Semana (Week) 65: Transfers!!! 15 Months in the Mission!!!

Today was transfers! And I am honestly super duper happy! I was transferred to Morelia! To the Estadio Ward (We share the building and our services are at 3pm :P) Now I have been in Guadalajara, Zamora, the State of Guanajuato, I just was missing Morelia.  I have been very blessed to be in the majority of the mission.  And I am pretty sure that this will be my last area because I only with have 3 months left.  And I am with Hermana M!! We also came into the mission together :)

Now, bittersweet news. Esmerelda is going to be baptized this Saturday!! But I am not going to be able to be there to see it :( I got to see them for the last time on Sunday and got to say goodbye to some of the members.  We got invited to eat lunch and they were Steak Tacos (My fav) and so I felt really happy that day. After we got all the missionaries together and we went to sing at a retirement home.  After we went to shake all their hands and so many started to cry, asking us to come and sing to the more often.  It was really sweet.  We went to a members house to say goodbye and she told me that she was super sad that I was leaving, because I never cut her hair.  So, it became 3 hours of service and I cut her hair, her two daughter, and her sister ( I chopped off about 1 ft of hair from every one) and dyed hair of another.  Its helping me get back into the swing of it.

Oh ya, and I also completed 15 months in the mission..........dont want to say much more about that :(

This week I have been ponderizing Mosiah 23:21-

21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.

I have become to really love this scripture.  I first looked up what it really means to chasen, because I think that we take it more strongly than what its trying to say.  Chasen means correction or discipline that has the objective of help people to improve and be strengthened. Is that not what our Heavenly Father wants for us? To help us become stronger and help us progress? And he helps us do this by trying our patience and faith. Why the two? Our patience to see if with submit ourselves to his will in all things, but the faith to see us submit ourselves cheerfully and with hope. he wants us to endure in our afflictions, but with joy :)

Love you all!!!

Hermana Boice

Semana (Week) 64: Feliz Navidad!!

Virginia's baptism

Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! In the mission it almost feels like any other day, just that we had to go home at 7 Christmas Eve and Day for all of there "partying" that was going on in the streets.  In other words, lots of drunk people.  But really good news!! We had a baptism this Saturday for Virginia. She has been listening to the missionaries for years, and finally took the step. I can see that she was very happy to do it. It was super special that she was able to be baptized on Christmas Day.

We hope to be having a baptism in the New Year of Esmerelda. We have been teaching her for 3 months, and have seen the biggest progress in her and her family. This family has been a miracle family for me and I honestly love them sooooo much!

I love this quote, "Christmas is not a day or a season, but it is a condition of heart and of mind".

We can always feel the spirit of Christmas when we are in the service of our brethren.  It's not about the presents, the lights, the songs, or the snow.  It's the service that we can show to others and the love of God that we can help others feel.  And it's something that we should do ALWAYS.

If you want to show grattitud to our Savior for giving us everything, do something for someone today, and not just today, every day.

I know that He Lives!

Love,

Hermana Boice

Christmas dinner withTamales y Atole!

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