Monday, July 27, 2015

I got stuck in a window this week

Hey there!

Well once again it was a week jam packed full of miracles!! One of the biggest miracles would have to be Brenda. So last sunday Brenda, who is the niece of one of the members in the ward, went up to the sisters and told them that she wanted to get baptized. She had been living in their area and had met with them about 3 months ago right when she got here from mexico but she got super busy with work and what not and didn't have time, meanwhile she has been coming to church every week since.... fast forward to tuesday the sisters call us to tell us that Brenda had moved to our area! Such a miracle that we were able to start teaching her. SHE IS AWESOME. We have been teaching her every day to prepare her for her baptism this saturday!! She is so prepared and has such a powerful testimony of church. We just love her so much! 

We were also able to meet with Rodolfo this week! There was a baptism on saturday and he came! President Ware was there and Rodolfo told him that that was going to be him getting baptized in two weeks. He is so cool and he said that after he gets baptized he wants to come out and teach with us. 

On wednesday we had this great idea to do a class with them members and investigators about one of the conference talks. We have been trying to think of a way that we can help the ward to become more unified in their missionary efforts because we have incredible members who have powerful testimonies! So on wednesday we had planned to discuss the talk The Lord is My Light by Elder Cook. We had copies made and had chairs all set up and then we waited... we had a member, a recent convert and our recent converts non member ex boyfriend show up! haha we were hoping for a better turn out but it was such a miracle that Tomas (the ex boyfriend) came because he has never had any interest at all in the church but he came and he asked great questions and there was a member and a recent convert there to testify and wow it was cool! 

We are seeing so many miracles. Oh yeah and hermana Garcia and I are staying another transfer here in pasco!!!!! SO EXCITED. We started talking this morning about the goals that we want to have for this transfer. It was really crazy because at the beginning of last transfer we both chose to work on the Christlike attribute of Charity without knowing the other was going to work on it and this morning we start talking in companionship study and we had both chosen to work on the Christlike attribute of Humility!! I love how the Lord just knows exactly what we need and what our area needs and our companionship as well! One of our focuses is gratitude. Being grateful for every little thing and truly thanking the Lord each day for our many blessings. I have learned so much from hermana Garcia, she is such an incredible missionary and I know that the Lord put us together because she can help me to become the missionary that the Lord needs me to be. 

Something funny that happened this week was that anthony came to church... it is funny because he was a dude that we tracted into last sunday and we invited him to church but he didn't speak very much spanish but was very curious to know if hermana garcia would be in the english or spanish ward HAHAHA we told him that we go to the spanish. then we forgot all about it and we were saying hi to everyone yesterday when we got to church in our own little world smiling and talking to people (#classicsistermissionary) and then anthony walks in and hermana garcias face was priceless!!!! He liked church though so we sent the english elders over to his house. so funny... but maybe you had to be there for it to be funny.
I love you all!!! Thank you for everything!!!!!!!!!!! have a rad week :)

con amor
hermana wortley

I ate pupusas for the first time!!!! They are so good!!! yay for having a companion from el salvador!!! (yeah I know its an awkward picture but hey its me what do you expect)

​we locked ourselves out and we also put wood in the window because our apartments are sketchy haha so I sqeezed myself into the window!!!! I thought I was getting fat hahahahaha




pics

hermana garcia found them and then the elders taught them and they got baptized! 

​district pic


Monday, July 20, 2015

HI THERE

​WOW WHAT A WEEK...

It was a crazy awesome roller coaster of a week! Our week started off awesome as we were teaching Jesus and he was doing so great preparing for his baptism. He had pretty much overcome every trial that you can think of so that he would be ready to be baptized. On friday we found out that he had yet another trial to overcome before he can be baptized and hermana garcia and I both said that it was the most intense lesson that we have been apart of. I won't go into too many details but after we discussed with our zone leaders we came to the conclusion that for him to be baptized he would need to move from his apartment. So saturday we went over to let him know and he told us that he couldn't move, that in this moment he wouldn't be able to do it. He felt betrayed by us because he thought that he would be able to be baptized on the 25th and he dropped us. AH it was so sad! We just felt so much sorrow in our souls (too dramatic??) because we had seen him overcome so many things, the drugs, the alcohol, the smoking he was truly changing his life to follow Jesus Christ. He knows that the church is true and the book of mormon, so we know that his time will come!! It was just crazy because it came out of nowhere, he was so excited about his baptism and about the new life that he had and then it was a complete 360, he didn't come to church and he told us he wants to be left alone. Hermana Garcia and I definitely came to rely on the atonement this weekend because we know that Christ knows Jesus perfectly and the things that he is going through. His time will come!

