Hellloo

October 28, 2019

Hiii!! Sorry I didnt send out an email last week! This week was really good! We got to teach and meet lots of new people! So, for some random highlights...

Peighton was Baptized and confirmed this week!! We are so happy for her, she is such a good example for me and for everyone!! She’s seriously the cutest!

We were in district council on Tuesday and my comp got a text from this guy that the missionaries before got into a little bit of a bible bash with, and he texted us asking what steps he needs to take to join the church!! AHH! So cool. We haven't really been able to contact him but we're praying that we'll be able to find him and teach him!

On Wednesday, we went over to a lady in the ward’s house to make hamburger cookies! They're so cute (see pic)!! We brought them to a nursing home with the Lions Club and got to talk to the residents there! One of their names was Mike and he told us he went to Africa but the other lady next to him kept calling him a liar. It was so sad 🤣🤣

Oohh one of the days, I can’t remember, we went to the nicest lady's house, her name is Ashley, and she has a daughter named Heaven who is literally the cutest child I've seen in my life. We have a rule that we can’t pick up kids, and she kept asking me “pick you up, pick you up!” and I couldn't and then she started crying and I wanted to cry, it was SO sad and cute, oh my. Then she took my bike helmet and put it on and we got a super cute picture with her.

We're teaching this woman named Monique and she’s precious, we love her! We were reading in 3 Nephi 11 with her where Jesus Christ comes to America, and I love these verses:

“14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.”

I love that it says each person came to him one by one and touched his wounds. Christ didn’t just sacrifice himself for mankind as a whole, but for each of our pains individually. Sometimes I think about all the most painful times in my life and then think about how He felt all of those things plus everyone else's most painful moments. Christ bore each of our griefs individually, just as he let each of the Nephites come up to him and touch the prints on his body. Jesus Christ loves you all individually, and he is waiting with open arms for you to come unto him! He’s felt everything you have and will ever feel!

I hope y’all have had a great week!

Love,

Hermana Coleman :)

Freezing Temperatures in Portland???

October 14, 2019

It was a wild week again in southern Texas!! We had a cold front this weekend so it was in the 60s which was SO nice I can’t even begin to explain. Everyone here is so funny, they're all getting sick because of the weather haha but I think it's awesome. Two of the members gave us hot chocolate!! In 60 degree weather!

Ryan got baptized yesterday!! It was so awesome!! And his mom and grandma got to be the witnesses, which was super cool! Him and his mom are both so excited and happy to both be members of the church and were so excited for them. Unfortunately, we tried to take a photo and it didn’t work but hopefully we'll get one at his confirmation next week! Peighton is also doing super well, her baptism is next Sunday!

Onto the topic of food, we got fed the best meal I've had in my entire LIFE yesterday. This lady in our ward is from American Samoa and can cook Samoan/Polynesian food really well. She made us rice and Chicken and green beans and this cool salad and the best sauce I've had in my life and to top it all off, chocolate coconut cream pie. Everyone says you gain a lot of weight in my area...I can definitely see why! The members are all just amazing and feed us and help us out a ton! To help them out, were making little “pros boxes” that have Book of Mormons, pamphlets, and pass along cards, because you never know when you'll need them. Member missionaries are SO important!! It’s so much better when people have a friend in the church that just invites them to activities or just sets an example. 

So yesterday, we were walking around this apartment complex and we went to this lady's house who some of the missionaries had gone to previously. We knock and she comes out and tells us about how she’s going to school 11 HOURS A DAY and has kids and is super overwhelmed. So, we said a prayer with her and just asked God to strengthen her and she started crying and gave us big hugs, it was so sweet. Life can get hard and busy, but God is always there for us! We just need to ask him for help!

One thing I've been studying this week is the immediate goodness of God. I was reading in Alma 36 which is where Alma is telling one of his sons about his conversion story. 

17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

I have always really liked this story, but never noticed how immediately when Alma prayed for relief, it was granted to him. Alma was doing some really bad stuff, and had to have an angel come down and strike him! And he was relieved from his guilt and pain right when he thought of Christ! Another scripture that I really like this week that was semi related is in Roman's 8 and it says...

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus Christ loves us INFINITELY. Why else would he give his life for us? And nothing we do can separate us from his love. No sin, temptation, trial, difficulty, guilt, or sadness can ever separate us from that. If you're not feeling the love right now then my suggestion is to pray! Ask for love and look for it in your life and I know you'll find it!:)

Love ya’ll!!

Sister Coleman

Temple in McAllen!

October 7, 2019

Hola!!!! So my first week in the field is coming to a close! It's been so crazy and fun so I'll just get right into it...

We arrived in McAllen at around 8:30 Monday night after some delays and airplane malfunctions and stuff, so we just went straight to Presidents house and had dinner which was SO good- it was just celestial chicken and salad and potatoes. President Ocampo is from Honduras and he is super nice and smiley and we love him. 

Anyway, so on Tuesday, we got our areas and trainers assigned, so I'm In Portland Texas with Sister Yanez!! So. Portland is right north of Corpus Christi, so I'm at the very top of the mission. We're in an English speaking area, and our whole zone is English minus one companionship that covers the whole zone for Spanish. Sister Yanez is amazing, this is her 12th transfer, and she’s staying an extra transfer, so she'll go home after my first 12 weeks of training. She’s from Honduras and speaks fluent Spanish and English which is AWESOME because we've ran into a few people who don’t speak English.

