And I would like to see a picture. :)

Pictures - May 2014

 The flooded church -- when the baptismal font was running.

 

 Hermano Jesus

 

 Octavio's baptism.

 Chinese food buffet as a zone with Presidente Carreon.

 

   Presidente with the Hermanas.

 With Hermana Diaz.

 My tan line.

Zone activity climbing the dunes.

 Welcome to Las Vegas!

Apparently they filmed a movie or something here, so they have this sign.

May 19, 2014 Letter

Dear family,

 

I LOVE YOU.

This week was very eventful. Where to begin...

 

First of all O was baptized and confirmed this week! His baptism was on Tuesday, but before that we flooded the church building! aah I can't believe that happened. We went with our new ward mission leader earlier in the day to clean and fill the font and then we left and he was going to come back and check in a few hours. Later he had car troubles and didn't go and we had forgotten about it, so we went super fast to check and it had flooded a little bit. Oops. We grabbed brooms and started sweeping the water out the doors. It was quite the adventure and we were just laughing the whole time, because what else could we do? I'll be sure to send pictures. :) But the baptism went well and O is doing well, which the important part. :)

 

Then on Wednesday we had zone conference with Presidente Carreon. It was great. (And yes Mom, I did receive my package- Thanks!) Since it was his last conference before he leaves he took us all out to eat at a Chinese food buffet. It's fun being in San Luis and far away from everything because I'm pretty sure he didn't do that with all the zones. :) In the evening he also invited us to carne asada at our stake president's home. It was a fun time. When we were riding our bicycles home, President Carreon followed us in his car to make sure we made it safe. :) He is a really great mission president and we will miss him. I've learned a lot from him. 

 

This week J told us that he doesn't want us to come anymore. :( It was sad because he seemed to be progressing so well, but oh well. I hope someday soon. For now we'll keep working to find new people. :)

J and F are doing pretty well. Earlier in the week we were feeling like they weren't progressing very much and maybe we were going to have to drop them, but we visited them on Saturday and taught about the Sabbath Day and they seemed very excited and ready to come to church. We went and picked them up on Sunday and J couldn't come because he was feeling sick, but F came with her grandson! It was so great to have them there.

 

S also came, he is a referral from O and Jesus (ward mission leader) and seems pretty excited about learning about the Gospel.

 

A little more about Hermana Diaz: she is from the northern part of Chile and has two younger brothers. It's fun because sometimes she says weird words that don't exist here in Mexico, or mean different things. :) She doesn't speak much English, but this week we started reading the Book of Mormon in English to practice. I enjoy it. :)

 

I also enjoy being on bicycle. It's lots of fun, even when the roads are sand. I don't wnat to think about leaving San Luis and having to walk again...bicycles are the best! Plus there are zero hills here and it's all flat. :)

 

This morning we had a zone activity and we went to "las dunas" (sand dunes). It was mostly just for the pictures. We climbed up some huge sand dunes and it was quite the adventure. Being in San Luis is lots of fun. :) Life is very good. :)

 

I am going to send lots of pictures right now. :) I love you all! Have a great week! Come what may and love it!

 

Love,

Hermana Loveland

 

P.S. Mom, I love you! Thanks for the package. We really enjoy the jelly beans. :) And thanks for the photos of the temple as well. In our zone conference on Wednesday, Presidente Carreon showed me the picture you put on facebook of the Mothers' Day call. And then he showed it to me two more times throughout the day. haha it was fun. :)

Happy Mother's Day - May 12, 2014 Letter

Yesterday was so great. I'm so glad I was able to talk to my family. They are the best! I love you soo much!

I'm sure how much I'll have to say, since I just talked to you yesterday, but here are some quick updates:

 

All is going well here in San Luis. It's sunny and warm and I love it. O is all ready for his baptism tomorrow. :) We are very excited for him, and he is excited as well.

