Bringing in the Seven!

Hola familia y amigos!

 We had one of the coolest week! Oh it has been so great!

 First off, our investigator, Juan, got his baptismal interview this week and of course he passed with flying colors! Oh we are so excited for him. Though we were a little bit worried this past Sunday because he didn't show up to church and he wasn't answering his phone....scary. Turns out he went out to his car Sunday morning to drive to church to find that his battery of his car was dead. Nothing he did could get it jumpstarted....arggggghhhhh! Satan is definitely at work but Hermana Niemann and I are working harder. He is totally not going to win.

 Also another story with Juan! Hermana Niemann and I were trying to get out of our dinner appointment so that we could get to our investigator's appointment. We even had a member, Lorenzo, meeting us at Juan's house but the member kept talking and talking. Strangely enough Hermana Niemann and I were pretty peaceful about out it. By the time we were actually able to leave the appointment, we were 15 minutes late. We quickly sped over to our appointment and then looked around the apartment complex to find Lorenzo. We couldn't find him anywhere! So we finally gave up and decided that we would just have to go to Juan's. We knocked the door and to our great surprise, Lorenzo opened it! They had been sitting at the table just talking and getting to know one another! That was an answer to a prayer! Juan had been telling us that the number one thing he was finding difficultly with was finding friends at church but know he has one really good friend. And you can tell that they are really good friends because during the lesson they kept on cracking inside jokes!!! Oh my gosh! It was amazing! The spirit was so strong with those two! I swear, Lorenzo is the best member missionary ever! For example at the end of the lesson, Juan was telling us of some of the struggles he faces and before Hermana Niemann or I could open our mouths, Lorenzo began to bear a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon! He told Juan that if he ever feels sad all he has to do is read the Book of Mormon! "It just makes me feel better anytime I read this book. It brings me peace!" I love my recent convert.

 So this week we got seven new investigators! And I'm going to share with you a miracle...

 Hermana Niemann and I had had a very long day without much success so we were about to just head to our last back up and it wasn't even eight yet... Plus the backup was a member. We were pretty bummed especially since that morning we has been praying really hard to find the lord's elect and we felt like we had seen much success. We were driving to our members house and out of the corner of my eye, I see this guy fixing his truck on the side of the road. I didn't think much of it and kept driving, but then I got the feeling that we should turn back and talk to him. My thoughts were, " well...we got nothing to lose!" So I flipped a U turn. Hermana Niemann was so confused and she was said "Wait! What are we doing?" "We are going to go get us a new investigator" and that is exactly what we did. Turns out this guy had visited to missionaries before...when they were Elders. That was a long time ago! He said he had always wondered why they had stopped visiting him. When I asked him if he would be interested in having missionaries con over again, he got really excited and said yes! He even said "I still have that book that they gave me! The Book of Mormon!" Oh we are really excited about him. Best part...he has a family! Three cheers for family! Whoop! Whoop!

 Okay one more miracle lesson. So we went back to one of our new investigators house because we had missed our appointment with her due to Hermana Niemann's throat swelling up. (Not really sure if I told you all that story or not.... 🤔) When we knocked on her door, she was like "come in! Come in!" She told us that she has been reading the book we left her, the Book of Mormon! She had so many questions and we were able to teach her the restoration but what really caught her was the bible and the fact hat so many plain and precious things had been taken away. She to,d us that she had always wondered that. She especially got excited about the restoration of the priesthood! She said that she had been studying in the bible about the priesthood and the power of God but had always wondered what happened to it! She is just so prepared but the most interesting thing was when we were trying to show her a scripture in Moroni, she freaked out! She said that in her grandpas bible, there was the book of Moroni, 3 Nephi, and Ether. Weird right. So we are going to have to do a bit of re-explaining to her because now she thinks the Book of Mormon is the missing book from the bible...oops! Well she is still a really cool investigator. 😅

 Funny story: as missionaries, we need a backer anytime we back out of a parking spot. Hermana Niemann was backing me out of my spot and this guy was just staring at us. Hermana Niemann turned to him and said "we have to do it." He just looked at her and replied "It is okay, everyone has got to learn at some point" and then he gave me a thumbs up and shouted "Good job!" Bahahahahaha! He thinks I'm learning how to back up! Hahahaha! It was so funny! We had a good belly laugh! Sweet guy! 😂

 Well, I think that is all! Next week is transfer week so I will be emailing Tuesday.

 Love you all!

