August 18, 2014 Photos

 At our zone conference.

Hanging out on p-day and eating in our room (because there is air conditioning).

 And we had cake because Hermana Tree hit 8 months in the mission, 

and Hermana Martinez 11 months.

Some seafood we ate this week. There was shrimp, crab, octopus, not sure what else.

 [This is amusing because Hermana Serena was not a seafood-lover pre-mission!]

August 18, 2014 Letter

Hey family!

 

It's been a pretty good week. One of the highlights was our conference with Presidente Garcia on Wednesday. We have such a wonderful mission president and I learned a lot. I also love the love and concern he has for us. He is awesome. Hermana Garcia is also wonderful. :)

 

F is doing well. He came to church yesterday and is excited about his baptism. He said he's not going to smoke anymore, and we are praying for him so he can be ready to be baptized on Saturday. :) 

 

K and M are doing well, though they didn't make it to church yesterday, because K wasn't feeling well. They don't have any kids yet, but K is about 6 months pregnant and they are very excited for their future family, and know that living the gospel will their family a lot. :)

 

S and G didn't make it to church either, we're going to visit them tonight and see how there are doing.

 

Life is going well here in San Luis, and time is flying super fast. I'm doing my best to enjoy every day and see the miracles in our lives, amidst the challenges of missionary life. Because life really is wonderful, and Heavenly Father loves us. This is the work of the Lord and there is nothing else I'd rather be doing! 

Thanks for everything! Sorry for the short letter. Remember that I love you! And the church is true! Keep smiling! And share the gospel!

 

Love,

Hermana Loveland

Pictures - July 28, 2014

 Avenida Misioneros :)

 Before we got on the bus for Tijuana.

 Our zone last transfer. We had cake just for fun :)

  With Hermana Urbina (MTC companion)

  With Hermana Mendoza and Hermana Diaz :)

My new companion - Hermana Camacho!

July 14, 2014 Pictures - Sergio's Baptism

June 30, 2014 Photos - At our district meeting last week!

 On the bus with Hermana Rameriz

 Las Hermanas

 Our district and our zone leaders!

 With Hermana Mendoza

With Presidente and Hermana Carreon

Photos - June 2, 2014

 Beautiful San Luis.

 With Olga.

  Hermana Diaz and I outside the house with our bicicletas :)

 The kids we brought to church yesterday. 

(One is missing, he ran off and didn't want to be in the picture...)

 Making tortillas.

 My bed.

My study area.

Photos - June 9, 2014

Pictures as a district 

(except the Elders in Ciudad Morelos because they are far away and don't even come for district meetings) It is a fun district :)

Hermana Torres (not the one who was my companion, 

a different one who was here in San Luis with us) braided my hair

 

  La hermana Diaz, mi compañera :)

 La hermana Torres. I love her so much. 

She is an incredible missionary and friend and I loved serving in the same ward as her this transfer. 

I hope to be with her again in the mission.

 Las hermanas del Barrio Libertad :)

With one of our super awesome ward missionaries, Hermana Alma

August 11, 2014 Letter

My dear wonderful family and friends!

Exciting times! Remember when Jake and I sang for Ross's wedding? Well, here's the new versión:

"I can see what's happening. And they don't have a clue. They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line: our trio's down to... one." haha but really, congratulations Jake and Shayla! I'm super excited for you guys. A little bummed I won't be there for the wedding, but I know it will be a great time. :)

Life here has been pretty good. The weather's been fairly cool, only about 100 F. (I've gone crazy, I know.) :) There's been lots of ups and downs, moments of discouragement and moments of pure joy. And it's a great time! Sometimes training is stressful because I feel like a lot depends on me, but my companion is awesome and is a great missionary, so it's not too bad. And every time that I felt discouraged, the Lord showed me a huge tender mercy to remind me that He loves me.

One of these awesome tender mercies was on Thursday. It wasn't a terrible day, but I wasn't feeling super excited and we had visited a few investigators who really aren't progressing anymore, and I just felt kinda down. That evening we had our missionary coordination meeting, and while we were waiting for people to show up, we saw Hermano Ceron! from Playas! I was soooo happy to see him. He was there to give a training to seminary teachers, and afterwards we were able to talk to him for a while. It was so great to see him and get updates on his family and the ward. He also said it was great to see us (Hermana Tree and I) and that we are missed in Playas. It made my day. :)

With Hermano Ceron - and Hermana Tree!

About F, he didn't make it to church yesterday, and we visited him in the afternoon and decided his baptism will be next week, August 23. He is smoking a lot less, and progressing well towards him baptism.

