Wishing You a Slightly Warm, Very Brown Christmas

We may have wrapped the elders car in paper after one zone sports.

I was going to write a long email about all the crazy stuff that happened this week (aka enough to write a small but very interesting telenovela) but I'll just summarize that later. First I want to share one of my favorite scriptures with you. It's in the Book of Mormon, in Alma chapter 7 and says:

"10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

Whenever I've had the chance this week I have shared this scripture. It brought me to tears more than once as I have read it and pondered on the marvelous circumstances that brought Him into this world and took Him out of it.

Our Savior came into this world being heralded by angels yet was placed in a manger. He was the only person to live a perfect life yet was convicted and sentenced to die. He suffered it all for us. He was the Lord of Lord's, King of kings and our brother. He was a babe born in Bethlehem and the Savior of the world. How grateful I am for Him, who has suffered if all for one as imperfect as I.

I love my Savior. I love this work and the reason for this time of year. I love the atonement of Jesus Christ. It has changed my life.

But after talking with my family yesterday apparently I'm "getting too missionary and self righteous"... hey when you got it, you got it.

So highlights of a very intense week:

-SKYPING THE FAMILY YESTERDAY: So good. Of course it might have been better if my dad had talked to me a little more but his "allergies were acting up". What a wuss. Jk. My father is one of my greatest examples and i am so grateful for the love and service he has always shown in my life

- mission Christmas party/ zone conference: LIT. We released balloons with lights attached into the air to represent every baptism we'd had, regular people got confused and our mission made national news. SO LIT. Also our zone won 3rd place in a gingerbread house contest. Again...LIT.

-Exchanges with Sister Marvets: awesome missionary, awesome time, got to work Mesa Lights and help people come closer to our Savior. Awesome.

-TEMPLE TRIP: our mission got together again and we took a picture in front of the temple then got to do a session. I love the temple.

- Menudo: I ate cow intestines and it wasn't that bad. Also my weight in tamales. I love tamales.

- Cars 3: we watched it as a zone and it could possibly be one of my new favorite movies. You have never seen a group of adults get so into a movie before. We were laughing, gasping, cheering and booing throughout the whole thing. 10/10 missionaries in the Bella Vista Zone would recommend watching it.

-Rosy and Kimmy: they were supposed to get baptized this last week but now will be baptized January 6th. Not the date we wanted but we are so happy and excited that they get to make this covenant with God! Keep them in your prayers!!!

-SERGIO CAME TO CHURCH: he is this less active we have started working with. We are teaching the rest of his family but his wife IS SO pregnant so couldn't come to church this week (she came last week though!) BUT HE CAME OF HIS OWN FREE WILL!!! My heart nearly burst from happiness. Also this man has the most fabulous hair.

Well if you've made it this far in the email you'll see it was a pretty fabulous week. One of the hardest and one of the bests. I can't wait to see what the next 7 months hold. I love you all so much and hope you had a wonderful Christmas (Just know that it's been slightly chilly here and I've started to have to wear a jacket because sometimes it drops below 50 degrees #oooohhhhh #burn #enjoythecoldsuckas #arizona4LYFE)

To the Moon and Back!

Your fave

Hermana Showalter

Exchanges

Comps

Sister Caceras (whitest girl you be ever met)

JUAN AT CHURCH

A few of my fave things

Zone pic ft the Lowders

Mission Life = Best Life

ONE WEEK TILL CHRISTMAS AND I CAN HOLLA @ THE FAM IRL (in real life). But for now I'll just HOLLA at ya through email.

Wow though what a week. The work continues to progress here in Queen Creek and there is no place I'd rather be. Our car keeps breaking down, my shoes have turned brown permanently (lol at dirt roads) and my lack of sleep and lack of desire to do my hair keeps growing!

The Lord in His many tender mercies has seen it fit to bless us abundantly in this area. It's a gold mine just waiting to get worked and worked and thankfully that's what Hermana Fuimaono and I are here to do.