Hermana Paredes

God is not a hater

Hi family and friends

 The quote above is just another great thing our friend on the corner always yells out...he has got some pretty good points. 😉 Anyways! This week! It has really just been a great week. Sorry I didn't write last week...it was to darn stressful. I spent half of my last p-day trying to organize a musical number and honestly writing a whole weekly email would have stressed me out more....hope that didn't ruin anyone's week! Haha!

 So yeah, I organized a whole musical number for zone conference. That was super stressful trying to coordinate with everyone's busy schedules but it ended up turning out really good. I recorded it so I will send it along. Zone conference in general was amazing! I love listening to President and getting trained on how to be a better missionary but the biggest thing I got out of the training is that the lord is hastening his work and he needs more then ever missionaries who understand his purpose which is to "bring to pass the immorality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) It really reconfirmed to me how 100% focused I need to be on this work! Heavenly Father so deeply loved us that he wants each one of us to have the opportunity to hear this incredible message about the atonement and the gospel. And he so deeply loved us he desperately wants every single one of us to return to him but he has to rely on a bunch of 18-26 year old adults to do that work for him....scary but then kind of not. I'm amazing that he would put that much trust in our hands and I am more determined then ever to not let him down or my brothers and sisters down. Someone I loved that President said this that no one of us has ever walked pass just a mere mortal....so so true! We all are children of God with the capacity to become like God...none of us are mere mortals.

 So something really cool this week is that our investigator, Juan, gave up coffee. Stopped cold turkey. We literally had a lesson with him about the Word of Wisdom and he was like okay, and handed over his coffee! He is the coolest and one of the most converted people I have ever met. He has such a great faith in the lord and his plan for him that he is totally willing to align his will with the lords. I am honestly amazed by him. We are going to go and buy him some Pero so that he has something to help him ease off the coffee.

 Isn't it amazing how much the gospel changes people?! I find it amazing! Just by hearing it, it just makes you want to be a better person! Wow....I can't imagine a better gift from our Heavenly Father. Giving us something that just increases our ability to become like him. He just thought of everything for us.

 Something that I'd like to share with you all is a scripture found in the Book of Mormon. I was reading this morning and this verse really hit me.

It is found in Mosiah 5:13.

 "13 For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"

 My first thoughts where how can we know he savior without serving him...we can't. We can know of him but not actually know him. I've seen that difference in so many people I met here. You can tell when they know the savior and when they simply know of him. This is something I love about the gospel, it teach is us to know him! To actually know him! To have a relationship with him! That is incredible to me. This is why I love being a missionary! This is the reason why I am doing this! I'm so grateful that this gospel teaches me to have a personal relationship with my savior. I couldn't imagine my life without actually knowing him. What a blessing it is! And I want the whole world to know it...and someday they will.

 I love you all and I hope you have a great week! If you all have spiritual insights or tips on teaching or anything else that would help me be a better missionary, please send it my way!

 Hermana Paredes! ❤️

Facebook and all sorts of other craziness!

Dear family and friends..

 Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! This week was insane! My brain is fried! We had so many crazy changes and met so many crazy people this week....I love the mission!

Here are a few funny stories from this week.

We added this sweet old lady as a new investigator but she is so confused. Hahah! We went back for our return appointment with her and tried to follow up with her about her reading in the Book of Mormon and came to realize she couldn't read the paper copy because the letters were too small. So we tried to help her download the gospel library app onto her smartphone but for some reason or another it wouldn't download, so she told us to wait a minute and then she wandered into another room and grabbed an iPad. The iPad was dead so she went to the other room again and grabbed a charger. Her eyesight must be really bad because the charger was totally wrong. It was so funny because she was standing there trying to plug the charger in but of course it wasn't working so she was getting a little frustrated...poor women. Haha! Of course I tried to inform her that it was the wrong plug but she kept on insisting that it had worked before. She is just so cute! After five minutes of trying her hardest, she finally gave up and we told her that we would get her a Book of Mormon in bigger print but it was so funny because Hermana Niemann was trying so hard not to laugh that her face was getting red. Oh I love my companion!

Next funny story takes place while we were tracting in this neighborhood. So there are several clues to finding a Spanish home, number one being "do they have Christmas lights strung up?". There was this house that had Christmas lights strung up so we knocked. To our surprise, a short Russian women answers the door. That kind of caught us off guard! But Hermana Niemann is an excellent missionary and immediately asks if we could show her a video about Jesus Christ in Russian. As soon as the words "Jesus Christ" come off her lips, the lady goes loco crazy! She is all like "JESUS IS FRIEND! Love Jesus! Amen! Amen!" And wringing her hands everywhere.

