Semana (Week) 63: Conference, Division, Division, Conference :D

President and Hermana Egginton

This has been a full week of divisions and Zone Conferences! All Tuesday was our Multi-Zone Conference in Chapala with Pres. Egginton and Hermana Egginton and we were there from 10am to 7pm.  Sounds like a lot of time, but when you are there and the spirit is present, the time will fly by.  Hermana S. and I taught for about 50 minutes about finding new investigators and referrals from members.  We did some fun activities with marbles (the investigators) to go with it.  Lots of things we learned this day.  Then, we ate a Christmas dinner and we did our own Christmas program.

Thursday, we traveled in the morning to Morelia to go on divisions with our Sister Training Leaders, and I was with Hermana S. again :) There was a Christmas program this night for the Stake, and they put on a cute program for all of the handicap children in the stake. On Friday, we went on divisions with our sisters from Uruapan.  So we traveled again in the morning and worked with them for the day.  Then, the next day they had their own Multi-Zone Conference in Lazaro Cardenas and we were invited to participate also.  The poor sisters would have been the only sisters out of about 40 elders...haha. It was a very interesting day, with a couple unplanned surprises, but all is well now.  

Elder and Hermana Anderson

We are going to be having a baptism this Saturday!!! Virginia is going to be baptized.  She is super excited and feels ready to make this covenant with the Lord.  Her interview is tomorrow, and we hope all with go well. She is going to have a Christmas baptism!!! Speaking of Christmas, we are going to be video calling our family this Sunday, which is the last one that I am going to be having :( 

I liked meditating 1Timothy 4:12 this week, 

ninguno tenga en poco tu juventud, sino sé ejemplo de los creyentes en palabra, en conducta, en amor, en espiritu, en fe y en pureza.

It doesn't matter who we are, where we come from, our past, our mistakes, our age, we all can be an example to everyone. As missionaries, we are proof of this, because we are a bunch of young adults, yet we work in the most important work in the world, missionary work :)  And this scripture applys to everyone.  We can be an example to every person.  Make this Christmas something special and serve others! Think of ways to be able to serve one person every day for the rest of this year.  This is the way that we can help the World Shine Brighter.  

Love, 

Hermana Boice

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año y Felicidad!!!

Zone Conference in Uruapan with our sisters!

I always seem to convince the sisters into letting me cut their hair...haha!

Semana (Week) 62: Doubt your Doubts before you Doubt your FAITH!

Look! I got to see Hermana C!! She is a Sister Training Leader now, too!

Don't know if any of you know it, but today is a very special holiday for the people here.  Its Virgin Guadalupe Day, and they really go alllll out.  We walk by so many alters that are as tall as houses, with the Virgin Idol up top. It's interesting. They really like to party here, so we have to be in our house by 7 tonight because it gets kinda crazy here.

This Wednesday, we had our Leadership Counsel which was super special.  I really felt the spirit a lot lot lot.  At the beginning, President started to talk about the missionaries that leave in 2 more transfers and this might be their last meeting, because he will reassign them to train for the last of their mission.  I got a little teary eyed, because I feel like he was talking about me. Wanted to cry most of the meeting, because it felt really special.  Well, we will find out what will happen with me after New Years.

This Friday, we went on divisions with our sisters.  I have to say this day I was with her was the most special divisions I have had in all my mission or even maybe one of the best days in all my mission. I have been trying to focus on "where is my faith" right now. I thought I had a lot, but I find myself doubting sometimes. Not in God, but that I am worthy to ask for such miracles and that he will give them to me. So, we made a plan for an investigator, Yesenia, that had previously accepted a baptismal date, but later decided that she was not ready. We prepared ourselves and prayed much before hand that she would be able to receive her answer in the very moment that we were in the lesson. We arrived and started to teach. She told us that she wanted to truly know if the church was true. We felt the spirit so much and I asked her what she was willing to do to receive an answer from God. She said that she would do anything. So I told her, ¨Right now, we are going to kneel down and you are going to offer a prayer to ask God if this is true and what you should do.¨  So we knelt down and she began to pray.  She started to cry during the prayer, pleading to know what she needs to do, and what is right. Ending the prayer, I told her to open her book of Mormon and start to read out loud. She opened it and started to read. And right there, was her answer as plain as day, and she started to cry again, but feeling a joy very grand.  I really do testify that God answers our prayers if we only have the faith of a mustard seed.

