...on the Lord´s Errand

happy birthday Daddy! I hope you had the BeSt BiRtHdAy EvEr! I was thinking about you yesterday and thinking about how time flys because I remember coming home last year and surprising you for your birthday! How time flys huh?!

Oh boy. Where to begin...

Well this week was so great..I feel like I say that every week, but truly each week is better than the last one, which is probably why the time is creeping up on me! Can you believe I´m half way!! WHAT?!? Unbelievable I know...

Someone shared this with me this last week and I truly think that my time here serving the Lord and my brothers and sisters is really summed up in Alma 26:16...

¨Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.¨

We had a zone conference this week and it was one of the most uplifting experience I´ve had! We learned a lot about faith, the power of the BOOK OF MORMON, and our evermost motivation to do the Lord´s Errand!

FAITH. This is the beginning of all things. Trusting in something or someone that you don´t see but know that it is TRUE or EXISTS. It´s a power that we can hold, a power that we sometimes don´t realize we can have. This has been the main focus of my week...understanding the real meaning of faith and how to increase my faith in the Lord..

There was an awesome baptism and birthday surprise this week for a awesome young man. Kelvin is the greatest kid! His testimony rocks my world...the world has rocked his life and he´s a 17 year old that has been through more than a kid his age should go through. As we show the Lord through our acts and desires to do what he asks us to do and choose to be faithful to Him, we truly come to realize how FAITH and HOPE in Christ brings to past Eternal happiness and we can have a taste of that happiness in this life.

Kelvin helped me realize to that as we grab hold of the Lord, we overcome anything the world throws at us. (1 Nephi 15:24) I can testify of that truth. I´m so grateful for the love I constantly feel from the Lord. He knows us so perfectly and individual and it´s truly been a priviledge to constantly see that LOVE he has for ALL his children, even those who push Him away.

I know that this gospel is true. I know it with every fiber of my being that this is the Lord´s Work and that as we submit to His Will, His pathway becomes more and more clear and we can almost see what the Lord sees in us and who we can become! I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that through Him the Lord reestablished His kingdom on earth. Joseph Smith is one of the greatest examples of that power of Faith and sacrifice and being on the Lord´s Errand no matter what opposition presented itself.

I know these things are true. and if you don´t know this for yourself yet. I invite you to ask God, He loves you and you are his son or daughter and if you ask Him with real intent and sincerity, He WILL answer you!

Thank you for all your support and love! Hope to hear from you all real soon!

Love

Hermana Fernandez

P.R.A.Y.E.R. is essential!

Dear FAMILY and FRIENDS,

Just another BEAUTIFUL week in the Incredibly Gorgeous Hot Dominican Republic Island!

News Report from AZUA: I love this place and the PEOPLE are amazing and the LORD´s work is HASTENING on like NEVER before!

The Church is fairly new in the DR, so it´s so great to be part of this wonder time in the Lord´s Work! Azua...the city I´m in now is soon going to be a stake, so we´ve been praying lots for families and it´s amazing TRULY how the LORD has prepared families here in AZUA. We sure do need more families. This week we found 2 new families and we´re baptizing 1 in 3 weeks!!

AN ENTIRE FAMILY!!!!

They are so wonderful and it´s so great to see the beginning til their baptism because you truly see the change they make in their lives and the faith and willingness that grows immensely and rapidly as they come to know the truth of this GOSPEL! This church is true because no matter where you go in the world it´s the exact same, the only thing that changes is the language!!!

I focused a lot on PRAYER this week...

¨Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name;

And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you.¨ 

(3 Nephi 18:19-20)

This scripture was probably the most used this week! Prayer is such an amazing priviledge that is looked over much more often than I thought! and it is so important in our constant daily conversion!

Nadie puede saber las verdades espirituales sin la ORACION! - Preah My Gospel

(translation: ¨No one can know of spiritual truths without prayer¨...that´s a pretty powerful statement...I´ll let you ponder on that!)

That´s this week in a nutshell...

Love,

Hermana Fernandez

P.S. Here are some...

FUNNY MOMENTS and GREAT ones:

- I drank coconut milk until I about blew up..see photo.

- I got smacked on the bum...twice by a 2 year old..SO UNEXPECTED!

- A catholic lady witnessed her son-in-law getting a blessing and ASKED FOR ONE TOO!!!