We were afraid she was going to give herself a heart attack by how excited she got! Finally we got her to calm down by saying "yes, Jesus is our friend too! We love him too!" and we tried again to show her the video but she played gestures with us till we figured that she was trying to tell us she was busy cooking so not right now. We respected that and said our goodbyes and then walked away. We are like a block down the road when we hear a voice behind us yelling "Girls! Girls!" and we turn around to see her running towards us waving a book in the air above her head. She gave both of us a book named the Life book and then pointed at it and said "Jesus! Friend! Your friend!" and then gave both of us a hug and then ran back to her house....well that was a first! Haha! Hermana Niemann and I skimmed through it and honestly it solidified my testimony more of the Book of Mormon and the church and how everything just is true. In this book, there was just so many confusing interpretations of Jesus Christ and God. I'm so grateful we have the Book of Mormon that solidly tells us truths.

Super spiritual moment: We had a lesson this past Sunday with Juan and his daughter, Fatima. They are amazing! Just super humble and super prepared! I don't think I ever told you all this but Juan is on date! For September 24th! And now we are working with Fatima to get her on date but this last lesson we had with her proved that she wants this. Even though she is an eleven year old girl....she wants this.

We were teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ which consists of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We focused a lot on baptism and ended up showing Fatima and her dad the baptism of Jesus Christ. (The bible video form). As soon as the video was done, I asked her what she had felt while watching that. She was quiet for a long time just really thinking about it, and then finally she said "I felt loved".....wow....I have never heard that response before. So many times I have heard peace or calm...but not love.

I then asked her why she thinks she felt love. Again she was quiet for a while (she really is a deep thinker) and then she said "because of everything he did for me and now he is showing me the way". Wow, I could of hugged her in that moment. She totally understands! She understands who the savior is for her! That is incredible! We had the opportunity to extend the baptismal invitation and she said yes immediately. And I know it is because in that moment she felt the savior's love for her.

So some of you may have noticed that I'm back on Facebook again! Our mission officially has permission to do online proselytizing. It is super weird! We got on them this week to clean them out and it brought back so many old memories and some of the things that I miss about home. To be completely honest.... It was rough and it was so easy to become distracted while cleaning it out but as soon as I remembered my purpose, the spirit came back and then I could see how marvelous this tool is! I think it is amazing that the lord is using something such as face book to hasten his work and I am super grateful for this opportunity to use it! What an incredible blessing!

So as you can see there are so many miracles and so many adventures happening here. It I such a blessing to serve the lord in such this short time. It really is just a short time. What a blessing.

I love you all,
Hermana Paredes
Over and out.

The reason I wanted to serve a mission

Dear family and friends.

Lorenzo's baptism
Hermana Niemann, Hermana Sofia, Hermana Woodbury,  Hermano Lorenzo

I have so much to tell you all but I probably won't have enough to time to say it all so I am typing as fast as my little fingers will allow me. (Curse my little hands and slow typing skills!)

First of all, Lorenzo got baptized this week....MY FIRST INVESTIGATOR GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEK!! I am beyond over joyed to be able to make that announcement. Though still the begin of this week was super stressful because we had to basically set up everything. Talks, piano player, who would baptize him....the whole shabang! (And probably spelled that wrong...oops) but it turned out amazing. I have been to many baptismal services before but I Have never felt the spirit so intense as this one. Not even in my own baptism! Literally as soon as he came out of that water, time seemed to stand still. He just stood there in the water with his chin trembling and there was just a different glow about him. He has always had a glow about him but this one was brighter...more brilliant. When I looked into his face, I just knew that he knew it. That he could feel it so deep in his heart. I about leaped out of my chair and to the baptismal fount to hug him. I wanted to tell him I felt it too! I haven't had that much joy in my heart before.

I have had many joyful experiences in my life but nothing like this....I'm probably going to start crying writing this but it is so hard to explain what I felt. My heart was pounding so hard, and I felt like I could run miles, shout for joy, I don't know! Something! I had to do something! I imagine my joy will even be greater when I get to sit with him in the celestial kingdom some day.

I think also it is more special to me because I was with him from beginning to end of this process...all the way until he stepped into those waters. I seriously cannot even began to explain what it felt like. I wish I had the words....but I seriously don't. But I think the sweetest moment was when he bore his testimony. That just really reaffirmed to me that all the sacrifices I have made to come out and serve were all work it. My joy was filled.