So yeah that was the craziest thing that happened this week! Other than that we saw a ton of miracles! On monday we had an awesome lesson with Rodolfo, he quit drinking coffee this week!! He is such a cool dude and just loves learning. We were able to bring a member with us to visit him this week that used to be a pastor of the church that Rodolfo had been going to and he testified of the restored priesthood power. It helped Rodolfo so much to see the change and the importance of the restoration of the gospel! On tuesday we had interviews with President Ware. It was so good!! He is such an inspired man. He told me that it has been awesome to see how much I have grown in a year! I feel like I still have so much more room to grow! 

On Wednesday we went on our last exchange of the transfer! because transfers are next week SAY WHAT?? I went to richland with hermana fristrup!! It was so great. She reminds me so much of tori so I was laughing most of the day. She woke me up in the middle of the night because she thought she was dying. Turns out the pills she took for her cramps had caffeine in them and she had never taken them before! Don't worry she is alive! It just made for an eventful night! 
Thursday was a great day as well!! On wednesday we got a text from President ware with a name and a number for Kasey and said that she worked for rocky mountain therapy and was in the area til friday so to give her a call! So we gave her a call and were able to go to dinner! She is SO cute!! It was really fun to be able to talk with her! 

Ok before we had the super depressing lesson with Jesus we saw a ton of miracles on saturday!! We feel like looking back, that Heavenly father was preparing us for the lesson with jesus by putting a lot of awesome people in our path! We found some super solid referrals for the english elders and also a way sweet family!! The Soto family. 

It was a really great week and I learned SO MUCH. Wow Heavenly Father is really pushing us to become the best that we can be and I am so grateful for that! I am grateful for the atonement and for the chance to become better every day as we remember that CHRIST IS THE REASON. Thank you so much for everything, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

love this quote from elder ballard: "my mission belongs to the lord. with all my heart I give my energy and my time to the master because I LOVE HIM. Therefore I'm going to look at every day not as mine but as His. I will treat each minute of His time with respect and focus and the dedication that it deserves."

con mucho amor
hermana wortley

Monday, July 6, 2015

Happy 6th of July!!!!!!

Hello everyone!!!

Wow how is everyone doing?? I am in shock that it is july, is this real life?! It was a very busy week but super good! We went on three exchanges this week. On tuesday I was able to stay in the area and go on an exchange with hermana cowley. It was so great! Our focus for the day was to talk with everyone and to give everyone a chance to feel the spirit. She is only in week three of her mission and has so much courage! I was so impressed by her spanish and her willingness to speak up, I was definitely not that bold in the first few weeks of my mission haha! so cool. On thursday I went to benton city on an exchange with hermana gomez! She is from mexico so it was really fun to speak spanish all day with her! The only bummer about the exchange was that when it was over I realized I left my quad in their car and they live kind of far away so I have to wait until our leadership council on thursday to get it back! haha but if thats the only thing that went wrong I guess it was pretty good! And on friday to saturday I went to north pasco with Sister Nilsen! It was one of the greatest exchanges yet. Fun because she is such a bubbly person and great because the spirit was so strong all day!! Being happy makes all the difference in missionary work and being able to share Christs light with others! Wow I love learning from other missionaries! 
Our investigator Jesus came to church yesterday!! He is a drug addict and it has been really hard for him to stop, especially on the weekends is when he gets most tempted to do drugs and he usually disappears on the weekends, but this weekend he didn't do any drugs!!! They had a really solid lesson with him on friday on exchanges and then on saturday hna. garcia felt promted to text him. It turns out that he was praying when he got the text, for help because he had the temptation to do drugs. He was praying that he could overcome the temptation right when we texted him. The timing worked out that we were able to go over and read with him from the book of mormon. He said that every time he feels the temptation he prays and opens the book of mormon. He has a lot to overcome but he is doing so great at relying on the Lord!! 

We found an adorable new family to teach! We are lucky because we live in a very hispanic populated apartment complex and its in our area so at night when we get home we go and talk to our neighbors and its super great! So the family we started teaching is Normas family. We met norma one night as we were walking home and she invited us to come back, and we went back and were able to teach her and her kids the restoration! She asked some of the most inspired questions and agreed to read and pray. We are excited to visit them this week. 

Ah there was a lot that happened this week but my mind is kind of blank right now haha! Just know that it was a great week full of miracles and that I am alive and that I love being a missionary and that the church is true!!!!!!!! I love you all and hope you have a great 6th of july (way cooler than the 4th if I say so myself :) ) shout out to grandma wortley and marshall happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

con mucho amor
hermana wortley

(oh yeah.... I AM OLD!!!!!!!! thanks for the cake in a jar so cool! ) (it is supposed to be a cool hipster picture which is why my face isn't in it)