- played baseball with a bunch of kids on the street....with a baby doll head

AZUA is SOOOO......HOT!!

FAMILY y AMIGOS!!!

I hope your week was full of so much LOVE...

This week was full of miracles and greatness! It also went by super fast! I love this gospel, IT is SOOOO TRUE! We have 3 FAMILIES progressing...FAMILIES, which is so rare here. We are teaching both husband and wife...and they are progressing!!

Oscar and Valencia are one of those miracles that we have recieved. They were so ready to recieve the gospel in their lives, we were contacting one day on a SUPER HOT day and we weren't really excited to be walking out in the sun after being stood up at our last couple of appointments that day and Oscar and Valencia were outside their house when we passed by, which was the first time I had seen them after a month of passing that street and my companion Hermana Sanchez told me that there was never people there and that was the first time she had seen them too after being in Azua for 4 months. SO WE WENT FOR IT and contacted them! They were so friendly and Oscar asked us about baptizing babies and that if we believed in that and invited us in...SCORE! That was about a week and a half ago. Now they are progressing so much! Then on Friday we came over to share a message and discuss and invite them to baptism and right after I finished asking them...THE LIGHTS WENT OUT!! I was like...of course...then they brought a candle and asked what they thought about putting a date and Oscar said I'm kinda scared because right when you asked the lights went out....so...we explained how there's opposition in all things...we shared 2 Nephi 2:11 y 13.

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

"And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away."

And they were so happy and at peace at the end...so we booked it out of there and invited them to church!

THEY CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY! and they want a BOOK OF MORMON!

This gospel is SO TRUE...truer (not sure thats a word) than true! I have no doubt about it and even through the many oppositions that hit our course daily...I have the gospel to HOLD ON TO..it's the only sure thing this world has to offer! The gospel gives us that hope and security the world doesn't offer.

"Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

This has grown to be my favorite scripture over the last few weeks!

Thank you so much for the love, support and prayers! Really they are much needed and greatly appreciated! Because Heavenly Father is listening to you!

Love,

Hermana Fernandez

Family and Friends!!!

Another GREAT week in the blazing hot and beautiful Azua! Really this week was one for the books!

I´ve learned this week the role I have as a Representative of Jesus Christ. It really hit me this week when I heard it and realized what it entails more profoundly and personally. We, as missionaries all over the world, have been called and set apart to do what Jesus Christ would do if he were in our shoes...I really understood this when we were in the middle of a lesson (k keep in mind that this lesson took place in a colmado, in a mini store nothing like it back home..closest is like a 7 eleven but really not the same) In the middle of the lesson a guy came in and started saying things to us, but instead of turning away and ignoring him, I felt the need to redirect him. I told him that he had more potencial then he realized...that even though people had neglected him that he was still a son of God. He stopped bugging us and actually listened. I know that Jesus Christ came to LIGHT UP the way back to our Heavenly Father and we ALL have that opportunity...no matter where we come from or what we did. He paid the prize for ALL of US and we can be free as we accept Him and His Atonement in our lives!

I LOVE this GOSPEL with all my might, mind and strength and I never get tired of testifying of its truthfulness...I am beyond happy because I couldn't be doing anything better at this time in my life!

"For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—" Scripture of the Week

I also learned a lot about GRATITUDE this week! The importance of being grateful for all the Lord has given me this week made this week one of greatest...as we are grateful in every moment, we realize that the Lord loves us IMMENSELY!

That is all for now...

Love,

Hermana Fernandez

New Year...New Place...

I'm in AZUA! (which is south of the country) it's way more campo (country) here...It's definitely a different change/feeling since it's the first time since I started the mission that I change areas..San Cristobal was home and family, but it's time to move along EVON....

I am loving it here though! The people here are just as loving and accepting!

We had two baptisms this week...Pamela, who is a super joven, she was super doubtful when I got here, but she took a huge step this last and read all the scripture chapters we left her and made it to the water! Daniel...who is a well known teacher here in Azua got baptized and the sister missionaries did a great job finding him, because god prepared him precisely for this very moment...his was a GOLDEN investigator! They contacted his son who became very uninterested and they started talking to him and he had never really accepted the missionary before Hermana Sanchez (my new companion) found him! He testimony strengthened my testimony so much this week. He knows exactly why he got baptized and he is so excited to learn more....last Sunday, he told me "Hermana Fernandez, este sabado van a tener un nuevo miembro de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias porque yo me bautizo!"....I LOVED THAT...translation: "Sister Fernandez, this Saturday they're gonna have a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because I'm getting baptized!!!"

