Oh Snap! HERE WE GO...

So...

Oh hermanos, adiós, pues, adiós! El momento de ir vino ya. (Spanish Hymn, not sure it's in Spanish)

We had transfers and I'M LEAVING...NOOOO!!! but everything is ok...I really was dreading this transfer call and it hit me like no other. This has got to be the hardest change I''ve had and will probably ever have in the mission!

I'm off to Quisqueya with Hermana Martinez, she's from Honduras! That'll be AWESOME!

I have just been so happy here and have seen so many MIRACLES with Hermana Nodal, but God saw that it was time to move on sadly. We have had so amazing investigators, baptisms, closeness with the members, Bani growing and getting exposure out like crazy! It's been an amazing 4 months!

Ok that cool thing is that I actually served in Quisqueya for 4 days before getting my trainer and 1st area because I had been an odd missionary who came into the misson mid-transfer, so anyway when I was there I had felt like I really need to come back and I've remembered people's face and the streets after all this time, so I know that this change is perfect and heaven sent.

This week we prepared Bileisy and Eury for their upcoming baptisms!...and found more amazing people!

Bileisy GOT BAPTIZED this past Saturday. She's amazing and her baptism was so special. She truly was ready to recieve that this time in her life. The Lord truly prepares us all for our conversion and eternal path to happiness as we strive to continually walk the path he's paved for us. She was glowing and I felt the power of the testimony she shared at her baptism. Share your testimony because that will truly speak to the hearts of those around.

Eury wore a white shirt to Bileisy's baptism and to church too with a tie! He is so ready for next week. I GET TO COME BACK FOR IT! This is what happens when someone reads the Book of Mormon in a month. I know this gospel is truer than true because it comes from the Most High and I have no doubt about it.

I hope we all continue to strive to grow our faith and testimony on our brother Jesus Christ and His Only True Church. Look for all the miracles around you and don't forget that there is a God who is our father and He created everything around us. We are His children.(Alma 30:44)

i love you all and have a FANTASTIC WEEK!

Love

Hermana Fernandez

Trust HIM Who Created Us

What ANOTHER week!

Despite the oppostion this week...it was one for the books!

I want to start by sharing a humbling experience I had. So I have a pretty firm testimony on fasting but the last couple months have made it hard to have faith in it because it seemed that everytime I fasted things went wrong. Well this time wasn't different to the last times.

We have been greatly blessed to witness many accept the path to baptism and enduring to live with Heavenly Father again. So I decided to fast for those who specifically had dates for baptism. That morning was great and met great people and had great lessons. Well we had plans to visit 5 people whom had dates after lunch so I was really excited. Well Bileisy wasn't home and had told us over the phone that she wasn't sure if she was going to be baptized the following Saturday. STRIKE ONE.

We shake it off and go to our next appointment. Anthony, Robert and Anudi weren't home and said they wouldn't have time this week. STRIKE TWO. 

Well the day went on and it really hurt as I felt like I couldn't go anymore. Those appointments were really important. I told Hermana Nodal, "I'm not sure I can make it to the next appointment, everytime I fast for something, the complete opposite happens." We had one more appointment that night. Hermana Nodal said, "I'm scared, but we have to try."

I prayed the whole way there. Justin WAS HOME! I thanked Heavenly Father. We went inside and were about to start, when he reachs to tell his grandma a secret in her ear. She then looks at us and tells him to tell us. He then tells us "I don't want to be baptized anymore." STRIKE THREE.

I was pretty upset with Heavenly Father because I felt like He let me down, but as I got on my knees when we got home. He reminded me that I need to be grateful in every and all circumstances and BE PATIENT.

Heavenly Father answers in many ways but as I continued with faith my fast until the end, I SAW MIRACLES and MIRACLES I failed to remember. One of the members introduced us to a family of 6 that want to be baptized, Bileisy decided yesterday she was going to get baptized this Saturday, Eury, whom we met 3 weeks ago, is in Mormon 3 and is getting baptized in 2 weeks! and we have met many more the rest of the week!

MORAL OF THE STORY: We must endure to the end and just know that it's easier said then done, but we must TRUST FULLHEARTEDLY. Heavenly Father knows best and His timing is WAY better than ours!

I hope you all have an amazing week!

Love

Hermana Fernandez

Count your BLESSINGS and GO!

What a week!

The Lord work is BOOMING! We have witnessed so many miracles lately...

Eury whom we met about 2 1/2 weeks ago is already in Alma 26 and not only that he applies the scriptures to himself and those around him like I have learned to do in the mission. CRAZY! and he has invited many of his friends to hear the Lord's message and is anxious for his baptism. All because we listened to the sweet soft promptings of the Spirit to sit on a bench and wait for the unexpected.

Bileisy inspiring so many to go to church and come back and also anxious for her upcoming baptism! She's been the reason for a lot of the new investigadores we've had! She wants to serve a mission and she's doing what missionaries do already. QUITE the blessing!