The ward is super awesome, there are about 115 active-ish members. This week has been a lot of getting to know them and helping them out with whatever they need! Unfortunately, because we're so far north, I haven't gotten any Mexican food yet, but it's okay, I've heard there's a ton further south. The members are super generous about feeding us, and honestly they've been feeding us pretty normal food which I was kinda surprised about hahaha. 

A highlight of the week was definitely that they announced a future temple in McAllen at general conference!! We are all so excited about it. It is an amazing miracle for the people here in south Texas. Conference in general was so awesome and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time!! More to come about conference later.

As far as the area goes, it's very unique! Portland is a really small town and everyone is really private...which means lots of tracting wohoo!!  Tracting is going door to door and knocking which is so interesting! I'm not really a people person so it has definitely been an adjustment to knock on random peoples’ doors and talk to them about the gospel 🤣 It's super fun though! We have a car which is great, but the mission is trying to reduce driving miles so we end up biking a lot. It's super fun actually because it's beyond flat here. Literally there's like one hill in the whole town. However, the heat makes up for the lack of hills hahaha. It's a good time. 

Right now, we have two people with baptismal dates, Ryan and Peighton; Ryan is 10 and Peighton is 9. They're both from part -member families so they already know a lot about the church, and they're just so cute. Ryan is gonna get baptized on Sunday and Peighton the next Sunday. Were so excited for them!!:) Right now were working really hard to find people to teach, but we found tons of people that said we could come back so, fingers crossed, we’ll have lots more people to teach this week.

Something I really liked in Conference was from Michelle Craig (I think) who said something to the effect of, you are unique, and God has a specific and unique way for you to accomplish things. The brother of Jared, Nephi, and Moses all had to cross waters and they all did it different ways. God will tailor our errand to our abilities!! I just love that so much because God knows each of us individually and is going to give us a way that we personally can do it. I love you guys, have an awesome week!!:

Hermana Coleman

Calling All Family History Experts

September 28, 2019

Hi everyone!

Less than TWO days left here in the MTC. I'm SO excited to go to McAllen!! It was a super good week though, and I'm gonna miss it here a ton!!

Okay so I guess I'll start with the subject line first. So. I was waiting in line at the store, and I was chatting with some people in front of me and they asked where I was from so I said Connecticut and then we kinda stopped talking. But then, the Elder behind me heard and asked me what part of Connecticut, so I asked him how well he knew Connecticut, and he said he just had family in Darien (which is like an hour from me). So I told him that I lived further north, but then I asked him who his family was and he said it's his cousins the Baxter's. THOSE ARE MY COUSINS TOO. So basically he's my mom's, sister in law's, sister's, son. So, if anyone knows what you call that please let me know. We took a picture together and he looks exactly like my cousins (see picture below). WILD.

A lot of people asked me last week about Hermana Mittens...she lives!! We took lots of pictures with her so that everyone knows she's safe.

So a couple weeks ago, we were teaching Oscar in TRC who we loved, but this week, we taught his identical twin Octavio!! It was super weird at first because they're seriously identical, but their personalities are super different. We also had English TRC with a girl named Jade who's adorable and we love her. Our last TRC was Thursday night, and it was honestly so sad to say goodbye to everyone, especially Oscar and Octavio, but I'm really excited to meet the people in Texas :)

Quick update on my district, we played lots of sand volleyball this week, which was so much fun and made me so happy. Only Hermana Glatt got her Visa though, so everyone else got reassigned state side for at least a transfer! Hermana Parker is going to MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON!!! So Hartford stake, get ready (and maybe hide your cats)!! Just kidding, I love her and she’s going to love it, especially in the fall. Then, two got reassigned to Farmington New Mexico which is mostly reservations, one to Houston, and one to MCALLEN TEXAS! It was so crazy how everything worked out, but were all so excited to serve!

Random Highlight, I got to see Carver on Saturday at the temple!! It may have been slightly solicited, but it was so fun to see him and it made me very happy :)

On Thursday night, we were teaching Octavio about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we had asked him to read 3 Nephi 27 which talks about that. He was confused about the last verse which says,
“And it came to pass that when Jesus had ended these sayings he said unto his disciples: Enter ye in at the strait gate; for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it; but wide is the gate, and broad the way which leads to death, and many there be that travel therein, until the night cometh, wherein no man can work.”
So, he was confused about what the gate and the path were. This thought just like popped into my head in Spanish that's probably obvious, but I had never thought of before... Faith is when we turn towards the path, and realize that we're off the path, repentance is when we takes steps towards the path, and eventually find the path. Baptism is when we enter the gate which is Jesus Christ, and the path is to follow Christ. The Holy Ghost is our guide to stay on the path, and we must endure to the end of the path to see God. I dunno, it was a light bulb moment for me that God's way is so simple. Not always easy, but simple. God wants all of his children to return to him, and because of this, he sent his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die as a perfect sacrifice for us. I'm so grateful for the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and I am honored that I have the opportunity to invite God's children to Follow Christ!

Have a great week!!

Hermana Coleman