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be here for that very reason...finding people that are absolutely ready to accept the Lord in their lives!

Til Next Monday!

Love,

Hermana Fernandez

Understanding to LOVE more PERFECTLY

My heart is FULL! I don´t really know where to begin...

What does the pure love of Christ mean to you? (I'd really like responds to this question...)

This week was full of miracles. I'll like to share one...

Iluminada is one of our new investigadores, whom I have grown to love so deeply in two weeks. She is so special. She has longed her entire life to find the Way where she can find hope and be free from her burdens. She opened up to us about her life and afflictions after sharing a powerful lesson on the First Vision, when Joseph Smith say God, the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. That night was when I realized I had reached a new stage in my life. I hadn't felt what the Lord feels for each and everyone of us so abundantly and powerfully like I did that night with Iluminada.

The Lord knows us so perfectly and personally....He crys with us, I know he does because He did that night with her...I felt Him.

He knows our sorrow and afflictions like He knows our happiness and triumphs. He cried with us that night and He used us as instruments in His Hands, so that she could know that she is a daughter of God, that she has great value in the eyes of God. He loves her so personally. This is true for everyone who is here on earth at this very moment, who has been and who has to come. I KNOW THIS IS TRUE WITH ALL MY HEART and BEING! 

God's love is so immense that there are days that my body can't handle it's grandness and I feel weak, yet strong all at the same time...

I can't feel anything but love for the people here...the Lord loves His children so much and has given me the opportunity to feel, even a small part of that love for the people, whose lives the Lord has had me be a part of. 

I challenge you all to get to comprehend the pure love of Christ and apply it to your neighbor, who is your brother or sister.

I ask for your prayers for our investigadores in San Cristobal, because now more than ever Satan is hastening his work as We hasten the Lord's Work.

Our investigadores...

 - Iluminada, for strength and comfortness

 - Angel, for strength because he has been prepared perfectly to recieve us, missionaries

 - Ray, whose getting baptized this week

 - Marcelino, who has been tried with patience as he anxiously waits for his papers to get married

...and recent converts:

 - Sencio

 - Melissa and Yulissa

BIG NEWS: The call for TRANSFER was last night...I leave!  I leave my first area after almost 7 months, I've shed tears enough...because I grew to be part of a family here, but now I'm off to where the Lord shall send me, which is AZUA, which is in the south and SUPER HOT...good thing I'll be there during the coldest months of the year! I'll go where You want me to go...

I'll send pictures soon...I've been kinda awful at taking pictures, but no worries they are coming real soon!

Thank you so much for you love and support.

Love,

Hermana Fernandez

¡TODO TIENE SU PROPOSITO!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This week I was able to reflect upon what I've accomplished in life and on my mission thus far, and now more than ever I strongly believe that GOD has a purpose in ALL things.

EVERYTHING HAPPENS for a REASON!

The Lord works in MARVELOUS WAYS and I am so grateful for the great opportunity I've had this week to receive one of the greatest blessings one can receive in life. As a Representative of our Savior Jesus Christ, I've learned greatly this week, really this whole month, to TRUST IN HIM completely.

Blessing are gained...we gain them by having faith in Him and being faithful to Him. 

I hope that just like I've reflected, you will also so that you can set goals and dreams for the year to come and renew your commitment to follow and live according to the Lord's Will.

The Greater the Blessing or Knowlegde, the Greater the Opposition.

" For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand." - D&C 58:2-4

I HOPE THIS COMING YEAR is FILLED WITH LOTS OF LOVE and BLESSING for you ALL from ABOVE. BE HAPPY and ENDURE because we didn't come to this earth to be miserable nor to fail. A friend once told me..we were made to succeed! You must first believe it then you WILL succeed!

Thank you for your prayers and I ask you to please feel me pray for my investigators and for the members here, so that we can receive REFERENCES!!!! You should also help the missionarys obtain those!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love and support and prayers!

Love

Hermana Fernandez