Tracting, Exchanges, and Tender Mercies

Friday Night Pizza and Mutal

So here to update you on some things I did this past week (somewhat long. You can all pick and choose which parts you want to read :) 

Tracting: yesterday for the first time on my mission! It's super fun to go knocking on doors actually before appointments! We even picked up 2 potential investigators: one American and another woman from Brazil. No one even slammed the door in our faces, haha.

Exchanges: We now go on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders in Woodbridge, CT instead of Hartford so Hermana L. went to Woodbridge all Wednesday and I stayed to take charge of Bridgeport for the day. We had so many appointments-we weren't stuck with the exchanges curse where everyone's appointments cancel. Sister B. (my companion for the day) didn't understand Spanish so I taught her some phrases to say (for example: Sister Sutherland is the best) and at 2 of the houses we went to, she was actually able to speak English!

Service: We did service at the Food Pantry (it's in a local retirement home and is like a free grocery store for those who run out of food at the end of the month..all the food is donated). Next month (if I'm not transferred) I will have to get a video of some of the crazy, old people we deal with there. For example, this one old lady always tells us she wants to lock us in the closet so she can get more food. She tells us she'll run over our toes with her wheelchair so we can't walk. So funny.

Friday Night: We taught E about temples (she's received all the lessons for baptism-we're just awaiting the time her parents allow her to be baptized!) with G who is 17 and from Peru. She has a little Spanish accent when she speaks English-it's adorable. Then, all of the youth from the ward came to bishop's house for pizza and mutual. Us, missionaries, taught the lesson. We did charades with missionary/gospel words and then related it to missionary work at the end. We said that without the spirit we cannot teach people to meet their needs or say the right things. With the Spirit in the lessons we can say what Heavenly Father wants us to and the lesson is more successful. We committed them to always being worthy of having the spirit with them. They seemed to enjoy it! 

Day Exchange: Sister B. and I got to go on our exchanges for half of the day yesterday since both of our companions had to go to Massachusetts for a "missionaries going home within the next 6 months" meeting. It was so fun. We worked so well together-which we knew was likely since we've become such good friends during the time we've been roommates. We went to some of her lessons and some of my lessons. It was so fun to have her come to the Hispanics homes because it was so different than what she was used to. We went to dinner at JA's house who is amazing. She feeds us every other week and there's always dessert too! I got to find out she speaks great English too. It was such a blessing that Sister B and her were able to communicate because they really connected well during the lesson we shared. 

Just right now in the library: A woman needed to use the computer right when we got to the library. There was one left when I was signing in, so I decided to tell her to let her use it instead and that I could wait. This was kind of hard and I was a little bummed out because each week I look forward to emailing! Who knew how long everyone would be on the computer and if there'd be time to email for me. I was going to find something to do while waiting for my companion when some woman comes up to me and says, "Do you go to byu?" Because I'm wearing a byu shirt right now. This led to a whole conversation about life and religion. She's read the whole Book of Mormon and really wants us to come by her house so we exchanged numbers and everything. She was so awesome and it just was a little tender mercy from the Lord for giving service. 

That's my super long week. It is so fun being busy all of the time! I feel so productive and that I am doing exactly what God wants me too. I don't want to let him down or waste his time. And guess what?! Jose's getting baptized tomorrow! The day is finally here! I'll let you know how it goes next week :) Everyone, have a beautiful week!

Lots of Love,

Hermana Suth

Beaches & Boston

Hey all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday and had a chance to remember the whole meaning of that holiday (besides just decorating eggs and the Easter Bunny, haha).

There's an awesome video clip the church came out with on easter.mormon.org that's so powerful and is very clear on everything Christ did for each one of us. We've been sharing it with all of our members and asking them to ponder what He did for them. I know that without Jesus's sacrifice I would not be where I am today. Because of him, I can live with my family forever and my sadness, heartache, trials in my life can all be eased. My favorite part of the video is "no hay tal cosa como el fin" So there's no such thing as the end. It's true! So watch the video and you'll understand what I'm saying :)

Last P-day we went to the beach! It was not as pretty as the beaches in California, but we got to find some cool seashells and played some beach volleyball with our distrcit (pic1).

