San Leandro! - Antonio - Talk (In Spanish For 20 Minutes Without Preparing!) - When Life's Hard, Have Faith

 

What's up everyone?! Long time no see. 7 days later and we are back with another quick report. I've been here in San Leandro for about 5 days and I LOVE it. Honestly it is such a great place, not much to do here and kinda sketchy but I honestly love it here.

We had an AMAZING lesson with our friend Antonio! We actually ended up extending an invitation for him to baptized. This man is amazing. He's only met with us 2 times and his goal is already to get to the temple. He sees the whole vision. He is the most prepared person I've ever met in my life. He is amazing.

A fun story for you all. I went to church. 2 minutes before the meeting started The ward mission leader told me that I was going to give a talk and it was going to be 20 minutes long. That was a challenge for me. 20 minutes, not planned out, and in Spanish. But guess what? I persevered! I did it, and it actually ended up being a really good talk.  I learned that I really can follow the spirit ;)

The work here needs to be focused on members I learned. The vast majority of the ward is inactive. Our goal is to get as many back to the chapel as possible. 

In my talk I talked about the importance of faith in hard times. I shared my story of my mission and all the unknowns and the difficulties that have followed and how each one of those moments required faith. Sometimes when life's hard it can be hard to have faith...but in reality that's when we need faith the most. When we are struggling that is when we need Jesus on our side. I've been blessed with opportunities to reflect on those moments that required faith on my part and I strengthened my faith through reliving those trials. I'm grateful for this gospel!

Love you,

Hermana Shauna

1- my hanging out in my home away from home away from home, the VC

2/3- the Oakland Spanish elders got bikes this week and I thought they looked so funny. Enjoy. (Elders Manion and Bichsel) hahahah

4 this is a nice photo of my new companion,  Sister Moore! 

5/6- district callllllll! We won the game woooo

7- Wilfredo, Antonio, y Ciriaco. Some of my favorite people in the world. they brought us this huuuuuuge shrimp dinner

8- I haven't had a Walmart in my area in my entire mission! Now I can go whenever!! #blessings

9- district mini golf today! One of my favorite districts for sure. These people are amazing.

The Beginning Of The End - Accident! (Don't Sleep At The Wheel!) - Masks Removed

 

Well everyone, crazy as it is, this is the beginning of my last transfer. I can't believe it. It has gone by so quickly. I literally blinked 2 seconds ago and I was in the CCM in Mexico City. We got the news for transfers! For my last transfer I will be shipped out to San Leandro, California. I know exactly 0 things about San Leandro so don't ask me haha. The cool thing about this is that they have decided to open my new area as a VC area so I get to stay in the visitors center again! My new companion will be Sister Moore. I have met her a few times and she is awesome. I am excited to teach her my VC sister ways. 5 transfers in the Visitors Center. So funny because I never saw myself serving in a VC but here I am serving a large chunk of my mission here. 

This week we were witnesses to a pretty wild car accident. The man in front of us fell asleep while driving to Modesto on the freeway. He hit the woman in front of him and she lost control of the car and drove off the freeway and drove through a sign that was around 20 feet tall. It had 2 poles and 1 of them snapped in half as she drove through it. We pulled over and sprinted to her car to see if she was okay. She was very shaken up but was alright. She was probably around 65 years old. We called the police to get help...but they NEVER came. I love this place and the emergency care that is here haha. After waiting on the side of the freeway with her for about 30 minutes an ambulance happened to be driving by and they pulled over and literally reversed on the shoulder to get to us. Wild. They were kind emt's. Anyways, moral of the story is DON'T fall asleep while driving. And PULL OVER if you see an accident and check if they are okay. We were the only ones to check and see if this woman was okay other than the man who hit her. Like seriously, be a good person and check on people. 

With fathers day yesterday it has me thinking of how awesome my dad is. But also how awesome Heavenly Father is. My dad has taught me so much in my life. Not to mention all the sacrifices he has made and continues to make for me. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH! Now, Heavenly Father also has made sacrifices for me. He sent his only son to earth to redeem all of us.. I can't imagine a love like that. But I know that kind of love exists. And that is a knowledge I feel so fortunate to have. I am loved not only by my father here, but a divine, eternal, father. 

see you all in 7 days! byeeee!

Hermana Shauna

I have looooootsssss of photos this week, hold on tight everyone. 

1- the last district activity before elder rose heads home to the promised land, Utah.

2-THE GRAPH! I have been watching this graph for the last year and it is finally low enough that we can TAKE OFF MASKS. When President told us not gonna lie, I got a little emotional. It has just been so long to live the way I (we) have. 

