The Greatest Week! - Antonio! - The Baptism! - Temple Work

 

This has been one of the greatest weeks of my mission. And there isn't much time to talk about all of it. So this is going to be very condensed. 

We did end up going to the temple in Oakland with 3 recent converts to do baptisms for the dead. It was soooooo special. We worked really hard so that every single one of us had family names to take with us. But even more exciting, each one of the recent converts and a member who has been a member for most of his life got to do the work for their parents and grandparents. How amazing is that? It was such a sacred and tender experience. Sister Moore and I got to do the work for the mothers and grandmothers. They got choked up as they watched as their loved ones were baptized. 

The second amazing thing. Antonio got baptized!! We have been working so hard with him. We met with him around 3 times a week, sometimes 4. He is the most prepared person I've ever met. His baptism was beautiful. He wanted it to be a very special and personal experience so he just wanted us, the elders, and 4 other members to be there. A very intimate gathering and celebration. He asked me to speak about the holy ghost. I got a little emotional when telling him about what it is and what it means. And how much he means to me. I love Antonio. He is so awesome!! And he has so much faith!!

This week has been full of baptism. I'm so thankful for baptism and that we all can be clean from every mistake that we've made. As much as I would love to be perfect, I am not. But I know because of my baptism and the sacrament I can ask for forgiveness and be clean daily.

Love you all! 

You'll only be receiving 2 more emails from me after this so enjoy them while they last;)

Hermana Shauna 

1- leo, my best pal. Kids that only speak spanish are so hard to understand but it's the cutest thing ever

2- wilfredo, this man literally POURED chocolate milk on his pancakes and no one said anything...so funny

3- pancakes:)

4- after baptisms for the dead at the temple <3

5- this was actually at zone conference 2 weeks ago when they called us (departing missionaries) up to talk about our missions. So sad. 

6- just a small portion of our zone

7- filling up the font

8-before the baptism:))

9- antonio took us to chiles after the baptism! He's so happy

10-the baptism!!

11- my old zone leader came to oakland and stopped to say hi! fun to see old friends

12-sister fa <<3

13- I got to go back to san fran today because I am going home. It was SO FUN to be back in a place that i feel like is my second home

14-I have missed driving in san francisco as weird as it sounds. Very adventurous and always something to look at.

Miguel - Visitors' Center Tour With San Francisco Spanish Ward - Last Zone Conference - Temple With Wilfredo & Ciriaco

 

I would like to start this weekly by saying that I made a huge discovery yesterday during Sunday School. You would think I'd know this by now, but I most definitely was very clueless. Miguel literally means Michael in Spanish. I don't know why that shook my soul so much but like it really did. And now, you all know. So you're welcome. 

In other news, we took Ciriaco (our ward mission leader) and wilfredo (recent convert) to the family history Library that we have at the VC to start their family search accounts. It was so successful! We printed their parents, grandparents, and some uncles names to do baptisms for tomorrow!! Which means we get to go to the temple with them tomorrow because it will be wilfredo's first time in the temple! And the elders are bringing their 2 recent converts too. It's going to be a great day :) we are so excited and happy for them and their families on the other side!

I also got to give a tour to the whole Spanish ward that I served with in San Francisco!! They brought the man that I taught and saw get baptized:') They have a few people preparing to enter the temple so I got the special opportunity to testify of the temple and the power of the temple with one of the best wards in the entire world. Very special and tender experience for me.

My testimony continues to grow and grow about temples everyday. Seeing the joy in the eyes of someone who literally gets to do the work for their parents? Priceless. I can only imagine what it will be like in the temple with them tomorrow. I'm so excited and happy for them. I know that temples are so sacred and so special. Sometimes sacrifices need to be made to get there, but it's always worth it. :) 

Bye!!

Hermana Shauna 

1- don't know what kinda of flowers these are but I kinda love them

2- we found fruit loops KitKats definitely not worth trying 

3- the Tongans provided lunch after zone conference...kinda scary kinda cool 

4- Antonio brought us a cake and  alote for after our last lesson with him. What a guy.

5- elder Wilkinson stole my pineapple from our zone activity and put it in the freezer then like 3 days later put it in a dark room on a table and left it there for us to find...strange man. 