Sadly a few of our really awesome investigators went out of town for a few weeks and I was really bummed about it...but then TECH MIRACLES! Our investigator, Ramiro, totally made my day yesterday when he created a group chat on Facebook called " Mis Dos Grandes Amigas" because he missed us so much! He has literally read every pamphlet we have given him and is always asking us for more. We are starting to run out!!! But it was amazing because through messenger he started bearing his testimony on tithing and fasting of all things! I am so excited as he continues to progress towards his baptismal date and am so grateful for the technology that has been put in our mission.

ALSO WE HAD 7 INVESTIGATORS AT CHURCH AGAIN. It was amazing. We also had 3 gangstas there so that was cool. It was fun seeing them try to figure out the whole church thing and the members faces when they walked in. Just goes to show you that the church is for everyone.

I love being a missionary. Sometimes it's hard but all of the time it's amazing . I have been so blessed in the areas I have been in, the people I've met and the missionaries I've served around. I know everything happens for a reason. I know that being on a mission is the best thing I could have done for my life. This time I have dedicated to serving God has changed me and I am eternally grateful for having been given the chance to do so. I love my Heavenly Father and I love Gilbert!

To the Moon and Back!

Hermana Showalter

100% Responsible

I'm going to start off this email by telling you about a magical story involving 4 Sister missionaries and World Market (a glorious store). We went in just to browse, peruse if you will, and walked out victorious. They hid 5 golden llamas throughout the store and you could get $20-100 off if you found them. And the thing is they only give you a simple clue. Well we applied our bomb missionary skills of finding the golden one and with a lot of faith and hard work walked out champions. We found 3 of the 5 and bought that store. My heart was pounding so fast. IT WAS EXHILERATING.  This could possibly be the best p-day of my mission.

Anyways I digress. This week was awesome! We had transfers and I am now companions with Hermana Fuimaono! She is hilarious, Samoan and a crazy good dancer. We've been keepin up the streak of inviting everyone to be baptized and have seen miracles rain put of the sky. We also came out the same time so we got to celebrate our 10 month mark together!

Crazy to think we're in the double digits now and how fast the time has gone. I don't remember life not as a missionary and the thought of leaving is too weird so I've decided never to go home (sorry mom you'll understand someday).

We also had MLC (mission leadership conference) this week and focused on a talk called "Be 100% Responsible" by Lynn G. Robbins. It's a BYU devo that I would 10000% recommend reading or watching. But to sum it up for all you flojos out there :

-Satan wants to break up gospel pairs (like justice and mercy, faith and works, agency and accountability)
- he wants us to be victims and not take responsibility
-CHOOSE TO BE A CHAMPION
-excuses do not equal results
-you are in charge of your life

I think it's interesting because the world would have us be victims. It's constantly saying "It's because of the president" or "It's because I was raised that way" or "It's not fair".

What I love is that Lynn G Robbins says "No! You are in charge and you decide what you make of your life." The moment we refuse to take responsibility is the moment we give up our agency and Satan wins. The moment we decide to be 100% responsible is when we become "agents to act and not be acted upon". That is what God desires for us. That is how we become as our Savior. And ya know what? IT'S HARD! But it's also kind of liberating because you don't wait for things to happen to you - you make things happen.

We've set a goal of 50 baptisms this month for the mission and we talked about how every zone, every companionship has to be responsible for it. We have to act as if this goal depends on us. That is when we qualifiy ourselves to see those miracles.

Anyways I just love being a missionary and I love all the opportunities I have here in Arizona. It's hard and awkward and frustrating sometimes but then you just have small moments that just make it so worth it.

My small moments of the week:

-the Hernandez family is reading almost everyday and Hugo ACCEPTED TO PRAY ABOUT BAPTISM
- We had 7 PEOPLE AT CHURCH
- We got to run around with giant flags at our Ward Christmas party and wave them to "feliz navidad" (so lit)
- Daniel has come to church twice, told us he has felt crazy changes in his life since meeting with us and is going to get baptized on the 30th hopefully! (Although sadly we have to pass him off to English missionaries)

Love you all and be 100%!

To the Moon and Back! 

Add caption

As we got all the coupons at world market

Comps!

 This cute couple just got back from serving in my home ward!! They gave me a hug from my mom!

Ward Christmas party

Bye elder romero!