This week we had Jose's baptismal interview and he passed! He's getting baptized next week. Cristina (his recent convert wife) is so excited for him and her family. She loves the gospel and the fact that our families can be together forever. They are a golden family and we know they'll be strong members in the church. It's awesome because we never thought he would ever join the church. He used to hide in his room when Cristina was being taught! He has completely stopped drinking and smoking all on his own too.

The changes we have seen in his life is drastic. He is a whole new man. He looks so much happier and you can see the light radiating in his life. They keep saying "We know that our trials don't go away when we join the church, but life is so much better with it!" They really like us too. Sunday night we went to their son JJ's birthday party who was turning 3. It was a classic hispanic party. Tons of food and people in a small house. It was so fun. I'll send a picture later when I get it from Cristina.

Emily is doing so well. She loves this gospel and knows it's true. She wants to be baptized but just doesn't know how her parents will take the news so she hasn't talked to them about it yet. She watches mormonmessages on her own though and shows them to her friends at school though so she will get baptized! Haha. We love her.

Yesterday, because it was a holiday, we got to go to Boston!! And Cambridge-two of the coolest cities ever. In Cambridge, people are running everywhere. Running to work, school, and running for exercise. And the people on the streets look so happy with life-the feeling in that city is amazing.

We went to the temple and almost got to seem some of the Boston Marathon!!! After the temple we got to Boston when it was over but there were still some people running and signs and everything were up still (pic2). It was CRAZY packed there. Tons of people. Tons of traffic. Tons of cops. Tons of runners. And the weather was 68 perfect degrees. After wandering around we headed to the Cambridge church building where tons of missionaries were playing soccer, basketball, and just talking. I met so many new people it was really fun. I hope I serve in Boston one day-it's so beautiful there. 

Ok-sorry for the long emails! There's so much that happens each week and I want to tell everyone everything that happens! To end this email I want to share you how my companion wakes up in the morning. Flipped around to the other side of the bed! She will kill me for sending this to everyone...oh well. (pic 3) Hope it makes your day a little brighter :)

Love you all!

Hna Suth

Go On a Mission!

Hello Fam and Amigos!

Okay, first off, I want to answer a question many people ask themselves:

Why should I go on a mission?

Let me answer that:

You should go because it will strengthen your testimony and knowledge of the church. And lift you spiritually all the time. But 2 points that are not spiritual reasons are:

You learn how to cook.

You learn how to be a mom.

Yep. It's all true. I have learned way more than in college life skills I'll use until I die. I have to pack lunches on-the-go all the time, so I've begun to make salads (I cut up all my vegetables, put in apples, cut up chicken or turkey, cheese, etc. I feel like a mom making lunches for her kids). I cook meals (breakfast and dinner when we don't eat at a members house) all the time as well! Instead of using the school cafeteria, like I did in college, I'm actually thinking about what I buy at the store in order to make it at home.

Mom skills: Learning how to be patient with others. Some days, the people we visit talk for an hour straight about their problems and lives. The only words we can manage to get in are "Wow" "Uh-huh" or "Oh no!"

Sometimes I just think "we aren't really here to just let you blab to us for hours! We have places to be! We just want to share a spiritual thought with you and ask you to come back to church!" or something like that. But, then I've realized, they need people to listen to them and when I actually listen, their stories are amazing. It's been really neat to have a different perspective and be more patient and loving towards those people we visit.

That's just one example of how I've learned some mom skills-thanks to the mission! I wouldn't have learned these elsewhere (besides what my mother's taught me from home :) )!

Alright, so for April Fool's we totally forgot to pull pranks on people. But, when we came home and went into our rooms, everything was completely covered in tin foil! The English sisters did it and tt was great. I was happy someone didn't forget about April Fools Day! (pic 1)

Well, another question people ask me: how often do I speak Spanish? It's hard being in a state-side mission because everyone besides our members and investigators speaks english. So we try to book our days with appointments so we can speak Spanish to the people as much as possible. Then, my companion, who's been out a year, knows Spanish about as well as I do so we try to speak it as much as possible. We speak it as much as we want to, so somedays more English than others-but I get better in the language each day!

That's it for this week! Here's a fun picture of my companion and I.

Love you all! Don't forget to send letters my way! I love them :) You are all great!

Hermana Suth