2 We celebrated the masks no longer being required to vaccinated people and restaurants having dine in by going to the only Chick-fil-a in the mission!

3- Sister Sinema was doing her laundry and somehow managed to throw alllllll of her quarters behind the washers...

4-The last district council in Oakland :(

5- Bye elder rose!!

6- this woman bought baby spoons and a newborn onesie and TAPED it to the wall as her new decor. 

7- this was right before the car accident (don't worry it was before we started driving ;)

8- a little vitamin d, so nice,

9- our "vogue" poses

10- Zone testimony meeting

11- Okay, don't ask me why but we have had a game going this transfer with the elders in our ward that whenever you see a random abandoned shoe on the side of the road, you grab it. Whoever has the most at the end of the transfer wins. Well, we were at 25-23-0-0 when the zone leaders brought 83 shoes to the testimony meeting. Needless to say...they won. They crushed us. 

12- I am kinda sad that I am leaving Oakland because that means I am leaving Bobbi. I LOVE HER!!

13- I have met so many wonderful people here in Oakland. And yesterday I got to meet an AMAZING person. Laura. Literally so cute.

14- One of the amazing families I get to meet while I serve in the VC :) It's a good thing I like to meet new people :)

15- My follow-up trainer, Sister Burch, heads home for Virginia on Wednesday!!! LOVE HER!! 

16- It is starting to get hot here so we bought face masks which we freeze and wear while we are home. We don't have A/C so we have this one fan that stays in between our beds on top of my suitcases while we get a nice breeze.  

Smash & Grab - Schedule a Tour At the Visitors' Center Before Shauna Leaves! - Exchanges with Sister Apelu - Redeemed By The Grace Of Christ

 

This morning started out so great. We sleep with our windows open a little because it's getting hot. I woke up this morning at 5:12 when I heard a car pulling up across the street from our complex. I looked out the window and there was a man breaking into the SUV over there. After smashing the glass he got back in the car and the driver zoomed away. I was like 95% asleep when this happened and then afterward I couldn't fall back asleep. Been a long day haha. But what's craziest about this is that in California there are smash and grabs alllllllllll the time. So there is soooooo much glass all over the streets in Oakland. What a good time.

I went on exchanges with Sister Apelu last week! We've been serving in the same (ish) area for 6 months and this was the first time we went on exchanges! It was so fun! Only one of our lessons actually happened so we had lots of time to walk the streets and find! We met a BUNCH of people. And one of those people was a man who is a member and hasn't been to church in 3 years! The elders have been trying to get in contact with him and have been unsuccessful. Turns out, all you have to do to talk to some Latinos is buy some tacos. Who would have thought? Anyways Sister Apelu is awesome and she taught me a lot. We didn't take any pictures though cause we are the worst. My b.

Anyways, not much to report on. We are still chugging along at the Visitors Center. If anyone wants to take a tour of the VC, let me know! We have transfers this week and I could be leaving the VC! We don't know yet but it might be my last week in the VC before I come home. So this could be your last chance to see me there! Send me a message or an email about scheduling a tour and I'll be able to respond during the week :)

Okay okay. I was reading the Book of Mormon this week (I know, shocking) and this verse really stood out to me.

2 Nephi 1:15

"...the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love."

How beautiful is that? That's exactly how I feel! I have been redeemed by the Grace of Christ and because I've felt that redeeming power, I have beheld His glory. And because I have beheld His glory, I can literally feel that I am encircled ETERNALLY in His arms of love! I can never do enough wrong to not be surrounded by His arms of love as long as I'm willing to repent and be better the next day. He literally is just waiting for us with His arms WIDE OPEN!! I'm grateful for my Savior and His patience with me and my imperfection. I hope you are all striving everyday to be better than you were yesterday and you look to Christ for that example. And if you're not, it's never too late to start ;)

Love you all! 

Hermana Shauna 

1- behind the scenes during videos during virtual tours ;) 

2- me :)

3- ever wondered what I look like mid hair flip? Well, here's a photo to put your curious mind at ease. 