Not my Will, But Thine be Done

Mesa Temple Lights

Something I have learned this transfer is the importance of trusting in the Lord's plan. Fortunately for us this often means that things don't go according to our plan. Sometimes it's hard, sometimes we think it's exactly what we don't need and sometimes we kind of just shake our fist and yell "why" at our loving Heavenly Father (we are kind of rebellious that way). Yet, often as we look back on those moments we see that it is exactly what we needed.

Sister Neahusen and I saw this so many times this transfer. We saw it as many of our investigators didn't come to church but new investigators did. We saw it as we got transfer calls last night and found out (to our great surprise) that she was getting transferred.

I kept having the lines "This is not what I want. This is not what I planned. And I just got to say - I do not understand" (please reference High School Musical if you are unfamiliar with the song) run through my head.

But then I thought about it some more and it hit me....of course it's not what I want or planned! IT'S GOD'S WORK. WE ARE OPERATING UNDER HIS PLAN. How selfish and prideful of me to think that I know better than my Heavenly Father who knows me PERFECTLY.

I thought back to when Christ was suffering for us - in Gethsamane and on the cross. The pain was unbearable. His body bled from every pore as He refused to succumb to the mortal defenses of death or unconsciousness. The cup was so very bitter yet Christ, our Savior, did not hesitate to do the Fathers will. He said, in a moment of indescribable anguish, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done". (Matthew 26:42)

What humility is in those words. What love is in that act.

I am so far from my Savior. The more I learn of Him the greater the distance seems to become. But I am so grateful for His obedience to the Father's plan. Without His obedience, humility and love that space would be inconquerable BUT because of the atonement His grace is sufficient and His loving arms able to span that distance.

So after reflecting on that, I was definitely humbled. I have LOVED being companions with Sister Neahusen. She is a fireball missionary and a great example to me. Yet I know that God has greater things in store for us than we could possibly know.

I love this work. I love that it is guided by the hand of the Lord. I love the plan of salvation and the opportunity to share it with the world. I know that as we humble ourselves sufficiently to accept the will of the Lord, we will be shaped into the people He knows we can be. A lot of the time that growth is painful and hard but I know that the atonement was the hardest thing ever wrought and it brought to pass the greatest thing ever known - our salvation.

To the Moon and Back!
Hermana Showalter

JOSE DID BAPTISMS FOR HIS FAM THIS WEEK

Dang one fly looking line of posterity

T(winning)

OUR INVESTIGATOR RAMIRO WENT TO THE MESA LIGHTS WITH US AND LOVED IT...LOOK HOW TENDER HE IS

The Infinite Atonement

SISTER CEDEÑO CAME TO VISIT!

Yesterday 8 of our investigators were supposed to come to church and not one showed up.

It was hard.

I felt a little defeated and destroyed. We had done everything we could to get them there. We had texted, begged, invited, showed up in the morning, promised blessings and.... nothing. I asked a lot of questions as I sat there in the chapel.

I asked myself "Why am I here right now?" And then I looked down at the book I was holding.

I've recently started reading "The Infinite Atonement", a book which explains more about what exactly Jesus Christ went through and why it is essential on an eternal scale.

Without the atonement there would be no hope. There would be no point to this beautiful, merciful plan our Father created for us. We would be lost in a very dark world.

But there is an atonement. There is hope and light in this world because Christ took upon Him our pains and our sins and our sicknesses.

As Alma 7:11-12 says:

"11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

Christ knows us. He knows what we need. He is merciful and loving and the only perfect person to walk the earth. And He died and rose again, having taken upon Himself our sins, so that we may gain a remission of them and be brought to stand before God in the end.

So yesterday as I partook of the sacrament, I received my answer to why I was there.

It wasn't necessarily to welcome anyone to the church or to learn more or to build relationships with members. It wasn't to sing hymns or pray together or see my investigators there.

I was there to apply the infinite atonement to my life and change. To renew my covenants and receive a remission of my sins.

With that perspective a lot changed. I've always know the importance of these things but yesterday I came to know them at my core.

