Sunday, August 25, 2013

Short and Sweet


So this week was a little weird.  We had so many meetings, and two of them in Richmond, which means lots of driving, and very little working. So we haven't been able to see all our investigators, and the ones that we did see were having a hard time :( So hopefully this week we can reach them all and help them feel Christ's love for them!  

We had an interesting weekend though...Saturday we taught a lesson in English to this super awesome and super interested lady. We thought it would be a breeze in English, but it was actually so much harder than any of our other lessons! Her questions were so deep and focused on details...oh man! I'm so glad I'm a Spanish missionary. Props to all you missionaries serving or that served in English! 

Then on Sunday, we had our first "Bible bash" lesson :( AND in Spanish! There was a guy from another church with one of our investigators and he was super closed and just wanted to prove us wrong! We kept trying to focus on Christ, and the things we both believed to bring the Spirit back, but he wouldn't have any of it and just kept cutting us off. Not fun. And our poor investigator! He is so amazing and seriously wants to learn, and has real questions that he wants to know the answers to. He was just silent in the corner, reading the Bible and contributing comments about faith whenever he could.

 But to end on a good note! The power of fasting and prayer is real! We have recieved so many blessings as we've sought the Lord's help.  I hope you know that the Lord loves you and will help you every step of the way throughout life. And we can feel that love every day. 2 Nephi 1:15. :)

"But behold, 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." 

A Dios! Hermana Albright

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Sacrifices and Blessings


If you make it to the end you will be rewarded.

Hello everyone!
Some pretty exciting news from this week! First off, I just want to shout out to all the amazing people that sent me a letter. THANK YOU! It made my day :D and I love you all!!! But the letters all came the same day for me, so it's going to take a while to write you all back. Just a heads up.
Guess what. I ate cottage cheese. And shrimp! I was so afraid that I was going to GAG in front of the people who prepared it for us, but I think the gift of tongues counts as the ability to eat things you normally wouldn't haha because I ate it all! And it was actually pretty good. I know, crazy right?

Ok so the theme of this week was the blessings of sacrifice. Seriously, it was in every single day! When we show our dedication to the Lord by sacrificing something, anything, He will bless us tenfold. So to start off with, we fasted on Sunday for more member support.  We sacrificed 24 hours without food, and recieved sooo many blessings from it! That day, I met Brother M. He introduced himself to L, and then told him that he had a suit for him. Then he came and sat in our lesson with us, and gave some great contributions. Yes! (fist pump) A couple days later, we had a fiesta for all the Spanish speakers! L came, Brother M came with the suit he had promised L, and one family that hasn't been coming to church that much came, WITH FOOD. Plus, all the Spanish speakers from the singles ward came and lots of people that aren't in the church! We had such great support from the members, and all had a great time! It was amazing! 

While we were there, Brother M told us someone we could go visit.  We went over there, and she was already reading form the Book of Mormon! She said that Brother M was super friendly and happy, and had often sacrificed time in his already crazy busy days to help her out and see how she doing. She could see that he had something different, and she wanted it. She is so great.  As we were talking about the different blessings of the church, the word 'baptism' had barely left our mouths when she said, "Yes! That's what I want! That's what I want!" She still has lots to learn, but I'm so excited to see her come closer to God.  She is so willing to sacrifice her time to learn more, to give up all her sins to know God and feel worthy. I love her!

 Next story: last week, we were driving by and saw one of the people we used to teach cleaning out her storage closet outside. We got out and offered to help her. She protested because we were in our skirts, but we dove right on in! So this week, she invited us to come to dinner.  Turns out, it was a birthday party with the whole family.  There was great food, and great people! And lots of teaching opportunities. (Gold Mine for the missionaries)

Next story: we have someone that we're teaching who wants all the blessings from heaven. When he sacrifices his time to read the scriptures and pray, he feels the Spirit so strongly. It was incredible to hear him talk about it. Sad part of the story is that that's all he's willing to give to the Lord. He won't give his time on Sunday to go to church, so he has not been able to receive all the blessings and answers that he wants. We talked about fasting, hopefully he changes his mind soon. 

Next story: we were talking about tithing to one of our Spanish members, and he had a very powerful testimony about it. His family is very poor, and so it was hard for them to pay their tithing in the beginning.  One day, they were really low on money.  But they trusted in the Lord and paid their tithing.  That night, he was walking down the street and a guy in all black walked up to him (SCARY!).  The guy handed him an envelope, and walked away.  He looked inside, and there was the exact amount of money that they had just given to the church in tithing. What!  

There are so many amazing tithing stories, and as we were talking about it, Hermana Hiebert figured out why: it's the only commandment we can be 100% obedient with.  The Lord is able to pour out the blessings from heaven when we do our part.  Can you imagine what the world would be like if we were 100% to every commandment? Let me tell you, it would be incredible! If only we were all a little more willing to give a little more to the Lord, He would in turn gives us so many blessings that there would not be room enough to receive it.  I would invite you all to try a little harder to be a little better, and watch for the blessings of the Lord as you do so.  Have a great week!
A Dios,
Hermana Albright

What good looking sisters!!

Heidi got to go on a hike during her P-day (preparation day).  Looks beautiful! 


Uh... Heidi... you're in their picture

Heidi says that she eats the most! Anybody surprised? No? Good.  But don't worry she also says she is doing Julian Michaels work out and... taking a shower EVERYDAY. She said she only does that because it's required haha

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

CrAZy town!

Well Heidi sent my mom on a roller coaster today.  Mom called me and was very disappointed with Heidi's letter. As a missionary mom she LIVES for these letters! They let her know that her little girl is OK, alive, surviving and doing good.  Heidi's first letter today was.... short

Hey Family and friends! So I don't have much time today at all, but I just wanted to say that I love you and I hope you have a great day!

WWWWHHHAAATT?? 



But luckily Heidi came to her senses and sent us a real letter

SORRY!!!! We have a less active that we visited today, and she stopped coming to church, so I spent my time finding talks by Sheri Dew for her. but we got a half hour extra online from now on! Whoohoo! 

Cool thing about this week: Promises from God and His servants are REAL and will be realized if we act on them.  We committed to following President Wilson's council 100% this week on challenging everyone to be baptized that we talk to, in every lesson. It was scary, but we did it. And we received SO MANY blessings from it. Ever since our commitment, and keeping that commitment 100%, not a single person has said no

We were able to get to know our less-actives more, and 7 of them came to church. SEVEN!!!! And we found super AMAZING people that are totally ready and prepared and wanting the Gospel that we're stoked to teach this week. We got tons of referrals, even one from church headquarters. And we committed one of our investigators, to baptism for Sept 1. He prayed with us about it and said he felt lots of peace. And we had more member support, even from English speaking members, than we've ever had. WHOOHOO!!! Promises are real. As you study the scriptures and the magazines, look for the promises of God. If you do your part, He will do His. Love you all! Have a great week! Oh haha also, funny scripture to end on: Proverbs 28: 25. Heeheehee
" He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat."
Hermana Albright

Heidi and her new companions in Virginia

Heidi found a Hobbit door!! How cool is that?


Heidi and her companion in the MTC.. they felt like secret agents because they could go into restricted areas