 

This week we contacted and elderly couple, J and F. They are so sweet. They don't know how to read, so we came another day to read the Book of Mormon to them. They seem fairly receptive and were going to come to church yesterday, but when we passed by they said they were busy, but they'll come next week. I hope so. :) I'll keep you updated.

 

J wasn't able to make it to church either, but is still progressing well and excited about being baptized. 

 

We have a new ward mission leader, Hermano Jesus Zazueta. He is great. He doesn't have much experience in this, but he is willing to learn and he and his wife, Olga (a recent convert), take very good care of us. 

One kinda funny story from last week. On Monday, Dani, and recently returned missionary drove us to a lesson. When we were leaving she realized she had locked her keys in the car. hhaha so we had to wait for her boyfriend to stop by her house, and then take a taxi to where we were to bring the keys. Mission life is never boring. :) New experiences every single day. It is a great time!

Come what may and love it!

Les queiro muchisimo!

Con amor,

Hermana Loveland

May 5, 2014 Letter

Hello family!

 

Here I am in San Luis. And it is very warm here. I don't know what the temperature is, but it's pretty high. But it is all good! The heat is not too bad.  There is usually a light breeze, and even better since we are on bicycles. :) And I know the Lord helps us out. I know that complaining about the heat won't do me any good, so it's better just to keep working. :) Somehow you get used to sweating all the time. haha. I love being on a bicycle. The roads here are flat as well, there aren't any hills so that makes it even better. The one tricky thing is that some of the roads here are sand... but the good thing is that the members here help us out a lot and almost every day we have members with air conditioned cars who join us for part of the day. It is a great time. 

 

One of our investigators is O. He is about 43 and very excited about the gospel. He is going to be baptized on May 13th. :) Another investigator is Jorge who has a baptismal date for May 27th. He is also excited. They both came to church yesterday and are doing very well. :)

 

San Luis is definitely different than Playas, and the climate is a whole lot drier, but I love it. I just remember my favorite quote, "Come what may and love it!" and do my best to embrace whatever comes and just have a great time. 

 

The ward here is great. The members like to help us out and are excellent people. :) We don't currently have a ward mission leader, but they are going to call one next Sunday. We do have a few ward missionaries who are incredibly hard working and willing to help out. And they are lots of fun too. :)
 

One fun thing about serving a mission at the border is that quite a few people know at least a little English and sometimes people like to translate my name and call me Hermana Tierra de Amor. I love it.
This week I was reading in Alma, in chapter 37 when Alma is talking about Nephi and the Liahona and I really like in verse 40 when it says, "therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day." I know the Lord is working many miracles every day on my mission and I just have to recognize them and keep working hard to be able to see even more. 

 

I love you all! Have an awesome week! And share the gospel with your friends! :)

Talk to you on Sunday! :)

 

Love,

Hermana Loveland

 

April Photos

 4 Hermanas in Playas de Tijuana

 Caramel popcorn during our weekly planning session

 Exchanges with Hermana Olsen

 The zone

 With Hermana Torres and the sunset.

 With Hermana Virgen at the stake center. I love her!!

 At the Yogurt Place eating pancakes with Hermana Torres.

Zone activity - making carne asada.

With Michael and Hermana Lucy Botello, his fiancee

With Lucy's kids. 

 Good bye with Hermana Rivera

Good bye with Sandra. I love her!!

 Good bye with Hermana Tree

 Good bye with Hermana Dominga. She is so sweet - she is like our grandma.

Face masks with Hermana Torres

 These are incredibly delicious sugar cookies from the best bakery.
 Hermana Torres and I discovered it and it changed our lives. Haha!

 Last district meeting.

Raul's baptism.

 Good bye to Jesus and Lety.
Below, Good bye with Hermana Denisse

TRANSFERS! - April 28 Letter

Hello!