I am grateful for a plan of redemption that a loving Father in Heaven created for me. I'm grateful that I have the chance every week to think more deeply about the sacrifices of my Savior as I partake of the sacrament. I am grateful for an infinite and enduring atonement that makes it possible for me to return to my Heavenly home.

I'm grateful for this week because it truly was a great week. Sister Neahusen and I invited every investigator to be baptized, almost all accepted, lost some, found others, saw miracles and felt the Holy Ghost guiding us every step of the way. It was awesome (well except for Thanksgiving when we had four dinners and I almost died...that was a rough day) and I am so, so grateful for my Savior who made it all possible.

To the Moon and Back:

Hermana Showalter

1. Dinner #4 with the Lopez clan - I sneeze in every photo I swear
2. Mija y yo
3. Sister Barlow repping the awesome Christmas sweaters my mom got us!

Blessed Up

This cactus is approximately? Sister Showalter is alittle over 5 ft tall

 Jose came to the new member fireside yesterday!

Nohelia at the New Member Fireside!

Played the pie face game for FHE and it hit me 4/4 times.....

Tamales

Zone conference two weeks ago!

FHA (family home afternoon) with the zone ft. Sister Barlow my fav

3. IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS

God blesses his missionaries.

Last p day we made 100+ cinnamon rolls for investigators, members and less active members. It took almost all day and drained our bank accounts but we were happy to do it. But we were seriously food broke.

But then throughout the week people kept giving us food!! We got tamales on two separate occasions! The first time we got the tamales we were like "wow these are good. We would love more tamales." And then LITERALLY the next day a less active gave us bags of food and told us to stop by tomorrow because they were making tamales.

I know it's just a little thing but it meant a ton to us. I know God provides for and watches over us in small ways and that these small ways are sometimes the greatest expression of His love.

This is a work of love and miracles. This week had its highs and lows and we had to make some tough decisions but through it all Sister Neahusen and I felt overwhelming love from our Heavenly Father and saw some crazy miracles.

In the scriptures we are given so many different examples of His love - the greatest one being sending His son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to redeem all mankind.

Recently I've been reflecting a lot on this topic - especially on the atonement of Jesus Christ and what exactly it means to me. The atonement is something highly personal and individual. It was suffering not only on a physical level but also on a mental, spiritual and emotional one for each and every one of us here on the earth.

I can't truly explain how I feel about my Savior. I have made so many mistakes, I have left the path more than I would care to admit and yet my Savior has never left me alone once. When Peter lacked the faith sufficient and began to sink "he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him".

We all have moments in our life when we begin to sink, when our faith is insufficient and we doubt, but it is in our weaknesses that we are made strong AS we reach and call out to Christ. The moment we do so He is there lifting us up. "Immediately" in that moment we find the strength to walk again on the water with our Savior at our side.

I love my Savior and the more I have come to know Him the more grateful I am that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief".

Have a blessed week and don't forget to think about all that you have to be thankful for!

To the Moon and back!

Hermana Showalter

LIT (cuz Mesa Lights haha)

Posterity pic. Your looking at one PROUD mama

Me and mija

Biking in the Boonies take 2

Crashed a party of some of our investigators/recent converts/potentials. Our new best friends: Valerie and Mariah. We have a secret handshake. It's lit.

All the Gilbert Mesa light sisters

Possibly the funniest, busiest, MOST AWESOME week of my mission/life but I say that every week basically. But really IT WAS AMAZING!

I'll do my best to sum it up in short points.

Funny moments include:

-Sister Neahusen's split leaving her at the house and her being left alone for an hour as she frantically called everyone (I meanwhile had an awesome split and we found 3 new potentials and a less active we didn't know about)

-us getting really lost in the Boonies and driving on roads that actually weren't roads and getting really lost. At one point google tried to take us through a ditch full of giant broken rocks. We were already on a very questionable steep path and a Chevy Cruise can only take so much #ThereIsNoWayGoogleMaps

- so I was kind of really sick and had this moment when I was drinking some orange juice and thought it was talking/making noise. Turns out the window was open and it was birds....lol @ my life

Miracles include:

- We picked up two new investigators! We talked with this guy as he was getting into a car and he invited us to come back the next day. We stopped by and he wasn't there but his two kids were. Recently they've started going to a church and praying and have seen Christ change their lives. They invited us in and invited us back. One of the most powerful lessons of my life as we talked about our savior and the power of prayer.

