Vale la Pena

July 15, 2016

Hi family!

Quick update.... 

Things have been very busy and I haven't had a lot of time to write. These past few weeks have been good, but not without their challenges. 

The hardest thing has been that I got really sick.... again. I had basically perfect health all my mission until these last 2 or 3 months and I've gotten sick quite a few times. This last episode was pretty miserable... I don't know if we ate something or if I got some stomach bug or what.... but I was up all night just crazy sick. It was the first time in my mission that I thought "I just want to go home." That's normally not something I would share... that I had a rough time or that I thought about wanting to be home... but I share it because it makes the experiences that followed more meaningful. 

After that bad night, I started to get better. By Sunday I was still feeling a little sick, but well enough to go to church and work. However, I was still just feeling a little sad. It was the first time I had gotten really frustrated in my mission because we had had some investigators drop us or decide not to get baptized, all while I had been so sick, and at the same time I was training a new missionary and trying to set her up to have the best, most successful mission possible. I was just feeling a lot of pressure, and maybe like I was failing a little. But that Sunday, as I sat in church thinking about all of this, I looked around at the investigators around us. I watched as they took the sacrament and thought about how I was helping them to progress towards making covenants with God. Just then, the Castillo Family from my first ward walked in. They were my first baptisms in the mission and had come to our services here in Neza to see me. I couldn't help but cry. I just felt like God was telling me that what I was doing was worth it. That He knew that it hasn't always been easy for me, but that He has always been helping me and He appreciates my work. 

The Lord brings us down so He can build us up. He tests us so He can make us stronger. 

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

This scripture has become one of my favorites. The Lord has given us weaknesses. God needed to remind me that this isn't my work and that I can't do this on my own. That I need him. And He is changing me. I have grown so much and I understand the gospel so much better. I want to bare you my testimony that this is the true church. I know what I am doing is worth it. In Spanish the expression, "it's worth it" is said "vale la pena" -- which litterally translates to "it's worth the pain." And it is. The mission is not easy. But it's worth the pain.

But in general, things are really good here. I'm healthy, we do have some progressing investigators and my companion is great. I hardly even feel like I'm training because she is such a great support. And I love being here. I really do. And I live with 3 Latina missioneras, which is just a BLAST! Imagine sassy latin ladies talking super fast in spanish... that's my life and it's so fun. (:

One crazy thing is that tomorrow I turn 21 which means that I will have never seen my family in person while having been 20 years old! wierdddd....

I love you all so much. Thank you for all your love and support. Have an awesome week.

Love,

Hermana Aubriana Wolferts

Pictures

July 4, 2016

My ex-comp had her birthday!

My new companion, Hermana Jonapa

It gets cold in the house! We have a portable heater under the blanket. My comp is from a really hot part of Mexico, so she's dying.

Visitor Center

Member Missionary Work

June 27, 2016

This week was awesome... but a little exhausting! 

I got super lucky... the missionary I'm training (Hermana Jonapá from Chiapas, Mexico) IS AMAZING!!! I love her so much. She is kind, funny, and a great missionary, with the desire to serve and work hard. She's going to do amazing things in her mission. 

And I am still here in the same ward... but we had our area split in half. Half the area to work in would sound easier and less stressful, but half the area means half of the investigators that we had before. Which means that we focus even more on finding than normal. Which means a lot of contacting - knocking doors, and the like. There were a couple times that we ran into a member in the street and I was just like "hey... can you take 5 minutes and present us to your neighbors?" We always try to get the members to help us... but I was never so direct until I became so desperate to find new, quality investigators like I was this past week. And we had some members who were totally awesome and took us to meet their friends and neighbors in the moment and we found a few really cool new investigators. I INVITE YOU ALL TO HELP THE MISSIONARIES. You would never believe the difference it makes to show up at the door with a member with you. When we go alone, the truth is that knocking doors is not all that effective. But when we show up with a member we are almost always invited in, or if they really are busy they invite us back. But seriously, members are key.