We have a new investigator, named K, and she is incredible. Her husband is the less active nephew of some members, and was a referral from them. And when I say husband, I mean boyfriend, because they aren't legally married. But they have plans to get married and are very interested in coming to church. Actually, they came yesterday. It was so great to have them there! She is preparing to be baptized on September 13, and they are very excited. They are a fun couple as well, and I'm super excited that they are working towards being an eternal family. I love seeing how the gospel can change lives!

That's all for this week. I love you! Have a terrific week!

Love, Hermana Serena Loveland

P.S. Happy Loveland Temple Day! I can't believe it's been 10 years!

And: Happy birthday Grandpa L!

Happy August - August 4, 2014 Letter

Happy August! 

Time is flying. All is well here in San Luis. We had a bit of crazy weather yesterday and it rained a ton. (I'll send pictures. :) ) It was a fun time. Currently the weather is fairly nice, and it will probably heat up again by tomorrow. Always an adventure. :)

 

So updates on investigators: F is doing super well. We taught him a couple times this week and he came to church yesterday. He is pretty excited. One challenge he has is smoking. But he wants to change and we are setting goals with him so he can stop smoking. It's hard because his mom and his uncle, and many others smoke, but he has a great desire to change and to be baptized, and is preparing to be baptized on August 16th. I love how the gospel of Jesus Christ changes people's lives. 

 

Speaking of which, S sent me an email today, with photos of her wedding and baptism. I am soo incredibly happy for her and her family. I love them so much and love how the gospel has changed their lives. It was so great to hear from her. :)

 

A few other investigators we have are S and G, an older couple who are excited about learning and coming to church. The one thing is, they aren't legally married, and S needs to be divorced before they can do that. We have also taught their grandson who lives with them, J. G didn't make it to church yesterday, but S and J came and are preparing to be baptized on September 6.

 

This week we also had exchanges with our sister training leader, Hermana Bautista. She is a great missionary and I was able to learn lots of stuff. 

 

This week I hit my 9 month in the mission and sometimes I feel like I'm just barely starting, because there are lots of things to learn and improve each day. But that's the cool thing about the mission (and life), we get to keep learning and becoming better every day, and we never finish learning. I'm grateful that through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can change and be better every single day and we don't have to keep making the same mistakes. I love this gospel and I love being a missionary and sharing it with others!

 

I love you all!

Keep smiling!

Love,Hermana Loveland

I'm Alive - July 28, 2014

My wonderful family! 

I am sooo sorry I didn't write last week! But I promise it wasn't my fault. :) What happened was when they called for transfers on Saturday night they told me I was going to train! And that I had to travel to Tijuana on Sunday afternoon with Hermana Ramirez and another hermana who was going home as well. It was a fun trip. Then on Monday we had transfer meeting and a little bit of training and another 4 hour bus ride back to San Luis. So I didn't have time to write. :( Lo siento!

 

My new companion is Hermana Camacho. She is from Cozumel, and I'll think we'll have to go visit her after our missions. :) That place sounds beautiful. She is wonderful. I was a little nervous about training, because sometimes I feel like I still don't know what I'm doing as a missionary...haha but it is lots of fun. It really helps that Hermana Camacho is very sweet and excited about working hard- and that she can handle the extremely high temperatures of San Luis. She is also excited about learning and always wanting to improve. She is an excellent missionary. I know we are going to see many miracles in our time together. 

 

It's been a very busy time these past 2 weeks with the last week of Hermana Ramirez's mission and the first week of Hermana Camacho's mission. It's been cool. Every day I learn more and see miracles.

One investigator we have right now is F. He went to FSY (EFY) two weeks ago and had a great time. He made lots of friends and felt the Spirit. When we saw him last Saturday he was telling us how it went and said, "And I'm going to baptized in 4 weeks." Sounds great! We are excited for him. He is making incredible changes in his life and wants to make more. He knows the Church is true and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. But the last few days with haven't been able to find him, and he didn't make it to church yesterday. :( But we're not giving up and we'll find him this week and help him keep progressing towards his baptism. :)

 

I love being a missionary! I love those tender mercies of the Lord when we can see the "fruits" of our labors. On Monday when I was in Tijuana, I saw the sisters who are currently in Playas. You guys remember S? Our super awesome investigator in Playas, well she got baptized this week. :) They told me that she was going to be married and baptized on Friday. I am so so so happy for her. And in a year I have plans to attend their sealing in the temple. :)

 

I love you all! Thanks so much for your support and love! I'll try to write better next week! :)

Come what may and love it!

Love,  Hermana Serena Loveland

 

P.S. Happy birthday this week, Grandma J!