Can I just brag about Lorenzo for a second? Lorenzo is the best! He is the absolute best! This past Sunday, the Sunday he got confirmed, we asked him if he would come to visit a potential with us. Just because he is super cool, he said yes. This potential's name is Juan and he has a daughter. Apparently they have been to church before but in a different ward in Rancho Cordova. He was going with a friend for a while and from what he told us is that he saw something different about his friend and now he wants the same happiness for himself. So he agreed to have missionaries come and teach him.

We got his contact information and ended up calling. We set up a time to meet him Sunday and now that is were we are at in this story. So Lorenzo came with us....and he was AMAZING! We were just talking to Juan, trying to get to know him and he was telling us somethings that had happened to him in his past. Lorenzo just starts talking out of nowhere and starts bearing his testimony about how he knows that our message could help him with whatever he was dealing with....Our recent convert was doing missionary work! How cool is that?! Wow but anyways we ended up adding him as a new investigator and Lorenzo even invited him to church next Sunday...without us even asking him to do it! As we were walking away from that appointment, Lorenzo kept on telling us how great that felt and if we were going to visit him again to call him because he wants to help Juan accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Can you really ask for a better recent convert?

This past Saturday, we had a multicultural event at the church. There were all types of food and dances from everywhere. Everything from the islands to Asia to Mexico! Super cool! What was even cooler is that one of the recent converts in our ward, Henyuri, did a Venezuelan dance! I will send the video along! But it was so awesome to be part of that.

Okay last thing....our mission is getting Facebook. That is the weirdest thing for me to say! It really is but its kind of cool at the same time...it is just proof to me that the lord's work is hastening more then we think. There are only 14 missions that have Facebook now and we are now one of the 14. Man that kind of tells you the level of trust the lord has in his missionaries. I will tell you more about that as I get information.

This week has been amazing...honestly there is no other place I'd rather be then right here in Sacramento California serving the lord.

I love you all and pray for you always!

Love Hermana Paredes
Over and out.

Close of one chapter and opening of another

Dear family and friends!



This week has been crazy!! Absolutely crazy!!

Hermana Woodbury and I ran around this week like chickens with our heads cut off! Mostly because we were trying to set up Lorenzo's baptismal interview! HE IS GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I can't believe it! This will be my first investigator ever baptized! It's so amazing! Just seeing him really work for this and now it is actually going to happen...you can bet I'm going to bawl my eyes out during the real deal. So needless to say, he passed with flying colors. President Martinez said that their actual interview was about 5 minutes and then the rest of the half an hour that we were waiting, they were just talking. We were half scared to death waiting out there for them to finish up! Jeez President Martinez! Haha!

We have also been trying to find like crazy! We are running out of investigators pretty fast because they are either not interested in our message or not willing to do the things we are asking them to do. It is so frustrating sometimes to have investigators that are not willing to keep their commitments because you just want to shake them and say "Don't you know how much this can bless your life?!" (I promise I haven't done that to anyone....yet) Anyways...we contacted someone named Mike. I will be sending a video about him.

So this week we had stake conference and there was so many good things that we learned there. Though it was a translators nightmare...everyone was speaking so fast in English! Thank goodness I wasn't translating this time. (Elder Ackley translated and never tell him this but I am super impressed that he was able to keep up with the speakers the entire time). Every speaker put a huge emphasis on member missionary work, repentance, atonement, and faith. Just really proof that this work is truly hastening!

Also before I forget. We had transfers and now I am with Hermana Niemann in North Sac. Lorenzo was heartbroken that Hermana Woodbury was leaving but he still has so much faith and love for the savior that it doesn't affect anything he believes or has come to know about this church. He says that after our missions, he wants to come and visit us in Utah! Maybe who knows.

Sorry that this was a super lame email. There just is to much to say and so much to think about that I can't get it all down in one email.

I will try more next week.

Hermana Paredes
Over and out

Stalkers and all sorts of other fun...

So this week was....interesting.

                             Hermana Woodbury has a stalker.
He is from her last area and he found out where she has been moved to so this past Sunday he decided to show up to our ward....and he would not leave her alone! I seriously had to push myself in-between them because he kept on trying to get into her space!!

Yikes!

It was a struggle all through out church. So we called President that night and he basically told her that as soon as this week is up, she is out. That was heartbreaking because we really wanted to serve another transfer together but the more we thought it out we realized that maybe this was going to happen anyways.

Personally, I think she is going to be called to be a Sister Training Leader. 😉 She would be perfect for that! I really really hope soooo!!