There´s this huge collection of apartment buildings in our area and we were knocking doors and talking with people over there, and at one point I wasn't thinking and I knocked the Relief Society President's door.... so then I panicked because... well, it's a little awkward to knock a members door when you weren't planning to visit them, but even more awkward, was that I had actually asked her if we could visit so that I could present my new companion to her and she had told me not that day so I was going to be super embarrassed if we showed up uninvited... so I told my comp we had to run. She was a little confused... But those split second decisions are sometimes a little funny.

We get really attached to the members and investigators and this week we found out that one of our investigators had his cancer come back ): He had stopped going to church and wasn't working very much and he just told us it was because of his diabetes... but we didn't realize until this week that it was something more serious. It made me really sad. Hopefully we can keep teaching him and help him to complete all the things that we should do in this life.

We were teaching this same investigator and we were telling him, like we always do with those we teach, that he needed to pray to know if what we were teaching was true. And he told us that he would pray but he also told us he already felt that it was and that he "didn't think we would come from so far away to lie to [him]." It was so cool to hear that from someone. A lot of people don't feel that way, but the truth is that the mission is only special because the message we are sharing is true. I know that this is the true church and I know that God loves us and wants us to come back to live with Him and that He gave us His Son to make it possible. Not a doubt in my mind.

I love you all! Hope you have a great week! 

Hermana Aubriana Wolferts

I'm gonna be a mom (;

June 20, 2016

OKAY....

SO first of all, 

I'M GONNA BE A MOM!! 

Which means that I'm going to train a new missionary!! I'm so excited.

Secondly, I may have had the most exciting week of my mission.

The week started out normal, but on Tuesday we had the meeting for those who are going to train. My companion and I are both training so we went, and it was awesome. It's so fun to remember how excited one is at the beginning of the mission, and how dedicated one is to being obedient and finding and teaching people. I am so excited to be with a new missionary! And that same day, we picked up Hermana Wong as a 3rd companion, for a few days, for some logistical reasons. She hung out with us until Thursday, and it was so fun to be with her again because she was MY trainer. And it was cool to see how we had both grown, that we can teach better (that I can speak Spanish now), and to just be with someone who taught me so much. 

Then on Friday, I went on divisions with Hermana Wong to her area in Ixtapaluca. That's the part of the mission that was just added in January. It was my first time out there and WOW it looks so different than the city! Where she's at, there are still a lot of houses and people (there are some parts that are just little tiny villages), but the whole feel is just different. It's like a suburb instead of the city. It was so fun to get to see the area and work out there. And I really did like the missionaries and the ward. Although I was only there for 3 days, everyone was just sooo nice to me and I felt right at home. I think the members got used to me quickly too because the bishop asked me to give a talk in sacrament meeting! I'm not sure if he didn't understand that I wasn't staying or what, but it was pretty cool to be able to make a mark in a ward that I only served in for 3 days. And the work there is really great. They have some awesome investigators and I'm really excited for them!

So, last night I finally got back to our area, and then this morning we got up at 4:45 am, to be able to go with President and Hermana Stutznegger to the CCM to pick up the new missionaries. I'm currently in the mission office hanging out with them and helping them get prepped to go into the field. I still don't know which one is going to be my trainee... but all the sisters seem so sweet and I'm so excited to get to work with one of them!

But basically we have been all over the place and it's been crazy, but it's been fun! And it's been spiritual. I've felt the Spirit so strong this week and it just fills me with a joy that I can't explain. The work is hard, but it's so rewarding. I feel so grateful that God gave me the opportunity to serve a mission. I love the work. 

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Hermana Aubriana Wolferts

I don't have my thing to upload pics, but I'll send some next week!!

Trials and Triumphs

June 13, 2016

HELLO!!!

Wow... I have like a million and one things to share with you all (:

These last 2 weeks were a little bit difficult. The Lord just really put my companion and I through a ton of challenges. Three weeks ago we had many investigators with baptismal dates set and we had tons of people who were coming to church and progressing and we were healthy and happy and then all of the sudden... 