The TEMPLE...Hermana Nodal and I have been able to go twice in less than a week! We got to go with Yuleisy our recent convert and it was an incredible experience! As I was there I got such a huge confirmation of the work on the other side of the veil. It was so powerful that I don't think my body could handle the Spirit I felt as I was there. I KNOW the this church is the church of God because I was witnessed His power, love and work. As I was in the temple I felt like I was in the time when Alma baptized in the waters of Mormon (Mosiah 18). It was incredible to feel the joy of remembering the covenant I had made with Heavenly Father about 6 years ago.

Also we had our missionary trip with President and Hermana Nuckols. I felt so special and eternal as I entered the temple this time and I promised Heavenly Father to continue to strive to reach my highest potencial.

Time doesn't exist in the temple! That small detail continues to testify to me the truthfulness of this gospel because the temple represents eternity and since I joined the church I have felt the eternities open unto me.

If there is a temple near you, count your blessings, prepare and GO! If there isn't a temple near you, count your blessings, prepare and GO!

I love you all and thank you so so much!

Hermana Fernandez

You Can't Lift Anyone Higher Than You Can Lift Yourself.

What a week!

ONLY in losing YOURSELF, may you find YOURSELF; ONLY by enriching others, may YOU be enriched; ONLY by giving, may YOU recieve; ONLY in surrending, may YOU BECOME free.

We have had some great Restoration lessons this week. Bileisy is a new investigador we have. She is amazing and was so prepared...thanks to her aunt and uncle, who is the branch president and to the AMAZING missionaries who planted the seed a couple years ago.

Bileisy was able to recieve immediate confirmation that the message we brought her was true. I was brought back to when I was taught by Elder Leithead and Elder Harrison. I will never forget them. They brought me the greatest gift anyone on this earth could ever bring. I was 15 years old and I had no idea that what these young men were sharing with me would change my life forever. Now here I am, sitting next to my companion in this lesson as we listen to Bileisy say, "Thank you for inspiring me to go to church. One day I will be a missionary saying I am here because of Hermana Fernandez and Hermana Nodal." The spirit filled the room as we felt it testify to us the truthfulness of the Restoration of the Lord's Gospel and of this marvelous work as it is testifying to me at this very moment.

I am so grateful that the testimony I gained 6 years ago of this Restored Gospel as I watched the Restoration Video has grown immensely and has planted more profoundly. The Spirit continually has testified and brought to remembrance this GRAND event in my life.

We are to purify ourselves to feel the power of the Holy Ghost because only in losing ourselves will we find ourselves. We had a Council Meeting this past week with all the leaders of the mission and Elder Claudio Zivic. It truly was humbling to be in the presence of one of the Lord's Seventy. He truly has been called of God. He inspired us to go the extra mile and that requires purification and what a blessing it has been to feel the blessings of exact obedience and pure love towards those that surround us. Stop and meditate upon the blessings you have recieved, then give more back to the Lord in gratitude.

The Lord blesses in His own way. Bani has been dried out for quite a while now and we have had rain for 3 days in a row now! What a blessing. Yet we haven't been caught in the rain yet because right when we get to an appointment it begins to pour. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Siempre nos tiene presente! This taught me to count my many blessings! I invite you to do the same, no matter how small you may think they are.

Thank you all for your love and support!

Con Amor,

Hermana Fernandez

You Can't LIFT Anyone Higher Than You Can LIFT Yourself

YOU have to learn to be ALONE in a crowd. YOU have to have such CONTROL.

President Boyd K. Packer's talk "Twenty Mark Note," tied my life together this week. Heavenly Father is the All-knowing, All-powerful, who is in the very details of our lives.

I got to give a talk on Sunday, I chose a talk from last General Conference to base my talk off of. "The Prophet Joseph Smith" by Elder Corbridge. It's really his simple testimony and facts on the Restoration of the Gospel. I really tried to apply what President Boyd K. Packer explains in his talk..."Our lives are guided. If [we] understand that and understand what life is about, [we] will understand really all you need to know about life as members of the Church. [We] will understand how our lives are really not our own. They are governed—and if we live as we should live, then we will be taken care of." As I let Heavenly Father teach me and talk through me during that talk. I felt and remembered my entire conversion until this point in my life and I felt great joy as I saw everyone testify at the same time as I felt their spirit. I knew Heavenly Father was there with us. It was really perfect was we got 4 less active families to come back to church.

As I reflect on my past week, I can really see that as we planned and were obedient, our plans changed. AND I THANK GOD FOR THAT! We taught what Heavenly Father wanted us to and found those who we least expected needed us this week.

We found this man (he works as a "concho", men who sit in corners and give rides to be to get to destinations...nothing like it at home) they tend to cat call at us all the time, we decided to stop this time and we ended up finding out that one of these men's wife had just passed away and so when he got to hear that he could live with her again with his son, he invited us over and commited to going to church...and Endless opportunities more.

We have to learn to be ALONE in a crowd. We have to have such CONTROL. We are to let the Spirit guide you. "The promise from the Lord is that when you receive the Holy Ghost, “he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26)." It isn't easy but very possible. Have a constant prayer in heart as there are countless distractions. Especially here, Dominicans are very happy people and have music playing all the time...