6- the girls at the zone activity 

7- the girls at zone conference 

8-I randomly found this at the church one day and now I'm scared 

9- district callllllll!! These are the best

10- I bought this mask that literally feels like acid and looks like blood. It's kinda scary but leaves your skin soooooooo soft. 10/10 recommend 

11- my last zone conference:( they called all the departing missionaries up and we each got to say something about our missions :')

12- the Andrews finished their missions last night. I'm literally so sad, but I'm right behind them so I'll be okay. 

13- my old sister training leaders visited the mission! I love them!! Good to see them again and catch up :)

14,15- sister burch *riley* as they say came this week too! My small little friend. She's like a full on real life RM. Crazy. Love her!

Time Flies! - I'm alive. I'm loving life. I'm working hard.

 

I literally can't believe how fast time goes on the mission. It genuinely shocks me. Another week has come and gone in the blink of an eye. I think as I've been on my mission my memory gets worse and worse every single day. Maybe that's why time flies so fast..? No clue!

I don't have very much time of pday left, but I want you all to know that - I'm alive. I'm loving life. I'm working hard. I'm doing my best to enjoy these last few weeks. My mission has changed me and is continuing to change me. I'm so thankful for the choice I made 2 years ago to serve, and for the choice I made... TWICE ;)... to leave home and share what I know to be true. 

I'll be sure to quickly add my photos cause I know that's what we all look forward to. ;)

See you all in a few weeks!

Love,

Hermana Shauna

1- Ciriaco and Wilfredo. They are coming to visit Utah in October so some of you may be lucky enough to meet them ;) literally Angel's

2- the squad

3-This is Lilah, she wants to be a missionary someday.

4- This dinosaur that made me feel at home :)

5- flower trees <3

6- noche de hogar!! Cutting pineapples 

7- the rest of the squad!

8-Joseline y Katherine. Cuties. They made us a surprise dinner when we showed up to their house to teach Katherine about the gospel!

9- a new box of chalk for english class 

10- english class! Photo cred to my guy, Wilfredo 

11- Ciriaco y Wilfredo. Brought us Taco Bell cause they said that Cereal isn't food. They handed it to us through the balcony. Hilarious

12-the taco bell 

13- again, they said soup wasn't dinner, so they came to the VC with a FULL Costco pizza, rotisserie chicken, like 15 bananas, 2 baguettes, and a bag of bagels. Now we have dinner for a week.

14- found this today, I found it very disturbing. 

Feliz Cumpleaños America - Grateful For This Great Country! - Visitors' Center Tours - A Lot More People At Church

Happy 4th of July!! Well, 5th I guess ;) This is one of my favorite holidays! I love America so much! I feel so blessed to live in this country and to have all of the things I have. 

This week we took some recent converts in our ward to the VC and taught them about the temple. We told them about each room and the things we do there. We showed them all the temples in Mexico and they were so excited! After we showed them around they told us they were going to get their temple recommends (which they got yesterday woooo!!!). We are working on setting up an appointment for the 3 of them to do baptisms for the first time!! Yay!! 

We also had a lot more people at church this week! So that was awesome. Fast and testimony meeting was amazing! I love hearing everyone's testimonies. Short and sweet. It's awesome. I also love fasting. It definitely can be challenging at times but I love the opportunity to fast once a month. It's awesome to get to sacrifice just a little bit of my normal every day life to show my love for God. I hope you all had a great Fast Sunday :))

Just wanted to say that I'm grateful for this great country that was founded on freedom. I'm SO thankful to be blessed enough to live here. After listening to the talk given by Elder Oaks at the last conference I truly realize how much God truly did influence the constitution and this country in order to let the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ begin. That's probably the biggest reason I'm blessed to be here. A country founded on freedom. Thankful that I can practice my religion and do my best to spread as a missionary :)

Love you all! 

Hermana Shauna 

1- noche de hogar. One of the most anticipated nights by the San Leandro 2nd missionaries

2- the house of someone we are teaching:) 

3- lunch with my girls

4- the girls again

5- free lemons 

6- this so far has been the most "serious" of companionship photos we have taken

7- finished the dreaded my plan. What a time.

8- weekly planning <3

9- Antonio bought us dinner last week! Literally such an angel!!

10- we got locked in last night for safety concerns, so this was the start of our 3 whole hours of just calling people on the phone.