Our investigators started telling us that they didn't want to get baptized... even those, who came to church every week and had been excited for their baptism. We had someone who was supposed to get baptized two weeks ago who completely disappeared! (We still haven't found him). On top of that, my companion and I both got really sick... for like a week. One of the things that is the hardest for missionaries is getting over physical weakness. My companion was SO sick at one point, but did not want to rest, and I forced her to take a nap because the poor thing is so little, I felt like she was going to pass out or something if she kept going. But it really is a bummer to lose time to do the work. 

But I want to testify that God teaches us perfectly. He brings us down so that He can lift us up. Those weeks were humbling. I really realized that this is not my work. It doesn't matter if I am working hard because it's not about me or what I'm doing. I need the Lord's help. It drove me to pray harder and more consistently for our investigators than ever before. We even fasted while deathly ill (exaggeration, don't worry) because we needed Heavenly Father's help so badly. 

And at the end, the Lord still blessed us. We got to see 2 of our investigators baptized on Saturday! They are both so great and so prepared. One of them, we had dropped because he never went to church and then one Sunday, he showed up at church all by himself and hasn't missed a Sunday since! The other investigator was also pretty golden. When we first met her, she told us that she is super Catholic and believes in her saints and isn't going to change. But we invited her to pray, and when we returned for the second lesson, she was totally different! She told us that she felt an incredible peace after we left, and that when she did pray, she knew that this is something good. She accepted her baptismal date after that first lesson and the rest was history. Maybe we won't see all the baptisms this cycle that we thought we would as a companionship... but I learned some of the most powerful lessons, during this time in my mission.

Also, a member of the ward here died this past week. It was so strange because we had seen him a few days before and he was fine. He was a little older, but only in like his early 70s. It happened really fast. I was sad, as we had visited him quite a bit because he had been a less active member, until he was reactivated by the missionaries about a year ago and he has just loved the missionaries ever since! But, after he died, I really felt the Spirit testify that this life is not "IT". Also I got to see his son who was also less active, but who had recently returned to church with his dad, share his testimony and talk about how he is only going to be stronger and work harder.

And... last monday I went and saw some of my converts from my first area! It was so cool to see them, and even cooler to see that they are still going to church and have the temple as their goal! 

"Mormon Coffee"???

Although, I almost flipped out at one of them because they offered me coffee... But it turns out they found this type of coffee that's made from wheat... it's apparently been nicknamed Mormon coffee, but I hadn't heard of it before. They convinced me to try it  (not until after I had thoroughly read the ingredients list)... so now I know how coffee tastes... more or less. I'm going to be honest, I didn't like it all that much. 

Alsooooo we bought pants..... yikes. They are still being tailored... so I'm not actually wearing them yet, but we are picking them up this week. 

Love you all (: Have a great week!

Hermana Wolferts

We love these dinosaurs because they look like us when we knock a door and someone opens (:

My comp and I with 2 seventies

Puppies!!!

I am still coloring in my coloring book. :-)

My District Leader

The cookie looking thing is an Argentine cookie. It is super good! You'd like it mom, it's dark chocolate (: 

The Gospel is What Makes Us Happy

May 30, 2016

¡HOLA!

I'm,so sad.... I was basically done writing a great email and then something happened and it got deleted!!! ahhhhhhhh.

Well... I was saying that this week was great!! 

One thing that I love about being a missionary is that people love us... even those who don't want to accept our message recognize us as servants of the Lord with something special. We have one investigator who told us that he loves meeting with us and that he thinks of us everyday because he doesn't consider himself a happy person, but when he meets with us, he feels genuinely happy. In one of our lessons he fell over because he laughed so hard... and it's not because my companion and I are so funny or anything, but because just having the spirit there in that room made him happier than he had felt in a long time. The other day we went to see another one of our investigators who is a mechanic. We had planned to do service fixing cars with him so we put on pants and everything to go and help him but when we got there he told us that he wanted us to share a message with him instead. Well as missionaries we don't usually complain about that, but we were like "we put pants on and everything just to help you!!!" But he explained that our message helps him more than someone who helps him with the cars. And it's so true. The gospel helps us more than anything else. Also he made me laugh because he was fixing one of the cars with scotch tape. He was litterally taping a car together. 