Love,

Hermana Boice

Camacuaro

Semana (Week) 61: Light the World!

This week we were able to thankfully work.  I've been taking my medicine, so slowing getting better and better.  Evaded tonsilitis, I think. Before lunch, my throat started to swell and it hurt to talk, eat, swallow for the day.  But took some Doterra oil (love that stuff) and thankfully I didn't have anything the next day.  I think all of the sickness just want to attack me now that I'm weak....haha!

On Sunday, we went Christmas Caroling with our youth, which was fun. We went to go sing to less actives and investigators, and it was something beautiful to see the tear-filled eyes of the people that we went to visit.  We hope to see them this Sunday at church.  We saw Esmerelda once again at church this Sundays with her kids and very puntual.  We called them to see if they were going to chruch to find that they have left their house 30 minutes before, so that they would be able to make it on time walking.  I just love this family so much!! Seeing them on Sunday made me a little teary eyed.  Esme has a baptismal date for Christmas Eve and confirmation Christmas Day! It is going to be somehting super special.

Today, we went to Camacuaro, which has this really cool lake about 20 minutes from our area.  We went exploring and took lots of pics.  While we were there, this man stopped me and started to talk to me in English asking me where I was from and all that.  I gave him a card and started to explain everything but in English, which was really hard.  I have never talked with someone about the church in English in my mission before, I sounded like a total roukie...haha.  

I want you to all know that I am so very grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, and that He loves us so very much.  This is the time that we have to be grateful to Him, and show it through our actions.  Watch the video "Light the World" in https://www.mormon.org/spa/christmas and do what it invites us to do, serve a little every day up to Christmas.  This is the happiness that lasts, the service that we give to others.

Love,

Hermana Boice

PS. And if someone has been wanting to email me but hasn't been able to find it, here it is! chrissa.boice@myldsmail.net

Semana (Week) 60: Mom's always right....

Before anything, just trust in your parents when they tell you to wash your fruits and vegetables before eating them.  I had to learn my lesson the hard way.  Since last Saturday, we have been staying home because I got pretty sick.  We had to head to the center of the city to go to the doctor and he sent us to a lab to take some tests (like blood and other stuff).  We returned to him and he sent me to the lab again to take more tests, which took about 3 days.  Then, we returned again to him and finally we came to the conclusion that I have parasites reproducing in my stomach.  Pretty sure it was when we bought some strawberries and just washed them, but didn't disinfect them about a month ago.  Sooooooo, I learned my lesson very well.  You were right, Mom! 

Anyways, other than that, the new initiative came out for Christmas!!! Light the World!! If you haven't seen the video, go right now to see it at mormon.org.  The 1st of december, it has a calendar of what we can do every day to serve others up to tht 25th of December.  If we all join together to do it, for sure we are going to be able to "Light the World". This is the perfect time to learn to forget about ourselves and serve our brothers and sisters, so they can feel the love of Christ through us. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

In 2 days, I complete 14 months! Wow, not sure if I want to be counting the time anymore because the time is getting less and less....haha.  Well, not much else that is going on.  I started learning Portuguese! Tchau!

Love,

Hermana Boice

Semana (Week) 59: Cambios!!

Zone Meeting in Uruapan

Today is cambios! But thankfully we don't have any cambios, i am still with Hermana S. in Zamora.  I am super happy about that, and happy that I will be able to get to see the baptisms of our investigators here. 

We had lots of Meetings this week! Well, just two.  On Thursday we had our Zone Meeting in Zamora, I think it has been the one of the most spiritual meetings I have had in all of my mission. We talked about Obedience and Discipleship. Hermana S. and I have been preparing this for a while, and thinking about it. We also watch the video of Missionary Work and "The Atonement" by Elder Holland.  If you have not watched it, please do. It will make you reflect a lot. And then we made a trip to Uruapan and participated in their Zone Meeting also.

La Mariachi Missionaries!