Jose came to church! And so did Lorenzo! My two favorite investigators! (Really my only two investigators as of right now....) They both really liked it and this week we will be scheduling their interviews for their baptisms on the 20th!! Wow! I can't believe that this is actually happening!

I have been so excited this whole week because it is coming up so fast. Only problem is that we just found out that Lorenzo actually lives outside of our mission....so we may not be the missionaries to get him baptized, but honestly it doesn't really matter to me. As long as he is baptized.

President is currently working with the President of the mission where he resides in to see if he can just be our baptism. The only reason we never realized that he lived outside of our mission is because we always teach him at his work. It is kind of a sad, but still joyful because after we told him that we may not be teaching him anymore, he said "oh...does that mean I can't get baptized?" He STILL WANTS TO BE BAPTIZED!!! Wow!

That is just a witness to me that it doesn't matter if I teach him or if some other missionaries teach him, the spirit is still the same and he is still converted to this gospel and not to us. Man...if all my investigators could be like that.

 I'm not really sure what else I should say. It has been a weird but yet peaceful week...that is just something I love. Even though these times are crazy and super difficult, I still feel at complete peace. I guess it because I know what ever happens, it's all in the lord's hands.

 I love it out here and I love you all,

Hermana Paredes

Hermana Paredes, Lorenzo, Hermana Woodbury

Just remember....Jesus is awesome!

Hi family and friends,

 This week has been such a roller coaster....meaning it has had it ups and downs but honestly I am enjoying every single second!

 I have a few amazing experiences to write about and a few hard things. I'll start with the bitter first though that you all can enjoy the sweet.

 Bitter: we have had to drop almost all of our investigators. We went from having about 20 investigators to about five...and we are most likely going to have to drop two more. As a missionary that is really rough. Your whole life revolves around these people and it just pains you when they don't want to hear the wonderful news you bring or just would simply rather talk about other things .....it is really rough but sometimes it just have to be done. Our hearts honestly broke every time we hit the drop button on our area books but we are hopeful. There are so many prepared people in this area and by letting people go for a time just gives us more time to find those people. Honestly, I think it is a opportunity to exercise our faith and show the lord we are not just going to sit down and cry. I seriously can't wait to write next next weeks email because I know it is going to be full of miracles.

Sweet: Jose came to a temple tour and it was AMAZING! We brought this sweet old couple in our ward with us and they talked to him the whole time and answered all his questions. He was seriously really taken back by their kindness towards him and he loved every single moment of touring the temple. He kept saying things like "I feel nearer to god here." And "I just feel so much peace, it makes me not want to leave." There is a saying, you think you touch the temple but really the temple touches you. That is exactly what happened. Especially the fact that he had the opportunity to go inside and sit in the waiting room. I love it that you can just sit in the waiting room and there is a peace and a love that comes over you that you can't deny! Gosh I love temples! He is now working harder then ever to come to the temple someday through the gate way of baptism.

(Also when we invited him to be baptized August the 20th, he was like " I was seriously about to ask if I could get baptized that day because that is two days after my birthday!"........what?!)

Lorenzo

Lorenzo came to church again and this time he actually talked to the members! (Last time we couldn't get him to even say hello to them...he is a bit shy) He just keeps on telling us how much the church has changed his life already and how excited he is to be baptized. You can totally tell he means it because this past Sunday he got lost while driving to church but kept driving around until he found the building (with a little help from us). He was lost for 45 minutes but he still came! That is dedication! I know if that was me, I probably would have turned around and gone home but he stuck with it because he knew this is where he was suppose to be.

Also on the way back from church, there is always this guy on the corner who carries a Jesus sign and yells things into a microphone. So when we came to the stoplight, we rolled down our windows just to hear what he would say. He turns on his microphone and then boldly declares "Just remember...JESUS IS AWESOME!" At the time, it really made us laugh but now that I think about it. It has so much truth! He is so awesome! There is seriously no one who is awesomer! (Probably not a word but whatever) He that taketh up on him the sins of the world definitely deserves to be described as awesome. And I stand in awe of him...everyday I stand a little more in awe of him. I begin to love him even more and more as I preach about him and help other people truly see how amazing he is.

I know he lives. I know he loves us. I know he suffered and died for us. I know he would do it all over again if that meant to secure our eternal salvation. He is just wonderful to me.

I love you all and pray for you.
Hermana Paredes

Jose, Hermana Woodbury, Hermana Paredes

Las Hermosas Hermanas