The reverse is also true. We have one investigator who recently told us that he needs more time to get baptized, like a year. We told him we would keep seeing him every once in a while, but because he has been so busy, we hadn't seen him in 2 weeks until we went to take him a cat the other day (he has a mouse problem and a lady in our ward was trying to give a cat away so we gave it to him.) It was so strange to see him again. When we first met him he was always all stressed out and a little on edge but as we met with him he became happier and more fun to be around. But after not meeting with him for just a few weeks he had gone back to be the person he was before. 

I know that the gospel is what makes us happy. I have seen countless evidences of this. It's true. I see it in the missionaries too. Some of the missionaries have had incredibly difficult trials, but as they've lived the gospel and just kept working in the work of the Lord, they've been able to stay positive and happy! 

We also had interviews with president yesterday, which always helps me (: He is so inspired. When we prayed together he said something that was so true and that struck me... something that no one knows.... and wow I just felt the Spirit testify to me that he is called of God to be my Mission President and that he has the keys to help me and the other missionaries in this mission.

ALSO, have you heard the rumors that we are going to be wearing pants??? ahhhhhhhh que loco. There is a mosquito with a nasty virus and a lot of the sister missionaries started to get sick so they decided to give us permission to wear dress pants to protect us better. But I'm kinda nervous. I've grown really fond of skirts... and it's so weird to think about wearing pants in general...

Well, that's it for this week. I'm going to try to send this really quickly before I delete it again. Love you all (:

Hermana Wolferts

Saturday was a weird day because I don't think we had any normal lessons... we only did service!! Which was really good and it's a great way to show people that we really try to live like Christ. One thing we did was wash a GIANT dog. You can't see it that well because it was moving aroung like crazy, but it's huge.

I Didn't Come to Mexico Just to Learn Spanish

May 16, 2016

Hola!

This week was good, but not without it's trials. We had a few investigators that were really cool - one with a baptisimal date for this Saturday, tell us that they don't want to be baptized. The majority say they want a little more time, but some of them tell us that they don't want to change religion or things like that. It's always sad to hear that from people you genuinely care about, but we all have our agency. And people progress at different speeds. I've had the opportunity to reap seeds that missionaries planted months or even years ago, and I'm sure the same will happen with some of the people we are teaching now, and the missionaries that will be here in the future.(:

One cool thing about the mission is that we meet people from lots of parts of the world, especially because the missionaries come from all parts of the world. And something about Spanish is that it is spoken in a lot of countries and they all have very different accents. We had changes last week and our district leader, who is from Argentina was put with an elder from the dominican republic. Both of these countries have very different accents than the Mexican accent. I would say that that the Dominican accent is a little more complicated because they completely ignore the s. They literally don't ever say the letter s. The good thing is that my Spanish is solid enough now that I can understand them, but this past week we have all been teasing our district leader and his comp that they have to teach with the spirit because if they don't, no one is going to understand them. (: We must have got to our district leader a little bit because he recently gave a training about our objective as missionaries and he said "I didn't come to Mexico just to learn to speak Spanish better, I also came to invite people to come to Christ" (:

And I concur. I didn't come here just to learn Spanish. I'm here to invite people to come to Christ. Sometimes in the mission and in life we get confused about why we are here. But when this happens we become less successful. One thing that has really helped me is to pray and talk with my Heavenly Father about my objective in the mission and life and ask about how I am measuring up with that. I encourage you all to say a prayer and ask that question and see how you are doing with what the Lord wants you to learn and achieve (:

I love you all so much (: Thanks for all of your support! Have a great week!

Hermana Aubriana Wolferts

Skyping with my fam for Mother's Day. The last time! :-)

Making cookies for the widows in our area.