Also something that I learned today in my study that I have never thought of before. I was reading in 2 Nefi 28 and how Satan tempts us little by little. Like the scripture says, yea, lie a little, dig a pit for thy neighbor, there is no harm in this. These are the things that the prideful churches preach, but it comes directly from Satan. And I thought about how sometimes the mission can be, disobeying the little rules like waking up, exercise, slang....that it is coming directly from Satan.  These little thoughts of nothing will happen, so that we disobey. And when he has success with these little things, then he tries with something a little bit bigger. It made me reflect a lot that we need to be very careful with our actions, because even though they might seen like small things, we know that by small things great things will come to pass. If we are almost obedient, then we will almost receive the blessings. Remember, to always be obedient. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hermana Boice

Zone Meeting Zamora

Semana (Week) 58: Just got Chilly...BRRRRrrrrrr

Divisions with Hermana R.

Whoo! This week got super cold! The cold came on all at once, one day burning in the sun, the next day it my thickest sweater, gloves, socks, and its been like that ever since.  It's also been raining.  Maybe it will get so cold that it will snow!!!! Who knows...I am getting super excited for Christmas!!!!!

Leaders from my generation.

This week we traveled to the Leadership Counsel in Guadalajara. It was really cool to see how many of the leaders now are from my generation and we were around 27 missionaries.  It's so cool to see the progress in all of them.   

We had an awesome lesson yesterday with Esmerelda!  She told us about all of her feelings and that she is so happy that we are helping her.  Yesterday, we started to teach her and her son how to read and write. I just loved seeing her smile as she was trying to write some letters from the alphabet.  We left that house with a lot of joy.  We have grown to love her so much.  We hope that in 3 weeks she will be baptized.  

My scripture that I have been meditating for this week is 2 Nephi 25:26.....

"y hablamos de Cristo, now regocijamos en Cristo, predicamos de Cristo, profetizamos do Cristo, y escribimos sefun nuestras profecias para que nuestros hijos sepan a que fuente han de acudir para la remision de sus pecados." (And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.)

Just a testimony builder to me that if we want our children to walk in the ways of righteousness, we need to do everything in Christ. Something that we see in the families that we teach, the change that happens when we center our focus in him.  They see the biggest difference in their lives, and its something that we have seen so much in Esmerelda, as she is going to church and teaching her children.  

Love, 

Hermana Boice

Elders from La Floresta Ward.

Leadership Counsel!

Semana (Week) 57: Day of the Dead=Feliz Cumpleaños Ambie!!

Been a craaaaaazy week.  We were only able to work 3 days this week in our area, so sad.  Well, on Wednesday was the Day of the Dead here in Mexico, twas also my sister Amberlee`s birthday, aaand we also had to travel to Morelia to have divisions with the Sister Assistants to the President.....Lots of stuff! 

Then, we returned and had divisions with the sisters of Uruapan in our area.  Was a super good day and we got to see lots of people.  On Saturday, we traveled in the morning to Zacapu to have divisions with other sisters.  At the end of the day, we got back to the house and Hermana S. and I crashed on their beds while they were planning and we ended up falling asleep.  They came in, saw us sprawled on their beds, me huddled up hugging a Pikachu pillow and they didn't want to wake us up.  Then, we traveled back Sunday morning and took a taxi to the church at 9 am.  We ended up leaving the church at 7:30 pm, because we had meetings, attended a baptism, ate after, and then we had to meet together to plan an activity..............

Also, super proud of my little sister for her baptism on Saturday! Love you sis! 

We have found some golden investigators.  Esmerelda is a single mom of 3 kids, and her life is super hard.  She sells candy outside of her house to stay afloat.  Her oldest son is 15 years old and has a couple mental problems. She is so desperate that she literally does everything that we tell her that helps, prays, goes to church.  Last Sunday, she didn't have money to take a bus to the church with her 2 kids, so they walked all the way there and 3 hours later they walked back.  Yesterday they were running late and she took a taxi so that they wouldn't be late to church.  It makes me want to cry to she that she is doing everything, so that she can change herself and help her family.

Have a great week everyone, Les Amo Mucho!

Hermana Boice

Found a baby lizard!

Its frozen yogurt, its healthy...