May 25, 2014

Hello my wonderful family! It was great to hear from you this week! It sounds like everything is going great and you all had a great week! I had a great week as well. Sister Batalero transferred on Wednesday and now Im with Sister Manosig! Shes great. She is close to going home. She only has two transfers left. She goes home in August. Crazy. She was Sister Smoots trainer. But we had a pretty good week together. We are still adjusting a little but its okay. I was a little sad to see Sister Batalero go because we got along really well but its okay. Shes a sister training leader now! So thats great for her. This week we tried hard to find and go to places Ive never been before. It was great. We are going to start focusing more on areas we have never been to so hopefully we will be able to find more people there who are ready for us. But it was a good week. Yesterday President Lopez came to our  branch to visit. It was really cool! I liked seeing him. And he spoke in sacrament meeting and it was really good! The baptism on Saturday went well. It was an normal baptism here in Cadiz. But it was great. Aubreys mom came who is less active and thats the first time Ive seen her at the church. So that was good! Then we had the interview yesterday for Sister Rebato and Sister Michelle. They will be baptized this Saturday. Also on Saturday we had a branch family home evening. It was a lot of fun! The branch members here are so great and a ton of fun! And I loved seeing my recent converts get so involved with everyone! It was great. I had a great time. Other than that it was a normal week. I found some really cool areas though. I really like them and Im excited to return to them and see who I can find. Also, I had some really good personal studies this week. Ive decided Alma is probably my favorite. I was right at the end of Alma this week and I really learned a lot. There is a book in the apartment that I am reading with the Book of Mormon that has quotes from general authorities. Its really good and I learn a lot from it. One that I really liked was from Ezra Taft Benson. Its the time when one of the Nephite cities was taken by the Lamanites and Moroni was a little mad because he knew it would be harder to get it back then to protect it and keep it. The quote by Ezra Taft Benson said "it is better to prepare and prevent, than to repair and repent." I really liked it. Its better to prepare now, than to have to repent later. So yeah, I had a great week though. I hope you all have a great week! Enjoy your summer because it will go by fast! I love you!

Sister Remund

May 25, 2014

Wow it sounds like you all had a great week! And Kam and Hallie sang in sacrament meeting?!?!?! Are you serious? Kam what happened to you? You wouldnt even sing for me.... You better sing again after Im home. And mom I cant believe you sent that picture to grandma. I told you not to! She will never touch me again! Did you tell her I was wearing gloves? I think I know the senior that died. Im not sure but his name sounds familiar. Did he play baseball? Or basketball? And what happened with Ronald? You havent told me about that. Sister Batalero wasnt able to talk to her family. The phone started working for a second so she talked to her sister for like two minutes because her parents werent there right then. So her sister went out to get her parents and the phone stopped working again. So she didnt get to talk to them. We kept trying but eventually Sister Batalero just said it was okay. We tried for most of the day but it didnt work. She seemed okay though. Kam mentioned that SC has the highest death rate. Who else died? I only know about KJ a while ago and now Brooks. And Kam I didnt know you were teaching piano! Thats so cool! I had a great week! On Tuesday, Sister Batalero got a little sick so we didnt go out most of the day but then she was better after that. We went out and we were able to get a lot of work done still. We have some great things coming in this area. We have a girl getting baptized this Saturday. Her name is Aubrey. Shes 11 years old and her mom is a less active member. Shes great and is so excited to get baptized. She lives next to Rocel, a recent convert, and Wilfredo, another investigator. They are so great and they love coming to church together. Wilfredo is great too. We found him two weeks ago because Rocel referred him to us. He comes from a part member family as well. The three of them are great though! I love teaching them. Wilfredo will be getting baptized on June 7. We also have an investigator named Michelle. Shes great! She really wants to get baptized. We gave her a Book of Mormon last week and when we went back, she had already read through chapter 8! It had only been two days and for anyone here, thats super great! I know recent converts that are only on chapter 8 right now because it takes everyone here a lot longer to read. So it was great! And then she came to church on Sunday with her mom. It was just so great. The Book of Mormon is the best. We had kind of struggled to get her to church before but now that shes reading the Book of Mormon, she came to church and she loved it and now she is so excited for her baptism! The Book of Mormon is how conversion is started and I love it. So overall it was a great week. I love you all and love hearing from you. I hope you all have a great week!

Sister Remund

Mother's Day!!!! Pictures....

Welcome to Cadiz! This is what happens when it rains... Flood!

A cute little kitty we found! I wanted to keep it.

The people in my area literally live in the graveyard. Me and Sister Batalero joke about how we will get weekly baptisms because we will just do baptisms for the dead!

Dont tell grandma!!!! She would never hug me again... But this rat died in the sisters house so I had to get rid of it for them. It was huge!

YAY the temple!!!! The six of us at the temple!!! It was the best thing in the world!

Sister Rocel and all her friends!

