Aventuras!

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanks for all of the support! Even just reading this means a lot.

I'm sorry I haven't left enough time to do this week justice. As you can see, I went to the temple visitor's center with Andrew. It was really nice because he was 10 and we didn't have anywhere to be, so we got to actually play with and use a lot of the stuff I have never had time for before, like the Book of Mormon all around the world display. It was really cool because we were able to see that he really is converted and his mom understands what God is inviting her to do. 

We've learned a lot this last week! One thing that really stood out to me is the was the first speaker in the women's session picked apart Proverbs 3:5-6. It's 2 invitations, a warning, and a promise. That's how I like to pick apart conference. Find what to do and what is promised for doing it. 

Andrew is 10 and he's getting baptized on the 8th, and we took him to the visitor's center this week. It was really meaningful to us, and we got the okay from the Spirit to let him be baptized even though he's a kid. It's hard for kids to stay in the church without parental support, but Lugina knows what she needs to do, and we know he'll be okay.

Lorenzo's wife and son are investigating with him and we think we can bump their date up to early May! It's so amazing to see a family that keep all their commitments and practically fell out of the sky! They are so great. If only Lorenzo could stay in church meetings easier, but his 3 year old son keeps him outside. Feeling the spirit is the only way to be converted. 

Lupita was sick for 3 weeks, but we finally met with her and she had listened to the Book of Mormon and was very concerned about having to follow church leaders even when they're corrupt. We testified of the priesthood and that only worthy men can administer with God's authority. We testified of the prophet as the man with that authority and she wanted to come to General Conference this weekend! What a miracle!

And here's an adventure from today between emailing sessions. I wrote it in messaging so it's a little crazy.

Here's what happened: We got this great idea to buy Stouffers Lasagna and make it for Hna Cabrera who just had a baby.
But it needed to be in the oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes.
So we put it in and rode our bike to the library.
1 hour into emailing we got off and went to ride our bikes home. BUT GUESS WHAT!
Someone tried to steal our bikes! They failed, but Hna H had a flat tire.
We didn't realize it right off the bat, but when we did, we decided to keep riding because we had a lasagna in the oven
Then the tube came off.
The tire wouldn't even turn anymore. 
So we locked up the bike and I rode mine real slow while Hna H ran along beside me.
We got the lasagna out of the oven
it isn't burned.
But we had to take the car back to get the bike, take the bike home, and now we'll have to deal with all that craziness later.
And now I'm at the only open computer in the whole library. Hermana Hopkin has to wait.

Thanks again for all the love! I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Sleight

Hermana Sleight and Hermana Hopkin! 

Andrew's temple trip 

My beautiful baby on her bike! 

Ensenar no es hablar

 Dear Friends and Family,

I love you so much! I am so thankful for the support that you provide! I look forward to your letters, and I appreciate all of your prayers.

This week at zone conference, a lot of wise things were said, but one thing that stuck out to me is this: "Teaching is not talking." What a true statement, and a difficult skill to master. Teaching without talking means listening with all your heart and living the principles you are trying to teach. This week most of my language goals have to do with listening. 

We had a funny miracle this week. It was time for knock out, and we needed to go to the bathroom. Hermana Hopkin talks with everyone though, so we weren't getting anywhere fast. We talked with Rosa and asked her for referrals as usual, and she said her whole apartment complex needed it and offered to let us in. Well, that's not the kind of thing you pass up! We went in. We knocked about 10 doors. Finally, Walter answered. We taught him how to pray.That would have been it, if it weren't for us needing to go to the bathroom so bad. As Hermana Hopkin was writing our phone number on the back of a pamphlet for him, I asked if there was a woman in the house. He said yes. 

Long story short his parents are now really solid new investigators. 

And also this really nice woman who speaks quite a bit of English considering she actually speaks Farsi asked us to come in, fed us cake, and talked to us about her family and the temple. It was awesome!

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week!\

Love,

Hermana Sleight

Me falta tiempo

Dear friends and family, 

Thanks for all you do!