4- a flower crown for sis sinema :)

5- we climbed into bed with our dresses on after a long day. Probably fell asleep with them on too...cant remember

Soccer Slide Tackle Skinned Knee :) - Week Of Zone Conference & The Visitors' Center - So Many Tours! - A Piece Of The Temple Everywhere I G

 

We had zone conference in person again! Still wearing masks, but I've now had 2 zone conferences in person! So crazy! It's so fun to see so many people. I forgot how social I am and how much I thrive off the energy of others. Our mission is finally starting to be able to do things with each other! Like today, we got to have a zone activity and we decided to place soccer. Obviously, I thought it was a fantastic idea because I've spent so many years playing that beautiful game. Well, turns out I was super excited to do things with people again and I slide tackled someone and I ripped up the skin on my knee. It was dripping blood. What a good time. It seemed like everyone was concerned about it except for me ahah! I just wanted to get back to the game :)

We were in the VC so much last week that my only memories from last week other than zone conference is at the VC. We took soooooooo many people on tours. Members and non members. It's so fun to have that super unique way of being a missionary. I love being able to use all the tools that we have there to help me teach about the gospel! Everyone loves it in the Visitors' Center. Not to mention we have a gorgeous temple just hanging out outside :) 

We had a chance to show a few non members the rooms inside the temple and to teach them about the temples. It's funny, each one of them were in awe as they looked at the rooms. It's amazing to me that we can feel the spirit of the temple even when we aren't inside. Obviously, it's a little different when we are actually inside, but that doesn't mean that we can feel the spirit of the temple when we aren't inside! Something cool that my Nana taught me in my first transfer in California is that I have a piece of the temple everywhere I go. And when I have that, I can feel the power and the spirit of the temple. I'm so thankful for the temple. It's been cool to have it be such a huge part of my mission, serving so much on temple grounds. I've gained a very strong testimony of the temple and the things that are done inside. 

It's all true. The temple. The church. The book. It's all true. 

Love you all!

Hermana Shauna

1- our district at zone conference!! Yay!!

2- in case anybody wants to spend $30 to eat a cow's tongue...I can show you a tienda where you can buy it!

3- gogurts are best but these ones are better because they are sloth themed!!

4-we got to help 2 of my favorite people on this planet with family history this week! They are each taking a bunch of family names to the temple this weekend! How special?! I love Maribel and Bobbi!

5- some of the greatest VC sisters around!

From Dawn Until Dusk - Choose to Follow Him - Sister Sinema 1st Talk In Spanish - Temple Baptisms With Missions Inside Oakland Temple District - Teaching Yesica

 

Been a long and fulfilling week! We were at the VC all day yesterday! We had an amazing opportunity for each mission in the Oakland Temple district (San Jose, Oakland/San Francisco, and Santa Rosa) to have their recent concerts go to the temple to do baptisms for the first time. They asked us to come into the VC on our pday to give tours for all these new members. Us, being the main set of Spanish sisters were very needed yesterday. It was SO busy. We met SO many people. It was awesome. So many Elders and Sisters and their recent converts. What a day! So anyway, that's why I'm writing today, and not yesterday;)

A lot of our lessons fell through this week, hahah what's new? But one that actually happened was so cool. Yesica. We've been teaching her English for about 2 months. We've started teaching her the gospel alongside her English classes! And during our last English class she asked US if she could come to church. Obviously we were so excited! She lives pretty far from the chapel (a 2 hour walk) and she doesn't have a car. So we asked a bunch of members if they could take her and out of the ones that responded, 1 was out of town and the other just wrecked her car. So we had to take the backup route. Zoom. Well. The zoom account disconnected in the middle of the sacrament. So she really didn't get to go haha. We'll get her next week ;)

Sister Sinema had the opportunity to give her first talk in Spanish on Sunday! It was awesome. She talked about conversion to Christ. What an important topic, right? Conversion to Christ is a choice. We choose to follow him. We choose to change our actions. So essentially becoming converted is all up to us. Are we willing to do what it takes to give all we have to him? Are we willing to be converted? Are we willing to make sacrifices to find true conversion? (Thanks Sis Sinema;)

Been a good week out here in Oakland! The work is continuing and the church is still growing :) I'm happy to be a missionary and to keep working until the very last moment :)

Les quiero mucho,

Hermana Shauna

1- found this in the embossing room at the vc. I intend to find out how to use it properly. 

2- KILLER tour with these two cute girls and Elder Law and Stevenson the other day

3- Elder Judd is serving in the Santa Rosa mission, just north of me. I went to high school with him! I saw him in the temple parking lot yesterday and I got so excited! He got to come for the recent concert baptism day:)

4- we got 2 zones together for a pday bbq and games! First time I've been in a group of people without masks on! Yay!!!

5- Susan and Nate. They came yesterday for the temple day too. Man, I've got some good stories from them haha.

6- during our very short breaks at the vc yesterday we got to sneak in some study time :)

7- this is one of my favorite people, Uriel. He is preparing to enter the temple! We are so so so excited for him! He has recently learned how to say "Don't worry. Be happy." He usually says that around 20 times per visit we have with him. What a guy.