That one time that Elder Lawrence came to our mission..

Hi family and friends, This week was crazy! Hermana Justiniano and I have been working our behinds off this week to make up for loss time while she was sick. We have been finding and knocking doors like crazy!

Good news is that our hard work has paid off. We have three new investigators. One of which seams really really interested in our message this far. Extremely blessed! It has been pretty amazing because we also now have more potentials and referrals then we have ever had before. Yesterday we actually went to one of our referrals home and she turned out to be a long lost member. Both her sister and her were baptized at the same time their father was baptized but they never really gained a testimony of their own. Coincidence? I think not! Also because of the fact that her sister and their friend also ended up sitting in on the lesson about the restoration. It was so cool! They were just so in tune to what was going on. Especially their friend!

At the end of the lesson we asked if we could return and talk more about our message and all of them said yes! So we now have a awesome referral for the YSA sister!! Whoop whoop!!

Storm Arioso, Surprise!!!!

 Sunday was crazy as well! The moment I stepped out of relief society in my little Spanish branch, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turn around and who do I see?? Brother Arioso!! From the Rogers stake...from home! I let out the loudest squeal ever and I about grabbed him and hugged him. He told me to wait right there because he had to go get someone. And he returns with Storm, one of my sisters really good friends! She runs at me and we just have a tackle hug reunion. It was the best! It was like a part of home had just come to visit. Turns out she and her parents are in the Wilton ward who are in charge of feeding us when the Spanish branch can't! They can feed us!!!! Ahhhhhh! That just seriously made my whole day! I was just over joyed. It was like part of my sister was there with me. I love surprises

 Okay so the reason I didn't write on Monday is because we had some one from the Seventy, Elder Lawrence, come and speak to all of us....and wow...just wow....everything they said was amazing. I wish I could write it all down and send it to you all but I can't sadly so I'll pick out my favorite part. Sacrifice: the principle of giving up something for something even better Steps to true sacrifice and exercising faith
1. Have the courage to establish a righteous goal or desire
2. You have got to believe - always talk, act, and feel like it is going to happen
3. Be willing to plead your case to the lord through prayer - think of your righteous desire often, pray for it to come to pass often
4. Commit yourself - do everything in your power to make this desire come to pass - negotiate with the lord, I will do this if you do...
5. Expect trials and obstacles -if it seems like your whole world is caving in then that means that the advesary knows you are close to accomplishing your righteous goal so he is doing everything in his power to make sure it doesn't happen, keep pushing.
6. Expect the lord to intervene

 I think step four is my favorite because that is where sacrifice is required. Sacrifice is an amazing thing...it is actually a blessing to sacrifice. The heavens abide by the rules of obedience and sacrifice. Jesus Christ needed to be sacrificed so that all righteousness could come to pass. Everything is about sacrifice. If we are not ready for to sacrifice then we are not ready for the kingdom of heaven.

We as a mission were invited to sacrifice something personal so that we could reach our goal of 411 baptisms this year. Everyone accepted that challenge.

I know it is by sacrifice that the powers of heaven can work. I have seen it. My mission was a sacrifice but I have seen it bless my family and the people I teach out there. I am now part of something bigger then myself and it is amazing. I love the mission and I love all of you. I hope all your weeks went well!
Much love,
Hermana Paredes
Over and out

Why does motor sound like a cat?

😑😂 Hi everyone! So this week we didn't have much happen because...(drumroll) we were all sick! No joke! About every missionary in our little branch was sick. I was fine thanks to my strong Peruvian immune system.. Haha! Thanks Papi! 😉 needless to say we didn't get much work done because we were home a lot. Poor Hermana Justiniano. I did go on one exchange with Hermana Stevens...craziness!!

On exchange with Hermana Stevens aka my trainer: So Hermana Stevens and I decided to stop by the Church building to figure out who were we going to visit. We planned inside the building and then we came back out to get going. As Hermana Stevens started the car, we heard a strange sound emanating from the engine. Hermana Stevens looked at me and said "why does it sound like there is a cat inside our car?" She turned off the engine and we got out to investigate. We could hear a kitten mewing from somewhere so we searched around the car and find a tiny kitten cowering behind our left front tire. I made a grab for its scruff and it got scared and scurried up the tire and right into our engine!! "Quick! Pop the hood!!" We popped it open just in time to see him run out of sight...in the interior of the car! Yikes! And then for the next hour, we were doing everything from trying to speak cat to driving around the parking lot to get him out (that last one was totally the zone leaders idea... Wasn't happy about that one!). It was ridiculous!