- 9 months! I'm halfway through my mission! I'm actually going to extend forever though so not actually halfway through....sorry mom

- winning 1st place in car maintenance at zone conference (it's a miracle because it's a cruise and we spent all of 15 minutes cleaning it...not going to lie I shed a tear or two)

- We picked up another investigator named Lidia this week. She is awesome and after we said the first prayer she was just like "do you feel that?! It just feels so warm inside!" We had a powerful lesson with her on the love our Father in Heaven had for us.

- We got picked to help host the Mesa lights! That means during Christmas this year we get to go down to Mesa and help out with the Christmas Lights they put on there. We had a training this week and got to drive down to Mesa...so weird leaving the mission!

A lot more happened this week but Sister Neahusen and I can't remember much! We were basically running from appointment to appointment and collapsing at home exhausted! There is no feeling i love more!

I know God answers our prayers because He loves us. We are His children and He knows us perfectly. Sometimes I just ponder the immensity of it all. The most powerful, great being in the universe loves us, wants us to be like Him, desires to give us all that He has. And all we have to do is ask - to reach out and trust in His plan. It's humbling. I am so grateful for this knowledge I have and even more grateful for the opportunity to share it. It is a message of joy and peace I want to shout from the rooftops!

(For now though I guess I'll just have to be content with sharing it from the dirt roads of the Boonies)

To the Moon and Back!

Hermana Showalter

Ps  Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST FRIEND EVER AND SISTER MADDIE. You may be old and married but I still love you #Feeling22

The Boonies, some Biking, slightly Broken and super BLESSED

What an awesome, awesome week! Sister Neahusen and I have really started to dig in and figure out this area and it is awesome. I've never been so busy my entire mission and we get referrals almost every day. The Lord is truly blessing us and we are doing our best to qualify for them!

Our car I fondly refer to as Satan has this slight issue of the car alarm going off all the time. It also always thinks the door is open so beeps nonstop when we are driving. So we had to take it in to the dealership to get it fixed which unfortunately meant that we were car-less for a time. BUT we refuse to let pesky things like that stop the Lord's work so we have biked MUCHO this week.

There is this part in our area we call the Boonies. Miles of cacti and dirt roads and Spanish people. I love it. But we thought it would be a good idea to bike there forgetting about the GIANT hill that lies between us and the Boonies. My bike literally stopped halfway up the hill and I made us walk the rest of the way up. Hills are from the devil.

In exciting news Josesito is on date to be baptized on his birthday in December! He is so excited and his dad, Jose, who just got baptized 3 weeks ago is so pumped to baptize him.

Jose is an amazing example to me. He just wants to share the gospel with everyone and because of him we have 3 new investigators. He has started coming with us to lessons and his testimony is so powerful. I've never met a more converted man and he told us his plan is to baptize all his family. We like Jose's plan.

We also had the privilege to go to the temple twice this week! Once as a mission and the other to see Gloria be baptized for her family! I love the special spirit the temple brings and being able to feel the peace and love from my Heavenly Father.

We also had interviews this week with president and for the first time we had hardly anything to talk about! It has been an amazing few weeks full of miracles and hard work. We ended talking about President' s plans and how he was doing. It was so nice to just see him and get even more pumped up to work hard! 

I hit nine months this week which is my halfway mark and I can hardly believe it. 18 months seems like hardly enough time to serve my God and my Savior. I owe them everything, even more now, and the thought of leaving breaks my heart. Being a missionary is the best thing I could have ever done for my life. I've had life changing experiences, met amazing people and come to know my Savior more perfectly. No one says it more perfectly than Alma:

" O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth."

To the Moon and Back!!

Hermana Showalter

Us with Jose and Josesito (I have been slightly sick...veryish actually but I refuse to admit it so I'm fine and sneezing in this photo)

Classic AZ sunset

WITH HERMANA TERESA DE LOS REYES MY FAV (straight up just like Grandma Diane but Hispanic)