This week we had a lot of good trainings, and I loved them! One of the things I learned is that accountability cures laziness. If you're feeling lazy, start accounting to the Lord every night in your prayers. It will help.  “When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates.” Pres. Monson

We had an amazing miracle last week with Lorenzo's family. They called us and invited us over. They want to join the church. They've been waiting. Because their son, Saul, has a lot to learn, we set the baptism date for May 27th, but they came to church yesterday, and Corina was tearing up from the spirit. Despite not being able to go to the adult classes because of their son, Lorenzo felt extremely welcome in all of church, and they are excited to come again. I am very blessed to be a missionary here right now. 

Also, Victor and Ana have had a hard time keeping the Sabbath day holy becasue they need to work on Sunday to pay the bills, but yesterday Victor exercised his faith and came to church, and I know that they will see the blessings from it. He was so happy to be there. He was smiling and participating! 

Andrew is 10 and he is getting baptized in April. He just gets the gospel. He smiles at church and brought his Book of Mormon stories book and had it out during sacrament meeting. 

I love you all! Thanks for supporting me! You are so wonderful!

Love,

Hermana Sleight

El Valle!

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanks so much for all of your love and support! It is truly felt!

I'm still fascinated by the phrase "seek this Jesus" found in Ether 12:41. I love the promises for seeking Him, most of all the promise that we will find Him. I found a couple of more scriptures worth pondering in reference to seeking the Lord, which are: 2 Chronicles 26:15 and Deuteronomy 4:29. Anyway, my stories are about to get a whole lot more exciting.

The San Fernando Valley is basically part of LA. It's pretty crowded. It's pretty dangerous. It's full of humble people and it's a great place to do missionary work! Our ward mission leader, Hermano Cabrera, is SO helpful and supportive! I can't imagine that it's very easy to be a ward mission leader in a ward with 4 companionships of missionaries, but he does so much for each of our investigators. 

Here's a crazy thing that happened! On Tuesday night we had correlation at the church, and later that night, an electrical short started a fire that burned down a couple of rooms, so now we're meeting in a different building until the repairs are done. It could take a couple of months. 

What else? Oh! On Wednesday, we got a call from a man named Lorenzo. Neither of us had any idea who he was, investigator, member, or stranger. He said he wanted us to come for a visit, so we set up a time and got his address, and to our surprise, he really was at home waiting for us with his wife and 9 year old son! His wife Corina had met with the missionaries in Mexico in '98, and when he told her that he wanted to start learning more about God, she told him to come to us because we would teach it clearly. Their son has been asking a lot of questions about God lately, and they want to go to a church with him, and this son, Saul, wants to learn to pray and everything! To give you and idea of how much Saul knows about the gospel, we asked him what faith is, and he said he thinks it's believing in yourself. We get to teach this family everything about the gospel, and they are so ready to follow Christ!

We're also teaching this man named Luis, who really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true, and he followed us to church yesterday in his car. Well, we also had met this man who is neither a potential nor a current nor a former investigator but wanted to come to church. He asks us trivia questions about the Bible, like how many chapters it has. These two coming to church was just the funniest thing. It's amazing how when we get creative, more people come to church! 

Some people have asked me about my new companion. Her name is Hermana Hopkin! I suppose I probably could afford to take a picture with her. She is from Powell, Wyoming, and she's been the the Mercantile in Farson! She was very excited to learn that my Grandpa goes there. She's done 3 semesters at BYU, and she is a very good listener. She's curious about everything about me. She speaks with so much love, even to strangers. I have a lot to learn from her this transfer.

I had the privilege of attending the baptism of Yajairah and her dad Carlos this week. I hope their story is properly recorded here. We found them around Thanksgiving. These are true converts. Carlos bore strong testimony of how reading the Book of Mormon makes him a better person. Yajairah expressed gratitude for the missionaries. They have goals to go through the temple in a year, and I really hope that I can be there with them. 

I love you all! Have a great week! Do something for the Lord!

Love,

Hermana Sleight