May 4, 2014

Well I had a great week! Its was really good! It started on Monday. Monday night we had presidents training and it was so good! I really learned a lot. It was good. Then on Tuesday I had an interview with President. It was good too. I was able to ask him a lot of questions and I really liked it. It was also a little rough though because I got sick... So that wasnt very good. When we got home from Bacolod on Tuesday I was not doing good so I slept the whole day. Well, kind of. I kept waking up because I was coughing like crazy but it was okay. Dont worry, Im feeling better now. Then on Wednesday morning we had our national day of service. That was fun. We planted trees! Dad, no I wasnt bare foot the whole time, we took our shoes off to cross the river but then they put bamboo down for us to cross on so I put my shoes right back on. I was a little sad because I still wasnt feeling well so I couldnt participate as much as I wanted but it was okay. I started feeling better after that so we were still able to go out and work. Then the rest of the week went good. On Saturday was Brother and Sister Abieras baptism! It was the best thing. I have seen the biggest change in Brother and I love it! Their family is just great. They all read the Book of Mormon everyday and that is why I have seen such a big change in them. Once they started reading, they just changed. They really started to gain a testimony and its great! After the baptism, they always bear their testimony. So when brother bore his testimony, he started crying. It was so sweet and the spirit was so strong. When we visited them yesterday, his family was kind of joking around with him about it. Sister Abiera said that is the first time she has seen him cry the whole time they have been married. Which is a long time. Brother didnt even care though, he just said he felt the spirit. It was the coolest thing. I loved it! And it was while I was at the church brother Clove came! It was nice to meet him. He was telling me about Katelyn! His niece that Im friends with. He told me about how her apartment burned down the day before Christmas! She lost everything. I felt bad. But he said shes doing good so thats good! So it was a good week. Also, something really sad happened this week. We found out on Wednesday that one of our investigators hung himself. It was really sad. He was supposed to get baptized on May 31. He was 54 years old and his wife was going to get baptized this Saturday. He had a stroke 8 years ago and hasnt been able to talk since then and its really hard for him to walk. I think his family has been really hard on him. So he killed himself. It made me realize how we dont know what anyone else is going through and how we need to make sure we are always nice to people and treating them the way we would want to be treated. Because we never know when they will die or what will happen. So we need to treat others so that we will have no regrets and make sure they always know how much we love them. The family seems to be doing better now though. But it was sad. But other than that it was a great week! Glad to hear you all had a great week too! I love you all so much! Im so excited to get to talk to you next week! Have a great week!

Sister Remund

Questions and Answers

1. What do you look forward to in your daily missionary service?

I love following up about our investigators Book of Mormon reading. We do it in every lesson but thats really when you see the change in people. When someone started reading the Book of Mormon, they start to gain a testimony and thats really when they start applying what they learn and start to change. My favorite it seeing the change in them and that comes when they start reading the Book of Mormon.

2. What has been the biggest surprise in your mission so far?

Ive been really surprised with how ready and willing people are to accept the gospel. It says in Preach My Gospel that everyone has the light of Christ so when you share the gospel with them, it will have a familiar ring to them. Its so true!

3. What has been one of the biggest challenges of your mission?

Communication! Its been hard to communicate with the people here but also with my companion. Once I got here, I wanted to share the gospel and help the people here, but I didnt know how to talk to them. So its been hard to really express myself to them. But Ive learned that the spirit will help them understand and will testify to them. I just need to open my mouth! And communicating with a companion is hard but its the most important thing you can do. You have to really be open with your companion and really communicate with them because nothing goes well if there is problems with your companionship.

4. What would you suggest others do to prepare to be the best missionary they can be?

Study Preach My Gospel! Become a PMG scholar! Really just learn to have faith and trust that the spirit will guide you. Get in tune with the spirit! You have to be able to rely on the spirit enough to know exactly what to say and do every second of every day. Study the Book of Mormon!

5. Share a mission highlight...

There are too many! One experience that I had recently was with the Abiera family. Two of the daughters got baptized and the mom was ready to get baptized but she wanted to wait for her husband. Her husband wasnt ready to get baptized though and didnt really have a desire. He wouldnt join us in the lessons and would never pray. One day, he decided to join the lesson. After that, he listened in on every lesson but he still wouldnt pray and he wasnt reading the Book of Mormon. One Sunday, he came to church. We didnt expect that because he still wasnt progressing very well and wouldnt pray or accept a baptismal date. After that, he slowly started to read the Book of Mormon. After he started reading the Book of Mormon, brothers desire started to grow. He started to feel the spirit and eventually, he started praying! Everything really started when brother started reading the Book of Mormon. Now, brother has a strong testimony and just last Saturday, Brother Abiera got baptized! He will be receiving the priesthood this Sunday and him and his wife will be preparing for the day they can get sealed in the temple. At brothers baptism, he boar his testimony and cried. Sister Abiera said thats the first time she has seen brother cry in the 40+ years they have been married. Brother said he felt the spirit. Brother has a strong testimony now and I have seen the biggest change in him. That is my favorite part about serving. Seeing people change.

6. Any words of wisdom:

Learn how to communicate! Im still working on it but it will make all the difference. Stay positive! Missionary work isnt easy, but staying happy and positive is a choice we make every day! And it makes the biggest difference! Choose everyday to be happy! I love you all!