 

So I'll bet you're all dying to know about transfers. I left Playas, which was kinda hard saying goodbye but I am looking forward to the adventures that lie ahead! I am now in San Luis Rio Colorado! It is the other side of the mission and we had a long bus ride this morning. Also it is WARM here. But I am excited. My companion is Hermana Diaz and she is from Chile. :)  She has been on her mission for 8 months. She was also trained by my trainer, Hermana Mendoza, so that is fun. :) Another fun thing about San Luis: we have bicycles!!! I´ve only been here a few hours but I already love it! 

 

Updates on people in Playas: R did get baptized on Wednesday. It was a great baptismal service with lots of support from the ward. Unfortunately he didn't make it to church yesterday because they went out of town so he was not confirmed. :/ I think his whole story is a lot about the missionaries learning patience. haha. But he'll be there next week and be confirmed. He is great. :)

 

M was baptized on Saturday along with two of Hermana Rivera and Hermana Tree's investigators. M is so wonderful. He is a quiet guy and doesn't say a ton, but when he talks  you know it's sincere. I'm so grateful for the opportunity we had to teach him. He was confirmed on Sunday and also ordained to the Aaronic priesthood. 

 

S is still doing well. That was definitely the hardest goodbye. I seriously love her sooo much. And her family. I hope to be able to come back when they go to the temple in a year or so. They're still working on getting married, waiting for a document to be sent from Durango. But I hope soon! 

 

We had an incredible ward council meeting yesterday, that was extremely focused in the work of salvation and talking about specific names and specific goals and plans and commitments. The bishop is incredible. I love Playas and the members in the ward. I had SUCH a great time there.

 

I am so grateful for the this transfer I had with Hermana Torres. I learned soooo much from her and had a GREAT time. She is an incredible missionary. I'll miss her but I am excited for all the things I will learn from my new companion. I love being a missionary and being able to learn from different companions and all of the experiences we have together. It is a great time. This is such a joyful work!

 

I love you! Thanks for your prayers and support and love! Have a terrific week! 

Also you still haven't told me what you've been studying in Preach My Gospel! Let me know! I love that book and I hope you all do too! It is wonderful, and not just for full-time missionaries.

Love,

Serena

Happy Easter - April 21, 2014 post

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter yesterday! It sounds like it was a good weekend with lots to celebrate. :)

 

I had an excellent Easter. :) It was different from Easter at home, but still a really good day. We went to an Easter concert in the evening that was done by a small choir of missionaries. It was beautiful. They told us we could only go if we brought investigators. We brought M and his fianceé. I think they really enjoyed it. I love music and hymns and especially about Christ. It was a beautiful evening. 

 

So, remember R? We were finally able to visit with him on Saturday! We asked him how he felt about getting baptized and he said, "I think I'm ready to be baptized on Wednesday." Okay! We are definitely excited about that. There were so many little things that made it so he couldn't get baptized before, like busy schedules and stuff like that, but now he's ready and it's going to happen. :) His mom is also very excited for him. :) I think it was just about us learning patience, but in the end every works out and I know this is the Lord's work.

 

M is also progressing really well and excited about his baptism on Saturday. He has a lot of faith, and I've learned a lot from the opportunity we've had to teach him. 

 

S is also doing well. On Wednesday we ate with their family. Her kids are so funny. It was a great time. We're hoping she can get married soon. They have to get a act of divorcement sent over from Durango and they are also saving money, but we're hoping it will happen soon. :)

 

On Friday we had zone conference with Presidente Carreon. I always enjoy those and learn a lot. While there I also got my package from the Squires family. :) That was fun. Thanks! 

 

To answer Mom's question, transfers are next week. I cannot believe how fast this transfer has gone by, or that I've been here in Playas for 4 months. Crazy. But I love it here. This ward is wonderful. The bishop is very focused on the work of salvation and the members here take good care of us. :)

 

So I really just love being a missionary! It is the greatest! Have a great week! I love you all!

 

Love,

Hermana Loveland