I love you all. Have an amazing week. AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRAYERS.

Love

Hermana Fernandez

Laugh and Be the LORD'S Hands!

Ok where do I start...

Lunes. We went to OCOA! We went to climb a mountain, see a waterfall (even though it was a little dried up) and to go in a bat cave...I know. A BAT CAVE...you read right! It was scary and smelled not so good. Our investigator Jeuri came along which was really cool since he got to hang out with 16 missionaries and had lots of his questions answered! I did learn something though that really impacted my week. FEAR and FAITH CANNOT COEXIST! I was so scared coming down the mountain and I realized my faith had no room since I had given in to my fear. I then remembered having faith in Christ and thought, "well how does knowing that Chirst lives, knowing all that He represents and did for me, help me not be scared out of my mind right now. (fun fact about me: I'm terrified of heights) I can't be afraid of what could happen when I also know that through Christ and Heavenly Father's plan we reach inner peace and greater purpose. I sure did learn that day and learned how to apply more profoundly what I testify of each day!

Martes. We are working with a less active family and we got to get to know the dad, who came across as a very cold man. I realized I shouldn't judge before i fully understand. He ended up being the funniest person I've probably met on my mission. He made us cry, we were laughing so hard. It was really perfect as we broke the ice and planned an Family Home Evening! The Lord opens and touches hearts in misterious ways. I learned that through even laughing and a good sense of humor, Heavenly Father reaches down to the very soul! SO find a reason to LAUGH today!

Miercoles. Hermana Conference. MORMON 5:23 was the theme. Being the Lord's Hand and being instruments in his hands. It really was inspirational, eveyday we are too ask Heavenly Father to allow us to help Him in His objective. "...to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Moses 1:39 a

Jueves. Jeuri's lesson. What an EXITO! He invited two friends...so even though we is from a different religion, he's interested enough in the Restoration of the Lord's gospel that he invited two of his friends to join us! SO GREAT...They started by saying, "We'll scare you because we have lots of questions." and Hermana Nodal and I looked at each other and we both said, "That's perfect. We love questions!" They both commited to going to church and Jeuri was so excited and interested as we felt that what we were sharing was true! THIS IS THE LORD'S CHURCH! I KNOW IT!

Sabado. TRANSFER CALL!!!! It's ok though because I STAY IN BANI yay!!! with Hermana Nodal! She broke my trend...I usually only last about 1 transfer with my companions even those I train and Hermana Nodal will be with me for 14 weeks now! We are so excited...GREAT things are coming to pass!

Mom and Dad and everyone, I love you and I know that this gospel is true more than I can explain but I hope that you can feel it through this email because I feel like Nephi did. Read 1 Nephi 8:10-12!

Love

Hermana Fernandez

GO to WORK and FORGET about YOURSELF

Not gonna lie it was one of those weeks...

Yet it was necessary because I learned to more fully "go to work and forget about myself." It was a lot easier said than done this week. Usually people say that when times are rough, time goes slower. Well that was absolutely not the case this week.

We had goals not met and it really started to jab on my faith. Especially because we had so much to do and everyone decided to leave Bani for the week...it seemed like.

But just like every rainstorm the sun comes out after! I had an intercambio with Hermana Jorgensen and it was PERFECT. Just what I needed after a bumpy road. We shared with a recently baptized member named Bobby. He is 19 and thinking about serving a mission. Well we talked about the Priesthood. It must have been one of the most spiritual experiences I've had during my mission. As we testified of the importance of the priesthood and as we could see he's heart be touched by God. I know in my whole being that as worthy men of the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strive to be worthy of such authority, Heavenly Father will pour His GREAT POWER over His children. I know that Heavenly Father's authority and power is on earth today and that we may recieve great blessing as we stand worthy of it because not only men partake of these blessing, we, women do too.

I got a wake up call that day as Heavenly Father used others to be answers to my pleading prayers and as I was able to open my eyes a little wider and count ALL the many blessings in my life. I invite you all to do the same.

"Heavenly Father, are you really there?

And do you hear and answer ev'ry child's prayer?

Some say that heaven is far away,

But I feel it close around me as I pray.

"Pray, he is there;

Speak, he is list'ning.

You are his child;

His love now surrounds you."

(A Child's Prayer)

One of the Great BLESSINGS to finalize the week...

There was an amazing baptism on Saturday! Yuleisy got baptized and we celebrated her birthday! and ALL the less actives and investigators we invited CAME! I can't explain a greater joy than to see another of Heavenly Father's children follow His Only Begotten's footsteps!

I love this work and this gospel! I'm forever grateful for Heavenly Father's great misery and love. I know His way is the smartest way. I know that as we submit our will for His, we shall experience greater joy and happiness and we shall continue towards achieving our great potencial.

I love you all and thank you for your testimonies and prayers and emails.

Have an amazing week!

Love,

Hermana Fernandez

P.S. I promise we didn't take the motor for a ride haha