Nothing we did would make him come out and we could still hear him mewing as plain as day! Hermana Stevens was all for going to the auto shop so that they could pull the poor kitten out but I was totally against it because the nearest auto shop was 30 minutes away and we would for sure kill him. So we finally got down on our knees in the church parking lot and pleaded for heavenly help. As soon as the prayer was over, I told Hermana Stevens to take another lap around the parking lot. It just felt right even though I was terrified that I was going to see roadkill in the making.... She took a lap and as soon as she came back around and parked, our little trouble maker climbed down the tire and I immediately grabbed him by the scruff.

We almost cried for relief! I placed him on my lap and we opened a bottle of water for him. That little guy must have been so dehydrated because he just lapped it up like nothing else. We ended up releasing him back into the wild because you could tell he was a street cat through and through, and we were pretty sure his mom was around somewhere. Crazy right?!

So other then getting cats out of cars, I have been doing a lot of studying of the scriptures during Hermana Justiniano's sick days. I appreciate the atonement so much more. It just covers everything! Even bored sisters in their apartments on sick days! There have been many sisters who have been going through some rough times lately and I just find it amazing how the atonement covers everyone's need. No matter what the situation or circumstance. It just fills me with so much peace that there is someone who can make up for everything that I lack and loves me just as much as the next person, and that is my savior Jesucristo.

I stand all amazed more and more each day as I watch him change lives and fill the holes in hearts that people think can never be filled. Even though I haven't done much missionary work outside of my apartment, there is so much I have done inside. I'm gaining a better understanding of the plan and my part in it all. It just makes me never want to be the same. I can't be the same because that would be denying the truths I have come to know. It's just wonderful.
I love you all! ❤️ Hermana Paredes
Over and out

DE-junking an elders apartment

Hola from the farmlands of Sacramento Mission, So nothing is really new with us...we are still in finding mode.. Though we are getting to clean out our area book! Who knew there could be so many fake phone numbers and addresses?! Crazy right! We have a creative bunch here down in California. Haha!

Since I don't have any new investigators to tell you about, I'm going to tell you the woes of de junking an Elder's apartment.

De junking an Elders apartment: First off I pray that these men realize that mold on the window ceils is not normal. I will give them a bit of credit. They did sweep, vacuum, and wipe off the counters...but other then that...yikes!

The apartment just reeked of cologne and...well... ELDER!! Hermana Justiniano and I spent a good hour and a half just rubbing the grease marks off the walls. Grease marks!...my arms hurt so bad by the time we were done. We then got the mold off the windows and proceeded to get the kitchen cleaned up. The cabinets were so bad...full of dust and crumbs. Another half an hour cleaning that out.

Then the porch...we thought we were just going to have to do a bit of sweeping and rearranging but nope!

Apparently the whole porch had been a barber shop before. There was short hair clippings everywhere. It looked like it hadn't been swept out since the beginning of time! Hermana Justiniano was just like "a hecka no!" And she got right down to business attacking all of that hair! It took her so long! She even mopped the porch after she swept all that hair off. Ridiculous! We thought that the nightmare was over until we opened the bathroom cabinets...hair and dust everywhere. So we spent another hour fixing that. It was exhausting...Thank goodness for good music to distract ourselves. Nothing like Motab to keep your mind off the aches. Haha!

Our apartment looks lovely now. I wish I had taken a picture. It is so beautiful! Especially after we got all the Elder's stuff out that they had left behind. Three bag fills! Gosh! In the supplies closet we found some Marshales Books of Mormon...book of Mormons?...Whatever! ...and some old children's song books, old pamphlets, and just a bunch of crazy stuff. Pretty sure these Elders didn't not need all of that old stuff...strange boys. Haha!

 So that was my de junking story.

The rest of the week has been pretty much the same. We are still looking for investigators and trying to keep busy. We have been spending a lot of our time doing service and less active work. My branch is so cool! We were talking about less actives and people who really need support during ward council, and we found out that one of our member's mom had slipped and fell. Her mom is a member of the branch as well and we hadn't seen her at Church in a while so Sister Hirsts suggested to go and sing to their family right after branch council. Everyone in Branch council went! It was so cool to see our tiny branch pull together just to lift the spirits of this sister. They are all truly member missionaries.

surprise visit from Hermana Torres, middle

 Another highlight of my week is that my trainer came back!! She came back for her mission tour and decided to surprise me while I was at home taking a nap during our lunch hour this past Sunday. Both me and my companion were sound asleep when we heard pounding on the door. I was like "....no...". We tried to ignore it but whoever it was keep on pounding the door so Hermana Justiniano got up and yelled through the door "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" (Yeah she gets a little feisty when she is tired, haha!) She opens the door and I hear squeals and laughter and talking. I'm still half asleep so I just lay there with my eyes closed until I hear a familiar voice say "pst...hey". My immediate thoughts " NO WAY!" But I kept it together and replied "I thought my training days were over..." Then I jumped out of bed and grabbed her. It was so good to see her! Just lit up my week! :) Well that's all I have for now, Hermana Paredes Over and Out